The Pursuit

Wanxing Mountain Range, Fallen Immortal Lake.

A scruffy, bearded man stood by the lake with a sword strapped to his back. He glanced at the far shore, several hundred meters away, then turned his gaze to the middle of the lake.

Where the water should have rippled beneath the breeze, a towering pillar of ice now pierced the sky.

The hundred-zhang pillar gleamed like crystal, radiating an ancient, unchanging chill. Under the cascading moonlight, the ice continued to spread until it had frozen the entire lake.

The bearded man clicked his tongue. Shivering from the cold, he rubbed his arms and sighed ruefully.

"Good thing I didn't chase after them alone. At this scale, by the time you'd reported back and returned, I'd probably be frozen inside that giant block of ice."

The two of them were the man and woman who had appeared outside the Buddhist hall earlier.

The woman still wore her fitted black robe with red trim. Her shapely figure was accentuated by the snug garment, and the high ponytail behind her head swayed faintly. She gazed at the enormous pillar of ice and said in a clear voice, "That's Ran Qingmo of the Sword Sect."

The bearded man narrowed his eyes. Then he stamped a foot and vanished from where he stood. When he appeared again, he was perched atop the giant pillar in the middle of the lake.

The woman flashed after him. By the time she arrived, the bearded man was crouching on the ice, gently running a hand over its crystalline surface.

She surveyed their surroundings from above.

The forest of hundred-meter trees around Fallen Immortal Lake had been flattened across a vast stretch. The battle must have been fierce.

After a pause, she asked, "Did you find anything?"

Crouching on the ice, the man stroked his stubble and replied hesitantly, "The other person who fought Ran Qingmo didn't seem to be human."

"A demon?" The woman furrowed her brows and thought it over. "There aren't many transformed great demons in the Wanxing Mountain Range who could fight Ran Qingmo to a standstill like this."

The bearded man smiled faintly. He lifted a palm-sized scale he'd picked up, sniffed it, then tossed it to the woman. "It wasn't one of those old monsters. It was a female snake."

She lowered her gaze to the scale and frowned. "A female snake? Can you tell what kind?"

The bearded man pondered for a moment before lowering his voice. "The Qi it left behind is a little like that of a Seven-Life Python. Judging by its methods and the residual Source Qi, this Seven-Life Python has probably shed its skin for the sixth time."

He clicked his tongue, sounding impressed. "A Six-Turn Seven-Life Python. One more life, and it'll have fully stabilized its human form. I'd guess it's someone important from the Snake Demon Clan in the Strange Demon Kingdom."

He paused, then rose to his feet. A rare trace of gravity crossed his face.

"She froze it with this pillar of ice. It took on its true form to break free. From the looks of things, Ran Qingmo didn't want to fight her head-on."

The woman's frown deepened. "You mean the Third Young Master was captured by Ran Qingmo?"

The man didn't answer at once. After a long moment, he shook his head. "I'm not sure. At least at Fallen Immortal Lake, Ran Qingmo was trying to protect the Third Young Master. Notify the Eldest Young Master and the others searching in the other directions. Tell them we've found the Third Young Master's whereabouts."

Confusion flickered in the woman's eyes. "But right now, we—"

"We've been tracking them all this way. The person who took the Third Young Master hasn't taken a single detour."

The man cut her off with a wave. Standing atop the hundred-zhang pillar of ice, he stared at the towering mountain range in the distance, as if it were a colossal beast swallowing the sky.

"They're heading to Heaven Gate Mountain."

The White Tiger's back bore a hideous wound. It had scabbed over, but the crimson stain that had spread across its snow-white fur was still vivid.

Having only just arrived in this world and never trained in cultivation, Xu Yuan couldn't glean much more from the wound's shape and depth.

But the fact that the White Tiger was injured was more than enough.

While he'd been unconscious, the two of them had made it from their original location to Heaven Gate Mountain in four days. The White Tiger must have carried him there.

And while it served as his mount during his coma, it had been wounded by an outside attack, even with Ran Qingmo traveling alongside it.

