Mo Lin lowered his head and looked at Xiao Yi Xian in his arms. Tears still lingered on her face, her lips slightly parted, her expression filled with lingering shock.
A mist of moisture clouded her clear eyes, tiny teardrops still clinging to her long lashes. Her pitiful appearance was utterly different from her usual cool aloofness and forced strength, carrying a uniquely moving charm.
The arrogance and tyranny he had displayed before Mu Li instantly melted away, replaced by a mischievous, teasing grin.
Not only did he fail to release her at once, but with his arm still around her waist, he exerted a little force and spun her half a step backward, gently yet irresistibly pressing her against the newly formed Ice Wall, which still radiated biting cold.
With a soft thud, Xiao Yi Xian's back struck the cold, hard ice. The bone-piercing chill seeped through her thin clothes, making her shiver involuntarily and pulling her slightly back from her overwhelming shock and fear.
"Y-You... what are you doing?!" she cried, instinctively pressing both hands against Mo Lin's solid chest in an attempt to push him away. But her strength was like an ant trying to shake a tree.
The cold of the Ice Wall contrasted sharply with the warmth radiating from the man before her. The sensation of ice and fire left her flustered.
Mo Lin bent down, his face drawing close until their noses nearly touched.
He could clearly see his own reflection in her eyes, as well as her thick lashes trembling incessantly from nervousness.
Mo Lin deliberately lowered his voice. His breath brushed against her sensitive ear as he whispered in a magnetic voice meant for only the two of them.
"Alright, the annoying fly has been locked outside for now. Next..." He deliberately drew out the final word, his gaze sweeping over her chest as it rose and fell with her hurried breaths before settling on her eyes, which were full of panic and indignation. The wicked curve of his lips deepened. "...it's time to do some 'serious business,' my little Xiao Yi Xian."
He made the words "serious business" sound especially suggestive.
Xiao Yi Xian's pretty face instantly turned bright red, like a ripe cherry, the flush spreading all the way to her ears and neck.
Her mind went blank, leaving only words full of implication like "wall pin" and "serious business" echoing wildly through her head.
Could he... had he just driven away the wolf, only to become a tiger himself? Here? At a time like this?
Overwhelming shame, along with a strange flutter in her heart that she herself refused to acknowledge, made her whole body go weak. Even the hands pressed against his chest lost their strength.
She closed her eyes, her long lashes trembling violently like butterfly wings. She could practically hear her heart pounding like a drum.
Should she resist? Or... despair that was almost resigned, mixed with an indescribable, peculiar feeling of being conquered by overwhelming power, left her frozen in place, unable to move.
Yet the further violation she had expected never came.
Watching her keep her eyes tightly shut, looking pitiful and adorable as though she were waiting to be slaughtered, Mo Lin finally could not hold back a low laugh.
His laughter was clear and bright, carrying the delight of a prank well played.
He withdrew the hand braced against the Ice Wall, then released the arm around her waist and stepped back, putting some distance between them.
"Haha... look how scared you got." His tone was relaxed and openly teasing. "By 'serious business,' I meant digging a new path so we can escape. What did you think I meant?"
The sudden relaxation and distance made Xiao Yi Xian abruptly open her eyes.
The moment she saw the undisguised teasing smile on Mo Lin's face, she understood that this hateful bastard had tricked her again!
An indescribable wave of humiliation and fury instantly washed away her previous fear and that strange flutter in her heart.
"Y-You shameless lecher! Bastard!" She trembled with rage, picked up a small stone from the ground, and hurled it at Mo Lin.
Mo Lin easily sidestepped it, the smile on his face growing broader.
He liked seeing her like this—embarrassed and angry, lively and vivid. It was far more pleasing than the helpless, despairing look she had worn before.
Still, a joke could only go so far. The impacts coming from the Ice Wall behind them were growing more frequent, and the cracks were multiplying.
"Alright, I'll stop teasing you." Mo Lin reined in his smile and turned his gaze toward the solid rock wall at one side of the cave. His eyes sharpened. "If we don't move now, Mu Li really will come in and have a chat with us."
Xiao Yi Xian also realized how dire the situation was. Suppressing her embarrassment and annoyance, she followed his gaze to the seemingly hopeless cliff-like wall.
Despair surged into her heart again. "You're still joking at a time like this! We're completely trapped!" Her voice trembled with suppressed sobs.
"Trapped?" Mo Lin raised a brow, glanced around the cave that appeared to be a dead end, and the confident curve of his lips widened once more. "Who said that?"
