Intertwined
Wang Xiaoxia fled northwest. Although she had no supernatural powers, she was agile and reached the mountain stream that Old Jiang had mentioned in a day and a half.
The mountain stream was a hundred feet wide, and its length and narrowness were not visible on either side. She stood on the edge and looked down. It was bottomless, and if she listened carefully, she could hear the sound of flowing water. The cold air was overwhelming and the yin energy was piercing. Even in broad daylight, birds and beasts dared not approach.
Legend has it that in ancient times, during a great war between gods and demons, the corpses piled up into mountains, eventually forming the Two Realms Mountains. A hundred years ago, during a great war between the demon and ghost races, the Ghost King Chongli was forced to the Two Realms Mountains. He drew his bones and forged them into a sword, cleaving the Two Realms Mountains in two, forming the Three Realms Cliff. At the bottom of this cliff is the River of Oblivion. After death, the souls of gods, humans, demons, and monsters will eventually pass through the River of Oblivion and leave their life's mark on the Three Lives Stone.
The River of Oblivion is a place that no living being dares to approach.
Wang Xiaoxia sat on the edge of the cliff, waiting. The chill from the bottom of the cliff seeped into every inch of her skin. This chill was different from the cold of the air temperature; it was a coldness that emanated from her very bones, a chilling awe and despair for death.
Wang Xiaoxia's mother was named Siye, a member of the Ghost Clan. She was the only daughter of the former Ghost King. A hundred years ago, she resisted an arranged marriage because she was infatuated with a mortal and fled to the human world to have a daughter with that mortal, whom she named Wang Xiaoxia.
Wang Xiaoxia was born without any magical abilities and had never seen her mother use magic, so she only learned that she was a member of the ghost race when she came of age. A hundred years ago, the ghost realm was in turmoil, the ghost king died tragically, and Wang Xiaoxia's entire family was slaughtered. This nightmare tormented her for nearly a hundred years, and she was also tormented by the puppet gu, which made her wish for death but unable to live. This nightmare was given to her by Wu Huan, and the puppet gu was refined by Cui Heng.
A familiar fragrance drifted towards her from afar. She stood up, looked at the white figure rushing towards her, and smiled faintly.
“You’ve finally come,” she said.
Cui Heng landed gracefully in front of Wang Xiaoxia, looking at her with some sadness.
Blood stained her dress, and fresh blood continued to flow from her chest. The blood then stained the ground with each step, leaving a bloody footprint, as if each step was a lotus flower blooming.
"Wu Huan isn't dead. Did you save him?" Wang Xiaoxia asked, giving a somewhat dejected bitter smile.
She now understands that as long as she lives, Wu Huan must also be alive.
“You can’t kill him without magic,” Cui Heng said, his expression neither happy nor sad.
Wang Xiaoxia smiled faintly, opened her arms, closed her eyes, and fell backward. The biting wind howled past her ears. Perhaps the water flowing at the bottom of the cliff was the final destination for her puppet.
"Xiaoxia!" Cui Heng shouted, and without any hesitation, he rushed into the abyss.
A snow-white-furred demon beast flew towards the small figure until the petite body fell into his arms and he held her tightly in his embrace.
Wang Xiaoxia opened her eyes, not understanding why Cui Heng would save a mortal like her. Looking at the snow-white fur, she only asked, "Did you kill my maternal grandfather?"
Cui Heng held Wang Xiaoxia tightly, his bright red blood staining his fur red as well. The immense suction from the bottom of the cliff prevented him from going upwards.
“He committed suicide,” Cui Heng replied simply.
"Then why is his knife in your body?" Wang Xiaoxia asked, but then drew the short knife from his waist and stabbed it into the snow-white arm.
Cui Heng's hand trembled with pain, but he still gritted his teeth and held her tightly, refusing to let go. He didn't know why he was so afraid of her dying.
Blood flowed continuously, staining the snow-white fur red. Wang Xiaoxia used all her strength to shove Cui Heng's injured arm. The intense pain caused his hand to go limp, and Wang Xiaoxia broke free from the fur and fell downwards alone.
Cui Heng was suddenly pushed to the edge of the cliff and slammed against the stone wall. Wang Xiaoxia looked at him and smiled faintly.
"Sir!" Cui Heng shouted.
Wang Xiaoxia closed her eyes again and let herself fall. She had no more attachments in this life. Perhaps she should have come a hundred years ago.
Cui Heng refused to give up and jumped down to chase after him.
The icy water slammed into her body, and the feeling of suffocation followed. The pain was no longer so intense; instead, a sense of helplessness in the face of death washed over her. She sank silently, her blood flowing incessantly from her body, staining the water crimson. She opened her eyes and saw her blood mingling with the water of the River of Oblivion, as if what was flowing out of her body was not her blood but her life.
Cui Heng's enormous, snow-white body plunged into the crimson water. Despite its massive size, the water remained eerily still and cold. The scalding blood that flowed from his body instantly turned icy. He sank helplessly, his eyes wide open. His blood mingled with Wang Xiaoxia's, and their pasts became intertwined.
When Cui Heng and Wu Huan reunited, Wu Huan was kneeling on the snow, barely alive. His eyes were closed, his lips were already frozen purple, and he was clenching his teeth. The snow covered his body, and the exposed skin was frozen solid. Even his eyelashes were white.
"Kid! Are you still alive?" Cui Heng stood in front of Wu Huan, arms crossed, eyes lowered, and asked.
