Flowers of Love
Chapter 5
Into the Abyss
On the way, Yin Luo had already told Bai Zhu about all the incidents that happened at the Jade Pool, including that there were still people trapped there. Even though they have used all their effort to quickly get there, they still fell behind by a step. At the sea"s end, there was only that complete darkness without light which was the abyss. The Jade Pool was missing from sight, seeming to have already completely fallen in.
Bai Zhu only frowned while staring at that vast of deathly silence, the fist at his side tightened. After a long while did he turn to say "Thank you for your a.s.sistance. Your guiding me till here is good enough. The Abyss is dangerous, it would be better if you leave first."
"You want to go into the Endless Abyss!" Yin Luo was able to hear the meaning from his words.
Bai Zhu"s brows furrowed deeper, after awhile he finally said in a grave voice, "Within there is my fellow Bai Mu disciples, I must go save them!" As he said, raising the corner of his lips, slowly becoming a smile. At that moment, flowers bloomed! "You stay here, not long and help from the various sects would arrive! Nothing will happen!"
"Then I will go too!" Perhaps it"s because his smile is too entrancing, without thinking, Yin Luo grabs his hand. It wasn"t until she received his stunned gaze, did she realize what she had said, but she didn"t regret. "I....I have friends in there also! I want to go save him!" She said those words that even she didn"t believe, couldn"t help but laugh inside her heart. Friend? Does she really have friends?
Bai Zhu took a look at her, showing a little hesitance.
Yin Luo immediately added to her bargaining counter, "The Jade Pool is already under the Tian Ling Zhen, outsiders can"t go in, but I know that below the Jade Pool there is a secret pa.s.sageway, it goes straight to the center of the Jade Pool!"
As expected, Bai Zhu appeared slightly more at ease. Taking another look at her, he lifted his hand above the head and swept it down. A transparent force field suddenly surrounded the two. He said, "Be careful!" Without waiting another moment, they flew into the complete darkness of the Endless Abyss.
The world all says Abyss:Yellow Springs, describing the Abyss to be frightening like the Yellow Springs. After having been in it, the Yellow Springs is no where like the Abyss.
The Yellow Springs is a path where the dead must pa.s.s through, although it"s heavily eerie with ghastly atmosphere, but it still has evidence of life. As for the Abyss, it is a wasteland, no humans and no ghost, and not even an evidence of life. Taking a broad view, other than darkness, there is still only darkness. To be in this type of place, you will feel as though even you, yourself, isn"t actually existing.
Completely deathlike, a complete void. Yin Luo finally understands why those who enter here, none has managed to make it out. Putting aside that negative energy, even this dead silence alone can drive a person crazy. This darkness will little by little, slowly swallow up your heart up till not even your bones will remain. Within her heart suddenly comes a surge of panic, pressuring the heart to the point that it wants to burst apart!
"Follow closely!" The hold on her hand tightened, some warmth transfers into her palm. Yin Luo"s panicked heart at that moment calmed down quite a bit. Even though still unable to see, she knows that he has been watching over her, "Gather your thoughts, be calm, don"t think too much. Follow me and nothing should happen!"
"Yes." Yin Luo nodded, wanting to look down at that hand that he is holding. Even though she should not be able to see anything in this complete darkness, but why does she feel that there is a peachy red color. Is he concerned for her?
"Bai Zhu!" She can"t restrain herself to speak up again.
"Yes." He softly answered.
Biting onto her lip, some acidic bubbles surfaced in her heart. Desperately retaining her impulse to reach for a preserved honey, she hesitates for a long awhile before finally speaking up, "I.....I"m Yin Luo!"
The person infront made an apparent pause, slowing down briefly, "You"ve already said that before." His voice carried uncertainty.
Yin Luo"s heart had completely sunkened, he indeed doesn"t know her. That"s why he would treat her this gently.
"Gong Zi.....do you know, Yin Luo...this name"s implication?" She tilts her head down again, looking towards the direction of the hands. She really wants to see, those two hands held together, what would it look like? *Young Sir.*
The other person fell into a brief moment of speechlessness before speaking, "Just call me Bai Zhu is fine. Yin Luo, isn"t that exactly your name?"
"Yes, exactly a name! But every name has a implication, the name Yin Luo, in the six realms, although not really popular, but still it should be a name everyone is familiar with! To get to the point where everyone knows it, it"s indeed not that easy right? hehe...." She smiled broadly, but was unable to continue smiling. "Does Gong Zi happen to have siblings?"
He paused, "No."
"That"s really a pity!" Yin Luo sighed, "You"re not as lucky as I am! I do! Not only do I have one, but through the six realms she is also a well known and holy name. There"s probably no one who doesn"t know of it. On the day of her birth, a red glow filled the sky. Everywhere, all celebrate the occasion, a divine natural occurance. Blessed with heaven-sent intelligence, it"s as if there is nothing she can"t do. No matter what type of xian-powers, just as it pa.s.ses onto her, all can be flawlessly carried out. Unlike me, where everything is only learned to a half note. How am I so fortunate, to have such a elder sister! Within all six realms, if those who want to meet her line up, the line would be extending all the way from the North Sea to the Abyss and probably still not end."
