4047-chapter-34
Chapter 34
The man’s voice was clear and gentle.
When Liu Shuang opened her eyes, she saw a figure seated on the ice.
Liu Shuang rose, her robes sliding off as she did.
With a wary tone, she asked, “Shaoyou?”
At some point, snow had begun to fall from the sky.
Shaoyou, seated before her, wore an expression as cold as the snow, his eyes faintly tinged with guilt.
The green robe draped over Liu Shuang belonged to him.
As it slipped off, the biting chill pierced her to the bone.
“Keep it on for now,” Shaoyou said.
“The yin energy of the Ghost King’s Tomb is overwhelming—it will corrode your immortal body.”
Looking down, Liu Shuang realized they were standing atop a sheet of translucent, otherworldly blue ice.
Beneath it, water seemed to flow—clear, yet eerily strange.
She couldn’t tell if the Shaoyou before her was real or a malevolent illusion crafted by Eight Sufferings Valley.
Her last memory was still trapped in the valley, enduring four cycles of torment and watching as her seven spiritual souls scattered.
But now, things felt different.
She had control of her body again.
Could she have accidentally escaped the valley?
“Shaoyou, did you save me?”
Shaoyou shook his head.
“It was him.”
He gestured toward another spot.
Liu Shuang followed his gaze to see, not far away, a young man in dark robes sitting with his back to her by the ice lake.
Yan Chaosheng was leaning against something resembling a jagged rock.
His face was deathly pale, his entire body soaked, and he didn’t even glance in her direction.
“Yan Chaosheng…” Liu Shuang was taken aback.
Why was he here? And Shaoyou claimed he had saved her?
Hearing her voice, Yan Chaosheng turned to glance at her and Shaoyou, his eyes cold and filled with disdain.
Only then did Liu Shuang notice his disheveled appearance.
He was drenched, snow piled on his shoulders, lips ashen, and his dark, sunken eyes gave him the appearance of a sinister, half-dead wraith—someone who had absorbed far too much ghost energy and was teetering on the brink of death.
Even in his past life, when he fully became the Ghost King, he had never looked this ghastly.
And now, with water dripping from him, he seemed more like a vengeful water ghost, ready to drag her down with him at any moment.
Instinctively, Liu Shuang moved closer to Shaoyou and distanced herself from him.
Yan Chaosheng stared coldly at her, his lips curving into a mocking sneer before he looked away.
Liu Shuang quietly asked Shaoyou, “Are you sure he saved me and didn’t plan to kill me?”
After all, Yan Chaosheng’s gaze radiated pure hostility.
Shaoyou chuckled softly at her wariness.
“It was indeed him. When I fell into Eight Sufferings Valley, my soul nearly dispersed. Later, your soul lamp found me and helped me gather my seven scattered souls. I relinquished my cultivation to regain consciousness and made my way to the Ghost King’s Tomb, where I happened to see the two of you fall into the spiritual vein lake.”
Shaoyou continued, “At that moment, he was injured, shielding you from the ghost energy.”
So the shattered soul lamp Liu Shuang had seen was an illusion.
It had carried Shaoyou’s soul to him, and he had sacrificed much of his cultivation just to preserve his three main souls.
With the lamp in hand, he had braved the killing formations and entered the fabled Ghost King’s Tomb.
The Ghost King’s Tomb wasn’t an actual tomb but a constantly shifting ghostly spiritual vein.
Shaoyou had traversed treacherous paths—one moment a mountain of knives, the next a sea of flames.
When he encountered Liu Shuang, he saw her and Yan Chaosheng plunging into an icy lake.
Shaoyou had used his powers to pull them out.
Unfortunately, everything within the Ghost King’s Tomb was real.
For instance, the freezing cold of the ice lake was bone-deep.
Only Shaoyou’s immortal robe provided minimal protection against the wind and snow.
Even the formation he set up barely kept the severe cold at bay.
Having exhausted his cultivation to get here, Shaoyou was not in great condition himself.
Liu Shuang retrieved the Transcendence Mirror from her chest.
“Shaoyou, let’s just leave. The Ghost King’s Tomb is too dangerous—we can’t go any further.”
Eight Sufferings Valley was bad enough, and now this ever-changing ghost realm? If they actually encountered the Ghost King’s resting place, none of them might make it out alive.
Shaoyou pursed his lips.
“We can’t leave.”
“What do you mean? I have the Transcendent Mirror.”
From afar, Yan Chaosheng let out a scornful laugh.
Shaoyou said, “Look beneath your feet.”
