Chapter 18: Ice Dew Enters Throat and Straight Man's Memory Collapses
Ice dew in the throat and the straight man's memory collapse
The gravekeeper's words, "If a frozen heart... is burned open by... this violent fire... is it a blessing... or a curse?" were like a hook covered in ice, piercing into Jiang Xuelan's sea of consciousness.
A frozen heart? A raging fire?
Absurd! Jiang Xuelan's heart was clear, so how could he be frozen? Li Jiuyou, this foolish demon, was at best a human furnace and trouble maker!
He suppressed the inexplicable turmoil stirred in his heart by the gravekeeper's words, his gaze fixed sharply on the trembling drop of icy blue dew on the tip of the Black Jade Ice Soul Grass. Regardless of good or bad luck, any medicine that can save lives is good medicine!
"Ah Che, take the dew!" Jiang Xuelan's voice was firm, and he tightened his grip around Li Jiuyou, ensuring the "human heater" wouldn't slip. Li Jiuyou's scorching forehead pressed against the burn on his neck. The connection between them became clearer with his strength, and the restlessness and weakness of the demon core washed over his senses like a tidal wave.
"Ah? Oh! Okay!" A-Che shuddered at the gravekeeper's strange words and his senior brother's cold tone, regaining his composure. He hurriedly set down the half-broken broom handle he cherished so dearly and cautiously approached the Black Jade Ice Soul Grass, which emanated a soft, cold glow. The closer he got, the more pronounced the warmth that dispelled the chill, and his frozen fingers regained some flexibility.
He imitated the gravekeeper's previous actions and took out a small jade bottle (probably the leftover medicine pills) from his arms (which was still intact). He held his breath, stretched out his trembling fingers, and touched the ice-blue dewdrop very gently.
As soon as his fingertips touched the icy surface, a pure and extreme chill instantly spread along his fingertips. Ah Che couldn't help but let out a hiss, feeling as if his soul was being frozen through! But he gritted his teeth and carefully used the bottle mouth to catch the liquid.
The dewdrop seemed to have a spirit, trembling slightly before sliding down obediently and dripping accurately into the jade bottle with a soft "ding" sound. As each drop entered the bottle, the light of the black jade ice soul grass seemed to dim slightly.
"Master... Senior Brother! I got it!" Ah Che held the jade bottle that seemed to be filled with ten-thousand-year-old ice. His fingers were red from the cold, but his face showed a little excitement of completing the task.
"Give it to him!" Jiang Xuelan said succinctly. He was holding Li Jiuyou in his arms and couldn't free his hands.
"Ah? Oh oh!" Ah Che hurried to Jiang Xuelan's side. He looked at Li Jiuyou, who was unconscious with a frown on his face and chapped lips. Then he looked at the jade bottle in his hand, which was emitting a cold aura. He felt a little at a loss as to how to start. "How...how do I feed him? Pry his mouth open?"
Man Gu also came over and looked at Li Jiuyou's tightly pursed lips, rubbing his hands anxiously: "King! Open your mouth!" He tried to pry Li Jiuyou's jaw open.
"Idiot! Don't force it!" Xuanjia cursed, "Use some finesse! Pinch his nose! Or... uh..." Its green eyes swept over the way Jiang Xuelan held Li Jiuyou, and the patterns on its shell flickered strangely. "Immortal Lord, how about you... pass on the air yourself? You're holding me so tightly anyway, a little bit won't make a difference..."
"Shut up!" Jiang Xuelan's forehead vein twitched as he sternly interrupted the old turtle's increasingly outrageous suggestion. Personally transferring Qi?! What a joke! He would rather throw this foolish monster back into the lava pool for a bath!
He took a deep breath, suppressed the urge to make soup with the black armor, and said to A Che coldly: "Pinch his jaw open and pour it in!"
"Oh oh!" Ah Che received a clear instruction and immediately reached out. With his frozen fingers, he carefully pinched both sides of Li Jiuyou's jaw and applied a little force. As expected, Li Jiuyou's lips opened a gap.
A Che held his breath and tilted the jade bottle. The drop of ice-blue dew, with a biting chill, slowly slid into Li Jiuyou's mouth.
At the moment the dewdrop enters the mouth!
The restless demon core within Li Jiuyou, on the verge of collapse, erupted with unprecedented suction, like dry, cracked earth encountering a downpour of rain. The purest, coldest energy contained within that drop of icy blue dew was instantly devoured by the demon core!
A visible ice-blue ripple suddenly spread out with Li Jiuyou's dantian as the center!
Jiang Xuelan, who was closest, bore the brunt of the attack! He was hugging Li Jiuyou, their bodies pressed tightly together, their connection through the Heart-Slaying Contract like a high-speed tunnel!
The ice-blue ripples penetrated Li Jiuyou's body and rushed into Jiang Xuelan's body unhindered and violently!
“Ugh—!”
Jiang Xuelan felt as if struck hard! An indescribable, icy force—not the controlled cold of the Mysterious Ice Art, but the absolute zero of annihilation, carrying the aura of aeons of profound ice—instantly froze his limbs! Even more terrifying, this external cold force, combined with the scorching demonic energy flowing from his demonic core, and the icy immortal power he had cultivated through the Mysterious Ice Art, collided and exploded within him like thunder from heaven, igniting terrestrial fire!
