An ivory tusk from a Jiao’s mouth?

Before Baili Weisheng could even make sense of what Ziqing meant by that, both Jun Beiyue and Xuanyuan Lige beside him grabbed hold of Ziqing’s hand almost simultaneously.

Only, in the very next instant, Xuanyuan Lige released his grip once more.

“Absolutely not!” Jun Beiyue said, his tone deadly serious.

There was no question — Ziqing intended to try jumping into the sea of fire, and something this reckless, he simply would not allow. This was a raging inferno, after all, nothing else — there would be no room for regret, no chance to undo it, none whatsoever!

“Then can any of you think of a better plan?” Ziqing asked, turning to glance back — behind them, there was no path left at all anymore.

Throughout this entire journey, there had only ever been one choice available to them: no matter what lay ahead, they had to press forward, resolutely, without hesitation.

At her question, Xuanyuan Lige and Baili Weisheng exchanged a glance, saying nothing, the joking finally set aside — because the situation truly was this dire.

But to everyone’s surprise, Jun Beiyue spoke up. “I have one.”

Ziqing’s brow furrowed — and then, to her astonishment, Jun Beiyue tightened his grip on her hand and said, with utter seriousness, “I’ll jump in together with you.”

Ziqing’s heart skipped, and she couldn’t help but cry out in alarm, “Have you lost your mind!”

“If you’re the exception, then being with you, I’ll become the exception too. And if you’re not — well, if we die together, perhaps in our next life, we’ll be born together instead.”

These were, unmistakably, words of love — and yet Jun Beiyue spoke them with such gravity, such utter seriousness.

Ziqing’s heart swelled with a confusing mixture of warmth and aching pressure all at once, utterly unsure what to do or say.

And just then, Baili Weisheng reached out and boldly took hold of her right hand — not merely holding it, but gripping it firmly, giving her a faint smile, before extending his other hand toward Xuanyuan Lige.

Xuanyuan Lige’s expression, once so grave, gradually softened, a look of genuine honor crossing his face as he took Baili Weisheng’s hand as well, each of their grips tightening around the other, so firmly it ached — but perhaps that very ache was what would make this moment unforgettable.

Facing life and death together, hand in hand — they were no saints, carrying no grand, noble ideals, no fearless embrace of death. They were simply a group of friends who, having worked through their share of grievances and rivalries, had still managed to stand together, still chose to stand together, trusting one another completely.

Xinyun watched from the side, seeing Ziqing held between the three men, and found the scene, strangely, not the least bit awkward — rather, it felt genuinely warm.

As a woman herself, Xinyun could plainly see the protective affection Baili Weisheng and Xuanyuan Lige both held for Han Ziqing — something more than mere friendship, yet not quite romantic love either.

What manner of magnanimity, what breadth of character, must Han Ziqing’s own husband possess, to be able to stand alongside his former rivals in love this way? And what depth of trust must he hold, to allow his wife to remain friends with men who had once loved her themselves?

And Han Ziqing herself — how had she managed to carry herself with such composure, such untroubled ease, confident enough in her own integrity to never fear how it might look to others?

Watching Baili Weisheng and Xuanyuan Lige, Xinyun found herself understanding these two men even less than before. Why were they so happy, so content, showing no trace of sorrow, no trace of jealousy at all?

Just as Xinyun stood there, lost in thought, Ziqing suddenly leaned forward, and in an instant, the three men beside her followed suit, all four of them, hands clasped together, leaping into the fiery pit almost as one!

To brave fire and water both — surely, this was exactly what that meant.

Watching their figures vanish into the sea of flames, Xinyun felt a sudden wave of desolation wash over her — only now did she truly realize that they really had treated her as though she weren’t even there at all, had well and truly forgotten her.

In truth, some small part of her had wanted to leap in together with them, had wanted, if only a little, to share in whatever fate awaited them, together.

And yet, they had overlooked her so completely, so thoroughly!

The moment their figures vanished into the flames, Ziqing felt a wave of intense heat wash over her entire body — and yet, strangely, there was no burning sensation at all. But before she could even begin to adjust, all at once, without any warning whatsoever, the flames surrounding them simply vanished entirely!