Liu Shuang lowered her head and saw something moving under the ice.
Focusing her gaze, she realized it was a fish, seven or eight feet long.
“That’s an ancient Henggong fish,” Shaoyou explained.
“Born in Stone Lakes, these fish inhabit eternally frozen waters. They resemble carp but are red, impenetrable by blades, and cannot be killed even when boiled. By day, they swim as fish, but by night, they transform into humans. They can penetrate any spatial barrier, making entry and exit impossible. As snow falls during the day, the lake freezes; at night, when the ice melts, the Henggong fish devours every living creature in its domain.”
“In other words, the fish renders the Transcendence Mirror useless. When night falls, and the snow stops, we’ll be eaten?”
Shaoyou’s eyes filled with guilt.
“I’m sorry—I dragged you into this.”
Looking again at the massive carp-like creature beneath her feet, Liu Shuang found it grotesque.
To think she had finally gotten a second chance at life, only to be eaten by a monstrous fish! And according to Shaoyou, the Henggong fish was indestructible.
Shaoyou lowered his head, his hair and lashes dusted with snow, his lips pressed tightly together.
“It was my choice to follow you in here; this has nothing to do with you.”
Liu Shuang gently tugged at his sleeve and gave him a faint smile.
“It’s not dark yet, and the snow hasn’t stopped. We still have time to find a way out.”
Shaoyou, seeing her trembling from the cold but still trying to smile, couldn’t help but smile faintly himself.
For as long as he could remember, everyone had relied on him.
Kunlun had treated him as their pillar of support, the young master who could handle anything.
For thousands of years, he had lived for others.
This was the first time someone had comforted him and tried to protect him.
“Everything has its weakness. The Henggong fish should be no exception. Shaoyou, do you know what it is?”
Shaoyou thought for a moment and nodded.
“The Ghost Stone Plum. It’s said that throwing this into the lake when it melts will boil the Henggong fish to death. The plum resembles a black plum, but is actually a stone that boils on contact with water.”
As the snow lightened and night approached, it seemed almost impossible to find the Ghost Stone Plum in time.
Liu Shuang felt disheartened.
Were they truly going to die here?
From a distance, Yan Chaosheng staggered toward them.
He extended his hand to Shaoyou, his voice hoarse and cold.
“Lord Shaoyou of Jimo, may I borrow your immortal sword?”
Without hesitation, Shaoyou’s immortal sword rose and flew into Yan Chaosheng’s grasp.
Yan Chaosheng paused briefly because of Shaoyou’s trust, and then looked at Liu Shuang coldly.
Liu Shuang noticed him gripping his sword and staring at her, his expression grim.
For a moment, she almost thought he was going to strike her down with it.
Fortunately, Yan Chaosheng had no such intention.
He turned and walked toward the reef where he had just been resting, slashing down with his sword.
Shaoyou’s immortal sword was powerful enough to shatter mountains and cleave jade.
With a single stroke, the reef was reduced to rubble.
Yan Chaosheng, slightly out of breath, with his pitch-black eyes, looked toward another reef.
“You suspect the Ghost Stone Plum is inside the reef?” Shaoyou asked.
Yan Chaosheng replied, “A thousand miles of ice, no other living things. Trying the reef is our only option.”
After speaking, Yan Chaosheng couldn’t help but let out a low cough.
He covered his lips with his fingers, and upon seeing the blood he coughed up, he silently clenched his fist without a word.
Liu Shuang found this situation increasingly strange.
From the moment Shaoyou said Yan Chaosheng had saved her, she felt this place was even more surreal than the Eight Sufferings Valley.
Her suspicions weren’t unwarranted.
In her previous life, she and Yan Chaosheng had severed all ties, and the original owner of her current body harbored a deep grudge against him.
She had entered this place to rescue Shaoyou, but what was he doing here? Hadn’t he left?
What was his motive for saving her?
Seeing him now, his body weak but still striking the rocks with such ferocity, as if venting his anger, Liu Shuang became even more perplexed.
How had Yan Chaosheng changed so much since leaving the Eight Sufferings Valley?
Shaoyou said, “In that case, let me handle it.”
He recalled his immortal sword, formed a seal with his hands, and shattered all the surrounding reefs with a single sweep.
Liu Shuang crouched down to search through the fragments, but none resembled the Ghost Stone Plum.
They tried several locations across the frozen lake, refusing to give up.
As Liu Shuang continued searching for the Ghost Stone Plum, Yan Chaosheng suddenly said coldly, “The snow has stopped.”
She turned around and saw Yan Chaosheng staring at the sky.
