Late-Night Disturbance

Xue Lingyun was awakened by a chill.

It was not the kind of cold that could crack bones. The Snow Fox Fur wrapped around him had slipped down to his waist, leaving a patch of his back exposed to the Ice Palace's uniquely chilly air and making him shiver.

He whimpered and squirmed, trying to pull the fur back up, but his tiny arms and legs were as limp as noodles.

After struggling for quite a while, not only did he fail to pull it back, he ended up fully awake.

The hall was silent.

Snow Empress sat on an Ice Crystal Chair some distance away, her back to him as she gazed at the snowstorm beyond the window.

Moonlight filtered through the ice walls, casting a cold white halo over her. The hem of her white dress swayed gently in the occasional gusts of freezing wind that slipped inside, like a snow lotus blooming upon the Icy Plains.

Xiao Bai lay curled up in a corner, his massive body gathered into a ball as he snored evenly. His nose twitched with each breath, and he occasionally smacked his lips, perhaps dreaming of something delicious.

Xue Lingyun stared wide-eyed at the shifting icy-blue patches of light across the dome overhead.

A baby's sleep was always intermittent. He was currently in the stage of having "slept enough," and his mind was unusually clear.

Recently, he had gradually discovered that his "eyes" seemed somewhat special.

He did not mean his vision, but rather a kind of... indescribable inner perception.

During the dead-silent nights of the Extreme North Land, especially when clear moonlight poured through the ice dome, he could often "see" things beyond ordinary sight.

The vast, tranquil icy-blue aura surrounding Snow Empress, as though it could freeze all things.

The warm, lively white glow within Xiao Bai, brimming with simple, honest vitality.

Even the deep-blue cold veins flowing slowly within the ice walls... they had no physical form, yet they existed vividly within his perception.

Whenever he had nothing to do, he could not help wondering. This feeling seemed... somewhat familiar?

It was vague, as though separated by a layer of frosted glass.

In his previous life, he seemed to have read an extremely mystical book called Huangji Jingshi. It appeared to discuss obscure things such as "observing qi," "examining fortune," and "the images and numbers of heaven and earth."

Back then, he had only considered it ancient philosophical speculation. Yet now, the "light" and "qi" he could genuinely perceive... could those mysterious principles actually correspond to some real method of "seeing" in this world?

Like an ignorant young beast, he instinctively used those lingering, fragmented impressions to interpret what he saw.

At first, they had merely been vague lights and shadows. Later, he gradually learned to distinguish the feelings brought by different kinds of "light": Snow Empress's light was majestic and pure, Xiao Bai's was warm and vibrant, while the cold light seeping from the ice walls carried a bone-piercing chill.

Half astonished and half doubtful, he wondered, Is this perception... really just my imagination?

At that moment, the perception suddenly became especially intense.

He "saw" a faint wisp of white light outside the hall to the northwest. Like a thin thread, it slipped through a crack in the ice wall, swayed gently, then withdrew again, like a small creature testing the waters.

For some reason, Xue Lingyun's heart tightened.

That light was very gentle. It was neither as sharp as Ice Empress nor as guilelessly solid as Xiao Bai. It carried a kind of... vibrant warmth.

He could not explain the feeling. He only knew that the "warm current" within his body, which had protected him since birth yet remained muddled and chaotic, suddenly stirred with unprecedented agitation!

Like a puppy catching the scent of food, it surged eagerly toward that wisp of light.

What made his heart beat faster was that as the white light vaguely drew him in, the resonance between it and the warm current in his body was incredibly clear and active!

This warm current seemed to vaguely align with a kind of "Innate Qi" or "Life Essence" described in another scripture from his memories—the <Dharma Cleansing Marrow and Changing Tendons Scripture>.

Previously, constrained by his infant body, he had tried the simplest clumsy methods from that scripture: "embracing the origin and guarding the one" and "focusing the mind on the dantian."

The results had been so weak that he could barely detect any change. He could not even tell whether the slight extra resistance to cold came from those clumsy methods or from his body naturally adapting after spending so long in the Extreme North.

But at this moment, the response between the warm current and the white light was so strong that it seemed to whisper soundlessly: perhaps that path was real too!

He pointed out the window with his tiny hand and made soft "ah-ya" sounds in his throat. His bright black eyes opened wide as he deliberately made his gaze look innocent and urgent. He knew Snow Empress fell for this.

Snow Empress turned around, her movements so light they made no sound. "You're awake?"

Xue Lingyun nodded vigorously. His little hand continued pointing northwest, and he deliberately leaned toward Snow Empress, his tiny limbs flailing as he put on an eager display of wanting to go there. But he knew that merely being anxious would not work. He had to make Snow Empress follow his lead.

Snow Empress looked in the direction he indicated. Outside the window was nothing but a sky full of snow and wind, dark and empty.

She frowned, then stood and walked over. Bending down, she picked him up and casually tugged the Snow Fox Fur around him. "Cold?"

