Su Su held the Soul-Extinguishing Pearl Tears in her hand. The divine pearl emitted a soft glow in her palm, much like its fading master.
A gentle breeze swept across the Desolate Abyss. From the entrance, Su Su looked out to see the blue moon shedding its eerie hues as divine power enveloped the abyss layer by layer.
Wherever the light passed, skeletal remains dissipated, and golden seals illuminated every inch of the Desolate Abyss.
Monsters poked their heads out in astonishment, howling in confusion.
The curved jade said, "Ji Ze is fading. He could no longer hold on—ten thousand years of exhaustion made it impossible for him to guard the Desolate Abyss. Powerless to stop the monsters from escaping, he scattered his divine soul before his fall to reinforce the seals. As he said, these seals will last at most three years."
Three years later, without a God to guard it, once the Demon God awakens, monsters will break free from the Desolate Abyss, plunging the world into chaos.
Tiny white specks of light drifted into Su Su’s hand, and a gentle force lifted her up.
The curved jade said, "Ji Ze is sending you and the child out of the Desolate Abyss."
Sure enough, as the curved jade had foretold, Su Su watched the scenery of the Desolate Abyss grow distant. The blue Demon Moon gradually dimmed.
Golden seals flickered, sensing the God’s demise. Countless monsters within the Desolate Abyss attempted to escape.
Including Si Nü, whose face lit up with delight as she tried to slip through a crack in the abyss.
A wave of golden divine power, irresistible and overwhelming, swept across the Desolate Abyss, freezing every monster in place.
Only the divine energy surrounding Su Su remained gentle. As she lost consciousness, the last thing she saw was the Desolate Abyss receding into the distance as she fell into a rift.
Ji Ze’s divine power enveloped her, shielding her from the violent winds within the rift and carrying her out of the Desolate Abyss.
The rift glowed with golden light before slowly closing.
Beyond the Desolate Abyss lay the polar Northern Heavenly Mountains.
Blanketed in snow and ice, the landscape stretched white as far as the eye could see.
The fierce winds within the rift had been too violent. Su Su lay unconscious on the icy surface.
The curved jade urged, "Young mistress, wake up!"
Su Su’s eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes.
Taking in the scenery, she realized she had left the Desolate Abyss. Beside her lay a small, cold body—the child she had rescued from the snake demon.
The child’s face was pale, his hand clutching tightly to the hem of his clothes. He had yet to awaken.
The curved jade said, "The winds within the rift were too fierce. Even with Ji Ze’s protection, his frail body couldn’t handle it."
Su Su helped him sit up, finally getting a proper look at the child.
He had a delicate, rosy-cheeked appearance, with an air of innocent purity.
Studying the child, Su Su couldn’t help but remark, "He’s much cuter than Tantai Jin was as a child."
The curved jade agreed, "Isn’t that the truth?"
Tantai Jin’s smiles as a child had always carried a sinister edge. The rare moments of innocence he showed only surfaced when he was killing, sending chills down one’s spine.
"As cute as he is, he’s still a burden. His body is clearly failing, which is why he was sealed in a Ruoshui ice coffin. By some twist of fate, he fell into the Desolate Abyss and was forcibly awakened," the curved jade said. "You need to find Tantai Jin now. What will you do with him?"
Su Su replied, "First, I’ll take him out of these icy mountains and see if there’s a family willing to adopt him."
The curved jade observed the child and said, "It won’t be easy. Unless a miracle happens, his constitution won’t let him survive. Born frail, he’s been sustained by rare treasures. Now that he’s lost that support, it’s uncertain how long he’ll live."
Su Su gently pinched the child’s cheek and said, "Life itself should be a story of fighting back against all odds."
If he could grow up amidst storms and hardships, he would surely become more resilient than anyone.
In times like these, who ever said living was easy?The curved jade found the child somewhat familiar, yet couldn't recall where it had seen him before.
Unable to figure it out, it simply stopped thinking about it.
"Little master, I'm going into hibernation." It had been awake for too long this time and needed to quickly prevent depletion. Losing even the slightest bit of Spiritual Power might prevent Su Su from returning to the correct future timeline.
Su Su replied, "Alright."
Tianshan was too cold. Su Su hastily performed Talisman Drawing with her blood, summoning a giant roc. She placed the child on its back and climbed up herself.
The roc carried them out of Tianshan, but Su Su's blood could no longer sustain it, forcing her to land nearby.
She carried the unconscious child on her back and continued walking outward.
At the foot of Tianshan stretched a winding mountain path, with spring water flowing down from the peaks. The further they walked, the warmer it became.
Sparrows chirped noisily in the forest, hopping out to curiously observe them.
