The sound of “HuLü Yan, HuLü Yan,” echoed endlessly in HuLü Yan’s ears, like an incantation, reverberating around him. His throat tightened, and suddenly he felt parched.

Mi Lu’s voice was disjointed, his weak chest rising and falling as he pleaded, calling out HuLü Yan’s name.

But HuLü Yan’s reason had long been swept away by the continuous gentle breeze, leaving him in complete disarray.

It wasn’t enough.

It still wasn’t enough.

No matter what he did, it never felt like enough.

He couldn’t clearly see Mi Lu’s face. All he could make out was a blurry, foggy face.

At that moment, he so desperately wanted to know what Mi Lu looked like, the Mi Lu who was making these sounds… He wanted to know what he truly looked like.

When darkness descended once more, covering the world again, it took HuLü Yan a long time to pull himself out of that state.

The next moment, he heard Mi Lu’s voice again, “HuLü Yan?”

The voice was very close, right beside his ear.

For a moment, he thought he had returned to the dream he had just been in. But it clearly wasn’t the case.

“What’s wrong with you?” Mi Lu’s voice grew anxious as he cautiously reached out to push HuLü Yan’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

It was already broad daylight. Mi Lu had been waiting for a long time for HuLü Yan to wake up, and when he didn’t, Mi Lu had no choice but to call him after packing up their things.

Yet HuLü Yan hadn’t responded at all.

Mi Lu suspected HuLü Yan had completely passed out. After all, it was freezing, and HuLü Yan hadn’t even bothered to use a blanket while he slept.

After hesitating for a moment, Mi Lu crouched down and touched HuLü Yan’s face. His skin was even colder than Mi Lu had imagined, like touching a block of ice.

Just as he was about to check if HuLü Yan was still breathing, HuLü Yan’s hand, which had been resting on his knee, suddenly moved and, with lightning speed, grabbed Mi Lu’s wrist.

Mi Lu’s heart skipped a beat, his voice trembling with fear, “Hu… HuLü Yan?!”

A thick layer of hostility clouded HuLü Yan’s pale face, even mixed with a faint hint of murderous intent. His eyes remained closed, yet he abruptly moved his face closer to Mi Lu.

Mi Lu froze, his body stiffening as his wide eyes stared directly at HuLü Yan. He had no doubt that if he moved even slightly, HuLü Yan would have no hesitation in snapping his wrist.

The two of them remained locked in that tense stalemate for a while.

Then, as if realizing something, the hostility and murderous aura on HuLü Yan’s face dissipated rapidly. He hesitated before finally speaking, “Mi Lu?”

“It’s me,” Mi Lu said, wincing as he sucked in a breath. “Can you let go? You’re hurting me.”

HuLü Yan immediately released his grip.

Mi Lu quickly pulled his hand back, gently rotating his wrist to alleviate the pain. Only then did he look up at HuLü Yan, who had opened his eyes and was now staring blankly.

He had never seen HuLü Yan so out of control. Thinking back to how he couldn’t wake him up earlier, Mi Lu couldn’t help but speculate, “HuLü Yan, did you have a nightmare?”

It seemed like HuLü Yan didn’t hear him. He was still like a wooden figure, utterly unresponsive.

Seeing this, Mi Lu reached out to tug at HuLü Yan’s clothes.

The moment he pulled, HuLü Yan reacted as if he’d been severely shocked, springing up suddenly. However, his body stiffened briefly, as if he had sensed something unexpected.

Mi Lu, startled by HuLü Yan’s abrupt movement, didn’t notice the brief moment of stiffness. He stood up too, hurriedly asking, “What’s wrong with you?”

HuLü Yan still didn’t answer. His face displayed a whirlwind of emotions—confusion, helplessness, and surprise all flashed across his expression in quick succession.

Soon, those emotions transformed into shock and uncontrollable fury.

It was the first time Mi Lu had seen such a vivid and complex array of expressions on HuLü Yan’s face. Just as he was about to speak, he watched as HuLü Yan suddenly retreated, as if he had experienced something terrifying, and then turned around and fled as if his life depended on it.

Leaving Mi Lu completely baffled.

Mi Lu touched his nose, wondering if his appearance was really that frightening. But after a moment of reflection, he realized something didn’t add up.

HuLü Yan was blind, so how could he know whether or not Mi Lu looked frightening?

Could it be that HuLü Yan had a nightmare?

Mi Lu stood there for a while, realizing that HuLü Yan wasn’t coming back anytime soon, so he found a place to sit and rest.

About an hour later, Ming Sui, who had been unconscious for over a day, finally woke up. When he opened his eyes, he saw Mi Lu sitting across from him. At first, he couldn’t even remember who Mi Lu was. His head was spinning, his eyes ached, and his body throbbed with pain.

Mi Lu was chewing on some dried rations. Seeing Ming Sui staring pitifully at him, Mi Lu thought for a moment and then asked, “Do you want some?”

Ming Sui was already starving, his stomach practically sticking to his back, and his throat felt like it was on fire from dryness. But there was something else he cared about more. “Who are you?”

Mi Lu shoved the remaining half of the dried ration into his mouth, his cheeks puffed out as he slowly chewed. After swallowing, he finally answered Ming Sui’s question, “Who I am isn’t important.”

Then he added, “What’s important is, do you know HuLü Yan?”

The mention of HuLü Yan caused a fleeting look of terror to flash through Ming Sui’s swollen eyes. But after a brief moment, that terror faded, replaced by boundless hatred and a forced sneer.

