Black Bellied Belle: Demon Lord, Bite the Bait Please

Ch. 301-310

Chapter 301: A Person Impossible to Forget

But what caused everyone's faces to turn pale was that all those strange birds that flew up from the bottom of the gorge did not attack the spirit beast on the bridge, but just gathered together in flocks as they stuck themselves onto both sides of that narrow bridge, which came to increase the surface area over the iron chain bridge by quite a bit.

"What is going on here?" Someone could not help but query. "Have those birds been possessed?"

Looking at the situation, it seemed like the strange birds were using their own bodies to become part of the bridge, that will allow people to cross quickly.

There were just too many people there and looking at the iron chain bridge, it seemed highly aged and should have hung there for a very very long time. If they were to cross that bridge one at a time, not to mention how long that would that, the bridge itself might possibly fail to withstand their weight on it for such a long period and just snap.

Seeing the crowd of people hesitating and not daring to move forward, Meatball then waved its hind paw a little impatiently, before it shot its gaze into a certain direction, like it was trying to hint at something.

That was when Lou Jun Yao and his people finally came to reveal themselves. There was no doubt that wherever this man appeared, there would be no peace.

"It's the Dark Overlord!"

"When did he get here?!"

As voices rose in heated debate, the front of the bridge that had been blocked with clusters of people suddenly opened up as people stepped aside unconsciously, to make way for the man who showed up suddenly.

"Hmph, I see this fella wherever I go. How infuriating." The shade on Zhuge Xiong's face was not pretty, especially when he saw that high and mighty demeanor of the man, acting like everyone around him was a level lower than him, and Zhuge Xiong's heart just could not help but feel indignant.

In the past, back when he was still in the Dark Lands, he had greatly admired the man and held a deep respect for him. But now, there was nothing but only hatred and contempt in his heart for Lou Jun Yao.

Qing Tian Lin standing beside Zhuge Xiong heard that and the look in his eyes changed a little, before he asked Zhuge Xiong with interest in his voice: "That man is....."

Although he had traded blows with this man a few times before, he still did not know a thing about the man's real identity till today, but just that he was not a simple person, a highly mysterious individual.

"He is the Lord of the Dark Lands, one of the powers among Cloud Heaven's Five Great Powers, Lou Jun Yao. An insufferably conceited, unbelievably haughty and arrogant man." Zhuge Xiong replied in a disdainful voice.

"Oh?" Qing Tian Lin smiled as he nodded his head. "So he is the highly famed Great Overlord of the Dark Lands."

Zhuge Xiong scoffed coldly. "It's all just his great infamy."

Qing Tian Lin merely smiled and did not say anything.

Lou Jun Yao's face was indifferent and expressionless as he strode past those people, slowly stepping onto the iron chain bridge.

Chapter 301.2: A Person Impossible to Forget

At that same moment, Meatball was also slowly turning back into the tiny ball that it was originally. As it sat there with its head lowered while licking its paws, a long slender arm suddenly stretched out to scoop it up, scaring the little beast so much that the fur on its body bristled immediately, it large azure eyes wide as it stared at the man in surprise.

Lou Jun Yao then seemed to crook up a corner of his lips faintly in a smile, and then stroked the soft fur on the back of the little fella's neck as he said: "That must have been rather hard on you."

The soft tender voice and the gentle action of his hand actually came to make the little beast feel a little flustered, completely forgetting to slash this human with a vicious claw that had come to touch its body without seeking its permission.

Aside from Mother, it had not really liked even Qing Bei whom it saw day in day out to get too close to it. It was only for Mother's sake that it had allowed him to touch and carry it occasionally.

But this man.....

Strangely..... It was not feeling repulsive?

Could it be because..... That it could detect a sliver of Mother's scent on this man?

After everyone from the Dark Lands were seen to have made it safely across the iron chain bridge, all the other people would naturally not want to fall behind and they immediately wanted to follow suit.

Just as about half of them managed to make it across, for some unknown reason, the strange birds that had lined themselves to become an extension of the bridge suddenly turned wild and flapped their wide wings violently, which caused a number of people standing on their backs to fall over.

And when those people went plummeting down into the deep chasm, the strange birds at the bottom immediately surged straight towards them in flocks. The very next instant, the stench of blood could be smelled in the air, and there was no sign of those people who fell over anywhere left to see.

It was only because they had been intimidated by the Dark Phantasm Cat that those birds had been so docile.

And by that time, Lou Jun Yao had already walked a great distance away with the little beast held in his arms, so those strange birds had naturally started to stir, seeking to vent out the rage held inside upon these remaining people.

The people who were fortunate enough to make it across could do nothing but watch on with horror, their faces turned pale as they witnessed the brutal carnage, feeling utterly helpless.

They should have expected that would happen. The Mind Free Peak was not a place that any ordinary person could come to. Somebody would have to pay the price, even to the extent of giving up their lives, to end up becoming the stepping stone for others.

Everything that happened here, was being observed by someone.

The woman who had been lounging lazily in her chair had suddenly seen something, which caused her silver irises to flare slightly, as her body slowly straightened up in her seat.

She got up slowly and took a couple of steps forward, watching the familiar figure that had appeared on the enormous screen before her, caught in an entranced daze, like her mind had drifted away to some long and far distant memory.

Chapter 301.3: A Person Impossible to Forget

Is she imagining things?

Has she missed that person too much and that is why she could not resist wanting to take a second look after seeing someone who looked like him?

But, that face looked exactly the same as his! One that she thinks she would never be able to ever forget.

She had been so engrossed that she did not even notice that someone had come into the grand hall.

Following the woman's gaze to see, Lian Shi was naturally able to see the figure that caused the woman to look a little downcast. His eyes seemed to darken for an instant, but quicked reverted back to its calm.

"Sovereign, Yan Po came over to report that the condition of the person imprisoned in the Flame Devouring Ice Demon isn't looking too optimistic. If we do not carry out your plan as soon as possible, that person might be rendered useless soon."

Her thoughts suddenly interrupted by the man's voice, the woman's brows creased up, seemingly slightly displeased. But after realizing what he just said, her expression grew cold. "Just use elixirs to let her hang on for a while longer. I will not allow anyone to hinder my plans in anyway."

"Understood." Lian Shi bowed his head and said.

He then saw the woman's eyes turning back to look at the screen after she said that and his lips moved slightly as if hesitant to speak, but the woman had not noticed his actions in the slightest.

A corner of Lian Shi's lips lifted up in a scornful sneer but he did not say anything and just walked out from there.

On the other side, inside the Flame Devouring Ice Demon, Ying Ge was secretly transferring a little bit of spirit power into Qing Lan Fei's body and when she retracted her hands, her face turned pale for a moment.

Qing Lan Fei let out a helpless sigh and then said: "Is there a need for you to do this? Even if I were to recover to the same level of cultivation I had before, I still wouldn't be able to get out of the Flame Devouring Ice Demon."

"I've told you that I will save you and bring you out from here." Ying Ge curved up the ends of her pale lips, and the usually cold and distant girl suddenly revealed a smile, that looked exceptionally beautiful and captivating.

"I know that you are just consoling me." Qing Lan Fei responded as she shook her head slowly. Looking at the girl, she then said softly: "Ying Ge, you've already helped me a lot, and I am very grateful to you. But, do not continue doing this as I do not want you to get implicated."

Ying Ge's gaze sharpened slightly and she remained silent for a good long while before she came to say to Qing Lan Fei: "There's no need for all this talk of implicating this or that. I am doing this of my own accord."

Qing Lan Fei knitted up her brows and was just about to say something when she heard Ying Ge open her mouth to speak. "Senior, the Mind Free Peak has manifested before the people and many of them have already set foot onto the Mind Free Peak's territory, and are just waiting for them to make a choice between life and death."

The expression on Qing Lan Fei's face immediately looked startled.

Chapter 301.4: A Person Impossible to Forget

"A few days ago, I went to see Little Qing Yu. She is perfectly fine except that her freedom is curtailed. So tell me Senior, are you really going to give up?" Ying Ge asked as she looked straight at the woman, pausing succinctly at every word as she spoke.

"Is Little Yu, really well?" Qing Lan Fei held Ying Ge's hand tightly as she asked in disbelief.

"She is perfectly fine." Ying Ge lifted her head up to reply. "I've also told her not to be afraid, as I will try to find a way to save her, as her mother is still waiting for her."

Qing Lan Fei's face seemed to show she was a little moved by that, and just a moment later, looking like she had just made a big decision, she nodded her head and said: "Alright. I promise you that I will make sure I recover quickly, so that I can go save Little Yu together with you."

Ying Ge's face then broke into a highly comforted smile.

Actually, she had not seen the young lady before, and she did not even know where she was imprisoned.

That information had been tightly capped up and she had not been able to glean even the slightest sliver of news about it from her Master. The only thing she heard from her Master was that the young lady was brought back here by the Supreme Lord Lian Shi himself.

That man, besides Sovereign herself, was the most highly skilled and powerful pugilist in the Mind Free Peak who held an extremely high position, a deep and unfathomable person who always had a smile on his face before everyone. However, it was that same exact smiley face of his that was most terrifying and deadly.

Even her Master had to cordially yield to that man to a certaln degree. For someone that was as lowly and insignificant as her, it was feared that she did not even have the right to speak to that man.

But, she will not give up. She will definitely be able to find out where that young lady has been hidden.

Ying Ge's grip on Qing Lan Fei's hand tightened up more and more.

Senior, you have always protected me back in the past. Now, it is my turn to protect you instead. I hope you have not forgotten what you promised me before.

That you will forever go on to live in bliss and happiness on my behalf as well.

——

After crossing over the iron chain bridge, one would then be considered to have really entered into the Mind Free Peak. But for one to merely just set foot into the realm proper, it took them three whole days.

When they first made it through, everyone seemed rather eager and were in good spirits. But when they came to remember that a good number of their people had died, their mood suddenly grew solemn and heavy, as if they had just realized the kind of danger that existed there.

However, since they had already come so far, it was a little too late for them to go back.

The entire construct of the Mind Free Peak was a like a place that would exist only in their dreams, so beautiful it felt highly surreal, as if touching anything in the slightest with their hands would cause them to evaporate into nothing, but everything there truly existed.

What met their eyes was a massively sized snow lion, crouched low and really to spring, it wide open jaws making for a terrifyingly ferocious sight.

But it was forever frozen in place, its entire body sealed up in thick glacial ice, and it looked like it had been dead for a long time, but its magnificent posture had been perfectly preserved, without the slightest bit of damage on its body, looking highly lifelike.

Besides the snow lion that was the most enormous in size, there were many other beasts of all kinds, beasts that walked the earth and also birds that flew in the sky, all of them frozen in place midway through the very last action they took when they were still alive, trapped in that place till death claimed them.

It was as if they met with a great calamity, and the spirit beasts were unable to dodge and run away in time, to end up being trapped within the danger that suddenly fell upon them, never to strike a more lifelike pose than that.

Chapter 302: Why Do You Seem To Look So Sad

"That is just too unbelievable. Are they..... Dead?"

A young man with a handsome countenance took a couple of steps closer, and then muttered in a soft voice.

He arched his head back to peer inquisitively at the massive snow lion, before he stretched a hand out tentatively to go touch it, only to feel a rock hard layer of ice under his fingers.

The man was taken aback for a while and then shook his head as he found it rather funny. Why does he have this strange feeling that these spirit beasts are still alive?

His companions who had gone on ahead called out to him and the man immediately went on to catch up to them, no longer paying the frozen spirit beasts any attention.

However, after everyone had walked far away from there, it was not known whether it was an illusion but the deep brown eyes that were as big as bronze bells snow on the snow lion encased in ice suddenly seemed to blink once, and there was no more movement after that.

Qing Ye Li and his gang were walking right at the back. There were several among them who were not human and their senses were more sensitive than the humans.

That was especially the case for Qing Ye Li. From the moment he had set foot into this place, his nerves had been tense and highly on edge. For just a very brief instant just now, he seemed to have faintly felt a strange aura, which made him feel rather uneasy.

His brows slowly furrowed together, and his voice came out in a low tone. "Everyone be on your guard."

The first obstacle had already been so difficult, and moreover they were now within the Mind Free Peak's territory, so they would have to be even more careful and wary. They must not let down their guard, not in the slightest.

——

"Can you remember the route you took when you came out?"

Carrying the tiny furry ball in his arms, Lou Jun Yao lowered his head to look down and ask in a soft voice.

Logically speaking, spirit beasts would usually be stronger than humans with some of their abilities. For example, they possess a highly precise and accurate sense of direction that would put most humans to shame, or the ability to track down things that they seek through the use of scent and aura.

