Chapter 114

Chapter 114: The Frozen Beauty

Leng Cangqiong had been facing away from Lou Yun earlier, but the murderous aura erupting from within him was already suffocatingly powerful. Now, turning around to face Lou Yun with icy eyes, the pressure instantly multiplied several times over, rendering Lou Yun completely unable to speak.

Fortunately, at that very moment, Lou Yun felt an equally potent surge of energy welling up from inside his own body. The physical pressure on him immediately lessened considerably.

Lifting his head, Lou Yun met Leng Cangqiong’s gaze without a trace of fear: "Elder Leng, I have no ulterior motives. It’s simply because you’ve helped me tremendously. I wondered if I might offer a small token of my own strength to assist you in return. And just now, from your words, I sensed something… so I wanted to ask, do you also have a sister? And is she facing some difficult trouble?"

After hearing Lou Yun’s words, Leng Cangqiong neither replied nor showed any reaction. His expression remained exactly as before. His sharp, blade-like eyes bore into Lou Yun, seemingly trying to see right through him, discerning whether his words were genuine or false!

As for Lou Yun himself, his reason for seeking out Leng Cangqiong again was truly and solely to repay kindness, and his words came straight from the heart. Therefore, even under the elder’s intense scrutiny, he managed to remain calm and composed, meeting the gaze steadily.

After a long while, Lou Yun felt the oppressive aura surrounding him abruptly lighten. Leng Cangqiong had retracted his terrifying killing intent and turned away once more, speaking with his back to Lou Yun: "If you wish to know, follow me!" Without waiting for a response, he started walking up the mountain.

Lou Yun quietly wiped a bead of sweat. That had been perilously close! If Leng Cangqiong had truly attacked him without question, who knew if he would still be standing here now? It wasn’t that he doubted Chang Xiang’s strength, but Leng Cangqiong’s reputation was simply far too formidable.

Not daring to delay, Lou Yun hurried after him. As he passed the common weapon embedded in the ground, he couldn’t help but glance at it, reassuring himself: I have Leng Cangqiong’s permission now, this isn’t trespassing.

The two men, one leading and one following, soon reached the cave halfway up the mountain. Leng Cangqiong, without speaking, walked inside, and Lou Yun squeezed in after him.

Unlike the cave where Xue Lao San resided, the temperature here was only slightly higher than the outside. Moreover, the interior space was not large—in fact, quite small, roughly the size of a study room. It was completely bare and empty, devoid of any contents.

This is where the renowned White-haired God of Death, Leng Cangqiong, lives? It’s far too austere! Even Xue Lao San’s cave was incomparably better!

Doubts crowded Lou Yun’s mind, though he naturally didn’t dare voice them. Unexpectedly, Leng Cangqiong suddenly spoke: "This isn’t truly a cave. I chiseled out the interior of a massive boulder and placed it here to serve as one!"

"Huh?!"

Lou Yun was stunned. If this were just a cave, it was indeed minuscule. But if it was the hollowed-out interior of a boulder used as a cave, that meant the original stone’s volume was enormous! He estimated it weighed at least tens of thousands of pounds. How had Leng Cangqiong moved such a colossal rock here?

Just then, Leng Cangqiong walked to the center of the cavern. He abruptly turned to look at Lou Yun: "I cannot gauge your cultivation level; I do not know the precise extent of your strength. Can you resist cold?"

The question took Lou Yun aback. Why was Leng Cangqiong asking him this? Nevertheless, he nodded: "I should be able to resist cold."

This wasn’t bragging. Setting aside Lou Yun’s naturally robust physique compared to others, the Heavenly Fire Fusang blazing within his core alone was sufficient to shield him from any cold!

Leng Cangqiong offered no response. Turning away, he suddenly vanished from Lou Yun’s sight!

Lou Yun froze again, then hastily focused his eyes. Only then did he notice a circular hole in the cavern floor. The dim lighting inside, coupled with his assumption that a cave wouldn’t contain another cave, had caused him to overlook it completely.

Naturally, Leng Cangqiong hadn’t truly vanished; he had jumped down into that shaft.

Though Leng Cangqiong hadn’t spoken, Lou Yun understood he was meant to follow. He walked to the edge of the hole and peered down. It descended first into pitch darkness, followed by a faint, white glow far below. The hole was clearly very deep.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Lou Yun leapt down.

Wind whistled past his ears as his body plummeted rapidly. After passing through the initial darkness, his vision suddenly brightened as pure, snowy white filled his view.

A hidden world unfolded before him—a subterranean realm of ice and snow!

Surrounding him were crystalline, white glaciers, large and small, stretching endlessly.

It dawned on Lou Yun then: since the cave above was a giant boulder, it meant this place was actually within the core of the snowy mountain. He’d never imagined such a world lay concealed inside the mountain peaks.

