Ch 14: Strange Events

Ye Tian…

'Hm?' The voice pierced through the boundless silence, sharp and sudden, like a stone thrown into still water.

Ye Tian…

'Why can I still hear her voice in my head?'

The thought rippled through him, disrupting the heavy stillness that had been his only companion. The voice resonated again, louder and more insistent, as if trying to claw its way into reality.

Ye Tian…

'What the—?' He strained to open his eyes, fighting against the oppressive weight that held them shut.

The effort was monumental, like trying to lift a mountain. Panic, a foreign and unwelcome guest, spread through his chest.

'What is this? Why can't I open my eyes? Why can't I move?'

He pushed harder, trying to lift an arm, shift a finger, anything.

But his body remained motionless, unresponsive, as though it had been carved from stone.

The sensation was unfamiliar and deeply unsettling, making him feel like a prisoner within himself.

The voice surged, louder than before, drowning out even his thoughts.

YE TIAN!

'Stop! Stop!' He wanted to shout, to silence the voice that bore down on him like thunder.

But his lips wouldn't move, and his body wouldn't obey.

For the first time since ascending to true deityhood, since becoming the Absolute Demon feared across realms, he felt trapped, powerless.

It was an irony too sharp to ignore... a being who had razed worlds to ashes, now held captive by a voice. And not just any voice, but one he had longed to hear in the silent echoes of his memory.

The voice grew unbearable, louder and sharper, drilling into his mind until it threatened to shatter his sanity.

It was relentless, pushing, pounding, until the noise transformed into something else. A tremor. A sob. The sound of someone breaking apart, not from rage but from grief.

'Why does it sound like she's crying?' The realization sent a shiver through him, a sensation that felt foreign after so long spent in the void.

The deafening noise softened, the sharp edges fading away, leaving behind a sound so raw, so full of sorrow, that it ached within him.

It was no longer just a voice. It was her voice, trembling and real, as if she were right beside him.

The weight on his body began to shift, the stone-like paralysis loosening its grip.

A warmth spread across the back of his left hand, gentle and trembling.

It was the sensation of fingers intertwined with his, a touch so familiar that it almost shattered the barrier between reality and memory.

'This warmth… it's real. But how?'

Sensation returned in slow, aching waves, spreading through his limbs, tingling as it went.

He focused, willing his body to respond, pushing through the numbness.

His eyelids felt impossibly heavy, but he summoned every ounce of willpower to move them.

The effort left him breathless, but finally, they cracked open, letting in a flood of white light.

The brightness stung, erasing the dark void he had known for so long.

The world around him was blurred, bathed in a stark, luminous glow. It wasn't the emptiness of the void; it was something else... something alive.

'This isn't where I was…'

The voice came again, soft and choked with emotion.

"Ye Tian… I wish you were awake. If only it wasn't for me that day… You might've been celebrating your 19th birthday today."

The words pierced through him, bringing with them a flood of memories. Recognition coursed through his veins, sharp and painful.

'Li Na…'

The name resonated through him, a name he hadn't allowed himself to think for eons.

His vision remained foggy, shapes swimming in the bright light, but he could sense someone close.

The warmth on his left hand tightened, and he felt the trembling fingers of someone clinging to him as though he were the last thread keeping them from falling apart.

'Is this real? Or am I caught in some cruel illusion?'

He pushed against the fog in his mind, straining to move, to respond. His body felt sluggish, bound by the heaviness of sleep that wouldn't fully let go.

Yet, he managed the smallest of movements, a slight tightening of his fingers around the hand that held his.

A sharp intake of breath followed, and the trembling stopped momentarily. The hand clutching his squeezed back, tentative and disbelieving.

"Huh?" The voice trembled, carrying a note of fragile hope.

"Wait… Ye Tian?" The name, spoken hesitantly, held so much emotion it was as if she feared saying it would shatter whatever miracle she believed she was witnessing.

He tried to move his head, but the effort left him exhausted.

His vision remained a blur, but the silhouette that hovered above him began to take form.

He could see the gentle curve of a face, hair that fell in dark waves, and eyes that shone with unshed tears.

Li Na

The sight of her brought a rush of memories, a flood of warmth and pain intertwined.

She was older than he remembered, her features touched by the passing of years, but her eyes... those eyes that had once looked at him with unguarded affection... were the same.

'How is this happening? How did I get here?'

His thoughts were a whirlwind, questions colliding and breaking apart, but none of it mattered in that moment.

The only thing that did was the hand that held his, grounding him, pulling him back from the abyss.

He could hear her uneven breathing, the way she fought to hold back sobs that threatened to spill over.

The room... or whatever this bright space was... seemed to hold its breath alongside her.

"Ye Tian… please, don't let this be a dream," she whispered, her voice cracking under the weight of her emotion.

'Li Na, I'm here… I'm really here.' He wanted to say it, to reach out and touch her face, to wipe away the tears that fell so freely.

His heart ached with the need to reassure her, but his voice still lay trapped, tangled in the thorns of disbelief and shock.

The warmth of her hand tightened again, stronger this time, as if she could pull him fully back to the world by sheer will alone.

He pushed harder, fighting the heaviness that held him down.

The light around them seemed to shimmer, softening, and the outline of her face grew clearer, the tears that streaked her cheeks glistening in the glow.

The stillness shattered as she leaned closer, her voice louder, infused with urgent hope.

"DOCTOR! THE PATIENT'S AWAKE!"

The echo of her shout filled the space, and suddenly, there were new sounds... hurried footsteps, the rustling of fabric, sharp commands shouted by unfamiliar voices.

The chaos of the moment swirled around them, but all Ye Tian could focus on was her face, her eyes wide with shock and hope.

For the first time in centuries, he felt something other than emptiness. He felt alive.