However, Meatball just shook its head with an innocent expression on its face at that place. "I can only remember that the place that Mother is at was within a stretch of woods with very tall trees, and the ground was very low, which concealed the place very well, making it very hard to be discovered."

"Woods?" When Qing Bei standing at the side heard that, his brows immediately knitted up. He then asked in a quizzical voice: "Are you sure you're not mistaken? The landscape around us is all ice, stretching as far as the eye can see in all directions and the temperature is so bitterly cold there isn't a sliver of colour anywhere. How could trees possibly grow in such severe and harsh weather conditions....."

"I remember it very clearly. The woods were just outside the place. The trees were completely white like snow, both its leaves and trunk, which would blend in perfectly with the landscape we see here."

Chapter 302.2: Why Do You Seem To Look So Sad

Meatball tried very hard to remember and then suddenly recalled something. It stretched its paw out and opened up its pink fleshy paw, to reveal something white held within.

Lou Jun Yao's gaze glinted sharply, and his long fingers slowly went to pick that thing up by its corner.

Several of the others could not help but turn their eyes over to look, and they saw that it was a thin and pointed leaf, with a sharp jagged edge at its tip. The leaf felt cold in his hand, like it was actually a thin layer of ice.

Lou Jun Yao then rubbed the leaf between his fingertips and discovered that his fingers became wet, like the leaf had been covered in real ice that melts when exposed to heat. But the strange thing was that the leaf merely released a small amount of water, and did not look like it had melted in the slightest.

"Are you able to find out anything with this?" Lou Jun Yao opened his mouth to ask as he handed the leaf over to the little beast.

"It looks very familiar. I'm sure I have seen this before." Little Monster studied it carefully and then went on to say slowly, the expression on his face looking a little helpless. "But, I am unable to recall right now."

Lou Jun Yao nodded slightly. "It's alright. We will find that place in the end. Take your time to think."

They were furthest ahead and had managed to leave all the other people far far behind them, hence they were temporarily not in any imminent danger.

But right at that moment, something behind them seemed to be silently stirring.

——

"Little one, you've been a little more well behaved in the past two days."

The man's voice held a sliver of mirth as it rang out slowly and Qing Yu in the pool who had her eyes closed while resting then opened when she heard those words. She looked at him expressionlessly and said: "What a free and idle life you lead, to be able to come visit me everyday."

"It is only natural that I show the little pet I brought back personally a little more concern." Lian Shi's expression was tender, seemingly not affected in the least by the young lady's cold and icy demeanor.

"I have really troubled you then." A corner of Qing Yu's mouth turned up, her voice tinged with a hint of sarcasm as she turned her head away from the man, like she was not keen in seeing the man at all.

"You don't have to feel bad." Lian Shi said as he took a couple of steps forward. "I came here today to let you see something."

When his voice fell, his long fingers started to wave slightly in the air for a moment and a large crystalline screen came to appear before Qing Yu.

"Argh~~~"

"They are all alive! They are still alive!!"

"Quick! Run.....!"

Qing Yu had her head turned away and did not notice what the man was doing at all, but she was attracted by the sound of voices that suddenly rang out. Her face immediately froze in shock, when she turned her head around to look.

Chapter 302.3: Why Do You Seem To Look So Sad

On the screen that hung suspended in midair, was a scene of chaos.

Countless spirit beasts broke out from ice, their eyes filled with fiery bloodlust as they pounced upon the crowd of people maniacally.

The scene she saw was nothing compared to the massive stampede that she had encountered before in the past. She had never seen so many spirit beasts moving together at the same time before, like they were being controlled by an evil entity.

However, that was not what caught her attention the most.

It was because among all those people, she had caught sight of several familiar faces, and Qing Bei was among them.

In that instant, Qing Yu seemed to be unable to remain calm, her face grave as she stared at the people she saw before her eyes. She then said slowly through tightly clenched teeth: "What are you trying to do?"

"I did not do anything at all!" Lian Shi said with an upraised eyebrow, the expression on his face one of innocence.

"These spirit beasts have been sealed in the MInd Free Peak's icy plains for more than a thousand years! Who would have thought that their lifeforce would be so resilient, that actually kept them alive even though so many years have passed."

He looked at the young lady's face that was seemingly tense with suppressed rage and then laughed out softly and said: "Those spirits beasts had their freedom that they loved the most taken away, so you can imagine the accumulated rage and indignance that had built up over a thousand years. Sigh~ those people are really so unlucky."

Qing Yu's fists clenched up tightly, her gaze fixed unwaveringly upon the people on the screen who were being pursued by those spirit beasts, tearing and rending, fear making them forget that they were all cultivators, with some of them even forgetting to summon up their spirit powers at all and just ended up being brutally slaughtered by the maniacal spirit beasts.

"What do you think? Isn't it interesting to see all those terrorized people running heedlessly in a frantic panic trying to escape? Coincidentally, that will also serve as a test for all of them as only when one is faced with real danger where they are placed in a life and death situation would you be able to truly see their real capabilities."

Qing Yu did not say a single word as she watched the scene unfold on the screen, her lips tightly pressed together, looking a little pale and colourless.

Lian Shi had probably noticed that unusual look on her face and he opened his mouth to ask: "What? There is someone you know among them?"

Silent for another heartbeat, Qing Yu finally peeled her eyes off the scene, turning to gaze indifferently at the man. "You came here just to show me this? I have seen it now, so you can now leave."

Lian Shi froze for a moment, seemingly surprised by her calm demeanor. "You're not feeling the slightest bit of fear?"

"What is there to fear?"

"With the Mind Free Peak's manifestation, the people who manage to survive till the end will get recognized. At that time, you will be used to implement our plan to create the strongest weapon, turned into a mindless puppet to be manipulated." Lian Shi said, the look in his eyes seeming rather conflicted.

Chapter 302.4: Why Do You Seem To Look So Sad

"That day will not come, and none of what you said will happen." Qing Yu's eyes were narrowed as she said in a soft voice.

Her tone was however strangely resolute.

Lian Shi could not help but shake his head. "I really do not know where your confidence is coming from at all. Do you not realize the situation you're in now?"

"You know something? From the moment I first saw you, I've felt that you're a person who feels highly conflicted and is rather contradictory." Qing Yu said unexpectedly, all of a sudden out of the blue.

"What do you mean?"

Qing Yu did not respond to his question but went on to say: "Deep down inside, you do not want me to become what you said earlier do you?"

She then turned to look back at the screen, upon the horrifying scene that was hard to look at. "You do not want them to die as well."

Lian Shi's face that always carried a gentle smile seemed to congeal for an instant, before his lips curved up. "What kind of nonsense are you talking about? Looks like I have treated you too well all this time and..... you've started to think that I'm a good person??"

Speaking of that, he then scoffed, like he was laughing at her overconfidence. "If you think saying nice things to me and pretending to be good and obedient in front of me will make me consider letting you off and plead on your behalf, then you're really overthinking it too much. Although I am someone who appreciates and would treat a beauty gently, and you are indeed a lass who possess outstanding looks, it is very unfortunate that you are a unique existence who holds the power of the Flame element."

"It doesn't matter even if you do not want to admit it. Afterall, who wouldn't possess a side of themselves that no one knows about?" Qing Yu raised her hands up before her, stretching them out to block out the rest of the man's face, leaving only his pair of eyes in sight.

A strange phenomenon then happened. Lian Shi had always been highly smiley before people, and his smile was one that was gentle and comfortable to see.

But after blocking out the rest of his face and leaving only his eyes visible, a pair of extremely good looking eyes, long almond shaped, not showing the slightest bit of devilish allure, but instead seemed clean and untainted, detached from worldly affairs.

However, within that same pair of eyes, was a kind of thick undispellable sadness, which was highly disparate and out of place with his smile, in seemingly direct conflict.

But, his face was clearly still smiling.

"Why do your eyes carry some sort of compassion and pity for people?"

As an evil villain who has committed all sorts of bad deeds, but carries such a contradictory side in him. What is he feeling sad about?

Is it because of all those lives that were lost or is it because all of this was not what he wished for??

The arc on Lian Shi's lips grew deeper, and his voice sounded softly as she looked at him intently. "Are you..... trying to read into my heart?"

Without waiting for Qing Yu to reply, he just went on ahead and continued to say: "Compassion for people? Ha! I am not some kind of a saint seeking to deliver all living creatures from suffering."

"I am merely pitying myself."

Chapter 303: Lian Shi's Origins (1)

Those words that came out sounded highly desolate and were heavily laden with sad melancholy, poles apart from the easy and nonchalant mannerism he always portrayed before everyone.

His body was slightly turned away to the side and Qing Yu could not see the expression on his face as his gaze remained fixed on the screen. After quite a long while, he scoffed lightly and turned around, his eyes emotionless.

The moment he turned his eyes back around, it immediately caused Qing Yu to stare with wide eyed incredulity at the man.

The man's eyes..... had turned to become a light violet colour at that moment, beautiful and immensely captivating, crystal clear and looking like completely unblemished gems of the highest quality.

Seeing the stunned face on the young lady, Lian Shi curved up the corners of his lips and raised a finger up slowly to stroke his brows gently. "What? Feeling rather surprised? Do you find that these eyes of mine look familiar?"

Those eyes..... were exactly the same as Lou Jun Yao's, except that they were slightly lighter in colour.

He had once told her, that those violet eyes of his was due to his unique bloodline, and that meant that only people who shared the same bloodline as him would come to possess violet eyes like his.

"Who..... are you really....." Qing Yu's eyes looked a little complicated as she stared at the man, unable to calm herself for a moment.

"These violet eyes..... are the signature of people descended from the Dark Night Demonic Tribe." Lian Shi's voice was low and deep as he spoke softly. "That man must have told you about it before!"

However, Qing Yu shook her head slowly. "No, he hasn't."

Between Lou Jun Yao and her, there was great mutual trust in each other, and he had never tried to hide anything from her. As long as it was something she wanted to know about, he would always tell her everything he knew.

But in regards to his birth, it seemed like he wasn't really willing to bring it up at all. She had also not asked him anything about it as she knew he would definitely speak up on his own if he wanted to tell her about it.

But he had not, and that just shows..... it might be possible he did not want to recall any part of that past as it was a part of his memories that was painful to him.

If he did not want to talk about it, Qing Yu would naturally not want to go ask him or to even bring up the topic.

Hence, this was the first time that she was hearing something about Lou Jun Yao's from another person's mouth.

Seeing that the expression on the young lady still seemed to look a little puzzled, Lian Shi could probably come to guess correctly that the man was not really willing to reveal his true birth identity!

Afterall, it was not exactly something to be proud of, and it may even cause people to panic if they found out.

Chapter 303.2: Lian Shi's Origins (1)

He laughed softly and then said slowly. "The Dark Night Demonic Tribe, is a race of people in far ancient times that possessed the most powerful bloodline in cultivation. It is said that because their descendants inherited the devilish nature of their ancestors in their blood and that is why they are born evil and highly bloodthirsty, rejected by the world, and can only live within darkness."

"Are there really demons in this world?" Qing Yu could not help but mutter out that question aloud.

Lian Shi looked at her and laughed, and in that pair of violet eyes, it seemed they carried a hint of a smile.

"Yes, there are. Millions of years ago, not only were there demons, there was God and also all kinds of fairies, sprites and monsters, it was chaos. At that time, God wasn't the one entity holding reign over all that is light yet, all the demons and humans did not want to fall behind, though they failed to do so in the end."

Qing Yu listened intently as she lifted her eyes up to look at the calm and composed man. She then opened her mouth to say: "You seem to know an awful lot."

"Ha." Lian Shi scoffed with a slight arc of his lips and then said in an indifferent voice. "You might not believe it when I tell you this, but I am a person who has survived all the way from those far ancient times."

After those words came out, Qing Yu arched up an eyebrow to give the man a measuring look as she asked skeptically: "Are you trying to tell me you're now already tens of thousand years old?"

She had heard from Lou Jun Yao before that the longest living person in Cloud Heaven was merely just a few thousand years old, and once they come to reach a certain level in their cultivation, their looks will never ever change anymore, but to become frozen at the age they attained that level of cultivation.

And this fella here, looks like he has not even reached his thirties, but he is actually already that old.....

It was really a little hard to believe.

Thinking about that, Qing Yu then opened her mouth to ask again. "You are also descended from the Dark Night Demonic Tribe?"

If he was of the demonic race, then he would surely have a much longer lifespan. So, for him to be able to live from those times till now, it wasn't all that strange.

But, the man shook his head lightly. "No."

"I am just an ordinary human. All in all, just a human blessed with great gifts."

"Human?" The expression on Qing Yu's face was a little surprised. "Then why are your eyes....." That did not seem to make sense.

