“May I ask what senior wants to entrust to us?” she asked.
Qiezhi looked at her with loving, maternal eyes. “Step forward.”
Just as Sang Nian was about to lift a foot, she remembered the S+ hazard rating Liu Liu had mentioned. Hesitating, she pulled her foot back.
“You can just tell us right from there. I won’t come over—it’s freezing.”
Qiezhi said softly:
“There is no need to be afraid. I will not harm you. Otherwise, the moment you set foot in this place, you would already be dead.”
Xie Chenzhou stated coldly, “Say it right here.”
Hearing his words, Qiezhi froze for a moment. Slowly lifting her eyelashes, a complex mix of emotions flickered within her eyes—reconciliation, self-deprecation, and above all, helplessness.
“Very well. To be able to see you both as I approach my death is already a mercy bestowed by the heavenly dao.”
With a soft sigh, Qiezhi turned her wrist over, a ball of milky-white light materializing within her palm.
The orb of light drifted slowly through the ice layer, making its way right in front of Xie Chenzhou.
Reaching out to catch it, he lowered his gaze to inspect it closely.
As the radiance faded, the object wrapped inside revealed its true form.
It was a bird’s egg the size of a fist.
Showing little to no interest, he casually handed it over to Sang Nian.
Turning it over in her hands with fascinated curiosity, Sang Nian asked, “What is this?”
“This is my unborn child. Because she was trapped alongside me within the ten-thousand-year mystic ice, she has never been able to hatch.”
Qiezhi continued slowly:
“Five hundred years ago, the Myriad Immortals Alliance stole her away. I had no choice but to leave the mountains in pursuit. Although I managed to take her back, I lost my freedom, and as for the Zhuyu tribe that I swore to protect…”
She enunciated every single word with chilling clarity:
“The entire clan was wiped out.”
“Was this done by the Myriad Immortals Alliance?” Sang Nian asked.
Qiezhi nodded.
A surge of incandescent fury rose in Sang Nian’s chest.
Isn’t this Myriad Immortals Alliance supposed to be a righteous faction?
How are they completely incapable of doing a single decent thing?
Xie Chenzhou abruptly asked:
“The Zhuyu tribe?”
“They were the lingering divine bloodline that lived on Mount Xiaohua,” Qiezhi said softly. “There were no beings in this world more compassionate and kind-hearted than them.”
Xie Chenzhou knitted his brows.
Perplexed, Sang Nian asked, “Why would the Myriad Immortals Alliance slaughter them?”
Qiezhi fell silent for a long, drawn-out moment. “I do not know either.”
Carefully storing away the Chidi bird’s egg, Sang Nian offered a reassuring promise:
“Senior, rest assured. We will take good care of your child.”
“Thank you,” Qiezhi said.
“Since everything that needs to be said has been said,” Xie Chenzhou demanded, “when are you going to let us leave?”
Qiezhi’s eyes twitched and spasmed slightly at the corners before she smoothed her expression into a warm tone.
“What’s the rush? Step forward; I have one more gift to bestow upon you both as a token of my gratitude.”
Just as Sang Nian was about to step forward, Xie Chenzhou suddenly grabbed her by the arm, speaking with calm certainty:
“There’s no need. We only wish to leave.”
Staring straight at him, Qiezhi watched as the corners of her uplifted mouth slowly flattened out until her expression became completely expressionless.
The air fell dead silent.
A sinking sense of foreboding welled up in Sang Nian’s heart.
Instinctively, she reached out to touch the defensive magical treasures hanging in a dense cluster around her waist.
If a fight broke out now, would she… be able to survive it?
Without the slightest warning, a heavy iron chain lashed out instantly, wrapping tightly around her waist and dragging her straight toward the ice pillar.
Bang—!
She slammed violently against the ground, the impact nearly shifting her internal organs out of place and causing her to curl up in a ball from the searing pain.
With a flick of Qiezhi’s finger, every single protective magical treasure around Sang Nian’s waist shattered into pieces simultaneously.
Sang Nian was left speechless, choked with bitter despair.
Survive a hammer.
The damn counterfeit, rip-off merchant!
Descending like the crushing weight of a mountain, the pressure of a Demon King crashed down upon her. She coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood as her complexion instantly turned sheet-white.
Clinging tightly to the ice pillar with a crazed look in her eyes, Qiezhi shrieked:
“Speak! Say that you willingly offer your body to me!”
Sang Nian kept her lips clamped shut, refusing to utter a single word.
“Then I’ll kill you right now!”
Qiezhi flung her arms wide, and with a booming roar, a sea of blazing fire erupted all around Sang Nian.
Clang—!
A blinding, razor-sharp streak of sword light tore through the howling wind. The chain wrapped around Sang Nian’s ankle let out a deafening metallic screech as it shuddered violently.
With pitch-black eyes, the youth gripped the hilt of his sword with absolute steadiness.
He executed a second slash with blinding speed, the sword qi crashing down with the overwhelming momentum of a gale-force tempest driving a charging cavalry.
Another deafening explosion rang out.
The iron chain abruptly snapped in two.
A vacuum path of safety carved its way right through the raging inferno. Without a moment’s hesitation, Sang Nian scrambled to her feet and bolted toward the outside with every ounce of strength she had left.
With a ferocious, twisted expression, Qiezhi shrieked, “Don’t even think about escaping!”