After falling for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Lou Yun floated gently to the ground. Leng Cangqiong stood ahead, his back turned.

Hearing Lou Yun land, Leng Cangqiong strode forward without looking back. Lou Yun, though naturally afraid to ask their true purpose here, was genuinely captivated by the magical scenery and hurried to catch up.

As they walked, Lou Yun admired the translucent icebergs around him, marveling inwardly at the Creator’s ingenuity in fashioning such breathtaking beauty.

After roughly ten minutes of walking, Leng Cangqiong abruptly halted. Lou Yun hurriedly stopped too, raising his gaze. What he saw left him utterly stunned.

Before them stood a small glacier, three to four meters tall. Imprisoned within its crystal-clear heart, hovering unsupported, was a woman with tightly shut eyes!

Her features were exceptionally beautiful, her expression serene and tranquil, radiating a near-divine nobility. Her hair was slightly lifted, frozen in mid-movement as if caught enjoying a gentle breeze the instant the ice claimed her.

Lou Yun stared dumbstruck at this incredible sight—a beauty frozen within an iceberg!

Leng Cangqiong was also gazing at the icy figure. His usually severe countenance had completely vanished. In its place was a complex mixture of emotion: relief, agony, joy, and deep affection—a semblance of tears or a smile, hard to define.

At that moment, time itself seemed to stand still. Two men stood side by side, heads tilted upward, wearing different expressions yet both transfixed by the beauty encased within the ice.

After what felt like an eternity, Lou Yun was the first to regain his senses. Turning his head slightly, he grasped the identity of the ice-bound woman. He asked, his voice hushed almost to a whisper, as if afraid of waking her: "Elder Leng… she is your sister, isn’t she?"

After a prolonged silence, a long, sorrowful sigh escaped Leng Cangqiong’s lips. He nodded. "Yes, she is my sister. I sealed her here… nearly fifty years ago."

"What?!" Lou Yun couldn’t contain his shock. "You sealed her here?"

Leng Cangqiong nodded again. This time, Lou Yun distinctly saw an expression of profound guilt on his face. "There was no choice. It was to save her."

"Save her?" Lou Yun grew even more perplexed.

Leng Cangqiong seemed unused to conversation. Perhaps stirred by the flood of memories Lou Yun’s presence and question invoked, he began to speak openly: "You must have heard tales of my life. I can tell you most are true. In my youth, I treated human life as worthless grass. Almost everyone feared me, yet I had countless enemies. Relying on my supreme cultivation, I looked down on all challengers. For those who came seeking vengeance against me, I showed no mercy."

"Initially, I never knew I had a sister. Upon learning of her existence, I searched for her frantically, and eventually found her. Though her cultivation was unremarkable, she was exceptionally kind-hearted. Influenced by her gentle persuasion, my temperament slowly began to change. I resolved to gradually withdraw from this strife-filled world and live a secluded life with my sister."

"Though I conceived this plan, it proved immensely difficult to realize. My lifetime of conflict had spawned too many foes. Furthermore, for my sister’s sake, I began showing clemency to those who sought vengeance against me later in life, sparing them whenever possible."

"That was, until one day, two adversaries arrived. One distracted me in combat, while the other seized the opportunity to ambush my sister. They declared that if I harmed either of them, my sister would perish as well!"

Leng Cangqiong closed his eyes, his face clearly etched with pain and remorse. After a moment of silence, he continued: "I have always been arrogant and detested extortion above all else. Though aware my sister was injured, I was momentarily preoccupied and—foolishly—believed her wounds could surely be healed by other means. Blinded by rage, I executed both men without hesitation."

"As they died, they showed no pain but rather smiled with vindictive hatred, telling me, ‘Leng Cangqiong, you will regret this!’ I replied then, ‘In all my life, I have acted solely as I saw fit. I have never learned the meaning of regret!’"

"And yet… regret swiftly overtook me. I sought healers and alchemists across the land, carrying my sister tirelessly, but none possessed the power to cure her. Finally, one practitioner told me a cure might exist, though he knew nothing of it. The only way to preserve her life, he said, was to take her to a place of extreme cold and seal her within the Eternal Ice. However, he warned, she could not be removed from the ice until a means to heal her was found. So… I came here."

Leng Cangqiong’s tale concluded here. Though he had recounted it in detail, Lou Yun’s greatest curiosity remained: What injury had Leng Cangqiong’s sister sustained? Why couldn’t any healer in the world cure it, leaving entombment in Eternal Ice as her only means of survival?

Simultaneously, Chang Xiang’s voice suddenly resonated in his mind: "Lou Yun… perhaps you can heal his sister’s injury!"