Chapter 43: Question He Couldn’t Answer

Morning light shone through the curtains as Ao opened his eyes.

They lingered on the ceiling above him for a moment, his skin feeling heavy.

It wasn’t the ordinary tiredness one could experience after a day’s worth of exertion, but rather the dull ache of the exhaustion he felt when he pushed his cultivation beyond the bounds of comfort.

Ao’s spirit had recovered somewhat during his unconscious state, though the emptiness in the dantian still stood out

Ao moved his fingers and then his whole hand. Everything worked normally.

Ao turned his head and saw Lin Yue next to the bed. She had been there for a few seconds already. Her hair was slightly messy, and the look around her eyes suggested that she hadn’t spent the last several nights sleeping soundly.

As their eyes met, Lin Yue straightened. "You’re awake."

Ao pushed himself up. As his muscles tensed, a dull ache flared in his chest and shoulders.

Lin Yue instantly pressed a hand against him. "Slow down."

"I’m fine."

"You’ve been unconscious for nearly a day."

Ao frowned at her hand before looking back at her. "Not exactly a long time."

Lin Yue stared at him with an unblinking expression. Slowly, she pulled her hand away. "You really can’t tell when you’ve gone too far, can you?"

Ao leaned his back against the headboard. "What do you mean by going too far?"

"Making people worry.

Ao didn’t object.

Lin Yue studied her hands for a moment, then met his eyes again. "You went too far.

"I killed the Ironwood Clan.

"Exactly what I mean. You not only killed their Clan Head but fought with everyone else in their territory when you had already lost consciousness after killing the leader

"They came after me!"

"They came after my family!"

Ao said nothing in response. Lin Yue took a slow breath. "You told me all this was because you owed me something. That I helped you when you first came to the city and that was enough for you to help pay it back." She tilted her head, watching him carefully. "You repaid your debt."

Ao only gave her a quiet look. "I did."

"You didn’t owe us the Ironwood Clan. You didn’t owe my father his freedom. You didn’t owe my family our home. And you certainly didn’t owe us your life.

"I survived.

Lin Yue’s expression darkened. "That’s not an answer."

"It is."

"It isn’t." She gave him another long, sad look, still studying him from behind her chair. "You always say something simple like that like you think that puts an end to the conversation."

"Usually it does." Ao replied. "Not with you."

Ao met her eyes with something like a grin on his face, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. "My family owes you everything." She said quietly. "I owe you everything. Even if you don’t want to hear it."

"I don’t owe you anything."

"Because I don’t want anything from you."

Lin Yue fell silent. To Ao’s mind it was a completely natural thing to say, but he could see the effect it had on her. After a moment Lin Yue even smiled slightly. "Probably the most thing about you."

"What is?"

"You help someone without asking what you get in return."

Ao made no reply, unsure of whether he should have agreed with her. His gaze lowered. Why had he done it? That was the question he had asked himself several times since waking up at the Lin’s residence. The Ao Kuiba of old probably would’ve walked away entirely. The years of cultivation had taught him a lesson: to walk away from what wasn’t his problem. The internal struggle of the Lin family had nothing personally to do with him when he first arrived in theAzure Cloud City.

But he hadn’t walked away.

He had fought.

Had chased the Ironwood Clan, even when he should’ve known he had pushed too far.

Was it because of Adam?

The foreign thought appeared silently in Ao’s mind. The man had been different, but Ao remembered he was also very much like him. He had had his arrogance and his flaws, but in some strange places he had also been willing to help those whom he found worthy. In some ways perhaps had affected the decisions Ao had made ever since the moment their souls had joined.

Ao’s eyes narrowed slightly. He was becoming quite annoyed with all these thoughts. There was simply no sense to it anymore. There was no "Adam" and no "Ao" anymore living simultaneously inside him. Their souls, minds, personalities had melded perfectly. All the thoughts, memories, instincts he had belonged to were now one single living being.

He was Ao Kuiba. He was also Adam Albert. It was futile thinking about every little thing as though it had been either Adam or Ao who caused it

The feeling faded as suddenly as it had come.

"You’re thinking again," Lin Yue pointed out.

Ao didn’t seem surprised to hear it. He looked at her and gave a small sad smile. "About what?"

"You tell me."

"Nothing important."

She sighed. "You really aren’t fond of talking about yourself."

"Not particularly."

"I noticed."

A smile appeared on Lin Yue’s face.

Ao shook the blanket off and pushed himself upright. His legs felt weaker than he expected, and he steadied himself before Lin Yue could react

She still noticed. "You’re still injured."I’m recovering."

