Chapter 163 - Ignite
"Puff!" Luo Hongyi was the first one who couldn't help laughing and was shaking with laughter.
Su Tang's photo stone camera was fixed on the piece of raw meat on the tip of Chu Linyuan's Immortal-killing Spear, which looked particularly "mighty and domineering". She was trying so hard to hold back her laughter that her shoulders were shaking.
Tie Niu scratched his head and said in a muffled voice, "Big Brother... that meat... needs to be roasted..."
Bai Xiaolu's clear eyes were also full of surprise.
Xie Zhao held up the piece of meat that was despised, his expression filled with grief and indignation: "Brother! You despise me?!"
Chu Linyuan's face was expressionless as he stared intently at the smoking piece of raw meat on the tip of his gun, as if he were studying some peerless spear technique. He only coldly uttered three words: "Dirty."
Xie Zhao: "..." He angrily stuffed the meat into his mouth and chewed it hard, as if he was gnawing on Chu Linyuan's icy face.
As the night deepened, the bonfire crackled. The weary crowd gradually returned to their temporary shelters to rest. Only Chu Linyuan and Xie Zhao remained in the square, along with the skeleton of the Talisman Array Tower, its restrained starlight flowing in the night.
Chu Linyuan sat cross-legged beside the base of the tower, with the Frost Silence Sword across his knees, closing his eyes and regulating his breathing.
The aura around him was heavy and condensed, like eternal black ice, repairing the dragon evil essence consumed in the battle, and also suppressing the dragon pattern under the scar on his left arm that was faintly restless due to excessive stimulation of power.
Xie Zhao didn't return to the house. He sat with his knees hugged on a smooth black rock not far from Chu Linyuan, the Jinghong Fu Pen unconsciously twirling between his fingertips, his eyes unfocused, staring at the dancing embers of the bonfire in a trance.
The soul-guiding lamp talisman on the heart emits a constant and warm glow in the silent night.
"Brother..." Xie Zhao's voice was very soft, with a hint of barely perceptible confusion, breaking the silence of the night. "Tell me... what exactly is the key that Grandma Xiaolu mentioned? Rabbit is part of the key... what about the other part? Is it behind the door to the abyss? And that master from the Immortal Alliance... Burning Sky Valley is just a pawn, right?"
Chu Linyuan's breathing rhythm paused imperceptibly. Without opening his eyes, his icy voice was remarkably clear in the night: "Become stronger. Run over them. The answer will reveal itself."
It's still that cold, direct and unpretentious style.
Xie Zhao smiled, his peach blossom eyes reflecting the glimmer of the campfire. "Crush it... that's easy to say. If it weren't for our tacit cooperation today, the strong tower base, and that old man's underestimation of the enemy, crushing the Burning Sky Valley's large ship wouldn't have been so easy. Next time... the Immortal Alliance will probably be a real big fish."
He paused, his voice lowered, a hint of dependence he himself hadn't noticed: "...Senior Brother, your Supreme Forgetfulness Sword...that final blow today when you slashed the Red Nightmare...was truly cold. Even colder than the murderous wind from the Burial God Abyss."
Chu Linyuan slowly opened his eyes. His cold gaze, like cold stars in the night, fell on Xie Zhao's profile, which was reflected in the firelight. He was silent for a moment before speaking, his voice deeper than usual: "Frosty silence... requires forgetfulness."
This is an explanation, but also... some kind of confession?
Xie Zhao's heart skipped a beat. He turned and met Chu Linyuan's bottomless eyes. The dim light from the campfire danced across the frozen lake, as if melting a little of the ice, revealing something deeper and indescribable beneath.
“Forget all the feelings…” Xie Zhao repeated in a low voice, and the Jinghong Talisman Pen on his fingertips stopped turning, “…It’s like…it’s completely turned into a piece of ice? I can’t feel the pain, I can’t feel the fear…I can’t feel…” He didn’t finish the rest of the words, but the complex emotions that flashed in his peach blossom eyes clearly conveyed his unspoken meaning - he couldn’t feel cared either?
Chu Linyuan's eyes trembled imperceptibly. His hand rested on his knees, his fingertips slightly curled, gripping the cold hilt of the sword.
He did not answer yes or no, but just stared at the leaping bonfire in silence, as if the answer was hidden in the flames.
The night wind blew, bringing with it the chill characteristic of the abyss. The bonfire flickered, its light flickering on Chu Linyuan's icy profile.
"When I was little," Chu Linyuan's voice suddenly rang out, breaking the long silence. His gaze remained fixed on the campfire. His voice was low and gentle, yet like a stone dropped into a deep pond, it stirred a thousand waves within Xie Zhao. "The first time my evil spirit lost control... it was painful... like being devoured by thousands of dragons... Master said... only the Supreme Forgetfulness... can sever the seven emotions... sever the six desires... the Suppressing Evil Mark... and protect oneself..."
He paused, as if recalling the pain that penetrated deep into his bones and the cold choice.
"Forgetting love... is not being heartless... it's... hiding love in the abyss... sealing the heart... in ice."
Hiding love in the abyss...sealing the heart in ice...
These eight words, like an icy chisel, instantly etched themselves into Xie Zhao's heart! He seemed to see the young Chu Linyuan, enduring the excruciating pain of the Dragon Evil's backlash alone. In despair, he chose to freeze all his emotions, all his weaknesses, all his fears, along with the heart-wrenching pain, into the deepest depths of his soul! Only a cold shell and a sword remained, severing everything!
An indescribable bitterness and heartache instantly overwhelmed Xie Zhao like a tide. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but his throat seemed to be blocked by something.
Chu Linyuan had already closed his eyes again, his aura once again thick and icy, as if the rare confession had never taken place. Only the blade of the Frost Silence Sword at his knees shone in the night, a darker blue sheen even more subdued than before.
Xie Zhao silently observed his cold silhouette, the light from the bonfire dancing on his black robes. After a long moment, he lowered his head, deftly twirling the Jinghong Talisman Brush between his fingers. A gentle, no longer aggressive, pale golden light flowed from the tip of the brush.
He didn't say anything, but just focused on sketching on the cold black rock ground beside him, stroke by stroke.
The pen moves like a dragon and the talismans flow.
Gradually, a pattern of pure rune light took shape on the black rock—not an offensive talisman, nor a defensive formation, but a lamp. A simple, quaint lamp emitting a warm glow... the phantom of a soul-guiding lamp.
At the position of the wick, a condensed pale golden light carrying the aura of Xie Zhao's soul burned quietly, dispelling the darkness of the night and the chill of the abyss.
Xie Zhao finished his final stroke, then lightly tapped his fingertips. The shadow of the soul-guiding lamp, formed by the talismanic light, slowly rose as if possessing life, silently hovering beside Chu Linyuan, who sat cross-legged.
The warm talisman light softly sprinkled on Chu Linyuan's cold black clothes, illuminating the corners of his tightly pursed lips, and seemed to melt the eternal ice.
Chu Linyuan still closed his eyes and regulated his breathing, seemingly unaware of anything. But on the back of his hand, resting on his knees and tightly gripping the hilt of his sword, the tense knuckles seemed to relax... almost imperceptibly.
The night breeze blew, and the light of the talisman lamp flowed quietly between the two of them, like a silent protection and response. In the darkness of the abyss, a little fire in the heart quietly ignited.
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