Before his words had even faded, his body suddenly moved, shooting toward the rock wall like a cheetah that had been waiting to pounce.
The next moment, an icy aura far more frigid and domineering than the one he had used against the magical beasts erupted without restraint, making even souls tremble!
From the elbows down, both of his arms were instantly covered in crystal-clear solid ice, as though they had been carved from the finest jade!
The ice was not merely a coating. It formed two enormous, savage crystalline claw blades, covered in profound patterns and radiating extreme cold and terrifying power—the Ice Emperor's Claw, fully simulated from the Ice Empress's innate skill!
"Open up!"
Mo Lin gave a low shout. The arms covered in ice claws no longer simply smashed forward; as if they possessed lives of their own, they carried the will to tear apart everything and viciously plunged into the hard rock wall!
"CRAAASH—!!!"
A deafening sound of shattering suddenly exploded!
It was as though a primordial ice beast were madly devouring the mountain! Under the Ice Emperor's power, which froze the structure of matter with absolute cold before physically pulverizing it with tyrannical force, the solid rock wall was effortlessly torn apart!
Massive chunks of rock froze, then were shattered into powder by terrifying force. Mixed with dense ice fragments, they shot in every direction like an explosion!
Xiao Yi Xian instinctively raised a hand to shield her face. Through the gaps between her fingers, she saw a tunnel rapidly extending toward the outside of the mountain at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Mo Lin's arms had turned into two tireless excavation machines. Every swing carried unstoppable force. The symphony of ice and stone made her eardrums buzz, while the entire cave trembled faintly!
"This... this isn't something human strength can possibly achieve..." Her red lips formed an adorable little O, and the shock in her beautiful eyes had turned into utter horror.
Mo Lin's previous displays of strength had already seemed unfathomable to her, but this scene completely overturned her understanding of "power"!
Carving through a mountain barehanded? What kind of terrifying Dou Technique was this? Just where was Mo Lin's limit?
"Hmph, at least you're smart enough to know that this Empress's skills are the real heavy hitters!" In the Sea of Consciousness, the Ice Empress proudly lifted her chin when she saw Mo Lin use her power, rare satisfaction in her voice.
The Snow Empress's cool voice also carried approval. "A proper response. Bing'er's abilities are perfectly suited for opening an escape route."
In just over a dozen breaths, a deep frost passage wide enough for two people to walk side by side had completely taken shape. Its smooth inner walls even reflected a faint blue glow!
At the end of the passage, another beam of clear moonlight came into view, carrying the scent of freedom!
"Go!"
Before he could even steady his slightly hurried breathing, Mo Lin grabbed Xiao Yi Xian's icy wrist. Her soft skin felt smooth beneath his fingers, though she was still overwhelmed by shock and her body remained weak.
Without further hesitation, he practically half-supported and half-carried her toward the new passage that promised hope.
"Wait! The tunnel behind us..." Xiao Yi Xian staggered along as he pulled her, finally coming to her senses and hurriedly calling out.
Mo Lin did not turn around. The instant he stepped into the new passage, he swung his free left hand sharply backward!
"Ice Wall, seal!"
Another surge of vast cold energy poured forth. Rather than targeting the rock wall, it precisely covered the freshly carved entrance, instantly condensing into another thick, translucent wall of solid ice. The furious curses and impacts coming from the original cave were cut off once again.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Dull impacts resumed from behind the Ice Wall, but it was obvious they would not break through anytime soon.
The new passage instantly became much quieter. Only the slightly hurried breathing of the two of them echoed through the narrow space.
The air was filled with the earthy smell of freshly crushed rock and an intense icy chill.
Xiao Yi Xian leaned against the freezing ice wall, her delicate body still trembling slightly. She looked at Mo Lin's unusually tall back, reflected in the icy surface ahead, and her gaze became incomparably complicated.
Relief at surviving disaster, reverence for absolute power, humiliation at having been toyed with repeatedly, and an indescribable sense of bewilderment, as though her fate had already been firmly seized by the man before her... all sorts of emotions tangled together, leaving her heart in complete turmoil.
Mo Lin brushed the ice chips and stone dust from his robes, turned around, and flashed her a toothy grin.
Against the faint blue light of the ice wall, his white teeth and brilliant smile possessed an indescribable charm—dazzling, yet... still so annoyingly punchable.
He pointed to the path behind them, sealed by the Ice Wall, then pointed toward the lighted exit ahead. His tone was as casual as if he had just done something utterly insignificant.
"See? The path's open now, isn't it?"
Before you continue