The woman left Yanjing City, heading north through a snowy plain, soon arriving at a small village covered in snow. The woman wandered around the village, stepping through the snow, and finally entered a wooden house. Following her inside, Mary and the assassin saw two people lying on the bed, a man and a woman, with the man’s name above his head: Yun Qian. Seeing the couple on the bed, the woman rushed over. The plot triggered, and game animations played one after another. Su Yao understood the story: Yun Qian had fallen for another woman but was afraid of his fiancée’s revenge, so he persuaded the village chief to offer his fiancée as this year’s sacrifice to the mountain god. After watching the plot, Su Yao sighed and gave Qin Chuan an unfriendly look. “Why are you looking at me?” Qin Chuan pretended not to hear. At this moment, the plot reached its climax. The fiancée, upon learning the truth, was enraged, her eyes bloodshot, and she grabbed a kitchen knife beside her, slashing at the mistress and her fiancé.
The mistress was instantly killed, and Yun Qian quickly grabbed the knife from his fiancée, striking her in the chest. The poor woman, unwilling to die with her eyes closed, clutched her bleeding chest, searching the room for something to kill with; aside from the kitchen knife, there seemed to be nothing. There was an umbrella hanging on the wall.
Holding the umbrella with a sharp tip, she gripped it tightly, stabbing and beating at the man. Blood flowed profusely from the woman’s chest. Long fingernails sprouted from her fingertips, her eyes transformed into a blood-red hue, and blood trickled from all seven orifices. She grew fangs, her ears elongated, and a hissing sound escaped her lips. Her body turned translucent, with countless hexagonal snowflakes emerging from within. The sight was a heart-wrenching beauty. Was this the legendary Yuki-onna, born from a soul filled with resentment after death? After killing her fiancé, the Yuki-onna burst from the house, slaying the village chief and neighbors alike. She roared, intent on exterminating the entire village, filled with hatred for the world. Why was she the sacrificial lamb? Why did everyone deceive her? Su Yao was engrossed in the storyline, the game’s perspective tracking the mad Yuki-onna as she dashed out of the village to kill more.
Then, an immortal descended from the heavens and sealed the Yuki-onna into a clay pot.
“Poor child, do you not remember? You were already dead when you were sent into the cave of the mountain god,” the god’s voice echoed, as the wind and snow rose again. “Do not be willful any longer, my child. Meditate in this pot for a millennium, and you will cleanse your sins, settle your love and hate, and be reborn without sorrow.”
The deity then turned to address Little Mary and San Chuanhe, “Bury this pot deep in the earth, guard it well, and I shall reward you handsomely.”
Yet, the pot echoed with the Yuki-onna’s reluctant roar, her voice hoarse as she screamed, “Let me out to kill all under heaven! I too will reward you! Let me out—let me out—just break this pot!”
In the heavy snow, the figure of the god vanished, and the cinematic ended, returning control to the players. They were faced with two choices: trust in the god’s gift and bury the pot, or break it to release the Yuki-onna.
The immortal stood for the greater good, while the Yuki-onna was driven by personal emotions. Neither was purely good nor evil.
At least, Su Yao sympathized with her—betrayed, deceived, and murdered, her heart filled with vengeance, she vowed to kill all. A poignant story faded into the ancient twilight, as a cold, pale song was sung in the snowstorm. It seemed the plot had reached its climax; the gifts from the immortal and the Yuki-onna would surely include a divine artifact, but only one could be chosen.
“I’m thinking,” Qin Chuan suddenly said, “If we choose wrongly, will the artifact of the north disappear forever?”
“It’s better if it disappears,” Su Yao mused, stroking her chin. “If I can’t have it, no one else should either. The choice is in our hands.”
“Then let’s smash it,” Qin Chuan said. He was always eager for a fight; if the Yuki-onna deceived them and attacked first upon release, he’d be ready to move.
“I think we should bury it,” Su Yao said. “The immortal will at least give us something, even if it’s not an artifact; it’s bound to be something rare. Plus, that immortal is too handsome; I want to see him again.”
“…You’re still hung up on a 2D character?”
“Hmph~” The Grim Reaper suddenly felt an immense pressure.
In the end, Qin Chuan compromised. He certainly didn’t see Su Yao as a good person—she simply wanted to add another rare item to her collection, even if it wasn’t an artifact.
Little Mary approached the spot where the immortal had disappeared, revealing a complex array of sealing patterns in the snow. She used her digging skill to unearth the snow inch by inch and placed the pot in the hole.
As Little Mary began to fill the hole, the artifact could be lost forever, but at least she could profit from it. There were still other artifacts in the world waiting for her and Qin Chuan to find together. This was the life she had always dreamed of. A loud keyboard clatter snapped Su Yao back to reality—it came from Qin Chuan’s keyboard beside her. His level 122 assassin positioned himself in front of Little Mary.
A deadly ice blade had already sliced through the assassin’s chest, blood spraying from the black tight suit onto the snow, a stark, vivid red.
“Shit! What the hell is this now!”
“Trouble,” Qin Chuan frowned, decisively resurrecting his dead assassin at the city and rushing back. He hadn’t expected an ambush in the blinding snowstorm, and the attacker’s precision was uncanny.
Su Yao swallowed and remembered this was the Five Elements Mage’s ultimate skill, “Ice Banquet,” which sliced through enemies with a fatal ice blade, turning the dead into a demon’s feast—a twisted concept making Five Elements Mages the most lethal branch of the mage class.
Among the four mage professions, the Holy Priest supported teammates, the Summoner controlled summoned creatures, the Dark Sorcerer excelled in curses and dark magic, while the Five Elements Mage harnessed elemental energies to exploit environmental advantages. For instance, fire spells dealt extra damage on Flame Mountain, and water spells were significantly enhanced in icy landscapes. They could leverage unique advantages in any environment, making them potent and stable damage dealers in a team.
Five Elements Mages had no weapons, relying solely on a talisman that could summon wind and rain. Su Yao saw a woman approaching through the swirling snow, holding a yellow talisman. Recognizing her as the expedition leader, “Xiao Zhizhi,” Su Yao noted that she was accompanied by the max-level player, Lian Yu Liuli.
“Damn, how many people have come to this ancient world?” Su Yao wondered. Xiao Zhizhi was only level 60 when he first met her, but now she was at level 150. Sanchuan had stayed up all night to reach level 122, with half of his experience going to sleeping Xiao Mali. If Xiao Zhizhi had been farming monsters alone, it wasn’t surprising for her to soar to level 150.