Furious, Hanzhou finished off the demonic beast with a single strike, drew his sword, and bolted in hot pursuit of Yan Mingqiu.
After searching fruitlessly for a full hour, Hanzhou failed to locate Yan Mingqiu, but unexpectedly ran into Eldest Senior Brother Mu Qing and Junior Sister Ling Xuan.
Ling Xuan gazed doubtfully past Hanzhou’s shoulder. “Senior Brother Han, where’s your sweetheart?”
Hanzhou fumed, “She ran away.”
Recalling plots from the romance pulp novels she routinely devoured, Ling Xuan blurted out, “Did you fail to pamper her properly, so she ran off?”
With a face full of dark lines, Mu Qing scolded, “Junior Sister… what kind of trashy novels are you reading all day long? Once we return to the sect, I’m confiscating the lot of them no more reading!”
“Pamper?” Remembering how the two seniors had misunderstood him earlier, Hanzhou’s face flushed crimson. He stammered defensively, “It’s not what you think; back in the cave, I was just helping him detoxify.”
Ling Xuan, who had been tugging at Mu Qing’s sleeve to plead for her novels, perked up her ears at those words. Whirling around, she pressed, “What poison? Was it romantic venom?”
Plunged into despair, Hanzhou opened his mouth to explain, only to be cut off by Mu Qing.
Mu Qing tapped Ling Xuan firmly on the forehead with his scabbard. “Look how deeply those trashy novels have corrupted your brain! This is non-negotiable hand over every single one of your books when we get back. I’m going to burn them all to ashes.”
“Waaah… Eldest Senior Brother, you’re so ruthless! Without my romance novels, what joy is left in life?” Ling Xuan burst into loud tears, effectively cutting off any further explanation Hanzhou attempted to make.
Being of a highly emotional disposition, once Ling Xuan started crying, she wouldn’t stop anytime soon.
“Eldest Senior Brother, take good care of Junior Sister. I’m going to find him.” Anxious to track down Yan Mingqiu, Hanzhou tossed out those words and abruptly spun on his heel to leave.
“Hanzhou, don’t forget what you promised Master!” Mu Qing shouted at Hanzhou’s retreating back.
Hanzhou froze, snapping out of his daze as if waking from a dream. Right—there’s a Myriad-Year Cold Pool inside this secret realm. Yan Mingqiu must have headed in that direction.
Pulling out his map, Hanzhou mounted his flying sword and sped toward the Myriad-Year Cold Pool.
Mid-flight, a familiar figure abruptly caught his eye beneath a large tree ahead standing beside that figure was none other than Mu Jiusi.
Barely fifteen minutes earlier, Mu Jiusi had finished taking Yan Mingqiu’s pulse, listening as Yan Mingqiu gave a generalized, simplified summary of the ordeal.
Clenching his fists tightly, Mu Jiusi growled, “I never imagined members of the Lin family could be so despicable. I will definitely demand justice for you!”
Yan Mingqiu gave a wry, bitter smile. He didn’t put any stock in those words—not because he doubted Mu Jiusi’s sincerity, but because he didn’t trust Sect Master Zhu Lan. His identity talisman had been collected directly from the sect administrator; anyone capable of manipulating a sect administrator wielded immense power and held a personal grudge against him.
That left only Sect Master Zhu Lan. It was entirely possible that Zhu Lan had plotted this scheme right after the duel stage, seizing the opportunity during the Grand Tournament to eliminate him under the guise of an accidental tournament casualty completely legitimate and fully compliant with regulations.
When the poison flared, Yan Mingqiu’s head felt as though it were about to split open, yet he maintained a shred of hard-won rationality, refusing to collapse against Mu Jiusi.
Supporting him with one hand, Mu Jiusi fed him several pills, channeling his own spiritual energy to help metabolize the medicine.
Though Yan Mingqiu carried a vast array of medicinal pills on his person, his foundational training remained incomplete. Recognizing that he was suffering from a lethal poison, he dared not experiment blindly; taking the wrong pill would land him in a wooden coffin instantly.
