wait

On the other side, Xie Yan, dressed in a pink robe, felt dizzy. The place where Chang Feng's palm struck him burned with pain, and every breath was accompanied by tearing pain. The poison of the miasma added fuel to the fire, making his vision and thoughts completely distorted and confused.

His legs buckled, and he could no longer support himself, falling forward.

Instead of the expected cold, hard ground, a steady, strong arm caught him under the armpit and supported most of his weight.

"Ugh..." Xie Yan let out a muffled groan, his consciousness fading.

He felt himself being half-lifted and half-dragged forward. The "person" supporting him was unusually solid, like leaning against a warm wall. A large hand belonging to the "supporter" was firmly gripping his wrist to prevent him from slipping.

In this world, only Ah Hong would stay by his side like this when he was injured; the two of them are a deeply bound "dark alliance".

“Ah Hong…” Xie Yan’s lips curled slightly, his voice weak and nasal. He tried to turn his head to see “her” face clearly, but all he could see was a swaying, blurry fog and the vaguely visible face of “Gu Jinghong”.

"I knew it, Ah Hong, you still care about me... That cold-faced guy, and that fierce-looking guard... they all bullied me... cough cough..."

Changfeng's brows furrowed deeply, feeling an unbearable weight on his shoulders, while Xie Yan's incoherent ramblings filled his ears. Too lazy to explain further, he squeezed out a single sentence from his tightly pursed lips: "Young Master Xie, I am Changfeng."

Xie Yan ignored him and subconsciously tried to reach out to touch "Ah Hong's" face, but his arm was too weak and could only hang limply.

Upon seeing this, Changfeng immediately judged that the miasma here must contain hallucinogenic components, so he put Xie Yan's hand on his shoulder and planned to take Xie Yan out.

Xie Yan's pale, slender fingers unconsciously brushed against the firm, even somewhat angular, muscle lines where Chang Feng's neck and shoulders met, and she muttered in confusion, "Huh? Ah Hong, why are your shoulders... so hard? Like rocks... and this back..."

His hand, which was resting on Changfeng's shoulder, pressed down with a hint of exploration, trying to feel the outline of "her" back. What he touched was a broad, thick, and powerful back muscle, and he could feel the explosive power hidden beneath the fabric.

Xie Yan blinked in confusion, "You...you've been practicing too hard these past few days? Why do you look...broad-shouldered and thick-waisted?"

His tone was full of confusion, "However, leaning on it... is quite stable..." He even adjusted his posture, resting his head more comfortably on Changfeng's "broad shoulders".

Changfeng: "..."

The veins on his forehead throbbed twice as he gritted his teeth, suppressing the urge to throw the bastard into the muddy puddle beside him. He quickened his pace, wanting only to escape this nightmarish "intimate encounter" as soon as possible.

Xie Yan seemed completely oblivious to the chill emanating from Chang Feng, lost in her own world, her voice filled with a morbid excitement and self-righteous affection.

“Ah Hong, let’s go… Let’s not worry about this mess. This Zhuoyue Tower is a den of monsters that devour people without spitting out the bones… The tower master is cunning and ruthless… Our ‘Qianyuan Pavilion’ is full of filthy things that can’t see the light of day, the waters run too deep. We can’t win against them…”

Qianyuan Pavilion? This word was like a lightning bolt that cleaved through the fog of Changfeng. It was the vague code name that had repeatedly appeared among countless trivial clues during his days of secretly investigating the anomalies of Zhuoyue Tower! He had never been able to determine its authenticity and specific meaning, and Xie Yan's slip of the tongue in his hallucination was undoubtedly the most powerful confirmation.

Xie Yan continued her nagging "persuasion": "Really, Ah Hong... listen to me, let's leave here... go north, to the Northern Barbarians, or even further to the Snowfield Kingdom. Don't you... don't you love watching snow the most? The snow there... never melts, like the cleanest clouds spread on the ground... we can build a small wooden house there... just the two of us, and never care about the Lord of the Tower... the Hidden Abyss Pavilion... the King of Ashes... okay?"

