221: thrilling

Just as Bai Yao was preparing to put Xing Che down and distract the wolf pack herself, the person on her back suddenly moved.

Xing Che opened his eyes.

Those grey pupils were startlingly bright at this moment, as if moonlight were flowing within them.

He didn't look at Bai Yao, but instead stared straight at the wolf pack, his lips moving silently. Was he chanting a spell?

"Xing Che, no!"

Only then did Bai Yao realize what he was trying to do. "Your body..."

It was already too late.

Xing Che bit the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood into his palm.

The blood was not bright red, but carried a faint silver glow, as if mixed with moonlight.

With blood-stained fingers, he quickly traced in the air; silver runes emerged in the wind and snow, forming a complex Illusion Array.

The wolf pack suddenly became restless. The blood-red light in their eyes began to flicker, as if they were seeing something terrifying.

Several wolves began to retreat, emitting uneasy low growls.

"Go!"

Xing Che shouted hoarsely, "While there's still time... head due north!"

Bai Yao squeezed the horse's flanks, and the horse shot forward like an arrow from a bow.

The wolf pack tried to give chase, but those silver runes entangled them like living things, transforming into countless illusory vines, flames, and ice spikes.

They were all illusions, yet they were enough to disturb the beasts' minds.

After rushing out a hundred zhang, Bai Yao looked back.

Xing Che maintained his spellcasting posture, arm raised high, as silver runes poured from his palm like a waterfall.

But blood began to seep from his seven orifices—silver blood, drawing shocking trails across his pale face.

"Enough!"

Bai Yao reined in the horse. "Xing Che, stop!"

Xing Che did not stop. He didn't even look back, only shouting with the last of his strength: "Keep going... don't look back... I can't hold on much longer..."

Among the wolf pack, an exceptionally robust Lead Wolf suddenly howled toward the sky.

That howl carried a certain power to dispel evil, and the silver rune array began to tremble violently. Xing Che let out a muffled groan and spat out another mouthful of blood.

Bai Yao knew she could no longer hesitate. She turned the horse around, not to flee, but to rush toward Xing Che.

"Are you crazy?!" Xing Che's eyes widened.

"If we die, we die together!"

Bai Yao's voice was exceptionally clear in the wind and snow. "I said, I won't let you die!"

By the time she reached Xing Che's side, the Illusion Array had completely collapsed.

Silver light exploded, and Xing Che fell from the horse like a kite with a broken string. Bai Yao flipped off the horse to catch him, and the two of them rolled onto the snow.

The wolf pack, no longer hindered by the illusion, locked their blood-red eyes onto their prey again. The Lead Wolf let out a short howl, and over twenty Icefield Wolves pounced simultaneously.

Bai Yao shielded Xing Che beneath her and drew her short blade.

The blade shimmered with a dark green light in the wind and snow; it was the aura Xuan Mo had left on the blade, cold and lethal.

When the first wolf pounced before her eyes, Bai Yao swung the blade.

The blade sliced through the wolf's neck, blood gushing out, but the wolf's claws also tore through her arm. The intense pain made her vision go dark, followed by a second wolf, a third... Just when she thought she was certain to die, Xing Che in her arms suddenly moved.

He used the last of his strength to raise his hand, not to form a seal, but to press it against the center of Bai Yao's back.

A gentle yet massive power surged into her body—it was all of Xing Che's remaining beast power; he was transferring his Cultivation to her.

"By my blood..."

Xing Che's voice was barely audible. "...awaken your power..."

Bai Yao felt the bloodline power within her body being completely ignited.

A pale golden light radiated from beneath her skin, spreading out like a physical substance. The Icefield Wolves that had pounced close were touched by the golden light and let out shrill screams; the blood-red in their eyes rapidly faded, turning into a terrified amber.

They fled.

As if they had encountered a natural predator, the wolf pack instantly scattered and disappeared into the wind and snow.

The golden light lasted for three breaths, then abruptly extinguished.

Bai Yao knelt in the snow, holding the completely unconscious Xing Che in her arms.

The Warming Talisman on his chest had already turned to ash, and his body temperature was terrifyingly low.

What broke Bai Yao's heart the most was his hair, which had now turned completely, lifelessly white, without even a hint of luster.

"Xing Che..."

With a trembling hand, she checked his breath.

He was still breathing, but it was so faint she could barely feel it.

She hurriedly tore open his collar, wanting to stop his bleeding, only to find there were no wounds on his body; all the injuries were deep within his soul.

The silver blood that had flowed from his seven orifices had already solidified, forming ice crystals on his face.

Bai Yao bit her wrist and let her blood drip into his mouth. But this time, the bloodline power seemed to have lost its effect. The blood flowed down the corner of his mouth, and Xing Che showed no reaction.

"No... this can't be..."

She panicked. "Xing Che, wake up! You promised me! You promised to accompany me to the end of all paths!"

The wind and snow grew heavier, nearly burying the two of them.

Crying, Bai Yao picked Xing Che up and stumbled forward.

She didn't know the direction or where she was going; she only knew she couldn't stop here.

The horse had long since run off during the chaotic fight, and their bags were scattered in the snow. She had nothing left except the dying person in her arms.

She didn't know how long she had been walking, but the sky had turned completely dark.

Bai Yao's feet were so frozen she lost all sensation, and the wound on her arm had iced over; every step felt like treading on knife points.

She held Xing Che, calling his name over and over, saying the words she had never spoken aloud:

"Xing Che, wake up. I haven't told you yet... actually, back in the Fox Tribe, many times, I would secretly look at your serious profile..."

"You always said I was silly, always said I was impulsive, but every time I got into trouble, you were the one who silently cleaned up after me..."

"When you were injured before, I was afraid every day that you wouldn't wake up... That's when I knew you were very important to me..."

"So I beg of you... don't die... don't leave me alone..."

Tears flowed out, instantly freezing into ice shards that hung from her eyelashes.

Bai Yao's vision grew more and more blurred, and her physical strength reached its limit. Finally, her legs gave way, and she fell into a snowdrift along with Xing Che.

So cold... She curled up, shielding Xing Che in her arms, using her last bit of body heat to warm him.

As her consciousness gradually drifted away, she seemed to hear a sound.

It wasn't a wolf's howl, nor was it the sound of the wind.

Was it... an eagle's cry?

High-pitched and clear, it pierced through the wind and snow, coming from far to near.

Bai Yao struggled to lift her head. In her blurred vision, she saw a huge dark shadow diving down from the night sky.

The wingspan was a full thirty feet, and the feathers shimmered with a metallic luster under the moonlight.

An eagle.

A giant eagle, the likes of which she had never seen, folded its wings and landed on the snow not far away.

Then, the dark shadow transformed into a human form.

Bai Yao wanted to see the newcomer clearly, but darkness had already completely swallowed her.

In the last moment before she lost consciousness, she felt someone carefully take Xing Che from her arms, and then a warm cloak was covered over her.

A strange voice sounded in her ear, filled with surprise:

"In this kind of weather... how could the two of you be here?"