87: Chapter 87 A Name Is Harder Than Life

The night sky was like a piece of rag soaked in purple ink, smeared over the wasteland.

Just as Chen Fan's boot crushed the last patch of thin ice, a chill suddenly rose on the back of his neck—it wasn't the snow wind, but the intuition that some living thing was approaching.

His steps paused slightly, and Su Shuang, whom he was carrying on his back, let out a soft gasp.

Her forehead rested against his shoulder socket, her breath abnormally hot, mixed with the scent of rust, drilling into his nostrils.

Chen Fan's Adam's apple bobbed. Just as he was about to adjust her weight, a crisp 'crack' sounded behind him, like someone stepping on and shattering an ice shard.

The moment he turned, his pupils contracted to pinpricks.

The kindling stele, which should have been rooted in the Molten Heart Battlefield, was now slowly grinding across the snowfield.

The stele's body was crisscrossed with web-like cracks, yet the white flame at its apex was brighter than ever, illuminating a ten-meter radius as if it were daylight.

With every step it took, the ice surface cracked deeper, as if an invisible pair of hands were pushing it, and the endpoint of all the cracks pointed toward Su Shuang on his back.

"It recognizes you..." Su Shuang's voice was as light as a snowflake, scattering close to his ear, "Not because you are strong, but because you remember."

Chen Fan then noticed her fingertips.

The moon-white Fox Fire flickered between her fingers. The translucent phantom fox tails, which should have numbered nine, were now reduced to seven—the tip of every tail was tinged with pale gray, as if gnawed by the system's black mist.

His throat tightened. Just as he was about to speak, the surface of the stele suddenly glowed red.

Blood-red characters seeped out from the depths of the stele, carving themselves word by word into Chen Fan's eyes: "Crimson Nightmare, formerly known as Yan Li, Seven-Year Oath—I will protect Shuanger and ensure no one ever cries."

The system notification sound exploded in his Sea of Consciousness, making his temples throb: [Triggered 'Memory Critical Hit': Experience x 800%, Unlocked 'Dual Source Resonance - Enhanced Version' (Can continuously lock onto same-attribute critical hits, limited to 3 uses)!]

Chen Fan's knees slammed heavily onto the ice surface.

He recalled the Crimson Nightmare in the Battle of the Molten Heart, the one modified by the system into a killing weapon, and the moment of clarity that flashed in his eyes at the very end—it turned out that before becoming the 'Crimson Nightmare,' he was a child who would cry for 'Shuanger.'

"Damn it all," he cursed lowly, slamming his fist heavily onto the ground.

For the first punch, he silently recited 'Frost Devour.'

A cold mist exploded from his fist edge. The ice within five meters instantly solidified into translucent blue ice, even Su Shuang's hanging strands of hair formed ice crystals.

System Prompt: [Frost Devour triggered Critical Hit x 3, effect enhanced]

For the second punch, he continued to lock onto 'Frost Devour.'

The ice layer thickened by three inches in the blink of an eye, as if a bucket of water had been thrown on it, freezing his boot soles to the ground.

Su Shuang's Fox Fire suddenly brightened slightly, branding a warm mark on his neck—it was her using the last of her strength to help him stabilize the bloodline resonance.

For the third punch, he gritted his teeth and smashed toward the ice surface.

The triple-stacked ice explosion burst forth, shattering ice mixed with golden light soaring into the sky, blooming into an ice flower under the moonlight.

The system notification sound almost shouted: [Bloodline Resonance achieved 'Anchor' state, cooldown reduced to 15 minutes!]

Chen Fan looked up at the sky, his eyes stinging with heat.

Snow particles whipped by the wind struck his face, yet he laughed out loud: "You turn people into fire, and turn fire into tools... but when people remember, the fire burns toward you."

A muffled sound came from beneath the ground.

The Molten Heart Eye opened for the last time, golden light piercing the rock strata, projecting an image before Chen Fan's eyes: In the bronze-cast Life Recording Division, a masked Fate Official was holding a vermilion brush, the tip hovering above the characters 'Chen Fan.'

"Strike through," The Fate Official's voice sounded like a rusty gear.

The brush tip was just about to descend when it suddenly snapped with a 'ka' sound.

Red ink splashed onto the book of fate, staining the characters 'Chen Fan' even more vividly.

Before the image shattered, a line of small text appeared in the air: 'Star Speaker Resonance Body, cannot be erased, only sealed.'

The golden light rapidly receded.

The Molten Heart Eye closed completely, and no more whispers from the sound transmitter echoed from the earth's veins.

Only then did Chen Fan notice that three bloodstains had appeared on the rock wall, each character seemingly gouged out with a fingernail: [Luo Yan · Awake]

"Luo Yan..." Su Shuang suddenly spoke, her breath weaker than before, "That is the name of a Star Speaker... they can hear what is outside the heavens..."

Before she finished speaking, the kindling stele vibrated violently.

Chen Fan hastily looked up, only to see names disappearing from the stele's surface in swathes—'Blue Ash,' 'Wang Iron Pillar,' 'Yan Li'... finally only 'Chen Fan' and 'Su Shuang' remained side by side, burning brightly in the white flame.

The stele body began to sink, like a magnet drawn by the Earth's core.

The moment it submerged into the ground, the white flame drilled out from beneath, spreading a path of glittering golden light across the snow, pointing directly toward the distant mountaintop.

A dark shadow flickered faintly there, its outline resembling a leaning tower.

"The Earth Fire returns to silence, but the Human Fire is immortal..." Stone Throat's voice came from the depths of the earth veins, clearer than ever before, "Go now, carry the names to the heavens."

Chen Fan stood up, drawing Su Shuang closer to his embrace.

Her lightness made his heart panic, yet her reality brought him peace—at least now, she was still on his back, still breathing, still something he could remember.

The moment he stepped onto the path of light, a cluster of golden flames bloomed beneath his feet.

The shape of the flame was strange; upon closer inspection, it was the brand of the characters 'Chen Fan.'

With the next step, the flame of the characters 'Su Shuang' lit up, overlapping with the previous one, branding a deeper mark on the snow.

The fierce wind whipped up snow grains, hitting his face.

Chen Fan turned back to look at where the kindling stele had sunk. The snow there was left with a deep pit, like a silent eye.

He touched Su Shuang's hand on his back and whispered, "You erase history, I write history; you extinguish names, I carve names."

His fist suddenly glowed with dual colors—the left fist held Su Shuang's moon-white Fox Fire, and the right fist held his own crimson-gold Flame Burst.

The two flames intertwined and shot toward the sky, carving a bright streak across the night.

He grinned, revealing a bit of white teeth: "The next one to be remembered is Luo Yan—my critical hits specialize in curing amnesia."

The mountaintop at the end of the light path grew closer.

The outline of the Star Gazing Platform gradually became clear, and faint whispers drifted from the tower top, as if someone was calling out a name.

Chen Fan quickened his pace, the flames beneath his boots burning brighter, illuminating the snowfield as if it were daylight.

In places he could not see, the molten-gold path of light continued to extend, winding up the slope from where the kindling stele had submerged, finally disappearing into the shadow of the Star Gazing Platform.