Everyone else was standing, but at the back of the crowd, two people sat. However, Yélu Zhe understood that this wasn’t the reason he had noticed them. What truly drew his immediate attention was that man’s distinctive movements and bearing. Like him, all the other nobles from Lin Province noticed that man first at a glance.

At the rear of that group, two people were playing chess. One appeared neither old nor middle-aged, with an aged countenance but jet-black hair. The other seemed neither young nor elderly, with refined profile and long hair that was silver-white, flowing with the light of snow and moon under the sunlight.

He wore ordinary white hemp cloth, looking similar to those dressed as shop assistants, with his sleeves slightly stained with oil. Yet somehow, when one looked at him, it seemed this outfit appeared beautiful on him—and was most beautiful.

He lowered his eyes slightly, seemingly absorbed in the chess game. The white piece between his fingers gleamed with lustrous light, making his fingernails appear completely bloodless.

No one could see his face clearly, only the silver-white strands cascading over his shoulders, revealing half a profile as exquisite as carved jade. His long eyelashes curved like a dark moon, serene and peaceful, yet giving an impression of remoteness.

Yélu Zhe couldn’t help but stare at his movements, always feeling something strange about them.

After watching for quite some time, he realized this person’s entire body seemed somewhat stiff. From his sudden appearance here until now, his whole body had never made any muscle-engaging movements. Even when placing chess pieces, his entire hand remained motionless, even his fingers didn’t move—only his fingertips pushed gently. When needing to place pieces farther away, he would lightly flick his fingertips.

Martial artists emphasized whole-body coordination and qi circulation. Normally, one movement should engage the entire body. Such a posture was indescribably strange.

As he watched intently, the white-haired man suddenly turned his eyes and glanced at him indifferently.

This glance was like flying snow in midsummer, like icy springs cascading from heaven. He felt his entire body turn cold, his whole being feeling as if pierced by ice picks.

Then he heard the black-haired elder ask, “How should we handle this?”

The white-haired man replied nonchalantly, “Send them to Di Ge’s convoy escorting exiled criminals.”

Yélu Zhe’s heart jolted. Glancing at those tall and short men, women, elderly and young people, they still wore those expressions of indifference tinged with slight excitement. Each had clear, cold eyes that couldn’t reflect the noise and bustle of the mortal world.

Instinctive coldness warned him these people came with ill intent, and moreover, his group very likely wasn’t their match.

“Retreat! Retreat immediately!” He suddenly grabbed the two young men beside him and pulled them backward.

Most present today were sons of prominent families from Lin Province, plus noble descendants from Yu Kingdom’s capital, Da Du. As a local landlord from the Yélu clan, he had protective responsibilities and absolutely couldn’t afford any mishaps.

The people he grabbed lacked his keen perception and still laughed loudly, “Ha, this group looks familiar—weren’t they the ones setting up stalls on Jiuhou Street earlier? What, want to set up here and have us gentlemen reward you with money? Hahaha…”

“Go!” Yélu Zhe couldn’t be bothered to refute them, grabbing one in each hand and dragging them backward.

“Is it necessary? Aren’t they just a few petty thieves disguised as common folk? Look how scared you are?” The person he grabbed remained nonchalant, shaking off Yélu Zhe and pointing at a youth’s nose while laughing, “Hey, even highway robbery should keep your eyes open. Don’t you know our reputation? Well, just turned bandit? Come, grandfather will count to three—make grandfather a bowl of wontons and I’ll spare you… Eh, why is it getting cold…” He stopped in bewilderment, seeing that the previously green shrubs under sunlight had somehow acquired a layer of snow-white, sparkling luster. People around were already rubbing their arms, shivering as they looked at the sky, not understanding how this brilliant April day had suddenly become cold as winter.

Yélu Zhe’s expression changed dramatically, becoming even more ashen than before. He released his grip, no longer caring about protecting these precious young masters, and darted away.

But it was already too late.

