"One entered the Dao through sincerity, guarded it through silence, and wielded it through gentleness."
"Water and fire achieved harmony, metal and wood joined together; refined by the sun and cooked by the moon, the immortal embryo emerged and transformed into spirit, becoming an exalted immortal."
The voice of the Great Dao seemed to chant in the void.
The two scriptures were not long, but they were deep and obscure. Yu Tianqing spent quite some time before he could understand their meaning.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Nan Shuishui's lovely face, tears streaming down it like rain on pear blossoms.
"Tianqing, you're awake."
When Nan Shuishui saw that Yu Tianqing had awakened, she hurriedly pulled him into her arms. Only that tangible touch could confirm that the person before her was not an illusion.
Yu Tianqing only felt his face sink between two soft mounds, nearly leaving him unable to breathe.
He struggled a couple of times in Nan Shuishui's arms before she understood what he meant and hurriedly let him go.
A blush crept from her neck to the tips of her ears.
As though she had remembered something, Nan Shuishui blushed even more deeply and lowered her head involuntarily. For a moment, the atmosphere was a little awkward.
"Ahem." Yu Tianqing coughed twice, breaking the silence first. "Aunt Nan, I'm fine. Why are you here? Where's Luochen?"
"I took her and fled toward the edge of the Far North. We happened to meet some Heavenly Dragon Sect disciples returning from Soul Hunting, so I had Da Bai and Er Ka take her away first. Xiao San followed your scent and found this place."
Yu Tianqing looked behind Nan Shuishui and saw a Far North Ice Plains Wolf sitting obediently there, tongue out and tail wagging.
"Mm, it's good that everyone's all right."
Silence fell over them again.
"Sizzle-"
Nan Shuishui turned toward the sound and saw that the snow beneath Yu Tianqing had begun to melt, white vapor rising from it.
She looked at Yu Tianqing's face again. His skin was an abnormal shade of red, like a cooked shrimp.
She reached out and touched Yu Tianqing's forehead. It was scorching hot, and anxiety returned to Nan Shuishui's face.
"Tianqing, have you noticed anything wrong?"
"Wrong? I don't think so. Hiss-"
No sooner had Yu Tianqing spoken than he clutched his lower abdomen. A piercing pain surged from it straight to the crown of his head, as though a sharp blade had run him through from bottom to top.
The pain lasted only three seconds before subsiding, but beads of sweat as large as beans had already covered Yu Tianqing's forehead.
And he had a premonition that this bout of pain was only an early warning, and that something even more terrible was coming.
"Tianqing, what's wrong? Don't frighten me."
Nan Shuishui looked at Yu Tianqing, who had collapsed on the snow and was gasping for breath, at a complete loss. The usually composed sect master had lost her composure at this moment.
"Huff-huff-"
Yu Tianqing regained his senses. The pain just now had nearly made him pass out, and he remembered what the "backlash" the Heavenly Venerable had mentioned before leaving meant.
The thing he had feared most throughout his cultivation had finally come.
His whole body was burning hot: his Yang Thunder Dragon Martial Soul had erupted completely.
The pain in his lower abdomen was his Yin Thunder Dragon Martial Soul wailing.
Yin and yang were out of balance. This damned Martial Soul!
And right now, the person who could solve this problem was right in front of him.
He had expressed his love to Nan Shuishui when he lured the Ice Empress away. If he told Nan Shuishui the reason directly, Yu Tianqing believed she would surely help him.
A forcibly twisted melon might quench thirst, but if there was a sweet one, he ought to eat the sweet one.
He knew the difference between eating his fill for one meal and eating his fill at every meal.
Before transmigrating, Yu Tianqing had already been a young man in his early twenties. There was nothing to be ashamed of about liking someone more mature like Nan Shuishui. That was how he truly felt.
Cultivating the Dao was also cultivating the heart.
"Aunt Nan, I'm fine."
Yu Tianqing struggled to sit up in the snow and managed to squeeze out a smile as he looked at Nan Shuishui.
