Chapter 104: I am glad you find me

The small flame hovering above Qing Yan’s palm cast long shadows against the jagged stone walls of the alcove. Outside, the freezing mountain wind howled through the narrow ravine, carrying the noise of the Shadow Vanguard Watchers patrolling the cliffs. Inside the cramped space, the air was warm with the rich scent of her Blazing Phoenix fire and the underlying tension of six people trapped in a concrete box.

Jiang Wei and the other two survivors had finally succumbed to exhaustion, their breathing dropping into a deep, rhythmic rhythm as they slept soundly against the far rock face. But across the small cavern, Lu Chen wasn’t sleeping. He sat slumped in the darkest corner, his arms locked across his chest, his eyes fixed on us with a silent, burning malice that felt like a physical weight in the dark.

I ignored him completely, shifting my position until my bare shoulder was flush against Qing Yan’s under the velvet blanket i brought from system. Her head was still resting lightly against my upper arm, her long silk-black hair cascading over my sleeve. The long gold earrings caught the dim red glow, swaying slightly with every shallow breath she took.

“You’re still awake, Fire Empress,” I murmured, my voice a low, gravelly whisper that barely carried across the two inches between us.

Qing Yan didn’t move her head, but her eyelashes fluttered as she stared into the compressed orb of fire dancing above her fingers. “How can I sleep, Barry? The guards of the Third Demon Lord are standing right outside our door. A few years ago, just seeing that red plate armor meant an entire village would be reduced to ash before morning.”

She paused, her fingers tightening slightly against the blanket. “And you… you are sitting here completely relaxed, as if we are merely taking a midnight stroll. Sometimes, I truly cannot tell if you are incredibly brave or just completely missing a brain cell.”

“Hey, I’ve got plenty of brain cells, they’re just all dedicated to figuring out how to keep that beautiful smile on your face,” I grinned, leaning my head down until my lips almost brushed the soft tip of her ear. “Besides, I told you back in the camp—I’m a Meridian master now. Those three guys outside are fast, but if they step one foot into this cave, they’ll be dead before they can even blow their little signal horn.”

A beautiful, soft pink flush spread across her cheeks at my proximity, her breath catching slightly. She turned her face toward me, her large, clear eyes reflecting the crimson light as she looked into mine with a sudden, profound seriousness. “Your cultivation level… it shifted so fast during our loop. To breach the Meridian Stage in a single night is unprecedented in the entire history of the outer sects. Barry… who exactly are you? Where did you come from?”

I looked into her eyes, the playful teasing smirk fading from my face for a brief moment. I couldn’t tell her about from where i come for now, To the rest of the world, I had to remain a mystery.

“I’m just a guy who crawled out of the dark to find you, Fire Empress,” I said softly, my voice rich with an unyielding sincerity as I reached out under the blanket, my large hand finding her slender fingers and squeezing them firmly. “. What matters is now i am right here. I promised you I’d take full responsibility for your life and your safety, and I intend to keep that promise until there isn’t a single demon left standing in this world who is a threat to you.”

Qing Yan stared at me, her lower lip trembling slightly as the sheer, honesty of my words melted the last of her guarded pride. She didn’t pull her hand back this time. Instead, she shifted closer, her soft chest pressing lightly against my arm as she nestled her face deeper into the crook of my neck, accepting my warmth completely. “You are an incredibly arrogant brute,” she whispered softly, a tiny, genuine smile breaking through her shyness in the dark. “But… I suppose I am glad you found me.”

Suddenly, the peaceful silence of the cave was shattered.

Clack! Clatter!

From the dark corner, Lu Chen had tried to shift his position out of sheer frustration, his eyes blindingly fixed on our intimate embrace. But in his blind jealousy and anger, his boot caught the edge of a loose, jagged stone plate on the cavern floor. The rock slipped, sliding across the gravel with a sharp, echoing ring that sounded like a thunderclap in the dead stillness of the ravine.

“Ah—!” Lu Chen gasped, his face turning instantly pale as he froze in place.

Outside, the heavy thuds of the Demon Watchers’ boots instantly stopped.

“Intruder signature detected in Sector Four,” a deep, metallic, and guttural voice boomed from the ravine, sending a chilling wave of dark aura sweeping through the cracks of our stone cleft. “Activate the tracking arrays. Sweep the lower cave walls immediately.”

“You idiot!” Jiang Wei blurted out, snapping awake instantly as his hand flew to his azure blade, his face completely devoid of color. “The sensors! They’re coming right toward us!”

A harsh, blood-red beam of spiritual light suddenly cut through the thick white fog outside, painting the entrance of our narrow alcove in an eerie, crimson glow. The scraping of their crescent glaives dragging against the stone trail grew closer and closer. Four paces. Three paces.

“Barry…” Qing Yan whispered, her eyes flashing back into a lethal, burning red as she immediately extinguished the small flame in her hand, plunging us into total darkness. Her fingers dug fiercely into my shoulders, her heart hammering wildly against my chest.

“Stay behind me, Fire Empress,” I commanded, my voice dropping all its humor, turning into a smooth, terrifyingly calm ice.

I stood up slowly, the pitch-black air of the cave instantly warping as the massive, boundary-breaking pressure of my Meridian Stage core began to thrum beneath my white and blue clothes. If they wanted a fight in the dark, I was more than ready to show them what an absolute master could do.