Chapter 34: Qingluan 

“Awake?” The man’s voice was clear and smooth. Liu Shuang opened her eyes to see someone sitting on the ice.

Liu Shuang got up, her clothes slipping off. She asked warily, “Shaoyou?”

Snow had begun to fall from the sky. Shaoyou’s expression was cold, a hint of guilt in his eyes. The green robe she wore was his; once it slipped off, the cold penetrated her bones.

Shaoyou said, “Keep it on for now. The yin energy in the Ghost King’s tomb is too strong; it will erode your immortal body.”

Liu Shuang noticed they were standing on a stretch of dark blue ice, with water flowing beneath, clear yet eerie.

She wondered if the Shaoyou before her was real or an illusion created by the Valley of Eight Sufferings. Her last memory was still in the valley, enduring four cycles, watching her seven souls scatter. But now it was different; she could control her body. Had she accidentally escaped the valley?

“Shaoyou, did you save me?”

Shaoyou shook his head. “He did.”

He gestured for her to look elsewhere. Liu Shuang saw a young man in black sitting by the dark blue ice lake.

Yan Chaosheng leaned against something resembling a reef, pale and soaked, not even glancing at her.

“Yan Chaosheng…” Liu Shuang was even more surprised. Why was he here? And Shaoyou said he saved her?

Hearing her voice, Yan Chaosheng turned to look at her and Shaoyou, his gaze cold and full of disdain.

Liu Shuang noticed he looked quite disheveled, drenched with snow on his shoulders, lips pale. His pupils and under eyes were dark, like a cold living corpse, as if he had inhaled too much ghost energy and was on the verge of death.

In his past life, even when he became the Ghost King, he didn’t look as ghostly as he did now.

Moreover, he was dripping wet, resembling a vengeful water ghost, as if he could drag her to death at any moment.

Liu Shuang silently moved closer to Shaoyou, away from him.

Yan Chaosheng coldly stared at her, a mocking smile on his lips, then looked away.

Liu Shuang whispered to Shaoyou, “Are you sure he saved me and didn’t try to kill me?”

Yan Chaosheng’s eyes were full of murderous intent.

Shaoyou chuckled at her concern. “It was indeed him. When I fell into the Valley of Eight Sufferings, my soul almost scattered. Your soul lamp found me, helped gather my seven souls. I dispersed my cultivation to wake from the killing array and walked towards the Ghost King’s tomb, just in time to see you both fall into the spirit vein lake.”

Shaoyou continued, “At that time, he was injured, shielding you from the ghost energy.”

It turned out that the shattered soul lamp Liu Shuang saw was an illusion. The lamp, carrying Shaoyou’s spirit jade, found him. Shaoyou dispersed much of his cultivation to barely keep his three souls intact. He walked against the current, heading towards the death gate in the killing array, finally entering the legendary “Ghost King’s Tomb.”

The Ghost King’s Tomb wasn’t a tomb but a constantly changing ghost domain spirit vein.

Shaoyou hadn’t gone far when the ground beneath him turned into a mountain of knives, then a sea of fire. When he met Liu Shuang, he saw Yan Chaosheng and her fall into the ice lake.

Shaoyou used his magic to pull them out. The troubling part was that everything in the Ghost King’s Tomb was real.

For example, the ice lake was bone-chilling, and only Shaoyou’s immortal robe could slightly block the wind and snow. Shaoyou set up a formation to barely withstand the severe cold outside. Having dispersed his cultivation to get here, he wasn’t in good shape either.

Liu Shuang took out the Mirror of Eternity from her bosom. “Shaoyou, let’s go back. The Ghost King’s Tomb is too dangerous; we can’t go further.”

First the Valley of Eight Sufferings, then the strange changing ghost domain spirit vein. If they truly saw the resting place of the Ghost Kings, none of the three might survive.

Shaoyou pursed his lips. “We can’t go back.”

“How? I have the Mirror of Eternity.”

Yan Chaosheng let out a scoff in the distance.

Shaoyou said, “Look at your feet.”