Lian Shi's face slowly broke into a faint smile. "Why not I tell you a story, if you are willing to hear it."

"I'll be honoured." Qing Yu nodded as she said.

Lian Shi then began to tell his story in his soothing voice.

That's right, His story.

A very long time ago, there was a person. He dreamed of an impossible dream to pursue the secret of immortality.

Chapter 303.3: Lian Shi's Origins (1)

Although the world he lived in was very ordinary, he still believed that the incredible things told in legends truly existed.

He was already perceived to be an inauspicious baby at birth.

His mother carried him for ten whole months throughout her pregnancy and after painstakingly giving birth to him, a bunch of burglars immediately broke into their home to rob them. His father had merely tried to say a few words to explain their situation when he was suddenly killed on the spot.

His mother was inextricably weak after giving birth to him, finding it hard to even get out of bed. But it was probably because of a kind of innate strength a mother would come to find in themselves for the sake of their child no matter how weak and tiny they were, they would then turn strong.

His mother placed him in a wooden bucket, leaving two small gaps open as she put the cover on, and hid him within a large water urn.

It was not known how long a time passed as he remained within that seemingly endless darkness, before he finally came to see light again. A wise looking old man had saved him, and the first words he said to the baby were: "Such a handsome looking child but made to face such a hard life, not even able to even see your parents a single time and they're already no longer around."

It was only later that he found out that his parents had died the day he was born, and he had stayed in that water urn for the entire period of seven days and seven nights.

He did not know who he managed to live through that. A freshly newborn, such a frail and fragile little life who did not eat or drink anything while hidden within a small confined space, it was impossible that he was still able to remain alive.

Some people might find it unbelievable, but he already possessed a sense of awareness when he was born, and could remember everything that happened.

He grew up safely under the old man's care and in the year that he turned twelve, the old man passed on due to sickness and he became all alone again.

He really hated that kind of a feeling. Having people he was close to leave his side one by one, but was powerless to do anything about it. He grew indignant.

After that, through a letter the old man left him, he found out that his worldly view was really too small and narrow. The world, was not merely what his eyes had seen. There were still many amazing things waiting for him to go explore and discover.

He began to search for the secrets towards achieving immortality. If another person that was highly important to him were to appear in his life once more, he would definitely not allow himself to just watch them leave him again, not wanting to feel that weak and utterly helpless anymore.

He did not know how many places he has been to, or the number of different scenery his eyes have seen. He slowly came to grow stronger than before, but had not managed to find someone that could make him feel no longer alone.

It was on a day that he can't remember, when a person suddenly came into his world. That girl was as dazzling and pristine as fresh icy snow. He had never met anyone like that, who was like an angel who had accidentally stumbled into the mortal realm.

Chapter 303.4: Lian Shi's Origins (1)

Every single frown and every slight smile of hers, seemed to make him highly nervous. The girl would always laugh and tease that he was a foolish kid who had not seen the world, but even though that was the case, he was still happy deep inside his heart.

The desolate feeling of being all alone, seemed to be gradually leaving him.

They partnered up to travel together after that, and they spoke a lot to each other along the way, so it was only natural that they became familiar with each other. He came to know from the girl's mouth that she came out to forge out a path for herself on her own, seeking to train herself up a little.

And he also shared with the girl his thoughts, and just as he had expected, the girl laughed at him, saying that he had read too many of those nonsensical books, which resulted in him having all these superfluous and impractical ideas.

Of course he did not mind it in the slightest, because as long as he had this person accompanying him by his side, no matter what she said to him, it would not matter. He then thought..... that he might have fallen in love with the girl.

Although he did not know how to win the girl's heart, but maybe it was because he was sincere and earnest that the girl seemed to have a sort of soft spot for him. But exactly how she felt towards him, nobody knew.

In the end, as the two of them travelled, a third person suddenly appeared.

A man who was far more outstanding than him regardless of looks or in cultivation, and the very first time he appeared, the girl's eyes had already been inextricably drawn to him.

But that man was very quiet and not prone to words, basically never ever carrying a conversation with either of them. But Lian Shi discovered that the usually passive girl would actually take the initiative to go speak to the man, even though the other party always showed her a cold expressionless face, she seemed to continue to enjoy doing that.

He then thought..... that all girls must like men like that. Handsome looking, deep and powerful cultivation. Even if their personality was a little cold and aloof, it would not stop them from liking the man.

Or they might even find him mysterious, which would attract their attention even more.

But he had not really liked that man right from the beginning. Not just because the girl was trying to get closer to him, but because the man possessed a pair of highly strange and unique violet eyes.

The pair of eyes that did not look like what a normal human would possess seemed to be filled with a devilish aura, which he just came to unconsciously dislike.

They were together for about a month's time when the man seemed to get used to it, gradually becoming less cold, and would occasionally say a few words to them. That change in the man delighted the girl to no end and she loved to stick to the man even more from then on.

Seeing that happen, Lian Shi's heart became depressed and tormented. But as he was in no position to make a stand, he could only try to avoid the two people, and his personality grew to become quiet and silent.

One night, he found himself unable to sleep and decided to go out of his room to take a walk. When he came back, he saw the man outside his room. Lian Shi did not say a single word to him and was going to just go in to get some sleep.

The man suddenly shifted his body and stood in his path.

Just as Lian Shi's brows knitted up and he was about to say something, the man's voice sounded out expressionlessly. "I do not have feelings for her."

Chapter 304: Lian Shi's Origins (2)

After the man said that, it immediately caused Lian Shi's body to freeze in his spot, his face filling up with rage. "What did you just say?"

The girl that he had loved and treasured so much was going out of her way to put on a smile towards the man so affectionately and he could not do anything but to suffer through it in mute silence.

And now, the man who in his eyes, was always pretending to be deep and unfathomable, was acting like he had nothing to do with any of it and came here to tell him in such a curt and unfeeling tone that he had no feelings for the girl.

Is there a man that can be more detestable than him in the world?

However, not a single tinge of remorse could be seen on the man's face as he looked at Lian Shi and said: "I said, I do not have feelings for her, so you do not have to be so wary against me, nor harbour any kind of enmity towards me. I will never be with her, nor will I ever accept her."

"What do you mean by that?"

Faced with Lian Shi's fury, the man still seemed highly calm. He remained silent for a good while before his violet eyes then seemed to ripple with a strange vortex within, absorbing and captivating to see.

Finally, before Lian Shi's stunned and flabbergasted face, the man then said slowly: "Because I am of the demon race and she..... is a goddess."

In that instant, something seemed to dawn upon him.

For the past million years, the demons and gods had fought and schemed against each other in order to win the right to rule over the world. Countless lives have been lost, and it seemed like they would never be able to peacefully coexist.

Although he had once been suspicious about the man's identity, but hearing it right from the horse's mouth still gave him quite a shock.

The man's words that followed however caused his irises to flare, and his hands to clench up tightly into fists, his entire shaking slightly from astoundment.

"Do you know who she is? She is one of the future inheritors of the throne among the gods, the person who would rule over all that is light. The reason she came out this time is merely to gain some merit, a chip to be used in her fight to ascend to the throne in future."

"Do you really think that she is as simple as the way you see her on the surface? Even you..... is merely just a pawn to be used in her chess game to her."

"You are lying."

He did not know what kind of feelings were coursing through him at that moment, but subconsciously, he just did not want to believe in that harsh and cruel truth.

And seeing that look of self denial on Lian Shi's face, the man merely curved up his lips and went on to say: "You are just a weak and powerless human, and should not be dragged into this. That person..... is also not someone you can afford to provoke."

"Why should I believe your words?" Lian Shi then said in a cold tone.

"It does not matter even if you choose not to believe me. This is just a friendly warning to you, as I do not want to see you being so foolishly used, and treats me like an imaginary rival in love everyday." After the man said that in a highly indifferent voice, he immediately turned around and left.

Chapter 304.2: Lian Shi's Origins (2)

That night, he stood there outside his room throughout, till the sky over the horizon slowly lightened, before he then dragged his stiff and numb body back into his room.

From that night after he laid his cards out before Lian Shi, the man suddenly bade farewell to the group just a few days later, saying that he had urgent matters to attend to and needed to return home.

When they parted, the girl was highly reluctant for the man to leave, persistently asking if they would be able to meet again?

To which the man merely cast a meaningful glance towards Lian Shi who was standing just a short distance away, and then said in a soft voice: "I believe that we will come to meet each other again."

It was only later that he found out that the man had left so suddenly because the struggle between the gods and demon race that had gone on for millions of years had finally broken out into a war, and the battles were becoming highly intense.

Throughout their journey on the road, dead corpses of both the god and demon races could be seen almost everywhere, the once beautiful landscape destroyed and ruined. Even the human were affected by it as disasters and calamities were incessant due to the battles between the god and demon races, wreckage and destruction everywhere to be seen, a cold and desolate scene.

It was only sometime at a much later period that the girl came to tell him one day, about her real identity.

It was exactly as what the man had told him back then.

She told him that her objective in coming out on this journey was to find the seed of the demon race, and to try to win his trust before gouging out his demonic heart. In that way, the demon race would be defeated without having to fight them.

Because the demon seed held unparalleled power within the entire demon race, and was a great pillar of strength and faith for their people. If he was destroyed, then the demon race would no longer pose to be much of a threat anymore.

And if she were to achieve that, then she would then become the undisputed ruler over the gods, and no one would dare go against her.

She had then asked him: "Are you willing to stay by my side and help me?"

She had really said that to him in the end, everything was exactly as what the man had told him before.

He realized that it was no coincidence that she had come to appear by his side right from the beginning, and it might be because he had something on him that was of some worthy use to her.

Perhaps he was really such a great fool. Even when he knew that she was merely making use of him, he was still unable to refuse her anything.

The war between the god and demon races raged on for three whole months before it finally ceased.

And in this war, the gods lost. Because the gods' heir apparent to the throne was captured by the demon race, and the gods were immediately disadvantaged. That was their future ruler, and they did not dare to take the risk.

Chapter 304.3: Lian Shi's Origins (2)

And the demon race did not take the opportunity to make any outrageous demands, but merely ordered for them to retreat, and for them to never set foot onto any of the demon race's territories. If they were to see anyone of the demon race in future, they must keep their distance from them, and not cause them any affront. Otherwise, they would send the head of their heir apparent back to them.

Just as everyone on the gods side were holding down the tight ball of indignance they felt in their chest and were about to accede to the demands, they suddenly received news from above. And the news had not only shocked everyone from the gods' side, even the people from the demon race could not believe it.

The original words in the message was that all of them need not concern themselves with the situation as there was more than one heir to the throne of the gods, so it did not matter if this heir was killed, but the face of the race of gods cannot be allowed to be trampled upon or humiliated by anyone.

Such a callous and unfeeling course of action was usually something that only people from the evil demonic race would do. Never did anyone think that people from the highly revered gods race could also be so heartless.

To only care about their face, and were willing to abandon the heir to the throne they had spend so much effort to groom.

As the saying goes, a tiger does not eat its own cubs. But this ruler of the gods, his heart..... must be harder and colder than stone!

"Did you hear that? You have been abandoned. How coldhearted....."

None of them had ever thought that the situation would turn out like this when they see this man again.

The man peered down at them from his raised throne upon the pedestal, his pair devilishly deep and captivating violet eyes not carrying a single sliver of emotion, like he was looking at two people who were complete strangers to him, and they had never met each other before.

The man had said he was from the demon race, but never had they thought that he was the mysterious and powerful demon seed.

The expression on the woman's face remained calm throughout as she looked at the man seated high above. In her silver irises, a sliver of mirth seemed to rise. "We still came to meet in the end."

"Didn't you already know who I am right from the beginning?" A corner of the man's mouth lifted. "Since that is the case, you do not need to continue to put on an act in front of me anymore do you?"

"Put on an act?" The smiles in the woman's eyes seemed to dim slightly. "In your eyes, you really think the way we interacted with each other for that whole entire month was all just a phony act?"

"Ha."

The man's tall figure suddenly stood slowly up from his seat before he came walking over towards the woman a step at a time, and then slowly bent his body slightly to look at the woman out of the corner of his eyes as he said: "Are you trying to tell me that you have really fallen for me?"

Chapter 304.4: Lian Shi's Origins (2)

"Would you then believe me?" The woman's face slowly came to break into a smile, a misty sheen seeming to shimmer within her eyes. "Why? Why do you..... have to be the demon seed?"

"Then why did you have to be the heir to the throne of the gods?"

The man seemed to be tickled by her words, and his long fair skinned fingers gently lifted the woman's chin, as his handsome face leaned in closer.

