Nina has disappeared.
It's been three whole days.
The entire Sword Sanctum was abuzz with discussion, with disciples gathering in small groups to whisper amongst themselves.
You must know that Nina is the only daughter of the Sword God, the true big sister of this Sanctum, and the inheritor of the Will of Domination, known to everyone.
Her disappearance put everyone on edge.
Even the usually carefree Gino showed a rare look of worry, pacing back and forth at the entrance of the dojo, glancing towards the main road from time to time.
"Huh? Nina is missing?"
Among the seated figures, Sword God Gal sat in the main seat, listening to a disciple's report. His wine bowl paused slightly, and his brows furrowed.
He was silent for a moment, his gaze inadvertently falling on Luo Ge, who was drinking tea across from him.
Luo Ge's hand, holding the teacup, froze in mid-air.
He looked up in bewilderment and found that not only the Sword God, but also several other disciples present were all staring at him with subtle scrutiny in their eyes.
"Hey!"
"No, why are you all looking at me like that?" Luo Ge put down his teacup, shrugged, and looked completely innocent.
The meaning in his eyes was self-evident.
In the entire Sword Sanctum, who else besides him had the motive and the power to make Nina disappear?
After all, for the past six months, Nina's hostility towards Luo Ge was practically written all over her face, while Luo Ge had always been lukewarm towards her.
The fact that the two were irreconcilable enemies was no secret here.
It wouldn't be unreasonable for Luo Ge to secretly kill Nina, would it?
"Hey! Nina's gone missing, shouldn't you say something?"
"You know, she's your little shadow, always following you around..."
Gal leaned back in his chair, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger.
Luo Ge gave a wry smile, "What can I say? I don't know either. I've been practicing my sword in the courtyard these past few days, and I haven't even left the Sanctum."
"Too."
Gal stared at him for a moment.
Seemingly to confirm that he was telling the truth, she then looked away, "That child may be reckless, but he wouldn't run away for three days without coming back... He must have run into some trouble."
Go find it!
"Even if we have to turn the area around the Sword Sanctum upside down, I'll find it for you."
He immediately gave orders, instructing his disciples to search for Nina's whereabouts in the mountains surrounding the Sword Sanctum.
Luo Ge originally wanted to go back to his room for a nap, too lazy to dwell on Nina's disappearance.
However, just as he stepped towards the door, he paused at the threshold.
He finally shook his head and sighed, then took the Phoenix Elegant Dragon Sword hanging on the wall and whistled towards the window.
A red shadow swooped down from the eaves and landed lightly on his shoulder.
That's Little Red.
The Red Dragon cub he found two years ago.
It has grown a lot bigger than it did before, and its wingspan can now cover half an adult. Luo Ge keeps it away from people on weekdays... It often flies into the forest to forage for food on its own and no longer needs Luo Ge to feed it every day.
"They're gone."
"Go find someone."
Little Red let out a soft cry, as if in response, then flapped its wings and landed behind the saddle, settling down steadily.
Luo Ge tightened the reins and spurred his horse toward the western forest.
He thought about it. Although Nina was impulsive, she wasn't aimless. If she wanted to hunt monsters to prove herself, the most likely place she would go was the Great Forest where the waterfall was located to the west of the Sword Sanctum.
She had mentioned that place a few times when they met before, saying that it was a place where true swordsmen should go, her tone tinged with a hint of defiance.
Upon arriving here, his first action was to activate the Transparent World and conduct a comprehensive search for the missing person.
Meanwhile, deep within that forest, beneath the waterfall.
The rushing Water Stream plunges down the cliff, crashing into a deep pool shrouded in cold mist at the bottom of the valley.
Nina was huddled behind a moss-covered rock, shivering from the cold.
Three nights ago.
When she was being chased by the Snow Dragon Beast, she had nowhere to retreat but to leap off the waterfall.
The Water Stream cushioned the impact of her fall, saving her from death.
But that's all.
Her left leg was severely fractured when she landed; the entire leg was swollen and purple, and even the slightest movement caused excruciating pain.
The sword at his waist had fallen somewhere during his fall, and he had nothing left except a thin swordsman's uniform and a few pieces of dry rations.
During these three days.
