Xiao Zizi reacted first, pushing Wu Chen: “Stop staring! Hurry and treat Cat!”
Ouyang Wuchen, amid panic and fear, approached uncertainly, unsure whether to check her pulse or examine her wounds. His hands trembled over her cooling body.
Feng Qingyin stepped forward, licking her trembling lips: “Wuchen, it’s okay, you can definitely heal her!”
Encouraged by her words, Wuchen took a deep breath and began checking her pulse.
After a long time, Wuchen opened his mouth but couldn’t speak.
“What?” The other two became anxious, placing hands on Wuchen’s shoulders.
“She’s—useless.” Wuchen’s words instantly froze the air.
In the room, only three heartbeats could be heard.
Ouyang Wuchen’s face was pale, his lips devoid of color. Weakly, he said, “Good… go up… is Tianshan…”
After several days of continuous travel, Ouyang Zichen and Feng Qingyin were exhausted, but Wuchen’s words filled them with energy. They quickly suppressed their excitement, wiped away tears, and leaped up. Tianshan; they had finally arrived!
“So cold…” Once they found a mountain cave, Wuchen, placed down by Xiaozi, chattered his teeth. Without martial arts skills, he couldn’t ward off the cold. His life was gradually draining away, and his body temperature was dropping. Each day, he doubted if he would see the sunrise again. But he couldn’t die; he hadn’t yet seen the snow lotus or Xin’s rebirth.
“This is the shaded side. Zichen and I will go look; it should be quick…” Feng Qingyin’s panic had pushed her psychological endurance to its limit.
Xiaozi was anxious, pulling Feng Qingyin as they rushed out of the cave. The two figures disappeared into the wind and snow.
“Remember… be careful of the silver snake…”
Wuchen’s voice gradually lowered, his eyes slowly closing as he took a brief nap.
After some time, two figures reappeared at the cave entrance. Wuchen’s eyelashes trembled, and he awakened, surprisingly alert: “You… you’re back?”
“Yes! Look! Snow lotus!” Feng Qingyin exclaimed, pulling Xiaozi forward with the snow lotus in hand.
“Take… it directly.” Wuchen’s pupils dilated, and a smile appeared on his ash-gray face—his first in days, but also his last. Slowly, he closed his eyes, tears slipping down his cheeks as his weak breath faded.
