NOVPUBWith Qin Shuang’s loud shout, Xu Zimei’s figure was sent flying out by the Torrent.
Once the Torrent had dissipated, Xu Zimei’s figure slammed heavily against the nearby wall, ultimately collapsing to the ground.
Qin Shuang hurried over, sat down beside Xu Zimei, and placed his head on her lap.
"Wake up, don’t scare me," Qin Shuang said as she gently shook Xu Zimei.
Xu Zimei weakly opened his eyes.
"How do you feel now?" Qin Shuang asked with a tearful voice.
"You’re worried about me," Xu Zimei said with a smile.
"You ended up like this because you were saving me. If you really died, I would feel guilty," Qin Shuang said.
"Just guilty?" Xu Zimei asked wearily after coughing a few times.
"Don’t overthink it. Besides, you’re like this now; why care about such things?" Qin Shuang said, looking down.
"How do you feel? I’ll take you out for my father to treat you."
"I’m really tired now, and breathing is difficult; I’m almost suffocating," Xu Zimei said weakly.
"Breathing is difficult," Qin Shuang panicked for a moment and quickly asked, "What should we do?"
"Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, don’t you know?" Xu Zimei said.
"But there’s a distinction between men and women," Qin Shuang hesitated.
"Just now you were going to do it for me. Why are you hesitating now?" Xu Zimei said.
"Would you really bear to watch me die?"
Qin Shuang was silent for a moment, but eventually, she closed her eyes slightly, her eyelashes trembling. She leaned her head down gently and moved to kiss Xu Zimei.
A fragrant scent spread all around; the closer she got, the more clearly she could smell the young girl’s fragrance.
Seeing the girl’s expression as if resigning herself to fate, Xu Zimei couldn’t help but laugh.
"What are you laughing at?" Qin Shuang’s face turned red with embarrassment, and she asked somewhat angrily.
It took her a lot of courage to make up her mind, and now she felt her face burning with embarrassment, just like a deflated balloon.
"I won’t tease you anymore; serious matters are at hand," Xu Zimei said as he stood up.
"You, you," seeing that Xu Zimei was unharmed, Qin Shuang froze for a moment.
"You’re alright?!"
"What, you were hoping something was wrong with me?" Xu Zimei stood up and walked to the entrance of the cave.
After the Thunderbolt Torrent subsided, the cave was pitch dark and eerily quiet.
"You’re being improper again," Qin Shuang muttered.
What puzzled her was that although Xu Zimei often teased her, if it really came down to doing something, he would never actually do it.
It was as if he was just playing with her.
She looked at Xu Zimei’s profile and remembered how he had fearlessly rescued her. For some reason, she suddenly thought he was quite handsome.
"Haven’t seen a handsome guy before?" Xu Zimei asked, then took the lead and walked into the cave.
"You’re not handsome," Qin Shuang replied in a flustered tone, quickly following him into the cave.
The cave was pitch black with no light, and the two could only grope their way forward in the dark.
After a while, Xu Zimei found several forks in the path ahead.
"Which way?" Qin Shuang asked.
"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe," Xu Zimei gestured with his right hand, then said, "Let’s go right."
After they took the right passage, they noticed that the path under their feet and the land on both sides had turned blue.
It seemed to be emitting a blue glow, and their visibility became clear.
"This place is so beautiful," Qin Shuang said cheerfully as she walked ahead.
Just then, there was a loud "boom", and a Thunderbolt echoed around them.
The once dreamlike scene changed in an instant, the surroundings filled with thunderbolts.
The deeper they walked, the denser and more terrifying the thunderbolts became.
"Crow’s mouth," Xu Zimei muttered.
Qin Shuang clutched Xu Zimei’s arm beneath her, not daring to let go easily.
"How come your cultivation is so low? Your Qin Residence is supposed to be the strongest among the nine cities," Xu Zimei asked.
"Isn’t an only daughter supposed to be trained vigorously?"
Xu Zimei could tell that this Qin Shuang only had the strength of the Esteem Vein Realm, which really didn’t match her status.
"Actually, my cultivation speed is very fast. I’ve always been the first among my peers," Qin Shuang said somewhat despondently.
"It’s just that I dare not cultivate."
"Why?" Xu Zimei asked, puzzled.
"As you saw earlier in the garden, my physique is quite special. The higher my cultivation, the higher the chance of the Ice recurrent," Qin Shuang said.
"Over the years, even without cultivating, I’ve almost been unable to suppress it."
"Yours is an innate constitution," Xu Zimei said.
"Daddy has been inquiring around for years, has asked everyone that could be asked, and they say I have the Nether Ice Physique.
I won’t live past twenty-five," Qin Shuang said with a bitter smile.
"A year ago, a master gave my father a secret remedy, claiming it could cure my Nether Ice Physique."
"Let me guess, this so-called secret remedy must have something to do with me," Xu Zimei said.
"Men are naturally yang, their bodies like blazing fires. If medicinal herbs are used as a supplement, this fire will ignite, burning endlessly, forming a furnace."
Qin Shuang said.
"If I were to unite with such a man, draining the furnace within his body, I could suppress my Nether Ice Physique.
Each man could suppress me for one year, and after forty-nine years, my Nether Ice Physique’s danger could be completely eradicated.
Thus, I could truly control this innate physique and my future would be boundless. Those were the exact words of that master."
"How many years have you suppressed it now?" Xu Zimei asked.
"What are you talking about, you’re the first," Qin Shuang quickly explained.
"A woman’s chastity should be given to a man she loves.
I refuse to be with any other men, but also don’t want my father to worry about me every day, so I could only agree to his arrangements for the marriage gathering, to choose a man I fancy."
"No wonder you wanted me to leave that day," Xu Zimei realized.
"If I have to live like this, I’d rather die,"
Qin Shuang said: "It’s just that I don’t want to worry Daddy, so I pretend to agree to him."
"Then you’re quite pitiful too," Xu Zimei said.
"What about you? I feel like you’re definitely not an ordinary person," Qin Shuang asked, looking at Xu Zimei.
"Me? My story is too long, so long that I almost can’t keep clear who I am myself," Xu Zimei shook his head as he replied.
The two were talking when they seemed to have reached the farthest end of this passage.
Upon stepping out of a narrow cave, their view suddenly opened up.
Directly ahead was a relatively wide cave.
Perched on the giant rocks on both sides of the cave were two blue-purple Winged Dragons.
These two Winged Dragons were dozens of meters long, their wings like steel draping over their bodies.
The dragons’ heads bore two somewhat short purple horns, as they laid on the ground enjoying the bath of thunderous light.
And above both Winged Dragons, there hovered a purple orb in mid-air.
This purple orb was profoundly terrifying.
