On the snowy peak, Nighteye gradually turned cold amidst the desolate whistles of snow and wind. What little gentleness she had in her eyes gradually faded away. Glancing at Qianye’s stubborn figure, she wanted to say something but stopped midway, unable to utter more hurtful cold words. She merely said, “Impossible.”
“How will you know if you don’t try?” For some reason, there was a fire burning in the usually calm eyes of Qianye.
“If you really must try, then do as you wish.”
Qianye nodded, almost as though he hadn’t sensed Nighteye’s indifference. “Can you fill me up on the details?”
“Ask him.” Nighteye pointed at Jared.
The Silver-Winged Marquis had noticed that the relationship between the other two wasn’t that simple. It went without saying that the less he knew about this matter, the better, so he moved away quietly and decided to vanish for a while. Who would’ve thought he would be dragged back by Nighteye before he had managed to escape?
Jared arrived beside Qianye and let out an awkward cough. He was just thinking about where to start when Nighteye said, “Let’s go back to the crash site, you can talk on the way.”
With that, Nighteye’s figure flickered and vanished in the blizzard. Even Qianye wasn’t her match in terms of speed, to speak nothing of Jared. Spatial Flash was probably the only thing capable of matching the divine speed she had displayed just now.
Qianye laughed wryly as he exchanged glances with Jared and then chased after her. The two of them knew they couldn’t catch up to her anyway, so they made no effort to accelerate. Instead, Jared took this opportunity to explain some of the details.
After failing to seek Nighteye from the empire back then, the Lightless Monarch finally learned that she and Qianye had left for the neutral lands. But Medanzo wasn’t about to let this matter be. He dispatched many of his powerful subordinates to head to the neutral lands and capture Nighteye.
This time, Medanzo had learned his lesson. In order to be absolutely safe, he dispatched a confident line-up containing one vice-duke, three marquises, and numerous other ranked experts. If it wasn’t for fear of retaliation from the Throne of Blood, the Lightless Monarch might have sent his dukes here.
The neutral lands were incomparably dangerous. Even the leader of this expedition—a vice-duke who went by the name of Soma the Torn Lightning—had to keep her explosive temper in check. They traveled toward the neutral lands in due cautiousness, taking care to conceal their tracks along the way.
The journey was even more of a smooth sail than they had anticipated, and it just so happened that Nighteye was trying to contact Evernight via the vampire race’s secret channel. The two parties thus ran into one another and Nighteye revealed some vague traces of her movements. Unexpectedly, Soma turned hostile all of a sudden and attacked with all her might, completely ignoring Nighteye’s true identity after her second awakening.
It was just that she had never imagined just how terrifying Nighteye was after her second awakening. The sudden eruption in power not only sank the warship but also killed the vice-duke on the spot.
Afterward, Nighteye became embroiled in a battle with the ship’s survivors, finally being cornered on the snowy mountain after several days. That was when Qianye appeared. But judging from her speed just now, Jared ultimately understood that Nighteye was simply toying with them for the past couple of days. It would only be a moment’s work for her if she had wanted to shake them off.
Qianye understood, after listening to Jared’s explanation, that Nighteye simply didn’t need his help to deal with these defeated soldiers. Nonetheless, Qianye couldn’t sit by and watch her being surrounded on all sides, even if the consciousness controlling the body was no longer the Nighteye he once knew.
Qianye was now able to lay down his worries and feel much more relaxed.
After half a day of walking, they finally reached an area on the edge of the continent. That giant airship was stuck diagonally in the wasteland, half of its body buried into the frozen rocks. This warship was extremely sturdy in its construction, and the parts visible above ground were largely intact. It truly was a mystery how Nighteye had sunk it.
Qianye asked what was on his mind, but Jared only responded vaguely.
It took Qianye some effort to understand that Jared actually had no idea how Nighteye had killed Soma and sunk the warship. The stately Silver-Winged Marquis only remembered that, all of a sudden, Soma had been gravely injured and the ship was sinking; that was it. Later on, it was found that Soma had died from a collapsed blood core. This wasn’t hard to explain—Soma’s bloodline was far inferior to Nighteye’s own, so death was certain in a contest of blood energies. But back then, the airship was hovering hundreds of meters in the air, at a great distance from the battlefield below. Yet, it had actually fallen inexplicably, and inspections later on found no signs of malfunction, either.
Seeing that there was nothing left that the marquis could tell him, Qianye simply followed Jared toward the airship remains.
Nighteye was already here, and she seemed to be lost in unknown thoughts.
She said without turning back as Qianye and Jared arrived, “This airship is still usable, so I’ll be staying here for the time being. Jared, go and do some repairs.”
The Silver-Winged Marquis had no idea how to repair warships, but his lord had spoken. And as the only subordinate, he had to know even if he didn’t. He left without a second word and flew into the warship to repair what he could.
