In that critical moment, the wooden door was shattered by a blast of cold air, and countless ice crystals surged into the room with the gale. The ice crystals rapidly encased Ye Huohuo, freezing her solid before she could even react.
Immediately after, a phantom figure flashed into the room, and in the blink of an eye, a person stood beside the large ice block that held Ye Huohuo.
The piercing shriek, capable of shattering one's liver and heart, also ceased instantly.
Ye Xin and the other three were sprawled on the ground, bleeding from their seven orifices. A moment later, they would have been torn apart by the shrieking sound, their internal organs exploding, leading to their deaths.
The one who entered was none other than Li Mohan.
He looked coldly at Ye Xin and the other three, "What you have done will be dealt with by the law and heavenly justice. I will not allow Huohuo to defy heavenly laws and suffer divine punishment because of trash like you.
If you wish to lessen your sins, surrender yourselves to the police station! I have found evidence of all the wrongdoings committed by the Ye family, and it will be sent to the police station at dawn. Fend for yourselves."
After speaking, Li Mohan grabbed the "large ice block" beside him and vanished from the room like a wisp of smoke.
Frozen within the ice, Ye Huohuo was continuously infused with extremely cold spiritual energy. The blood vessels and nerves that were on the verge of bursting were slowly nourished by this gentle chill, stabilizing them.
Like fire doused with clear spring water, the heat in her body and the violence in her heart gradually subsided.
Her hair slowly turned back to black, then gradually shortened. She had regained her consciousness.
"Li Mohan, let me out!" Ye Huohuo struggled in the ice for a long time without success. With no other choice, she could only shout loudly from within.
"Calmed down?" Li Mohan poked the large ice block onto the ground and leaned against a nearby tree trunk, looking remarkably casual.
"How did you get here?" Trapped in the ice, Ye Huohuo's desperate cries sounded like buzzing mosquitoes to the outside world.
"Did you think your little tricks could trap me?" Li Mohan glanced at the lightning still intertwined in the sky and pouted, "Truly, each generation is worse than the last. Two people can't even deal with that one traitor."
"That's the senior martial uncle, his cultivation is many levels higher than theirs. It's already impressive they've lasted this long. You're just watching and not helping?" Ye Huohuo looked at the lightning bolts, each more intense than the last, through the ice.
"No need. The cultivation of that young man is not inferior to the old one. The reason he's at a disadvantage is simply a lack of experience. Such battles are beneficial for him," Li Mohan said indifferently, as if human lives were unimportant to him, and experience was paramount.
A sense of haughty superiority.
"Who are you, exactly?" Ye Huohuo asked abruptly.
Li Mohan was stunned for a moment, then chuckled lightly, "You figured it out?"
"With you showing this skill, if I still couldn't figure it out, it would mean my eyesight is too poor or my brain is too slow." Seeing that she couldn't get out, Ye Huohuo no longer rushed and calmed herself.
However, as she quieted down, she noticed something she had previously overlooked: streams of true qi were being transmitted into her body through contact between the ice and her skin.
This not only repaired her meridians, which had been damaged by qi deviation, but also healed her soul consciousness, which had been on the verge of being torn apart.
"How is it, feeling better? That idiot asked me to help you, as payment for borrowing my body." Li Mohan casually picked two leaves and placed them by his mouth, beginning to blow on them.
Ye Huohuo, sealed in the ice, could barely hear the outside sounds. Yet, strangely, the sound of Li Mohan blowing on the leaves was clear, almost as if it were right beside her ear, striking her eardrums.
The melody, ethereal and gentle, sounded like clear mountain springs tinkling against pebbles on the bank – tranquil and profound, capable of calming even the most agitated heart.
Ye Huohuo closed her eyes, listening to the melody, gradually entering a state of self-forgetfulness, her entire meridians being gently repaired.
After an unknown period, her body felt light, her feet lost their footing. She opened her eyes to find that the ice encasing her had vanished, and she was floating in the air.
Upon waking, her body felt heavy, and she fell.