Then he heard someone say lazily, “Fine, let’s eat wontons.”

Before the voice finished, swoosh swoosh—a series of sharp sounds rang out. Cold qi erupted from all directions, as if an ice cavern had suddenly crashed overhead. The cold was so intense it seemed all blood would freeze in an instant. Yélu Zhe heard thud thud sounds behind him—bodies hitting the ground continuously. It sounded exactly like dropping wontons into a pot one by one. The sounds came extremely fast, clearly meeting no resistance—no screams, no cries of anguish, only boundless spreading coldness. He could no longer see the surrounding scenery or overhead sunlight clearly. The clash of hot and cold produced vast white mist. In such bone-piercing cold mist, listening to those continuous thudding sounds truly made one feel like a steaming wonton in a boiling pot. Yélu Zhe had never known that battles without screams could be so terrifying. Heaven and earth seemed to have suddenly changed spaces—shadowy and pale throughout, and he didn’t know where he was.

Soon it became quiet behind him. Not daring to look back, he ran desperately, hoping only to escape the range of cold mist. However, his foot slipped on something that rolled, and he fell to the ground with a bang, actually sliding far on that rolling object. Suddenly his vision brightened as if breaking through fog. His heart filled with joy, thinking his luck was good—he’d run far and finally escaped danger. However, when he forced open his frost-sealed eyes, he saw the small hill that had been just steps away from him. The green hillside had completely turned silver-white, along with the surrounding willows and flowers—suddenly all frost-white. Heavy silver icicles hung from willow branches, frozen together with the frost grass on the ground. Where there was no grass, the ground showed frozen black. The prosperous April day had turned into an ink painting of ice and frost in the blink of an eye.

He made ah-ah sounds from his throat, his hot breath misting his vision.

At this moment, coldness spread from his heart throughout his body—such coldness, wasn’t this exactly the style of Nine Heavens Gate? He’d seen his family’s pride, Third Young Master, take action with similar sunny-day flying snow and bone-penetrating cold. No, no—Third Young Master’s actions were far from having such overwhelming power. But Nine Heavens Gate had always been on good terms with the Yélu family. Why would they suddenly attack them…

He gradually lost the ability to think. The cold froze all consciousness. In his last moment of clarity, he felt someone walking over, casually picking him up and tossing him while laughing, “What a big bowl of wontons!”

…

The mist gradually dispersed. Ice and frost quickly receded under sunlight. Green grass blades and willow branches regained their color. Heaven and earth seemed to return to spring in an instant.

Those young masters had already been rolled into snow-white wontons, their clothes frozen together by frost. The tall shop assistants looked disgusted as they pinched their collars with fingers, swinging them in their hands. When they occasionally bumped together, they clinked like popsicles.

The two chess players continued their game. The black-haired elder instructed without looking up, “Wait until the freezing thaws, then send them to Di Ge’s escort convoy camp.”

His tone sounded like instructing to wait for wontons to thaw before putting them in the pot.

The white-haired man never spoke, his expression light and indifferent. Sunlight shining on his nose tip also sparkled like frost. His eyes were black and deep—the dark night at the end of starlight.

The disciples carried the people away. The black-haired elder said cheerfully, “You made progress today.”

The white-haired man smiled faintly.

“A full year, and finally able to move, though only your fingers.” The elder’s expression showed slight melancholy. “Starting tomorrow, we can begin recovery training.”

The white-haired man remained without joy or anger, saying, “We’ll probably need to change locations.”

“It’s time to change. They’re all getting bored.” The elder placed another piece, glancing at the group of naturally composed men, women, elderly and young. “They look much more normal now, but also less and less like our family’s people.”

“What should our family’s people be like?” The white-haired man casually placed a piece.

The elder paused, after a long while sighing softly, “True. After so many years, we’re no longer the Dragon family of old. Compared to when we first emerged—when this group was half-mad and half-foolish—now they’re much better, though still somewhat foolish.”

The white-haired man smiled slightly.