His voice was close to bewitching as he said slowly: "Since you love me, why not..... you give up your race as a god for my sake? And when the day that we are wed, I will definitely invite your father to attend in order to show my sincerity. The races of gods and demons will then be bonded more strongly. What do you think? Isn't that a really great idea?"

"Do you sincerely want to marry me or are you just trying to make use of me to achieve your objective of humiliating the gods?" The expression on the woman's face that was forced to look up at him seemed to carry a tinge of pain and sadness.

That expression of hers did not elicit the slightest bit of sympathy from the man, but made him push her away with a look of disgust on his face. "Why would you need to put on such a pitiful face for? Making it look like I am dumping you after having toyed with your feelings. Ha! With a woman with such a devious and scheming mind like you, I will never believe a single word that comes out from that mouth of yours."

Throughout the entire process, he was like an uninvolved outsider, watching the love and hatred evolve and erupt between them.

He saw the instant the light that shone from deep within the woman's eyes in the beginning which slowly dimmed and turned grey, till there was not a single bit of light in them.

Maybe the man was wrong in one thing. Though she had indeed wanted to get close to the man and him with impure intentions in the beginning, something that not even he himself could have ever expected then happened in the end.

And that was, she has really fallen for the man, fallen in love with the enemy that the gods wanted to kill and be rid of the most.

What the man did not know was, the reason she had come to be captured by the demon race, and was even abandoned by the gods, was all because of him.

It was because she came to find out the man's identity in the end, and after an intense struggle within herself, she still chose him. She had even attempted to persuade her father, the highest and undisputed ruler of the people of the gods race, to call a cease to the warring and let peace and tranquility return back to the lands.

She was the most obedient, the sweetest and most loving one all this time, and was highly favoured. Her abnormal and unusual conduct this time had caused her father to smell that something was amiss in all this almost immediately.

In the end, she had told her father truthfully, that she had fallen in love with someone from the demon race.

Her father had of course flown into an unbridled rage, admonishing her that she must completely give up on that idea, or she would not only lose her place as the heir, but be spurned and suffer the abuse from the entire race of the gods.

At that moment, she defied her father for the very first time, and just as she expected, she was chased out by her father.

As she was feeling down and dispirited, her mind in a fluster, she ended up being ambushed by the demons and captured. And when she saw him again after going through so much, she was being treated by him like this.

With ridicule, suspicion, disgust.....

Haha..... She's such a great big joke.....

Chapter 305: Lian Shi's Origins (3)

That's right, from the very beginning, it had been a one sided affair of her own making the entire time.

He had never expressed any feelings for her before isn't it?

Maybe he might have come to love her, but their identities had destined that they could only be opposing enemies.

She had wanted to help him, but even after she sacrificed herself, not only was she still not able to be of any help, she had made him detest her even more.

But what she found the hardest to believe was still her father. She had thought that her father's words that day had only been said in a fit of anger, and she was still the child her father loved the most, and would not be so hardhearted towards her.

In reality, she had just overestimated herself, and underestimated her father's coldhearted callousness.

She thought that being the chosen heir to the throne, was merely a ceremonial front put up just to show the people outside.

Afterall, among the numerous children that Father has, not a single one could stand shoulder to shoulder against her, regardless whether it was in terms of cultivation, stratagems, or wit. How could he possibly give up on such an outstanding candidate as his heir, and go on to choose to groom all those useless bums?

But..... she had been too naive.

Though her father did favour her greatly, and had recognized her as the future heir to the throne, but the dignity and prestige of their race would forever be more important than anything else in his heart.

That was because he was not only just a father, but also the ruler of the entire gods race.

If their race came to be humiliated by the demons because of her this time, they would be seen to be inferior to the demons thereafter. Even if people did not explicitly say anything, they would secretly blame him for not looking after the greater picture, and had shamed the entire race of the gods.

Hence, no matter how reluctant and painful it was to him, he could not possibly bow his head and show weakness before the demon race.

It would be a lie to say that she was not disappointed by her father's decision, but she would never hold it against him, as she really understood that her father was given no other choice. Having thought it through in her heart, she was able to see things from another perspective and it did not bother her that much anymore.

In the vast and expansive palace of the demon race, the place felt sinister and empty. The demon disciple who had brought the woman in here had long retreated from there a long while ago and there were only three people in that place at that moment, just like it was when they first met.

With devilishly bewitching violet eyes, the man with an outstandingly good looking countenance was cold and aloof like he was back then, standing with his hands behind his back without saying a single word, a thick impenetrable gloominess roiling deep within his eyes.

None among the three of them, opened their mouth to say anything, and the air was thick and heavy, deadly silent.

Chapter 305.2: Lian Shi's Origins (3)

Time trickled by bit by bit, and it was not known how long a period passed before the woman's soft voice that sounded like it carried a slight hoarse tinge suddenly echoed in that vast hall, her words causing the shade on the faces of the two men in there to change.

"Just have me killed....."

The woman's voice was calm and level, without a single ripple in its intonation, like she was speaking of something that could not be anymore ordinary.

"What did you say?" The man's violet eyes peered sinisterly at her, seeming to carry an indecipherable emotion, an emotion too deep and complex to be perceived.

"Just kill me!"

The woman looked right at the man and came to repeat the words she said earlier, her beautiful silver eyes wet with a heart rending mist.

Her pale white lips were curled up in a cold hard smile. "Killing their chosen heir right before the people of the gods race would definitely still deal a devastating blow to their morale even though I have been abandoned by them....."

"You want me to make use of you to defeat the gods?" The man's eyes narrowed, as if he was determining the veracity of her words.

"The gods have already abandoned me anyway, and you do not trust me, isn't that right? In that case, is there a need to spare me my life? I am now just a pawn who is no longer of any use, so at least let me do something for you just before I die....."

The colour on the man's face grew even darker. "You think I will believe your words?"

Against this face of cold taunting sarcasm of his, the woman seemed to have become accustomed to it. She merely smiled faintly in response and said: "A dying person's words come right from the heart..... I admit that I did hide my identity in the beginning, but....."

Her voice paused for a moment at that point, her gaze locked straight onto the man's deep violet eyes. "I love you. This much is true."

"Love me?" The smile on the man's face grew ironic. "A person from the gods race has fallen in love with one from the side of their most hated enemy? Even if you were really unaware of my identity as one of the demon race, for you to come to fall for a demon, is it because you have merely grown bored and was just tired of staying there among the gods, so you thought to come to experience living with the demon race for a bit!?"

The woman's face grew even more pale. Her lips moved, looking like she wanted to say something, but was then heartlessly interrupted by the man.

"You do not need to waste anymore of your breath. Since you want to do something for me before you die, I shall grant you your wish." Immediately upon saying that, the man turned himself around and strode out of the palace hall.

The thick and heavy door was pulled open, and it then boomed shut, the short chill gust of wind that blew in causing the air in the palace hall to turn sinister and cold.

The woman stood there with her head raised up, looking at a tiny window above that let in a sliver of the moonlight. She did not move for a good while, and it was not known what was going through her mind at that moment, the back of her thin and frail looking body looking so desolate and pitiful.

He lowered his eyes and remained silent for a long while, hesitant to speak. In the end, he asked slowly in a soft voice: "Why did you..... not tell him?"

Chapter 305.3: Lian Shi's Origins (3)

Upon hearing his voice, the woman's body jumped slightly. "Tell him what?"

"Tell him about all the things that you gave up because of him, and that he cannot treat you like that."

Her hands hanging at her sides unconsciously clenched up.

"What does it matter if I tell him?" The woman laughed softly, her voice seemingly turned a little hoarse from despair. "Didn't you see it yourself just now? He will not believe a single word I say. It is probably fated that the people from the races of gods and demons..... would never come to bear fruition!"

The next day, things turned out just as the man said. He got the demon race's disciples to seize the woman, and brought her out to be displayed before everyone.

People from the god's race watched their every move. Those actions had of course not escaped their attention but word had already come down from above that they had already given up on this heir, so what were the guys from the demon race up to now? Are they still trying to use that useless pawn to threaten them?

"I heard that the gods race are prepared to give up on this heir of theirs and do not care whether this woman lives or dies." The man's violet eyes were filled with an indecipherable sort of mirth as he walked slowly over to the woman and grabbed her chin in his hand, forcibly raising her head up.

Although the pale and highly haggard countenance looked rather worn out, there was still a hidden stubborn strength within her eyes.

Seeing that, the amusement on the man's face became more intense. "What a pitiful thing you are. You've done everything you can to do so much for the gods race but in the end, they have mercilessly abandoned you so quickly. Do you want to exact revenge on them?"

Without waiting for the woman to respond, the man turned to the people from the gods race and said: "Because of your so called face and dignity, you were willing to give up on such an outstanding heir. I must say that the cold bloodedness of the gods race has really opened my eyes to see you in a new light, whom I will say have even surpassed us, the demon race itself that pales in comparison!"

"Enough of your useless jabbering. Just what do you want?" Someone from the gods race grew impatient and opened his mouth to ask.

The man gave a lazy smile and responded. "It's nothing really, but because this heir of yours here would rather die than to join the demon race here, a rather loyal member of the gods race I must say, so in order to fulfil her wish, I decided to allow her an appropriate death, so that all of you from the gods race will hold her in grateful remembrance, and keep her forever deep in your hearts."

After he finished saying those words, the people from the gods race were in an uproar. The woman whose face had been calm and at peace suddenly appeared startled as she stared blankly at the man standing before her, looking like she was feeling a little bewildered by the man's words.

It was a little different from what he had said before.

He had clearly said such cold and heartless words that day, which chilled her heart completely. But in the end, why was he defending her before the people from the gods race, trying to fill the hearts of those people with guilt by making them think that she was sacrificing herself for the sake of the entire gods race.

Chapter 305.4: Lian Shi's Origins (3)

But only she herself knew the best what she held in her own heart.

Isn't he absolutely disgusted with her? Why then.....

"Why not we execute her with death by a thousand cuts? Using an unbelievably sharp blade to slice the flesh of a person piece by piece should be absolutely fascinating!" The man's handsome countenance looked so harmless, as his mouth spouted those brutal and cruel blood filled words.

"Death by a thousand cuts. Do you know how painful it would be? Every single slice onto the flesh would make you wish you would die in that instant but can only feel that insufferable and excruciating pain that is so much worse than dying, the sweet release of death coming to you only when the last drop of blood drips out from your body."

"It is said that only the most exceptional among executors will be able to carry out such a high level form of execution, causing his victim to suffer the most intolerable pain and not die from the torment. Coincidentally, we happen to have people of such capabilities here within the demon race, so why don't we let everyone here have a chance to widen our horizons today? How about that everyone?"

Just hearing the man describe it was enough for people to imagine just how unimaginably cruel it was, not to mention that it would be inflicted onto a live person. She was such a weak and petite sized woman, how could she possibly endure that kind of a torment?

"You must be the devil himself!"

"Do you think that you will be able to strike at the gods race like this? That will just be pure wishful thinking!"

"When one heir dies, the gods race can very well just groom a second one. All it takes will just be a little more time. Do not think for a moment that by doing this, the gods race will be humiliated by this!"

"Rest assured Princess, we will definitely make them pay for all the aggrievement you've suffered so you can go in peace as the gods race will forever remember you!"

..... .....

She could no longer hear all the voices filling up her ears as she had already grown numb to all of it.

"Do you see? It's just laughable that not a single one among them is sincerely seeking to save you. People of the gods race are able to proclaim themselves as gods only because they are better at pretending than the demon race, and are able to hide the filthy rotting hearts under the saintly and holy flesh shells they cloak themselves with so well."

The man said softly to the woman beside her.

She really did not know why he would say those words to her. Didn't he say he would kill her? Why has he still not made any move?

And just as her mind was caught in a chaotic turmoil of thoughts, she suddenly sensed a terrifying power that was filled with unbridled bloodlust and resolute and unswerving murder lunging straight towards her, so ferociously quick that she did not even have time to dodge away at all.

And her body just stood there still and unmoving, frozen stiff in place without giving off the slightest bit of temperature.

Because the power she sensed..... was one that felt so highly familiar.

Chapter 306: From Now Onwards, You Are Him

It was her father. Having faced each other so closely for such a long period of time, she had grown to become highly familiar with her father's powers.

And this menacingly powerful force lunging straight towards her, was seeking to take her life, without the slightest hesitation.

Probably, right from the very beginning, her father had groomed her and shown her so much favour only because she was the most outstanding one among all his daughters, and would become the most useful one to him.

Blood ties and kinship.....

Sigh..... What is that?

That meant the absolute least to the gods race. Before self interest, anything and everything can be sacrificed.

And she had still been anticipating.....

She did not dodge, neither did she want to dodge. Just let it all end.

The corners of her lips curved up into a faint smile, and she closed her eyes as if she was waiting for the sweet release of death.

