The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

Tang Xixue's gaze pierced through the swirling snow and landed on the ice field beyond the flying boat, covered in aurora borealis.

The eerie green light curtain danced silently in the night sky like countless souls of the dead.

This faint ray of light quietly shone in her boundless darkness.

Above the icy abyss, the wind and snow were dark and gloomy.

"Ah Qiao, I actually still remember you..."

Tang Xixue stood at the front of the cabin, with a bottomless abyss behind her and a glimmer of hope in front of her.

The cold wind whipped up her long, dark hair and white clothes, as if she were scooping up a handful of drifting clouds.

But her back remained straight, like a jade sword that would rather break than bend.

No matter how fierce the wind and frost, it remained unmoved.

Whether what awaits her is a trap or true salvation.

She will keep moving forward without hesitation.

She still remembers that winter.

A gaunt little beggar was curled up in a haystack by the roadside, too weak even to tremble.

She stopped, squatted down, and placed a bowl of porridge into his cold hands.

"You will survive, cheer up!"

The little beggar looked up at her.

Those eyes were so bright, so bright, that they didn't seem like those of someone who was about to starve to death.

He held the bowl of porridge in his hands, took a sip, and then another.

Then he smiled at her.

She remembered that clean and warm smile for many years.

She originally intended to pick him up back then.

She left him the porridge and copper coins, hurriedly finished her business, and rushed back to settle him in the Weaving Moon Pavilion.

But when she went to look for it, the haystack was already empty.

All that remained were the flattened, withered grass and two rows of footprints, mostly covered by wind and snow.

He has long since disappeared.

She stood in front of the haystack for a long time, so long that the servants behind her dared not urge her on.

She thought the child was probably dead.

He died that winter, in some unknown place, and became a pile of bones that no one would collect.

She didn't know he had survived.

I don't know how many years he has been guarding the burial ground of the Ice Abyss.

He wore the broken copper coin on his waist and never took it off.

"Let's go. Let's set off."

Tang Xixue withdrew her gaze and took Chu Qiao into Cangxue's heart.

The crystal-clear gemstone emitted a soft halo.

They carved out a clean corner deep within the gemstone and carefully placed him there.

His body was still covered in ice scales, but a faint smile still lingered on his lips.

It all looked so peaceful.

"Ah Qiao, you will survive, you will..."

"Your Highness, everything has been taken care of."

Mu Liang had already cleaned up the corpse of the Heavenly Apostle, his movements swift and without a trace of unnecessary emotion.

He confiscated the Void-Breaking Talisman, examined the patterns on the talisman stone, and presented it to Tang Xixue.

"There's one more token."

After doing all this, he silently stood back behind Tang Xixue, still with that calm and steady demeanor.

Tang Xixue turned her head and glanced at the Ice Abyss Burial Ground.

Within the ice, rows of frozen corpses stood silently, each in a different pose.

Some looked up at the sky, while others huddled together in a ball.

Some stretched out their arms, their fingertips forever pointing to that path to survival they could never reach again.

They were all looking at her.

Those young people whose luck was stolen, those prodigies buried deep in this burial ground.

The souls of the dead, who can no longer escape, are all watching her now.

At that moment, she seemed to sense something.

It's neither sound nor image.

Rather, it is a silent resonance emanating from deep within the ice.

Countless hands in the darkness are pointing in the same direction at the same time.

Countless mouths, in the silence, simultaneously uttered the same silent cry.

"Break free! Forge a path! Shatter the shackles of this heavenly order!"

The sound was silent, yet more deafening than any thunderclap.

Tang Xixue's eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

She suddenly understood.

Last night, those frozen corpses, those countless dead crawling out from the depths of the ice crevices.

They didn't come to kill her.

They sensed her presence as the chosen one, and thus awoke from their slumber.

So they flocked to that little cabin, and stood outside the door, unwilling to leave.

Scratches on the door.

