1320 Change
Ryu led Mae forward, twirling the token in his hand. He looked toward his wife, seeing that the worry on her face was heavy, but not as heavy as the sadness. Maybe if it wasn't for Ryu, she would have already gone to confront her father about this matter, but she knew that given the fact things had already gone so far, doing such a thing now would only make matters worse.
Ryu wasn't the type to spend his time comforting others, and he didn't have much sympathy and patience in his soul, however when it came to those he cared about, it was a very different matter.
He took Mae's hand. She was so absentminded that she almost didn't seem to notice. When she felt a familiar warmth, she looked over and gave him a bit of a forced smile. It was clear that just a simple action wouldn't be enough to wipe her worry away completely.
"These matters aren't things that you have to worry about, you only have to stand there and look pretty, no one will harm a hair on your head."
Mae blinked when she heard this before she suddenly spurted with laughter. It wasn't that what Ryu had said was so funny, but rather that this was entirely different from the Ryu she knew. She hadn't even known that he was capable of saying such words.
At the moment, she felt that Ryu was actually quite a lot like her. She too was a cold and distant person to most others, she might have even been mistaken for a block of ice to most strangers. But she had a fiery passion within her for those she cared about.
Back in the Incomplete Heavenly Path, she hadn't even hesitated to put her life on the line for Ryu, and that was only because he had pierced her heart just the slightest bit. These weren't things she had to think much about.
Back then, she had been willing to do so because she had felt the care Ryu had given her. Although they were only small matters like blocking the wind and cold for her, or helping her to cook food, they were still matters that warmed her heart.
She had thought that Ryu would be this same cold and distant person all the time, showing her slight hints of affection here and there. But she hadn't realized that Ryu was capable of such obvious signs of care. It left her not knowing how to react to the point that she had even begun to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Ryu grinned, his hand slipping down and pinching Mae's pert bottom. "Is your husband's bleeding heart really so amusing?"
Mae yelped slightly, jumping up. But in doing so, she had subconsciously jumped into the arms of the perpetrator, only opening her up to more sexual assault.
Mae chuckled and giggled. much of her worries suddenly forgotten in that moment. Her actions were completely out of place given the situation, and it drew no small number of frigid gazes. However, beneath Ryu's aura, it was as though Mae was completely shrouded. Since she wasn't paying attention to anyone but Ryu, she couldn't even sense this coldness.
Others thought it was because she was indifferent to their struggles, when really it was because beneath Ryu's protection, she could feel what she wanted to feel and move as she wanted to move. Nothing could burst her bubble.
It wasn't until several moments later that Mae seemed to realize she probably shouldn't be laughing and smiling right now. She looked around and sure enough found many gazes that she hadn't been able to sense previously. But before her mood could sink, Ryu waved a hand.
"Ignore them. Taking out their rage on a little woman who has yet to even fully mature all because they're too weak is something that should make them feel pathetic, not you. Don't they expect your blood to be shed now too? And yet they still dare to give you such looks? Why bother with such hypocrites?"
Mae looked up toward Ryu's side profile. Many couldn't seem to meet the latter's gaze and were forced to look away.
"You have nothing to concern about," Ryu retracted his gaze, looking down toward Mae with a smile. "My wife has the right to be as unruly and unreasonable as she wants, if even I don't dare to scold her, what right does anyone else have?"
Mae's heart skipped a beat. She didn't know why, but these simple and authoritative words seemed to have put her completely at ease. All of the weight that had been on her shoulders vanished and her mind felt clear and at peace. Her qi even seemed to move on its own, circulating like a raging torrent.
Her skin glowed and her deep crimson eyes gained a ruby-like luster. It felt like one was staring into a half opened ruby mine, countless irregular gem- like cuts reflecting in her irises.
Ryu stood in silence by her side, a calm smile on her face. Mae was already at the extremities of the World Sea Realm, there was nowhere to go forward but the Sky God Realm. That said...
Mae's aura rose like a tide, large swaths of qi flooding into her body. Her body seemed to leave the ground on its own, and although it was only by a few inches, it was a shocking scene nonetheless.
It took several minutes for this rush of qi to calm down. All along, Ryu, who stood by her side, hadn't moved a single gaze. He swept a cold gaze through the Dream Asuras as though they would really attack. This infuriated those in the surroundings even more, and yet they still didn't dare to move. For some reason, they felt a great amount of danger coming from Ryu.
Mae eventually touched the ground, her face slightly flushed. She hadn't expected to break through like this, but it was impossible for her to have entered the Sky God Realm like that. After all, entering the Sky God Realm required a deep comprehension and conversion of one's Dao, but that wasn't the breakthrough she had had just now. Rather... It was a change in her Dao Heart.
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on (f)reeweb(n)ovel.com