The dim yellow mist had completely blocked their view.
Bai Heng still held the Seed of Shuhuo, which radiated a bloody red glow, in his hand.
"It was about time."
He murmured softly.
With the sound of something heavy hitting the ground, rustling noises came from within the icy fog.
The sound was faint at first, but soon gradually became clearer:
"Ah, ow, ow... I'm frozen stiff, frozen stiff! Someone give me a hand!"
Even after seven hundred years, that voice was still especially familiar.
Both Bai Heng and Jing Yuan froze slightly.
They had actually prepared themselves to face Shuhuo again.
But judging by that tone, was she... all right?
Neither of them could be certain.
After only a moment, Jing Yuan raised a talisman between his fingertips.
When the talisman turned to ash, the two clusters of cerulean spirit fire slowly faded away as well, leaving only the mist formed by the melting Six-Phased Ice.
They quietly waited for the mist to disperse.
A figure appeared not far from Bai Heng and Jing Yuan.
She was covered in pale violet fur, with a tail and fox ears so well cared for that even seven centuries of freezing could not hide it.
Her mercury-like eyes still carried an infectious optimism.
Her snowy fur-lined coat had not been dampened by the vapor, though it looked somewhat stiff.
Only, her upper body had toppled onto the bluestone floor, and the way she curled her fox tail made her look rather bedraggled.
"Big Sister Bai Heng...?" Bai Heng still asked tentatively.
Hearing him, Bai Heng brushed aside the mist and took a closer look. Her eyes widened, and after a long while, she finally said:
"Is this the underworld? Have we reunited in the underworld?"
Silence. A long, long silence.
Until Jing