Su Su hadn't walked long before she began sweating.
Why was it so hot outside when Tianshan had been freezing cold?
It was then that the boy woke up. A little squirrel peeked out, its mouth stuffed with pine nuts, watching them from a tree.
His long eyelashes fluttered as he realized someone was carrying him on their back.
The young girl breathed lightly, sweat beading on her forehead. Her petal-like lips were tinged pink.
He stared blankly at her profile.
She had tied her hair into two bun-style pigtails with purple ribbons, with perilla decorations dangling near her temples, making her look charming and adorable.
Her body felt soft. The boy suddenly remembered his mother saying that boys and girls shouldn't share the same seat after age four. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he quietly withdrew his hands from her shoulders.
Noticing movement on her back, Su Su smiled and said, "You're awake?"
The boy glanced at her, then stole another look before whispering softly, "Yes, thank you for saving me. I'm heavy, you must be tired. You can put me down, I can walk by myself."
Su Su found him even more well-behaved. She complied and set him down: "My name is Ye Xi Wu. What's yours?"
The boy hesitated for a moment before murmuring, "My name is Xiao Shan."
The name clearly didn't sound like a formal one. Seeing Xiao Shan's uneasy expression, Su Su didn't press him.
A child who could afford a Ruoshui ice coffin, dressed in a small brocade robe woven from jade silk, would never have a name like "Xiao Shan."
She wondered which noble family's precious child had fallen to such circumstances.
As the curved jade had said, in these chaotic times, those too delicate simply couldn't survive.
Su Su was unbearably hot. After putting Xiao Shan down, she quickly untied and discarded her cloak.
Xiao Shan's face grew redder.
Su Su said, "Xiao Shan, as you've seen, your ice coffin has melted. I can't find more Ruoshui to rebuild it for you. What do you plan to do now?"
She decided to ask for his thoughts.
Xiao Shan looked at her, lowered his head, and whispered, "Can I follow you?"
Su Su was somewhat surprised and shook her head. "I have things to do, dangerous things. I can't take you with me."
Xiao Shan's fingertips turned pale as he said, "Alright."
He knew he was a burden.
If he had insisted, Su Su might have been able to harden her heart, but the child was so obedient that she felt a pang of guilt.
Fortunately, she understood she couldn't act impulsively now. Even Pian Ran wanted to die after falling into Tantai Jin's hands, let alone such a fragile child.
After walking for a while, footsteps suddenly echoed from the forest.Then came a rough male voice: "Damn it all, what kind of wretched world is this? The Zhou Kingdom's army is almost looting our village. If I didn't know how to hunt, I'd have starved to death long ago."
Another voice said: "I heard they've already reached Yuzhou. I wonder how long Great Xia can hold out against those Zhou Kingdom barbarians."
The man grumbled: "Didn't you know? The Zhou Kingdom has a new emperor."
"What? A new emperor!"
"Just happened a couple days ago. They say the previous Zhou emperor was killed by his younger brother, and his corpse is still hanging at the border by Mohe River," the man said.
The other person sounded pleased: "That former Zhou emperor Tantai Minglang kept monsters, making life unbearable for the people. Now that there's a new emperor, surely he can't be as cruel as Tantai Minglang was!"
The man scoffed: "You think the new emperor is some benevolent ruler? They say when he captured his brother, he didn't even hurry to ascend the throne. Instead, he sliced pieces of flesh off him, gouged out his eyes, and fed everything to wild dogs. Only the bare bones remained of his legs, attracting flies and venomous insects to feast. Tantai Minglang was tied to a flagpole, suffering for three full days before finally dying. Some say the new emperor isn't rushing to ascend because he wants to conquer Great Xia first."
The other person said incredulously: "But... didn't Tantai Minglang keep monsters? During the Mohe River battle, the monster he raised was as tall as a small mountain. Even General Ye was defeated. How could the new emperor have killed him?"
Common folk just want peaceful lives. Clearly, the Zhou Kingdom's new emperor was even more terrifyingly cruel than the old one, making it hard to accept.
The man muttered darkly: "Who knows? Monsters are still monsters after all. Did you think they were just some cats or dogs?"
The two hunters walked forward and encountered Su Su and Xiao Shan.
The hunters started, exchanging glances.
What were a beautiful young girl and a child doing in these desolate woods? Unless...
Before their expressions could shift dramatically, Su Su spoke up: "Excuse me, brothers, is the Zhou Kingdom's new emperor you mentioned named Tantai Jin?"
Seeing her gentle tone and absence of any seductive aura, the bolder hunter replied: "We don't know what the new emperor's name is."