Surrounded by her familiar cool scent, Xue Lingyun obediently nestled closer into her arms and rubbed his little head against the hollow of her neck.

Then, as though still unwilling to give up, he kept twisting his head northwest and lightly patted Snow Empress's arm with his small hand. The force was weak, but there was a stubborn persistence to it.

Snow Empress carried him to the window. The ice wall automatically became more transparent, allowing them to see the snowfield outside more clearly.

Fierce winds swept snow grains against the ice wall with crackling sounds. In the distance, the glaciers were nothing more than blurred outlines in the night.

"There's nothing there," she said softly, her voice carrying a hint of puzzlement.

Xue Lingyun looked into her eyes, then suddenly curved his lips and showed his toothless gums as he gave her a foolish grin.

Taking advantage of the momentary daze on her face, he pointed in that direction again. This time, he put more strength into it, making his tiny arm tremble slightly. His eyes also reddened at just the right moment.

Not that he was truly upset. This was the Spoiling formula he had figured out while he was still in his beginner's protection period.

Snow Empress looked at the stubbornness in his eyes, then at his little expression that said, "I won't stop until you agree," and fell silent.

Over the past few months, she had long realized this child was extraordinary. He possessed innate Extreme Ice, intelligence far beyond that of an ordinary infant, and eyes that seemed capable of seeing through ice and snow.

When he had pointed outside just now, the certainty in his gaze had not seemed fake. Perhaps... there really was something there?

She lowered her head and met Xue Lingyun's moist eyes.

As though knowing she was hesitating, the little fellow immediately put away his grievance and looked at her with wide eyes. The faint light filtering through the ice wall reflected in them, and he even blinked deliberately, appearing especially sincere.

Snow Empress's lips seemed to move, so quickly it might have been an illusion. "Dress warmly."

Xue Lingyun immediately broke into a smile. He grabbed her collar with his little hand and shook it, as though thanking her.

She turned toward the corner of the hall and took out a tiny fur coat from an Ice crystal cabinet.

It had been woven from the soft fur voluntarily donated by some Ten-thousand-year Snow Fox. It was white as snow and nearly weightless, yet it could block even the fiercest winds of the Extreme North.

Xue Lingyun obediently let her dress him. When his tiny arm passed through one sleeve, it nearly got stuck, making Snow Empress lightly scrape his cheek with her fingertips.

"Clumsy."

Once he was bundled into the fur coat with only his little face exposed, Snow Empress carried him toward the hall doors. The ice walls silently slid apart, and a blast of cold air ten times sharper than the chill inside rushed in, carrying the raw scent of snow grains.

Xiao Bai was awakened by the noise. He sleepily raised his head, his dark-blue eyes widening. "Mom? Where are you going?"

"Something came up," Snow Empress said. "Watch the house."

"I'm coming too!" Xiao Bai scrambled to his feet, his huge paw slipping across the ice. "I'll protect you!"

Snow Empress did not object. Carrying Xue Lingyun, she stepped outside first, and Xiao Bai hurried after her. His massive body left a string of deep footprints in the snow as his nose warily sniffed the surrounding scents.

The night wind was like a blade, stinging his face, but the fur coat truly worked and kept most of the cold from seeping in. Xue Lingyun lay over Snow Empress's shoulder, turning his little head around as he greedily took in the night scenery of the Extreme North.

From Snow Empress's shoulder, he could only see a small patch of deep-purple sky. The stars were dazzlingly bright, as though someone had scattered a handful of shattered glass.

Faint blue lights occasionally darted up from the snow. They dissolved the moment they drifted close, and chilly air slipped into his nose.

Howls rose from the distance, sounding thin and hollow, as though their owners had been frightened too badly to howl loudly.

And that wisp of white light was clearer in the darkness.

It was like a slender silver thread extending from the northwest. One end was tied to Xue Lingyun's perception, while the other vanished in the direction of the distant Ice Valley.

He could "see" a faint warmth flowing along that thread of light, creating a wonderful resonance with the warm current inside him.

He rubbed his little head against Snow Empress's neck and tilted it toward the direction in which the silver thread extended. The movement was slight, yet unmistakable.

Snow Empress immediately changed direction.

She moved quickly. Her footsteps made not the slightest sound upon the snow; only the snow beneath her feet automatically froze into smooth ice for her to tread on, while Xiao Bai followed closely behind.

The farther they went, the brighter the white light became. The warm current inside Xue Lingyun also grew more active, like a stream that had found its source and was joyfully rushing onward.

He could even sense that the surrounding Ice Attribute Soul Power seemed to be gathering in that direction, carrying a gentle rhythm.

He could not help squirming in Snow Empress's arms and clenching his tiny fists as he silently chanted, Almost there, almost there. The white mist he exhaled was immediately blown away by the wind.

Snow Empress glanced down at him, her gaze deepening.

She could sense that there truly was a unique energy fluctuation ahead. It was faint, yet extraordinarily pure and filled with the breath of life. In the deathly silent depths of the Extreme North, it was practically a miracle.