The white figure before her slowly slid down, until finally, her vision was filled only with scarlet.
"No, no..."
She shook her head, struggling, yet powerless to change anything.
"Silly girl..." he used his last ounce of strength, reaching out once more to touch her face, his fingers finding tear tracks.
He wanted to touch her one last time, the woman he had loved deeply in this life and the last.
He still remembered the first time he met Princess Chang Ning. She was small and rosy, holding his hand, her voice soft as she called him "Gege."
He had been lost in that gaze.
When he learned that the little rosy girl had lost her only family, he entered the desolate marsh alone, wanting to protect her.
Alas, he hadn't protected her well, allowing others to exploit her vulnerabilities.
In the past life, she had hated him as she died.
In this life, she sought vengeance against him.
Ah, how fate played tricks on people.
He looked up, seeing her terrified eyes beneath the bloodstains, her clarity obscured. She shook her head, her voice murmuring "no."
This life, though short, he had no regrets.
His only regret was that the misunderstandings between him and her were resolved too late.
"My girl, don't cry. From now on, you will be alone again. Gege... cannot accompany you anymore..."
Xue Zining shivered, her vision blurred as she seemed to recall her childhood, the first glimpse of the stunningly beautiful young boy.
She held and pulled the young boy, calling him "Gege" over and over.
His hand slid down from her brow, finally resting on her lips, pausing for a moment.
He smiled, his smile mingling with blood, a breathtaking beauty.
"Girl, my name is Xue Jingyun, courtesy name... Yanzhao..."
Her eyes widened in shock.
He smiled and said, word by word, "Don't forget."
The hand that lingered on her lips slipped away.
Those eyes, once brilliant like stars, dimmed, becoming ashen.
He fell into a deep slumber, beyond awakening.
"Ah..."
Xue Zining threw her head back and screamed, grief-stricken. She tightly clenched the ice-iron that bound her, pulling with all her might. The ice iron bit into her flesh, and blood flowed.
Hua Zhengming looked at the seven-colored gem in his hand, which suddenly emitted a powerful, blinding halo. He exclaimed excitedly, "It's done, it's done, Yunjin..."
He looked up and saw Hua Yunjin staring intently at the girl on the ice bed. He couldn't help but say, "Stop looking. She can't break free from the ice iron."
How could the ice iron, smelted over a thousand years, be broken by struggling? It was all in vain.
Hua Yunjin lowered his gaze. He knew that from this moment on, he and she could truly never go back to how they were.
Beside them, Xue Yunlan sighed, looking at the man lying peacefully, her heart filled with an indescribable feeling.
The man she had once pursued so ardently was now gone.
To say she felt no regret would be a lie.
"Yunjin, take it now while the curse completely disappears."
Hua Zhengming handed the glowing gem to Hua Yunjin. The glowing gem resembled a heart, beating with a strong, powerful rhythm.
Hua Yunjin looked at the gem, hesitating to reach out.
"Hurry, don't wait for it to lose its effect. It will be too late if you wait," Hua Zhengming urged.
Hua Yunjin turned to look at the girl still struggling on the ice bed.
"Yunjin, from now on, you and she will only be enemies. This cannot be changed in this lifetime. But if you are stronger than her, you can still seize what you desire by force. If you are weaker, you will have no chance in this lifetime..."
Hua Yunjin trembled, looking up at Hua Zhengming.
Hua Zhengming sneered, "This world of the desolate marsh, this entire world, don't you want to conquer it? Then, the entire desolate marsh, including Xue Zining, will be yours for the taking?"
Hua Yunjin's gaze flickered. He slowly withdrew his eyes from the struggling girl on the ice bed, looked at the gem in Hua Zhengming's hand, and after a long pause, reached out to take it...
With a splash, a long sword fiercely pierced Hua Zhengming's chest. Blood sprayed onto Hua Yunjin's face.
Hua Yunjin's eyes widened. Hua Zhengming looked at him in disbelief, his mouth opening, blood flowing out. Suddenly, the sword was pulled out. In the dim candlelight, the sword flashed with cold light, and Hua Zhengming's head was severed with a single stroke.
Blood gushed out, splattering onto Hua Yunjin.
He saw Xue Zining, her face covered in blood but her eyes gleaming with cold light, standing behind Hua Zhengming's falling body.
He trembled.
The long sword pointed directly at his heart.
This was the first time in this life and the last that she had pointed a sword at his heart.
"A Ning..."
The girl's face was obscured by bloodstains, hiding her former beauty. The only clear thing was those eyes filled with cold light.
Bright as the morning sun, yet emanating chilling killing intent.
The girl was radiating a potent killing aura, and a hatred he couldn't ignore.
"Don't call me that. You are not worthy..."
Just six words, yet they sent his heart plummeting to the abyss.
The girl reached out. "Give it to me."
He lowered his head, looking at the gem Hua Zhengming had pressed into his hand before his death. After a long moment, he clenched it tightly, looked up, and smiled, "You want it? Come and get it!"
He saw the girl's gaze turn cold, like frost. The sword in her hand moved as fast as lightning, without a hint of hesitation, aiming for his wrist tendons.
He retreated, and the girl pursued.
"A Ning, I never intended to harm you..."
"I told you, you are not worthy to call me by my name..." The girl suddenly stopped, pointing her sword at him, and said coldly, "Hua Yunjin, in the past life, you deceived me, causing me to die with hatred. In this life, you deceived me again, causing him to die for me. The hatred from both lives combined is an irreconcilable feud between us."
Hua Yunjin's gaze faltered, and his eyes lowered. "Is... is it truly irreconcilable?"
"Forever," the girl said, gritting her teeth and speaking each word deliberately.
"Heh..." He looked up, a fleeting, indiscernible glint in his eyes. "Since that is the case, let us settle this with no quarter given!"
The door was suddenly broken open. Xue Yan entered first, her body clad in scarlet as she arrived before Xue Zining. "Your Majesty, all disciples of the Red Lotus Sect have been controlled."
Hua Yunjin trembled, and after a pause, he laughed heartily. "Xue Zining, what skillful means, what cunning plans..."
He turned to look at Xue Jingyun, who lay as if asleep, and said with a cold smile, "Jing Ge, you see this? This is the person you were willing to die for. He sacrificed his life, yet she plotted to annihilate the Red Lotus Sect. Your death was utterly pointless."
"Your Majesty, the Red Lotus Sect members are all outside. How should they be dealt with..." Feng Wu and others followed.
"Kill them!" the girl's lips parted slightly, speaking each word.
Xue Yan looked at the blood-stained girl. At that moment, she felt a tremor and unfamiliarity from the depths of her heart.
Feng Wu was startled by the command and whispered, "Your Majesty, there are still civilians who were tricked into coming here. They..."
"I said kill them..." the girl turned to look at Feng Wu. Feng Wu saw that the girl's once clear eyes were now stained with blood, radiating a chilling killing intent.