He became more and more excited as he spoke, as if he could already see that snow-covered paradise. Suddenly, he stopped and grabbed Changfeng's hands, holding them in his own: "Come with me, Ah Hong... come with me... only I am truly sincere towards you..."

Changfeng looked expressionlessly at Xie Yan, who was lost in a deep hallucination and rambling on, and sighed deeply.

Just then, the thick fog began to thin noticeably, and the faint sounds of voices and firelight could be heard ahead.

"Changfeng Guard, Xie Yan!" It was Xuan Ru's anxious call, piercing through the mist with her inner strength.

Immediately afterward, Xuan Ru's figure broke through the last layer of mist. She immediately saw Chang Feng and Xie Yan in an eerily intimate pose. When her gaze swept over the unconscious, ashen-faced Xie Yan, her expression changed drastically, and she exclaimed in shock:

"Xie Yan! How could he be so badly injured?! Quick, lay him flat! The old injury of 'Cold Marrow Induction' in his body has been completely aggravated! In addition, the miasma has entered his internal organs. If we don't treat him now, it will be too late!"

"Cold Marrow Induction"!

Changfeng abruptly stopped carrying Xie Yan, his sharp gaze shooting towards Xuanru like lightning. Xie Yan actually suffered from a severe old injury called "Cold Marrow Induction"? This might explain his chilling internal energy, his unique physique, and even some connection to Xuanru of the Medicine Master Valley!

Xuan Ru's exclamation and the three words "Cold Marrow Guide" were like the last piece of a puzzle. They collided, combined, and confirmed with the information Xie Yan had previously revealed, such as "Zhuoyue Tower," "Qianyuan Pavilion," and "the Tower Master's control," in Chang Feng's mind. A clear and alarming line of thought had emerged.

Without further hesitation, he immediately followed Xuanru's instructions and carefully laid the unconscious Xie Yanping on the soft cloth laid out by the arriving medicine boy.

Watching the young apprentice quickly stuff the pill into Xie Yan's mouth, Xuan Ru began to administer acupuncture for emergency treatment. Chang Feng stepped back, his gaze calm as a deep pool, but the waves in his heart were surging.

Xuanru's silver needles precisely pierced several major acupoints around Xie Yan's body, her fingertips infusing pure internal energy in an attempt to stabilize the old wounds of the "Cold Marrow Induction" that had been completely ignited within him, while simultaneously suppressing the surging miasma.

Seeing Xie Yan's ashen face twitch slightly under the stimulation of the silver needles, and his breath still as weak as a thread, Xuan Ru saw fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead.

She abruptly looked up, her gaze sweeping sharply over Changfeng, who stood to the side, his breath heavy with anxiety. Her voice was filled with unprecedented urgency: "Guard Changfeng! Did you encounter Jinghong and... the Prince inside?!"

Changfeng shifted his gaze from Xie Yan to meet Xuan Ru's eager eyes, and said succinctly in a low voice, "No."

Xuanru's heart sank, a sense of foreboding gripping her instantly. Her hands continued applying the acupuncture, but her voice quickened, trembling slightly: "Then...did you call out their names loudly in the miasma? For example...Gu Jinghong's name? Or...His Highness?"

"He called out." Changfeng's voice remained calm, but his eyes were sharp as a hawk's, fixed on Xuanru's reaction. "Gu Jinghong, Your Highness. There was no response."

“No response…” Xuan Ru murmured repeatedly, her face instantly draining of all color. The fingers that had been twisting the silver needles on Xie Yan’s acupoint trembled uncontrollably, almost causing her to drop the needles. She forcibly suppressed the trembling in her fingertips, but the horror and despair in her eyes could no longer be concealed.

“Oh no…oh no…” Her voice was filled with a broken fear.

"The miasma in Medicine Master Valley... is divided into two areas. One is the 'Mind-Bewitching Miasma' you were in just now. Although it has hallucinogenic effects and disturbs the mind, as long as you maintain a sliver of clarity and stick to one direction, there is always a chance of getting out. If they were inside, even if they were not in their right mind, they should have some instinctive reaction when they heard the call... They shouldn't have been completely silent!"

Her gaze fell upon the still thick, menacing fog, and her voice was dry and heavy.