It seemed far more had happened during those four days than he'd imagined.

His thoughts flickered as Xu Yuan once again surveyed their surroundings.

Snowflakes drifted from the sky on the bleak, cold wind. Beneath the thick snow, he could just make out a bloodstained beast's bones.

The sight sank his heart. He glanced at the snow wolf lying on the ground, its breath barely a thread, and sighed softly.

Those bloodstained bones were probably what the White Tiger had caught and eaten earlier. Judging by the size of the beast's skeleton, they'd stayed in this place for at least a day.

A whole day.

With pursuers behind them, what could have forced Ran Qingmo to stop and rest?

Xu Yuan looked at the woman in black, sitting cross-legged in the snow.

Moonlight caressed her veil. Her ink-black robes stirred in the wind, making her look like a beautiful statue.

Countless thoughts crossed Xu Yuan's mind. He took a deep breath.

"You're injured."

His voice was soft, quickly scattered by the cold mountain wind.

After a brief silence, Ran Qingmo continued to regulate her breathing with her eyes closed. She didn't deny it.

"Mm."

"Badly?"

"A little."

His guess confirmed, Xu Yuan raised a hand and rubbed his brow. He glanced back at the boundless forest below the mountain.

"What about the other one?"

"Her injuries are a little lighter than mine."

"..."

Xu Yuan fell silent.

He thought of the wound on the White Tiger's back. He must have held her back.

The cold wind moaned beneath a sky full of stars.

After a long while, Xu Yuan spoke again, his tone earnest.

"I'm sorry."

"..."

Ran Qingmo didn't respond. With her eyes still closed, she said calmly, "Now that you're awake, go up the mountain with it. I'll wait here for her."

As she spoke, she raised a hand slightly and tossed Xu Yuan a small object.

Xu Yuan caught it by instinct and looked down. Ran Qingmo had thrown him a tiny sword made of ice crystal, clear all over and shining like glass.

He asked without thinking, "What's this?"

Ran Qingmo opened her eyes and glanced at the great White Tiger beside her.

"If it acts strangely, crush it."

Understanding dawned in Xu Yuan's eyes.

He'd been wondering why the White Tiger had obeyed Ran Qingmo so readily after only four days. It turned out she'd tampered with its body.

After a brief silence, Xu Yuan said nothing more. He gripped the little ice sword and climbed onto the White Tiger's back.

When he touched the scabbed wound, he clearly felt the enormous beast beneath him shudder.

Fortunately, that was the only reaction it had.

Seated on the White Tiger, Xu Yuan looked again at the woman in black, still sitting cross-legged beside him. After a moment's hesitation, he said quietly, "I'll wait for you at Hanging Sky Cliff, atop Heaven Gate Mountain."

"..."

After a brief silence, Ran Qingmo's voice was as clear and cool as when they'd first met.

"No need."

Xu Yuan kept his eyes on her and repeated, unhurriedly, "I said I'll wait for you at Hanging Sky Cliff."

"..."

Ran Qingmo blinked her beautiful eyes, her gaze faintly puzzled.

She was trying to understand why this man insisted on waiting for her.

Xu Yuan didn't explain. He simply met her gaze, calm and steady.

If Ran Qingmo didn't come, he'd have to jump off the cliff.

With the original owner's three points of fortune, he wouldn't find a hidden cave abode. He'd probably hit a ledge halfway down and be left hanging there.

Ran Qingmo couldn't figure it out. She shook her head slightly.

"I left my aura on you. I can find you."

Xu Yuan made something up on the spot, speaking one word at a time.

"A hidden cave abode can block your aura."

Ran Qingmo fell silent.

After a long while,

she slowly opened her eyes and tilted her head up, looking at the brocade-robed young master riding the White Tiger beneath the moon.

Silence. Their eyes met.

At last, she gave a slight nod. Her red lips parted beneath the black veil.

"Fine."

Xu Yuan smiled faintly. "Come soon."

Without a sound,

the White Tiger instantly became a streak of white, racing toward the mountaintop. Only the woman in black remained, sitting motionless like ink on the desolate snowfield.