Not even the faintest trace remained. Moments ago, everything had felt scorching hot — and now, in an instant, even the heat itself was gone entirely!

Their surroundings had returned to the perfectly ordinary appearance of a mountain summit once more, flowers and grass and trees all around, everything brimming with life.

Ziqing looked at Jun Beiyue, then at Baili Weisheng and Xuanyuan Lige, and couldn’t help but let the corners of her mouth curl upward, breaking into a smile so sweet, so radiant!

Her eyes widened, gaze flickering back and forth between the three men. Though she’d held some measure of confidence in her heart when they’d leapt, now that her guess had proven true, she still found herself utterly astonished. “A miracle?”

“Silly girl!” Jun Beiyue said, doting, reaching out to gently smooth her bangs, smiling. “The exception!”

Ziqing’s smile grew even more radiant with happiness. Gazing ahead toward the fourth mountain in the distance, she asked, “Shall we keep going, or rest first?”

“Keep going! Straight through to the fifth mountain, all in one go!” Baili Weisheng said seriously.

“Agreed!” Ziqing answered at once.

There was no reason to linger in a place already conquered. Ahead lay the fourth mountain, drawing them ever closer to their destination — who could possibly bring themselves to rest now?

But this time, they didn’t manage to reach the summit so smoothly.

They’d guessed correctly that heavy snow would appear on the fourth mountain — but none of them had anticipated it would take quite this particular form.

Past the midpoint, they hadn’t walked much farther before snow began appearing around them, and the higher they climbed, the deeper the snow grew, until by evening, they found themselves deep within a snow-covered mountain, nothing but white snow stretching in every direction, nothing else at all.

And this particular mountain seemed to have no end at all. Though they could clearly see the summit ahead, no matter how far they climbed, they never seemed to draw any closer — as though the distance between them and the peak simply never changed at all.

Jun Beiyue came to a stop and said flatly, “Let’s not keep going. We’ll never reach it this way, and continuing on will only exhaust our strength for nothing.”

Jun Beiyue’s words served as a wake-up call for everyone. Never reaching the summit wasn’t the real issue — the real issue was that night was falling, and in this bitter cold, once their bodies’ stored warmth ran out entirely, the danger would become very real indeed.

Everyone came to a halt, finding a spot to rest. Though they sat down, none of them dared remain seated too long, periodically rising to stretch and move, keeping their blood flowing, staying alert.

Out in the snow, the greatest danger of all was drifting unknowingly into sleep — and once that happened, one might never wake up again.

The temperature dropped even further at night, visibility grew poorer as well, and no one dared move about carelessly, forced instead to do everything they could to conserve what body heat remained, waiting for the sun to rise the next morning before deciding what to do next.

But before long, the sky began to release a thin, feathery dusting of snow — adding insult to injury, quite literally.

Ziqing and the others took turns standing and sitting, striking up whatever lively conversation topics they could think of, to keep everyone alert, to keep anyone from dozing off.

Only, whenever Baili Weisheng wasn’t staying quiet, the moment he brought up a new topic, it had a way of jolting everyone wide awake instantly. This time, he said, “Hey, Jun Beiyue, let’s talk about a marriage arrangement.”

A marriage arrangement?

Not only was Jun Beiyue taken aback, but Ziqing turned to look over as well — what on earth was this fellow getting at? What could he possibly have to do with the words “marriage arrangement”?

“The marriage between your little Xiong Bao and my little Baili Xiaosheng, of course. Ha, those two kids weren’t exactly betrothed before birth, but they might as well have grown up together as childhood sweethearts. You both know what kind of child she is, and as for me, well, you both know what sort of in-law I’d make…”

As Baili Weisheng spoke, grinning the whole while, Ziqing and Jun Beiyue simply stared at him, utterly dumbfounded.

Finally, Ziqing couldn’t hold back any longer. “You irritating scholar — don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that Baili Xiaosheng is my Xiong Bao’s sworn older sister?”