She had been several meters high. Caught off guard, she landed on her backside, the fall not light, especially jarring the now mostly healed wound. A sharp intake of breath escaped her lips from the pain.
"Big brother, such lack of grace. You could have at least caught me!" Ye Huohuo covered her backside and stood up, a look of dissatisfaction on her face.
Li Mohan raised an eyebrow, glanced at her, and ignored her. However, he did put down the leaves and stopped playing the tune.
"That guy cares about you, but I don't. If he hadn't asked me, I wouldn't have helped you. You've depleted so much of my spiritual energy for nothing."
"Who are you? Li Mohan's past life?" Ye Huohuo asked again. This question had troubled her for a long time, and today was the perfect opportunity to get an answer.
"My Taoist name is Hanyan. I am indeed his past life. Alas, I could have ascended to immortality a hundred years ago, but I intervened in a worldly matter, was forced back into reincarnation, and went through all this again."
Hanyan? Hearing this name, Ye Huohuo's heart stirred. It sounded familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck her. It was someone her master had mentioned long ago.
He was said to be a powerful being from a hundred years ago, during a time of warlord conflicts when the entire nation of China lived in dire straits, and the common people were filled with resentment. At that time, an evil cultivator sought to harness this worldly resentment to cultivate evil arts.
Initially, Hanyan paid no attention. Later, however, this evil cultivator intensified his efforts, intending to use the lives of an entire city's populace to aid his cultivation.
The righteous cultivators of the Xuanmen sect at the time united to stop him but were still no match. It was then that Hanyan stepped forward, dissipating his cultivation to perish along with the evil cultivator.
All that remained was a purple jade box.
The purple jade box? Ye Huohuo's heart skipped a beat. Many confusing clues from the past seemed to be connecting.
"Is your purple jade box the one my master kept and then gave to Grandpa Li?"
"You've seen it! Yes, that's the one. On the day of the final battle, I had already calculated my outcome and my identity in this life. So, I sealed a portion of my spiritual consciousness within that purple jade box."
"You also calculated that I would go to the Li family and accidentally open that box, thus allowing your portion of spiritual consciousness to enter your body in this life. And that's how you gained the opportunity to control your body in this life." Ye Huohuo nodded.
"I was wondering how Li Mohan had memories and spiritual power from his past life. It was all part of your plan! Are you… aiming for ascension in this life?" Ye Huohuo felt a lump in her throat.
If this Hanyan before her ascended, what about Li Mohan? Were they considered one person now? Would his consciousness be completely overwritten by Hanyan?
In other words, would Li Mohan cease to exist in this world?
Hanyan smiled lightly, "He is merely a part of my consciousness. If I hadn't saved the people of that city a hundred years ago, accumulating immeasurable merit, how could he have enjoyed such good fortune and a prosperous family in this life?
Since one enjoys the fruit, one must bear the cause. This is destiny, and destiny cannot be defied."
As a member of the Xuanmen sect, Ye Huohuo naturally understood this principle, but…
She felt a pang of pity, or perhaps reluctance.
At this moment, the two thunderclouds in the sky had gradually dispersed, their strengths and positions clearly defined.
"Alright, the matter over there should also come to a conclusion. Let's go take a look!" Hanyan straightened up and gracefully walked towards the distant hillside.
Ye Huohuo watched his retreating back. It was clearly Li Mohan's body, yet he looked like two entirely different people.
Li Mohan's coldness was entirely different from the indifference of the person before her. Hanyan exuded an aura of detachment from worldly affairs, as if all things were illusory in his eyes.
Ye Huohuo found it hard to imagine how such a person could have sacrificed himself to save people a century ago.
"Why did you save the people of that city back then? In my opinion, a single person and an entire city should be no different to you." Ye Huohuo suddenly asked.
Hanyan's steps didn't halt, but his figure seemed to pause for a moment. "Oh? You think so? People change, and so does the human heart."
As he spoke, he swirled his fingers in the air. The impure water obediently circled around his fingertips. "See, this little fellow can change too, can't it?"
With a flick of his hand, the enormous coffin from the basement crashed to the ground.