The chamber was completely silent, the grand hall filled with still air without a trace of sound. Only Qing Xia and Qin Zhiyan’s continuous footsteps on the gold made soft squeaking sounds. Qin Zhiyan suddenly smiled and said: “We can’t call this being tainted with the stench of money.”
“Huh?” Qing Xia was startled and asked: “Then what would you call it?”
Qin Zhiyan blinked mysteriously like he was keeping a secret, smiling: “This is called treating money like dirt.”
“Ah?” Qing Xia hadn’t expected that Qin Zhiyan could also joke around. She was momentarily stunned, then burst into loud laughter.
Qing Xia’s eyes curved like crescents, her full head of black hair cascading behind her. The light blue men’s robe made her petite face appear even more luminously white and tender, her pair of eyes like stars, sparkling with alluring radiance. Qin Zhiyan’s eyes shifted slightly, his expression gentle, his lips curved in a soft smile. Between heaven and earth lay a brilliant yellow expanse, like a newborn sun flashing with golden light. Reflecting on Qing Xia’s cheeks, it further accentuated her lotus-like serenity and beauty.
“Miss Tang.” Qin Zhiyan suddenly called Qing Xia’s name softly.
“Yes?” Qing Xia tilted her head and said: “What is it?”
“Nothing,” Qin Zhiyan smiled faintly: “It’s just that I still don’t know the young lady’s name.”
“Name?”
Qing Xia was startled. She had had many names. Her mother had given her the pet name Yima’er, which translated to the tribal language meant longevity – this was her favorite name, having accompanied her through the happiest days of her life. Her father’s surname was Su, so her formal name was Su Wan, though this name was rarely used.
After her parents died, she was taken in by a local orphanage. Since she wouldn’t speak for over a year, the director casually named her Xiao Yuan, like naming a little dog. Later the orphanage closed down, and she secretly climbed onto a freight truck heading to the capital, eventually ending up in another orphanage where she met Tang Yu. Tang Yu at that time wasn’t called Tang Yu either – like Qing Xia, he had a pet-like name, Xiao Yong. Later, they were adopted by a family, took the surname Tang, and were given names. But before long, unable to bear the female head of household’s abuse, the two escaped again.
Later, they joined the military. Because the adoptive family had registered them for household registration, they naturally continued using their previous names. But this name was rarely seen. Most of the time, she was called 003 – just a cold code number, never having a name that truly belonged to her.
Now that she had come here, she was called Zhuang Qingxia. After finally escaping the palace, she called herself Xia Qing in the military camp. Now she told others her surname was Tang, so what should she really be called?
Seeing Qing Xia’s expression grow distant, Qin Zhiyan said solemnly: “It doesn’t matter. Rashly asking a young lady’s given name was presumptuous of me to begin with.”
“Just call me Yima’er.” Qing Xia suddenly interrupted.
“Yima’er?” Qin Zhiyan raised an eyebrow, asking in confusion: “Are you from a foreign tribe, Miss?”
“No,” Qing Xia slowly shook her head, saying solemnly: “This is the name my mother gave me. She was from Xinjiang. Yima’er means longevity.”
“Longevity?” A flash of amusement appeared in Qin Zhiyan’s eyes. “Indeed a good name.”
“Yes, this is my favorite name. In the whole world, only I knew it. Now, you know it too.” The blue-clad young woman’s eyes were bright like brilliant gems. She smiled looking up at Qin Zhiyan, who was a head taller than her, as if sunshine was blooming on her face, dazzling Qin Zhiyan’s eyes.
She truly wasn’t lying. Apart from her deceased parents, no one else in this world knew she had such a foreign name. She smiled looking at the slender-framed Qin Zhiyan, saying word by word: “Qin Zhiyan, if possible, I really want to give this name to you.”
Qin Zhiyan was startled, but saw that Qing Xia had already turned around, her petite body leading the white silk ribbon, walking far ahead of him.
Yima’er, long… life?
“Bang!” A muffled sound suddenly rang out, gold sand flying up into the air. Qin Zhiyan was alarmed and looked down intently, only to see a deep whirlpool that had suddenly appeared in the golden sand, while Qing Xia’s petite figure had already vanished without a trace.
“Yima’er!” A fierce shout immediately echoed throughout the great hall. Qin Zhiyan twisted his wrist, his hands rotating and crossing, wrapping all the white silk ribbon around his arm, his feet planted firmly like roots.
In the grand hall, all the quicksand suddenly began flowing frantically like a huge monster.
A terrifying quicksand whirlpool at the center spun and devoured everything, including that light blue figure.
“Yima’er!” Qin Zhiyan’s face turned cold as he suddenly pulled hard with his hands. But at that very moment, the sound of tearing fabric suddenly came. This light, small sound struck Qin Zhiyan’s head like thunder. Looking closely, that life-saving white ribbon had been torn with a large gash.
The quicksand beneath his feet slid rapidly, and Qin Zhiyan’s body involuntarily slid toward the whirlpool where Qing Xia had fallen.