“The other one… is the ‘Desolate Frost Miasma’! That place… is the most dangerous place in the valley, extremely cold and bone-chilling, hiding countless deadly traps that my mother laid down to defend against foreign enemies. More importantly… the ‘Desolate Frost Miasma’ is a self-contained space. Once you step into it, the sounds inside and outside are completely isolated. Even if you shout your lungs out outside, you won’t hear a single sound inside! And those inside can’t even think about making a sound out!”

She suddenly looked at Changfeng, her eyes filled with unfathomable despair: "If the four of you are trapped in the same place by the miasma at the same time, and can't even hear each other calling out... then there is only one possibility—the Prince and Jinghong, the place they went to is that 'Desolate Frosty Miasma'!"

Changfeng was stunned on the spot.

"The prince has just recovered from his serious injuries. He had already regained 60% of his strength through expert treatment, but unfortunately, he came to my Medicine Master Valley's forbidden area for treatment. I temporarily sealed his internal energy, and now the prince's power is less than 30%. Jinghong, Jinghong, she..."

Xuanru's voice choked, the immense fear rendering her almost speechless. "That extremely cold environment lacks the guidance of acupuncture, which would instantly trigger the remaining stagnant heat and poison within the prince's body, drastically reducing his combat strength and even causing him to fall into a coma. Coupled with countless silent and deadly hidden weapons... the two of them... they might... never get out again!"

"What?!" Changfeng's pupils contracted sharply, his muscles tensed instantly, and a chilling killing intent mixed with unprecedented anxiety erupted from him. Without any hesitation, he abruptly turned, about to plunge once more into the dense fog that had swallowed his master!

"Stop!" Xuan Ru shouted sharply, her voice filled with unwavering resolve. "Chang Feng, calm down. There's no point in you rushing in now!"

Changfeng paused, then turned abruptly, his gaze piercing Xuanru like a blade, suppressing a torrent of emotions: "Get out of the way!"

"It's not that I don't want you to go!" Xuan Ru met Chang Feng's almost murderous gaze, her voice rising as well, filled with grief and helplessness.

"The passage between the 'Bewitching Miasma' and the 'Desolate Cold Miasma' is a set up by my mother using all her knowledge in the art of divination and strategy. Even I cannot control its changes, let alone you! If you rush in now, you may not find them at all, but instead fall back into the 'Bewitching Miasma' area we just came out of, and lose yourself in vain!"

"Are we just going to wait here?!" Changfeng's voice was squeezed out from between his teeth, hoarse and on the verge of exploding. He looked at the deathly still fog that resembled a giant tomb, his clenched fists cracking from the force, veins bulging on the back of his hands.

A profound sense of powerlessness, accompanied by immense fear, overwhelmed him like an icy tide. He had never felt so powerless before. Even when facing a massive army, he had never felt so helpless, unable to even see the enemy's shadow, forced to watch helplessly as the two most important people to him were likely to perish in places beyond his reach.

Xuanru looked at the almost bursting violence and despair in Changfeng's eyes, then at Xie Yan on the ground whose life or death was uncertain, and at the silent mist like a huge ferocious beast, and a great sorrow welled up in her heart.

"Wait..." After a long silence, she could only utter this one word, her voice low and hoarse, filled with endless bitterness and a faint hope, as if trying to convince herself, "Wait for Xie Yan... wait for him to be able to speak... maybe, maybe he knew some clues when he was investigating before... or..."

She herself didn't believe this "maybe".

Xuanru's fingers, which were holding the needle, trembled again, and a scalding tear fell silently onto Xie Yan's cold clothes, instantly spreading a small dark stain.

She closed her eyes tightly, and when she opened them again, all that remained was a numb focus, suppressing all the surging emotions deep inside her, continuing to fight against death for Xie Yan's chance of survival.

Only she knew that the despair and fear pressing down on her heart were even more intense than the darkness of the valley at night, almost threatening to engulf her.

They can only wait.

Waiting for a miracle, or... waiting for the final, devastating news.

The light of the campfire seemed so weak and powerless in the face of overwhelming despair, as if it could be swallowed up by the surrounding darkness at any moment.