In that instant, two voices suddenly sounded in her ears. One filled with panic and terror, carrying pain and disbelief in its tone, while the other voice was still as cold and heartless as before. But for some unknown reason, she could somehow detect a faint sliver of concern in the second voice.

A lethal and powerful finishing strike from the highest and most supreme entity in the gods race. Even if one was fortunate enough to survive, they would not be able to live for very much longer. Moreover, it was a strike that had come like a bolt out of the blue, which caught everyone completely off guard.

The expected pain and agony did not come, but the tumultuous noises she had heard in her ears suddenly fell deathly silent, and the air grew so heavy and oppressive it was getting rather hard to breathe.

What has..... Happened?

She slowly opened her eyes, and she saw that there seemed to be a shadowy figure filling her sight, and it was impossible for her to see clearly for an instant.

She struggled to force her eyes wide open in order to see, and discovered the very person who had always remained by her side all this time, despite the fact that he knew that she was merely making use of him, shielding her as he stood right in front of her, his thin and lean figure seeming exceptionally tall and towering right at that moment.

That handsome countenance of his was smiling at her like always, but there was some sort of a warm liquid, droplets that dripped onto her face. One of the droplets fell right at the corner of her eye, and she lifted a hand to wipe it away, coming to discover that her fingers were stained bright red.

The look on her face was blank as she lifted her head up in a daze, as she saw a large gaping hole in the man's chest, precise and exact, right where his heart had been.

Her lips quivered in utter helplessness, and something seemed to well up from inside her eyes, blurring her vision.

He's merely just an ordinary human, but he had used his own body of flesh and blood to shield her, even though it would not have any effect.

Chapter 306.2: From Now Onwards, You Are Him

No effect at.....

Wait.....

That weak and frail body of a human..... How could it possibly block such a powerful and lethal strike.....

She wiped her eyes clear and when she looked again, she seemed to notice something else. Behind the man, there was another person standing there, similarly putting up a defensive stance where he stood, where she was only able to see the wide and resolute back of the person.

She could not see the expression on the person's face, and was unable to tell if he was hurt. But, how could he possibly not be hurt in this situation?

With the two people shielding her, she did not even suffer a single scratch. The man standing in between had his heart shot right through behind the first person shielding them, taking in all the damage from the remaining power of the blocked strike, the force completely dissipated by the time it reached her.

That would mean..... that the person in front must have withstood a much larger portion of the damage alone, maybe even more than that.....

However, the man still stood in his spot with his back straight and unyielding, not moving a single inch.

She was suddenly a little afraid, to the extent that her heart skipped a beat. Her voice came out incredibly hoarse, not caring if the man was going to show her the same expression of disdain at that moment, she called out his name.

"Lian Shi....."

A name that people of the gods race were most bothered by. To think that the leader of the demon race whose cultivation was so powerful and unfathomable would possess such a pleasing and melodious sounding name, like one that would belong to a proud and revered celestial being from beyond the Nine Heavens, or to a pious holy disciple that received Buddha's teachings of the Sanskrit right before Buddha himself.

But that name should not..... in all circumstances, belong to an evil being from the vile demon race.

The man with the well built figure seemed to have heard someone call out to him as he slowly came to turn around. But the moment his body turned, it immediately caused crystalline tears to flow down the woman's face.

There was the slightest shade of colour on the man's handsome countenance. As people from the demon race were born to live in dark and sunless places, their complexion was fairer than others, but it wasn't the same frightful paleness she saw on the man at that moment.

However, that was not what pained the woman's heart the most, but it was the pair of usually deeply mesmerizing violet eyes of his, which at that moment had turned red like blood. Upon looking more closely, she then saw that his eyes had not merely turned red, but were actually bleeding inside, together with a trickle of blood that could be seen flowing down from the corner of his mouth.

The man just stood there, staring at her without saying a single word, watching the woman sob till she was unable to speak, her thin slender body shaking incessantly, so overcome with grief she just could not control herself, unable to stop.

Chapter 306.3: From Now Onwards, You Are Him

"Lian Shi..... Are..... Are you alright..... You're..... You're scaring me....."

Seeing her in that state, the man was silent for a moment, the expression on his face a little helpless. He then walked slowly over, stopping right in front of her and lowering himself down in a crouch. "What are you crying for?"

His voice did not sound strange or different, but carried a crisp melodious tenor, which just caused the woman's tears to flow down in torrents. She then said in between sobs: "Your eyes....."

"It's alright."

The man clicked his tongue, and his gaze turned to look at the man who had a large gaping hole in his chest who did not seem to be breathing anymore. His expression seemed to turn a little conflicted as he said in an indifferent voice. "He really cared about you. What a great pity....."

"I lost this time. To think that I lost to a human in speed. He is really more suited to be with you than I am."

The man stretched out his hand, his actions looking like he was seeking to gently wipe away the tears on the woman's face. However, the woman's body tensed up, and her eyes flared wide in disbelief.

So there are moments he can be so gentle?

And, that was when he was faced with her, a person he abhorred so much. Could it be..... he doesn't really hate her that much deep in his heart?

Otherwise, why would he say something like this now?

"I can save him." The man uttered out those words all of a sudden, his eyes looking straight at her.

"How are you going to save him?" The woman asked, her brows furrowing up in puzzled bewilderment.

She did not manage to get a response from the man, because in the very next instant, she came to know what sort of method he was going to use to save the man.

With a smile on his face, he curled his fingers up into claws and dug his hand right into his own chest. Immediately, a violet light burst forth from his chest, the scorching and blinding light stinging her eyes.

"Lian Shi~~~" Her voice was almost breaking from terror.

Has he gone nuts!?

Does he know how important his demon heart is to him! Does he even know what he is doing at all?!

Why would he go save a human who is totally unrelated to him!?

Even though the human had died because he wanted to save her, so what!? That was a debt she owes, why did he have to be the one to pay!?

"Have you lost your mind? Stop that now! Stop it right now!!"

She was frantically trying to go stop him, but all of that was already too late. The man had suddenly dug out his demonic heart and then plunged his hand into the gaping hole in the human's chest to fill it up.

In what seemed to be just a blink of an eye, the mortal wound in the human's chest had healed, and not a single mark could be seen on the flawless unblemished skin.

Chapter 306.4: From Now Onwards, You Are Him

The man's head of inky black hair turned snowy white, the blood red irises from before slowly assuming a faint violet shade, but not the slightest sliver of spiritedness could be detected from his body anymore.

He looked at the woman's highly dazed look and smiled slightly. "Do not overthink it too much. I am not that big hearted or gracious, but it is merely because he can still be saved while I..... do not have any way of reversing this situation anymore.

"I was born into the demon race, but you probably did not know that my mother was actually once from the gods race, but because she came to fall in love with a person from the demon race and was sentenced to the most cruel punishment. She was hated and scorned by each and everyone. Not a single person was willing to plead for her, all of them just could not wait to have her killed to be rid of her. In the end, I was not even able to save the tiniest bit of her primordial spirit essence."

"That is why I hate every single person from the gods race so much, as the blood that flows in their bodies are even more cold blooded and venomous than any one of us in the demon race. They are the most hypocritical race throughout the entire world and I made a pledge to myself that as long as I remain alive, the demon race and the gods race shall forever be at odds. I seek to kill every single person from the gods race down to their very last man, to make them suffer the very same intolerable and deadly pain."

Speaking up to that point, his voice paused for a moment. Seemingly a little contemptuous, his gaze then slowly turned towards her. "But why must you turn out to be the lone exception? Within all that filth and scourge that the gods race is, you were so clean and pristine, like a flower that has yet to weather through any storms, the unspoiled purity still preserved in your heart."

"I've said before that we can never be together. That is not because I hate you, but inversely, it is because I love you."

The woman's irises contracted greatly, unable to believe that she would actually hear such words coming out from the man's mouth.

He had said..... that he loves her. Is she dreaming?

"You're so pristine and untainted, whereas I am....."

"Unworthy."

He said he was unworthy.

Unworthy to have someone as good as her, and unworthy to have her fall so low, to lose all her dignity in loving him.

The person who should already be dead came back to life. At that point, it seemed he was still an outsider, a mere passerby in their lives.

Even the fact that his life had been extended was because it was stolen from someone else.

That man disappeared after that. It was not known how much he said to the woman before his body began to turn more and more fuzzy into a blur, to finally become a hazy image of a lotus bloom. The image appeared only for a highly brief instant, and dispersed into the wind in a fine powder, disappearing without leaving a single trace behind.

So it turned out that he was not truly a demon. Half of the blood in his body was actually of the gods race's and his mother was actually a lotus bloom that grew in the pond within the gods race territories, who assumed human form after a thousand years' cultivation.

But her life had been so short and fleeting.

And now, it was the same with her son, disappearing completely from the world.

But he had not forgotten the silent words the man had said to him before he dissipated into the wind.

Protect her well.

Sigh. He had known it for a very long time, that it wasn't that the man did not love her, but he had actually loved her so oppressively, much too deeply, and he only dared to say it out aloud at the moment just before his death.

And how was it any different for him? He had only been lying to himself all along.

He looked at the woman who stood there frozen in place, not moving an inch. From the moment that the man disappeared, something in her had seemed different. He walked over to her, and patted her gently on the shoulder.

What came to meet his eyes, were a pair of eyes that were icy cold, without the slightest bit of emotion in them.

When she turned to look at him, her expression looked dazed and completely blank for a moment. In the woman's pair of crystalline clear silver eyes, he could see himself reflected in them.

With very familiar-looking violet eyes.

"Lian Shi....." The woman's voice called out softly.

"What?" He was stunned with surprise.

"From today onwards, you are Lian Shi."

Chapter 307: A Path to Life or to Death

At this point, the tale finally came to an end.

Qing Yu also finally understood why this man had always given her the feeling he was rather self contradictory.

There was clearly a kind of clean purity about the guy that made him seem to be untainted by the mortal world, but there were also times that his actions reflected a sinister and evil side of him.

That was because in his body, another soul lay hidden, that enabled him to have his life extended, an existence that was highly crucial and important.

She also finally understood why his eyes always carried an inextinguishable sadness inside, or to put it more accurately, those eyes did not belong to him, but to another lonely and sad soul who was not willing to leave.

"That woman in the story, who is she?" Qing Yu then asked in a soft voice.

Lian Shi's eyes looked down slightly, and said in an emotionless voice: "She is the only god that still lives from those millions of years ago till now, the Lord of the Mind Free Peak."

The expression on Qing Yu's face was not all that surprised, as if she had already guessed it. "From the story you told, I was already able to guess it, and the reason for all these things that the woman is doing now. She must have changed to become someone even you are no longer able to recognize isn't it?"

"All this time, you've just been that man's substitute."

"Right. Substitute." Lian Shi laughed softly. "Even though I know that to be the case, I could never bear to refuse her, willing to carry all the sin myself, and have blood on my hands rather than her. She used to have such a clean and pure soul, but she is now just a little too tired, and merely feels that the world is too cold a place right now."

And the two people she had cared the most about, her father had abandoned her, while the man who loved her had died in order to protect her. There was probably nothing that could come to devastate her anymore than that right!?

Seeing how self delusional the man was, Qing Yu's brows knitted up, a little hesitant and feeling rather sympathetic, but she still went ahead to speak the truth that the man was seemingly not entirely willing to accept.

"She seeks to resurrect that Lian Shi, am I right?"

The man kept his eyes lowered, and they seemed to blink a few times weakly.

"But do you know..... that if that Lian Shi comes back to life, you will then cease to exist. She will then not even remember you, not remember that there was once someone who never ever left her side in her life, a person who loved her more than his own life."

The ends of Lian Shi's lips curled up slightly, seemingly a little self mocking as he said: "So what? If that is what she wants, I will do everything I can to help her. The past million years that I've lived, was stolen anyway....."

"Or it was just..... charity that was given to me by that man."

After saying that, a warm and friendly smile slowly came to show on Lian Shi's face, his gaze looking at Qing Yu seemingly a lot more gentle.

He then said: "I do not know why, but all these things have laid buried deep in my heart for so many years and I have never brought it up to anyone before, but I have somehow come to share it with you today. You are really quite an amazing little lass you know."

Chapter 307.2: A Path to Life or to Death

Qing Yu was a little taken aback, before she laughed out helplessly. Can that really be considered to be praise?

"Even though that is the case, it is already destined that you will not be able to escape. Actually, the legend about the Mind Free Peak came about from misconceptions being piled upon more misconceptions. All these years, what the Mind Free Peak seeks has never been highly skilled pugilists, but for a suitable catalyst to revive that man."

"And, I am that catalyst?"

