Rise of the Five Elements, Chapter Ninety: Storm Clouds Gather

"You sleepyhead, you finally deigned to wake up."

Lu Jinghong focused her eyes and, at the sound of that voice, was reunited with the person she had missed for so long.

"Brother Su..."

The words caught in her throat.

Her eyes grew red, and she nearly shed tears.

"Reunion after a long separation is a great joy indeed." Su Ye smiled and reached out, gently wiping away the tears that had gathered at the corners of Lu Jinghong's eyes. "You are not allowed to cry."

Feeling the tenderness of the one she loved, Lu Jinghong smiled.

"Do you know? While I was unconscious, I had a dream."

"A good dream, or a nightmare?"

"I dreamed of a place full of stars, and a door... Beyond it was a very terrifying man..." Seeing Su Ye's attentive expression, as though he were deeply interested, Lu Jinghong went on, "He even told me to go warm myself up behind the door..."

"Did you go?"

Lu Jinghong smiled innocently. "No... Guess who I met there?"

"Your father?"

She shook her head.

"Your mother?"

She shook her head again.

"Could it have been me?"

"You really are clever." Her smile came from the heart, revealing two tiny tiger teeth. "I saw you in my dream."

"I am right here in front of you now, visible and tangible, a hundred times more real than a dream." Su Ye gently stroked her soft, long hair and smiled. "I prepared a surprise for you.

Get dressed quickly and come outside to see it."

"What surprise?"

"You'll know in a moment."

They met again after half an hour.

Lu Jinghong had carefully washed and dressed herself, with a touch of makeup, like an immortal maiden descended from the heavens.

Clad in a pale blue gown and wearing Cloud-Stepping Shoes, she moved with lotus-light steps to Su Ye's side.

Shopkeeper Hu and Madame Hu had already returned to the Treasure Pavilion.

The couple from the Lu family stood in the corridor, watching the pair of natural-born soulmates with smiling eyes.

Unable to bear interrupting them, they quietly returned to their room.

...

The two sat beside the stone table.

"Brother Su, what surprise did you prepare for me?" Lu Jinghong turned to look at Su Ye, her exquisite beauty dazzling in the sunlight.

Su Ye was momentarily dazed; only after a long pause did he gather his thoughts and summon the demon-god statue suppressed by the Buddhist bone prayer beads.

The statue's black, button-like eyes were closed due to the waning of its demonic power.

"What is this..."

"This is an evil demon-god statue," Su Ye said with a faint smile. "But the material it's made of is Soul-Nourishing Essence Jade."

Lu Jinghong frowned slightly.

"Such a precious material, used to make a demon-god statue... What a waste!"

"Those in the demonic path are all madmen.

When they lose their minds, they would even sacrifice their own kin, let alone an inconspicuous piece of jade."

"Speaking of wicked and crooked ways..." When the matter turned serious, the playfulness on Lu Jinghong's face vanished, replaced by the steadiness of a former Demon-Subduing Envoy. "I have a rather bad feeling."

Su Ye first put away the demon-god statue, then asked, "Have there been some rumors within the Demon-Subduing Office?"

"Not only the Demon-Subduing Office... but also Cloudsky Sect."

"What happened to them?" In front of Lu Jinghong, Su Ye did his best to suppress his distance from Cloudsky Sect.

"Cloudsky Sect has always had extremely strict standards for recruiting disciples for countless ages," Lu Jinghong said softly. "But starting in the second half of last year, those standards plunged straight to the bottom.

As long as one has spiritual roots, even if one's aptitude is poor, one can enter the outer court to cultivate."

Su Ye frowned and murmured, "If that's true, then the situation is far from good."

When a dam is urgently reinforced, it often means a flood is about to strike.

"From what I heard from my former superior, this time's sixty-year demon-purging campaign is far graver than the ones before."

"Because you sensed danger, so you..."

"I've been telling myself to take care of my health too, but I keep hearing news of comrades dying... Sometimes..." Afraid that Su Ye might fly into a rage, Lu Jinghong secretly watched his reaction as she spoke.

Seeing no anger on his face, she finally let out a breath of relief.

For no reason at all, Su Ye thought of Hua Hong.

