(Apologies, I have an important dinner tonight that I can't decline, so I've written less today. My apologies.)

……

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Smash the Temple!

Hearing Wang Shisanlang utter these words in a trembling voice, Fan Xian, who was lying on Wu Zhu's back, couldn't help but shiver. He looked at his two companions not far away, unable to speak.

He knew Shisanlang was telling the truth, because Haitang and Shisanlang's pale faces and unusually complex expressions revealed everything - there weren't many things in this world that could frighten these two into such a quail-like state.

Fan Xian coughed violently twice, unable to make a sound, feeling his scalp tingling, each hair pricking his head like a needle, a wave of unbearable pain and fear.

He wasn't afraid that after the temple was smashed, the old man formed from light points would immediately use weapons of mass destruction to kill him – it was just a ruin with a guide, smash it if you want, what was he afraid of? He was worried about the person in front of him; he was worried that after Wu Zhu heard the news that the temple was smashed, he would remember his duty as a temple guardian.

But in an instant, Fan Xian changed his mind. When the temple was smashed, Uncle Wu Zhu must have known what was happening inside, but he didn't move before, so he might not move now, right? He was making extravagant hopes in his heart, because his body and spirit were so fragile that he couldn't make a decisive response. He spent a whole day and night, risking his life, to shake the cold heart under that black cloth and persuade Wu Zhu to leave with him. If something happened again at this time, he was afraid he would want to die!

Of course, Fan Xian wouldn't blame Haitang and Wang Shisanlang. He knew that the two companions were watching him about to die and couldn't bear to see it, so they made such an extraordinarily bold move, and maybe it was precisely because the temple was smashed that Wu Zhu lost a shackle on his soul and turned from a statue into a living person?

Thinking of this, he felt even more grateful to Haitang and Wang Shisanlang, because he knew that these two were not like him, possessing knowledge and experience from a previous life. In their hearts, especially in Haitang's heart, she devoted her life to serving the temple, and now she actually smashed the temple for his sake!

Several thoughts flashed through Fan Xian's mind like shooting stars. He nervously watched Wu Zhu's thin and steady shoulders in front of him.

Wu Zhu didn't move.

……

……

When Fan Xian coughed up blood trying to wake Wu Zhu, Haitang and Wang Shisanlang floated into the temple through a crack in the door. At that time, Fan Xian's whole mind was on Wu Zhu in front of him and didn't notice, and Wu Zhu seemed to have ignored it because of some emotional fluctuations.

So Haitang and Wang Shisanlang went in and smashed things, then came out, looking like thugs confiscating property and exterminating families. However, their bodies were still trembling, and the paleness on their faces hadn't improved at all, because they never thought that in their lifetime, they could not only come to worship the temple but also smash everything in the temple to pieces!

In the eyes of the world, the status of the temple was so lofty, so ethereal, and they had also seen with their own eyes the immortal floating in the air a few days ago. They were not like Fan Xian, daring to be disrespectful to such an existence that completely transcended human imagination, and they didn't expect to be able to defeat the immortal!

So when they entered the temple, they were prepared to die. They just wanted to disturb the immortal's divine thoughts so that Fan Xian could find a chance to rescue that blind master, but who knew... they actually smashed the temple so easily!

The immortal solidified in the air. Haitang and Wang Shisanlang pretended to be blind and didn't look at all because they didn't dare to look. The immortal's voice echoed in their ears. They pretended to be deaf and didn't listen at all because they didn't dare to listen. They trembled like this, assuming they would die, and smashed things around randomly. As a result… the immortal disappeared just like that.

The most wonderful and incredible thing in the world was this, so much so that when Haitang and Wang Shisanlang stood trembling outside the temple door, they still couldn't believe what they had experienced in the temple before.

Uncle Wu Zhu didn't move. Fan Xian relaxed a little and looked foolishly at his two silly companions, thinking that this world was really a bit unclear. After a while, he moistened his throat with saliva, felt he could speak, and said hoarsely, "You guys are really strong."

……

……

Icy snow drifted across the desolate snowfield. The sky was gray, making it impossible to distinguish between day and night. Only endless wind and snow swirled, traveling between the ice plain and the snow hills, obscuring most of the light. In the dead silence, occasional barks, not very loud, awakened the silence of this extremely northern snowfield for thousands and tens of thousands of years.

Several sleds were struggling to head south against the wind and snow. On the leading sled stood a young man holding a wooden stick, facing the wind and snow, squinting his eyes to watch the direction. The second sled was arranged particularly tightly, with a snow canopy set up in front to block the wind and snow. On the sled, a pale-faced young man was half-reclining in a girl's arms, but the girl was wearing a fur coat, so it was impossible to tell what her figure was like.