"Originally, your mother was the most suitable candidate. But unfortunately, just as she was growing to be able to give off the greatest effect to it, the chastity of her body was broken by someone, and she lost all her value. The plan that had taken a thousand years to prepare had to be temporarily shelved."

Speaking up till that point, Lian Shi could not help but look at her with a meaningful glance. "Throughout all the realms, we were unable to find a single person who possessed the mutated Flame Element, and your mother was an extremely rare exception. Never have I ever thought, that you would turn out to be even more well suited to be the catalyst we sought, as the Flame Element in your body is so utterly pure and clean, completely unspoiled, the very best choice there is."

Qing Yu listened to those words in silence, and a long while passed before she looked up at him with incomprehension in her eyes. "Why would you tell me all this?"

Lian Shi paused for a moment before he laughed softly and said: "It is probably because I find it such a great pity that from then onwards, the world would no longer have such a interesting soul like you in existence anymore!"

"Interesting? Then I must really feel highly honoured." Qing Yu scoffed, as she broke out into a soft mocking laugh.

Lian Shi was not bothered by the scorn in her tone but merely narrowed his eyes slightly smilingly. "Alright then. I should go take a look at all those people already. They would probably have reached the place they were meant to go to by now."

Upon saying that, he turned himself around and was going to leave.

Qing Yu suddenly felt a twitch tug between her brows for no reason and she quickly called out: "Hey, wait....."

The only response to her was the slowly disappearing figure of the man.

Qing Yu sighed out helplessly. For some unknown reason, she suddenly had a bad feeling. She didn't even know whether that little Meatball was able to find Little Bei or not as she had not seen any sign of the youth on the screen earlier..

— Flame Devouring Ice Demon —

Because orders had come down from the top that nothing must happen to Qing Lan Fei now, Yan Po relaxed his guard towards the woman a little, which allowed Ying Ge to come more frequently these few days, and was able to escape notice.

Hearing the soft patter of light footsteps, Qing Lan Fei turned her gaze over to look.

Seeming to have guessed who the person was, the expression on her face was not all that surprised when she sighed softly and said: "Ying Ge, I've said that you do not need to come here anymore."

Chapter 307.3: A Path to Life or to Death

"Senior, those people have come but unfortunately, many of them lost their lives." Ying Ge said in a low voice, her tone grave.

Qing Lan Fei was slightly taken aback. "Who..... is here?"

"There are many of them, including people whom you care about." Ying Ge said, as she waved her hand lightly through the air. An image immediately appeared before her and a familiar figure slowly came to be revealed.

But he seemed to be moving alone by himself, as there was no other person beside him. And the place he was at looked strange and unfamiliar to Qing Lan Fei, who did not know what kind of a place it was even though she had lived in the Mind Free Peak for a number of years in the past.

"Jing Yu....." Qing Lan Fei's hands subconsciously clenched up, and a tinge of worry came to fill her eyes.

Why has he come? And how did he manage to find this place?

Why isn't he with Little Bei and the others? Is he doing this without any of the others knowing anything about it.....

"It's not just him."

Ying Ge went on to say, and her hand waved through the air again. Qing Bei's face that had several streaks of blood on it then appeared on the screen, his expression nervous, like he was hiding from something and his situation did not look highly optimistic.

"They are all searching for you." Ying Ge said with a serious face as she looked at Qing Lan Fei. "Senior, now that these people are here, the security at some places would inadvertently loosen slightly. This is the best time for you to leave here."

Qing Lan Fei looked startled. "Leave?"

"I told you that I will help you." Ying Ge's sweet and pretty face was resolute as she gripped Qing Lan Fei's hands tightly, and she then saw the chains bound around her wrists start to melt bit by bit. In the span of a few breaths, the bindings have disappeared completely.

Having been shackled under those heavy bonds for such a long period, Qing Lan Fei found herself a little unused to the feeling of having her hands freed. But what surprised her even more was what Ying Ge had just done.

"Have you lost your mind? If Master finds out....."

But before she could even finish, she saw Ying Ge use the same method to dissolve the chains around her ankles.

"Let's go."

Ying Ge helped her up gently, letting the still weakened Qing Lan Fei lean her full weight onto her, as they made their way towards the exit a step at a time.

There was naturally someone keeping watch over the Flame Devouring Ice Demon and when they saw Ying Ge bringing someone out, they quickly went up to stop her with a wary look on his face.

With a calm cool face, she said in an expressionless voice: "Deity Yan Po gave his orders that this person must not die as yet and is to be given elixirs to prolong her life. The Flame Devouring Ice Demon is not a suitable place to nurse her and I was sent here to bring her to the Deity's residence."

Chapter 307.4: A Path to Life or to Death

The person guarding the place saw how composed she was and there was no sign of her being flustered in anyway. Turning to look at the highly weakened woman who looked like she was on the verge of death, and seeing the fact that Ying Ge was Deity Yan Po's direct disciple, he thought the whole thing sounded rather plausible. Giving it a thought for another moment, the guard then nodded his head slightly, and let her pass.

Qing Lan Fei's head leaned on the girl's shoulder throughout the entire scenario, her eyes wide as she watched the whole thing, and was unable to utter a single word.

Ying Ge was afraid that the woman might get too nervous and come to give the game away, so she sealed her movement acupoint, Besides leaning weakly on her as she shuffled along, the woman was unable to do anything else. So the two of them slowly left the frightening place that the Flame Devouring Ice Demon was, away from that terrifying prison.

Not even in her dreams would Qing Lan Fei ever imagine that she would be able to see the light of day again. But she did not know for how long that moment would last, as she expected that she would be discovered very quickly, and would be recaptured in no time at all!

This time, she has really dragged Ying Ge down with her.

It was not known how long they had walked, before Ying Ge released the sealed acupoint on her body and said: "Now go quickly!"

She raised a hand and pointed a finger before her, towards a tiny path that was filled with vegetation covered in white needle shaped leaves. "Just go straight from here. This is a place that the Mind Free Peak is unable to watch over and no one will know about this. To some people, this can be a path that leads to life, a way out from here, but also a path that leads to certain death for others."

After Ying Ge said that, she turned to look at Qing Lan Fei and said: "But I believe that Senior is always someone whom luck smiles upon all the time, and you will definitely be able to turn calamity into blessings."

Qing Lan Fei's fingers tightened up into fists, a crease knitting up her brows as she said haltingly: "Ying Ge, I can't leave....."

The guard at the Flame Devouring Ice Demon had seen that it was Ying Ge who brought her out of the place. When they came to discover that the girl had let her escape, she really could not imagine the consequences the girl would come to face.

The punishment the Mind Free Peak metes out to traitors, is unimaginably cruel, and she cannot be so selfish.

Although she was really worried about Jing Yu and the others, how could she possibly throw her Junior whom she grew up with together into such horrible danger?

"Why are you still hesitating?" Ying Ge became a little anxious and she stretched her hands out to push the woman. "Better go right now! When they discover something is amiss, you will then be unable to leave!"

Qing Lan Fei's feet staggered for a moment but she still shook her head stubbornly. "I am not leaving. If I leave, you will die."

"My death means nothing at all. It's just one life afterall."

Ying He laughed a little self mockingly. "If not for how Senior had protected me back in those years, with the unlikeable personality I have, I would have already died a countless number of times. Now that I can save you with my life in exchange, just take it as repayment for the debt I've owed you for so many years!"

Chapter 308: Senior, You Must Go On To Live A Good Life

Qing Lan Fei's body stiffened up. She seemed to realize something suddenly after she heard those words. The shade on her face then changed slightly as her eyes widened incredulously in disbelief.

"Ying Ge..... Has your intentions right from the very beginning..... been to give up your own life.....?"

As the words to Qing Lan Fei's question sounded out, Ying Ge seemed to become startled, and the corner of her mouth twitched momentarily. She lowered her eyes in helplessness, and then said: "Senior, don't probe any further. You promised me before that you will go on to live a happy life, together with my share of happiness."

Immediately after she said that, without even waiting for Ying Ge to respond, a gentle force spilled out from Ying Ge's palm, that softly pushed the woman deep into where the tiny path led to.

Qing Lan Fei's cultivation had not fully recovered and it happened when her guard was down, so she was pushed back a few hundred meters as Ying Ge watched the figure of the woman slowly grow smaller bit by bit.

"Ying Ge! What audacity! You actually dared to let her go!?"

A highly infuriated voice suddenly sounded from a distance away, and the expression on Qing Lan Fei's face froze. It was her Master, Deity Yan Po's voice.

She has been discovered so quickly?

Qing Lan Fei turned her head in fright to look, and saw Yan Po with about ten highly skilled experts behind her. A sharp command from Yan Po in a cold icy voice quickly sent those figures darting out immediately, lunging straight towards Qing Lan Fei, in quick pursuit of the escaped fugitive.

However, Ying Ge was a step ahead as she went to block their way forward and gathered all her power in her to weave an enormous web, stopping the experts in their tracks. Her face became incredibly pale, and it seemed like it was taking a great toll on her. However, she gritted her teeth and shouted out with all her might: "Run!"

Qing Lan Fei clenched up her fists and she was still hesitating when a bout of bone chilling laughter broke out in contempt, and Yan Po's voice then rang out in a completely emotionless tone.

"Great. This is just great. What deep bonds of sisterhood you two share. I have really underestimated you it seems, seeing that you are always quiet as a mouse and always so obedient. I had not thought that you can actually be so bold. Have you ever considered the consequences of your actions here?"

"Ying Ge..... knows that what she did is unpardonable, and I only hope that..... Master will spare Senior just this once, on account of the fact that she was once your disciple....."

Ying Ge spoke slowly, pausing at each word that came out of her mouth.

A sliver of blood trickled slowly down from a corner of her lips. With just her powers alone, she was stretched to her limits having to hold back so many highly skilled pugilists, and she would not be able to sustain it very much longer

But she would never give up..... until the very absolute last moment.

The scorn on Yan Po's face grew deeper. "Since you're still unrepentant, persisting in the error of your ways even when death is upon you, there is no need for me to keep you with me any longer."

Chapter 308.2: Senior, You Must Go On To Live A Good Life

Upon saying that, Yan Po gave her sleeves a grand flick, which pushed the whole group of people aside. Her long slender fingers then reached out in a grab, effortlessly coming to grasp Ying Ge's neck in their grip.

Ying Ge's face immediately turned red as the most fragile part of her slender neck was caught in her Master's grip, completely defenceless against it. But her eyes were moist, carrying a tinge of plea within as she looked at Yan Po and said strugglingly: "Mas...ter..... I..... beg you....."

Yan Po did not answer her.

A loud crack snapped out crisply, and the girl's body fell limply to the ground. In that seemingly unending boundless snowy ground, her red scarlet clothes fluttered lightly in the wind, a beautifully brilliant sight.

But there she would lie, seemingly never to wake again.

Qing Lan Fei stood frozen in her spot, her body turned cold, without the slightest bit of temperature on her body.

Her arms hung limply at her sides, the tips of her fingers shaking.

A chill spread out from deep inside her bones permeated her entire body, that almost seemed to rob her of her ability to think for an instant, unable to move in the slightest at all.

"Ying Ge....."

It was not known how much time had passed. It looked like her lips had turned rather pale under that freezing cold temperature.

But what had become colder than that was her heart, that wrenched up with a throbbing wincing pain.

Just how fleeting can a person's fragile life be?

It was just a short moment ago that that person had still been smiling at her. She was at this moment lying motionless there on the cold hard ground, no longer breathing, and so quiet that it looked like she was merely asleep.

But Qing Lan Fei knew, that the girl would never awaken again.

Ying Ge.....

She should still be well and alive. Why.....

Her fingernails dug deeply into her palms, and blood seeped out from her tightly clenched fists. But she did not feel the slightest bit of that pain, her eyes filling up with hatred as she stared at the woman who had an icy expression on her face.

She had always thought, that though the Mind Free Peak had always been a cold and heartless place, but her Master was different at the very least, a person who was never prone to smiles and had a frosty personality, but would always show her a sliver of concern.

But she had gotten it all wrong. The concern her Master had shown her all this time was merely because Yan Po had a scheme up her sleeve all along, and that she was still of some use to her.

Now, even with Ying Ge..... The one and only person in the Mind Free Peak who still had her conscience in her heart, the one person who had been sincere towards her, has now been ruthlessly murdered.

What wrong has Ying Ge committed? She was innocent and absolutely guiltless!

A smile slowly crept onto Qing Lan Fei's face, before she then broke into a bout of sad mournful laughter. "From now onwards, you are no longer my Master. In your heart, I fear that both Ying Ge and I are not even considered as worthy chesspieces for you to maneuver, but just little playthings kept by your side, to be used and manipulated as you very well please."