As a piece on the board laid out by Human Emperor Xiao Qian, she could also be counted among those who sacrificed themselves for the people of Great Qian on the eve of darkness.

"I understand how you feel." Su Ye gently held Lu Jinghong's delicate hand and said with firm eyes, "However, there is a better way to resolve this sixty-year demon-purging campaign."

The more information he learned, the more Su Ye could understand Human Emperor Xiao Qian.

When an unprecedented crisis was about to arrive, court officials who ruled with an iron hand would be even more eager than usual to keep powerful Demon-Subduing Envoys at their side.

Even if Xiao Qian issued a sacred edict, it would still be insufficient to intimidate the many governors of Great Qian.

Once someone obeyed in appearance but defied in spirit, the Demon-Subduing Office would become a heap of loose sand.

By then, they would not only need to subdue demons and vanquish fiends, but also eradicate the traitors within Great Qian itself.

No matter how wise a ruler might be, when faced with a collapsing realm, he could still become a foolish tyrant who brought suffering to all living beings.

The death of Governor Zheng Tiandao was an unchanging piece in the game.

Even if Su Ye died in Ripple City, Grand General Feng Yuan of the Golden Guard would still move to eliminate Zheng Tiandao, so that his crimes could be proclaimed to the world.

If Su Ye proved unable to do it, someone later would naturally fill the vacancy.

Thus it had never been that the Human Emperor could not do without him; rather, Su Ye could not abandon any opportunity granted by the heavens.

To accomplish greatness, there was only one choice.

To stand behind the living world and become the destined one who could save it.

This matter could not be left to heaven's favor; it had to be fought for with everything one had.

This simple truth had been taught to him personally by the mortal enemy of fate, who had struggled upward for hundreds of years.

Thus did providence and destiny always delight in toying with mankind...

After Lu Jinghong saw Su Ye's flickering gaze return to normal, she asked softly, "Is there any other way to ease the present crisis?"

At once, Su Ye recounted everything he had encountered, along with the overall events he had deduced, to the companion whose heart overflowed with great love.

Lu Jinghong was so shocked that her mouth fell open and her phoenix eyes widened, leaving her unable to utter a single word.

Su Ye waved a hand in front of her, pulling her thoughts back to reality.

"Right now, the Demon-Subduing Office's strategy for dealing with the sixty-year demon-purging campaign is no different from using firewood to put out a blaze.

Its effect is negligible, and it only harms ourselves.

This time, we must fully aid the Human Emperor and unleash the immense potential long suppressed within the Demon-Subduing Office, so as to face the calamity soon to descend."

"In that case, let's go to Cloudcapital at once." Lu Jinghong made as if to rise.

Su Ye hurriedly reached out and pressed gently on her arm, saying softly, "If I go to Cloudcapital now, the chance of success will be very small, and I may even botch the whole matter.

The road that must be traveled cannot miss even a single step."

"But every day, large numbers of people die from the demon scourge... Not only Demon-Subduing Envoys, but innocent commoners as well."

In Lu Jinghong's clear eyes, full of anxiety, Su Ye saw all the living beings under heaven.

Her kindness was inborn, and though she had weathered wind, frost, rain, and snow, it had never faded.

"The last time I went to Cloudcapital, I also learned something from the Human Emperor's words."

"What did you learn?"

"Besides the unprecedented demon scourge, there is another enormous crisis hidden in this world... so enormous that only by possessing the strength the Sword Saint had before ascending could one possibly face it."

At this, Lu Jinghong could not help but knit her brows tightly.

"If this hidden crisis can truly be resolved only by the Sword Saint senior...

Once it descends upon the mortal world, it may well become a world-ending catastrophe."

"A moment's endurance is for a greater good..." Su Ye stopped there, leaving the rest unspoken.

"I'll redouble my efforts in cultivation and become your strongest support." Lu Jinghong's gaze shifted from compassion to resolve.

Su Ye smiled faintly, then stood.

Facing the morning sun, he stretched in a long, broad yawn.

It had been a very long time since he had done that.

Lu Jinghong's gentle yet resolute words drifted slowly into his ears:

"I believe you will surely become the savior of the world!"