Seeing Nanny Gu crawling closer, both Ziqing and Situ Haonan tensed with wariness, though both understood clearly that, badly wounded as they were, they absolutely couldn’t let this old hag realize it—otherwise, she’d have no reason to hold back.
“Girl, didn’t that boy tell you?” Nanny Gu asked softly, her manner seemingly cautious not to startle Ziqing—or more precisely, like a great grey wolf coaxing a little white rabbit, terrified of saying the wrong thing and scaring the rabbit away.
“Who? I really don’t know you!”
Ziqing was on edge too—this old hag was far too strange, and there was no telling how skilled she might be in combat. If it turned out neither she nor Situ Haonan could handle her, that would be trouble indeed.
She claimed to be Xiongnu, yet lied about being a priestess of Xijing—this old creature was clearly up to no good!
“That little courtyard at the foot of the mountain in the northwest of the northern desert, oh my, oh my, you’re so young yet your memory is worse than this old bag of bones. That boy adored you so! Do you remember now? That boy with purple robes and silver hair—he seemed to be sick himself too! And quite seriously ill, at that! I’d guess he won’t make it through this year!”
At this moment, Nanny Gu, hair disheveled, clothes in tatters, slowly crawled closer, looking every bit like some malevolent spirit crawling up from the depths of hell.
Hearing this, Ziqing suddenly remembered—that was from when she’d been under the effects of Jade Dawn Dream, unconscious for so long.
This old creature was talking about A’Li—Xuanyuan Lige!
Ziqing suddenly shouted furiously, “What nonsense are you spouting!”
How could A’Li possibly not survive this year? She’d had Sha Qiuzi searching for medicine for him this whole time—A’Li was only in his early twenties, there was no way he’d…
Seeing Ziqing’s reaction, Nanny Gu paused. “So you do remember, girl!”
“You’re the one who saved me?” Ziqing’s voice, despite her obvious weakness, remained icy cold, betraying none of the true severity of her injuries.
“That boy never told you, did he? Girl, do you even know why you were unconscious for so long back then?” Nanny Gu asked with a smile, beginning to crawl forward again, step by step…
…
And while the atmosphere inside Mingsha Cave had grown unbearably tense, outside the cave, the world had turned utterly upside down, terrifying beyond belief!
The super-tornado was drawing near!
A massive column of wind rose up from the earth as if uprooted, spiraling skyward at tremendous speed, appearing from a distance as though it would swallow up the entire storm-gathered sky itself!
The super-tornado was now less than half a li from Mingsha Mountain, standing between heaven and earth like some ancient malevolent deity, towering, fury radiating in all directions, looking down over the whole of Akbachu, roaring down upon everything below!
Across all of Mingsha Mountain and Akbachu, dense clouds gathered, sand and stones flew wild, the raging wind tore everything apart, sweeping away anything and everything in its path.
The thick sands of Mingsha Mountain gathered into streams of shifting sand, spiraling toward the tornado, while in Akbachu, palace after palace was torn from its foundations, shattered to pieces, sent flying through the air!
The entire world seemed on the verge of being swept up into the tornado—soon, very soon, it would arrive, would reach Mingsha Mountain!
Amid the raging gale, a figure flickered in and out of view within the swirling streams of sand rushing skyward—it was Jun Beiyue!
Having started against the wind and finally ending up moving with it, he had, with great difficulty, made it to within ten steps of Mingsha Cave’s entrance.
But things were no longer as they’d been moments before—with every step the tornado drew closer, the wind’s force grew several times more violent, and now he was moving directly against it once more.
Every step forward was an immense struggle—he had to both keep himself standing, keep himself advancing, and ensure he wasn’t swept up into the sky by the tornado’s pull!
“Ziqing! Han Ziqing!”
“Han Ziqing, are you there!”
“Han Ziqing, answer me!”
…
Jun Beiyue pushed against the wind—how could one person’s strength possibly withstand the force of nature? His body felt as if it were being torn apart by the fierce gale, yet he seemed entirely unaware of it.
