PNB Chapter 124 No Goodbye (7)
Chapter 124 No Goodbye (7)
"Ah Qing... hang in there, we're almost there." Xuan Yue moved through the darkness, the only light coming from the faint glow of the jade pendant...
"..." Xuan Qing didn't answer; he had no energy left to respond...
Xuan Yue seemed to understand his situation, and stopped speaking, instead increasing the force of her flapping wings, trying to go faster...
Faster…
Until, I saw the beam of light that guided me to the finish line—
"Ah Qing! We're here!" Xuan Yue rushed towards the rift at lightning speed (closer, closer...)
"Ugh..." Xuan Qing slightly opened his eyes and saw Xuan Yue carrying him through the crack, plummeting directly from the sky to the ground...
(!!!) Because the speed was too fast, it was impossible to stop. Xuan Yue looked at the ground that was rapidly approaching and her first reaction was to protect the people behind her.
In mid-air, he sidestepped and shielded Xuan Qing in his arms, even using the golden crow's wings to tightly envelop him, attempting to use his own body to protect him from the impact of landing...
But after a while, the expected pain didn't come. When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves on a flower—no, it should be said that the flower caught them.
"Ink Lotus..."
"Activate the formation!" At the command of the Eightfold Divine Son, countless chains surged forth from the magic formation on the ground. These chains, bearing special runes, rushed towards the person in Xuan Yue's arms.
"What!" Before Xuan Yue could react, the person he was protecting in his arms was pulled away from him by these chains.
"Ah Qing—!" Just as Xuan Yue was about to take flight, runes appeared on the petals of the black lotus, forming a dome that trapped Xuan Yue inside.
Even when he pounded on the protective barrier, it couldn't budge an inch; even when he commanded Mo Lian, it remained unmoved.
All he could do was watch helplessly as the chains in mid-air tightly bound Xuan Qing's limbs, forming a cage that trapped him inside.
The person inside simply closed their eyes, showed no expression, and made no struggle, quietly allowing the chains to penetrate their body, connect with their meridians, and seal them.
"film."
The moment the formation was completed, without the divine child's prompting, Lei Ying, enveloped in lightning, transformed into a purple bolt of lightning and sped away into the distance, carrying the cage that imprisoned Xuan Qing...
"Where are you taking Xuanqing?!" Xuan Yue panicked and golden flames erupted from his body. His strength caused the protective barrier that was trapping him to sway precariously, but it was almost broken.
"Why did you attack Qingyue?!" Kong and Paimon, who were standing to the side, also expressed their confusion.
The divine child, seeing that her work had gone perfectly, breathed a sigh of relief and calmed herself before answering them: "...Since the shadow isn't here, my 'contract' is complete. Now I can tell you the cause of this matter, but don't be shocked."
The conversation at that time in the Pure Land of One Heart—
"Xuan Yue has been taken away by the 'Order' of another world, and I'm going to find him. But the moment I return, you must act immediately, without any hesitation!"
"Make a move? Make a move against whom? The 'order' of another world?" Shadow directly raised his question.
No, it's about me.
"!!!" Ying looked at Xuan Qing, hesitant to speak.
"Shocked, aren't you? I had the same expression back then." The Divine Child even had the mood to tease the Shadow: "If you weren't so hard to find in the Pure Land of One Heart, you wouldn't be the last person to know this news."
"Hmm? Does that mean... someone else wants to get involved? Well, it's true, the Divine Child and I alone can't defeat you."
"Shadow, you really only think about fighting." The Divine Child was quite helpless with her stubborn old friend.
"The main purpose of this plan is not to fight, Balzeb. In my current state, if I go there and come back, the other side of power that I suppressed will be out of control. Now that Morax's power has been greatly reduced, even if the power of the other gods were combined, none of them could suppress me."
"So the main purpose of this plan is to seal me back underground."
-----
"!!!" Kong and Paimon were shocked.
"My task is to seal all the meridians in his body, temporarily halting the spread of that 'forbidden' power within him. As for Shadow, his task, as you've seen, is to bring him back to the border of Liyue. The sooner the better—"
"Who else is involved in this plan?" Paimon asked, both curious and somewhat worried.
The divine child shook his head with a helpless, bitter smile, then looked at Xuan Yue, whose face was gloomy, nestled among the petals. No one knew what he was thinking, but he was certainly not feeling well.
-----
A purple figure carrying a cage sped across the sea.
"Ugh... Hmm!" Black energy began to surge from Xuan Qing's body, attempting to break the seals on his meridians. Pain gnawed at his brain, but he used his remaining sanity to prevent himself from losing control—
Lei didn't turn around, but she became nervous. Her speed was already that fast, and the only way to shorten the time was to fly to Liyue in the shortest straight line without any deviation.
"I'm here!" Wendy, no, Barbatos suddenly appeared on the sea. He took on half the weight of the cage and used the wind as a booster to increase their speed to another level.
"Fly to the Abyss of Laminaria! The old man and the others are ready!" Barbatos pointed out the direction as he flew.
Lei didn't answer, and followed the wind god towards their destination. These "taboos" were almost impossible to suppress; at this moment, not a single second could be wasted.
"They're almost here, everyone, let's enter the formation." Zhongli's hair tips lit up, and the 16 rock pillars representing the formation's core rose from the ground.
"Sigh... I thought there was still a chance for things to turn around, but oh well..." Li Shui sighed heavily and flew to the core of a magic array.
These words reflected the sentiments of all the immortals present, but since things had come to this point, they knew what was important and entered the magic formation without lingering.
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"Even with the abdication of the Geo Archon, Liyue's sealing techniques are still formidable. Therefore, that lord left behind this contingency plan, informing the Liyue immortals in advance and involving them in this matter along with the Anemo Archon of Mondstadt."
With the explanation from the Divine Child, Sora and Paimon understood everything. They looked worriedly at Xuan Yue, who was trapped in the Ink Lotus and unresponsive. His eyes were empty and lifeless, like a puppet, isolated from the outside world...
(Need help? Xuan Yue?) A familiar voice entered Xuan Yue's mind, through the jade pendant on his body.
(Do you have a way? Can you save Aqing?) Xuanqing's telepathic message brought a glimmer of hope to Xuanyue's eyes...
(...No, his condition is very serious, almost uncontrollable. He did the right thing; the only way is to be sealed back into the darkness, thus preventing other beings from being corrupted by the "forbidden" thing.)
(...) The light in his eyes dimmed again. If even he, who was also an "order," couldn't solve it, then who could?
(But I have a way to suppress them, let Xuanqing recover, and return to the dominant position...) [Xuanqing] continued.
(What method?)
(By removing some of the "taboos" in this world, the power within Xuan Qing's body will be significantly weakened; repairing some of the earth's veins will also benefit him.)
(But... right now, there's nothing I can do to help.)
(No, I offer my power as a gift to help you reclaim your place in "Order".)