The Storyteller

The Barrier

There were two reasons why Mo Yuan agreed to releasing the mist slowly.  The first being the wind outside the barrier.  The battlefied was surrounded by many low lying valleys that edge the river which swerved its way around the east end, while on the other three sides were high and low lying mountains that acted as a kind of funnel for the winds that the low valleys and river brought with them.  In that tight space, the wind could reach high gusts, so releasing the mist would not cause too much of a problem, so long as there was no one on the otherside.

The second reason was her need to learn his barrier which would not be an easy task seeing as they would both be behind her own barrier.  The energy and strength of a barrier, depended on ones level of cultivation and seeing as he was a High God, she would never be able to physically pass through it, and not just that, but Mo Yuan had used a special spell to keep anyone else from trying to lower it.  The only one he was aware of that could, was Di Jun.

And this is where the problem lay that he was now discussing with her.  It was an issue of great importance and one she needed to be prepared for.  Sitting side by side on his pallet, his unseeings eyes stared unblinkingly ahead while her small hands enveloped his much larger one as she listened intently.

"Once we reach the barrier, you are going to have to be my eyes for when I remove the spell that is keeping it impregnable." he informed her and though she said nothing, he could feel her fingers tensing around his own.

"Isn't that dangerous?" she asked a little frightened by the tone of warning in his voice.

"It is, if there are any High Gods from the darklands nearby.  They will sense it immediately.  So I need you to describe everything you can see before I make a dent in the barrier.  Also, we cannot afford to waste time, we must be as quick as possible  so as not to draw too much attention to ourselves, we do not want to alert the darklands that we are still alive in here and releasing the mist." he cautioned her.

"Shibing, I know a little about barriers, I studied them when I was younger..." she said and automatically giving him confirmation that she was no mere child, but he said nothing as she continued..... "I know that my barrier which we will be protected by, is not the same as yours, how will you create a dent when our barriers cannot touch each other without causing us harm?" she asked.  

This was the only question she had that needed an answer.  Barriers were not just a form of energy protection, they were created by the user, so ones level of cultivation could disrupt anothers barrier if their energy was too high or in their case, too low.  And the fact that no one had managed to lower his barrier, suggested that his barrier was far more powerful than what she could produce, therefore her barrier would weaken significantly rather than his and because both of them would be within its wall, their lives would be put at risk.

"Do not worry about that my dear, all I want you to do is be my eyes and if you notice anything out of the ordinary, then you must let me know." he replied only turn his head in her direction when he felt her jump a little beside him.

His casual use of a term of endearment, momentarily stunned her.  But seeing as he was completely oblivious to the fact that he had called her 'dear' something only her mother had ever called her, she let it pass as a slip of the tongue.  After all, the conversation was a serious one and not something to see anything else in other than what it was meant to.  That was staying focused.

"I have also been exercising in this cave for a few days now, so I think its time." he said squeezing hand and forcing her away from the fear, which he could feel.

"Alright, but you have not done your eye exercises.  Lets do those first, then we go." she chided him having thought he was trying to get out of doing them.