Struck by a monstrous wave of force, Sang Nian’s body uncontrollably flew backward through the air. Xie Chenzhou’s eyes twitched as he grabbed her by the arm, violently swapping their positions.
Bang!
He crashed hard into the ice pillar, emitting a muffled groan as he clutched his chest and vomited a mouthful of bright crimson blood.
As the blood splashed across the ice pillar, Qiezhi’s body shuddered violently, and she clutched her head in agony.
Her gaze shifted erratically between clarity and madness, as though another soul was wrestling with her for control of her body.
“He lied to me! He lied to me! I’m going to slaughter every last member of the human race! All humans deserve to die!”
“Five hundred years—five hundred years! Weisheng Yu, how utterly ruthless of your heart…”
“Mount Xiaohua is gone, the Zhuyu are gone, everything is gone… Don’t try to stop me! I only want to seek vengeance, what did I do wrong?!”
Clang—
The iron chains that had bound the two of them clattered to the ground. Glaring at them, Qiezhi roared in a hoarse, fractured voice:
“Get out!”
Tugging Xie Chenzhou along, Sang Nian sprinted desperately toward the cave entrance.
Behind them, the engraved golden runes hummed in unison. Qiezhi repeatedly hurled herself against the ice layer, her shrill screams and furious roars intertwining into a cacophony that shook the heavens.
The entire cavern trembled like an earthquake as blocks of ice crashed down from the ceiling, kicking up countless sprays of snow and ice dust.
Clutching Xie Chenzhou’s hand tightly, Sang Nian guided him through the apocalyptic ruins, not daring to slow her pace for even a second.
Turning her head, she called out to Xie Chenzhou:
“We’re definitely going to escape safely, don’t be afraid!”
The motion Xie Chenzhou had been about to make to shake her off came to an abrupt halt.
The next moment, a dazzling ray of golden light illuminated the interior of the cave.
Sang Nian lifted her gaze.
A white-clad cultivator descended on a flying sword, his figure slender and graceful, his robes fluttering in the wind.
The moment his eyes met Sang Nian’s, he formed a seal with one hand and conjured a gust of kinetic energy. Feeling her feet grow light, she was carried away on the wind toward the tree hollow.
The very instant she cleared the tree hollow, she couldn’t help but look back.
Standing resolute before the ice pillar with his sword drawn, the white-clad cultivator let out a blade-whistle that echoed like a dragon’s roar.
With the wind howling furiously, a golden pillar of sword qi soared into the sky, hacking down upon the frenzied beast with unstoppable momentum.
Sang Nian scarcely dared to breathe.
Is this what a sword cultivator is capable of?
So… incredibly powerful.
Boom—!!!
Following a cataclysmic upheaval that shook the earth, absolute silence descended.
Qiezhi’s physical form slowly dissolved, speck by speck.
Lifting her head slightly, her gaze pierced through the empty void, though no one knew where it finally landed.
“At last… I am released.”
She abruptly reached out her hand, as if trying to grasp something just out of reach.
How I wish I could see you one last time… My daughter, my… Manman.
A blinding flash of light swept across the area, leaving behind nothing more than drifting dust in its wake.
As the northern wind howled, the particles scattered far and wide into the air.
With that, love and hatred alike dissolved entirely into nothingness.
On the shores of the frozen lake.
Two figures materialized out of thin air, startling a flock of Siberian jays roosting in the trees above into a panicked flight.
Thud—
Sang Nian landed flat on her back in the snow like a starfish, turning over weakly to wipe the ice dust from her face with a lifeless, vacant stare:
“We actually… managed to escape.”
Xie Chenzhou landed lightly on his feet, his gaze dark and heavy as he stared at the frozen lake.
Catching her breath, Sang Nian pushed herself up with both arms and began rummaging through her storage bag, pulling out a pile of medicinal vials:
“Are your injuries alright? Hurry up and pop a couple of Vitality Nourishing Pills to recover your strength.”
With an air of serene detachment, Xie Chenzhou replied, “Mere trivial wounds.”
Forcefully shoving the porcelain medicine bottle into his hand, Sang Nian lectured him earnestly:
“Young man, your complexion looks like you’ve been dead for three days and nobody’s remembered to bury you yet.”
Without a word of expression, Xie Chenzhou raised the medicine bottle, tilted his head back to dump the pills straight into his mouth, and chewed forcefully.
Impressive dental work.
As someone perpetually plagued by wisdom tooth inflammation, Sang Nian felt a genuine surge of envy.
Just as she tried to stand up, a sharp, stabbing pain lanced through her ribs, forcing her to draw in a sharp, quiet hiss of air:
“I think a few of my ribs are broken.”
She offered herself a dose of immediate self-consolation: “Well, at least it wasn’t my legs. Otherwise, we never would have made it out.”
“Can you give a friend a hand here?” Extending a hand toward Xie Chenzhou, she pleaded, “Please.”
With a look of utter disdain, Xie Chenzhou hauled her up by the scruff: “You certainly manage to stay optimistic.”
“I’m just stating facts,” Sang Nian grumbled, wincing as she steadied her footing. “We almost died in that place.”
“I wonder who the person was who came to save us,” she marveled. “They were seriously amazing.”
Xie Chenzhou let out a light, cynical scoff. “Nothing special.”
“Fellow Daoists.”
Abruptly, a voice spoke up from behind them.
The sound was as crystal-clear and delicate as shattering jade.