Xue Zining woke up immersed in a wooden tub filled with a potent, foul-smelling medicinal liquid. She tried to stand but found herself utterly immobile.
Glancing around, her eyes landed on a shriveled corpse in a similar tub across from her – the same one from which she had taken the bead. It was the Miao border’s saintess, Han Xiwen’s mother, Fan Min’s beloved.
"You're awake?"
Xue Zining looked up to see Han Xiwen approaching her. His expression was grim. "What are you trying to do?" he asked.
Xue Zining questioned.
Han Xiwen stepped closer, touching her forehead. "You took the corpse bead that preserved my mother's body. Now her soul cannot remain within it, and there is no other suitable vessel for it. Therefore, she needs your body."
Xue Zining trembled. "You want my body?"
Han Xiwen met her gaze. "Yes."
Seeing her struggle, he added, "Don't waste your energy. It's too late for anyone to save you."
"How?" Xue Zining asked.
"Separate your soul from your body," Han Xiwen replied.
No wonder she had felt something violently tearing at her body.
"Han Xiwen, my body won't last much longer anyway."
"With the corpse bead, your body won't decay," Han Xiwen said.
Xue Zining blinked, looking up at Han Xiwen. "Aren't we friends?"
Han Xiwen faltered, lowering his gaze. "I'm sorry."
"Was your approach to me only for your mother?"
Han Xiwen turned his face away. "Yes."
Xue Zining managed a bitter smile. "I thought we would be friends, but it turns out I was just deceiving myself."
"Don't worry, it won't hurt," Han Xiwen assured her.
Xue Zining fell silent, the pain now too great to speak.
"Are you ready?" a voice inquired, accompanied by approaching footsteps.
"Almost," Han Xiwen responded.
Xue Zining strained to look up and recognized the newcomer as Fan Min.
Fan Min smiled upon seeing her. "Should I call you Princess Anning or Xue Zining?"
Xue Zining felt her soul becoming unstable, her spirit trying to escape her body. No, she didn't want to leave.
Fan Min's face lit up with anticipation. "Soon, Xin'er, you will have a body again."
"Ah..." Xue Zining cried out involuntarily. She felt a pain like ten thousand ants gnawing at her heart, and layers of light began to form around her. She could feel a part of her soul already separating.
No, she shook her head, but she was powerless. She watched as she was gradually pulled from her body, then floated in mid-air.
Her corpse remained submerged in the medicinal bath.
She heard Fan Min laugh heartily, then pour a bottle of medicinal liquid onto the withered corpse. A blue light detached itself from the corpse and moved toward her body.
As the blue light neared the corpse, the corpse suddenly emitted a faint, eerie green glow that enveloped it.
The blue light stopped outside the green glow, unable to penetrate.
Fan Min's expression darkened. "Force the corpse bead out for me."
Fan Min channeled his energy into the corpse. The green light intensified, pushing back his palm like a spring. He gasped in surprise. "What... what is happening?"
Han Xiwen stepped forward and tried to assist Fan Min, but he too was repelled.
Fan Min's face grew grim. "Those old fools! I should have dealt with them long ago. Do they really think this will leave me helpless? What a delusion."
He took another bottle of medicine from his waist and poured it onto her corpse.
The green light on her body slowly diminished, eventually fading to dimness.
"Enter..." Fan Min pushed the blue light toward her corpse.
Suddenly, a silver light descended from the sky, heading for Fan Min's hand. He instinctively retracted his hand, and the silver light split the blue light in two.
With a clang, a dagger fell to the ground.
Fan Min trembled and shouted, "Xin'er..."
The blue light suddenly fractured. Fan Min quickly channeled his energy, attempting to reassemble it.
Just then, a gust of palm wind surged through the blue light. Fan Min, unable to evade, took the full force of the blow and spat out a mouthful of blood.
However, in the instant before he fell, he managed to gather all the blue light into a medicinal bottle, then collapsed heavily onto the ground.
"Are you alright?" Han Xiwen rushed forward to help Fan Min up.
Fan Min looked up at the person who had descended from the sky, his gaze chillingly cold.
Xue Zining, floating in mid-air, saw the newcomer.
He wore pristine moon-white robes that danced gracefully in the wind.
His countenance was refined and handsome, his eyes as brilliant as stars.
In that moment, Xue Zining felt her heart pound intensely.
"Yan Zhao," she breathed his name, one word at a time.
She saw him turn his head, his starry eyes exceptionally bright.
"ANing, don't be afraid. I've arrived," he said, looking at her, each word deliberate.
She smiled, wanting to cry, but no tears could fall, for she was merely a soul.
"Don't be afraid." He reached out and gently touched her soul.
His palm was warm, incredibly warm.
"Okay." She trusted him, as she always had.
He turned his gaze to Fan Min, the gentleness of moments ago vanishing, replaced by a frostiness that could freeze all.
The chill was biting.
Fan Min trembled. "Xue Jingyun, you forget, you are also gravely injured. You are no match for me."
"Is it not worth trying?" Xue Jingyun replied coldly.
Fan Min was about to rise to confront him when Han Xiwen held him back. "I will face the Crown Prince of Xue."
Fan Min glanced at him. "Be careful. Xue Jingyun is not like anyone you have faced before."
Han Xiwen nodded, soaring into the air and unleashing a palm strike toward Xue Jingyun.
Xue Jingyun watched Han Xiwen's attack with a faint expression. "Overestimating yourself!"
Han Xiwen faltered. A blast of palm wind, bypassing his own, rushed towards him.
He was greatly alarmed and dodged, narrowly escaping. Although he evaded the direct impact, the palm wind still ripped through his robes.
Even in this state, Xue Jingyun was terrifying. He could only imagine his prowess at full strength.
Yet, he had no retreat now. His mother and his biological father were both here.
He could only fight with all his might.
He attacked again, directing his moves toward Xue Jingyun. Xue Jingyun regarded him with cold indifference, his eyes sharp and imbued with the chill of frost.
Unaccountably, Han Xiwen felt his entire body freeze. He instinctively tried to evade, but his body no longer obeyed.
He felt a palm strike his chest, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
His body, out of his control, plummeted from mid-air.
"Xiwen..." Fan Min soared forward to catch him.
"As you said, I am no match for him," Han Xiwen said with an apologetic smile.