No experience

Lord Liyang asked, "Are you feeling better now?"

He was very close to her, almost within arm's reach. When A Qiu looked up, she could see the sharp jawline visible beneath his mask.

A Qiu doubted it was an illusion, because she felt that for a moment, his eyes flashed with unfathomable tenderness.

This Lord Liyang seems to have been changing his attitude ever since she started interacting with her.

From his initial reserved and aloof demeanor when they first met in the temple, like an unapproachable immortal, to his sudden, unexpected condition in the side hall, and his abrupt pulling of her hand through the curtain, to his current natural and effortless approach as he leans close to her and speaks with his head bowed—all these signs indicate that he, in fact, seems to be quite used to being close to her.

The initial awkwardness seemed more like a way of concealing a certain feeling and a cautious, tentative approach.

He was testing whether she would be averse to his approach.

And she really didn't dislike it.

A-Qiu replied naturally, "Much better. But why do I feel cold here?"

You should know that she used to lie alone on the glacier and snowfield, relying entirely on the circulation of her internal energy to resist the freezing cold. Even though her eyebrows and hair were covered with ice and snow, she felt no coldness at all.

Xiao Chang'an, who had been lagging behind, finally heard her words and immediately caught up, saying, "Are you cold? How about I take off my coat for you?" He then began to remove his coat.

Lord Liyang had already pulled Aqiu aside without making a sound, and stood between Aqiu and Xiao Chang'an, calmly saying, "It's cold, wearing clothes won't help."

Ah Qiu immediately replied, "Besides, I'm much better now, thank you."

At that moment, a bright pearl was embedded in the wall, emitting a faint light. By the light, Xiao Chang'an could see that Lord Liyang was holding A Qiu in one hand, and she did not resist. A thousand emotions rushed into his heart, and he could not say a word.

To be honest, Xiao Chang'an was dashing and eloquent; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to corner the grandmaster Li Wujiu to the brink of death with just a few words. But at this moment, the feeling of humiliation and bitterness in his heart was something he had never experienced before in his life.

Because of their lack of experience, they had no idea how to deal with it.

If A Qiu simply nodded, he could snatch her away and bring her to his side. But A Qiu did not object to Lord Liyang's advances. If he were to act recklessly again, he would be nothing but a petty scoundrel, a mere clown. As a strategist of the Northern Qiang Kingdom, known for his eloquence and military prowess, how could Xiao Chang'an do something so uncouth and disgraceful?

Since leaving the mountain at the age of twelve, Xiao Chang'an had been adept at navigating both national and family affairs, never suffering a defeat. Now, he was clearly at a disadvantage, yet unable to regain the initiative—a feeling he could never have imagined before.

Fortunately, Shangguan Yuqi picked up the conversation and asked with concern, "Why are you cold? I don't feel cold."

In a flash, her eyes caught sight of the hand that Lord Liyang was holding Aqiu's. She understood why Aqiu had initially said she was cold, but then said she felt much better. Lord Liyang must have used the handshake to help her with his inner energy. As far as she was concerned, as long as Lord Liyang wasn't harming Aqiu, and Aqiu herself didn't object, she didn't have many rigid Taoist views. She was, after all, someone who didn't concern herself with worldly matters.

Lord Liyang said, "When mortals feel cold, they start to shiver from the parts of their body that are in contact with the air. But the source of your coldness is near your heart. Am I right?"

Ah Qiu carefully considered the situation and found that what he said was indeed true. Now, with his help, his limbs and bones felt warm and full of vitality, but his heart still felt cold from time to time. And the chill he felt earlier had indeed radiated from his heart to his limbs.

Lord Liyang sighed softly and said, "That is your heart, sensing certain emotions of the tomb owner, joy, anger, sorrow, and grief. Don't underestimate these emotions buried deep underground. Before a person dies, they will bring out their strongest obsessions and loves and hates. The more confused and greedy a person is in this life, the more so this is the case."

Xiao Chang'an immediately asked, "Then why can't I sense it?"

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Yuqi also tried to concentrate and calm her mind to feel it. After a moment, she nodded and said, "It seems to have touched me. But I can only feel a slight chill of sadness in my heart. Why is it that only A-Qiu feels it so strongly?"

Lord Liyang smiled slightly and said, "A cold-hearted person who is inherently emotionless and heartless can hardly feel his own heart, let alone sense the feelings of others." He then said to Shangguan Yuqi, "You cultivate the Void Sword Dao, which transcends worldly affairs and is untouched by dust. Your situation is roughly the same."

Xiao Chang'an and Shangguan Yuqi retorted at the same time, "Then A Qiu, she..." and then fell silent.

A Qiu could tell from their words that she shouldn't have any connection to Gu Yi's orthodox Xuanmen cultivation method.

But what she was thinking was that with her Lanling Hall martial arts foundation, her indifference to all things, and her view of heaven and earth and all living beings as straw dogs, how could she possibly resonate with the dead from decades ago?

A Qiu felt that the hand that Lord Liyang was holding tightened a little, and he sighed softly, "Then there must be some other special reason."

