Chapter 109: In the Long Snowy Night, Nine Deaths in the Southern Wilderness, Return Home

Zhao Xiang’er lowered her head, her thin lips pursed for a moment, then she said testily, “I can walk by myself, I don’t need you… What are you doing?”

Ning Changjiu squatted down, placed his hand over hers which was clutching the sword, and then one by one, he pried her fingers away from the hilt. Zhao Xiang’er remained silent; after a slight resistance, he took the sword from her and reinserted it into the umbrella sheath.

Zhao Xiang’er tidied her falling hair again, her other hand still tightly clenching the torn clothes across her chest. However, her battle attire was already form-fitting, and now that it was ripped, it gaped even more. Coupled with Zhao Xiang’er’s exhaustion, it was quite difficult for her to cover herself.

She bit her lower lip, a hint of moisture sparkling in her faint eyes. She had no spare spiritual energy to dispel the slap mark on her face; the burning pain on her left cheek still pricked like needles. This deeply wounded her dignity, especially with an unappreciative man in front of her, daring to look so closely at her most disheveled state.

Her cheeks were somewhat hot, and a profound weariness in her bones pressed her body down, making her feel as if she were stuck to the ground, unable to move a muscle. In the darkness, her increasingly rapid heartbeat became clearer. Her body at this moment seemed somewhat delicate, shaking uncontrollably. The emotions filling her heart flowed hotly with her blood, reaching every corner. She believed this emotion was resentment, thinking that if it weren’t for this dead Daoist’s slight kindness to her, once her injuries healed, she would surely chop off his limbs and gouge out his eyes.

Ning Changjiu didn’t know what she was thinking. He just saw her biting her lower lip, her long eyelashes trembling incessantly, her cheeks growing redder. The fingers clutching her clothes were deathly pale and quivering, as if they might give way at any moment.

Ning Changjiu didn’t wait for that embarrassing scene to happen. He turned his back and softly said, “Come on up.”

There was no response from behind for a long time. After a while, Ning Changjiu suddenly felt something collide with his back. He gently turned his head to see Zhao Xiang’er’s body already leaning back, half-resting against him. Her eyes were closed, her slender eyelashes still trembling slightly. One hand hung limply, while the other instinctively clutched her front lapel.

Her spirit finally gave out, and she fainted.

Ning Changjiu sighed softly, gently unclenching her hand from her lapel. Then he turned his back, draped her arms across both sides of his neck, and leaned forward as he rose, carrying her on his back. His hands then supported her taut, slender legs, wrapping them securely around his waist.

Ning Changjiu held her arms draped over his front, leaning a bit more to prevent her from slipping. Their bodies were pressed tightly together; her once soft curves were flattened. Soft, somewhat strange sensations were keenly captured by his senses, subtly receding into the depths of his consciousness. A faint, subtle fragrance was quickly overwhelmed by the strong scent of blood, a brief moment that seemed like an illusion.

Ning Changjiu carried her to Ning Xiaoling’s side.

Even in her unconscious state, his junior sister couldn’t offer any resistance. Ning Changjiu bent down, hooked his right arm under her waist, and somewhat ungracefully lifted her.

He thus, with his entire “family” in tow, walked deeper into the night.

Linhe City, already sparsely populated, now appeared even more chilling and desolate.

Ning Changjiu arrived at his doorstep and knocked on the main gate, which was now called “Judge’s Mansion.” There was no response, so Ning Changjiu simply pushed the door open and entered.

Ning Qinshui stood under the eaves at the boundary between the house and the courtyard, clutching the Judge’s Brush. He looked at Ning Changjiu with a tense expression, reciting the speech he had long prepared:

“Stop right there! Years ago, you were working in that mud-brick house; it was I who bought you out. Now you’ve mastered swordsmanship, and this connection is somewhat related to me. With the city in peril, you and I still share some master-disciple affection. That Madam Bai’s influence is waning, and I am willing to help you gather scattered power, so that wretched woman can never piece together her full strength again. Ning Changjiu, momentary impulsiveness won’t achieve much. In this world, how can there be eternal enemies?”

Ning Changjiu listened to him quietly, then drew the umbrella sword from Zhao Xiang’er’s back and plunged it through Ning Qinshui’s eye.

Ning Changjiu continued forward, carrying the two girls on his back. He walked past Ning Qinshui, stepped over the threshold, and entered the snowy courtyard. When the divine kingdom collapsed and the Underworld Monarch’s authority shattered, the laws of undying spirits and the Judge’s divine position also vanished. After that sword strike, Ning Qinshui, already almost completely drained of power, had his brow opened. His soul transformed into fine flowing sand, gradually dispersing into the night.

