The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

"Huh? What happened?"

Shen Yan frantically grabbed the gunwale and scrambled to her feet, her pale face filled with terror.

The Heavenly Apostles carrying the sedan chair also lost their footing and had to hold onto the ship's side.

On that mask that had always been as cold and indifferent as iron, an unprecedented tension finally appeared.

"There's something down there!"

"It's a dragon! It's the God of War's Snow Dragon!"

Shen Yan's face turned deathly pale, even paler than the snow in the icy abyss.

"Dragon? How could there be a dragon here? Where's the dragon's nest? Aren't they supposed to be all fish?"

Before she could finish speaking, a silver-white figure soared into the sky from beneath the flying boat.

That was a dragon.

The giant dragon, entirely silver-white, with scales as if formed from frost and snow, shimmered with a chilling light under the aurora.

Each dragon scale is like a silver mirror polished for a thousand years, refracting the brilliance of the sky into countless fragments of stars.

The dragon horns were crystal clear, like icicles hanging upside down.

The dragon's whiskers fluttered in the wind, reaching lengths of several feet.

His dragon eyes, like two cold moons, coldly stared at the people on the flying boat.

The look in his eyes was filled with undisguised hostility and intimidation.

Like a mountain.

Like the sea.

Like the mysterious ice that has remained frozen for ten thousand years deep in this icy abyss.

And on the dragon's head stood a person.

Dressed in white as snow, with long, ink-black hair, her clothes fluttered wildly in the wind and snow.

Her eyes and brows exuded an aura of quiet authority, like a peerless sword that, even before it was drawn, could make mountains and rivers pale in comparison.

Even ten thousand years of wind and snow cannot obscure its beauty.

She held a small white cat in her arms, its fluffy tail dangling from her arms and swaying gently in the wind.

Snow in Tangxi.

She stood atop the dragon's head, looking down at the people on the flying boat.

"Shen Yan".

"Where do you want to take him?"

Shen Yan trembled and looked up to meet those cold, clear eyes.

Her lips trembled slightly, and she instinctively took a step back.

It crashed into the sedan chair behind it with a dull thud.

"Tang...Tang Xixue? Weren't you supposed to have been cast into the icy abyss? How could you still be alive? How could you—"

Her voice was trembling.

Every single word was trembling.

She saw her own reflection in those clear eyes.

Tiny, disheveled, like a mouse whose tail has been stepped on.

"So you guys framed me, didn't you?"

Tang Xixue's calm voice concealed a chill that sent shivers down Shen Yan's spine.

"Perfect timing. Let's settle our scores together."

She has always been the type of person who won't offend others unless they offend her.

She wouldn't make things difficult for Shen Yan unless she caused trouble.

But Shen Yan even dared to lay a hand on the Emperor's elder brother, Tang Xiye.

They were not born of the same mother, but they were still of royal blood.

They're truly beyond redemption.

Although the royal family didn't have much affection for each other to begin with, wasn't Shen Yan's behavior foolish?

They are utterly foolish for not being able to weigh the pros and cons properly.

"I...I didn't!"

Shen Yan waved her hand frantically, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"I was just passing by and felt sorry for him, his body lying exposed in the wilderness, so I took pity on him. Is that wrong? Princess Mirror, we have no grudges against each other; there must be some misunderstanding!"

She recalled Tang Xixue's astonishing sword strike in the Valley of Divine Medicine, a strike that seemed to descend from the heavens.

That sword strike severed her pride and shattered all her confidence.

Furthermore, there was the awe-inspiring power of the Heaven and Earth, which even the Pavilion Master of Fengxiao Pavilion had to avoid. Let alone her.

What can she use to compete with Tangxi Xue?

Why would you take advantage of her pitiful scheming?

Whether it's a misunderstanding or not, I'll draw my own conclusions.

Tang Xixue ignored her.

Her gaze passed over Shen Yan and the four Heavenly Dao Apostles, landing on the side of the flying boat.

It landed on Chu Qiao.

