The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

The crisis is over.

The golden talisman hung in the wooden house, its golden light shimmering like scattered gold.

The cinnabar patterns on the talisman flowed slowly, each stroke exuding righteous energy, isolating the wind and snow outside the door from evil spirits.

The roaring sounds outside the door had long since faded away.

The ice corpses retreated into the darkness beyond the reach of the golden light, like the tide receding into the sea, leaving only a mess of chaotic footprints on the snowfield.

The marks, deep and shallow, are etched into the snow, proving that they were indeed there.

Chu Qiao exhaled a long breath, which condensed into a cloud of white mist in the cold air.

His shoulders and back, which had been tense all night, finally relaxed. He leaned against the rough wall of the wooden house and looked at the golden talisman floating in mid-air.

His eyes held genuine admiration, but also a hint of complexity.

"This talisman..."

He carefully considered his words, and in the end just smiled slightly.

"That's amazing."

His voice carried a lighthearted joy at surviving a disaster, yet also a bitterness that only he himself understood.

"It seems we can rest peacefully tonight. After dawn, they will return to the depths of the icy abyss to hibernate."

"They usually stay in the ice abyss and rarely come out. Really, very rarely."

This was also the first time he had ever seen so many ice corpses move out together.

They crawled out densely from the depths of the ice crevice, as if the spirits of the dead beneath the entire burial ground had been awakened by some force.

He muttered something to himself, so softly that only he could hear it.

"I don't know what's going on... They never do this before."

His gaze fell on the golden talisman.

Gazing at the majestic aura of the talisman, which exorcised evil spirits and shone with golden light, a thoughtful expression appeared in his lazy eyes.

This talisman looks familiar.

I feel like I've seen him before.

But what he had seen was not golden; it was just an ordinary talisman. Ordinary yellow paper, ordinary cinnabar, drawn on a simple table, the edges curling slightly after the ink dried.

It is certainly no match for the golden talisman before us, which exudes righteous energy and seems capable of dispelling all evil spirits.

But he has a very good memory.

Those distant images, which he had never forgotten, flashed through his mind.

The trend of the Dao pattern.

The habit of putting pen to paper.

The slight pause at the beginning of the stroke, the restrained return stroke at the end.

Beneath that sharp, incisive stroke lies a restrained gentleness.

He felt they were somewhat similar.

Very similar.

He dared not think any further.

"Ah Qiao, this place of yours..."

Feng Zhuo couldn't help but speak up.

He glanced around at the extremely simple wooden hut.

He glanced again at the endless, desolate ice field outside the window, his usually flamboyant and unrestrained face now filled with complex emotions.

"It's not a place for humans to stay."

He is straightforward and doesn't mince words.

Having only stayed one night here, he had already experienced firsthand the harshness of the living conditions here.

There are all sorts of ferocious beasts lurking around, and there are eerie, icy corpses that send chills down your spine.

And then there's that pervasive, almost bone-chilling cold.

How difficult must it be for Chu Qiao to live here all by himself?

He was all alone in this dilapidated little wooden hut, tending to a small fire that could go out at any moment.

How many of these long nights has he spent?

Are there hundreds or thousands?

Feng Zhuo dared not think about it.

"Why don't you come with us..."

Feng Zhuo said, his tone lacking his usual arrogance and unruliness.

"How can this place be uninhabitable?"

He looked around, his tone carrying a hint of deliberate smugness.

"It has a roof, a stove, fish to eat, and the aurora borealis to see. If this were outside, it would be a prime location, the kind where you have to pay to get in."

Upon hearing this, Chu Qiao raised an eyebrow, as if he had heard something interesting.

Tangxi Xue also spoke up.

"If Ah Qiao is worried about having nowhere to go outside, you can come with me."

Her voice was calm and earnest, not just a casual politeness.

It was a well-considered commitment.

Every word she uttered was delivered with steadiness, just like every decision she had ever made—crucial and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

"I can still provide you with a place to stay. With your skills, it won't be difficult for you to survive out there."

Tangxi Xue also felt a pang of regret for the talented person.

This young man was able to survive in such a desperate situation as the Ice Abyss Dragon's Nest, and not only survived, he also thrived.

They know every blade of grass, every tree, every insect, and every beast here, and they know which path leads to survival and which leads to certain death.

It's such a pity that someone with such a temperament and such abilities is wasting their time on this desolate, icy plain.

What pained her even more was the way he took it all for granted.

It's as if simply being alive is a victory, as if loneliness is something you can get used to.

She was willing to give him a better path.

"You no longer have to sleep in that kind of bed, no longer have to keep watch alone at night, no longer have to listen to the roaring outside the door while waiting for dawn."

