Amidst the crimson magic circle, the head of a terrifying demonic creature emerged, sucking in the two men like a black hole. This was the unique sacrificial summoning secret art of the divine descendants—once used, it would bring utter calamity.
“Divine Sacrifice! Are you insane?!” Chen Tianjing’s face twisted in shock. He didn’t dare stay a moment longer and immediately turned to flee.
“You brought me to this state, and now you think you can run? Today, I’ll drag you down with me!” Tuoba Yichen charged forward and wrapped his arms around Chen Tianjing’s waist, trying to pull him into the sacrificial ritual.
Of course, Chen Tianjing had no intention of dying. He frantically activated his flight magic to escape the demon’s suction force.
“Damn it!”
Liu Ying’s pupils contracted. Her body shot through the air like a meteor, and with a powerful punch, she severed the red monster’s black hole-like pull. The moment the suction broke, Tuoba Yichen and Chen Tianjing were flung by inertia into the forest, knocked unconscious.
Liu Ying drew her divine sword, but her face suddenly turned deathly pale. Her delicate frame trembled faintly—she couldn’t even lift her sword anymore. Seizing the opportunity, the demon spat out a massive, elongated tongue.
“Master, you really—” Tiger Girl stared in shock at the strange state of Liu Ying. Her body abruptly expanded to the size of a three-story building, tearing apart the demon’s tongue. But the monster continued to emerge endlessly from the magic circle.
“Of all times, now?!” Liu Ying’s body trembled slightly as she clenched her teeth. “Could this be the so-called latent threat?”
“No! This can’t be!” Golden light erupted violently from Liu Ying’s body as countless mysterious runes swirled around her. The golden magic circle beneath her feet spun wildly, and the sword in her hand grew enormous. With all her strength, she swung it down fiercely, instantly cleaving the crimson demon and its magic circle in half—even the dark clouds in the sky were split apart, revealing a bright purple full moon.
She knelt on the ground, gripping the sword plunged into the earth, her entire body shaking uncontrollably.
Tiger Girl cried out anxiously, “Master, there really is something wrong with you! No wonder you never acted before and refused to rest properly.”
“I’m fine. What does a latent threat matter? Even if it’s there, it’s nothing serious.” Liu Ying forced herself to stand, offering a weak smile to reassure Tiger Girl. But she didn’t last long before collapsing, losing consciousness.
In the distance, Chen Tianjing, battered and bruised, struggled to his feet. Staring at the woman who had just annihilated a half-divine demon with a single strike, he was too stunned to speak. With just one move, she had completely dispelled the apocalyptic phenomenon they had spent half the day triggering?
“Damn it, to think such an accident would happen!”
Not daring to linger, he immediately fled.
……
In a cave within the valley.
Unlike the darkness and terror outside, the cave was brightly lit, as if illuminated by city lights. The bed was empty, but in the corner sat a beautiful woman with large, blinking eyes—unable to sleep.
It was Yang Xiyan.
She simply couldn’t sleep, too excited to rest. Today, staying alone in the valley, she had felt an inexplicable thrill. She had never experienced such peaceful solitude before. It was wonderfully serene.
Unfortunately, it hadn’t taken long for the rain to start, rumbling loudly. There even seemed to be the sounds of demonic beasts fighting. What a shame—she hadn’t even had the chance to bathe in the waterfall yet.
“Huh, is it morning already?”
Yang Xiyan suddenly noticed the brightness outside. The moonlight was so radiant that she crawled out of her sleeping bag and stepped outside the cave. The sky was filled with stars, and the bright moon hung high, as clear as day.
“The weather is so nice!” Yang Xiyan sighed wistfully. “I really feel like having a barbecue.” She sat on a large rock outside, swinging her legs as she gazed at the stars, leisurely nibbling on snacks and humming a tune.
As a mage, she wasn’t afraid of the night.
But as she admired the scenery, her smiling face suddenly froze. From beside the waterfall to the right of the cave, a massive creature was slowly approaching. It moved on all fours with an imposing majesty, its speed astonishingly fast.
A magical beast! A high-tier magical beast!
Before Yang Xiyan could react, the beast was already in front of her. Panicked, she fumbled for her staff and quickly chanted an incantation. A giant ice spike shot directly toward the charging creature, but the beast simply closed its eyes and let the ice spear strike it.
“Did it work?”
The ice spear shattered into countless shards upon hitting the beast’s forehead, and Yang Xiyan’s face turned deathly pale.
She could see clearly now—it was a massive tiger-like magical beast. Though she didn’t recognize the species, its size dwarfed even an elephant. In that instant, countless ways she might die flashed through her mind. But soon, she realized the fierce tiger had stopped right in front of her, motionless.
Strangely, it lacked the ferocity and terror typical of magical beasts. Its large, crimson eyes seemed almost pleading.
Following its gaze upward, she finally noticed a figure on the tiger’s back—a woman. Before she could process this, the giant tiger’s body rapidly shrank, transforming into a chubby cat.
She recognized it—this was Hu Niu.
“So that means…” Yang Xiyan quickly scrambled off the rock and hurried over to the figure. Sure enough, it was Xia Qiu, who had left just a few days ago.
“Is she hurt?” Yang Xiyan glanced back at Hu Niu, intending to use her water magic to heal her, but found it had no effect.
When she touched Xia Qiu’s forehead, it felt like ice. Her lips were tightly clenched, as if in extreme pain, and her entire body radiated an eerie chill.
“Are you that cold?” Yang Xiyan had never seen an injury like this. She tried to lift her but found herself lacking the strength, resorting to a water-floating spell to move her into the cave.