He lay on the cold ship's side, his body covered in dark blue ice scales.

From fingertips to neck, densely packed.

The ice scales had spread to his chin, and were just a hair's breadth away from covering his entire face.

He remained motionless.

They look so pitiful.

Tangxi Xue stepped down from the dragon's head.

Yin Kong jumped down from her arms and transformed into a white light, landing on the ship's side.

The blue eyes looked at Chu Qiao, and it let out a soft meow, its tail gently brushing against his fingers.

"Ah Qiao".

"I walked halfway there, then I thought about it. I decided to come back and pick you up."

Tang Xixue's voice fell, tinged with heartache.

That boy who fled famine once survived by fighting with all his might in the wind and snow.

Life is too hard.

He stayed alone in a wooden hut, enduring so many long nights.

No one came to pick him up.

No one asked him if he was cold.

She crouched down, took something out of her bosom, and opened her palm.

The broken copper coin lay quietly in her palm.

"Your copper coins."

She gently placed the copper coin in his palm and closed his stiff fingers.

Cover the back of his hand with your own palm.

"I retrieved it for you."

"Don't lose it again next time."

She paused, then lowered her eyelashes.

"I can't always pick them up for you."

Feng Zhuo and Mu Liang fell behind her.

Feng Zhuo glanced at Chu Qiao, who was lying on the side of the boat.

Covered in ice scales, it remained motionless, its eyes, which always seemed to curve upwards, tightly closed.

A faint smile lingered at the corner of his mouth, as if he had finally waited for something.

His eyes immediately welled up with tears.

He turned around abruptly, his Crimson Flame Sword already drawn from its sheath.

The sword light, like a white rainbow piercing the sun, carried the suppressed grief and indignation of the journey, tearing through the silent sky of the icy abyss.

Mu Liang followed closely behind, and the two of them unleashed ruthless and deadly attacks.

They attacked the four Heavenly Dao Apostles.

The sounds of clashing weapons, muffled groans from the apostles, and Shen Yan's screams filled the airship.

But Tangxi Xue did not look up.

She remained kneeling beside Chu Qiao and took out the Heart of Cangxue.

The crystal-clear gem emitted a soft halo, enveloping Chu Qiao within it.

The moment the light fell upon him, the spread of the ice scales paused for a split second.

Chu Qiao heard her voice.

I heard every single word.

Then he felt something being placed in his palm.

Those were his copper coins.

She retrieved it for him.

To be remembered, to be missed, to be specially picked up by someone.

This was something extremely precious to him.

It was so precious that he suddenly felt like crying.

But he could no longer shed tears.

Ice scales sealed off all his exits.

But then something occurred to him, and he suddenly became worried again.

Guixu Palace will not let her go.

With his last breath, he sent a telepathic message to her.

The sound was intermittent, as faint as a wisp of smoke that could be blown away by the wind at any moment.

"Sister...be careful of the people around you..."

He uttered his last words.

Ice scales crossed his chin and covered his brow.

The light in his eyes dimmed little by little.

Like a candle flickering in the wind, it swayed for a moment before finally going out.

Ice scales completely covered his entire body.

The scales encased him completely, like an exquisitely crafted crystal coffin.

The light of the Heart of Azure Snow still enveloped him, but it could not stop the curse power of the Heavenly Dao Contract.

It spread inch by inch within his body.

His faint heartbeat finally stopped.

"Ah Qiao—"

Tang Xixue's voice trembled as she placed her hand on his chest, feeling the deathly coldness.

But that cheerful and lively boy, that boy who would jokingly call her "sister".

But he could no longer open his eyes.

Even the power of the Heart of Azure Snow could not stop the curse of the Heavenly Contract.

Her fingers tightened, her knuckles turning white.

A deep sadness welled up in her calm, still eyes.

Seeing that things were not going well, Shen Yan took advantage of the fact that everyone's attention was not on her and quietly moved her feet.

They wanted to slip away to the other end of the airship.