She barely survived on limited rations and water seeping from the cracks in the rocks, but hunger and cold were like two invisible chains, dragging her little by little toward death.
She had hallucinations more than once, seeing campfires in the distance and figures approaching, but each time she struggled to climb closer, those hallucinations would dissipate like mist in the wind and snow.
"No..."
"I can't give up yet..."
Nina gritted her teeth and used her still-intact hands to pry her way forward inch by inch through the snow.
Her lips were cracked and bleeding, and her consciousness was beginning to fade, with only that last shred of obsession still holding her together.
"I want to surpass him... I want to defeat that guy... I can't die here like this..."
"I want to go home, I must survive!"
In a life-or-death situation, Nina unleashed an astonishing will to survive.
But just then, a rustling sound came from the bushes.
Nina looked up abruptly, her pupils contracting sharply.
A wolf peeked its head out from the shadows, its greedy eyes locking onto her, drool slowly dripping from its mouth.
Its size wasn't particularly large; in the past, with her Sword Saint strength, she wouldn't have taken it seriously at all.
But now, he's lost his sword, his leg is broken, his whole body is frozen, and he can't even stand up.
"It's over... I'm doomed..."
Nina's voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible; a profound despair welled up from the depths of her heart, and her body trembled instinctively.
She even felt a warm sensation on her trouser leg, and she was so frightened that she peed herself again.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
It slid down along with the mud and ice shards on my face, leaving two muddy streaks on my cheeks.
She tried desperately to back away.
With his broken leg, he couldn't exert any strength and could only watch as the demonic wolf approached step by step, its sharp fangs gleaming coldly in the moonlight.
regret.
I feel an unprecedented sense of regret.
She had never regretted anything as much as she did now.
If it weren't for secretly competing with that person, if it weren't for the fact that I had to run out to hunt monsters to prove myself right after I swung the Sword of Light.
She wouldn't have encountered the Snow Dragon Beast, wouldn't have jumped off a cliff and broken her leg, and wouldn't have ended up being driven to the brink of despair by a tiny demon wolf.
The image of that face, always with slightly squinted eyes, flashed through my mind; the image of that figure, constantly wielding a sword in the moonlight, flashed by.
"Damn it... I, Nina, am so unwilling to accept this!"
She slammed her fist into the snow, blood seeping from her frozen fingers, and cried out, "I haven't beaten him even once! I really, really don't want to die!"
"Ugh... Someone, please save me! Anyone, please! I just want someone to save me, I don't want to die..."
"Awoo!"
The wolf growled and pounced through the air.
Then.
At this critical moment, a loud shout rang out, "This is the end!"
Swish.
A streak of snow-white sword light suddenly shone through the swirling snow.
It was as fast as moonlight itself transformed into a sharp blade, precisely slicing across the wolf's throat.
Pfft--
Warm blood splattered all over Nina's face.
The wolf's body froze in mid-air for a moment, then fell limply to the ground, its limbs twitching a few times before it lay still.
Nina stared blankly at the figure blocking her way.
The man had his back to her, his figure mostly blurred by the wind and snow, the sword in his hand gleaming with a cold, silvery light in the moonlight.
The blade is thin and long, with a translucent luster like water.
Who is it?
Who exactly saved me?
She tried to open her eyes to see the other person's face, but she couldn't make out their features.
The wind and snow were too heavy, and the moonlight was too dim.
Her vision was already shattered by tears and exhaustion, and she even began to wonder if this was a hallucination she was experiencing before she died.
"You..."
Nina opened her mouth, her voice so hoarse she could barely utter a sound, "Who... are you?"
The person on the other end was silent for a moment, then did not answer.
The wind rushed into the gap between the two, making the figure behind them even more blurred.
Nina tried to sit up to get a better look, but the weakness from not eating for three days, the excruciating pain from her broken leg, and the icy coldness that had gripped her body all rushed over her at the same time.
The world before my eyes began to shake violently.
She strained her eyes, trying desperately to remember what that figure looked like.
But the other person never turned around.
Then, she felt completely exhausted and could no longer hold on, so she fainted.
Before she lost consciousness, she had only one thought in her mind.
So, who exactly saved her?
P. S.: Thank you! I've only been able to keep going thanks to your free little gifts, otherwise I would have already failed.