The lake water was far too icy and bone-piercing. She felt the cold air invading her dantian; if it had been anyone else, they would probably have already frozen into an ice statue in the lake.
But she saw that grasshopper made of dried grass.
Like a swimming fish, she headed in that direction, clutching tight to this light woven from withered grass.
While swimming back, she felt the spiritual qi protecting her body gradually being consumed in its resistance against the severe cold. Her limbs began to go numb, her muscles and bones freezing inch by inch. Gritting her teeth, she kept swimming upward.
Yet just before the freezing lake water could immobilize her limbs, someone suddenly scooped her up from the water with a loud splash.
The demon’s face was bluish with cold. “Are you insane?”
“If you want to die, I can help you. You don’t need to go looking for death yourself.”
The moment her hair emerged from the lake’s surface, it began freezing rapidly, crack crack crack, almost turning into icicles. Her whole body trembled, her teeth chattering loudly from the cold. But she stood there stubbornly, looking at him.
The demon, his face dark with anger, glared at her, then threw his great cloak over her head and shoulders. He condensed black flames from demonic qi, igniting scorching heat, pressing her in place to thaw this frozen body.
Hearing the sound of her chattering teeth, under the glow of the flames, the demon’s expression shifted unpredictably.
That stubborn sword cultivator finally recovered a little. Turning his head to look, he discovered that she was actually smiling.
“Yan… Yan Xueyi.”
In the flickering firelight, wrapped in his cloak, the tip of her nose red, she opened her palm—
Inside lay a wet, freshly thawed grasshopper made of dried grass.
“I… I didn’t lose it a second time.”
His pupils suddenly contracted, and he froze.
It was as if only the crackling sound of burning remained between heaven and earth, along with the breathing of the two of them.
In the firelight, Yan Xueyi’s expression was especially unpredictable, yet in the end he did not say a single harsh word.
She recovered a little and said with firm determination, “You can’t throw it away again.”
Her expression was serious and stubborn, as if if he threw it away again, she would dive back into the lake to retrieve it again.
Snow fell without a sound.
He remained silent for a long time, clenching his palm tightly, turning his head away so he would not look at her.
He said, “There are so many people in this world who know how to weave grasshoppers.”
She said, “But among all those people, only you would save me.”
The Lord of the Demon Realm said coldly, “As you wish. Think whatever you want.”
“Su Liuyun, your senior brothers and sisters—so many people—any one of them would go save you. I’m not necessary.”
She fell silent within the firelight.
“Yan Xueyi, only you.”
When she fell into the Myriad Demon Pit, she thought she was going to die. At that time, her talent was not yet so dazzling, and her position as Young Sect Master was precarious. Chao Taichu would not risk sending any disciple to save her—entering the Myriad Demon Pit was too dangerous, and her value was far from enough.
So she fought desperately to climb upward, yet again and again fell back to the bottom of the Myriad Demon Pit, until all her spiritual qi was exhausted and blood seeped from her fingers. She knew that if she did not save herself, she would die.
But no matter how hard she struggled, the darkness of the Myriad Demon Pit never showed an end. She knew she was going to die. She was in pain, and she wanted to sleep. She knew that once she closed her eyes, she would never open them again. But at that time, she was too tired.
If that little demon brat had not carried her on his back, she would have died silently in the demon pit. Ambition, hatred, hardship—all would have been buried.
Later still, when she was pierced through the heart by ten thousand arrows, her great vengeance unfinished, filled with unwillingness, she became a wandering lonely soul. Only he gathered her remains and avenged her.
In her past life and this life, only him.
The bonfire still crackled as it burned. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
What did that mean? Yan Xueyi’s expression gradually darkened. Yes—he remembered what he had seen and heard when he had transformed into her heart demon.
She was born with sword bones—such extraordinary talent—yet her father wanted her to replace her bones.
He suddenly realized that while he had been struggling through the Myriad Demon Pit, licking blood from the blade’s edge, in truth, she had not been doing well either. Otherwise, how could she have fallen into the Myriad Demon Pit for three days and three nights, and no one had come to save her?
In this demon’s eyes, everyone in the world should love her, protect her, revolve around her. As if it were incomprehensible if others did not cherish her, did not care for her.
But what about reality?
He turned his head to look at that sword cultivator.
She was draped in his cloak, her nose red from the cold, like a stubborn little rabbit.
“Yan Xueyi, are you cold?”
He froze for a moment, then awkwardly turned his head away. “Not cold.”
Kunlun Lake’s water was extremely cold—after going down once, no matter how high one’s cultivation, the meridians would still freeze.
As soon as he finished speaking, he quietly urged the flames to burn stronger. “You don’t need to return the clothes to me.”