Liu Shuang looked down and saw something swimming beneath the ice. She focused and saw a fish about seven or eight feet long.

“This is the ancient Henggong fish. Henggong fish are born in the stone lake, which is eternally frozen. They are seven to eight feet long, shaped like carp but red. They swim in the water during the day and turn into humans at night. They cannot be stabbed or cooked to death. This is recorded in ancient texts. However, the Henggong fish I know can break all spatial travel methods. You can’t enter or leave. During the day, it snows and the lake freezes. At night, when the ice melts, it will swallow all living beings inside,” Shaoyou explained.

“So, it can render the Mirror of Eternity useless. When night falls here and the snow stops, we will be eaten by it?”

Shaoyou’s eyes were filled with guilt. “Sorry, I’ve dragged you into this.”

Liu Shuang looked at the creature resembling a giant koi beneath her feet and instantly found it repulsive. Heaven, after managing to live again, she was about to be swallowed by a demon fish. According to Shaoyou, the Henggong fish couldn’t be killed.

Shaoyou lowered his head, his lips lightly pursed, his eyelashes and hair covered in snow.

“I chose to follow you in; it’s not your fault,” Liu Shuang gently tugged at his clothes, giving a faint smile. “It’s not dark yet, and the snow hasn’t stopped. We still have a chance to find a way out.”

Shaoyou looked at her, shivering from the cold yet trying to smile, and he smiled back.

Usually, he was the one comforting others. Since birth, Kunlun saw him as a pillar, everyone believing the young master could do anything. For thousands of years, he had lived for others. This was the first time someone comforted him, trying to protect him.

“Everything has a counterpart; everyone has a weakness. The Henggong fish should be no exception. Shaoyou, do you know its weakness?”

Shaoyou thought for a moment and remembered something. “The Ghost Stone Black Plum. It’s said that throwing this plum into the melted lake and boiling it will kill the Henggong fish. But there are very few records about the Ghost Stone Black Plum. It’s said to look like a black plum but is actually a kind of boiling stone that reacts with water.”

Seeing the snow lessen and night in the ghost domain approaching, finding the elusive Ghost Stone Black Plum was almost impossible.

Liu Shuang was also disheartened. Was this really how they would die?

Yan Chaosheng staggered over from the distance, extending his hand to Shaoyou, his voice hoarse and cold. “Young Master Jimo, may I borrow your immortal sword?”

Without a word, Shaoyou’s sword flew into Yan Chaosheng’s hand.

At Shaoyou’s trust, Yan Chaosheng paused, then coldly looked at Liu Shuang.

Seeing him holding the sword and looking at her, Liu Shuang felt his expression was extremely unpleasant, almost as if he would slash her with the sword at any moment.

Fortunately, Yan Chaosheng didn’t intend to do anything to her. He turned and walked towards the reef he had been resting on, slashing it with the sword.

Shaoyou’s immortal sword could cut mountains and jade. With one slash, the reef shattered.

Yan Chaosheng panted slightly, his dark eyes looking at another reef.

“Do you suspect the Ghost Stone Black Plum is in the reef?” Shaoyou asked.

Yan Chaosheng said, “With a thousand miles of ice, there are no other living beings. We can only try in the reef.”

After speaking, Yan Chaosheng couldn’t help but cough twice. He covered his mouth with his hand, and when he saw the blood he coughed up, he clenched his fist silently.

Liu Shuang felt strange. Since Shaoyou said Yan Chaosheng saved her, this place felt more like a dream than the Valley of Eight Sufferings.

No wonder she felt this way. In her past life, she and Yan Chaosheng had severed all ties, and in this life, the original owner had a deep hatred for him. She came in to save Shaoyou, but why did he come in? Didn’t he leave?

Why did he save her? What was his scheme?

Seeing him weak, yet desperately and fiercely chopping at the rocks as if venting anger, Liu Shuang was even more puzzled.

How did Yan Chaosheng become so strange after leaving the Valley of Eight Sufferings?

Shaoyou said, “If that’s the case, I’ll do it.” He summoned his sword, and with a gesture, the reefs shattered wherever the sword passed. Liu Shuang crouched to search the rubble, but there was nothing resembling a black plum.