“You will regret it…” Ning Qinshui turned his head with difficulty, looking at the silent, advancing back, and said, “All your struggles for survival now are merely overdrawing your destiny. You… cannot escape.” His voice was suppressed and resentful, every word sounding like a bitter curse to the marrow. The soul that had been unseverable no matter what before, now dissipated with an irresistible speed. His last words echoed in the courtyard like a prophecy for a long time.

“The first time I saw you, I knew it. You are destined for a lonely and difficult life. Even if you manage to survive this time… just wait. It won’t be long, no! Not even a year, and you will lose everything, left with nothing…”

Ning Qinshui’s soul dissipated. The Judge’s Brush clattered to the ground. The ink on it had long dried, and the soft bristles were tightly matted together, devoid of any spirituality.

Ning Changjiu remained unmoved. Inside the house, Ning Changjiu dragged several chairs together, tied their legs with ropes, then smoothly cut off their backs, creating a makeshift bed where he laid Ning Xiaoling, whose injuries were lighter.

Then he came to the bed and loosened the hands wrapped around his neck. However, even in her unconscious state, Zhao Xiang’er’s instincts seemed extremely tense and sharp. Her arms were somewhat stiff, and her legs still tightly clasped his body, refusing to let go at all. Ning Changjiu pressed several acupoints on her arms, allowing her body to slowly relax. Then he separated her legs that were clasping his body and removed her from his back. Both the girl and he were half-covered in blood; the bloodstains on their clothes had become stuck together from prolonged close contact. He carefully tore apart the blood-bound clothes, his fingers slowly peeling them away, until he finally unfastened Zhao Xiang’er from his back. The girl hummed twice but did not wake up.

Ning Changjiu supported her back with one hand and cradled her bent legs with the other, gently laying her on the bed. He watched her calmly for a moment. In her faint breathing, Zhao Xiang’er’s chest still moved evenly, like a gentle sea breeze carrying a heap of snowy, floating ice, rising and falling like an uncertain cold current. He confirmed that she was merely in a coma due to damaged innate spirit and depleted spiritual energy, then finally let out a sigh of relief and gently covered her with a blanket.

Then he went to Ning Xiaoling’s side, lifted her eyelids to examine them for a while, and then checked several key pulse points. His brows gradually furrowed and then slowly relaxed. Ning Xiaoling’s injuries appeared lighter on the surface. In the past two months, her swordsmanship had improved rapidly after entering the peak, but she hadn’t had time to temper her physique. When they were struck down from Jiuyu by Madam Bai and hit the ground, Ning Xiaoling sustained the most damage to her body. Now, there were still large bloodstains on her back. However, as a practitioner, although her external injuries were severe, they were not life-threatening. Still, she likely wouldn’t be able to wield a sword for a long time.

Ning Changjiu rubbed his head, feeling a bit dizzy. In fact, his injuries should have been more severe than theirs, but for some unknown reason, an unnamed power in his body supported him, enabling him to climb out of the deep pit twice, leap towards Madam Bai with his sword, and then suddenly open his eyes after clearly losing consciousness. Now that he thought back, the height Madam Bai had reached while holding Zhao Xiang’er by her hair earlier was a distance that only someone in the Changming Realm could achieve in a single leap.

He didn’t know how to describe this feeling. He felt as if his body was a giant egg, with something struggling to break free from it. And at this moment, that eggshell was already riddled with cracks; it just needed some crucial force to truly shatter it. When he first arrived in Linhe City, he already had a faint sense of this—a distinct pressure that, however, stimulated something deep within his body. That’s why he stayed in the city, awaiting that subtly destined moment. And now, that feeling was more like a sense of suppression; he wished he could punch his own chest and shatter everything within it.

As soon as this thought appeared, he quickly meditated to calm his mind and dispel distracting thoughts. This Fengdu was now almost a ghost town, and many ghosts had already gathered into vengeful spirits. He absolutely could not let down his guard, giving them an opportunity to exploit his weakness. After a brief period of adjustment, he stabilized Ning Xiaoling’s injuries and found her hands to be very cold. So, he went to the next room, brought back a quilt, and wrapped her up warmly. As her body temperature slowly returned, Ning Xiaoling’s slightly furrowed little face gradually relaxed. Ning Changjiu then noticed that, at some point, her cheeks had grown much thinner, no longer as round and lovely as before.