He didn"t have a response, only tightening his hold on her hand.
Yin Luo wanted to smile again, lowering her head to look towards the hand in the darkness. Alright, she has already said it this apparently, why not take the final step? "We"re suppose to be sisters, although when together we don"t speak much, but we still have the same blood flowing through. So, still often there are those who put us together in comparison. She"s too perfect, so perfect to the point of not being able to find a thread of flaw. If there must be a flaw, then it"s probably me! Perhaps it"s because I don"t try hard enough, looking at those people besides her, no matter which one is picked out, who isn"t a talent? Only I am without a single redeeming aspect, stubbornly becoming the black streak of ink on this perfectness. You say...suppose both are born from the same mother, why is it that there is such a difference? Sometimes I suspect, am I really my mother"s child? Perhaps it"s as the six realm says, I am even disowned by heaven?"
Bai Zhu continues not making half a sound!
"Gong Zi, have you heard of the G.o.ddess Yan Xi?" Yin Luo asked.
"Naturally would hear of her." He slowly answered.
See, It"s true that her Lord Honor"s name is well known! "I ask you, this perfect of a person, how did she come to be? How come I can never reach that? No matter how hard I try, even if I lock myself on the Divine Mountain for a whole year to practice the arts of riding a sword, yet still unable to get even ten feet off the ground. Even if I studied a full ten years on a Divine Manual, yet still unable to produce any xian-remedy. Perhaps I"m suppose to be naturally this dim-witted."
"....." Before he spoke, Yin Luo wondered if he was shocked by her true story or that after finding out about her ident.i.ty, no longer wanted to acknowledge her. Subconsciously, a hand reaches into the bag at her side for a piece of preserved honey.
His hand suddenly loosened, the warmth around her hand immediately disappears. Suddenly, even her heart feels the cold. Sure enough, no one is willing to take her hand and pull her along. As she"s thinking that, there was a sudden tight hold on her waist.
"Careful!" Only having heard him softly speaking those words, her head crashed into a even warmer human wall, nose full with that faint and elegant fragrance. That was the scent of the robe on him. Faintly, she can even hear the steady dong dong sound coming through it. When aware of what it was, her face becomes like fire, flaring up. Within her chest, seems like there is something that wants to jump out.
"My discourtesy!" After awhile he finally let go of her, "The Abyss is not only heavy with negative energy, it is also flowing with turbulence. No matter how powerful one is, it can still cause damage."He was saving her just then?
"Why hadn"t you pushed me away?" She"s a G.o.ddess. Even if it"s turbulence, to her it can"t be considered anything! Even if she were to get hurt, in a short moment it wouldn"t even leave a scar behind, just like her left hand that had been cut earlier.
"Why should I push you away?" Bai Zhu questioned back. "You"re helping me to save the a.s.sembly of xians, my protecting you is natural."
Yin Luo kept her eyes wide open. Even though she knows she can"t see anything, but still she kept her stare in his direction, "What if I didn"t know anything, just fell into here, would you save me?"
For a moment he remained speechless, "My intention was to come here to save people, of course I would."
"Then what if, I"m no use, will only hinder others?"
"I would."
"Then what if, I"m not of the Xian realm?"
"I would."
"Than what if....what if...I am someone that others cast aside, notoriously bad named, don"t know how to do anything...."
"You"re naturally kind, no matter who you are, whether or not you can help me save the a.s.sembly of xians, I would still protect you."
Yin Luo does not open her mouth again, her heart a complete mess. Little bubbles starting to surface upwards. Her heart that was supposed to be dead and silent is as if instantly recovered. It"s not because of her Lord Honor, not because of the G.o.d realm. He saved her, only because he feels that he should save her.
Since she was little, she has already gotten used to everybody approaching her. They all held a purpose. The warmer their smile, often the more dangerous. She"s only a stepping board, although coated with the brilliance of a "G.o.d," yet can do nothing to change her nature of being trampled by others. No matter what dazzling shoe the person that approaches her is wearing, they would still trample her under their feet.
A thousand years have pa.s.sed this way. She has gotten use to it, gotten used to being trampled by others, gotten use to being used by others. She doesn"t care! She"s already accepted that kind of fate, accepted the fate that in this world there won"t be someone who would threat her with sincerity. Just because she is she! But right now.....
She suddenly sees hope.
"Arrived!" Bai Zhu stopped, "I can sense the energy from the a.s.sembly of xian, the Jade Pool is just in front, do you remember where the secret pa.s.sageway is?"
"Right under the Jade Pool!"
"We"ll go right now!" Continuing on sword, it"s apparent that they are going downwards, although in this complete darkness, one cannot quite see or feel it. She couldn"t restrain herself from grasping whatever is in front. What her palm touches is the fabric of his robe, but unable to take hold of it.The person in front of her very paused for a moment. Yin Luo"s heart was immediately raised high, afraid that he would suddenly cast her off.
