Moonlight looked down through the broken roof tiles of the deserted temple, it looked like silver rain and sparkled off the dust that had been there for ages and was now again undisturbed.
The night wind was hissing gently through the columns when Lian Hua came down quietly on the shiny floor, his black robe waving like a crow's wing. His boots landed with the grace of a cat, his heart was thumping in his chest and it seemed as though it was in rhythm with the wind.
"Keep it simple," he spoke to himself, a smile touching his lips. "You've done far worse in the Shadow Forest, Lian Hua. It sure won't take much effort to deal with one apocalyptic sleeping."
He pulled a red strip with some dark mysterious characters painted on it from his inner cloth. He bit his thumb, put his blood on the paper, and then door of the temple with the talisman doing the "封印之锁 (Fēng yìn zhī suǒ)" I whispered the phrase. The characters lit up, sealing the door with a soft sound.
Then he lowered himself to the ground, his silver eyes catching the light in a mischievous manner. "If only," he said while taking a small locally made bomb, a present from the Voignoa blacksmith, out of his pocket. "May your ancestors be my witnesses."
He set it there very neatly next to a concealed opening in the marble - the secret way that led directly to the Sky Lord's sleeping chamber.With a wicked smile, he stepped back and whispered,
The temple was shaken by the explosion as if it was thunder tearing the sky apart.Smoke flew out loud, the statues shaking and dust of a thousand years being dispersed.
He was at the temple of the inner sanctum when the smoke had cleared but he didn't move an inch.
The one that he was sent to kill was lying there, as if time had forgotten.
The man on the jade altar was wearing loosely fitted robes of white and blue and silver thread was used to embroider the robes that shimmered like frost. His long hair was over the edge of the altar and was like moonlight in waves. Even under the celestial barrier that surrounded him, his pale skin looked like it was glowing. Blue gems were on his wrists and neck like the sky had decorated its favorite child.
He was… lovely. Very lovely indeed.
"By the ancestors…" Hua whispered, his mouth wide open. "He doesn't look like a monster. He looks like he's about to steal everyone's lovers."
He came nearer but very careful and he had a greedy look in his eyes. Every breath he took brought the Sky Clan's aura into his lungs — a light, cold scent of frost and thunder.Something inside him was moving, the Omega inside him was reacting instinctively to the Alpha qi of the room.
"Stop that," he said to himself, hitting his cheek with his hand. "You're here to kill him, not drool on him. God's help if I don't pull myself together, Hua." He went around the altar and his eyes were on the man's lifeless body. Even in sleep, the Sky Lord's power was like the growl of a thousand wolves under the moon, coming through the air.
"Not even a muscle moves," Hua said under his breath. "How could someone sleep through a bomb? He must be really loving his beauty rest."
He took out his knife — a piece of obsidian black, and the Voignoa clan's sigil was carved on it. The knife got faintly stronger, as if it was sensing the huge qi in front of it.
"Only one stab," Hua said under his breath. "In the heart. Nobody wakes up, no one gets hurt."
He lifted the blade, his breath was not steady.
However, when he was bringing the knife close, the air was changing. The man was opening his mouth. A low hum, old and deep, was resonating the chamber.
Hua's heart skipped a beat.
Blue light appeared suddenly.
Before he could be startled by it, a hand was there to stop him — pale and strong — it was holding his wris
The one who was sleeping reached for the sky. And his eyes were not the color of the sky, but those of the deep blue oceans that were engulfing the earth.
"Who," the man said in a low voice that was like thunder behind the clouds, "dares disturb my sleep?"
The suffocating pressure came right after the question. Hua's legs gave way under him and his dagger fell on the jade ground with a clatter.
He could barely make a sound. "Ah… an admirer?"
The Sky Lord slowly looked at him with his eyes half-closed and as if deciding whether he should reduce him to ashes or simply go back to his sleep. Then he moved his finger.
A qi wave came out like a bullet and it hit Hua making him fly across the chamber. With the wall, he made a sound that even the spirits could not bear and flinch.It was a sound that made even the spirits flinch and it was produced when he hit the wall with a loud thud.
"Ah—! Ow—! By my ancestors' tails!" ruefully cried Hua as he was sliding down the wall. with black robes he was lying in a heap and half- stunned by the blow which made him wince and groan. "Rude! You could at least ask for my name before killing me—"
However, the Sky Lord didn't answer. His hair was drifting around him like smoke and his eyes were now half-lidded as if waking was too much of a task for him.
"Still sleepy, huh?" Hua said in a very faint voice. "Good. Sleep. I'll just… nap here too."
The planet turned and darkness came to claim him.
The last thing that he saw was that perfect, cold face looking down at him with unreadable something — a flicker of curiosity, or maybe... recognition.