With Mu Jiusi’s treatment, Yan Mingqiu felt the searing agony recede by thirty percent, leaving his consciousness relatively stable which was precisely why he spotted Hanzhou the moment the latter arrived.
Instinctively, he wanted nothing more to do with Hanzhou. Catching sight of him, Yan Mingqiu urged urgently, “Eldest Senior Brother, take me away.”
With his back currently turned toward Hanzhou, Mu Jiusi sensed someone approaching from behind, whipped around, and shielded Yan Mingqiu behind him. “It’s you.”
Ignoring him entirely, Hanzhou drew closer. “Mingqiu, step out so I can take a look at you.”
Crouching smaller behind Mu Jiusi’s back, Yan Mingqiu kept his head bowed and gritted out, “Hanzhou, I’ve already found my Eldest Senior Brother; he will take care of me. You should go find your fellow disciples. You’re a personal disciple if you fall behind in the rankings, it will bring shame upon your master.”
“Fine. Before that, let me just look at you. Only when I see you’re unharmed can I leave with peace of mind.” Hanzhou’s voice carried a flat, unreadable emotion.
After a moment’s hesitation, Yan Mingqiu slowly stepped out from behind Mu Jiusi. “Take a look, then. I’m completely fine.”
Though he forced an appearance of relaxed composure, his face was flushed with a feverish, mottled red, and fine beads of sweat dotted his brow, instantly betraying his condition.
A pang of sharp pain pierced Hanzhou’s heart. He lunged forward, grabbed Yan Mingqiu by the waist, hoisted him bodily into his arms, and leaped onto his flying sword to streak away.
Struggling frantically, Yan Mingqiu cried, “Are you out of your mind?!”
“If you keep thrashing like this, we’re both going to plummet. A fall from this height won’t just cripple you it’ll cost you half your life.” Deliberately rocking the blade to create violent turbulence, Hanzhou loosened his grip for a split second before clamping his arms back around him, faking a complete loss of control.
Intimidated by the threat, Yan Mingqiu stopped struggling, though the moment he relaxed, the throbbing agony surged back into sharp focus.
The torment of the wildfire burning through his body steadily eroded his remaining defenses.
Almost subconsciously, he choked out, “Hanzhou, it hurts so much.”
Swallowing a lump in his throat, Hanzhou forced out a choked “I know” as he poured every ounce of his spiritual energy into accelerating their flight. “Just hold on a little longer, a little longer—we’re almost there.”
Moments later, they hovered above the expanse of the Cold Pool. Looking down at Yan Mingqiu, whose consciousness was rapidly fraying from the pain, Hanzhou resolutely scooped him closer and plunged straight down into the freezing water.
The water of the Cold Pool proved biting and bone-chilling, yet it carried an unexpected property beyond mere cold.
The moment they submerged, the previously stagnant pool seemed to jolt violently back to life. Rushing undercurrents surged through the depths, channeling an uncanny, driving force that instantly whipped the Cold Pool into a massive, violent whirlpool spinning at breakneck speed, swallowing the two of them whole.
Clutching Yan Mingqiu in a death grip, Hanzhou plunged deeper into the swirling vortex alongside him.
The near-delirious Yan Mingqiu realized the searing heat inside his body had subsided by several more degrees, allowing his vision to clear. Yet, upon blinking open his eyes, he discovered he was completely submerged in freezing water, utterly incapable of drawing a breath.
In a flurry of panic, he fumbled toward the storage pouch at his waist, intending to retrieve a breath-holding pill—when Hanzhou suddenly lunged forward, pressed a single hand firmly against the back of his neck to force his chin upward, and… pressed his lips to his.
Yan Mingqiu’s pupils dilated in shock. His hand drifted away from the storage pouch as realization dawned: Hanzhou was sharing his breath. Yet the intimacy of the kiss left his mind spinning, prompting him to naturally reach out and cup Hanzhou’s face.
Encouraged by the gesture, a surge of hot blood rushed through Hanzhou, instantly converting the breath-sharing mechanism into a passionate, consuming kiss.
Freed from all restraint, the two of them tumbled through the freezing currents, kissing each other fervently until both drifted into unconsciousness beneath the water.