He moved the last surviving chair and sat by Zhao Xiang’er’s bed. Zhao Xiang’er’s disheveled hair spread like seaweed on the pillow. Her left cheek was swollen, the faint palm print still visible, not yet faded. Ning Changjiu reached out, gently brushed away the hair clinging to her cheek, and placed his hand over the swollen area. His palm was cool like thin ice; spiritual energy permeated through it, slowly dispelling the swelling and wounds. When he released his hand, her cheek had almost recovered, though it still retained a slight reddish tint, like a delicate flush of intoxication.

Ning Changjiu tucked her into bed. His movements stiffened for a moment; it seemed as if a struggle was occurring in his mind. In the end, he restrained a certain thought, released his hand, and moved the chair to sit outside the house.

Night fell, ink black. He leaned back in the wooden chair, without the strength or energy to change out of his blood-stained clothes. He just sat alone outside, permeated by the heavy scent of blood, staring at the pitch-black sky. There were no stars in the sky, and the red moon’s light had significantly dimmed, as if he were the only one in the entire world waiting for a dawn that would never arrive.

He sat quietly, thinking of many things. The last image in his mind was Madam Bai turning and walking into the night. He always had a lingering worry. He knew Madam Bai couldn’t recover in a short time, but in his memory, beside her was a hidden green sand jar. What exactly was that green sand jar? He had originally thought it was something like a trump card, but why didn’t she use it even when pushed to such an extent today? This faint worry was like a fog, pulling his thoughts down little by little.

Just as he was about to fall into a dream, a slight sound came from inside the room. On the makeshift bed of chairs, Ning Xiaoling woke up. She moved her body, then tumbled onto the floor with a thud. Ning Xiaoling groaned, not understanding what had happened. She felt as if she was wrapped in a cocoon, just like during the Heart Devil Tribulation, only this cocoon was more comfortable, soft and绵绵. She couldn’t help but instinctively roll around.

Ning Changjiu was startled awake by the noise. He turned around to see the quilt, rolled up like a flower bun, tumbling back and forth on the floor several times before suddenly becoming still. Ning Changjiu was worried, so he forced himself to get up despite his sleepiness and fatigue to check on Ning Xiaoling. This time, Ning Xiaoling’s breathing was more steady and gentle. It seemed she had just rolled too much, made herself dizzy, and vaguely fallen back asleep. Ning Changjiu sighed, thinking of how she had been rolling around earlier, and he too felt dizzy, his head spinning. In his last moments of consciousness, he turned back, closed the door, then his spirit sank, and he collapsed beside Ning Xiaoling.

In the snowy alley, Madam Bai’s bone armor had receded. Large sword marks cleaved through her skin, lingering and unhealed, making her originally beautiful body appear horrifying. After turning into an alley, she immediately knelt to the ground. If the girl with the twin swords had been able to deliver that last strike one more time, she might have been truly slain on the battlefield, then fallen into the Yellow Springs, her ashes completely incinerated. She dared not contemplate such an end.

Not long ago, five magnificent divine pillars soared into the sky, standing before her in a radiant display like colorful glazed glass. The flowing light upon them was as beautiful as the myths all mortals yearned for, and a brand new divine kingdom unfurled its most opulent corner within that almost perfect mythological logic. But all of this had now turned into a mirage. How could a tattered Changming Realm cultivate the ambitions she had meticulously planned over the years?

She raised her hand, retrieved the green sand jar from the void beside her shoulder. Grasping the edge of the green sand jar, she crawled a few steps, crushing the white snow on the ground, then leaned against the wall, clutching the green sand jar tightly to her chest.

After a long time, she didn’t know how many times she had dreamt and woken up. Her tensed arms also relaxed a bit. She dared not look at the ugly sword marks on her chest, which cut deep into the bone. Instead, she stared at the jar. Finally, as if relieved of something, she held the jar like a wine jug, its rough edge pressed against her lips, and tilted her head back, drinking it all in one gulp.

There was no great secret in this green sand jar. It contained a jar of river water from when she had cooked herself, years ago. She kept it by her side, hoping to forever remember the pain of that day, hoping this suffering could be like wine that grows purer with age, until the day the divine kingdom was established, and she could drink it all. But now, the celebratory wine had become so dispiriting.

The water naturally contained a lot of spiritual energy, but this was far from enough to heal her injuries. When she drank water back then, she had literally drunk down a full zhang of the Sha River’s surface.

“Elder Sister Bai…” A figure suddenly appeared at the street corner. Madam Bai looked up at the figure that had suddenly appeared at the alley entrance, narrowing her eyes in some surprise.

Shu Bai, with unsteady steps, walked through the snow and slowly approached her. Then he squatted down and knelt before her. Madam Bai sneered, “Why are you kneeling to me? I was using you from beginning to end; you don’t need to be so sentimental.” Shu Bai lowered his head, stubbornly saying, “Those few years, Elder Sister Bai treated me very well. I always remembered that.” Madam Bai asked, “What do you know of good and bad?”