Only two people were left on the frozen plains. Qianye had no idea what to say at this point. He had ten thousand things to say to her, but when the moment arrived, he felt that there was no need to say anything. Nothing he said would be of use anyway.
After a moment of silence, Nighteye said indifferently, “If there’s nothing else, you may leave now.”
“How do I find you in the future?” Qianye blurted out.
This time, Nighteye wasn’t impatient or cold. She replied calmly, “I’ll be here for some time.”
“This place…” Qianye glanced left and right but found nothing good about it.
“I want to reforge my body, it’s too weak to inherit more strength. This will take a long time.” At this point, she glanced at Qianye sideways. “By the time the transformation is complete, the Nighteye you’re familiar with will cease to exist, from the inside out.”
Qianye’s fingers trembled slightly. “Is your awakening related to the spiritual repair?”
“Yes,” Nighteye admitted in due honesty. “if it wasn’t for the grave injury to the spirit and its subsequent repair, I wouldn’t have awakened so early. Perhaps I wouldn’t awaken for dozens or even hundreds of years.”
“So that’s the case.” Qianye shook his head self-deprecatingly. “But that’s fine, I don’t regret anything.”
Nighteye finally turned around and looked into Qianye’s eyes—serious, concentrated, and not willing to miss a single detail. Moments later, the light in her eyes gradually faded away, giving way to her usual indifference. “As the first love of this body and its previous consciousness, I’ve remembered you. This relationship is also the only reason why I’m saying so much. Now, you may leave.”
Qianye turned to leave without any hesitation. Little Zhuji had been quiet this whole time, but she could no longer maintain her silence at this point. “Aren’t we bringing big sis home?”
Qianye patted her head and said with a bitter smile, “No, she likes it here.”
Little Zhuji looked left and right but couldn’t figure out what’s so good about this place. “Then, will we come and see her often?”
“Of course!”
The two figures—one big, one small—walked into the snowy winds and gradually vanished over the horizon. Nighteye, on the other hand, never moved from the beginning until the end.
The Martyr’s Palace drifted slowly over the Eastern Sea like a roc. Wherever it passed, the fierce beasts below would hide on the ocean flow, unwilling to provoke this massive flying entity.
Several days later, Qianye arrived back at the Northern Continent. There were now several wooden huts in the valley, replete with a flower garden out front. The newly tilled soil was littered with newborn sprouts in the form of little green dots.
Qianye was somewhat surprised by this scene. Who would’ve thought there was such a side to Bluemoon? His only impression of her was a cruel, scheming Highbeard Shieldmaiden. It was at this moment that the door to one of the wooden houses opened and out walked Bluemoon. There was a high-quality combat knife at her waist. Qianye didn’t remember leaving her such a weapon before his departure.
Yawning with her mouth covered, she headed toward the forest and only noticed Martyr’s Palace in the air after a good while. Gasping, the girl quickly removed the combat knife and turned around, only to find Qianye watching her with a spurious smile.
Bluemoon was at a momentary loss about what to do, wondering whether she should stow the blade or toss it away.
Qianye stretched out his hand. “Let me see.”
Bluemoon knew she couldn’t disobey. With her head lowered and a hint of unwillingness, she presented the knife with both hands. Her fingertips were trembling ever so slightly, almost as though she were afraid.
But Qianye was already used to her schemes and acting. He merely ignored her tricks, took the knife from her, and proceeded to fiddle about with it, using his fingertip to test its sharpness. The dagger had just brushed past when a thin red line appeared on Qianye’s fingertip. Being able to cut through Qianye’s skin proved just how sharp this blade was. Even among grade-six weapons, it could be considered a premium item. It was just that Bluemoon didn’t have enough kinetic power to bring out its full strength.
The main issue here was, where did that knife come from? Back then, Bluemoon had stood completely exposed with no secrets to speak of. Qianye had personally removed all of her weapons and kinetic support mechanisms.
Qianye looked up. “Not a bad blade, where did it come from?”
Knowing that she wouldn’t be able to escape this hurdle, Bluemoon removed her skirt to reveal her half-mechanical lower limbs. Her legs, a mixture of machine and skin, was attractive in a different way. She stole a glance at Qianye but was disappointed to find that there was no change in his expression. Hence, she stopped trying to seduce him. She reached out to touch the mechanical bone on her calf, and all of a sudden, there was a high-grade black crystal in her hand.
“Spatial gear?” This time, it was Qianye’s turn to be surprised.
Any kind of spatial equipment would fetch a sky-high price, be it in Evernight or the empire. Additionally, the space they could contain was small, involved numerous restrictions, and were also unstable. Their primary value lay in their potential for research. Qianye had never seen a spatial item at the level of Andruil’s Mysterious Realm.
How could Qianye not be surprised to find a piece of spatial equipment on Bluemoon?