He sent layer upon layer of heat from his palms. Suddenly, A Qiu realized something: since he was merging his inner strength with his own, he could probably feel the chill in A Qiu's heart as well, which was why he was able to describe it so accurately at first.

Since Lord Liyang refused to state the reason, it was clear that he would not say it.

Shangguan Yuqi pondered and said, "Senior just said that A Qiu had a connection with the owner of this tomb. And isn't the owner of this tomb Emperor Huanwu, Sima Yan?"

As soon as Shangguan Yuqi finished speaking, A Qiu suddenly heard a howling, beast-like cry in his ears. The sound was shrill and desperate, clearly in his ears, yet it seemed to come from somewhere underground.

"Why!" "Why!"

Why does everything around me seem to leave me?

Why is it that all the gold, jewels, jade, beauty, song, and dance cannot ultimately withstand the pain of a complete break?

I thought I could be completely indifferent!

That was the desperate, mournful roar of a burly, rough-mannered man on his deathbed.

Like a lion's roar, like a leopard's howl. Like a trapped beast's last struggle, it exhausted all its strength, almost tearing her chest apart.

A Qiu was deeply shocked, as she had never experienced such a turbulent emotional upheaval in her life. She was so terrified that she could barely stand.

Liyang Shenjun still held her with one hand, while his other hand steadily supported her waist, continuously sending warm, sun-like true energy into her heart meridian.

She looked up in alarm, only to see his calm eyes fixed on her. That gaze immediately calmed her down and stopped her panic.

Shangguan Yuqi had already noticed that something was wrong with A Qiu and immediately asked, "Are you hallucinating?"

The voice still roared in her ears, but because Lord Liyang made her feel that he was by her side, experiencing everything with her, she did not lose her self-awareness or her perception of space and time in the present moment.

While trying to decipher the voice that was like a trapped beast struggling against its fence, she answered Shangguan Yuqi, "I heard that person's voice."

Shangguan Yuqi and Xiao Chang'an asked at the same time, "Which person?"

A Qiu closed her eyes, tried her best to recall, and said, "Sima Yan."

She recognized Sima Yan's voice because she had heard it in a dream before.

I have also seen his appearance.

In the Liyang Temple, a single glance from Zhulong triggered a terrifying illusion in which she witnessed Sima Yan and Yan Xiu confronting each other.

Or to be more precise, it was the confrontation between Emperor Wu of the Great Huan Dynasty, Sima Yan, and Empress Wen, Shangguan Yanxiu, on the night she planned to leave.

My impression of Sima Yan is that he was fierce on the outside but weak on the inside. Although he seemed cruel and ruthless and aggressive, he actually had an extremely weak heart.

She had absolutely no liking for this person.

She came to this conclusion in her heart.

After all, the last time she saw him in the illusion, he was wielding the Ancestral Dragon Sword, about to dismember her. This illusion was extremely bizarre and strange; no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't understand why Sima Yan would want to kill someone from the future, so many years later. But a deep-seated hatred for Sima Yan was planted within her.

But what is this?

She suddenly realized that her heart was beginning to ache.

When I think of the name "Sima Yan," when I recall that desperate, almost collapsing face in my dream, with its thick eyebrows and large eyes.

An overwhelming sense of despair enveloped her, threatening to overwhelm her.

For the first time, she realized that the most terrifying feeling in the world, besides the extreme loneliness of glaciers and snowfields, was a kind of despair and madness that made life worse than death.

It is the madness of possessing everything yet being able to throw it away at will, never seeing oneself clearly, nor the faces of those around one.

Is there really something in this world called true heart?

She found it increasingly difficult to feel any hatred towards Sima Yan.

The blood in the veins seemed hotter and flowed faster, like volcanic lava, more like a resonance and call from nature and bloodline.

Without saying another word, Shangguan Yuqi immediately reached out and took her other free hand. As soon as he sensed the heat in her blood, he made a decision to inject his own "Mysterious Yin" lineage's icy true energy into her meridians.

Lord Liyang tacitly approved of her actions, releasing his hand that had been holding Aqiu's. He merely supported her without channeling his own true energy, leaving everything to Shangguan Yuqi.

Seeing this, Xiao Chang'an also wanted to step forward, but was stopped by Lord Liyang with a wave of his sleeve, who said calmly, "You can't help her."

Xiao Chang'an angrily asked, "Then why is it that Miss Shangguan can?"

Lord Liyang remained silent for a moment before saying, "They have similarities and commonalities. Perhaps you will discover this in the future."

Xiao Chang'an retorted, "What do you mean by 'same and similar'? Martial arts techniques? Body and bloodline? I see that apart from being women, they have nothing in common or similar. I don't think that if Miss can do it, I can't."

Upon hearing this, Lord Liyang couldn't help but smirk and said, "There are probably many things you can't do. It's best not to be too arrogant."

Although the four of them kept talking and paying close attention to A Qiu's condition, they never stopped walking, winding their way deeper into the underground palace.

A Qiu felt that the icy true energy that Shangguan Yuqi kept pouring in gradually cleared her mind and suppressed the restlessness and rage in her blood.

Strangely, this true energy from the Shangguan family seemed to naturally merge with her extremely yang bloodline. After being automatically absorbed, it entered a continuous flow without any stagnation.