Great winds swept through, wild leaves danced in frenzied spirals, carrying up a thousand layers of sand, uprooting countless wild grasses from the ground — this was the northern Luzhou, a cold and bitter land.

Ye Fan and the others had crossed the strait and traveled northwest to arrive here. They paid little mind to the events unfolding behind them, yet news still reached their ears from time to time: the Golden Crow clan had been catastrophically broken, its many powerful experts flapping their wings in desperate flight, fleeing to the ends of the earth. The entire world was in shock.

No one could have imagined that what had once been a mere infant had grown to this point — returning from years of exile beyond the domain, killing Golden Crow members until their bones were piled into mountains.

Ye Tong had carved out a fearsome name for himself across the Purple Subtlety Star, and all of it was nothing more than seeking vengeance for his parents. Every single person who had struck out that day fell within the scope of his hunt.

A bloodstained sky, a killing-soaked earth — rivers of blood flowed through the Golden Crow clan, feathers fallen and scattered, withering away.

All of Shenzhou, Hezhou, and Luzhou erupted in uproar. An entire supreme great clan had collapsed like this, its ancestral grounds ransacked by others — a shock that reverberated throughout the entire world.

The Golden Crow clan is finished. That was the consensus of the people.

And on that same day, many took advantage of the fallen, striking out in succession. Various great powers and certain formidable unaffiliated cultivators specifically targeted isolated Golden Crow members, driving the clan nearly to extinction. As for the Golden Crow clan’s assets scattered throughout the various lands, naturally they were carved up cleanly. This was reality — a mighty tiger falls, and the wolves rise together. They swarm and attack as one, and a once-towering powerful clan is consumed and extinguished.

The Golden Crow King had his head personally severed by Ye Tong, and was placed before the ruins of the Solar Sacred Court as a blood sacrifice to the aggrieved souls. On that day, Ye Tong broke down in tears — years of blood debt, the fury long suppressed within his heart, and all his profound grief poured out at once.

In the eastern Shenzhou, waves of uproar crashed without end. The northern Luzhou was equally turbulent. People moved the moment they heard the wind, rushing forth to fish in troubled waters. Yet all of this had nothing to do with Ye Fan and Li Tian. No one paid them any attention.

With the Golden Crow clan’s destruction imminent, there was no need for their involvement or attention. Finding Xiao Nannan was what mattered most.

Yet even so, some who had witnessed them display their might began tracking their movements afterward, vaguely sensing that something was off about these three, and wanting to discern what they were truly after.

In this world, none could say how many eyes were watching the shifting tides of circumstance.

“Did these people grow a dog’s nose? They actually want to trail us!” Li Tian said.

In this world, very few could track the three of them — they could shake anyone off in an instant. But that was no defense against persistent and determined minds. Some great powers quietly investigated, tracing the path they had taken over the preceding days, and upon discovering they had traveled steadily northwest, all became deeply suspicious.

The north wind swept the earth and bent the pale grasses low. In the northwest, some places were perpetually dusted with scattered snowflakes.

With every step forward, Ye Fan’s brow furrowed more tightly. Could Xiao Nannan — with her frail little body — really be surviving in this harsh land? It made his heart ache.

“Then again, only in the cold and bitter lands could she evade those holy sects. The richer the spiritual energy, the more dangerous the place would be,” Yan Yixi said.

How had Xiao Nannan, all on her own, wandered to such a remote and faraway place? It was baffling — impossible to explain. The little unfortunate one carried too many secrets within her.

“Is that little girl really so special, to have you both this worried?” the divine child muttered, curling his lip.

“Stop running your mouth, you overgrown squash — no one’s treating you as mute,” Li Tian said, habitually landing a smack on his backside.

“You lewd scoundrel, I’m keeping count — that’s the one hundred and fifth time. You’ll regret it one day!” the little chubby boy said indignantly.

Mountain ranges rose and fell around them. Some regions were blanketed in white snow, others still lush and green — such was the northern land, where even harsh and bitter territories varied from place to place. The peaks were inevitably capped in silver-white, and only below the mountain’s waist would green begin to appear — though at times even that would be completely buried beneath snowfall.

Passing through a small town, Ye Fan spotted a child begging on the street and immediately rushed over — only to be deeply disappointed. Though she was approximately the right age, she was not the same person. He left some food behind and quietly slipped her some money and valuables as well, then withdrew without a word.

In the northern regions, resources were scarce and the lives of common people were grueling — far removed from the warmth and plenty of the southern lands. Wanderers were everywhere, all heading south.

Half a month later, they entered an icy plain. It was even colder here, entirely a world of northern splendor, with howling winds cutting through everything.

Of course, even in the most bitterly cold places there were certain special spots — springs of spiritual energy bubbling forth, melting the harsh ice and snow into streams and forming a series of oases where vegetation managed to grow.

By the time they reached this point, Ye Fan’s brow was locked even more tightly than before.

Caw!

In the distance, snow-white ice ravens wheeled and danced through the sky — a peculiar type of harbinger bird, similar to crows but pure white all over, their cries identical in sound.

A wild beast had died, drawing several hundred of these birds. They pecked at the frozen flesh and fed on the rotting bones. The scene was grim and bloody.

“These harbinger birds carry demonic energy. Some of the individual ones are close to reaching spiritual transformation. The bitterly cold lands breed strange wild beasts and demonic birds — even ordinary people can kill them, yet actually living in this kind of environment is truly no easy matter,” Yan Yixi said.

