Many children, many blessings: Stealing the offspring of powerful figures to cultivate immortality.

The fire in the ruins of Qingqiu mysteriously went out after the death of the dark gold monster, and was replaced by a howling blizzard that brought the temperature of this demonic illusion down to a freezing point.

With great difficulty, Fan Chenxin took off the tattered but still barely windproof kasaya she was wearing, and with trembling hands, wrapped Jiang Yining and the five treasures in her arms tightly inside.

"Your own back wound is still bleeding. Take this rag off and give it to me. Do you really want to freeze to death in this godforsaken place?"

Jiang Yining tried to put the blood-stained robe back on him, but he pressed her wrist down with an unyielding force.

"This humble monk has tempered his body in ice caves since childhood, so this bit of cold air can't harm me. It's you, benefactor, who is weak. If you catch a cold, you really won't be able to get out."

Fan Chenxin held her tightly against his chest, using the last of his body heat to build a windproof wall for her, letting the wind and snow blow across his bare shoulders and back.

Jiang Yining felt the burning heat transmitted through the fabric and looked at his lips, which were turning purple from the cold. For the first time, she didn't use those sarcastic words to mock his overestimation of his abilities.

"April is asleep. Turn your back over, and I'll stop the bleeding."

Jiang Yining placed her sleeping daughter in the warmest inner corner of the cassock, and without hesitation tore a long strip of fabric from her tattered skirt.

Fan Chenxin did not refuse her kindness and obediently turned around, displaying his bloodied and mangled back to the woman he had long admired.

"Master, with your back covered in scars, it seems your Buddhist practice isn't all that peaceful; it's more like you've been in the punishment department."

Jiang Yining's fingertips brushed against the jagged, old and new scars, her voice softening from its usual sharpness, carrying a tenderness and indulgence that even she herself was unaware of.

"Those are the disciplinary marks left by the monastic community. This humble monk's six senses are impure, so naturally I must suffer more physical pain to cleanse my sins."

Fan Chenxin felt the gentle touch of her fingertips. Even without the support of spiritual power, the tingling sensation, like a feather brushing against his heart, still made his muscles tense.

"You're such a stubborn, narrow-minded person. If you find it so bitter, why don't you leave the monastery and go down the mountain sooner? Why do you have to waste your youth in that dilapidated temple and abide by those useless rules?"

Jiang Yining wrapped the strips of cloth around his broad chest, inevitably getting close to his body. Their breaths mingled freely in the small space of the robe.

Fan Chenxin did not answer her question immediately, but when her arm wrapped around his waist, he instinctively tightened his muscles, making the closeness even more intimate and seamless.

Excessive blood loss, coupled with the harsh environment of the inner demon illusion, caused this usually clear-headed and restrained Buddhist disciple of the Great Thunderclap Temple to experience an uncontrollable state of mental confusion.

He lowered his head, his nose almost touching her soft, woody hair, greedily inhaling the familiar scent that could soothe his excruciating pain, his breathing gradually becoming heavy and ragged.

"If you had appeared earlier, this humble monk might have found an excuse to leave the mountain long ago, and wouldn't have had to wait until today."

Fan Chenxin's chapped lips brushed against her sensitive earlobe, his voice so hoarse it didn't sound like chanting, but rather like he was expressing some long-suppressed, secret desire.

Jiang Yining tied the last knot and did not back down even a step because of his sudden approach. Instead, she raised her head and met his bloodshot but deep and unfathomable eyes.

"Master, your actions have crossed the line."

Jiang Yining spoke very softly, her tone not a stern warning at all, but rather a probing and invitation filled with a sense of danger.

"There is no Buddha in this realm, only you and me."

Fan Chenxin finally shed all pretense as a Buddhist disciple, cupping her face, which was covered in dust but still breathtakingly beautiful, in his hands. His fingertips gently caressed the pitiful red mole at the corner of her eye, fully acknowledging his own mortal heart, which had long since decayed and thawed in the mortal world.

He didn't kiss her directly, because he knew that once that kiss landed, the cruel karma of this illusion would trap him and his daughter here forever. He simply pressed his forehead against hers, completely opening his broken soul to her.

Jiang Yining obediently closed her eyes, feeling the possessiveness and protectiveness emanating from his soul. She proactively released all the defenses in her sea of ​​consciousness, guiding his consciousness to merge with her semi-saint origin at the deepest level.

In this icy and snowy landscape, the two souls achieved an absolute harmony that was impossible in reality. The purplish-gold chaotic vitality and the Mahayana Buddhist light exploded in the deepest part of their consciousness, transforming into a massive torrent that could destroy everything in its path.

That force directly tore apart the false sky of the demonic illusion, and the blizzard collapsed completely in the golden light, forcibly pulling them back from the brink of death into the real secret room.

The scent of agarwood filled the air in the sealed room, and the once raging ancient Buddha relic had completely calmed down, quietly floating in mid-air and emitting a soft halo.

Jiang Yining immediately opened her eyes and found herself lying unharmed on the white jade slab, with Wu Bao sleeping peacefully beside her, while Fan Chenxin remained in the same position, firmly protecting her beneath him.

Fan Chenxin's white monk's robe was completely soaked with sweat and blood from the backlash of the secret chamber's formation. His arm was still tightly wrapped around her fragile waist, as if he had not yet fully recovered from the life-and-death bond in the illusion.

"How many of your Buddha relics are broken? Get out of here right now, you're crushing me."

Jiang Yining felt the hot hand on her waist and pushed his hard chest, but she couldn't bring herself to be tough. Instead, her tone was coquettish and reluctant.

"This humble monk has been impolite and offended you, benefactor."

Fan Chenxin struggled to sit up, supporting herself on the stone slab. Each breath caused a dull grating sound as her shattered bones snapped together.

The candlelight in the secret room was lit again. Fan Chenxin slowly loosened his arms around her waist, but in their intersecting gazes, the karmic fire had burned so fiercely that even Buddha could not extinguish it.