Chapter 202: One Person Holding an Umbrella
Jiang Qiuchi always seemed to impress and refresh people whenever she appeared. This might have something to do with her attire. Regardless of the season, the girl always favored a red dress. Especially when the world outside was a vast expanse of white, her red dress would stand out vividly. Even in the dead of night, it didn’t detract from her beauty.
Chen An recognized the arrival and was stunned. He didn’t speak, merely continued kneeling with his head bowed. Who among them didn’t know how foolish this was? The young man’s expression remained unchanged, his eyes cast downward. The night deepened, and due to his silence, tranquility returned once more. In such cold weather, even the usual mountain insect chirps had fallen silent. Everything was still. However, Dao Xuan Zhenren seemed determined not to see him.
Beside him, seeing Chen An’s refusal to give up, the girl continued to nag, a hint of complaint in her voice. “He’s truly a blockhead, a stubborn mule! That old geezer must have lived for ages and seen every trick in the book. Do you really think kneeling here will move him? He’s probably secretly watching you right now, laughing at your foolishness!”
Perhaps the young man didn’t hear Jiang Qiuchi’s words, but they caused a certain ‘old geezer’ to subconsciously withdraw his hidden, peeping gaze. Fortunately, he was hiding in his cave mansion, so no one could witness his embarrassment. The wind and snow howled through the mountains, their cries in the night sky sounding like a baby’s wail.
After a moment, Chen An finally looked at the girl standing beside him and said softly, “Please take the umbrella away.” Hearing this, the girl seemed angered. Her enchanting, picturesque eyebrows rose slightly, and she pursed her red lips, a hint of gritted teeth in her voice. “If you tell me to take it away, won’t I lose face? Besides, why should I listen to you?” The girl in the red dress snorted and raised her chin. Seeing this, Chen An said no more, simply withdrawing his gaze in silence. Perhaps sensing something, Jiang Qiuchi also stopped speaking, standing silently with him. The figures of a man and a woman, amidst the vast wind and snow, appeared somewhat desolate. The long night, for the first time, felt exceptionally drawn out.
Who knew how much time passed until the horizon began to show a sliver of the dawn? The first light of day finally arrived, casting a layer of frost onto the young man’s features. He was soaked through, his green robes clinging to his skin, sending a bone-chilling sensation through him. Without the protection of spiritual energy, this feeling was almost a stinging pain. With every gust of wind, the young man’s figure would tremble.
Jiang Qiuchi stared at him blankly, her knuckles unconsciously tightening around the umbrella handle, making her fingertips turn slightly white. Kneeling in the snow all night, with nothing to shield him, Chen An’s mental state visibly deteriorated. His eyebrows twitched, his lips pressed together, and his lower lip was slightly bluish. In reality, with a cultivator’s natural physique, he should have been able to endure for a few more days. But in Jiang Qiuchi’s eyes, it still made her feel uncomfortable. Perhaps due to her lack of such past experiences, she was momentarily at a loss for words. She only felt a pang in her chest, an indescribable and profound sadness. All she seemed capable of doing was holding the umbrella for the young man, preventing him from being battered by the wind and snow. After all, the decision had been made by the sect leader, a Tribulation Crossing True Monarch. No one dared to openly defy him.
…
Tianshan Mountain.
Looking down from the heavens, the summit of Tianshan Mountain was also covered in a layer of silver snow. It was like a silver prison, firmly locking the girl’s slender figure onto the mountaintop. Dao Xuan Zhenren hadn’t intentionally restricted Mu Sanniang’s actions, but merely activated a formation passed down by his ancestors. A prison was drawn on the ground. If nothing went wrong, she was supposed to remain in this small area, enduring the cold winds day and night, in solitude for a hundred years.
Was this punishment severe? It was certainly very severe. But when compared to the sect’s regulations, and being reduced to a mortal with no path to immortality, it didn’t seem so harsh. In fact, if everything had proceeded according to sect rules, the head of the Discipline Hall, responsible for punishments, would have been Zuo Yunshan, the Peak Master of Shang Xuan Peak. If he had been the one to judge Mu Sanniang, he might have directly executed her to accompany his beloved disciple in death. Therefore, Dao Xuan Zhenren’s actions were truly a display of great effort and consideration.
At this moment, the girl seemed to have lost all vitality. She remained in the same slumped position as during the day, lost in thought. Dao Xuan Zhenren had long since departed, and the illusory light screen he had conjured had naturally vanished. She could no longer witness, as she had in the daytime, the sight of her younger brother being gradually swallowed by the wind and snow. Mu Sanniang lowered her head, her black hair brushing against her face, obscuring much of her clear and beautiful features. Her white skirt trailed on the ground, spreading out from her, making her appear like the coldest snow lotus in the world from afar. However, this snow lotus had now lost its elegance and nobility, leaving only a pale, desperate helplessness. Or perhaps, it should have always been this pale. Perhaps it wasn’t just the young man in the illusion buried by the wind and snow. It was also the last shred of conscience the girl possessed. Her desire to become stronger had never been so intense.
As if sensing something, a familiar, aged voice echoed from within her sea of consciousness. “Little one, it seems your situation is rather grim…” The old woman’s words stirred Mu Sanniang’s eyes, and she quickly raised her head. Even though her ‘Master’ had no physical form. “Please teach me, Master,” Mu Sanniang pleaded anxiously, as if grasping at the last straw. This ‘Master’ who resided within the sword had fallen silent since she descended to the bottom of the Nether Prison. If she hadn’t spoken out just now, Mu Sanniang would have almost forgotten of her existence.
The old woman saw the girl’s anxiety and her heart stirred. She suddenly thought, this might actually be an opportunity… A hint of ruthlessness flashed through the old woman’s mind. It was almost time. It was time for her to cast her net. Originally, her plan was to make her move after the girl reached Foundation Establishment. However, an unexpected incident made her somewhat hesitant to act rashly. The dried corpse at the bottom of the Nether Prison and the arrival of Dao Xuan Zhenren had both sent chills down her spine, fearing that her presence might be revealed. After all, she was merely a remnant soul at this point, and compared to truly top-tier immortal cultivators, she would be easily annihilated with a single slap.
With this thought, the old woman’s expression shifted, and she said helplessly, “It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but my physical body has perished, and my cultivation is less than one-tenth of what it was. I am truly unable to assist you.” As she spoke, the glimmer of hope that had just ignited in the girl’s heart extinguished, her pale blue eyes flashing with ashen despair, becoming hollow and lifeless. Seeing this, the old woman’s heart rejoiced. She then added, “Although I cannot help you escape, allowing you to catch a glimpse of your young lord is not a problem.”
Mu Sanniang’s expression froze. Her first instinct was to nod, but then she forcefully stopped herself. She felt an inexplicable trepidation. She was afraid. Afraid of seeing her younger brother’s unprecedentedly humble appearance. Afraid of seeing her younger brother’s solitary, frail figure kneeling alone in the wind and snow. As for the ‘young lord’ her ‘Master’ had mentioned, she no longer cared so much. After a long hesitation, Mu Sanniang nodded. She pursed her thin lips and looked ahead. There, the spell cast by the old woman revealed the young man’s figure. However, what stunned Mu Sanniang was that beside her younger brother, there was also a strikingly bright splash of crimson…
(End of Chapter)