She smiled. “I never planned to give the clothes back to you.”
She stretched out her hand, lifted a corner of the great cloak around her, and waved at him. “Yan Xueyi, come in and warm up.”
The Great Demon immediately thought she was foolish to the extreme and snorted in disdain.
“Only mortals use this method—completely useless, huddling together for warmth. Truly childish.”
She urged him, “Hurry, hurry, I’m about to freeze to death.”
She reached out to pull him, but just as he had been showing disdain, he suddenly grabbed her hand, bent down, and slipped beneath the cloak she had lifted.
The demon race was naturally much taller and larger than the human race. The cloak that was astonishingly large for her became extremely cramped after a demon entered. Rather than slipping inside, it was more like his entire form directly covered her.
His breathing hovered above her head, his presence scorching hot.
Heavy snow fell silently upon the cloak they had spread above them.
In their gaze meeting, he sneered: “What, I saved you, and now you’re very pleased? Think you’ve seized my weakness?”
“No, Yan Xueyi, I’m not as bad as you think.”
She tugged at the cloak and said, “Let’s make up.”
He lowered his head coldly, staring at her. Those thin, cool danfeng eyes seemed as though they wanted to see straight through her.
But in the end, he didn’t say yes.
—Nor did he say no.
This childish method seemed to actually work. Her frozen limbs gradually warmed. She felt much better; once sensation returned, she shifted uncomfortably.
The demon’s Adam’s apple rolled unconsciously.
Their breaths were scorching, their auras entangled.
He smelled the faint fragrance in her hair.
The young man averted his gaze, his tone very impatient. “Do we have to keep squatting here?”
His expression seemed to say: Don’t expect this seat to keep accompanying you in maintaining this foolish posture.
He said, “Come up. I’ll carry you. Let’s find an inn.”
She was stunned. “I can walk.”
He spoke stiffly, “This seat is cold.”
She was about to say something else when he turned his head, snarling viciously,
“Stop talking nonsense. Get up here now.”
He didn’t even say “this seat” or “I” anymore—clearly his patience had truly run out.
He thought that stubborn woman would rather die than show weakness in front of him. Just as he was planning to hoist her up and leave, she instead reached out her hand toward him.
He gave a cold snort.
Snow fell silently, gradually covering heaven and earth.
It was like returning to the time in the Myriad Demon Pit. Back then, she had lain barely alive on the boy’s shoulder, and between heaven and earth, it seemed only the two of them remained.
The demon suddenly spoke: “I didn’t do it on purpose.”
She poked her head out from the cloak. “What?”
“That grasshopper—I didn’t throw it away on purpose.”
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
Inn.
Because it was too late, there was only one guest room left.
After hearing the attendant’s words, the demon glanced at her. “If that’s the case, this seat might as well go kill someone and free up a room.”
She said helplessly, “Don’t even think about it. We’ll take one room.”
The demon neither agreed nor disagreed.
He swaggered up after her.
He absolutely would not sleep on the floor.
“You sleep on the floor.”
“You sleep on the floor.”
The two spoke in unison.
After a long stalemate, neither was willing to sleep on the floor. In the end, they sat on opposite sides of the bed.
They had never gotten along so calmly before. The feeling was both novel and unfamiliar. One sat by the tea table in a daze, the other stared out the window lost in thought. Neither intended to rest.
Soon, the sky at the horizon gradually turned pale with the color of a fish’s belly. Chao Jinsui knew she should leave. She looked at the person opposite her for a long time, and finally made up her mind. “Actually, I came to find you to confirm one thing as well.”
“What?”
The handsome demon absentmindedly played with the little snake, tying its small eyes into a dead knot.
The little snake’s whites were nearly being squeezed out.
“My trump card.”
He didn’t understand. He thought she was using him again—that after all the twists and turns of this night, she had finally revealed her sinister intention. But after thinking for a moment, when he finally realized, his fingers suddenly tightened.
She said he was her trump card?
The little snake was squeezed so hard it almost left its soul behind.
Yet the next moment, that boiling, clamoring emotion was like being plunged into icy water.
She showed him a smile: “Yan Xueyi, I may have to give up the broad, open road, and walk a single-plank bridge instead.”
“If I die, I should at least find someone to collect my remains.”
She knew very well that after provoking the conflict between Kunlun and the Su family, once she returned today, it would be a fierce battle. Chao Taichu would not let her go.
The young demon’s expression darkened. He tossed aside the little snake and stared at her for a long time, finally certain she was no longer joking.
“If you want to die, I can kill you right now.”
She smiled. “Yan Xueyi, I have to prepare for the worst.”
He could not stand the way she spoke so calmly about her own life and death. He strode forward, grabbed her, and pulled her along.
