Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
—-
A cold wind blew sharply high up in the air, sharpening the peak of Tianshan Mountain. The peaks of the mountains nearby were like the tips of thick swords, pointing at the clear blue sky!
The peaks were covered in snow throughout the year. Between the peaks was a rift valley known as the White Rift. Apart from the unique creatures blessed by Tianshan Mountain, no creatures could enter and leave the White Rift unharmed.
Even scorching lava would turn into icy rocks in mere seconds in the valley!
The White Rift inherited many mysterious legends of Tianshan Mountain. The locals referred to it as the mansion of the Goddess of Ice Disaster, a forbidden place for mortals!
—
Today, Tianshan Mountain did not have the slightest hint of snow flying in the air. The sky was so clear that not a single ice particle could be seen. The white backbone of the mountains stood as firmly as the back of an enormous dragon.
Walking over the snowy white ground, a man in black clothes with long, disheveled hair was slowly approaching the White Rift.
Behind the man stood an enormous giant. Its head had almost reached the mountain’s waist, even the vast and mighty Tianshan Mountain. Otherwise, even a mountain would seem tiny compared to the Mountain Zombie.
“Wait here.” The man turned around and stopped the Mountain Zombie from following him further.
The Mountain Zombie did not move, obediently standing still. Some birds even landed on it, as they had mistaken it for a statue.
The man continued forward and reached the enormous ravine at the peak of the mountain. His soulless eyes looked down into the dark, intimidating valley.
He jumped into it without hesitation.
—
He kept on falling, as if the ravine was bottomless. The further he dropped, the colder it got.
After a long time, the man finally landed at the bottom. He proceeded forward…
Sometime later, he stopped in front of a crystalline wall of ice.
Picking up a headband that had frozen into ice on the ground, the man lifted his gaze and looked at the thick layer of ice before him.
A strong gust of wind blew through the valley. Thick icicles were fired at the man, more than a hundred of them. Even an army would be crushed in an instant.
The strong ice cones approached the man rapidly. However, the air suddenly rippled. It was like time had stopped, as the deadly ice cones halted in the air and slowly fell to the ground.
The man turned around and stared at a snowy-white Heaven Tiger not far away.
The snow-white Heaven Tiger roared disdainfully. However, when it sensed the murderous aura completely crushing its Commander-level presence, it finally realized how terrifying the human before it was. It immediately fled for its life!
The man stared at the ice and murmured, “Yu…Yu’Er?”
As he waved his hand, a thick portion of the ice fell off.
A blurry silhouette could be seen inside the ice. The man’s eyes finally flickered with emotion for once.
With another wave, the ice continued to fall off.
The man seemed rather impatient. He continued to shatter the ice…
—
The silhouette of the woman inside the ice gradually became clearer. She was wearing a long dress made of goose down that wrapped around her. The dress seemed a bit loose, yet it could not conceal her perfect body.
The man was able to recognize the dress. It was the same dress he had helped her put on ten years ago. He had specifically picked it out at a town under Tianshan Mountain. The woman had even complained, “Did you think I’m that plump, you stupid!”
Despite that, she still wore the dress. After all these years, she was still wearing the dress, frozen here alone for ten years…
“I…I have come back…”
The man experienced a surge of emotions. If he could still cry, he would be full of tears by now. The memories he had made his early years filled his mind. The exciting ambition he once had, the thrills and sweetness from the stupid deeds he did…
Only a thin layer of ice was left, the woman inside it was already within his reach. The man felt an urge to simply hug her in his arms.
She had not changed at all. The ice freezing her had kept her youthful looks. It had frozen her in time, keeping her still at the age of twenty-four, when she was the prettiest…
Zhan Kong was now able to see her clearly.
However, the thin layer of ice was also a mirror, displaying his current appearance.
A black face with no presence of life, a face in his thirties marked by the vicissitudes of life, and the curse of the living dead. Even Zhan Kong was shocked when he saw his own face!
Soulless pupils, a nose that could not breathe, even the air coming out from his mouth was black. His face formed a great contrast to the young, pretty face of the woman in the ice. Two faces were portrayed on the thin layer of ice, yet it served as a painful stab to Zhan Kong’s heart.
“Am I dead, or am I alive?” Zhan Kong softly fondled the woman’s face despite the layer of ice that a few centimeters thick between his hand and the woman.
Over the past three thousand days and nights, he had dreamt of standing in front of her like he currently was.
He had kept his words, yet he had lost his courage.
If her eyes sprang open and saw his face, how terrified would she be?
—-
Zhan Kong tapped his palm softly on the ice.
The ice began to crack open slowly. The woman’s life slowly recovered…
Zhan Kong turned around and headed in the direction that the Heaven Tiger had fled before the ice totally crumbled.
He looked at the woman in the goose-down dress from afar before withdrawing his gaze unwillingly and ordered the Heaven Tiger like an emperor, “Escort her out of here and send her to the town under the mountain! Do you understand?”
The Heaven Tiger trembled in fear, not daring to disobey the order!
—-
The Heaven Tiger slowly carried the woman out of the White Rift.
Inside the empty valley, a man in black clothes mumbled to himself in a complicated voice…
“Dead?
“Alive?
“What am I?…”
