Chapter 446 – The Imagined Future, Fire Sparks Flood, Rabble Rallies to the Emperor - Part 1

The snow stretched endlessly, a vast sea of white. It wasn’t solid but made of countless tiny ice crystals, each like a grain of shimmering sand. And it was these countless grains that formed an extraordinary landscape, an icy

desert

of snow and frost.

Naran trudged forward barefoot, each heavy step sinking into the strange terrain, one deep, one shallow. With every step, more of the white frost clung between his toes.

His entire body was caked in blood, but his hand, iron-strong, gripped Meng Xingxian like a vice. His eyes, wide and wary as brass bells, swept the area without rest.

This Wolfmother was tricky, dangerous in ways that couldn’t be trusted. So he kept her close, his massive golden axe poised right against her pale neck, blade unmoving.

Behind him, the two-headed direwolves followed closely, silent but relentless.

“Make them back off,” Naran growled, voice like rolling thunder.

“Khagan, you’re giving me too much credit. I’m not that powerful,” Meng Xingxian cooed mockingly, her tone light and seductive.

He didn’t react to her teasing, only pressed the blade of the axe more firmly against her throat. “You’re the Wolfmother.”

She wasn’t the least bit afraid. Instead, she laughed sweetly and said, “Oh, I am the Wolfmother. But what if I can’t control them? What then? What will you do?”

Before he could respond, she suddenly tilted her neck and leaned straight into the axe.

The razor-sharp golden blade sliced a clean cut across her neck. Blood spurted out, bright and red.

Naran had only meant to threaten her, to scare her into obedience. But the girl had anticipated the move and flung herself into the blade like she had a death wish. He barely managed to pull back in time. Had he reacted even a split-second slower, her head would’ve rolled.

Instead, the sudden retreat forced a new balance between them.

His face darkened with rage, eyes blazing with fury.

Meng Xingxian, however, only smiled. Her expression was enchanting, her eyes gleaming, even as her silver veil soaked through with blood.

“You insane girl! You’re not afraid of dying?” Naran barked.

“If I die, you won’t live either. So what’s there to be afraid of?” she replied, still smiling. Her words were light, but her face had already gone pale.

“Khagan, you’d better hurry,” she added softly, “I may be cold-resistant, and I can control those wolves... But underneath all that, I’m just a regular girl. If you don’t stop the bleeding, I’ll die. And if I die, those wolves will go wild, then rip you to shreds.”

She then made a

cute

little clawing motion with her hands.

“You...!” Naran clenched his jaw, glaring at her, then glanced around again.

As she hung in the air, Meng Xingxian placed her hands on her hips, elbows pointing outward, and smiled. “Don’t bother. You’re not getting out of here. The Sea of Slumber has its secrets. Even if you had a map, you still couldn’t leave.”

Cursing under his breath, Naran reluctantly pushed her down onto the ground. Keeping a wary eye on the wolves, he began tearing cloth to bandage her neck, using his own body heat and raw strength to warm her cooling flesh, trying to keep her alive.

The direwolves, vicious as they were, showed surprising restraint. They formed a large circle several hundred meters wide around them, not crossing the boundary, not attacking, just watching.

And during that whole patching-up process, whether by accident or design, Meng Xingxian managed to create plenty of...friction.

Naran might have been young, but his life had never followed the path of an ordinary man.

Everything about him, his strength, his growth, and his instincts, had been forged in accelerated time. Though he was just a teenager, his body was that of a grown adult warrior. And thanks to the Yang flame in his blood, his heart often surged with restlessness and rage.

But despite all this, he had never known a woman. His days were filled with blood and battle, devouring meat, guzzling wine, crushing enemies underfoot, and leading his warriors on endless campaigns. Never once had a woman dared to come this close to him.

That was until now.

Meng Xingxian was close. Too close. During the treatment of her wounds, their bodies pressed together.

Naran’s killing instinct was muffled, suffocated by the heat rising within. His breath grew heavier, every brush of her skin like ice soothing fire. Yet that fire only grew stronger.

Suddenly, Meng Xingxian let out a soft laugh and raised her arm, as smooth and cold as a serpent, slipping it beneath his clothes and trailing it across his bare skin.

Her legs coiled around him, lithe and effortless, wrapping herself around the blood-drenched, god of war that was Naran.

The sensation overwhelmed him. Then, as if waking from a trance, he tensed, eyes flashing with suspicion.

“What are you doing?” he snapped.

Meng Xingxian smiled, sultry and serene. “Don’t move, Khagan. I just want to make you feel good. Look at you, so strong. And me? So weak. You could crush me with one finger. What are you so afraid of?”

“Who said I’m afraid?” Naran retorted coldly, narrowing his eyes. “Your behavior is strange. Explain yourself.”

Her breath came quicker now, and suddenly, as if something inside her snapped, her face flushed crimson.