After awhile, a warmth pressed over her hands. Bai Zhu held her hands, tightening his hold, "The secret pa.s.sageway you spoke of is right ahead. Once inside, we will be able to see it. Hold tightly!"It"s as if in a movement of the heart, the temperature in his hand is burning a bit, yet unexpectedly, she no longer wanted to remove it.
As if just broken into a house full of fog, light gradually fills all four directions. In front, the figure that is pulling her along, she can now see his profile. Her first reaction was to bend her head down to look at that pair of intertwined hands, her eyes tightly fixed, letting that warmth from her heart overflow.
Just Stare! Just Stare!
"My name is Ying Luo!" Abruptly raising her head, as if trying to confirm something, she stared at that person besides her.
"You"ve said that before." His reply was still those simple words. Putting away the sword, but not stopping his steps, he continued to pull her along towards that hidden pa.s.sage.
Holding back on that strange feeling in her heart, Yin Luo bit on her lip and spoke in a even louder voice, "I am Ying Luo, Ying Luo from the Divine Mountain, the disowned G.o.d, Ying Luo, I....I....I am her Lord Honor"s little sister!"
He stopped his steps, turning his head towards her. His brows tightly gathered together, carrying a probing expression while he looked at her. With that kind of expression, he kept staring at her until Yin Luo"s heart again twisted like a knot. "If....If...you have something in need to ask of her Lord Honor, or if you would like to meet her! I.....I....I will try my best!" If it"s him, to be a stepping board one more time, it"s alright, really!
His frown only deepened, staring at her for awhile, unwavering. Until Yin Luo out of discomfort, averted her eyes, did he answer inattentively with a "eng".
Voice deep, missing that affect of running spring water from before. Very apparently, there was a light tone of temper. Had she cause him to be unhappy?
"Left or right?" He finally asked.
"Ah?" Yin Luo was taken aback, looked forward, than finally realized that they have arrived at a fork in the secret pa.s.sageway. In a hurry, she pointed to a small pa.s.sageway on her side. "Right!"
He didn"t speak anymore, pulling her along as he continued forward. His steps obviously seems to have gotten faster, unlike before when he was intentionally trying to accommodate her footsteps. He truly has gotten angry.
"Bai Zhu!" She lowered her head, not knowing why her heart was feeling slightly heavy.
"Eng." It"s a reply that still carried a feeling of coldness.
"You know why I would know this secret pa.s.sageway?" She held onto the bag on her side, restraining her impulse to reach in.
"Don"t know."
"Three hundred years ago....it was also the Jade Pool Party! It was my first time coming with her Honor here. Then, there were many from the Divine Mountain that had come. But I fly slow...and there was no one willing to give me a ride. hehe.. By the time I"ve arrived here, the a.s.sembly had already dispersed. I had never attended this kind of gathering, so I thought, even if it"s already dispersed, just taking a look around the Jade Pool can still be a memory right? So.... I spent a entire day"s time, walking through all the routes around the Jade Pool. Yet, when wanting to return, I took a wrong step and fell into this secret pa.s.sageway." Thinking back to that time, she can"t help but start tugging at the corner of her lips. "Happens that this secret pa.s.sageway was quite complicated. I ended up using an entire month"s effort to find the correct exit path. Now, it"s already been 300 years since. Didn"t think that my memory would be this good, to still remember the route from back then."
Bai Zhu"s expression became heavy, unknowingly slowing down his footsteps. It"s not that her memories are good. It"s probably because her past experience had been too deep. Back then, even though the Jade Pool hadn"t fallen, but the cold air in this is tunnel is strong. With the addition of it being dark and damp and her alone, being trapped for an entire month, had she not been with the body of a G.o.d, afraid that perhaps....
"Her Lord Honor didn"t come to search for you?" With her powers as a G.o.d, finding her could have been done without effort.
"Her Honor....is very busy!" Yin Luo"s face fills to the brim with smiles yet again. Although clearly smiling like flowers in bloom, there is a trace of heaviness and cold misery filtering through.
--------------------------------------------------------->Chapter 5
Definitely Chapter 4~6 are my most favorite chapters since I"ve finished them pretty quickly. It"s so bitterly sweet. Yin Luo is definitely the character that I sympathize with the most in all the stories I"ve read. I remember crying for her in Chapter 2. The author wrote her to be so miserable that I just really want to go into the story and give her a hug. Poor girl is so alone. T_T We tried really hard to keep with the writer"s feel, but not sure if we were able to channel that same feel we got from reading the book in Chinese.
Since I"ve finished the whole book, and this being my second time reading it, it feels so much different reading it the second time around. Knowing all the background to everything makes every thing, movement, or word said much more meaningful. It makes me love Bai Zhu a notch more this time around.
Lastly, I might have translated the t.i.tle wrong. I"m seeking help from fellow Baidu fans to see if I can get more opinions on the meaning for the t.i.tle. This 禁 character either have a very straight forward meaning like "banned" or "forbidden." Thinking it through I don"t find any love to be forbidden in this story. While translating chapter 6 got me to redefine that the character 禁 could also mean "contain." So if that character is used with that meaning it would mean "Flowers that contain Love," which actually makes much more sense to me. I"ll be using "Flowers of Love" as the new t.i.tle. Sorry for the mix up.