The bronze palace was ravaged by the biting blizzard, as if swallowed by an abyss.
No one knew how much time had passed.
The howling wind of the blizzard gradually faded.
The lightning emitted by the Extreme Thunder Great Sword flickered in the darkness, eventually dimming into a faint spark.
Tang Ling had lost consciousness, clutching the boy in her arms as she collapsed.
Everyone was breathing.
They were all still alive.
Thunk.
Lin Lan could no longer hold on. Both his stamina and spirituality had been utterly drained. He tossed the Tachi in his hand to the ground. Despite his usual nonchalant demeanor, he had stood at the very front, shielding the women and children in the corner. At this moment, his role as a Night Watcher was unmistakable.
"Ah Lan, Ah Yue, block all the gaps in this palace immediately. Make a mud pipe that won't crack for venting smoke. If we don't raise the temperature soon, none of us will survive—we'll all die," he ordered.
He flung the Tachi away and collapsed directly to the ground.
Breathing heavily, his body was entirely limp.
Only two Charming Ladies still had the strength to move, their naturally cold-resistant physiques allowing them to remain active.
At moments like this, the superiority of the Heavenly Master Path became evident. Ah Yue, who could manipulate the four elements—Earth, Wind, Water, Fire—as well as Telekinesis, braved the icy winds to dig up frozen soil from outside. She then thawed it with high-temperature flames, mixing it with melted snow to seal every gap in the bronze palace.
Before sealing the space, Ah Lan dragged in the heavy sled and the frozen supplies it carried.
She retrieved a tent from her backpack, setting it up. Then, she spread out a carpet and moved the boy and girl inside.
Initially, she intended to separate them.
But then she realized that, whether from the cold or sheer muscle tension, Tang Ling was clutching the boy's head against her chest with a death grip—it was impossible to pry them apart.
Applying more force might have dislocated her hands.
Resigned, Ah Lan could only stuff the pair into the same sleeping bag.
"That girl's backpack has secret medicine. She's the Princess from HQ—she's bound to be loaded," Lin Lan muttered, having been dragged into the tent to huddle for warmth with his "little wife." Between gasps, he added, "I taught you how to read before, didn't I? There's something called Recovery Liquid—pour it into them immediately. Remember, in the human world, there's no shortage of secret medicine. When in doubt, rely on those. Even if I'm not around in the future, you'll know how to raise our kids properly."
Ah Yue murmured in acknowledgment and held him tightly in her arms.
Ah Lan, meanwhile, retrieved the secret medicine from the backpack and fed it to the tightly-entwined boy and girl.
Once everything was done, they finally breathed a sigh of relief and sat down to rest.
"That Ancestor is far too powerful. If it weren't for the fact that he hasn't fully recovered to his peak, we'd all be dead by now. I have to admit, even though they're a different species, their battle willpower truly commands respect," Lin Lan said between labored breaths. The firelight illuminated his face, still etched with lingering fear. "And that Ancestor was merely one of the sentinels guarding the Sea of Eternal Life. The truly terrifying monsters remain in the depths of the sea. The worst part is, that thing has already set its sights on us. It's just that the distance is still too great, so it can't reach us for now."
He paused. "If my guess is correct, its top priority right now is recovering to its peak state."
In other words, what had just happened…
Was nothing more than the monster sneezing.
And it had nearly wiped them out.
Truly terrifying.
Ah Lan and Ah Yue wore blank expressions, clearly unable to comprehend.
As the fire burned brighter, the temperature in the refuge climbed to over ten degrees Celsius.
After a lengthy silence, Tang Ling awakened from her unconsciousness. She could feel her once-frozen, stiff limbs slowly warming up as blood flowed through her veins again. Her body teemed with renewed vitality—a sensation brought on by the Recovery Liquid.
"Unbelievable… still alive," she murmured softly.
This Princess from HQ had never been in such a disheveled state before. Her soaked white hair clung to her forehead, her once-dignified gaze rendered chaotic. She was entirely drenched in melted snow, with bloodstains scattered across her body.
But most importantly, she noticed something peculiar against her chest.
Her cheeks flushed red as she reflexively tried to push the boy away.
But then she stopped herself, remembering it was she who had carried him here in the first place.
Forget it, she thought. Considering how injured he was, she might as well let him stay in her embrace.
It was warm and comfortable—he could even double as a pillow.
After Gu Jianlin had been fed the Recovery Liquid, the wounds covering his body had begun to heal.
But his expression remained one of excruciating pain.
"What's going on?"
She asked softly, "Why hasn't he woken up?"
Ah Lan and Ah Yue exchanged glances, their confusion evident. "We clearly gave him the medicine," they said.
Lin Lan forced himself upright, his expression grim. "This kid's mental state is off. Who knows what he really is? Honestly, if he didn't look so much like Old Gu, I'd suspect he was an Ancient God!"