Chapter 308.3: Senior, You Must Go On To Live A Good Life

"What? You're crying out in injustice for her? She helped you escape, and that is a betrayal to the Mind Free Peak. For me to let her die a painless death like that, is already the last bit of benevolence and mercy I can show her as her Master."

Yan Po's face darkened as she looked at that utterly dispassionate expression on the woman, like her heart had been burnt to ashes and could no longer feel, and went on to continue to speak.

"Ha. That is just preposterous."

An ironic smile then came onto Qing Lan Fei's face, her expression resolute. "Since that is the case, would I accept that to be my fate? Even if I am to die here today, I will never go with all of you."

Upon saying that, Qing Lan Fei's body was already speedily moving deeper into the tiny path, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.

Yan Po's gaze flashed with a sharp glint, her expression turning a little flustered. "Stop her quickly! Do not let her reach there!"

The group of more than ten men immediately plunged into quick and speedy pursuit when they heard that.

——

On another end, Lou Jun Yao and his people had managed to dodge disaster as those spirit beasts who were sealed in ice only stirred some time after they passed the area, breaking out from their ice prisons to attack the people.

And those spirit beasts did not seem to know exhaustion, like they had an inexhaustible amount of power.

Some of the people ended up being devoured by the spirits beasts as food when their energy gave out, till they were lucky enough to discover a door in the end. They pushed the door open to go in to hide, and saw that the spirit beasts seemed to be helpless against it, unable to get themselves in, and the spirit beasts' attacks then slowly subsided.

Looking around at the people in there, where there was close to a hundred people in the beginning, barely twenty people could be counted at that moment.

The Dark Lands had a total of five people besides Lou Jun Yao himself, and they had lost one of their members.

The Hunters Guild had probably fared the worst.

They had brought the greatest number of men and besides Zhuge Xiong himself, there was only one subordinate to be seen, who had half an arm bitten off by the spirit beasts, the wound haphazardly bandaged after the bleeding was staunched, looking barely alive as he laid there unmovingly. If not for the faint rise and fall of the man's chest as he breathed, people would have thought that he was dead.

They were all there in the same place now after experiencing a life and death battle and they did not have the heart to continue to fight anymore. The most important thing at this moment now was to stay alive.

The air in there suddenly became rather oppressive and suffocating.

"Young Lord, what should we do next?"

The woman with her long slanted fringe covering one of her eyes asked in a hoarse and raspy voice.

Chapter 308.4: Senior, You Must Go On To Live A Good Life

Qing Ye Li stood leaning back in a corner and did not say anything, his eyes dark as he threw a measuring gaze at the surroundings around them, seemingly thinking where the exit out of this place could be.

The pretty and adorable looking little girl had her eyes wide as she pressed herself against the wall in curiosity, feeling around here and knocking lightly there, looking like she was searching to see if there was some kind of a switch somewhere/

Meatball also stuck its tiny little head out from within Lou Jun Yao's bosom, its nose wrinkled up as it sniffed the air.

"How is it Meatball? Do you know how we can get ourselves out of this place?" Qing Bei could not help but ask the little thing, when he saw the calm and unperturbed demeanor of the tiny little pudgy ball.

However, Meatball merely turned its startlingly deep blue eyes around, before its head drooped down sadly as it said in an aggrieved voice: "I'm hungry."

With a hopeful and expectant face, when Qing Bei heard that response, a twitch immediately tugged at the corner of his mouth. Feeling a little helpless, Qing Bei then said: "Meatball, we are now caught in such a critical situation, can't you endure it for a while? Wait till we are out of danger and have saved your mother Qing Yu before you eat will you? You'll be able to eat as much as you want at that time."

This little rascal really just can't kick that gluttonous nature it has, isn't it!?

Moreover, even if it was really really hungry, there is nothing here for it to eat right!?

They don't even know if they will be able to find a way out at all.....

"But if I am hungry, I will not be able to find where the exit is, as my nose will not work well." Meatball said sadly as it hung its head.

When those words came out, Xun Luo could not help but laugh out loud. "Is that even true? A little thing like you has such an amazing ability? And it will not work anymore when you become hungry?"

"Hmph! Of course that's the truth! I am not something that any regular spirit beast can compare to!" Meatball exclaimed indignantly, as it glared at the man.

"But then, the problem is this." Xun Luo said as he spread his palms out. "Although all of us here would have prepared some things kept in our dimensional spaces, but people who reach the levels we are at would be able to abstain from food for a long period of time, so we don't really have the habit of bringing food with us!"

Hearing that, Meatball's eyes widened in disbelief.

There is really no food!?

Mother always kept many things to eat with her, and it would be fine even if it were to remain in her dimensional space for a year without coming out from there.

Why would all these people here..... not have that same good habit?

Just as Meatball was devastated with disappointment, the clear pleasing voice of a man suddenly rang out. "Little one, come here. I have something for you to eat here."

As the man's voice sounded, everyone's eyes turned to look, especially the group of people with Lou Jun Yao.

In the end, when their gaze fell onto the source of that voice, they could clearly see that it had come from that tall figure in the corner, with green eyes and silver hair, his countenance so exquisite like he had walked out from a painting, the man who was Qing Ye Li.

He slowly lowered himself down into a crouch, his eyes meeting the wary and doubtful gaze of the little spirit beast, a slight curve at the very corners of his lips.

Chapter 309: Success In Rescuing Oneself

"Back when Little Yu and I would embark on training journeys together, there were times that we found ourselves trapped somewhere by accident and were unable to get out."

Qing Ye Li's voice was calm and soothing, as his long fair fingers waved in the air to produce a small exquisite basket, filled with all kinds of tempting food. There were delicious dainty snacks in there, together with some dry rations that were a little more filling.

He then seemed to recall something interesting in his mind as a faint smile rose up to show on his cold hard face as he spoke.

"There are times I get trapped in a place for several days straight and I get so hungry my mind gets dizzy. So I learned from then on to always prepare some food at all times whenever I come out, to prepare myself for a situation such as this."

Although that was what he said, in reality, he had kept such a habit for so many years not for his own sake, but for the sake of Qing Yu.

Qing Tian Lin standing on the other side could not help but narrow his eyes. Hmph! Is that scoundrel boasting about how close he is with Qing Qing?

Lou Jun Yao's violet eyes flashed with a glint, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking, but had surely noted that down deep in his heart. The man still has not given up till now, his heart always thinking of a certain little fox.

Looks like when things here come to an end, preparations for some things need to be brought forward.

If he does not stamp his mark on that alluring little lass, Heaven knows how many more pesky flies she is going to attract.

But as a spirit beast who would die if it did not eat, Meatball really did not consider so many things like these complicated humans but just had its sparkling eyes that were shining so brightly fixated unwaveringly upon the food in front, and there was no need to mention just how adorable it looked at that moment.

Seeing that, Qing Bei could not help but stretch his hand out to stroke the little beast's tiny head before saying: "Meatball, he is a friend of Elder Sis, and is one of us. You can set your mind at ease and go ahead and eat."

Regardless of what Qing Ye Li's identity was at that moment, he was afterall still the first person he came to admire growing up, and Qing Bei had once vowed that he would become someone as strong and powerful as the man.

Hence, Qing Bei's impression of the man was still positive and very good.

Seeming to be delighted by the words "one of us", Qing Ye Li's expression warmed up by quite a bit as he nodded his head at Qing Bei.

Having gained Qing Bei's approval, all of Meatball's concerns immediately evaporated. Its two tiny paws quickly grabbed up a bunch of the food and started gobbling them down, its cheeks full and bulging, making its tiny head more rotund than ever.

In that quiet space, only the sound of the little beast's ravenous chewing could be heard as he chomped down on the delicious food.

In mere moments, the food in the basket had been swept clean. It was not known how such a tiny stomach could fit so much inside.

"Little one, had your fill already? Isn't it about time that you can find where the exit is now?"

Seeing that the little beast had finally stopped, Xun Luo could not help but smile and ask out loud.

Chapter 309.2: Success In Rescuing Oneself

Meatball's large innocent eyes turned around, and saw everyone looking at it with expectant gazes. It shook its tiny body to shake off the food crumbs and then nonchalantly took a couple of steps towards a certain direction, sniffing tentatively around for a moment before its tiny body took off like a released arrow.

In that dimly lit space, the little beast raised its paws up high, and then seemed to let out a cold flash of light. The moment that blinding flash passed, two soft clicks were heard and a cross pattern showed up on the wall in front as they collapsed outwards.

Everyone was instantly stunned by what they saw.

Looking at that little beast who was no bigger than their palm, their impression of the little creature's ability immediately greatly improved.

This little thing here..... Just what manner of a monster is it?

There were so many of them here, and not a single person among them was able to find a way out of this damned place. But this little beast here had just waved its tiny paws..... and their ordeal is all over??

What are those paws made out of!?

"Why are all of you still standing there in a daze? Aren't you all in a hurry to get out of here?" Meatball asked with a quizzical look in its eyes, before its tiny body went ahead to walk out from there.

Everyone then seemed to snap back to their senses, hastily following behind to make their way out as well.

Qing Bei was following right behind. Up till now, the expression on his face was still one of utter disbelief. The little fella had stayed at Qing Yu's side for quite a period now, and this was the first time that he discovered that the little one had such great abilities.

It was probably because the little fella was always acting so tame and adorably docile with Qing Yu that he had come to mistakenly form the wrong impression that it was just an ordinary spirit pet.

It was truly a case of hiding a light under a bushel!

Now that they were out of that tight and closed up space, it made certain things a lot more convenient.

For example, Qing Bei was now able to employ his supernatural senses to search for the locations that his mother and Qing Yu were hidden in.

But he had just thrown out his senses when something happened, that caused his face to change in shade.

"What's wrong?" Lou Jun Yao could not help but ask when he saw the colour on the youth's face suddenly change.

Qing Bei was silent for a while, before he said in a sad and depressed voice: "Mother's aura is gone, and I am..... completely unable to find Qing Yu's location."

"Could something have happened to your perceptive abilities?"

Qing Bei's brows furrowed up. "That's impossible. Unless there is something that is able to impede and block out my senses, it is not possible that I am not able to detect a single sliver of their aura and they are most definitely still here in this place. I'm afraid the interference at the place they are hidden in is way beyond my capability to overcome."

Chapter 309.3: Success In Rescuing Oneself

"There are indeed such places here in existence here in the Mind Free Peak, where you won't be able to detect the slightest sliver of life in there at all. That is because there is a very well concealed protective barrier covering the exterior of those places, that isolates them from all kinds of powers."

Little Monster's voice rang out with indifferent nonchalance.

But the matter of factly tone he took to state that unexpectedly drew the attention of everyone else there.

It seemed like that guy knew a lot about many things here in the Mind Free Peak right from the beginning, as if he had gone to all those places himself before.

If they had not known that the guy was from the Dark Lands, they might really start to suspect whether he could be a spy sent by the Mind Free Peak.

However, the schemes he had devised were all to help everyone and he was one of the leading strategists among the Dark Lands' members. For someone to be able to gain the favour of Lou Jun Yao, a man who deemed everything to be beneath him, Little Monster was definitely not an ordinary person.

After hearing what Little Monster said, then it must be true. Lou Jun Yao's gaze paused for a moment as he turned to look at Meatball who had stopped a short distance from his feet and he then asked the little creature: "How is it little one? Have you managed to determine the direction we should take....."

He had not even finished the rest of his words when he discovered the reason that had caused the little beast to stop in its tracks.

Right before them, was a scattered mess with great piles of snow everywhere, sharp icicles littered across the ground all over the place, a highly chaotic scene, looking like a tremendous disaster had just struck the place.

Meatball was at that moment showing a rare moment of bewilderment on its face as it tilted its head and muttered: "An avalanche just swept over the place and has completely buried all the roads. I remember that I came through here to get to you people but I am now unable to find that path, all signs of it erased."

"Of all times for it to happen, an avalanche has to happen at such a moment....." Little Monster's scarlet eyes were narrowed as he said that, the expression on his face looking thoughtful and profound.

With the way forward sealed, without any alternative direction to be seen, everyone seemed to be faced with another difficult situation. The sky was gradually growing darker, heralding the coming of night.

Qing Yu really did not know how long she had been here in this prison that did not see the light of day at all.

And when she came to open her eyes once more, she could feel that the power in her body had increased by quite a bit again.

Like what Lian Shi had said, the water in this pool was not harmful to her in anyway, but would instead further elevate her cultivation. She had previously been at the Sacred Soul Burial Arts' seventh level before this and she had soared up to the eighth level's peak in a single leap. It was already at a higher level than what she had attained in her previous life, and she was even feeling faint signs of almost breaking through to the ninth level.

