Bai Qi didn't say a word but nodded in response to me.
Actually, I was extremely curious about what he had found out, but I managed to hold back.
"Forget it. Stop investigating. This almost cost you your life. I'm really afraid that if you keep going, it might kill you."
Bai Qi replied nonchalantly, "Don't worry. I'm not that easy to kill. Besides, I've already found out. But since you don't want to know, I'll keep this matter to myself."
When he said that, I became even more curious about what he had discovered.
"What on earth did you find out?" I whispered.
Bai Qi lowered his blue eyes slightly and let out a heavy sigh. "You're such a contradiction."
"I'm just so conflicted. I don't want you to get involved any further."
I was about to say more words of apology when Bai Qi interrupted me.
"I found out why he disappeared on the 15th."
This was completely unexpected. He had actually uncovered this earth - shattering secret.
This was something I had dreamed of knowing. Guyuan, as my spirit medium, always responded to my requests, but on the 15th, no matter the situation, I couldn't see him.
Now that Bai Qi knew it, he surely wouldn't tell anyone except me. So if I got him to tell me, I would definitely keep it a secret.
"Where on earth did he go?"
Bai Qi glanced at the wall clock. Today was exactly the 15th of the lunar month.
"When the moon is high in the sky tonight, I'll take you there."
"No way. If he finds out, I'm doomed." Guyuan would really get angry, and I was scared to death of that.
"He won't find out. Don't worry."
"Why?"
"You'll know when you get there."
...
At around eight o'clock at night, the moon rose above the willow treetops, and there was a thick layer of snow outside.
"Bai Qi, is your injury really okay?"
"Almost healed. I'll take you there right now." With that, Bai Qi grabbed my shoulder and turned into a blue light, disappearing in the snow.
When I opened my eyes again, I was in a sea of clouds among the overlapping mountains.
The rolling clouds churned beneath my feet. The bright moon was half - immersed in the sea of clouds. The moonlight shone into the clouds, reflecting a layer of silver frost, outlining the entire mountain range like a fairyland.
Just as I was immersed in admiring the scenery on top of the sea of clouds, a shrill scream suddenly came to my ears. That sound sounded like the last wail of a dying man.
I instinctively looked down to find the source of the sound. Bai Qi pulled my arm and took me to a valley not far from the sound.
It was a clear night with the moon high in the sky, but there was thunder and lightning in the valley. The lightning was like high - voltage current, making a sizzling sound.
Bai Qi and I were standing outside the valley, and the sound already made our hair stand on end, let alone the person screaming miserably inside the valley.
Hearing his voice, I couldn't help but tremble.
"Guyuan, it's Guyuan. The person screaming in the valley is Guyuan." Suddenly, I couldn't hold back my emotions anymore, and tears welled up in my eyes.
I didn't care about the thunder and lightning and rushed directly into the valley to check on Guyuan's situation.
However, just as I rushed into the valley, a powerful current branched out in numerous directions and crawled towards me.
Bai Qi quickly grabbed me and dragged me to the side of the valley wall.
"Are you crazy? If you touch it, you'll be reduced to ashes."
My gaze was fixed on the inside of the valley. Guyuan was in the middle of the lightning, his limbs bound by silver chains. His whole body's skin had already been badly mutilated by the thunder.
The lightning exploded on his body, and in pain, he simply lay on the ground, as if he had already gotten used to such physical torture.
"No, I have to save him." I tried to break free from Bai Qi. I couldn't let Guyuan suffer alone. I couldn't.
But Bai Qi held my wrist tightly and refused to let go.
"This is heavenly thunder. Can a mere mortal like you withstand it? You'll be courting death if you go."
"But I can't just watch Guyuan suffer like this. He must be in excruciating pain."
"Guyuan must have violated extremely serious heavenly rules. Otherwise, he wouldn't be subjected to such a severe punishment."
"What heavenly rules did he violate?"
"It should be related to the bloodbath in the imperial city. He personally killed the crown prince, who was the real dragon emperor. He must have violated the heavenly laws." Bai Qi said.
The crown prince was a dragon scale and a celestial being. No wonder he had to suffer such a severe punishment.
"And he has to endure this kind of pain on the 15th of every month."
I slumped to the ground. Listening to Guyuan's screams and watching him suffer in the valley, my chest ached so much that I could hardly breathe, and my heart felt like it was being stabbed with a knife.
"Who can help him? Who can save him?" I was already sobbing, and I pounded the ground hard with both hands.
For the first time, I felt so helpless as I watched the person I loved endure so much torture. I could do nothing but watch him suffer.
Apart from crying, I was completely helpless.
Just when I was crying uncontrollably, Guyuan's body in front of me changed. The current spread all over his body.
Suddenly, a dragon's roar echoed through the valley. The ground shook, and a blood - stained silver dragon flew out of the valley and soared into the sky.
In an instant, thunder roared, and lightning exploded in the air, creating countless white cracks, as if splitting the sky apart.
The silver dragon rushed straight into the rolling clouds. Then, three silver - scaled serpents appeared in the air. They grabbed the silver chains in their mouths and circled down.
Wasn't this the scene in those three paintings?
I looked up at Guyuan intently, afraid that if I missed a single glance, he would disappear in front of me.
But the clouds were too thick. Standing at the bottom of the valley, I could only vaguely see parts of their bodies protruding from the clouds.
As the moon was completely covered by a large expanse of dark clouds, the thunder and lightning gradually died down.
Another loud dragon's roar came from the air. The silver dragon fell heavily from the clouds, creating a powerful shockwave that uprooted the surrounding trees.
The silver dragon was covered in wounds. Most of its scales had fallen off, and blood was flowing from its body, making it look like it was about to die.
The dying silver dragon transformed back into a human form. It was Guyuan, lying in a pool of blood, on the verge of death.
I got up from the ground and rushed over, holding Guyuan in my arms.
My vision was already blurred by tears. I forced my eyes wide open and shook off the tears.
"Bai Qi, save him."
I looked up at Bai Qi, but his face didn't show much surprise.
"Don't worry. Dragons have a very strong self - healing ability. His wounds are already healing."
I looked down at his scar - covered body. Indeed, many of the wounds were slowly healing, and there wouldn't even be any scars left.
"Only the dragon race can withstand this kind of pain. If it were any other race, they would have been reincarnated countless times." Bai Qi stood beside me and said gravely.
"You've known for a long time that he wasn't a snake?" I asked, sobbing.
"I could tell that he was deliberately hiding his identity, so I didn't need to expose him."
"But why did he hide his identity as a silver dragon?" I held Guyuan's face in my hands and asked, heart - broken.