Chapter 42

After screaming all the way, Xiao Tang finally gave up and resigned himself to clinging tightly to Nan Yuan, his fur standing straight up from the wind.

They had already jumped, so what could they do now?

Anyway, both he and Yuan Yuan could fly, so they wouldn’t fall to their deaths.

But free-falling and accelerating was a bit too much.

Xiao Tang felt his vision blur and his head spin, then heard a heavy thud, like a pair of massive hooves hitting the ground.

Peeking his little head out, his small eyes instantly widened.

The mountain of corpses beneath them was crushed to pieces, and the dark land was split open into deep cracks spreading in all directions.

Thinking of Yuan Yuan’s true form, Xiao Tang fell silent.

All around them was the stench of rotting corpses. Nan Yuan endured the discomfort and walked deeper in.

The further she went, the thicker the miasma became, and visibility dropped.

At first, the sky was a dull gray-black, but soon nothing could be seen.

With a wave of her arm, the miasma around her seemed to come alive, retreating deeper into the abyss.

“Yuan Yuan, look! It’s Ah Qing’s sword!” Xiao Tang suddenly exclaimed, leaping off Nan Yuan and stopping beside a bloodstained broadsword.

Then he saw a pile of gnawed bone fragments.

Xiao Tang shivered, slowly turning to look at Nan Yuan, recalling something.

The woman’s expression was very calm, but Xiao Tang could feel the anger within her merging with her restless blood, ready to boil over, and then—

“Yuan Yuan! Yuan Yuan, stay calm, calm down—” His voice broke at the end.

Nan Yuan suddenly threw her head back and let out a long howl.

The sound shook the heavens and the earth, causing the entire abyss to tremble.

In an instant, everything fell silent.

Nan Yuan’s human-like body shot into the sky, and the next moment, a colossal creature appeared above the abyss.

This creature blotted out the sky, plunging the already dark abyss into complete darkness.

Xiao Tang gazed up at the massive creature, hugging his tiny body with his paws and trembling.

The forests and caves deep within the abyss were crushed by huge claws, and the deformed monsters hiding in every corner fled, only to be swallowed whole by the furious beast.

Xiao Tang anxiously jumped around.

If this continued, Heavenly Dao would surely notice!

But thinking of the child who was eaten by these creatures, Xiao Tang felt angry too.

That stinky kid had brushed his fur for three whole years.

Even if Yuan Yuan ate all these creatures, the child wouldn’t come back.

Half of the abyss was destroyed by the enraged Nan Yuan, and most of its monsters were devoured by her. As thunderclouds began to gather above the abyss, the colossal creature quickly reverted to human form, picked up Ah Qing’s sword in one hand, cradled the trembling Xiao Tang in the other, and swiftly broke through the void to leave.

The highest-level Nine Heavens Divine Thunder that had just been formed was specifically designed to kill demons that wreaked havoc on the world:…?

After the rampaging demon left, the devastated abyss gradually returned to its dead silence.

For a long time afterward, the high-level monsters deep within the abyss were dominated by the terror of that day, each one turning into a reclusive turtle.

No one noticed a cocoon-like structure attached to a corner of a corpse mountain.

It absorbed the abyss’s demonic energy day by day.

No one knew how long had passed, but the seemingly lifeless cocoon suddenly stirred.

A large, fair hand with distinct knuckles reached out, tearing apart the thick cocoon woven from silky threads.

As the cocoon fell away, a naked man stepped out.

The man was like a newborn baby, with delicate and fair skin that glowed, broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and perky buttocks.

He lifted his head to look into the distance, his exquisite and beautiful eyes carrying an unusual calmness; his lips were pink, like they held flower petals; and his black hair was shiny and flowed down like a waterfall, reaching his waist and hips.

His flawless features combined into an extraordinarily striking face, yet it lacked any warmth.

An unending aura of death, perfectly harmonious with this place, emanated from him.

Suddenly, as if he remembered something, his lips curved slightly upward.

In an instant, his hair moved as if in the wind, wild and unrestrained; his eyes became affectionate, shimmering with a mesmerizing light; and his entire body exuded a captivating allure.

The man stood amid the mountain of corpses, like a gem blooming in the midst of rot and stench…

~

Two years later,.

Nan Yuan lay motionless on a soft couch covered with spirit beast furs.

Ever since she devoured so many demons from the Abyss in a fit of rage two years ago, she has become increasingly lethargic.

Having re-assumed her form as Pei Yueying, Nan Yuan continued to serve as the lord of Snow City, ignoring everything outside her window and focusing solely on lying in her corpse-like state.

Xiao Tang lay with her, limp in her arms, looking as lifeless as she did.

One person and one beast are extremely despondent.

“Yuan Yuan, are you still thinking about Ah Qing?” Xiao Tang asked softly.

Nan Yuan lifted her eyelids slightly but said nothing.

Was she thinking about him? Probably.

Or maybe she just wasn’t used to it.

After all, a little brat who had stuck to her side every day, calling her “sister” had suddenly disappeared.

For the past two years, she hadn’t heard that chirping voice; even though it was much quieter than before, Nan Yuan found it very unsettling.

If Xiao Tang hadn’t stopped her back then, she would have destroyed the entire Abyss.

Later, she secretly found Yun Wu without telling Xiao Tang and split him in half with a single strike, barely calming her anger.

Although Yun Wu denied it until his death, Nan Yuan still suspected that Ah Qing had been taken to the Abyss by him.

She didn’t bother to look for evidence; Yun Wu didn’t seem like a good person anyway, so killing him was no loss.

Occasionally, a strange thought would flash through her mind, but it would dissipate before taking shape.

Her connection with Ah Qing was already severed.

Ah Qing was dead.

While they were lying there, the old steward came rushing in.

“City Lord, the beast tide has arrived early! And this time, it’s much larger than before! What should we do? If we can’t defend the city, everything we’ve worked so hard to protect will be destroyed!”

Nan Yuan remained calm.

She had sensed it long ago; in about five days, the beast tide would sweep through Snow City.

Every fifty years, Snow City faced a beast tide. Others might not know the reason, but she understood it was related to something suppressed deep within Snow Mist Mountain.

Nan Yuan had no interest in that thing, nor did she care to eliminate the root cause of the problem.

It was just a beast tide. When the time came, she would stand on the city wall, let out a long howl, and scare the spirit beasts away.

“Uncle Wu, there is no need to worry; I have a solution.”

The old steward was infuriated by her seemingly perfunctory attitude and left in a huff.

Before leaving, he made a parting remark: “As the city lord, you must be prepared to defend it with your life if necessary.”

Nan Yuan didn’t understand his words at that time. It wasn’t until five days later, when the beast tide reached the foot of Snow City, that she found herself tied up like a rice dumpling and brought to the city wall by the old steward.

Xiao Tang, also wrapped up like a little rice dumpling, exchanged bewildered looks with Nan Yuan.

One person and one beast, both utterly confused.