"I didn't expect you to care about me so much, Aunt Nan."
"Tianqing, are you really all right?"
"Shuishui, I really am fine."
Yu Tianqing smiled and shook his head, even patting his chest.
But when Nan Shuishui heard what Yu Tianqing had called her, her heart trembled, for this was only the second time she had heard him address her that way, both times today.
Sure enough...
"I said earlier that I liked you. I wonder if you can accept my feelings?"
"Tianqing, don't. It isn't like that."
"I'm serious." Yu Tianqing took Nan Shuishui's delicate hand. "You told me to pursue Ling Luochen, and when we ran into the Ice Empress, you told me to take her away. But what I wanted most was for you to live."
"I'm unmarried, and you don't have a spouse now either. I'll treat Qiuqiu as my own."
"I'm already so old..."
"Shuishui, you're as beautiful as you were more than ten years ago. Anyone who saw you and Qiuqiu would think you were sisters. Age, status-I don't care about any of that..."
Before Yu Tianqing could finish, another wave of pain rose from his lower abdomen, making his teeth chatter.
"Tianqing, something's wrong with you. What on earth happened? Whatever it is, you have to tell me!"
Nan Shuishui stepped forward to examine him, but Yu Tianqing reached out and pushed her away.
It took quite a while for his mind to clear again. Time would not let him wait any longer.
Now, he had no choice but to resort to a few little tricks.
"Shuishui, if you don't agree, my heart will ache."
Seeing that Yu Tianqing actually had the time to clown around with her, Nan Shuishui was almost angry enough to laugh. She gave him a charming roll of her eyes.
"Pah! That's not your heart aching. What on earth is wrong with your body?"
"Then agree to it first, Shuishui."
Seeing Yu Tianqing act shamelessly, and knowing that his pain just now had been real, Nan Shuishui could only agree for the time being.
"Sweetheart, don't joke about your health. Honestly, I can't do anything with you. I'll agree, all right?"
"Really?"
"Mm." Nan Shuishui nodded. "I'll let you pursue me."
Delight appeared on Yu Tianqing's face. Yang Lightning gathered in his left arm and shot rapidly into the snow beneath them, boring a hole about five meters deep.
Before Nan Shuishui could react, Yu Tianqing reached out, pulled her tightly by the waist, and entered the hole with her.
The light was dim, and Yu Tianqing's actions had left Nan Shuishui somewhat bewildered.
"My Yin Yang Thunder Dragon Martial Soul is out of balance."
"What! How could you not have told me something so important sooner?"
The sudden news drained the color from Nan Shuishui's beautiful face. She sent Soul Power into Yu Tianqing's body to examine him.
She had only just been separated from Yu Tianqing, unsure whether he would live or die. Now that she saw he was alive, she did not want to experience losing him again.
But this was also the first time such an imbalance of yin and yang attributes as Yu Tianqing's had occurred on the continent. She had no idea what to do and was as frantic as an ant on a hot pan.
But when she turned around, she saw Yu Tianqing spreading a blanket on the ground, looking completely unhurried.
"What are you doing? Are you planning to bury yourself here? Tianqing, don't give up. There must be another way. I'll take you to the Heavenly Dragon Sect to find your great-great-grandfather, and to Shrek Academy to find your grandmaster. Don't give up!"
As Nan Shuishui spoke, she reached for Yu Tianqing's arm to pull him outside. But when she tugged, his feet felt as though they had taken root, and she could not budge him. Puzzled, she looked up, only to see a wicked smile at the corner of his mouth.
"Shuishui, I have a way. I want you to help me cultivate."
The light vanished. It was unclear what Yu Tianqing had taken out to seal the cave.
Nan Shuishui felt a wave of scorching heat wash over her. Then, as Yu Tianqing undid the knotted buttons of her qipao one by one, she finally understood what he meant by a way.
Only one thought remained in her mind:
Oh no, I fell for this brat's trick!
A flood dragon frolicked in the water, thunder rumbled, and rain fell.