They tried many places on the ice lake, unwilling to give up.

While Liu Shuang was still trying to find the Ghost Stone Black Plum, Yan Chaosheng suddenly said coldly, “The snow has stopped.”

She turned to see Yan Chaosheng looking at the sky, his dark eyes filled with coldness.

Liu Shuang also felt cold all over. The snow stopping meant night was coming. Sure enough, the ice lake began to shake violently.

The lake surface started to tremble and melt!

The ice cracked in an instant, and a gap suddenly opened beneath her feet. Liu Shuang nearly fell in, but a hand colder than ice grabbed her collar.

Yan Chaosheng said coldly, “Summon your Crimson Pearl Umbrella; it can hold for a while.”

After speaking, he let go without looking at her.

Liu Shuang covered her neck, the skin he accidentally touched still feeling the coldness of his fingertips, making her shiver.

She quickly transformed the Crimson Pearl Umbrella into a small boat, stepping lightly onto it.

The Henggong fish leaped from the lake, opening its mouth wide to swallow them.

Yan Chaosheng and Shaoyou both boarded the boat made from the umbrella. Liu Shuang, not caring about anything else, quickly steered the boat across the lake.

A shadow rose behind them, the Henggong fish not chasing them but growing larger, soon becoming the size of a small mountain.

At this rate, no matter how far they ran, they would end up in the fish’s belly. Shaoyou frowned, “We can’t escape like this.”

Yan Chaosheng narrowed his eyes, observing the growing Henggong fish.

Liu Shuang had lived in the ghost domain for a hundred years but never knew the Ghost King’s Tomb had such a terrifying creature. Even if it wasn’t strong in attack, its immortality would wear them down.

It was expanding too fast. Just moments ago, it was the size of a small mountain, now it was as large as several mountain ranges.

The sky was blocked. Shaoyou said, “Go!”

The Henggong fish opened its mouth, and Shaoyou’s sword turned into several shadows, protecting Liu Shuang and Yan Chaosheng from the fish’s attack.

He himself flew over, engaging the Henggong fish.

Liu Shuang sat on the sword. Shaoyou had dispersed his cultivation and was injured; all his immortal energy couldn’t harm the demon fish.

Seeing the fish about to swallow Shaoyou, Liu Shuang wanted to fly over.

Her arm was suddenly grabbed tightly, hurting her.

“Yan Chaosheng, what are you doing?” she angrily looked at the person beside her.

He, for some reason, gripped her with his icy fingers, almost digging into her flesh. Hearing her question, he coldly said, “What, going to die for love?”

Liu Shuang wanted to kick him. Die for love?

If Shaoyou died, wouldn’t they all die too? It was just a matter of time.

Yan Chaosheng let her go. “Go.”

But it was too late. The Henggong fish had doubled in size and swallowed Shaoyou.

A bird’s cry rang out. Liu Shuang looked up to see a blue bird flying over, something in its beak, throwing it into the lake.

The calm ice lake instantly boiled, and the once arrogant Henggong fish painfully descended, gradually turning into red mist and dissipating.

Shaoyou flew up, landing on the sword.

Everyone was surprised by the appearance of the demon bird. If it hadn’t brought the Ghost Stone Black Plum, they would all be dead now.

Liu Shuang found the bird increasingly familiar. Where had she seen it before?

She was startled, subconsciously saying, “QingLuan?”

It looked like QingLuan, but not quite. It was seven hundred years ago, and QingLuan should have just been born, still a small demon bird.

Could this bird be QingLuan’s mother?

It circled the lake, its cries sharp and piercing, its cold demon eyes staring at them, restless and anxious, as if trying to convey something.

Shaoyou speculated, “Does it want us to go into the ice lake? When I flew out of the fish’s belly, I saw something sinking.”

Liu Shuang had a wild thought: could her little QingLuan be trapped beneath the ice soul? She looked at QingLuan’s owner, Yan Chaosheng beside her, but he was indifferent, showing no intention to move.