“Ha! Does he really think he can mess with our Medical Hall? He must have a death wish!” Ming Sui panted, his voice filled with intermittent threats. “I swear, whatever he did to me today, I’ll make him pay back a hundredfold in the future. Our Medical Hall has plenty of ways to make people suffer. I’ll make sure he begs for death but won’t be able to die!”

Mi Lu repeated his question, “Do you know him from before?”

Ming Sui glared at him fiercely. “And you! You actually dared to side with that insignificant HuLü Yan and go against our Medical Hall! When I’m done with him, I’ll strip you naked and tie you to a pillar outside the hall. You know there are quite a few people in our hall who enjoy—”

Before he could finish his sentence, there was a loud thud.

Ming Sui’s eyes rolled back, and he passed out again.

Mi Lu casually tossed the stone he had been holding aside, picked up the end of the long whip, and began the arduous task of dragging Ming Sui in the direction HuLü Yan had run off to.

Dragging someone through the snowy forest was no easy task. Mi Lu walked in stops and starts, soon becoming winded.

At this moment, he found himself missing Xiao Zhen.

Admittedly, though Xiao Zhen had followed them with impure motives, he had been useful in certain situations.

Mi Lu had no idea how long he had been walking, nor whether HuLü Yan had changed direction. He just kept moving forward, figuring HuLü Yan would find him eventually.

Fortunately, after some time, he spotted HuLü Yan near the river.

The river cut through the forest, its surface wide, with parts of it frozen over. HuLü Yan stood in the unfrozen section, with the water soaking his clothes from the waist down.

The river water in winter was unimaginably cold, yet HuLü Yan seemed completely unaware, standing still like a statue in the water.

Mi Lu dropped the whip and walked to the riverbank. Crouching down, he dipped a finger into the water to test its temperature.

It was so cold that he shivered instantly.

He quickly retracted his hand and rubbed it vigorously with the other until he regained some warmth.

Looking up again, he noticed that HuLü Yan had sensed his presence but was now walking deeper into the river.

Before long, the water reached HuLü Yan’s shoulders, wetting his long ponytail that hung down his back.

Sensing that something was wrong, Mi Lu quickly stood up, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted, “HuLü Yan, where are you going?”

But HuLü Yan didn’t even turn his head.

Just as the water was about to reach his neck, HuLü Yan suddenly stopped.

“HuLü Yan!”

At last, HuLü Yan responded, slowly turning around, his empty eye sockets facing Mi Lu’s direction.

Mi Lu, unnerved by HuLü Yan’s strange behavior, turned pale. He stared intently at the only part of HuLü Yan still visible above the water—his head. It took Mi Lu a while to find his voice again. “What are you doing?”

HuLü Yan didn’t speak. He just stood there in silence, staring at Mi Lu.

If Mi Lu didn’t know for certain that HuLü Yan had no eyes, he would have suspected that HuLü Yan could see him.

Realizing the situation, Mi Lu decided not to try persuading him further. He returned to where Ming Sui lay and sat down, waiting for HuLü Yan to return on his own.

After about half an hour, HuLü Yan finally seemed to come to his senses and walked back.

His once pale face was now as white as a sheet of paper, his lips had turned blue, and his wet, black hair clung to his drenched clothes, making him look utterly wretched.

Mi Lu didn’t even bother asking why. Without a word, he pulled a spare set of clothes from his storage bag and stuffed them into HuLü Yan’s arms.

As he did, his fingertips accidentally brushed against HuLü Yan’s hand.

Unexpectedly, HuLü Yan’s expression changed dramatically, as if he had touched a wild beast, and he quickly moved several paces away.

Mi Lu was completely confused.

He stared blankly at HuLü Yan, who had moved at least five or six meters away, and after a long while, muttered, “What’s wrong with you?”

HuLü Yan shook his head quickly, clearly trying to hide something.

Knowing he wouldn’t get any answers, Mi Lu gave up asking and instead urged, “Hurry up and change your clothes before you catch a cold.”

After that incident, Mi Lu started noticing that HuLü Yan was avoiding him, intentionally or not.

For one thing, HuLü Yan used to frequently grab Mi Lu’s wrist, but after that, he never did it again. In fact, he didn’t touch Mi Lu at all.

Though Mi Lu was curious, he also thought this change wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. So, he pretended nothing had happened and never brought up that day again.

Two days later, they finally arrived near the Medical Hall.

As a sect that straddled the line between good and evil in the cultivation world, trying to please both sides but often displeasing both, the Medical Hall had made many enemies. So, unlike other sects, their location wasn’t openly displayed but was instead concealed by countless layers of formations.

If HuLü Yan and Mi Lu had come directly, they would have had to work hard to find the entrance to the Medical Hall.

But HuLü Yan had brought Ming Sui along.

Without a word, HuLü Yan grabbed Ming Sui by the collar and tossed him forward.

Still unconscious, Ming Sui rolled a couple of times in the snow before stopping in an awkward position.

Moments later, the air in the distance began to warp and distort, and before long, intricate carvings began to appear, darkening in color.

Under Mi Lu’s astonished gaze, that patch of air solidified into a dark door.

It was the entrance to the Medical Hall.

“Do you see the door?” HuLü Yan asked.

Mi Lu nodded. “I see it.”

“Let’s go,” HuLü Yan said.

With that, Mi Lu’s suspicions were confirmed. HuLü Yan definitely had some past connection with the Medical Hall.

So was this why HuLü Yan had gone through all the trouble of dragging Ming Sui out of the Thousands Serpent Pit—to open the entrance to the Medical Hall?

The old Mi Lu would have thought that. But now, as he stared at that pitch-black door, a bad premonition gnawed at him.

Perhaps what HuLü Yan wanted…

Wasn’t just this.

Author’s Note:

I’m coughing up blood now.