Behind the sled team, a young man dressed in cloth, with a black cloth covering his eyes, followed not too closely or too far away. The sleds were pulled by snow dogs and moved quickly, but this blind young man walked steadily, seemingly not fast, but in fact, he hadn't been left behind at all.

Fan Xian gently turned his neck and looked back at Uncle Wu Zhu walking step by step in the ice and snow behind the team, a faint sadness and disappointment arising in his eyes. However, he didn't say anything, closed his eyes again, and began to heal his injuries by relying on the vitality filling the space between heaven, earth, wind, and snow.

Most of the dozens of snow dogs had died in this difficult journey, leaving only the eleven headed by A'da and A'er. These snow dogs probably had never been to such a northern and cold place in their lives. The animals' instinct made them a little uneasy, so they couldn't stop barking at the gray sky a few times despite Wang Shisanlang's suppression. Fortunately, this road was already the second time, otherwise, I really don't know if these snow dogs would be too scared to move by this eternally unmelting ice and snow and the lifeless world.

After coming down from the snowy mountain, Wu Zhu still maintained his coldness and silence, just following Fan Xian's team from afar, not saying a word. He still didn't remember anything, or rather, he didn't know anything. He was just a cold shell, but because of the spark of light in his soul, he came down from the snowy mountain, left the temple, and began to walk south with the sled team – if Wu Zhu had a soul at this time.

So Fan Xian was sad and disappointed. He didn't know how long this situation would last. He didn't know if Uncle Wu Zhu would wake up. If he really couldn't wake up, this Wu Zhu was still not the same Wu Zhu.

A snowflake was blown by a strong wind in the air, drifted along a strange curve into the sled, and landed on Fan Xian's eyelids. Haitang was slightly stunned and was about to brush the snowflake away with her fingers, but Fan Xian opened his eyes and smiled slightly at her.

The smile was gentle with a hint of indescribable emotion. Haitang avoided his gaze and looked at Wang Shisanlang standing in the snow in front, her face turning slightly red. From the time they first met until today, it had been several years. She had rarely revealed such a girlish demeanor in front of Fan Xian, but this time, going deep into the extremely northern snowfield and exploring the temple, she had experienced things that ordinary people would never experience in several lifetimes. Haitang Duoduo's heart was no longer the same as it was at the beginning.

Seeing her avoid his gaze, Fan Xian's smile didn't fade, and he felt warmth in his heart. The smashing of the temple had the greatest impact on his mood, because he knew that Haitang and Wang Shisanlang went with the determination to die. The most important thing was that these two had to suppress the innate reverence and fear of the temple in their hearts. This kind of friendship was rare in the world.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and his gaze passed through the wind and snow, landing on the distant snowy mountain behind him. In theory, that snowy mountain should have been invisible long ago, but he always felt that the snowy mountain was there, and the temple was there.

The day before yesterday, Fan Xian finally entered the temple again in the snowy mountain and saw the messy appearance inside, feeling extremely complicated, with some faint sadness and regret, after all, that was the last remnant of his world, if it was really destroyed in his hands like this...

Fortunately, it didn't exceed Fan Xian's expectations. Those light points condensed again, and the old man of the temple, with a gentle tone but no emotion, appeared again. Perhaps the temple had judged that the first and last envoy in the temple had broken free from control, so it didn't say anything about clearing the target again.

Even Fan Xian didn't find the temple, or rather, where the central hub of the last military museum was. Haitang and Wang Shisanlang probably only destroyed some auxiliary facilities.

In the temple, Fan Xian had a final conversation with the old man. As for what they talked about, only Fan Xian himself knew. After this conversation, Fan Xian resolutely left the temple, leaving the old man alone in the snowy mountain.

I'll leave you for a lifetime, waiting for the temple to develop a sense of awareness on its own. I'll die of loneliness ahead of you!

This was Fan Xian's revenge on the temple, because he believed that in such a world of ice and snow, without material support, the temple couldn't make any waves. If it really had this ability, it wouldn't have watched the envoys in the temple die one by one without any way to help.

Besides, there was Wu Zhu in the world.

Fan Xian smiled slightly sadly, looking at the blind uncle walking in the snow behind the team, his mood extremely complicated. Uncle Wu Zhu was rescued, but what would he face once he returned south? At this time, he was no longer afraid, but just had some emotional sadness.