Pursuit

Wanxing Mountain Range, Zhuixian Lake. A scruffy, stubble-faced man carrying a sword on his back stood by the shore. He glanced across the lake toward the opposite bank several hundred meters away, then looked to its center. What should have been rippling emerald water was now occupied by a sky-piercing pillar of ice. A hundred zhang tall, its crystalline form was limpid and translucent, exuding a biting, timeless chill that spread ceaselessly under the cascading moonlight. The vast lake had already been frozen solid. The stubbled man clicked his tongue, as though stung by the cold, and rubbed his arms to limber up, remarking with a sigh, "Tsk, tsk. Good thing I didn't chase after them on my own. With power on this scale, by the time you made your report and rushed back, I'd probably be frozen inside that giant block of ice." The two were none other than the man and woman who had previously appeared outside the Buddhist hall. The woman was still dressed in the same tight-fitting black martial robes bordered with red, her slender, curvaceous figure fully accentuated and her high ponytail swaying faintly in the breeze. She, too, stared at the immense pillar of ice jutting from the lake, saying in a crisp voice, "It's Ran Qingmo of the Sword Sect." The stubbled man narrowed his eyes. Suddenly stamping his foot, his figure vanished from the spot. When he reappeared, he had already landed atop the massive pillar of ice in the center of the lake. Seeing this, the woman followed in a blur. By the time she arrived, the man was half-crouched on the ice, gently running his hand over its crystalline surface. The woman looked around, surveying the scene from their high vantage point. A vast swath of the forest surrounding Zhuixian Lake—composed of hundred-meter-tall trees—had been completely flattened, a testament to how fierce the battle had been. After a pause, she asked the man, "Find anything?" Squatting on the ground, the man rubbed his stubble and said with some hesitation, "The other one who fought Ran Qingmo doesn't seem to be human." "A demon?" The woman frowned, pondering for a moment. "There are very few shapeshifting great demons in the Wanxing Mountain Range capable of fighting Ran Qingmo to such an extent." The stubbled man gave a faint smile. He brought a palm-sized scale he had found to the tip of his nose, sniffed it, and casually tossed it to her. "It's not one of those old monsters. It's a female serpent." The woman looked down at it, her brow furrowing. "A female serpent? Can you tell what kind?" The man considered briefly before murmuring, "The lingering qi feels a bit like a Seven-Life Python. Going by the methods and residual Source Qi, this python has probably molted into its sixth life." He smacked his lips, tone laced with admiration. "Tsk, tsk... A six-turn Seven-Life Python. One more life and it'll fully stabilize its human form. It's likely some important figure among the snake demon clans of the Foreign Demon Realm." Pausing, the man stood up, a rare look of gravity surfacing on his face. "She was trapped by Ran Qingmo's ice pillar and had to reveal her true form to break free. From the looks of it, Ran Qingmo didn't seem keen on engaging her in a direct fight." The woman's brow furrowed even deeper. "You mean Third Young Master was captured by Ran Qingmo?" The man did not answer immediately. After prolonged thought, he shook his head. "I can't say for sure. At the very least, when they were at Zhuixian Lake, Ran Qingmo was trying to protect Third Young Master. Notify Eldest Young Master and the other teams that we've found Third Young Master's trail." A trace of doubt flashed in the woman's eyes. "But right now, we..." "We've tracked them the entire way, and the person who took Third Young Master never took a single detour." The man waved a hand, cutting her off. Standing atop the hundred-zhang pillar of ice, he stared at the majestic, sky-swallowing mountain ranges in the distance. "They're headed for Tianmen Mountain." *** The wound across the white tiger's back was gruesome and terrifying. Although it had already scabbed over, the crimson stain that had previously blossomed across its snow-white fur remained startlingly stark. Having just arrived in this world and not yet exposed to cultivation, Xu Yuan could not deduce any further information from the shape or depth of the wound. Yet the mere fact that the white tiger was injured was enough. While he was unconscious, the two of them had managed to travel from their original location all the way to Tianmen Mountain in just four days; the white tiger