With a bang, a small stone burst out from the crevice where the dagger was firmly lodged, immediately falling into the snake colony and raising considerable dust.

“Yima’er,” Qin Zhiyan’s voice rang out hollowly, carrying a mellow echo: “I won’t be able to personally escort you out.”

The man’s smile was indifferent and distant, as if coming from another world: “Keep walking north, pass through the Green Wood Shrine, and you’ll find the main hall. From the main hall’s passage walk outward – there are thirteen checkpoints along the way. You must walk out alive, and you still need to go out and have that big feast.”

“Qin Zhiyan…” Qing Xia’s voice trembled. She stared with wide eyes, watching in terror as Qin Zhiyan’s fingers loosened one by one. She shook her head in disbelief and panic, saying frantically: “Don’t… Qin Zhiyan, don’t do this… We still need to go out together. You still need to be my backing. I still need to rely on you to make big money. I want to settle down in the Qin capital… Qin Zhiyan, if you die, all my effort will be wasted. I can’t become a hero who saved the prince. I’ll have no merit at all… Qin Zhiyan, I still have nowhere to live. I’m so hungry. I’m afraid of the dark… Qin Zhiyan, Qin Zhiyan, please, please don’t do this…”

With another bang, several more stones crashed down, falling into the foul-smelling snake colony. Qing Xia gripped Qin Zhiyan’s hand even more tightly, but fine beads of sweat were slowly seeping through. Her palm was slightly slipping, gradually sliding down from Qin Zhiyan’s wrist to his palm, then continuing to slide further down.

“Qin Zhiyan, please.” Qing Xia’s tears finally rolled down in large drops. She shook her head frantically, pleading incoherently in mournful tones, every teardrop striking Qin Zhiyan’s face.

“Yima’er means longevity.” Qin Zhiyan smiled faintly, then slowly closed his eyes.

Their cold fingertips touched lightly, as if electric current surged and transmitted between them, like meteors briefly converging. But it was only a brief convergence – after the momentary warmth, their figures instantly parted ways, growing farther and farther apart.

Qin Zhiyan’s body fell like a broken butterfly toward the pitch-black hole!

Who holds your hand tightly in the darkness?

Who stands beside you in suffering?

Who abandons everything in despair, sinking alone, leaving all hope of life to you?

“Qin Zhiyan!”

The hoarse, desperate cry echoed in the empty, deathly silent black hole. From now on, in all of heaven and earth, there would never again be such a person to accompany you.

Searching high and low through heaven and hell, never again would you find that faint blue robe!

“Qin Zhiyan!” Qing Xia gripped the dagger tightly, hanging suspended in midair, her garments flying and black hair streaming as she howled mournfully at the sky.

With a bang, the sound of a body heavily striking the ground suddenly came. Countless dust particles shot skyward, thrown up high. Qing Xia closed her eyes tightly, almost hearing the sound of those venomous snakes biting and tearing at Qin Zhiyan’s flesh and blood.

Massive dizziness attacked her mind. Endless grief and despair surged over her chest like a tide, like a thousand-ton boulder pressing heavily on her heart, ten thousand thorns piercing through her heart simultaneously. In her daze, that thin face appeared before her once again.

“Don’t be afraid,” those tranquil eyes looked at her gently. “I will definitely take you out of here.”

I will definitely take you out of here.

“Qin Zhiyan! You liar!” Qing Xia suddenly screamed harshly into the dark hole bottom, tears uncontrollably rolling down in large drops from her eye sockets, her pale face completely bloodless. “You liar! I won’t let this go! I won’t let this go!”

Her free hand grabbed the grappling hook from her waist and hurled it toward the opening overhead. With a click, it found purchase, and the rope hung straight down.

Qing Xia’s figure instantly became like an agile wildcat, wrapping her legs around the rope, gripping it skillfully with both hands, and rapidly climbing upward.

Her mind was completely blank. She couldn’t see the gold everywhere, couldn’t see the ice filling the room, couldn’t even see the raging fires. She just ran frantically back the way they had come, biting her lower lip tightly, her eye sockets completely bloodshot. The image of Qin Zhiyan’s thin body being devoured by venomous snakes kept appearing before her eyes – beneath the cold white bones were those eyes as distant as far mountains. Infinite terror, like massive fierce tides, swept over her entire heart.

“We will definitely leave this place!” Like self-hypnosis, she frantically repeated this to herself over and over. Qing Xia took off her outer garment and used the soaking wet clothing to bind a massive burning pillar. The pillar was very thick, comparable to a grown man’s waist. With tears streaking her face, Qing Xia dragged that pillar and ran frantically toward the Earth Shrine.

“Bang!” With an earth-shaking roar, the heavy pillar was hurled into the deep black hole. Qing Xia wiped away her tears, hung her grappling hook on the palace railings in the Earth Shrine, then tied several hooks together and slid down along the rope.

“We will definitely leave this place.”