Aside from the cold, Yang Xiyan noticed nothing else unusual about her. Though puzzled, she could only focus on warming her up. Half-closing her eyes, she removed Xia Qiu’s dirty clothes and boots but accidentally brushed against her softness. Flushing red, she quickly averted her gaze, though she couldn’t resist stealing another glance moments later.
Hmm… it didn’t seem any smaller than her own.
But when she touched Xia Qiu’s skin, Yang Xiyan realized something was terribly wrong. Her body wasn’t at a temperature any human could survive—it was like a block of ice. Though Yang Xiyan herself ran cold, it was nothing like this. Even more horrifying, when she accidentally brushed against Xia Qiu’s chest, she couldn’t feel a heartbeat.
Terrified, she checked again—nothing.
If not for Xia Qiu’s clenched teeth, pained moans, and steady breathing, Yang Xiyan would have thought she was dead.
To be sure, she pressed her ear against Xia Qiu’s chest and listened. After half a minute, she finally detected a faint heartbeat.
Though shocked, Yang Xiyan didn’t have time to dwell on it. She quickly wrapped Xia Qiu tightly in a sleeping bag and blankets, then lit a fire in the hearth and placed her beside it.
Yang Xiyan wasn’t wearing much—just a loose black nightgown—and even sitting by the fire, she felt warm. Yet the woman beside her remained freezing.
She picked up Hu Niu, who had curled up next to Xia Qiu, and placed the cat on her lap. “What happened to your owner?” she asked, puzzled. “How did she end up like this?”
Tigress lowered her head and shook it in a very human-like manner.
Yang Xiyan was pleasantly surprised to see Tigress acting so human for the first time and pressed further, “Then how can we help her recover? Is she really okay like this? It feels like her heart isn’t even beating.”
Tigress pointed at the bonfire and the blanket, then helplessly hung her head.
“So, we can only rely on old-fashioned methods like blankets and fire?” Yang Xiyan confirmed, and Tigress nodded in agreement.
Yang Xiyan looked at Liu Ying’s pained expression, her heart aching. She remembered how confident Liu Ying always was in front of her—graceful, poised, yet witty and humorous, always leaving her flustered.
But now, she was like this.
“If only Yiyi were here. She could brew some ginger and sugar water to warm her up. Though I’m not sure if it’ll work, I always loved drinking sugar water when I was sick,” Yang Xiyan muttered to herself before mustering the energy to rummage through her spatial pouch for ginger and other ingredients.
She hauled out a large pot and used water magic to fill it. However, the pot was so big that even with all her might, she couldn’t lift it onto the fire. Tigress could only watch helplessly, covering her eyes with a paw.
Yang Xiyan’s face flushed red with embarrassment. She realized she’d made a mistake—she should’ve placed the pot first before filling it with water. But now, she had no choice but to call out to Tigress, “Come help me! Grow bigger and lift it up!”
With no other option, Tigress enlarged herself and used her tail to hoist the pot up.
“So amazing!” Yang Xiyan exclaimed before covering the pot. Though her cooking skills were practically nonexistent, she had at least seen the maids prepare meals before. Surely, if she tried, she could manage, right?
But soon, both girl and tiger were in complete chaos.
“What do we do? The water’s boiling so hard, it’s too hot to touch!”
“Meow meow meow!”
“Th-this is terrifying! How is boiling water so scary?!”
“MEOW MEOW MEOW!!!”
“Never mind, let’s just put out the fire first!”
“Meow~”
“Finally, it stopped.”
“Meow meow meow~”
“There’s so much water. I wonder if all this sugar will be enough—will it be too sweet? Hmm, I’m pretty sure I didn’t mix it up. I wouldn’t make the same mistake as those TV dramas where they confuse salt for sugar.”
“Meow meow meow?”
“Why isn’t it sweet? Maybe there’s not enough. Let me see if we have more.”
“Meow meow meow…”
“There’s still plenty—let’s just pour it all in.”
“Meow…”
“Still not sweet enough, and we’re out of sugar. Ugh, this is so hard! How does Yiyi make this look so easy?”
Tigress: “…”
“Whatever! As long as it’s hot water, it should be fine.”
Yang Xiyan knelt beside the suffering Liu Ying, carefully lifting her up—her body limp like a caterpillar—and rested her head on her lap. She tried feeding her the sugar water with a spoon.
Was the water hot enough? How did Mom used to do this? Whatever, she seems to like it.
Halfway through, Liu Ying finally reacted, half-opening one eye before drifting back to sleep after a glance.
“It’s working!” Yang Xiyan exclaimed in delight.
Liu Ying was in a daze, trapped in a dark, desolate world, her body freezing cold and her heart as still as a puppet’s. She thought this feeling would last forever until the sun rose.
But unknowingly, warmth began to spread through her chest. The pillow beneath her was soft and carried a faint fragrance. Though she couldn’t see clearly who it was when she half-opened her eyes, the water being fed to her was sweet and comforting.
Could such a terrifying day also feel this warm?
Yang Xiyan gazed at the peacefully sleeping Liu Ying and let out a long sigh. Who would have thought she’d ever be the one taking care of someone else? How absurd. But seeing Liu Ying sleeping so soundly made it hard to stay annoyed.
Looking at the enormous pot of sweet soup, she massaged her temples with a headache. Why on earth had she made so much? Yang Xiyan gave a tired laugh and leaned against the now-enlarged Tiger Girl, drifting off to sleep.
She was exhausted—never had she imagined that caring for someone could be this draining. It was almost incomprehensible…