His dark eyes exuded a chilling coldness.
Liu Shuang felt a shiver run through her.
The cessation of snow meant nightfall was approaching.
Sure enough, the ice beneath the lake began to tremble violently.
The surface of the lake quaked and started to melt!
The ice cracked in an instant, and a fissure suddenly opened beneath Liu Shuang’s feet.
She nearly fell in, but an icy hand grabbed her by the back of her collar.
Yan Chaosheng, his face cold, said, “Summon your Jiangzhu Umbrella. It might buy us some time.”
With that, he let go without even glancing at her.
Liu Shuang clutched her neck.
The chill of Yan Chaosheng’s touch had made her skin crawl, nearly causing her to tremble.
Quickly, she transformed the Jiangzhu Umbrella into a small boat.
With a light step, she landed gracefully on the boat.
From the lake, the Henggong Fish leapt out, its mouth wide open, ready to swallow them whole.
Yan Chaosheng and Shaoyou both landed on the small boat formed by theJiangzhu Umbrella.
Without a second thought, Liu Shuang maneuvered the boat swiftly across the lake.
A shadow loomed behind them as the Henggong Fish grew larger and larger, swelling from a few feet in size to a small mountain in the blink of an eye.
At this rate, no matter how far they fled, they would still end up in the fish’s belly.
Shaoyou frowned.
“We can’t outrun it like this.”
Yan Chaosheng narrowed his eyes coldly, scrutinizing the ever-growing Henggong Fish.
Liu Shuang, who had spent a century in the Ghost Realm, had never known that the Ghost King’s Tomb housed such a terrifying creature.
While its offensive power wasn’t overwhelming, its immortal nature meant it could wear them down to death.
Its growth was too rapid.
What had been a small mountain moments ago had now expanded into the size of an entire mountain range.
The sky darkened as the fish’s body blocked out the light.
The next moment, Shaoyou shouted, “Go!”
The Henggong Fish’s mouth came crashing down.
Shaoyou’s immortal sword transformed into countless afterimages, shielding Liu Shuang and Yan Chaosheng from its attack range.
Shaoyou himself flew forward, engaging the Henggong Fish in battle.
Liu Shuang sat on the immortal sword, watching as Shaoyou, having depleted his spiritual energy and injured himself, used all his remaining power against the demon fish, to no avail.
His immortal energy couldn’t harm it in the slightest.
Seeing the demon fish about to swallow Shaoyou whole, Liu Shuang prepared to fly over to help.
Her arm was suddenly grabbed, the grip so tight it hurt.
“Yan Chaosheng, what are you doing?” she demanded angrily, turning to glare at him.
He seemed to have lost his mind.
His icy fingers dug into her flesh, almost piercing it.
Hearing her question, he replied coldly, “What? Is the young miss planning to die for love?”
Liu Shuang wanted to kick him.
Die for love? What nonsense!
If Shaoyou died, wouldn’t everyone end up dead anyway? It was just a matter of time.
Yan Chaosheng let go of her.
“Go ahead.”
As soon as he finished speaking, it was already too late.
The Henggong Fish had doubled in size again and swallowed Shaoyou whole.
A sharp bird cry pierced the air, and Liu Shuang looked up to see a blue colored bird flying in from the horizon.
The demon bird held something in its beak, which it dropped into the lake.
The previously calm icy lake instantly seemed to boil.
The previously arrogant Henggong Fish began to sink in pain, gradually dissolving into a cloud of red mist.
Shaoyou rose into the air, landing gracefully on his immortal sword.
Everyone stared in shock at the demon bird that had appeared.
If not for this bird bringing the Ghost Stone Plum, they would all have died.
The more Liu Shuang looked at it, the more familiar it seemed.
This demon bird looked so familiar—where had she seen it before?
A sudden realization struck her.
She blurted out instinctively, “Qingluan?”
It looked like Qingluan, but not entirely.
This was seven hundred years in the past, and Qingluan should have just been born, merely a small demon bird.
Could it be… this bird was Qingluan’s mother?
The bird circled the lake, its cries piercing and shrill.
Its cold, demon-like eyes fixated on Liu Shuang and the others with a restless agitation, as if trying to convey something.
Shaoyou speculated, “It wants us to go under the ice lake? When I escaped the fish’s stomach earlier, I saw something sinking down there.”
An absurd thought crossed Liu Shuang’s mind.
Could her little Qingluan be trapped under the Ice Soul? She glanced at Yan Chaosheng beside her.
His expression was indifferent, as if none of this concerned him.
He made no move to act.