must have carried him forward. And despite being his mount during his coma, this white tiger had suffered an injury from an outside attack while accompanied by Ran Qingmo. It seemed far more had occurred during those four days of his coma than he had imagined. With thoughts racing through his mind, Xu Yuan once again scanned his surroundings. Flakes of snow drifted down from the sky alongside a bleak, biting wind. Beneath the heavy snowdrift, a blood-stained animal skeleton was faintly visible. This discovery caused Xu Yuan's heart to sink. Glancing at the snow wolf lying on the ground with its breath as weak as a gossamer thread, he let out a soft sigh. That bloody skeleton was likely prey the white tiger had caught and devoured earlier. Judging by the beast's size, they had remained in this spot for at least a full day. A whole day... With pursuers behind them, what could have forced Ran Qingmo to stop and rest? Xu Yuan looked at the woman in black sitting cross-legged in the snow. Moonlight brushed gently against her veil. Her ink-black robes stirred in the wind, making her resemble a lovely sculpture. Innumerable thoughts flashed through Xu Yuan's mind. Taking a deep breath, he said, "You're injured." His voice was soft, dispersing in an instant into the cold mountain wind. After a moment of silence, Ran Qingmo kept her eyes closed as she adjusted her breathing, but she did not deny it. "Mm." "Is it severe?" "A little." His suspicion confirmed, Xu Yuan raised a hand to rub the space between his brows, then looked back at the boundless sea of forest below the mountain. "And the other party?" "Her injuries are slightly lighter than mine." "..." Xu Yuan fell silent. He recalled the wound on the white tiger's back. He must have held her back. The cold wind was bleak beneath a sky full of stars. After a long while, Xu Yuan spoke again, his tone earnest. "I'm sorry." "..." Ran Qingmo did not answer. With her eyes closed, she merely said flatly, "Since you're awake, head up the mountain with it. I will wait for her here." Saying so, she gave a slight flick of her hand, tossing a small object to Xu Yuan. Xu Yuan caught it instinctively and looked down. Ran Qingmo had thrown him a tiny ice-crystal sword, entirely limpid and radiant like clear crystal. He asked instinctively, "What is this?" Ran Qingmo opened her eyes and glanced at the great white tiger beside her. "If it acts out, crush it." A glimmer of understanding dawned in Xu Yuan's eyes. Just moments ago, he had been wondering why this white tiger had become so obedient to Ran Qingmo in only four days. It turned out she had tampered with something inside its body. After a brief silence, Xu Yuan said no more. Clutching the small ice-crystal sword in his hand, he climbed directly onto the white tiger's back. When he brushed against the scabbed wound on the beast's back, he distinctly felt the massive creature beneath him shudder. Fortunately, it showed no other reaction beyond that. Mounted on the white tiger, Xu Yuan looked once more at the black-robed woman sitting nearby. After a brief pause, he murmured, "I'll wait for you at Hanging Sky Cliff at the peak of Tianmen Mountain." "..." After a quiet moment, Ran Qingmo's voice rang out, as serene and distant as when they had first met. "No need." Xu Yuan stared at her, repeating steadily, "I said, I will wait for you at Hanging Sky Cliff." "..." Ran Qingmo blinked her beautiful eyes, a hint of confusion in her gaze. She was trying to understand why this man insisted on waiting for her. Xu Yuan did not explain; he merely watched her calmly. If Ran Qingmo didn't come, his only choice would be to leap off the cliff. With his original body's Luck score of 3, let alone finding a hidden cave estate, he would probably be skewered to death on a jagged outcrop halfway through his free fall. Unable to make sense of it, Ran Qingmo shook her head gently. "I left a qi trace on you. I can find you." Xu Yuan fabricated a lie on the spot, enunciating each word, "The cave estate can mask qi traces." Ran Qingmo fell silent. After a long while, She slowly opened her eyes and tilted her head slightly, gazing at the brocade-robed young master seated atop the white tiger beneath the moonlight. Silence. Their gazes met. In the end, she gave a slight nod, her red lips parting beneath the black veil. "Alright." Xu Yuan smiled faintly. "Come quickly." Without a sound, The white tiger instantly transformed into a blur of white, hurtling toward the mountain peak and leaving behind only that figure clad in ink-black, sitting solitary upon the desolate snow.