The group of young assistants listened to their conversation with indifferent expressions, though several older ones showed wistful looks in their eyes.

Originally, when they first emerged from the snow mountain lake bottom, hearing they must wander the Great Wilderness for training, everyone opposed it. The Dragon Ying clan had lived in seclusion for generations, never involving themselves in worldly affairs. How could they deign to associate with mortals? How could they be tainted by human concerns?

However, looking back at those disciples then—where was even a trace of Dragon Ying clan bearing? After years of underground confinement, without seeing outsiders or understanding worldly matters, many had become wooden and taciturn, with slow thinking and vacant gazes, nearly losing basic communication abilities. Human emotions had become indifferent. Moreover, due to years of suppressed living, they couldn’t adapt to the suddenly relaxed and free atmosphere. The disciples were mentally tense and mutually repulsive. Even small conflicts could trigger bloody incidents, nearly causing fatal accidents.

Ordinary people might have been better, but the Dragon family’s education of disciples had always emphasized pure hearts, few desires, cold detachment and self-control. The dual pressure of personality and environment led to dangerous potential character traits in this generation of disciples. Until they were rescued, someone with clear vision pointed out that the Dragon Ying clan must change—only then came the later wandering in the mortal world.

Experiencing noise and bustle, crowds, and the strange affairs of human world could gradually warm hearts numbed by snow mountains and recover the vitality belonging to humans.

Throughout their journey, this group also continuously sought famous medicinal swamps for treatment—the bloodline poison of the Dragon Ying clan was an unsolvable problem. The family’s former residence had specialized medicines for suppression, but they’d been destroyed by Xu Pingran. Now, to continue the generations, they needed more methods.

The white-haired man looked at those men, slight amusement showing in his eyes. Originally this group wouldn’t have become like this, but when passing through Meng Kingdom, they encountered Master Ziwei. The old fellow was very interested in these wooden Dragon Ying clan disciples and jumped out to “tutor” them for several days. After that, they became unstoppable—people always go from one extreme to another.

Thinking of Ziwei reminded him of Yélu Xunru, yet he hadn’t seen her beside Ziwei. The old fellow’s expression when mentioning her was also strange, unwilling to explain Yélu Xunru’s current situation or return to Jing Hengbo’s side, clearly having unspeakable difficulties.

From Ziwei’s attitude, he thought of himself and couldn’t help sighing softly.

How much in this world was beyond one’s control, how much was helpless.

When ascending the snow mountain, he was already at his limit. The needle in his heart, though shattered by borrowing Murong Zhen’s assassination, hadn’t completely emerged from his body. Instead, it instantly traveled throughout his body. Although saving his relatives later didn’t require direct action—winning purely through strategy—the mental energy expended before and after made him unable to suppress his injuries and poison anymore. When leading the entire clan away from the snow mountain, those fragments had blocked his meridians throughout his body. He once thought he would die. Later, the entire clan rescued him, using every method to snatch back a thread of life. But at that time, he could no longer move his entire body, nearly becoming a cripple.

That was a period of struggling on the line between life and death day and night. He knew he could die at any moment. In occasional lucid intervals, he’d hear news of her spectacular assault on Di Ge, which both comforted and worried him. Sometimes in delirium, he would murmur about going to her, accompanying her as before, watching the Great Wilderness’s mysteries and court struggles together. However, when daylight clearly brightened before his eyes, he knew it wasn’t possible.

If she saw him in that state, if she saw his precarious condition, she would never again have heart for warfare or for Di Ge. In such circumstances, distraction could very likely bring death to her and countless innocent soldiers.

He could no longer help her grow stronger, but he absolutely couldn’t become her weakness. Since meeting her, everything had been paving the way for her strength. How could he cause her downfall at the moment closest to the goal?

When he slightly escaped danger, he noticed his clansmen—due to innate personality and martial arts limitations, plus years of underground confinement—had nearly become a group of madmen. From that moment, he argued against all opposition, leading his clansmen across the Great Wilderness, seeking opportunities to save himself and recover his people.