Tang Xixue's voice had gained a touch of warmth.

"There's a market outside, a teahouse, and your favorite candied fruit. You can eat as much as you want."

Chu Qiao's Adam's apple bobbed.

In that instant, a very subtle crack appeared on his flawless smile.

Then he laughed again.

"Sister," his voice held a hint of pleading, "I'm actually a little tempted by your offer. Plenty of candied fruit—that's a hefty reward."

"Then you're tempted."

Tang Xixue's voice remained calm.

"You don't need to put on a brave face here. Nobody will laugh at you."

"I'm not trying to be strong."

Chu Qiao's voice suddenly softened, and at that moment, the mask seemed to be slipping off.

"I just..."

He paused, then turned his head away, avoiding her gaze.

"We can't leave."

Chu Qiao did not doubt her sincerity in wanting to help him.

She was a person who cared deeply for all living beings; the kindness in her eyes was genuine, and so was her invitation.

He knew all of this, and he always remembered it.

but……

He shook his head and sat back down in his corner.

Leaning against the drafty wooden wall, I hugged my knees and curled up into a ball.

"You should rest now. I'll take you to the exit of the underground river first thing tomorrow morning. Once it's light, those things will return to the Ice Abyss."

His voice returned to its lazy tone, but this time, the disguise was much thinner.

"Are we really not allowed to leave?"

Feng Zhuo still didn't give up, his voice carrying the stubbornness he rarely showed to others.

"real."

Chuqiao's answer was brief and resolute.

There were no further explanations, no new excuses, just two words.

Why?

"Ranzhi." Tang Xixue called out to him again, this time with a hint of seriousness in her voice, "That's enough."

Feng Zhuo gritted his teeth, turned around, and refused to look at Chu Qiao again.

His hand rested on the hilt of the sword, his knuckles turning slightly white.

"Alright, since you insist."

Tang Xixue didn't try to persuade her any further and decisively ended the conversation.

She respected his choice.

Everyone has their own path to walk, and everyone has their own secrets that they must keep.

Imposing her ideas on others is not her style.

But when she looked at his figure huddled in the corner, her gaze lingered on him longer than usual.

"Ah Xue, you should rest. I'll keep watch tonight."

Feng Zhu volunteered, patting the hilt of his sword at his waist with a serious expression.

There was no hint of joking in his words; he was calm and resolute.

"This humble servant is on night watch."

Mu Liang also spoke, his voice as calm and steady as ever.

"Then we'll take turns."

Feng Zhuo patted Mu Liang's shoulder, the force neither too light nor too heavy, carrying the unspoken understanding between men.

"I'll keep watch for now, you can take over later. Ah Xue and Ah Qiao, rest assured, not a single bug will get in."

"Thank you for your help, Ranzhi and Aliang."

Tang Xixue did not refuse, her tone filled with heartfelt gratitude and trust.

She lay down to rest and closed her eyes.

The little white cat, Yin Kong, immediately snuggled up beside her, curling into a snow-white ball of fluff, close to her side. Its little ears twitched occasionally, carefully remaining alert.

Golden talismans floated in mid-air, silently guarding the small house in the wind and snow.

The light was warm and enduring, as if someone in the distance was keeping a lamp burning for her all night long.

Tangxi Xue felt warm all over.

The energy from the dragonfish soup was still circulating in her body, like a gentle flame, melting away every trace of coldness in her limbs and bones.

Consuming dragonfish can enhance a cultivator's strength, as it contains abundant and pure energy.

It nourishes her meridians continuously, like spring rain nourishing all things, silently yet everywhere.

She was originally weak and had a cold constitution, a condition that had plagued her since childhood.

Every winter, my hands and feet get cold and I can't warm them up no matter how much I try to cover them.

But after drinking the fish soup, she clearly felt an improvement in her health.

The warmth surged from the depths of his dantian, and his body was rekindled with fire.

That was a feeling she had almost forgotten.

Evening coolness and scorching wind were not idle.

They sat directly on the spot, circulating their energy while keeping watch and absorbing the power contained in the dragon fish soup.

The spiritual energy flows slowly through the meridians, in a continuous cycle.

Draw every bit of essence into your dantian and make it your own.

Outside the window, the aurora borealis fell like a thousand-foot-long veil.

The light was a ghostly green, mixed with a faint hint of purple.

It cascaded down from the highest point of the sky, covering the entire ice field.

The curtain of light flowed slowly in the night sky, like a light veil casually lowered by the gods, soft and vast.

It covers this desolate land forgotten by the world.

silence.

Magnificent.

No one appreciates this beautiful scenery.

The golden talisman's light echoed the aurora borealis on the horizon.

We greeted each other in the boundless darkness.