Along the way, they had seen the hardship of life in harsh lands. Whether a piece of land was fertile or barren was directly tied to the survival of the people who lived upon it.

“Some people really have a talent for stirring up trouble. Even without knowing what we’re after, they’ve dispatched this many people — all likewise heading northwest. Over the past few days, quite a number of cultivators have been appearing one after another.”

“It seems that finding Xiao Nannan will not go smoothly — these people have caught the scent of something, and may have guessed part of the truth.”

Though some had also felt their way to this place, Ye Fan and the others were not overly concerned. They felt nothing but distaste — this pack truly had grown themselves a set of dog noses.

“The immortal burial ground of Luzhou was left by the ancestors of our sect — outsiders are forbidden from approaching.” Someone in the north had keenly sensed that something was afoot and sternly rebuked the outside powers, ordering them not to come near, making an issue of a so-called “immortal burial ground of Luzhou” that had been invented out of thin air.

Naturally, this had no effect — and in fact drew even more people.

Some great powers were simply taking a chance, dispatching their forces on the off chance they might stumble upon a divine treasury. If they could uncover one, the trip would have been more than worth it.

“Come and get me! Come and get me! Chase me!”

This was a desolate corner of the northwest — a small village settlement, where snow fell in flurries. Some children dressed in animal hides were running through the snow, chasing one another in play.

These children, having been born in a harsh land, were all sturdy and agile. Not a single one had been raised in pampered comfort. Some of the older children even carried small wooden bows on their backs and had hunted down snow hares.

In the distance, before the village gate, a solitary little figure appeared — watching the children playing inside the settlement, her expression a mixture of longing and faint apprehension.

She was covered in filth from head to toe, her little clothes long since worn to pieces — a genuine little beggar child, who must have tumbled over countless times in the ice and snow, for her body was encrusted with shards of ice.

Her small face had been reddened by the cold, her entire being ragged and tattered, a picture of heartbreaking misery. Only her large eyes remained clear and bright, glowing with a look of yearning as she gazed wistfully at the children inside the settlement.

“The little beggar is back again…” one child called out.

All the children turned at once, staring at the little girl who appeared to be around three years old, fixing their gazes on her for a long while.

“Don’t play with her!” an older boy shouted.

“Little beggar, stop coming here — we won’t be giving you any food. Just go away!” several others called out.

“Get lost!” many more chimed in.

The little girl of around three lowered her head in hurt, staring down at her worn and tattered little shoes. Tears brimmed in her eyes as she said quietly, “I’m not here for food. I just wanted to play with you.”

“We won’t play with you — you’re a monster!” an older girl said angrily.

“Nannan is not a monster. I’m a person,” the little girl said, aggrieved, her head drooping even lower, tears trembling at the edges of her eyes.

“Still say you’re not a monster? Grandfather Xu and Grandmother took you in, and after nearly ten years you still haven’t grown a bit. Children are supposed to care for their parents in old age, but both those old people died first — and you haven’t changed in the slightest. You’re the one who killed Grandfather Xu and Grandmother,” an older boy said hotly.

“Nannan didn’t hurt Grandfather and Grandmother. She really didn’t,” the little girl shook her head, tears falling, standing alone and isolated in the snow.

“Just go away — you’re nothing but a monster. You’re the one who killed the two old people, Grandfather Xu and his wife. Just leave!” many called out.

“You shouldn’t be so cruel to her — the little beggar is pitiful. She wandered to our settlement all those years ago, and if you drive her out now, she’ll freeze to death or starve to death,” a girl who was not particularly old said.

“Xiaocao, don’t go around feeling sorry for her — she’s a monster,” other children retorted.

“She keeps forgetting things all the time. Who knows what kind of monster she is.”

“Nannan hasn’t forgotten everything. I still remember Grandfather Xu and Grandmother. I also remember there was a big older brother, and a little dog,” the little girl said quietly.

“Hmph. In the past you’d see us often and still forget sometimes, and we don’t want to bother with you anymore.”

“Nannan didn’t do it on purpose. I don’t know what happened — it wasn’t like this before. Nannan might be sick,” the little girl said timidly, tears spinning in her eyes.

“Fine — if she won’t leave, then we’ll leave. Don’t pay her any attention.” Many of the children ran back toward the settlement.

The little girl turned around in loneliness, wiped her tears, and set off on her own — a tiny solitary figure heading into the wind and snow. Her small retreating silhouette was enough to make any watching heart ache.

“Xiao Nannan!” someone called from behind. It was the girl named Xiaocao who had pitied her earlier — she came running out and whispered, “Are you hungry?”

“Very hungry,” the little girl said softly, her head bowed.

“Here.” Xiaocao took out some food and pressed it into her hands.

“Xiaocao, come back! She’s a monster — she eats people! Last time an old Daoist passed through here and sealed her inside his demon-suppression tower to refine her — but I heard the old Daoist ended up dying himself,” someone called from behind.

“Thank you, little older sister. Nannan has a pearl here — for you,” the little girl said, wiping her tears, handing Xiaocao a crystal that resembled a diamond, and murmuring, “I only get something like this during my saddest moments. When Grandfather Xu and Grandmother passed away, this appeared beside me.”

In the end, the little girl in tattered clothes walked on alone into the wind and snow, her silhouette small and solitary, almost swallowed by the blizzard.

Her voice was small and tender, her face streaked with tears, as she murmured to herself, “Nannan still remembers — there was a big older brother, and a little dog. But they’re both gone now…”

The snow whirled and danced. In the vast snowfield, the small solitary figure left a trail of shallow footprints stretching away into the distance.