Chapter 292 – Reunion with Yan Yu, The Fall of Peng Mi - Part 2

Yan Yu’s bloodless face curved into a faint smile. “Every child finds their own path. Husband, don’t fret.”

Li Yuan sighed, sat with her, and said, “You don’t know Ping'an’s recent antics. Let me fill you in.”

And so he began recounting the events at the Holy Tree Temple, along with Ping'an’s conduct and quirks. Partway through, Sheng'er burst into laughter—bright, incongruous laughter that echoed through the chilly black market warehouse—then settled down to listen again, eyes shining.

Li Yuan soon reached the part where Ping'an got worked up and started calling himself,

Lord Li, Number One Swordmaster of the World.

Sheng'er doubled over, laughing so hard she could barely breathe. In her sweetest voice she declared, “I want to bully my little brother too!”

Li Yuan was speechless. “Your brother’s no soft target, you know. He’s fused everything together, every blemish wiped clean, his whole body returned to a pristine innate shadow blood. He can split into avatars on pure instinct alone.”

“So what if he can split?” Sheng'er snorted, brandishing her cane.

Tap‑tap, tap‑tap!

The building was instantly swallowed by a murder of black crows, the last scrap of light snuffed out. Each bird drifted past with a faintly glowing 99~100.

“Impressive,” Li Yuan said, “but still not enough...”

“I still can’t beat him,” she muttered, crestfallen. “How am I supposed to bully him if I can’t win?”

Before Li Yuan could answer, Yan Yu squeezed his hand, a silent plea to drop the subject.

“All right then, forget Ping'an,” Li Yuan said. “Let me tell you what’s happened to your Aunt Yao. She’s no maid any longer...”

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Deep into the night.

Husband and wife lay together for the first time in what felt like forever, exchanging the polar opposite essences each carried. To Li Yuan, it was like holding a sculpture of living ice; every caress left his skin tingling with crystalline chill. He leaned to her ear and whispered, “Yan Yu, I’d like to—”

“Naughty,” she murmured, warmth creeping into her voice. It reminded her of their very first night together, and the memory sparked a rare smile.

Hot and cold satin twined like Yin and Yang, two fish swirling in effortless harmony. The blaze within Li Yuan calmed; the frost within Yan Yu softened. Desire only grew.

The black market timber and bedding were all condensed Yin energy—no creaking wood, no shivering boards—so they could let long‑pent hunger run its course.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Much, much later.

Yan Yu, small and cool as a snow‑white bird, curled against his heat and whispered pillow talk.

“Do I reek of corpses?”

“Not at all. You smell wonderful.”

“Husband, you’ve worked hard.”

“Hush, nothing is too hard as long as it's to make our family happy.” He tightened his embrace and tapped her forehead, exactly as he had before she’d become a crimson question mark powerhouse. Their rhythm together hadn’t changed.

“Earlier today,” he asked, “what were you trying to tell me?”

“Don’t agitate Sheng'er.”

“Agitate?”

Yan Yu nodded, her chin resting coolly on his chest. “Because of her jade husk physique she can’t practice orthodox martial arts. She’s frail, and I fear she won’t live long. There are ways an undying husk can stretch life, but sending a child into that world is too dangerous.

“I thought for a long time and found another way. Sheng'er is...special. She’s linked to Feng’er. If I fuse her with this black market ghost domain, part of the Yin energy that flows toward Feng’er will pass through that bond into Sheng'er. As long as the ghost domain endures, so will she.

“She’d be trapped here forever, like me—but alive. And crowds make her nervous anyway.

“When I told her, she begged me to do it at once. I refused. I want her to grow old, taste the bustle of the living world. Only when her lifespan is nearly spent will I act. If you provoke her, she’ll beg again. Once she merges, she’ll certainly grow stronger, and the temptation will be overwhelming.”

Li Yuan was silent for a long time. “But, Yan Yu, how will you protect her humanity?”

Yan Yu’s answer brushed his ear like an icy breeze, “The

Deathless Tomb.

”

The phrase rang oddly familiar. Li Yuan’s prodigious memory turned; then he recalled it from

Tales From the Frozen River

in the Vine Pavilion of the Holy Tree Temple. It was the Ice Folk’s burial lore.

“There are no gods or monsters in the Deathless Tomb, only cold so deep it can freeze the soul itself. At a destined time, the Ice Folk journey there, lie down in perfect ease, and let body and spirit turn to crystal, awaiting the ancient prophecy.

When sunlight returns to the Evernight of the frozen waste, those who slumber will awaken and be born anew.”

Li Yuan recounted the story.

“That matches what I know too,” Yan Yu said. “I learned about the Deathless Tomb from the ice coffin ghost.

“If I can uncover its secrets, then when the time comes to fuse Sheng'er into the ghost domain, I’ll first send her to that place—where both soul and flesh are locked in perfect stasis—and only then complete the ritual.

“All I really need is to let the Yin energy here flow through Feng’er’s bond to Sheng'er. With the tomb’s protection, she’ll be safe.

“Ghosts don’t lie, and their information may be vague but never wrong. The Deathless Tomb is real, and it

does

work that way.”

Li Yuan’s eyes lit up. “Not just Sheng'er—Xue Ning, anyone we care about could rest there! I could freeze them now and wake them later, once I have the power.”

“And how will you reach it?” Yan Yu asked. “The ice coffin ghost remembers no sun or moon, no meat fields or ghost domains, only a world of ice and snow.”

“I’ll send people—puppets, scouts—to bring back every scrap of information. Meanwhile I’ll push my own cultivation. When I’m strong enough, I’ll go myself.”

“Have you found a way to break through? I heard fifth rank is a tough wall.”

“The

seeds

are almost ripe,” Li Yuan said quietly.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Nightfall.

On the southern warfront, snow drifted from a violet sky, yet each flake felt warm on Gu Xuejian’s palm. She gazed through spread fingers at the twin swords on her hip—one an azure sword, the finest work Master Gong had ever forged; the other Sun and Moon Aloft, an unrivalled masterpiece that

he

left behind...

Her eyes closed. Whenever her fingertips brushed that second sword, it was as though the man himself stood beside her—so vivid no doubt could live. He should be dead, yet the sword remained a bridge between their souls, one in the living world, one in the realm of the dead.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

“The southern lands are in chaos,” she murmured. “Li Yuan, you surely haven’t made it home.”

But she would not merely sigh. She would act. Jing Ruyi had driven the front deep into Hidden River Province; the enemy would soon send someone significant. Most likely...

Peng Mi.

Peng Mi had newly stepped into fourth rank.

Gu Xuejian herself had been trapped at peak fifth rank far too long. She knew only a life‑and‑death duel could make her whole, complete her atavic transformation, and let her cross into fourth rank.

Long legs planted, collar open to the mild wind, ink–black hair lifting, Gu Xuejian waited.

Then, far off, streaks of light slammed into the central encampment. Energy exploded. Steel rang, then fell silent, as though the outcome were decided.

A heartbeat later the sky went dark green. Snowflakes turned the color of malachite. A nauseating twist of viridian swelled outward.

“Poison domain... Peng Mi.”

The long-awaited foe had arrived.

Gu Xuejian’s heels came together; she stepped onto thin air and shot toward the blossoming poison without wasting a motion for flair.