"You should stay in bed."

"I’ve stayed long enough."

"According to who?"

"Me."

Lin Yue stared at him for several seconds. "You almost collapsed!"

"I didn’t."

"You had to steady yourself!"

"That’s not the same thing!"

She shook her head. "You are impossible."

"I’ve heard that before."

Ao walked towards the door. Lin Yue followed with her gaze. "Where are you going?"

"I have things to do."

"You’ve just woke up."

"I know."

"You should rest!"

"I’ve rested!"

"You’ve been unconscious!"

Ao paused for a moment. Lin Yue gave him a look which told him that she most definitely wouldn’t accept his last remark

For once Ao almost smiled. "I’ll be fine."

"You don’t have to prove it to me."

He looked back at her. Lin Yue stood from her chair, and there was a pause as they just looked at each other. Then quietly she said, "You could stay for a little while."

Ao didn’t immediately answer. There were plenty of things ahead for him. His cultivation needed to recover. The formation in the ground under the Spiritual Spring was still an enigma, though at least he could assume it had caused the death of the Ironwood Clan. The Fallen Star Ruins weren’t that far away either, and Long Xuan had awakened just last night. Yun Rou was recovering, and the inheritance of the Dragon God that resided within him wasn’t even at the beginning of its discovery yet.

But none of these things required him to leave at that very moment.

"I suppose I can stay for a while."

Lin Yue smiled. Not much, but he could see it.

"Thank you." Lin Yue said. "Everything."

Ao didn’t know how to reply, so he simply nodded.

Lin Yue turned to the door, but stopped after walking a couple of paces. She paused for a moment, and Ao saw it happen. "Something wrong?"

Lin Yue turned around. "No."

She walked back towards him. Ao looked at her as she walked, a bit surprised. She stopped in front of him and simply stared at him. There was a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes... and then she had made up her mind.

Lin Yue closed the distance between them and kissed him. The kiss was quick, so quick in fact that Ao barely had time to respond before she had pulled away. Her face was instantly red, and she looked away. "I.." She glanced at him. "I just wanted to do that."

Ao stared at her. Lin Yue was embarrasses enough at his gaze, as if she hadn’t done something unforgivable already. "Forget it." She turned around and walked fast towards the door.

"Lin Yue."

She stopped with her hand on the door.

Ao looked at her. Still caught off guard. He had felled countless powerful beasts, fought battles which would’ve destroyed an ordinary cultivator, dodged Nascent Soul masters, but in some strange way just a simple kiss made him without knowing what to say next.

"You..."

He paused.

Lin Yue glanced back. "What?"

Ao looked at her for a few seconds. Nothing came out of his mind.

Lin Yue smiled slightly. Then she opened the door and left.

The room became quiet again, and Ao stayed put. Slowly, he raised a hand and touched his lips.

A familiar voice sounded in his mind. "So this is what finally managed to silence you."

Ao’s expression changed. "Long Xuan."

A dragon God laughed. "I’ve seen you fight numerous opponents stronger than yourself before, but one woman kisses you and suddenly you look like you forgot how to speak."

Ao’s eyes narrowed. "You’re enjoying this."

"Immensely."

"Stay out of my affairs."

"I would, but you make them hard to ignore."

Ao sighed and lowered his hand in front of his eyes. Long Xuan laughed again. "Thousands of years experience and this is what defeats you."It didn’t defeat me."Of course not."Ao could hear the amusement in his voice. "You’re simply just standing there staring at the door because you have absolutley no idea what just happened."

Ao glanced at the closed door. For once, he found he couldn’t deny it immediately. A hint of a smile appeared on his face.

"You’re annoying."

"I’ve been called worse."

Ao shook his head and walked towards the window. Looking outside, Ao sawAzure Cloud City was already awake. Various merchants opened their shops, cultivators took to the streets, vendors shouted at passersby, and carriages rolled on the road.

The city had returned to its daily schedule, as if it didn’t care at all about the destruction which had just taken place not far from its gates.

The Ironwood Clan was gone. The Lin family’s fate was being decided. The City Lord was watching carefully. The Fallen Star Ruins were set to appear within a few months. And under the Spiritual Spring, an unknown formation remained waiting for someone to discover what it really was

Ao had plenty of problems ahead of him. Yet for once none of them seemed to concern him

His fingers touched his lips for the briefest of moments.

Inside him, Long Xuan laughed. Ao closed his eyes. "Not a word."

"I didn’t say anything."

"You were about to."

Another laugh replied to him.