“Qin Zhiyan, let go!”
A sharp female voice echoed through the great hall, immediately followed by the crisp sound of tearing fabric. That white silk ribbon connecting the two of them fluttered like a butterfly and was swallowed by the massive whirlpool.
Qin Zhiyan’s brows furrowed tightly. With almost no hesitation, his body suddenly sprang up from the ground, reaching out toward that rope. His blue shirt flashed, and he too plunged into the massive whirlpool.
In the ethereal darkness, who was truly following whose footsteps?
“Qin Zhiyan!” A clear, sharp cry suddenly rang out. In the flying yellow sand, Qin Zhiyan suddenly raised his head and saw Qing Xia gripping a dagger with one hand, stabbed into a wall crevice on the whirlpool’s side. She stared at him with wide eyes, her brows tightly furrowed, calling out loudly.
Golden sand fell between the two of them. Qin Zhiyan in his blue shirt fell past Qing Xia in the blink of an eye.
So she was unharmed.
His heart instantly calmed. Qin Zhiyan’s face was pale, his eyes bright and gentle. Looking up at that increasingly distant graceful figure, his lips curved in a faint smile.
“Qin Zhiyan!” Qing Xia was shocked and alarmed. She suddenly kicked hard against the whirlpool’s side wall and leaped down toward the pitch-black enormous hole!
In a flash, borrowing the force of that kick, Qing Xia caught up from behind. One hand suddenly gripped Qin Zhiyan’s wrist tightly while the other thrust hard from behind her neck toward the whirlpool’s side wall.
Brilliant sparks exploded outward. Qing Xia and Qin Zhiyan’s bodies jerked to a stop, then slid fiercely downward. The sharp dagger inserted into the wall crevice cut a long gash in the smooth wall, gradually slowing their speed. Finally, with a loud bang, their speed suddenly stopped. The two came to an abrupt halt, with Qing Xia gripping the dagger with one hand and Qin Zhiyan’s wrist with the other, hanging suspended in midair.
“Yima’er, how are you?” Qin Zhiyan frowned, looking up at Qing Xia above him. He saw her face was completely pale, the hand gripping the dagger already bloody and mangled beyond recognition, but her other hand still held tightly to his wrist.
“Qin Zhiyan, throw a flint down and see what the situation is below.” Although Qing Xia’s complexion was pale, her voice still carried a trace of calm.
Qin Zhiyan felt around his waist for a flint with his other hand, struggled to light it, then threw it down into the dark hole below.
The weak candlelight immediately illuminated the black hole beneath them. But looking down intently, both their faces grew another shade paler. Thirty-plus meters below Qin Zhiyan, countless venomous snakes coiled with upturned heads begging for food. Intertwined and tangled, the thin ones were like little fingers while the thick ones were as wide as thighs. Brightly colored with fierce eyes, they were clearly all venomous snakes. The burning flint fell into the snake colony, startling those beasts. Several giant snakes reared up in alarm, spitting with blood-red eyes, hideous and terrifying.
Looking down, thousands of venomous snakes in brilliant colors formed a multicolored rushing torrent at the bottom, surging and leaping turbulently, winding and turning, terrifyingly overwhelming. They rolled in wave-like layers, emanating a nauseating aura of death.
Qing Xia’s palm couldn’t help but break out in fine sweat, but she gripped Qin Zhiyan’s hand even more tightly.
However, before the two could recover their wits, a subtle sound suddenly rang out overhead. Qing Xia and Qin Zhiyan both looked up in terror. Rustling sounds gradually came from the dagger inserted in the wall. Countless fine particles of ash fluttered down. Though in such a dark hole, by the faint light coming from above, Qing Xia could still clearly see a crack gradually widening on the dagger’s handle, the loosening sensation transmitted through her hand.
Supporting the weight of two people, this life-saving dagger’s time was finally running out.
In an instant, both seemed somewhat stunned.
As if sensing the plight of the two people above, the snake colony below suddenly reared up in unison, spitting venom. Hissing sounds filled their ears. Qing Xia’s eyes opened wide, staring intently at the cold iron dagger that had accompanied her for so long, her fingertips white. Bright red blood slowly flowed from her arm scratched by stone fragments, running along Qing Xia’s fair arm and dripping down drop by drop.
With a soft “plop,” a drop of blood fell on Qin Zhiyan’s forehead, appearing very conspicuous against his completely pale cheeks.
Time seemed to have passed so long, yet was only an instant. Qin Zhiyan’s expression was both sorrowful and peaceful. He looked up at the pale woman hanging in midair. Her expression was so panicked and lost, like a desperate little beast looking around in all directions. But in such a pitch-black hole, how could anyone extend a helping hand to her? Bright red blood flowed from her snow-white arm, dripping on his forehead. Her hand and his hand tightly clasped each other’s wrists, so tight, so tight, as if the two had been born growing together this way. Her whitened fingertips gripped the other’s skin tightly, the red marks remaining there so conspicuously.