Chapter 309.4: Success In Rescuing Oneself

But she knew very well that breaking through to the ninth level would not be something easy, or she would not have only attained till the eighth level's middle stages at the point just before her death in her previous life, and breaking through beyond that would be even more demanding and arduous.

And once she breaks through to the ninth level, this place would probably not be able to hold her anymore.

But though she could feel that her cultivation had grown stronger by quite a bit, those things around her ankles were still things she was unable to free herself from. With her freedom being restricted for the first time like this and trapped in such a tight space without being able to move around, she was feeling rather helpless.

The temperature in the Mind Free Peak was absolutely brutal, one that made a person feel a kind of stinging chill that seeps right into their bones and nothing else.

A gust of icy cold wind blew in through a tiny window at one of the highest points in the prison, which immediately lowered the temperature in there by quite a bit. A few slender thin white needle shaped leaves flew in through that window and fell onto the pool, floating quietly on the water's surface.

Qing Yu stretched her hand out to pick up a leaf and stared at it in puzzlement. What kind of a plant did this leaf come from? She has never seen something like this before.

As an outstanding Elixir Cultivator, she would naturally need to be highly familiar with all kinds of plants and herbs, which was one of the most basic requirements.

Many kinds of herbs were also highly similar to each other in many ways and one could easily be mistaken with just the slightest bit of carelessness.

But the leaf of this species of plant was highly unique, or at least till this day, she had never seen any species of plant that was similar to it.

It was such a thin needle shaped leaf and looking more closely at it, the leaf even had a tiny saw toothed edge.

Qing Yu reached a hand out very cautiously to go touch the saw toothed edge and ended up getting pricked by it, bright red blood immediately beading on her fingertip to drip into the water before disappearing from sight.

Her eyes widened in surprise, seemingly not expecting that such a soft and flimsy leaf could actually prick through her skin.

After the leaf pricked her finger and was stained with her blood, the originally pristine white leaf actually turned to become blood red, and its soft supple texture actually became hard, strong as steel.

Held in Qing Yu's hand, it no longer felt like an ordinary leaf, but very much more like a razor blade that was as thin as a cicada's wings.

For some unknown reason, as though she was possessed, she slowly sank as she submerged herself into the water to feel towards the bonds around her ankles, before she reached out and lightly sliced the thin leaf blade over her shackles.

In that instant, unbelievably just like the incredulous thought running through her mind, she felt the heavy feeling around her feet suddenly disappear.

She has broken free from those things!

Uncontrollably, Qing Yu's heart started to beat faster, and with a splash, she nimbly swam her way out from the pool of water and climbed up onto shore.

There was a hidden switch on the prison door and everytime that Lian Shi came in, she had seen him demonstrate it many times, knowing it very well in her heart.

Lian Shi had been so certain that she would not be able to escape from the place and had never tried to hide it from her before.

Chapter 310: Snow Blindness

And that was what gave her her best chance to escape.

In the mere blink of an eye, her body slipped out to appear on the outside of that inescapable prison.

Held in her palm, the strange and amazing leaf that had accidentally aided her in her escape then slowly melted down into water after she stepped out of the prison, flowing out through the gaps between her fingers.

Qing Yu stared in surprise at the leaf that had suddenly disappeared from her hand, and only came to laugh softly to herself after a while, thinking that the god of luck must have smiled on her out of the blue!

She must now find her mother's location as fast as possible, but she did not have the slightest inkling where those people could have held her captive at all. The only thing she could be certain of, was that it would be in a place that was as well hidden and concealed as where she was imprisoned.

Thinking about that, she then summoned Zang Mai out from the dimensional space together with the Heavenly Insights into Medicine's book spirit.

"Oh my Mistress, you've finally summoned me at long last!"

The little scarlet red toddler was extremely delighted the moment he saw her, his big eyes sparkling like there were glittering stars in them, looking like he was all ready to leap right into her arms.

Qing Yu lifted up a corner of her eyebrow and before the little toddler could even react, a hand had come to grab him by his collar, easily lifting him up into the air, unable to break free despite him struggling with all his might, his limbs flailing about in all directions.

"Detestable scoundrel, let go of me right now! You're really just too much!" The little toddler waved his paws around in indignant rage, as he cried out loudly.

The tall slender handsome golden haired figure narrowed his attractive silver golden eyes and then asked in a sarcastic tone: "So, I'm supposed to let you go to allow you to go attack my Mistress?"

When the little toddler heard that, he immediately gritted his teeth to say: "What do you mean by "your" Mistress. This is clearly "MY" Mistress! You're really so shameless! Don't you know anything about priority in the order of arrival!? I was already there by my Mistress' side before she was even born! Heaven knows where you were at that time!!"

"How laughable. When Mistress was born, she did not even know of your existence at all. Pffft... All this talk of priority given in the order of arrival. What right does a puny seed have to be making so much noise here?"

The golden haired youth said in a calm and composed manner, a striking contrast from the little toddler's indignant fury.

"What an ungrateful scoundrel you are! Have you forgotten who was the one that saved you? If not for me, you will still be good for nothing with a deficient soul now!"

"Let's not be too hasty here and put things in perspective here. Even without you, I would still be able to restore my soul, which would just take a little more time. Don't you think you're overestimating yourself here?"

"What a scoundrel..... I shall challenge you to a duel here today!"

"Ha! Who's afraid of you?"

Chapter 310.2: Snow Blindness

"...... ......"

Qing Yu watched the two of them with an expressionless face.

One a tall handsome looking youth, the other a red haired brat in red clothes who looked no older than a child who was four of five, the two of them arguing till their faces turned red with anger.

Oh, it should be said that only the little brat was red faced with anger, while Zang Mai was calm and unruffled throughout the entire episode.

Just like an adult watching an unruly child throwing an unreasonable tantrum.

An innocuous corner of Qing Yu's eyebrow lifted up. Are these two here fighting over who has more of her affection?

She had summoned them to get them to help find her mother, why have they suddenly started quarreling like this instead?

Seeing that the two of them were not showing any signs of stopping at all, Qing Yu's voice sounded out softly: "The two of you can continue. I'll be leaving first."

The moment her voice fell, she did not even care to see the reactions of those two but just turned and walked away.

Zang Mai and the little toddler were immediately left staring at each other angrily for a moment, before they quickly made their way hastily to go apologize obediently to Qing Yu.

"Mistress, we've realized our mistake. Please don't be angry with us."

Qing Yu then cast her angry gaze upon them, a soft snort of derision escaping through her nostrils.

The two rascals knew that they were in the wrong and they remained silent, not daring to say another word.

"I was trapped in that place before this and it restricted some of my abilities, making it impossible for me to summon you guys. It was only after such great difficulty that I managed to escape from the ordeal and I really cannot afford to waste any more time."

As Qing Yu spoke, a golden red flame rose up in the middle of her palm. "This is the Flame element. Help me locate the person who possesses an aura like this and I do not think locating a person will pose to be highly difficult for either of you, as your nose and other senses are very much more sensitive than mine."

"Rest assured Mistress. I will definitely find the person before him." The little toddler boasted with great confidence.

Zang Mai scoffed in disdain: "Do not be so full of yourself, you might just blow up!"

"I am not a balloon! I am not some lowly inanimate object like that! I am the great Earth Fire Devil Vine!"

"Oh, I forgot. I had thought you were just a turf of moss and might just get eaten up by a lowly insignificant animal."

"I am not moss! I am the greatest Earth Fire Devil Vine!!" The little toddler was so enraged he looked like he wanted to hit somebody.

Seeing that the two rascals were going to butt heads once again, Qing Yu's face immediately turned icy. "Shut up."

The two of them immediately clamped up.

Chapter 310.3: Snow Blindness

"Since the two of you like to argue so much, let me give you both a mission now. Before nightfall, I need to at least get a strong and useful clue from either of you and the loser among you two shall be punished by undergoing self reflection in the dimensional space for an entire month, not allowed to take a single step outside.

With those words from Qing Yu delivered in a mildly threatening voice, the faces of the two rascals grew solemn.

Locked up for an entire month.....

That would be brutal. It's so much more fun out here and being locked up for so long away from this.....

When those thoughts came to mind, without even needing Qing Yu to give them any further orders, the two of them quickly disappeared from sight in a blink, in silent competition against the other, to see who would be the one to lose their freedom and be trapped in the dimensional space for one whole month.

Qing Yu then chuckled to herself. Her ears finally able to enjoy some peace, she raised her eyes to peer into the distance, seeming like she had ascertained a direction to take.

There were rows of tall towering trees some ways ahead, their trunks snowy white and their leaves similarly a pristine shimmering white. Under the sunlight, the reflection made the trees seem like they were filled with crystals, astoundingly beautiful.

She approached them slowly, and then bent down slightly to pick up a leaf that had fallen to the ground, which was long and narrow in shape, and had a sharp jagged saw toothed edge running along its side.

It was that same strange and amazing leaf that had drifted in through the prison's narrow window and fallen into the pool of water, which aided her in her escape.

......

Casting her gaze afar, she could see that these unique trees grew thickly and densely together, stretching a great distance, filling up the landscape.

Qing Lan Fei seemed to be lost, or she might have stumbled into an array.

She did not know how long she had spent meandering along all the twisty turns and bends on the path she took in this place, under the thick foliage of this dense forest. Everything her eyes saw, no matter the flowers or shrubbery, or the animals roaming around or the birds that flew in the air.....

Even the occasional unremarkable rock or stone that appeared.....

They were all the same snowy white in colour. Though she had lived in the Mind Free Peak for a number of years before, and had often seen no lack of such a complete blanket of white, unable to see much of any other colour.

But this place, was one she had never encountered before.

She had stumbled in here by accident and Ying Ge had told her before she died that this path could either lead her out of here or it could bring her to her death. If she was lucky enough to find her way out of here, she would be able to escape and live.

And if she was unlucky and fails to find her way out of here, she might just be turned into a tree here in this place, or maybe a piece of stone, without anyone knowing a thing.

The Mind Free Peak was a divine realm, and it wasn't just a legend.

Chapter 310.4: Snow Blindness

It was not a place that the Bright Moon Divine Temple could come to compare to as this was a place where gods had really lived in a thousand years ago.

Even now, the Mind Free Peak was still a place of deep unfathomable mystery as corpses or dead bodies would never exist here. Whenever any lifeform dies in here, their flesh bodies would cease to exist, dissipating into ash, or to turn into grass of flowers, their existence changing into another form.

They would not truly die, in fact they would still retain their consciousness. But in the eyes of outsiders, they would never know that the insignificant and unremarkable looking blade of grass or tiny pebble was transformed from what was once a fresh and vigorous lifeform.

But she did not want to die like this.

She had promised Jing Yu that she would not leave him again, and she had made a promise to Little Bei that she would make it up to him for all the years of regret when she had not been by his side.

And she had never even seen her daughter's face with her own eyes yet.

She had heard that the little lass looked very much like her, and she must be a very smart, intelligent and pretty looking child!

If she is unable to make it out of here in the end, that would be the biggest regret she would carry.

In her mind, she thought that this place must surely pose great danger to those people from the Mind Free Peak and contained many mysterious and unstable elements or they would not have given up on their pursuit the moment she came in.

It seemed like they were certain that she would not be able to find her way out and were confident that her death was inevitable.

Despite the fact that she was still of some use to them, they had still given up just like that. It could be seen that this place must be some sort of a forbidden grounds to them.

But she did not know how Ying Ge had come to learn the secret of this place. The girl must have quietly gone about to do many things for her sake over so many years!

That girl had always been thoughtful and conscientious, and the girl must have guessed that she would come back here one day. How unfortunate! That someone who cared so much for her had been killed because of her.....

Thinking back to how Ying Ge had called out for her to run away back then, Qing Lan Fei's eyes suddenly turned red at the rims.

She had really dragged the girl down in the end.

In that endless silvery white that stretched as far as the eye could see, Qing Lan Fei's eyes seemed to see doubles, her sight a misty blur. Right at that moment, a flurry of snow fell down from the sky.

She felt a dull dry ache in her eyes and she blinked hard in an attempt to ease the pain. She then stretched her hands out, to let the falling snow fall onto her clothes and hands.

She then caught sight of something, and the expression on her face froze up.

Her gaze was fixed upon her sleeve, before it slowly shifted to look at her own body.

For an instant, she seemed to be seeing things.

She could clearly remember that the clothes she was wearing were red.

She had always liked the bright flamboyant shade of red and most of her clothes were mainly red.

And she remembered that the clothes she had been wearing from just a short while ago had clearly been red, so why have they turned white as snow in such a short period of time?

Not only that, she saw that a lock of her hair hanging down over her shoulder had turned to the colour of frost.