How could this foolish sword cultivator dare to die at someone else’s hands? Her life was his—he had saved her, and if it were to be taken, it could only be taken by him.
The strength with which he gripped her wrist was astonishing. Dragging her along without looking back, he left the inn and strode swiftly toward the mountain peak opposite Kunlun.
She asked, “Yan Xueyi, what are you doing?”
He said nothing, pulling her up the mountain, looking for all the world like he was about to drag her up there and flay her alive.
Only after pulling her to the mountain peak did the demon release his hand.
At the summit, the wind was fierce, whipping their robes loudly in the air.
He turned his back coldly: “I never owe anyone favors. Since you gave me the Fumo Sword, I will give you one as well.”
From here, the entire Kunlun could be overlooked.
That foolish sword cultivator was quiet for a moment, then truly began searching seriously. “Weren’t you going to give me a sword? Where is it?”
He turned around, his gaze as if looking at a fool. His long fingers grasped her head and turned it to face Kunlun below.
All she saw was Kunshan towering high, blanketed in white snow, countless disciples moving within it like ants. Rarely, she revealed a trace of confusion.
He clicked his tongue, his tone extremely strange. “Isn’t there a sword right there?”
Following his line of sight, Chao Jinsui froze.
—There really was a sword.
The Kunlun Sword Sect was built atop the peak of Kunlun Mountain. Amid the white snow and drifting mist, it appeared ethereal and transcendent. Yet within this landscape like an immortal realm, a colossal sword that reached the heavens pointed straight toward the sky, majestic and domineering, as if contending with heaven itself!
This sword had existed since the moment she was born. In fact, it had existed from the very moment Kunlun was founded. Kunlun disciples saw that giant sword every single day.
After all, that was Kunlun’s foundation. The entire Kunlun was built upon the peak split open by this colossal sword!
She drew in a sharp breath.
Behind her, the lawless demon spoke in a languid, bewitching tone:
“That was left behind when your ancestor founded the Kunlun Sword Sect ten thousand years ago. It is Kunlun’s spine, its foundation… and also what Kunlun relies upon.”
“But it is also a sword that can be taken away at any time.”
“The sword is named Kunlun. It is an ancient divine weapon—why, it is a sword even better than Fumo.”
Yet before this mad demon, no one had ever imagined that Kunlun’s very foundation could be shaken—much less pulled out.
She murmured, “Yan Xueyi, are you insane?”
He murmured with a smile: “This is the true root upon which Kunlun was founded, the foundation for ten thousand generations.”
“Do you want to leave like a drowned dog, like a stray cast out of its home, or do you want to turn heaven and earth upside down and take half of Kunlun with you?”
“You see, you have protected Kunlun countless times. Besides you, who else has the right to possess it?”
“Chao Taichu, or that younger sister of yours?”
They said demons could bewitch the human heart. When this demon led her gaze toward that colossal sword reaching the heavens, she clearly felt her heartbeat accelerate, her blood surging and clamoring restlessly.
But she also almost immediately realized—
He was testing her.
This demon did not believe her at all. He was testing how much weight Kunlun held in her heart.
If she did not dare take that sword, then everything that had happened tonight—this demon would not believe a single word of it.
Both of them understood very clearly that if Kunlun still held first place in her heart, then this so-called “making up” would be nothing more than a joke.
Their positions were opposed. After a brief reconciliation, one day they would still cross blades again—life and death between them.
Yan Xueyi looked at her:
If she obtained the Kunlun Sword and then turned around to kill him…
That would be fine too. In that case, from then on, he could finally let himself hate her completely.
When the time came, he would retaliate against her like a madman. What awaited her would be eternal damnation, an endless struggle to the death. He would stop at nothing to drag her into hell.
A true heart from a demon god, even the slightest bit of goodwill, could absolutely not be toyed with.
So he personally delivered this fatal divine weapon into the hands of his sworn enemy—
This was a test, and also a reckless gamble.
Under his probing gaze, she calmed down and asked him, “Aren’t you afraid that the moment I get the sword, I’ll kill you immediately?”
The handsome demon’s cold smile pressed close to her: “I only fear that you won’t come.”
As if a vicious beast had locked onto her vital point.
She was certain—the pitiful little boy from back then had long since become utterly dark.
She looked toward that colossal sword reaching the heavens—
A divine weapon, the ladder for her ascent to the clouds;
Also lethal at first blood, her death warrant.
He noticed her fingers clenching, even her eyelashes trembling slightly.
But that was definitely not fear.
It was the same uncontrollable excitement surging in her blood as in his.
She lifted her eyes and stared at him: this ladder to the azure heavens, she would have it for sure!
He smiled and released his hand.
With a light push of her toes, her body like a startled swan, she leapt down the cliff!
