"From the day you came to this village, I knew you were no good. Every moment I spent with you, I was thinking of ways to drive you away," Fairy Ziying said with a bewitching smile on her plain face. "I even fantasized about when you would notice my disgust for you and leave on your own. But you've disappointed me so much."
The wind whistled in her ears. Yaohua's mind went blank. She stared at Fairy Ziying in shock as the latter's figure grew smaller and smaller, finally disappearing behind the ice fog.
So Fairy Ziying had hated her all along!
She had thought the other woman's actions were just due to her personality.
Her eyes grew moist and her nose felt sore.
Master, is Yaohua really that disgusting?
So disgusting that you wish she were dead?
The image of her master embracing Xilan flashed through her mind. Maybe... it would be better if she were dead.
Yaohua closed her eyes.
"Detecting that the host's life is in danger. The system will activate the emergency mode!"
It was the system!
Surprise flashed across her open eyes.
So the system hadn't left...
"Host, don't think nonsense," the system said tiredly with a yawn. "There's no energy source in the ice field, so I had to go into hibernation to prevent energy overdraft."
Although Yaohua only understood the first sentence, she could roughly guess its meaning.
"Host, quickly grab the branch."
Yaohua quickly grabbed the branch that jutted out of nowhere. She frowned in disgust. "Why do you always use the same trick?"
"But you sounded touched," the system said weakly. "Let me remind you, host. There are many hidden dangers in the ice abyss below. I hope you never give up on yourself."
Tears welled up in her eyes and streamed down her face like broken beads.
"The system's energy is insufficient. It will enter the hibernation period again."
That's right.
Why should she give up on herself?
So what if others hated her?
One didn't have to live according to others' likes and dislikes. Who had the right to decide others' lives and deaths just because of their likes and dislikes?
Thinking of Fairy Ziying, the depression in Yaohua's heart dissipated and was replaced by a burning rage.
She had been in this village for so long. She had taken care of Fairy Ziying when the latter was injured and unconscious. She had led the villagers to relocate. What had she done wrong to Fairy Ziying?
Why did the woman push her off the cliff?
Thinking that she had almost never seen her master, father, and brothers again, Yaohua felt a chill run down her spine. Her hatred for Fairy Ziying deepened.
She looked up. The clouds and mist were so thick that she couldn't see the end. The possibility of climbing up from here was extremely slim.
Looking down, Yaohua realized that she wasn't far from the bottom of the cliff.
Moreover, the protruding rocks on the cliff could support her body and allow her to land safely on the ground.
However, the system had just reminded her that there were many hidden dangers below.
She might face some unexpected desperate situations.
The choice wasn't difficult. Yaohua only thought for a moment before making up her mind.
As soon as she landed, a silver-white tail suddenly whipped her chest.
Yaohua's face turned pale. She covered her chest and slowly spat out a mouthful of blood.
She looked up and saw a silver-white python slithering into a cave and coiling up. Only the tip of its tail was exposed, wagging from time to time.
It was this tail that had whipped her and made her vomit blood.
Yaohua quickly avoided it. Her sword had been taken by Fairy Ziying. Now wasn't the time to act recklessly. It was better to be patient.
For now, she had to find a way out quickly.
She walked around the python and saw several other caves nearby. All of them were filled with spirit beasts that were trapped in the ice field and had nowhere to go, so they had to hibernate.
Yaohua walked around these caves carefully, afraid of disturbing the spirit beasts and getting into trouble. Finally, she saw several caves filled with bones.
Could these spirit beasts eat people?
Yaohua subconsciously stopped and stared at the white bones nervously.
No, human bones didn't look like this.
Could these be the bones of the spirit beasts themselves?
That's right.
The ice field was so cold that once the spirit beasts fell asleep, it would be very difficult for them to wake up.
These caves were their hibernation places and might also be their burial places.
Yaohua's mood suddenly sank.
At this time, the sky was gradually getting dark. Night was about to fall.
Yaohua quickly walked into a cave that was filled with only bones.
The temperature in the ice field was extremely low, so it was very difficult for a corpse to turn into bones. There must be something strange about the appearance of bones under this cliff.
As she thought about it, Yaohua slowly fell asleep.
"Yaohua? Wake up. Don't sleep anymore."
Her master's gentle voice sounded. Yaohua slowly opened her eyes.
She saw her master sitting beside her, looking at her with a gentle smile in his eyes.
It was really her master!
Yaohua pinched herself.
A bruise immediately appeared on her fair wrist.
It hurt!
"Why did you pinch so hard?" Chongming said with concern. He gently stroked the bruise and blew on it.
This dreamlike scene was really hard for Yaohua to break.
It had been a long time since her master had looked at her like this.
"Master, I'm fine," Yaohua said greedily. She even wanted to touch his face.
She wanted to confirm that her master was real.
But...
This was the ice field. How could her master be here?
Yaohua stared at her master for a moment and then raised her arms.
"Yaohua, what's wrong?"
Chongming looked surprised when she suddenly touched his neck.
"Nothing. I just haven't seen you for a long time and want to touch you," Yaohua said.
Her fingers slid down. The warm touch made Yaohua couldn't help but shed tears.
If this was really her master, that would be great.
But there was no if.
Yaohua suddenly grabbed his neck and squeezed it with all her strength.
Crack!
Her master's neck slumped down softly.
A gust of wind blew. Yaohua felt a chill run through her body.
Although this wasn't her real master, her hands were still shaking.
The fake master's body slumped down, revealing the white bones behind him.
Yaohua wiped the sweat off her face and realized that the white bones were originally a nightmare-eating beast.
If she had really indulged in her master's gentleness just now, the nightmare-eating beast would have taken over her body and her consciousness would have been devoured.
It was really close.
After staying in the cave for a while, the sky outside gradually brightened. Yaohua then left.
As she walked forward, she saw a lush bamboo forest.
There were many spirit beasts here. This bamboo forest might be the key to their survival. Maybe there were many fierce spirit beasts hidden inside.
Yaohua planned to go around it.
But this bamboo forest was too big!
She couldn't find the edge of the bamboo forest no matter how hard she tried!
The wound on her chest throbbed with pain.
Yaohua coughed a few times before she felt better.
Since she couldn't go around this bamboo forest, she had to face the difficulty head-on.