Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

1302 Finished?

Suddenly, the foggy light up ahead cleared up and Ryu felt his eyes slowly opening. The wave of pain and discomfort only seemed to become stronger and stronger, as though he was finally reconnecting with his body again, causing the signals of the nerves to become firmer and more forceful. Even so, Ryu didn't so much as frown as he finally caught sight of what was ahead of him.

Up above, there was a tall ceiling that must have been at least 10 meters or so. All around him, there was a plush, soft bed that made him feel as though he was floating on air. It was just unfortunate that he couldn't enjoy this very much considering the state of his body.

He ignored the pain and looked at his body. He was practically bandaged from head to toe. The only parts of his body that were spared were the pieces above his neck, parts of his arms, his lower abdomen and his crotch below that. What was a bit amusing to him was the fact that other than these bandages, he wasn't wearing anything else. Whoever had bandaged him had definitely gotten a good show.

Ryu slowly pushed himself up. The plush bed worked against him, making the effort he needed to succeed exceptional. However, he didn't waver, and though it took several seconds, he managed to sit up, swinging his feet to the side of the bed.

At that moment, the door to the room suddenly opened and a young woman waddling forward with a bucket of water and clothes hanging all around her shoulders and neck came in. When she saw that Ryu was actually sitting up, her eyes widened and she dropped the bucket, her gaze turning red.

Mae rushed forward, but just as she was about to jump into Ryu's arms, she remembered that he wasn't in the best step and held her back. But just as she was in a daze, Ryu pulled her onto his lap, a light smile on his face.

Mae couldn't help but burst into a flood of tears. She had more than enough strength now to break free from Ryu's grasp since he hadn't used much strength at all, but she was scared of hurting him more. But at the same time, she couldn't imagine the kind of pain he was in pulling her onto his lap like this.

"What are you sobbing for, am I not fine?"

Hearing such words, Mae's tears only came in a stronger and stronger stream. How could he be fine? But this was how he had been since the very beginning. At first, it was only little things, like shielding her from the wind when he didn't have to, or making her food, but it was clear that this was simply the way he was. As far as Ryu was concerned, he could be cruel enough to the rest of the world, but he was the exact opposite to his women. He would suffer long before they did.

Since Mae was crying, how could he not comfort her?

Seeing that Mae couldn't stop crying, Ryu sighed. This woman, she wasn't like this the last time he had met her. Was this the so-called absence makes the love grow fonder? But wasn't this a bit exaggerated?

Of course, he had already decided to take Mae as a true wife. The things that she had done for him in the Incomplete Heavenly Path showed that she treated him with the sincerity of a true woman, so how could he not reciprocate properly?

However, he wasn't a blind fool. They had known each other for too short of a time and there was still too little he understood about her. There was also too much she didn't know about him. She wasn't like Elena or Yaana who had spent hundreds of years by his side, nor was she like Ailsa who knew his everything as his Life Partner, he wouldn't blame her if her feelings weren't as deep as the other three.

But now, it seemed that he had thought too much.

It took quite a while for Mae to calm down.

In truth, she wasn't this distressed about Ryu's injuries, injuries were just a normal part of the cultivation path and the fact that Ryu had suffered such terrible ones, while could make her upset, wasn't enough for her to react like this. It was rather because she was certain that Ryu's Dao Heart had been shattered, the foundation of his Dao was likely unstable now, and his future path of cultivation was cut off... and she felt that it was all her fault.

In her short time with Ryu, she might not have known much about his past, but she knew everything there was to understand about his personality and demeanor. He was prideful, he would rather die than lower his head, and he had more ambition than even her own father did.

Others might not believe that Ryu had turned down the Dao Lord, but how could she not? Ryu had told her about his Chaotic Silk Meridians, he had shown her his Beyond Perfect Extreme Spiritual Foundation, he had even shown her his Embryonic Qi. Those were secrets she wouldn't' even blame Ryu for never telling her in the first place, but he had so candidly and honestly.

Such a man, how could she lie to her about such a thing?

If only she hadn't tried to save him, if only she hadn't asked her father to bring him to protect him, if only she had told him about the danger of the Samsara Steps ahead of time...

She didn't believe for a moment that Ryu's Dao Heart was so weak, she was absolutely certain that something else had happened. She didn't know what it was, but this didn't change her belief in the slightest. How could the Ryu she know be frail of heart?

Ryu smiled, lightly wiping the weeping from Mae's cheeks with a thumb.

"Are you finished crying, now? How about we talk, how've you been? What did you encounter while I was away?"