Jiang Xuelan suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, which instantly solidified into tiny ice crystals in mid-air. His arms, which were holding Li Jiuyou, instantly stiffened and numb, like an ice sculpture, and he fell backward uncontrollably!
"Senior Brother!" Ah Che was so frightened that he subconsciously wanted to help him.
"Immortal Lord!" Man Gu also screamed in surprise.
Black Armor's green eyes flashed with brilliance: "Not good! Energy collision! It's going to explode!"
Just when Jiang Xuelan was about to fall, and Li Jiuyou in her arms was about to roll to the ground -
The extreme cold current that invaded his body, which came from the Ice Soul Cold Dew, seemed to have touched a dusty corner in the deepest part of Jiang Xuelan's body that even he himself had forgotten!
A broken and cold picture suddenly and violently crashed into his mind without any warning:
**The biting cold wind howled, stirring up a sky full of ice crystals. It was no longer the cold and dead air of the Ten Thousand Demons Tomb, but a real, endless ice field. The sky was leaden gray, oppressive and suffocating. The view was very low, as if from a child's perspective. The touch of cold metal against the skin was... shackles? In front of me were several tall figures wearing thick white furs, their faces unclear. They held some kind of tools with flashing blue runes in their hands, and were approaching step by step... Fear, like an icy venomous snake, instantly grabbed my heart! A cold, emotionless voice echoed in my mind: "Mysterious Ice Spirit... peel off... the container..."**
A sharp headache stabbed like an ice spike! Jiang Xuelan groaned, his vision darkening. The arm holding Li Jiuyou completely lost its strength, and the two of them fell heavily to the cold, fluorescent moss-covered ground!
"Senior Brother! The Demon King!" A Che rushed forward, trying to separate them, but was bounced back by the sudden and chaotic energy turbulence that erupted from the two men!
Man Gu wanted to help Li Jiuyou, but was blocked by the chaotic energy field.
Xuan Jia was so anxious that he turned around and around: "Don't touch them! The energy field is too chaotic! Wait for them to..."
At this moment, a miracle happened!
Li Jiuyou fell to the ground. After absorbing the drop of Ice Soul Cold Dew, the raging demon core in his body seemed to be injected with a powerful tranquilizer. The restlessness on the verge of collapse calmed down at a visible speed! A thin layer of ice-blue light covered his dantian, temporarily stabilizing the injury to his origin. A faint trace of blood returned to his pale face, and his furrowed brow relaxed slightly. Although still unconscious, his breathing was much calmer than before!
But Jiang Xuelan's situation is completely the opposite!
He fell beside Li Jiuyou, curled up in a heap, trembling violently. Fine white frost formed on his skin, even his eyelashes were covered in ice crystals. His eyes were tightly closed, his teeth clenched, as if trapped in some kind of extreme pain and coldness, he didn't respond to the cries around him. The image of the shattered ice field and the cold word "peel off" echoed repeatedly in his mind like a curse, bringing a chill and fear deep into his bones.
Even stranger, their positions shifted as they fell. Jiang Xuelan curled up on her side, her back pressed tightly against Li Jiuyou's chest! And Li Jiuyou's arm, unconsciously resting on Jiang Xuelan's waist due to the momentum of the fall! The unconscious demon king seemed to instinctively absorb the only source of heat nearby (although Jiang Xuelan's skin was frozen, his body was still generating heat due to the energy collision). His arm tightened slightly, and his chin even unconsciously nuzzled the sensitive skin on Jiang Xuelan's cold neck, burned by the lava!
The connection of the Heart-Slaying Contract, under this close physical contact, became clearer and more... **weird** than ever before!
The steady pulse of Li Jiuyou's demon core, soothed by the cold dew, flowed through the connection like a warm current, thread by thread, into Jiang Xuelan's chaotic and icy sea of consciousness. This warm current formed an even more intense conflict with the icy illusion and the fear of exfoliation raging in his sea of consciousness!
"Hmm..." Li Jiuyou, who was in a coma, seemed to feel that it was quite comfortable to hold this "human ice bag" (to cool down). He uttered a vague mumbling, and tightened his arms around Jiang Xuelan's waist, and his hot breath sprayed on Jiang Xuelan's cold earlobe.
“!!!” A Che and Man Gu stared at the scene of “sleeping in each other’s arms” (?) in amazement, their brains completely shut down.
Xuanjia's green eyes widened, and his tortoise shell trembled slightly with excitement: "Wow! This posture! This connection! This fusion of energy! Thunder and fire? No, it's ice hitting the demon pill! Wonderful! Even more exciting than the tortoise shell dramas in my collection! Write it down! I must write it down!" It wished it could grow hands to take out the little notebook.
Jiang Xuelan struggled amidst the extreme cold and chaotic fragments of memory, oblivious to the world outside. But the steady warmth channeled from the Li Jiu Demon Pill was like the lone light on the dark icy plain, faint yet stubbornly resisting the bone-chilling cold and terror, bringing a glimmer of... **strange comfort**? His curled-up body, seemingly unconsciously and ever-so-slightly, leaned back, burying itself deeper into the chest radiating a steady source of heat.
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