Those marks left by fingernails.

It was not a threat, not an attack, but a warning written stroke by stroke.

They were telling her that it was dangerous here.

They were urging her to leave.

They were using their remaining means to remind her not to repeat their mistakes.

Don't become just another nameless number on this burial ground.

They came to save her.

With their remaining cold, stiff fingers, they wrote stroke by stroke on the wooden door.

"Leave here, or you'll reach a dead end."

Tang Xixue turned around and faced the vast ice field, where ice corpses stood silently under the aurora.

To those souls who are forever trapped here by the Heavenly Contract.

She straightened her clothes and clasped her hands together in front of her chest.

He solemnly bowed to the countless ancestors.

"Rest assured. I will crush Lingxiao and live on, taking your share with me."

Her voice echoed deep within the ice.

"I will walk the road that you didn't finish walking for you."

The wind howled, and the aurora borealis descended.

The figures deep within the ice remained silent.

But in that silence, there seemed to be a touch of peace.

The flying boat soared into the sky and disappeared.

The faint glow of the runes flowed along the bottom of the ship, enveloping the entire airship in a layer of pale golden light.

It tore through the ice abyss's barrier and flew towards the narrow patch of sky above.

The snow dragon transformed into a streak of silver light and coiled around Tang Xixue's wrist.

It clung gently to her skin, like a crystal-clear silver bracelet.

The little white cat, Yin Kong, jumped back into Tang Xi Xue's arms, eager to show off its accomplishment.

It nestled its fluffy head into her arms, its sapphire eyes narrowing into two crescent moons.

Its tail was held high with pride.

It raised a paw and patted her sleeve, then turned and glared at Shen Yan.

Shen Yan huddled by the side of the ship, her hands tightly bound.

The blue cloak was crumpled up and wrapped around his body, making him look like a pheasant soaked by the rain.

She met Yin Kong's eyes and subconsciously shrank back.

"How come even her cat is so ferocious?!"

It is now after the Lantern Festival.

Beyond the icy abyss, in the human world, the lanterns have just been put away, but the festive atmosphere of the New Year still lingers.

Red lanterns still hang in front of every household, and the sweet aroma of glutinous rice balls wafts through the streets and alleys.

There is still more than a month and a half until the coronation ceremony on March 3rd.

"Where is the lair of the Guixu Palace?"

Tang Xixue asked, her gaze falling on Shen Yan.

His tone returned to its usual calm and composed manner.

"It's in the Nine Netherworld Continent in the southwest, in the direction of Tiangong City. The exact location will only be known when you get there. Guixu Palace is concealed by a maze array, and the path to enter the palace is different each time. Only the Heavenly Dao Apostles and the guides can sense the location of the entrance."

Shen Yan was bound hand and foot, and spoke weakly.

Her voice was hoarse, her lips were chapped, and her face still bore the pallor of someone who had just survived a close call.

"Nine Netherworld Continent... Thousand Machine Mystery Kingdom, Brother Ghost Physician..."

Tangxi Xue murmured to herself.

She looked up at the direction the airship was heading, and the aurora borealis on the horizon was already far behind her.

Instead, a vast sea of ​​clouds surged like silver waves under the moonlight.

Feng Zhuo walked to her side and asked in a low voice, "Ah Xue, do you really believe what she said?"

"Don't believe everything."

Tang Xixue's voice was calm, her gaze still fixed on the sea of ​​clouds ahead.

"But as long as there is even a slight chance, it is worth trying with all my might."

"What if?"

Feng Zhuo fell silent.

He looked into the unyielding light in her eyes.

He opened his mouth, as if to say, "Isn't this too risky?"

"What if Guixu Palace is a trap?"

But in the end he said nothing.

He simply placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and stood behind her.

Mu Liang silently turned the flying boat's course southwest.

"Nine Netherworld Continent, that's no ordinary continent; it's the most chaotic region in the entire Nine Continents..."