His finger tapped lightly on the white piece—one year, one month and ten days. He had been separated from her for one year, one month and ten days. For one year and one month of that time, he couldn’t move even one finger. Only in the recent ten days had he begun recovering finger function. What he could do now was merely play chess and slightly tilt the strainer in the soup pot to scoop up wontons.

Just now she frantically searched at the stall while he gazed at her from behind it.

She stood lost and confused at the stall while he made wontons behind her.

The identification bead in her hand had been detected by him the moment it approached. The blood guide was something that had seeped into the bloodstream and couldn’t be removed, but he could control his whole-body qi and blood, making it fluctuate and thus causing the bead to react.

Jing Hengbo would see the blood thread’s movement, but that movement had no directional indication because he actually still hadn’t moved—only his circulating qi and blood moved. Being severely injured and ill, his qi and blood reactions differed from others.

In that instant, facing the steaming soup pot with his back to her, he could still feel behind him was an island in the human current.

She stood in the crowd, her back forming a solitary line.

She was the most brilliant and radiant woman in his heart, the blooming flowers and rosy clouds filling the sky throughout the Great Wilderness. Yet at that moment, he could only watch helplessly as loneliness and solitude devoured her, the vast flow of heaven and earth merely a black hole-like background.

His heart ached slightly, his face paling.

The black-haired elder suddenly glanced at him, placing his black piece with a snap. “Earlier I saw Mingzhu.”

“Yes.” His tone held three parts respect. This was his uncle, the sole surviving elder of the previous generation of the Dragon Ying clan. During years of poisoning and confinement, the continuous deaths of relatives and the oppressive dark environment repeatedly brought the Dragon family to the brink of extinction. Thanks to Long Zhai’s steady composure, comforting disciples and constantly maneuvering with Xu Pingran, even finding opportunities to transmit information outside, he provided spider-web clues that enabled him to finally rescue the entire clan. It could be said this old man sustained the Dragon family’s spirit and finally endured to this day of freedom. After he rescued the entire clan and nearly died, it was again this uncle who fully exerted himself to save his life. When he slightly recovered, this uncle entrusted him with clan affairs—not shirking responsibility, but hoping to burden him with family duties and encourage him to persist in living for the clan’s sake.

His birth parents died early. He never understood familial affection throughout his life, and saving the entire clan was merely to resolve his body’s poison. However, by now he finally understood the warm meaning of kinship’s existence.

“When Xu Pingran descended the snow mountain wanting to take a Dragon family member as hostage, I feared she intended to target you. I used a scheme to send Mingzhu, hoping that if they truly met, Mingzhu could preserve your life with her death. I didn’t expect this child to have such fortune, returning safely unharmed. Since you’ve seen her, why not let her return?”

He smiled slightly. “She has more important things to do.”

Long Zhai stopped his hand, gazing at him fixedly. “Mingzhu is your medicine vessel. Twenty-plus years of cultivation were all for you. Your current condition is so terrible—this is precisely when you need her most urgently. Her being by your side is the most important thing.”

He smiled without speaking.

But Long Zhai wouldn’t give up.

“Even if you don’t want her now, you can’t casually abandon her. As a medicine vessel, you should understand how much suffering she’s endured. She had to undergo bone and marrow cleansing from age three, taste all poisons under heaven from age five, training her body into a furnace for medicines and poisons—not to mention the various harsh training as a top-level guardian, always staying in the worst environments, always accepting the most cruel challenges. For you, she had to be perfectly strong, fearing no injuries or poisons, with no flaws anywhere on her body. But all perfection in this world has a price. Through such training, her body will have fatal hidden dangers. Only by being with you can both you and she be saved and complete—only then can you live well.” His voice gradually became stern. “And she, waiting until today, sacrificing everything—if she can’t be with you, you and the Dragon Ying clan will forever owe her.”