“Explain what? Hurry...just...hurry!”

Under her guidance, slow, deliberate, the fire began to burn in the frozen sea of slumber.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Time passed.

When it was over, Meng Xingxian lay curled in Naran’s arms. She turned onto her side, lifting a hand to gently stroke his face.

“You’re...really something,” she whispered.

Naran stared at her pale body, then down at the fresh red stains in the snow. His brow furrowed.

“You’re hurt?”

She shook her head with a smile.

He frowned deeper. “Then what happened?”

Snuggling close like a bird to its perch, she whispered sweetly, “It’s like what your father and mother used to do. And now...you’re my man, and I’m your woman.”

Then, she suddenly clapped her hands.

The sound was soft, barely audible beneath the howling wind.

But from the circle of direwolves, one of the two-headed beasts stepped forward, weaving through the others. It held something odd in its mouth, a wooden bucket.

Naran’s grip tightened on his golden axe, eyes sharp.

Meng Xingxian nudged him playfully. “Don’t be so tense, Khagan. I’m just going to milk it.”

“You need to recover your strength, don’t you?”

With that, she slipped out of his embrace. He looked vaguely disappointed. She caught the expression and smiled teasingly.

Bending gracefully, she hooked a toe beneath the silver veil that had fallen to the ground and wrapped it around herself. Then she walked toward the direwolf.

After a few steps, she paused and glanced back at him.

“Relax. I’m not running away.” Her smile deepened, eyes gleaming. “After all, I still plan on becoming your wife.”

As she walked, Meng Xingxian lifted her arms, letting the sheer silver veil fall just enough to reveal glimpses of her snow-white skin, glistening like moonlight on fresh snow.

In a teasing, sultry voice, she called out, “Everything here, this whole place, will be yours! These two-headed wolves? Consider them part of my dowry! Khagan...are you satisfied?”

“What do you want?” Naran’s voice rasped from his throat.

Meng Xingxian turned, her eyes calm and bright. “In this land without light, you were born of the Sun, and I...I was born of the Moon. You’re the Khagan. I’m the Wolfmother. We both belong to this land. We were meant for each other. Only together can we seize this world and keep it from falling into the hands of outsiders.”

“There’s more than one Wolfmother,” Naran replied in his deep, rough voice.

Meng Xingxian smiled. “And the Nine Flames have more than one chieftain.”

“But only one Khagan,” he said proudly. “And that’s me.”

“Then let me be Khatun, Empress among Wolfmothers,” she whispered.

By then, the massive two-headed wolf reached her side. She sat down, removed the wooden bucket from the wolf’s mouth, and began to milk it.

These two-headed beasts were formidable, each one capable of holding its own against a fifth rank warrior. The milk they produced steamed with warmth even in this frozen wasteland, so hot it stayed liquid as it hit the bucket, refusing to freeze in the bitter cold.

Soon, the bucket was full.

Meng Xingxian called out, “Khagan, come drink.”

Naran stepped forward.

She leaned in first and took a few playful sips, then giggled. “See? No poison.”

“Wouldn’t matter. Poison couldn’t kill me,” he grunted.

She moved closer, trailing a hand across his chest, voice soft as snow. “With me by your side, no one will ever get the chance.”

Naran lifted the bucket and drank. As the hot wolf milk slid down his throat, strength surged through him. His fatigue vanished, as if the Yang flame inside had been stoked anew.

Meng Xingxian murmured, “Your father probably never told you. Your kind don’t live long. Maybe 30-something years, at most.”

“Power demands a price. I accepted the gift of the Sunmother. Like the Sun, I’ll burn bright. Even if I die young...I’ll die gloriously.” He didn’t flinch. Instead, he laughed faintly. “To live like fire for thirty years? So what?”

Naran already knew the cost. His father’s hair was white before his time. Death was no curse. It was a return to the goddess. So why fear it?

“Still...I can help you live longer. Grow stronger. That’s my second dowry.” Meng Xingxian’s voice was gentle, deliberate. She paused, then continued solemnly, “Fuse Sun into Moon, and you can become a

Soul of the Earth

. You’re a natural fourth rank. What you lack...is the right path.”

“You think I’d believe that?” he said coldly.

“You will,” she said, resting her chin on her hand with a soft, steady gaze.

“Hmph.” Naran gave a sharp, dismissive laugh.

However, Meng Xingxian’s voice turned even sweeter, like honey warming over fire. “I’m your woman now. Every thought I have is for you, for your future, for our children. So why wouldn’t you believe me?”

“Our children?” Naran burst into laughter. “My mother once told me men like me rarely sire children. Just like my father.”

Meng Xingxian leaned in, voice low and tender.

“I know. That’s why I took the medicine ahead of time.” She gently rubbed her lower belly and murmured, “Feels warm inside...”