The two embraced softly, and Jiang Chen suddenly noticed the shift in Huang'er's tone. He turned to look and found tears glistening at the corners of her eyes, which caught him off guard.
"Huang'er, you… What's making you so sad? We've been through life and death together. In this lifetime, no one can tear us apart. Your Hundred Lives Unity Curse is cured now — even if the sky falls, I can hold it up…"
Jiang Chen extended his large hand, somewhat clumsily wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes.
Seeing his clumsy tenderness, a warm current surged through Huang'er's heart. She struggled to rein in her emotions and broke into a smile. "Brother Chen, I was just thinking about the sorrows of my background, and for a moment I couldn't help myself. You mustn't laugh at me."
When Jiang Chen saw her smile, his worry turned to relief. He gently cupped her cheeks and planted an affectionate kiss on her lovely forehead.
"Don't worry, girl. Not only will the sky not fall — even if it does, your Brother Chen will hold it up for you. That's not empty bravado. It's my promise to you."
He took both of her hands in his, their eyes meeting, and made the vow with absolute sincerity.
Those eyes, blazing with heat like open flame, could have melted even solid ice — let alone the hearts of two people so deeply in love.
Huang'er's heart overflowed with infinite joy at his words. She nodded ceaselessly, as though trying to pull this happiness into the deepest recesses of her soul without reservation.
"Brother Chen… I…" Huang'er murmured softly. The composed, unflappable young lady Huang'er was now somewhat overwhelmed herself, her heart racing like a startled deer beneath her lover's fiery words. From her cheeks to her neck, her skin flushed the color of a sunset haze.
Their eyes met once more, and their lips drew together like the opposite poles of a magnet, drawn irresistibly into contact.
In that moment, it seemed even the bright moon overhead grew too shy to watch, hiding behind a veil of clouds and refusing to peek out.
The courtyard, deep in the night, was drenched in tenderness like flowing water.
And then, at that precise instant, a jarringly discordant sound shattered the perfect reverie.
The sound was a cough.
It came from nowhere in particular, arriving with baffling abruptness, with stunning timing — the most spectacular mood-killer imaginable.
Though Jiang Chen couldn't tell whose cough it was, he had to admit that in this moment, he genuinely wanted to swat the offender flat.
"Sigh. Huang'er, once is already too much — must you go and do it again?" A clear, resonant voice seemed to pierce through the void itself.
Hmm? Jiang Chen froze completely at the sound. The voice was utterly foreign — he was certain he had never heard it before.
Who was that?
Jiang Chen swept Huang'er behind him, unleashing the full power of his Heavenly Eye Divine Pupil to scan every direction as he demanded, "Who's there?"
At that moment, it would have been a lie to say Jiang Chen felt no alarm whatsoever.
The Young Lord's Manor atop Peacock Sacred Mountain was protected by formidable defenses. Setting aside everything else, the Nine Subtle Flying Formation alone was absolutely not something just anyone could breach.
And yet this voice was clearly right on top of them.
No matter who this person was or where they had come from, they had bypassed the Nine Subtle Flying Formation and infiltrated the Young Lord's Manor. How could Jiang Chen not be thoroughly alarmed?
Huang'er, however, gripped Jiang Chen's hand firmly. Her expression remained calm. "Elder Xi, it seems you've broken your promise. Don't forget what you swore to me."
For a long while, the void fell utterly silent. No matter how desperately Jiang Chen probed with his spiritual sense, he could detect not the faintest fluctuation. The space around them seemed to have sunk into an endless void of chaos — as though the courtyard had suddenly been severed from the entirety of Peacock Sacred Mountain, wrenched away entirely.
After a considerable stretch of time, a soft sigh drifted from the void.
"This old man did not wish to do something so thoroughly tasteless. But, Miss Huang'er, take one more step forward and you will be compounding error upon error. Once that line is crossed, what is spilled cannot be gathered up again. Have you considered the consequences?" The one Huang'er had called Elder Xi spoke once more from the void.
Jiang Chen let out a cold snort. "Just who are you, skulking in the shadows like this? Show yourself and speak. No matter who you are."
Jiang Chen could sense that this person was far from ordinary. The answer was practically on the tip of his tongue — this had to be a visitor from the Abyssal Domain.
Huang'er did not try to stop him. She simply laced her arm through Jiang Chen's and held on tight, as though afraid he might suddenly vanish into the sky.
"Young man, you are remarkably bold, daring to impersonate the Abyssal Domain's name. Are you not afraid that your lawless conduct will bring catastrophe upon your Peacock Sacred Mountain?" Elder Xi's tone was flat and detached.
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. "The Abyssal Domain doesn't belong to anyone in particular. Your threats and intimidation seem rather misplaced, wouldn't you say?"