Wu Huan raised his head and felt as if he were seeing a god. The god was dressed in a light blue robe that resembled the sky. His silver hair was set against the backdrop of the snow and had a few specks of blue. His eyes were lowered, revealing emerald green pupils. A faint smile appeared on his thin lips. Although he was a man, he was as beautiful as a god from the heavens.
Before Wu Huan could even speak, his teeth were already chattering from the cold, making a rattling sound.
Cui Heng looked down and examined it closely. What covered the little devils was not ice, but countless ice silkworms.
This is a unique insect found only in glacial lands. It loves to suck the essence of people. If it sucks too much, it will merge with the body and turn into ice crystals. These ice crystals have a sweet taste and are very attractive to poisonous insects. The poisonous insects bite the body and then the ice silkworm sucks the essence to obtain the immaculate ice crystals. There are rumors in the ghost realm that these immaculate ice crystals can revive the dead. This little ghost has been used to make medicine.
However, since there are no poisonous insects around this brat right now, there is still hope.
With a flick of his hand, Cui Heng caused countless ice crystals to melt into water droplets that fell onto the snow. With the ice crystals gone, Wu Huan's purplish skin was revealed. He looked up at Cui Heng and smiled weakly before losing consciousness and collapsing into the snow. When he woke up, he was lying in a thatched hut, with Cui Heng guarding him.
"You're awake," Cui Heng said softly, leaning back in the chair by the bed with his eyes lowered.
"Thank you for saving me, brother, but I don't know where this is?" Wu Huan opened his eyes and hurriedly sat up, leaning against the bed railing with some difficulty, his gaze wandering.
"This is my residence. I have set up a barrier so that no one can find this place. You can stay here in peace. Who brought you here to feed the ice cicadas?" Cui Heng asked, feeling a little sorry for this thin and withered ghost.
"To be honest, my godfather had a beloved woman who passed away many years ago. He heard that the Immaculate Ice Crystal made from the Ice Silkworm could revive the dead, so he brought me here to find it. What you just saw was me using my own essence to guide the Ice Silkworm to refine the ice crystal. Fortunately, you saved my life. I will repay your life-saving grace in the future. However, due to the urgency of the matter, I still need to go and find the Ice Silkworm again," Wu Huan said, getting up to get out of bed. But as soon as he stood up, everything went black and he fell back onto the bed.
“If you continue to feed the ice silkworm with your own essence, it will surely die,” Cui Heng said coldly.
"Brother, you don't know, I am truly living under someone else's roof. My adoptive father planted a Gu poison in my body to prevent me from escaping. If I fail to bring the ice crystal back when the time comes, the Gu poison will take effect and I will die just the same," Wu Huan said with a bitter smile.
"If he is your godfather, why would he want to kill you?" Cui Heng asked, full of confusion.
"It's just a matter of mutual benefit. Besides, my adoptive father and I have a blood feud. Recognizing a traitor as my father was a last resort. I can't go into the details. If we are destined to meet again, I will repay your life-saving grace with my life," Wu Huan said sincerely. He was a little anxious, afraid that the poison in his body would take effect later and he would die anyway.
Cui Heng looked at Wu Huan and suddenly remembered that the benefactor he was looking for had also been killed.
"Since you are a member of the Ghost Clan, I am looking for someone. Do you know who I am?" Cui Heng asked tentatively.
"I will speak frankly and without reservation," Wu Huan replied respectfully.
"Do you recognize the former Ghost King Xuanming?" Cui Heng asked directly.
Wu Huan was taken aback, not expecting that the person was asking about his father.
"Brother, since you are a demon beast, why do you seek out the deceased Ghost King?" Wu Huan asked with a slight smile, but his eyes were fixed on Cui Heng, wondering what grudge he had with his father.
His father had many enemies during his lifetime, and received far more kindness than favors. As a forgotten young son, he naturally had to be extremely careful in everything he did.
"That Ghost King once saved my life," Cui Heng said calmly, looking into the distance as he recalled his days as a slave in the mortal world. If it weren't for Xuanming's rescue, he would probably have died at someone else's hands long ago.
Wu Huan stared intently at Cui Heng. His father had killed countless people, and he couldn't recall anyone his father had ever saved. Only Cui Heng's emerald green eyes and silver-white hair seemed somewhat familiar. A demon beast? Wu Huan thought carefully for a while before suddenly remembering that when he was young, he had traveled with his father in the human world and had indeed seen a demon beast that had been imprisoned.
At that time, he was still young. He and his father traveled to the human world and happened to see a snow-white monster imprisoned in a huge iron cage. The monster was not old and had not yet grown horns. Its two huge, emerald green eyes stared blankly at the dirty iron net below it. The iron net was filthy and stained half of the monster's body with filth. Its four paws were bound by huge iron chains, which had been worn raw and stained the fur red.
Seeing the pitiful beast, Wu Huan took his father's hand and said in his childish voice, "Father, please save it!"
Xuanming had no intention of rescuing the beast. The turmoil in the Ghost Realm had already left him no time to care about anything else. Only after hearing Wu Huan's words did he look at the beast in the cage. Perhaps it had encountered its own path to death. His heart softened, and he went over, took out a bag of silver, bought the beast, and took it to the East Sea.
“You are still too young. Go back to your hometown and gain experience! If fate allows, come find me when you grow up,” Xuanming said to the demon beast.
Shortly after that, his father died in battle, and he fled everywhere.
“I am Wu Huan,” Wu Huan said.
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