Fairy, you call this repaying a debt of gratitude?

The wind and snow on Hanlin Peak seemed much heavier than those at the foot of the mountain.

Large, fluffy snowflakes danced wildly in the sky, and the howling wind lashed at our faces like knives, causing a sharp, piercing pain.

Gu Lengyue was about to use her spiritual power to fly up the mountain when she discovered that her spiritual power was completely stagnant and she could not mobilize it at all.

It was as if there was a strange restriction here, preventing her from using her spiritual power to fly.

Left with no other choice, she could only pull down the brim of her hood, hiding most of her face in the shadows, grit her teeth, and take heavy steps slowly toward the towering peak.

The mountain is steep and sheer, with thick ice covering the rocks. Although it is barely possible to find a foothold, the higher you climb, the heavier the wind and snow become.

Gradually, she began to need to use her spiritual energy to protect her body from the wind and snow. Moreover, each step she took upwards required a great deal of effort, and her figure became increasingly unsteady.

As she reached the mountainside, Gu Lengyue felt utterly exhausted, her spiritual energy nearly depleted. Her pace slowed, but a sound suddenly reached her ears.

But just then, a cold, unfamiliar male voice rang in her ears, unusually clear amidst the howling wind:

"Cold Moon, this is not a place for you."

The sound was deep and melodious.

Gu Lengyue froze, her expression suddenly turning blank, and she immediately stopped in her tracks.

She suddenly looked up and cautiously surveyed her surroundings, but amidst the vast snowstorm, there was nothing but swirling snowflakes and steep cliffs; there was not a soul in sight, not even a trace of birds or beasts.

Could it be that she was too tired and was hallucinating?

Gu Lengyue shook her head, forcibly shaking off the uneasy thoughts in her mind, and a determined light rekindled in her eyes.

She could not back down; the hope of reviving her mother lay at the summit, and she had to keep going.

She took a deep breath, steadied herself, and continued her arduous climb toward the summit.

During this time, the wind and snow intensified, to the point that she had to expend a great deal of effort to take each step.

What exactly is this place?

Why is the weather here so strange?

She had no time to think it over; according to the letter, the person who killed her mother was living in seclusion on the mountaintop.

At this moment, the summit was already in sight, and the flat land hidden in the thick clouds and snow was the end of her journey.

She still has to strive forward.

It's unclear how much time has passed, but it's likely not very long, only to Gu Lengyue it seems like an eternity.

"Huff...huff..."

She leaned against the rock wall, panting heavily, her chest heaving violently. Her body was soaked in snow and sweat, looking utterly disheveled, but she finally reached the summit of Hanlin Peak.

The summit is flat and offers an extremely wide view. Under the swirling snow, the entire pristine white landscape of northern Shuobei unfolds before your eyes, vast and desolate.

But Gu Lengyue felt no relief; instead, she became even more tense.

She still had to fight the murderer alone, but she was exhausted and didn't even have the strength to hold her sword.

But now is definitely not the time to be tired.

Gu Lengyue took a few deep breaths to calm her disordered breathing, straightened her expression, and sharply scanned everything on the summit.

Looking out, there was nothing else on the summit except a simple wooden hut. The smoke from the chimney had long since died down, but it still exuded a faint sense of life, standing out in the vast snowstorm.

That person must have been living in seclusion here.

However, doesn't this kind of residence seem a bit shabby?

She channeled her remaining spiritual energy and slowly scanned the wooden house with her divine sense, but the result made her heart sink.

At this moment, the wooden house was empty, without even a trace of life.

He's not here? Gu Lengyue panicked instantly, her mind a jumble of thoughts.

If he weren't here, wouldn't all her perseverance, all her hardships, and her hope of reviving her mother have vanished into thin air?

Just as she was panicking and at a loss, something inconspicuous suddenly caught her attention.

It was a small tombstone, standing in the snow behind the wooden house, half-covered by snow, almost unnoticeable if you didn't look closely.

In an instant, Gu Lengyue felt a strong sense of foreboding. She staggered as she pushed aside the snow and walked step by step toward the tombstone.

She stood before the tombstone, her gaze fixed on its surface, where the inscriptions were clearly visible, each stroke powerful and penetrating the stone:

The Tomb of Xie Lingran's Wife, Chen Qiuyu.

Upon seeing these words, Gu Lengyue's eyes suddenly went blank, and her mind went completely empty.

Chen Qiuyu... that was her mother, the mother she cherished in her heart and missed day and night!

And Xie Lingran, by all accounts, should be her real father whom she had never met…

So, this tombstone should have been erected by her father, Xie Lingran, but why is it standing here?

Is this the place where the murderer who killed my mother is hiding?

Countless questions flooded her mind, making her almost unable to stand.

Her legs buckled, and she half-knelt on the ground. The silver sword in her hand fell to the snow with a clatter, but she didn't care.

She stretched out her pale fingers and gently brushed over the three characters "Chen Qiuyu" on the monument. Her fingertips touched the cold rock, but for some reason, she felt a faint, familiar warmth from it.

"Leng Yue, you shouldn't have come here."

It was that voice again, exactly the same as the one heard from the mountainside, equally chilling, the same words.

Following the sound, Gu Lengyue stiffly turned her head and saw a man standing in the snow not far away.

He was tall and strong, with a clear face, but his expression revealed an indescribable haggardness, and his beard and hair were white, which was inconsistent with his age.

What shocked Gu Lengyue the most was that she knew him—he was the person she had gone through so much trouble to find at Hanlin Peak, the murderer who killed her mother!

He really was here!

However, at this moment, his eyes no longer held the bloodthirsty ferocity of yesteryear. Instead, they carried a calm and composed look that seemed to have come from a life of experience, as if everything in the past had vanished like smoke.

But Gu Lengyue still remembers.

She suddenly stood up, picked up the silver sword from the ground, and rushed forward like an arrow. The long sword, carrying a sharp aura, pierced straight for the man's heart with astonishing speed—this sword strike contained all her hatred and obsession.

But the man did not dodge at all. He simply stretched out his right hand, pinched her sword with two fingers, and accurately stopped it.

No matter how hard Gu Lengyue exerted herself, the longsword could not advance even an inch, as if it were firmly fixed in mid-air.

"Drink... Ah!"

Gu Lengyue's eyes were bloodshot as she gripped the sword hilt tightly with both hands, channeling all her spiritual energy and immense power into the blade. In the next moment, with Gu Lengyue at the center, the surrounding snow was blown away by a whirlwind of air, and the snowflakes obscured the figures of the two.

After a long while, the snowflakes dissipated, and the two figures reappeared on the mountaintop.

The man remained calm and composed, his expression unchanged, but the silver sword in Gu Lengyue's hand had shattered into several pieces, which fell to the snow with a soft rustling sound.

Gu Lengyue looked down in disbelief at the remaining sword hilt and scattered sword fragments in her hand, her body trembling slightly.

This sword was a gift from Shen Wei to her...

How could a sword that should have been incredibly powerful shatter so easily?

Her hatred, her obsession, her all-out attack—were all so easily defeated?

Was what she had done really so ridiculous? A tremendous sense of despair and helplessness overwhelmed her in an instant.

The man sighed softly, his tone carrying a complex sense of helplessness:

"This is not a place for you. Go back down the mountain immediately... Don't dwell on past grievances anymore."

"don't want!"

Gu Lengyue snapped back to her senses, the despair in her eyes instantly replaced by determination. She raised her head, her eyes bloodshot as she stared at the man.

"Today, I'm not going anywhere. Even if I die by your hand... it doesn't matter!"