He was more frenzied than the tornado itself, like a howling wild beast.
Struggling forward with great difficulty, shouting madly, knowing full well his voice couldn’t possibly carry over the roar of the wind, yet he never once gave up, his throat hoarse from shouting, still crying out, “Han Ziqing, are you there! Han Ziqing, one month was our promise, I’m here! Are you there!”
“Han Ziqing, we agreed—no waiting past the deadline!”
“Han Ziqing, you’d better be perfectly fine, or this prince will kill you!”
…
Kill her?
Perhaps he truly had gone mad.
He took two more steps, pressing forward at this very moment, but time was slipping away, and the tornado drew closer, encroaching upon the northwest side of Mingsha Mountain!
Mingsha Mountain held the greatest concentration of sand anywhere—suddenly, sand came rushing at him like a violent storm, blanketing everything, surging straight at his face!
Sensing danger, Jun Beiyue instinctively raised his hand to shield himself, then bowed his head, protecting his eyes!
Wave after wave, like ocean surf, the sandstorm crashed against him with the force of the gale. Jun Beiyue could only keep his head down, continuously shaking off the sand!
In truth, the wisest course of action now would be to turn and flee—with his abilities, escape was still within reach!
But he couldn’t bear the thought of anything but reaching Mingsha Cave immediately.
Letting the waves of sand crash against his back again and again, he kept his head down, gritted his teeth, and forced himself onward against the wind.
Just a few more steps. Yelu Qianqian had said Ziqing was in Mingsha Cave—he had to find her.
If he couldn’t find Ziqing, what would be the point of fleeing, of surviving?
“Han Ziqing!”
“Han Ziqing!”
“Han Ziqing!”
He shouted again and again, his voice raw and desperate, yet those inside the cave couldn’t possibly hear him—the wind was simply too loud, and it seemed to be blowing against him directly.
But it was precisely because the wind blew against him that the person behind him could hear clearly!
Bai Mengmeng, having chased all the way here mostly with the wind at her back, only now began to feel it turn against her. She stood frozen in place—not because she didn’t want to move, but because she knew she couldn’t; the moment she moved, the raging wind would sweep her away instantly!
She stood firm, gathering all her strength, listening to the man ahead of her—the man she loved so desperately—calling out another woman’s name, again and again!
Bai Mengmeng knew she had gone mad, beyond any cure.
For a moment, she didn’t even know why she’d chased all the way here. She simply stood, watching, listening, murmuring to herself, “Let’s all die together, let’s all die together… let everyone die together!”
At this moment, the tornado had drawn extremely close, on the verge of swallowing up all of Mingsha Mountain entirely.
And inside the cave, Ziqing and the others had also begun to sense something was wrong—the ground shaking violently!
Yet Nanny Gu continued creeping closer, drawing nearer and nearer to them. Situ Haonan gripped a dagger concealed behind his back, betraying nothing.
Nanny Gu’s entire attention remained fixed on Ziqing. “Girl, think carefully now—why exactly were you unconscious for so long?”
Ziqing knew she had indeed been unconscious for a very long time back then, but she had always assumed it was simply because her body had been too weak. Now, it seemed there might have been some other reason she didn’t know about.
Nanny Gu, listening to the commotion outside, had in fact been waiting all along—waiting for the moment the tornado reached Mingsha Cave, the moment the gates to the world of venomous beasts would open!
Opening only for one single person! Only one person could descend through it!
She had no idea how severely wounded these two were, and didn’t dare act rashly. She simply waited for the final moment to arrive—to implant a gu worm into Han Ziqing’s body, and then everything would be complete.
Finally, she stopped three steps away from Ziqing, glanced once toward the cave entrance, then turned her gaze back to Ziqing, chuckling. “I’ll tell you, girl—you were poisoned. Poisoned by a special toxin unique to the northern desert… oh my, if it hadn’t been that poison, nothing else could have possibly given you such trouble, don’t you think?”