Badass Celestial Emperor Returns!

(87) Premonition

Zi Yan Yue looked around the pavilion on the mountain top. She reluctantly sat across Zi Ming Yun as snow started to descend the sky. Her gaze remained on the outer gate but there are no signs of people entering. Zi Yan Yue focused on the matter at hand and brought out a necklace with a purple stone pendant surrounded by elegantly curved metals. She placed it on the table as Zi Ming Yun assessed it.

"Uncle, I tried but it keeps repelling me." she helplessly said. In the past, Zi Ming Yun asked her to use the Xing Stone in order to foresee the future, past or present. A Xing Stone is like a key to make the stars show one's destiny. She was never good in astronomy. But one person was. "Uncle, astronomy is really not my cup of tea. However, Yingjun is good at it. He studied astronomy with a mortal elder back then."

She recalled when Zi Yingjun was just a kid. He likes staying outside the core and inner zone of the clan and prefers to stay at the border where mortals are. There, no one knew of his true identity and he can mingle with others like a normal boy. Zi Yan Yue once sneaked out with him. He introduced an old man to her who taught him how to read the stars in order to guess the future. Zi Yingjun listened well but Zi Yan Yue cant memorize it all. The same year, the old man died because of his age. Zi Yingjun no longer went out of the core zone and studied silently. He talked less and less until four years later.

"Let us say this is really his. But you know how your cousin behaves. He is reckless and rude. If you give this to him, think what will happen to those around him." Zi Ming Yun handed the necklace back. The young girl reluctantly accepted it before wearing the necklace. She had never worn it for once after foreseeing something in her childhood.

"Uncle, I was able to access it in the past. But only once." Zi Yan Yue clenched her fist around the pendant. She controlled her emotions and decided to tell him. "I foresaw the future. I don't know when but Da Long Mountain was gone. I saw Yingjun, a very different Yingjun standing in front of the empty vast land where Da Long Mountain once stood. He's older but seems in his late twenties. Yingjun was badly injured too and his hair had grown white. Furthermore... His temperament was something like a demonic cultivator has."

"Are you sure it's Da Long Mountain?" Zi Ming Yun frowned. Part of him wants to believe her while the other keeps refusing to acknowledge it.

"Yes." Zi Yan Yue raised her head. "I remember it clearly. Yingjun said; I came late, too late to restore the land I grew up on. Da Long Mountain is nothing now than an empty ground. He said those. The thing I fear is that what I saw was true. Uncle, I will not hide it but Yingjun wants to leave Zi Clan. Im afraid that in the future, he really did become a demonic cultivator but met a grave danger and tried to find us to help him. But he didn't expect that Da Long Mountain is gone, that we are all gone. That is the only premonition I was able to see back when I was ten. When Yingjun buried an old mortal."

"Zi Yan Yue, what else are you keeping from me regarding Zi Yingjun?" his tone went cold. She is quite loyal to Zi Yingjun and he had noticed how different she treats Zi Yingjun. This is not good. They are hiding what more?

"Uncle, this is the last secret. When we were ten, Yingjun loves to get out of the main area and play with an old mortal man from the farmlands. The old man died the same year I learnt of his habit. We both carried the old man's funeral and had him buried. That day, I foresaw the premonition. Yingjun was so saddened but the Yingjun in the future wasn't even grieving, only grinning as if mocking fate. That is why I keep going against the rules because I do not want Yingjun to be lonely again. Uncle, please understand. Yingjun is the rightful owner of this necklace, the rightful heir of Aunt Zi Xian but you hate him because of his father. Have you ever thought the impact of your hatred? No, because you never saw how pitiful he was."

"Zi Yan Yue, I know. It was only now that I understood." Zi Ming Yun sighed helplessly. He looked outside with the snow descending vigorously. This made him recall Zi Yingjun was born on the first snow of winter. "Have I not hated him, he will not rebel like this. That is why I hope you and Shi Zhao can change Zi Yingjun. What to do now? It all makes sense."

"What does?" Zi Yan Yue frowned.

"I never mentioned to anyone aside from your father that Zi Xian used the Xing Stone and knew that in the future, Zi Yingjun will leave Da Long Mountain. Everything is inevitable. We cant stop Da Long Mountain's eradication nor Zi Yingjun following his father's steps." he felt a headache just by thinking of the achievements his sister mentioned. A demonic cultivator's achievement? Wasn't it killing? Wasn't it chaos? Zi Yingjun is totally hopeless.

"I will not let that happen." Zi Yan Yue said with a stubborn tone. She loosened her fist and looked down to the pendant. "I will do my best and access this artifact. Uncle, I will find a way to stop the future I saw."

"Zi Yan Yue... You cant." Zi Ming Yun thought as Zi Yan Yue left. The Xing Stone have a curse and it was obvious Zi Yan Yue loves her cousin. That can only mean she will die in Zi Yingjun's hands. Zi Yingjun will become a demonic cultivator. The chance of him taking Zi Yan Yue's life is high. Maybe before she can even stop the future she saw, Zi Yingjun will come for her life.