In the pitch darkness, the pale woman whispered: “Even if it’s just your corpse, it must come out with me!”

Hissing sounds swept over like an overwhelming tide. Qing Xia drew her long sword from her waist and, listening to the sound to locate her target, cut off a hideous snake head with one strike. Foul-smelling fresh blood spurted onto Qing Xia’s cheeks with a splash. The snake coiled and fell to the ground, its headless body still convulsing frantically. As soon as she landed, countless venomous snakes desperately surged toward her. Qing Xia moved agilely, leaping to land beside the blazing pillar. The snake colony, fearing the fierce flames, all coiled around the perimeter but dared not approach.

“Qin Zhiyan! Qin Zhiyan!” Qing Xia screamed in a broken voice, her voice shattered and sharp as a ghost’s wail. But within a radius of less than fifty paces, apart from the hissing of snakes, where was any trace of Qin Zhiyan?

Qing Xia’s eyes swept over the densely packed snake colony layered who knows how deep. Her brows furrowed, and she suddenly displayed divine might, grabbing one end of the pillar and actually wielding it as she charged toward those giant snakes.

Venomous snakes fear fire and fled in panic.

Not on the left, not on the right, not in the corners, nowhere at all.

The more Qing Xia ran, the more the despair in her heart expanded. She was like a madwoman, her eyes completely bloodshot. In such a large black hole with nothing but venomous snakes, where could Qin Zhiyan have gone? Where were his remains?

Her cold gaze suddenly fell upon a blue giant python. The python, thick as a small tree, actually trembled slightly under Qing Xia’s stare. Its massive belly had a conspicuous bulge underneath, round and completely disproportionate to its body.

“Did you eat him?” Qing Xia suddenly asked word by word in a low voice, her tone grim and emotionless. However, in such an environment, it sounded like a vengeful ghost from hell, carrying a flavor even more vicious than these venomous snakes.

“You ate him!” No longer a question, but a definitive statement. Massive hatred suddenly surged up. A vicious look flashed across the woman’s eyes, sharp as ice and snow. Qing Xia suddenly opened her eyes wide, her fingernails emerging from her bloody palms. She grabbed the burning pillar and smashed it down hard on that large snake.

The other snake colonies fled in panic like a tide. The pillar struck the python right at its seven-inch vital point on the neck. The python shrieked harshly, roaring hideously with blood-red, sinister eyes. Its massive snake head suddenly opened wide, and its bloody maw turned to bite at Qing Xia. Its heavy tail swept through the air and struck Qing Xia heavily on the back with a bang.

Qing Xia immediately stumbled, blood flowing from the corners of her lips. Her entire body was covered in foul-smelling fresh blood, her hair disheveled, wearing tattered robes whose original color could no longer be distinguished. She looked exactly like a vengeful soul from hell demanding lives as she suddenly pounced on that hideously roaring giant python!

Her long sword swept out, blood light shot skyward, and the massive snake head was suddenly severed.

Fresh blood splattered everywhere, sprinkling on Qing Xia’s chest. The snake’s tail swept frantically through the air, raising huge clouds of dust, but Qing Xia paid no attention. Holding her sword, she leaped onto the snake’s body and thrust her sword hard into the giant snake’s belly!

A foul stench rose skyward. Countless streams of putrid blood sprayed out in a massive cloud of blood mist. Qing Xia reached out her pale hand and immediately plunged it into the disgusting snake’s belly!

“Qin Zhiyan! Come out!”

Qing Xia roared once and pulled out handfuls of intestines and internal organs. Knowing the location was wrong, Qing Xia picked up her long sword again and split that snake belly in half from head to tail!

“Qin Zhiyan! Come out!”

Nothing, nothing, still nothing!

Qing Xia’s voice grew increasingly panicked, carrying enormous terror and despair. In the putrid esophagus were whole black-furred rats – where was any trace of Qin Zhiyan? Large tears fell in drops.

White traces flowed down her blood-stained cheeks. The fire on the pillar was about to be extinguished, but not a single snake from the surrounding colony waiting for an opportunity dared to rush forward. They cowered, watching that crazed woman, not daring to make the slightest move.

The giant python had long since died completely. Qing Xia knelt on the ground, gradually calming down. She looked at her hands stained with fresh blood, her breathing gradually becoming heavy and rapid. Tears struck the ground in large drops. Nothing, nothing, nowhere at all. Her body and legs were covered with internal organs and intestines pulled from the python’s body, along with disgusting undigested food. But there was not the slightest trace of Qin Zhiyan.

She suddenly slowly turned her head back, seeming already numb. Her voice was low and hoarse, carrying a trace of desperate pain as she looked at that group of restless snakes.

“Was it you?” The woman’s voice was very light, as if afraid of frightening someone, and also as if afraid of receiving a definitive answer. Her ethereal voice slowly rang out in the dark snake den. The woman’s eyes were bright, her pale cheeks stained with the giant snake’s fresh blood as she asked softly: “Was it you? Did you divide him up and eat him?”