Swoosh swoosh!
Suddenly, the peaceful Dao Sect began to boil like an oil pan as rushing wind sounds hurriedly appeared in the sky. After which, the disciples of Dao Sect were stunned when they saw the elders appearing in the sky consecutively.
The name, which was emitted from Ying Huanhuan’s lips, was like a curse that broke the silence within Dao Sect.
“Huanhuan.”
Another rushing wind sound appeared before a pretty figure showed up in the sky. Based on her appearance, she was none other than Ying Xiaoxiao. When she saw tears rolling down Ying Huanhuan’s face, she quickly stepped forward and grabbed the latter’s hand.
“What’s going on?”
Beside them, a light flashed before Ying Xuanzi appeared. Then, he was startled when he saw Ying Huanhuan’s behaviour. Soon after, he sighed. Over the past three years, as Ying Huanhuan grew stronger, her demeanor became increasingly like that of an icy mountain. Hence, this was the first time in over three years, that he saw her crying while being angry at the same time.
Behind Ying Xuanzi, many elders as well as the four hall chiefs followed behind. Then, their eyes were all filled with shock when they saw Ying Huanhuan’s demeanor. Moreover, in their vicinity, were many figures standing in the sky. It turns out that there were many familiar faces including Jiang Hao, Pang Tong, Wang Yan…
“It’s Lin Dong, he has returned!” Ying Huanhuan bit her red lips and slowly said.
“What?!”
Everyone was startled after hearing this. Immediately, wild joy rose on the face of Wang Yan, Pang Tong and the rest. Then, they quickly surveyed their surroundings and said, “Martial junior Lin Dong is back? Where is he?”
“Lin Dong?”
Ying Xiaoxiao and Ying Xuanzi were both startled. A thought passed through the latter’s mind before he immediately scanned the entire Dao Sect. However, he quickly frowned and said, “I did not sense Lin Dong’s aura. Huanhuan, are you sure about this?”
“Impossible!”
Ying Huanhuan clenched her teeth and said, “He is likely even more powerful than you now. Hence, if he wants to hide, there is no way you can find him!”
“More powerful than father?”
Ying Xiaoxiao was slight stunned. Meanwhile, the surrounding Dao Sect elders also faced each other. Lin Dong had only been away for three years. Back then, he had yet to enter the Profound Life stage. Therefore, how could he possibly surpass the sect master in merely three years?
All of them looked at each other and immediately let out a bitter laughter. After all, they all knew how Ying Huanhuan felt about Lin Dong. Perhaps this time around, that lass was simply missing him too much.
“Alright, keep hiding. I want to see how long you can hide for!”
Ying Huanhuan’s pretty eyes were red as she continuously surveyed the mountain range, while crying out furiously. However, soon after, she shut both of her eyes. Immediately, everyone felt their surrounding temperature dropping. Finally, white snowflakes began to fall from the sky in all directions, enveloping the entire Dao Sect.
Standing on a distant cliff, when Lin Dong saw Dao Sect erupting into an uproar, he laughed bitterly. He never expected Ying Huanhuan’s senses to be so sharp. Previously, his emotions merely wavered for a moment and yet, it was still detected by her.
However, the feelings within his heart became increasingly complicated when he saw the many familiar faces in the sky. Though he wanted to step forward, he felt as though each step weighed more than a thousand kilograms and he could not move his feet.
“Snow?”
While Lin Dong was slightly absent-minded, he felt an icy cold air gushing towards him. After which, snowflakes fell before they melted on his body.
“Humph.”
Standing in the distant sky, Ying Huanhuan suddenly opened her eyes. Then, with a cold snort, her body moved before she vanished.
“Oh no.”
Lin Dong had a bad hunch when he saw snowflakes melting on his body. Then, he hurriedly turned around and prepared to leave. However, his footsteps paused a moment later. That was because he saw that countless snowflakes were gathering in front of him, before an alluring figure appeared in the blink of an eye.
That alluring figure was wearing a pale-white dress. She had an exquisite figure and icy blue long hair poured down from her head. At this moment, tears were rolling down her beautiful face. Her pretty eyes, which also contained an icy blue colour, had turned red as she glared at the young man, who seemed to have frozen completely.
When Lin Dong saw that pretty familiar looking face, various scenes, which were hidden deep within his heart, were suddenly unleashed. Immediately, his eyes became moist.
Back in the Unique Devil City, this young lady had awoken the strength that belonged to the other ‘her’, in order to save him. As a result, her black hair turned blue.
……
“What are you doing?!”
“I am not his match …” Ying Huanhuan gazed upon Lin Dong’s furious face. A smile of melancholy appeared on her pale little face.
“Only by doing so… can I force father to show himself. I know that if this continues, it might end up starting a war between our two sects… but… I do not wish to see you die in their hands…”
“After all, all of you are used to my willfulness… in that case, allow me to act willfully one more time.”
……
“... I do not understand the code of brotherhood between men. If you insist on intervening, I will get father to beat you unconscious and bring you back.” Tears continued to fall from that young lady’s eyes. However, there was a pleading look in her eyes.
“I only want you to live.”
She had placed aside her usual pride for him. This was all to protect the person she cared the most about.
……
Scenes from the past churned within his mind. They seemed so familiar, as though they had taken place yesterday. Lin Dong’s nose twitched and there seemed to be something rolling within his heart.
Ying Huanhuan looked at that face, whose emotions were rapidly changing. Over these three years, he seemed to have lost a little weight. She wondered just how much he had suffered over the last three years.
She bit her red lips tightly before her eyes became completely red. All the yearning, which she had suppressed over the past three years, surged forth like a fountain at this moment. When she recalled how he refused to show up previously, her yearning turned into anger. Soon after, she clenched her hand, before snow gathered and directly transformed into a snow longsword.