From their conversation, Su Su knew the situation had turned dire.
Plus, the weather was unbearably hot, completely unlike early March when she had first entered the Desolate Abyss.
"Brother, what month is it now?"
The hunter answered: "It's July, miss. What are you and this child doing in the mountain forests?"
Su Su said: "We came to gather herbs, but we've been in the woods so long without finding any."
The man said: "It's not safe here anymore either. The Zhou Kingdom is attacking, and we're only holding on because Prince Xuan is guarding the city gates. Miss, you should stop looking for herbs and hurry home. Leave quickly with your family."
These two seemed like good people.
Su Su said: "I understand. I'll take my little brother and head back immediately. Just now, I heard you mention... General Ye's defeat at Mohe River. What happened?"
The hunter heaved a heavy sigh: "The former Zhou emperor kept a white-browed tiger monster that stood half as tall as a small mountain. Before the two armies even engaged, General Ye's troops were already being slaughtered by the monster. Soldiers scattered and fled—they lost before the battle even began."
"Mohe River has fallen and is now under Zhou Kingdom control."
Su Su quickly asked: "Is General Ye alright?""I heard he was severely injured and remains unconscious to this day. Our Prince Xuan is currently guarding Yuzhou in place of General Ye."
Su Su felt her heart grow heavy.
She never expected that although she had spent less than three days in the Desolate Abyss, three months had already passed in the outside world.
It seemed time flowed differently in the Desolate Abyss. Upon emerging, the overall situation had shifted into such a terrible state. The only silver lining might be that the strangeness of the Desolate Abyss had prevented the Spring Silkworm Curse within her from taking effect.
Now Tantai Jin had killed Tantai Minglang and was confronting Xiao Lin's Xia army.
Her father was injured, her eldest brother had been poisoned at Jiayu Pass, and her second brother had defected to Tantai Jin—there wasn't a single piece of good news.
In the blink of an eye, it was already July in the mortal realm.
Su Su thanked the two hunters and continued forward with Xiao Shan.
"When we reach the foot of the mountain, we'll have to part ways," Su Su told Xiao Shan. "I need to go to Yuzhou, where there's fighting. I can't take you with me. I'll find a good family for you then."
Xiao Shan stared dejectedly at the ground.
It was always like this—his father had quietly left him, his mother rarely visited, and later said she was going far away. Now... this young woman before him was also going to leave him.
Xiao Shan said, "Take care, sister."
He was already accustomed to farewells. He didn't know how many more years this body of his could last, and sister didn't seem like an ordinary person either. She had important matters to attend to and certainly couldn't bring him along.
Though Su Su's heart was preoccupied with Yuzhou, seeing his pitiful appearance made her somewhat reluctant to leave him.
She plucked a bamboo leaf, dripped blood onto it, and transformed it into an emerald-green little bird.
She placed the kingfisher in Xiao Shan's palm.
"Don't be sad, I'm giving this to you."
The kingfisher affectionately nuzzled Xiao Shan, who pursed his lips, his eyes sparkling with surprise.
"Really for me?"
Su Su smiled and said, "Mm."
Xiao Shan asked cautiously, "Will it stay with me forever?"
Su Su shook her head.
A single bamboo leaf didn't consume much spiritual power—it was a living being she had transformed using the power of the World-Toppling Flower.
If she died, the little spirit bird would revert to a bamboo leaf.
Seeing her shake her head, Xiao Shan was momentarily stunned, then said softly but firmly, "I will treasure it well."
The little spirit bird chirped and flew onto Xiao Shan's shoulder.
In Mohe City, a young man in black robes leaned against the throne.
He sat lazily, with a white-browed tiger crouching before him. He coldly glanced at the ministers bound within the hall, who were forced to kneel.
"Traitor! You murdered the emperor and are unworthy to be the new sovereign!"
"Even if we die today, we will never submit to you!"
"To humiliate the Emperor of Zhou like this—you heartless ingrate—you will certainly die a wretched death!"
They were numerous, after all being Tantai Minglang's trusted followers in the Zhou Kingdom who had served him for many years. At this moment, none would submit to Tantai Jin, who had ascended through "unorthodox means."
Outside, Tantai Minglang was still nailed to a flagpole—never in all history had there been an emperor who met such a miserable end.
This little beast before them simply wasn't human.
Scholars valued integrity; if they submitted to this traitor, how would history books record them for millennia to come?
Thinking this, they grew even more vehement, as if each additional curse against Tantai Jin brought them more satisfaction.
The chorus of curses rose and fell, filling the hall with chaos.
Several generals of the Yiyue tribe watched Tantai Jin, cold sweat streaming down their faces.
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