Shu Bai pursed his lips and did not answer. His hand was buried in the snow, tightly clenching a ball of snow, slowly melting it. The cold pierced to the bone. Madam Bai asked, “How did you get here?” In her memory, when the long bridge broke, he was on the other side. Shu Bai answered truthfully, “I waded across that river.” Madam Bai was surprised and watched him for a while, her voice softening considerably as she asked, “Do you know your origin now?” Shu Bai nodded, “I do.” Madam Bai hummed, “But you don’t need to feel like you belong to anyone. From now on, no one can control you. The divine kingdom collapsed, but Fengdu, as a dead city, is still relatively intact. As the Lord of the Yama Hall, you are the least affected. This is your good fortune.” Shu Bai looked up at Madam Bai, saying earnestly, “I don’t care about these things.” Madam Bai asked, “Then what do you care about?” Shu Bai softly said, “Elder Sister Bai… please come with me. Let’s leave the city together and go to a deserted place in the Southern Wilderness, alright? I will protect you.” Madam Bai chuckled, “Fool, you are the Lord of this hall now; you can’t escape at all.” The light in Shu Bai’s eyes dimmed considerably.

Madam Bai gave another self-deprecating smile. “What’s more, how can I leave? You’ve seen it. There are still many people in this city who want to kill me. Once they regain their strength, I… I can’t escape.” Shu Bai closed his eyes, not responding, his body trembling as if caught in some struggle. Madam Bai looked at him, her calm tone laced with a hint of subtle seduction: “How about you go kill them now? Then with no worries, I can slowly figure out how to help you break free from the shackles of this city. Then we can leave together, go to Nanzhou, Zhongtu, Xiguo… or those legendary desperate lands. We can slowly explore them… Right now, no one in this city is your match. Any later, it will be too late.” Shu Bai lowered his head, the snow clutched in his hands gradually melting into water. He still didn’t answer, but his arms, sunken in the snow, kept trembling.

Madam Bai thought he was struggling with something and wanted to persuade him further, but then she saw Shu Bai raise his head. His face was tightly contorted, and something suddenly streamed down from his eyes; in an instant, his face was covered in tears. He stared at Madam Bai’s somewhat blurred face through his tears and choked out, “Elder Sister Bai, how long are you going to keep lying to me?”

Madam Bai watched the immense sadness on his face, the words at her lips gently dispersing into the snowy alley. Only then did she remember that five years had passed, and Shu Bai had grown up a lot. After experiencing all of this today, he was no longer the little boy who was always obedient to her. To have survived for so many years, not to mention being dragged into such a predicament by a few teenagers, and now even the child she raised herself could no longer be fooled. How ridiculous. She laughed self-deprecatingly, covering her grotesquely ugly sword wounds with her arms, her long hair falling over her body like a dark coffin.

Shu Bai reached out and wiped away the tears from his face. He looked up, gazing at Madam Bai with utmost seriousness, and said, “Master told me that a soup made from white spirit bone can grant eternal life. Elder Sister Bai, you’ve helped me so much in the past, and now… I want to repay you. I can give you eternal life! As long as you promise me that after you live, you won’t kill indiscriminately anymore…”

Madam Bai’s eyes flickered, her greed flaring up like an evil fire. She stared at Shu Bai, considering his words, her expression somewhat intense. However, after a short while, she let out a scoffing laugh, the light in her eyes extinguished, and leaned against the wall with a look of utter despair. As for Shu Bai’s suggestion, she didn’t know if it was because she couldn’t or wouldn’t, but she just said blandly, “How much are your bones worth? What kind of soup can they make?”

When Ning Changjiu woke up, he found himself lying on the bed. A cold object rested on his neck. He touched it and immediately withdrew his hand. It was a sword. In the darkness, Zhao Xiang’er, who had changed into a loose white dress, sat by the bed like a female ghost. The sword in her hand was pressed against his neck, her cold face, whether intentionally fierce or not, looked a bit scary.

Ning Changjiu pinched the sword’s edge and pushed it aside, saying, “What is Your Highness doing? Zhao Guo’s Empress repaying kindness with enmity—if this gets out, it will damage Your Highness’s good name.” Zhao Xiang’er snorted coldly, her sword-holding hand unmoving, saying, “Be honest. I have a few questions for you. Answer truthfully. If you dare to be glib again, you won’t escape a good beating!”

(Only one chapter today… but it’s quite substantial 0.0)