“Hide! I dare you to keep hiding!” She gritted her teeth, while her raised voice was filled with anger.
Swoosh!
The snow longsword jerked before it directly tore through space. Then, it pierced towards Lin Dong with lightning like speed.
Lin Dong sighed helplessly after he saw this. However, he did not dodge that sword.
As that longsword grew increasingly closer, the force on the sword grew weaker. Finally, that sword did strike Lin Dong’s body. However, it turned into a snowflake and scattered the instant they made contact.
After that snowflake scattered, an angry pretty figure followed behind. Then, she used her small hands to heavily pound Lin Dong’s chest. Soon after, her actions slowed, before she finally burst into tears. Meanwhile, her suppressed cries contained her bitter yearning and worry, that was accumulated over the last three years.
When Lin Dong saw that girl, who was leaning on his shoulder while crying in a heartbreaking fashion, he involuntarily lifted his head and inhaled a deep breath of icy cold air. Then, he slowly extended his arm and embraced her narrow waist.
When she detected his actions, that girl in his embrace, cried even louder. It looked as though she wanted to vent all the bitterness and sorrow that she had suffered over the past three years.
Her cries continued for a very long time, before they gradually died down. Following which, a soft cough sounded from a short distance away. Lin Dong lifted his head and saw Ying Xuanzi, Ying Xiaoxiao, Wang Yan as well as the hall chief and deputy chief of the Desolate Hall, Chen Zhen and Wu Dao, standing at a distance away. Behind them, countless disciples from Dao Sect had all flooded over to this place. Clearly, they had heard something as well. Meanwhile, there seemed to be heated cries being faintly transmitted. Their cries were seemingly trying to inform others that martial brother Lin Dong had returned...
The entire mountain range was packed with disciples from Dao Sect.
Ying Huanhuan seemed to have also detected the huge commotion occuring around her. Immediately, a flash of red rose on her face, which typically had little emotion. After which, she bit her red lips, clenched her small fist before she gave Lin Dong a jab. Only then, did she turn around and return to Ying Xiaoxiao’s side. The latter hurriedly hugged her upon seeing this. Meanwhile, she felt relieved in her heart. Her sister had been as cold as an ice mountain over the past three years and it has been a long while since she saw the latter acting in this manner.
When Lin Dong saw those familiar faces, his mouth became a little dry. His heart, which did not even waver when up against thousands of soldiers, was evidently at a loss. After which, he cupped his hands towards Ying Xuanzi and said, “Ying… sect chief Ying.”
His words caused Ying Xuanzi’s body to stiffen. The one extra word made a vast difference.
Standing beside him, Ying Xiaoxiao and Ying Huanhuan were slightly startled. The former hurriedly said, “Lin Dong, do not blame father. He had his own difficulties back then.”
Lin Dong laughed bitterly. His expression was complicated as he said, “Regardless, I withdrew from Dao Sect back then… Therefore, by barging in uninvited today, I have offended you guys.”
“Nonsense!”
A furious cry suddenly sounded. Immediately, everyone turned to look, only to see a red face Wu Dao staring at Lin Dong, before he furiously cried, “You were brought into Dao Sect by this old man. If you want to leave our sect, you will have to ask me for permission. What do you treat Dao Sect as?! If everyone could quit just as simply as you wanted to, what would our sect become?”
Although Wu Dao was scolding Lin Dong, his eyes were filled with tears. Back then, he was the one who discovered Lin Dong and brought him to Dao Sect. Moreover, he also did his best to groom Lin Dong. In fact, after he learnt that Lin Dong was forced by Yuan Gate to leave the sect back at the Unique Devil City, he was so furious that he wanted to head right to Yuan Gate to demand an explanation. Fortunately, someone stopped him in the end.
Lin Dong was quiet. He was indebted to Wu Dao and he had always respected the latter. However, the Eastern Xuan Region was different from the Demon Region. The sect mentality was extremely prevalent here and once one entered a sect, it was equivalent to joining a family. Hence, it was an extremely serious offence to quit one’s sect.
“Martial junior Lin Dong, the disciples of Dao Sect have been anticipating your return.” Wang Yan sighed softly.
“Martial junior Lin Dong.”
At a short distance away, Pang Tong had a solemn expression. Meanwhile, his eyes contained an excited tinge that was difficult to hide, as he said, “You should be aware of the current situation in the Eastern Xuan Region. Moreover, you should also know the predicament that our Dao Sect is currently in.”
“I, Pang Tong, might not be very knowledgeable, but I know that martial junior Lin Dong will not abandon his fellow martial brothers in Dao Sect. Just like how you did not abandon us back at Unique Devil City.”
“Over the past year, many martial brothers from our Dao Sect have died in the hands of Yuan Gate. If it was not because of little senior sister Huanhuan, our Dao Sect might have been wiped out already. Hence, our Dao Sect will never forgive Yuan Gate. Therefore, I hope that martial junior Lin Dong can repeat that sentence that he said back then.”
Pang Tong’s voice paused, before he suddenly knelt down with one knee on the ground. Meanwhile, there were tears rolling down his rugged face.
“Martial junior Lin Dong!”
“Please strengthen our Dao Sect!”
Bang bang bang!
Behind him, that black cluster of Dao Sect disciples all knelt down. Amongst that rolling sea of humans, every single face was filled with hatred towards Yuan Gate as well as a hopeful expression.
“Martial brother Lin Dong, please strengthen our Dao Sect!”
“Martial brother Lin Dong, please strengthen our Dao Sect!”
Low and deep thunderous voices resounded across the sky. Meanwhile, that unknown emotion heavily collided against Lin Dong’s heart. At this moment, a massive heartache finally struck his chest, causing his eyes to turn red involuntarily.