125: Chapter 125 A Troublesome Gift

Shen Xiao lowered his head to look at his palm.

The pale blue icy thread wandering beneath his skin was like a frozen snake, quietly lurking deep within his Meridians.

It was faint, so faint that if one were not careful, its presence would be almost imperceptible.

Yet it was undeniably there, stubborn, cold, and carrying an ancient pulse that did not belong to him.

He attempted to mobilize the pathetic, nearly depleted spiritual power in his Dantian, akin to approaching a frozen river surface with a wisp of heat.

When his spiritual power touched the Meridian walls surrounding the icy thread, it immediately triggered a subtle yet sharp stinging sensation; it was not a physical pain, but rather something more like "repulsion," as two energies of different origins and natures pushed against each other in the narrow space, creating a silent friction.

The real trouble was yet to come.

He closed his eyes, withdrew his attention from his fingertips, and sank into the depths of his own perception.

After the Silver Pattern dimmed, those "eyes" that could perceive the flow of energy were nearly blind, but at this moment, a more vague, more primal intuition emerged.

He could "feel" the "location" of that Tomb Guardian Seal energy within his body; it was coiled near a main Meridian close to his heart, like a piece of ice refusing to melt, slowly and continuously radiating a chill, eroding the already fragile Meridian walls around it.

And as he "extended" his sense along the direction of this anomaly...

His perception touched another "thing."

Just across less than three feet of gravel, there lay another, larger, more violent energy core that was currently in a state of temporary silence: Xia Lengbai.

The Tomb Guardian Seal power within her was like a bottomless icy lake; its surface was temporarily calm, but dark currents surged beneath.

What made his eyelids twitch even more was that the faint wisp of spiritual power he had left inside her to act as a "lead" was now like a probe stuck into the icy lake; it could neither stir the water nor free itself from being frozen, and was transmitting a trace of an extremely indifferent "echo" in sync with the faint rhythm of her power.

Then, he "tasted" something.

It was not a taste of the palate, but rather a more abstract "taste" on an emotional level.

Confusion.

An unshakeable, thick confusion, like bubbles rising from the deep sea, wrapping around countless chaotic fragments.

Violence.

A cold, sharp violence, as if a trapped beast had just broken free from its cage, instinctively wanting to tear everything before it to shreds.

And a trace of... something extremely faint, something she herself might not have even noticed...

Reliance?

Shen Xiao snapped his eyes open, as if scalded by this "taste."

Just then, Xia Lengbai, who was curled up under the rock, fluttered her eyelashes.

Her ice-blue pupils were blank for a moment as she stared at the pitch-black sky, then they quickly contracted and focused; like a startled snow leopard, her sharp gaze instantly pinned itself onto Shen Xiao, who was three steps away.

She propped herself against the rock to sit up, but her arms went limp, her body swayed, and a suppressed grunt escaped her throat.

Yet there was not a shred of weakness in her eyes, only scrutiny, vigilance, and a deep-seated, almost overflowing malice.

Shen Xiao did not move, maintaining his half-kneeling posture as he met her gaze.

The air remained stagnant for about the span of three breaths.

Xia Lengbai's fingers unconsciously dug into the gravel beneath her, and faint, uncontrollable frost appeared on her fingertips.

She could feel the agonizing pain of the backlash receding like a tide; the violent power that had almost torn her apart had been forcibly "combed" by some external, gentle yet stubborn force. Although it was far from settled, at least it was no longer crazily crashing against her Meridians for the moment.

But the price was...

She perceived that there was an extra, extremely faint, and unfamiliar mark of spiritual power within her Sea of Consciousness.

It did not belong to the Tomb Guardian Seal; it carried a slightly warm, resilient aura.

At the same time, a strange, ethereal "sense of connection" was established, like a transparent spider silk, with one end tied somewhere in her heart and mind, and the other end... tied to that half-dead-looking man not far away.

"What did you do?"

Her voice was dry, cold, and hard, carrying the hoarseness of someone just waking up and an undisguised interrogation.

Shen Xiao moved his stiff neck and tugged at the corner of his mouth, pulling at the dried blood scabs on his face, which stung a little.

He was concise and to the point:

"Your Tomb Guardian Seal exploded just now and almost tore you apart from the inside.

I used the little bit of pill-refining knowledge I stole from Nangong Li, and by 'guiding' it along the flow of your power, I managed to vent a portion of the most dangerous force."

"The price?"

"The price is,"

Shen Xiao raised his right hand, the pale blue icy thread on his fingertip flickering slightly,

"a tiny bit of your power's scraps followed that 'guidance' and burrowed into me.

A wisp of my spiritual power, used to help you vent, also remained over there and wasn't fully pulled out.

Now, we both have a bit of each other's essence on us.

In the short term, I'm afraid we won't be able to 'separate'."

He omitted the System prompts, omitted those deeper, more shocking memory fragments—about the altar, about Lin Yun, and about the shadow controlling everything from behind the scenes.

To speak of them now would be tantamount to pressing a giant boulder onto Xia Lengbai's already taut nerves.

Xia Lengbai listened expressionlessly, her ice-blue eyes staring at Shen Xiao's fingertips, then slowly shifting to her own left hand.

She could feel that what he said was true.

That wisp of external spiritual power was faint yet real, and that eerie sense of connection could not be faked.

The cold air gathering at her fingertips suddenly dissipated, then abruptly condensed, repeating several times, revealing the intense struggle within her.

She did not lash out immediately; the malice in her eyes simply settled, transforming into a deeper coldness and scrutiny.

Silence spread once more.

Then, without warning, a translucent System panel popped up silently before Shen Xiao's eyes.

The scarlet text was startling against the dim background:

[Warning: High-threat target approaching!]

[Target Identification: Lin Yun (Child of Destiny / Puppet state)]

[Distance: Approximately 30 li, Movement Direction: Due West, heading straight for this location.]

[Threat Level: Extremely High!]

[Note: The target's energy signature differs significantly from historical data; the aura... is cold, with no life fluctuations (humanoid energy aggregate).

It is recommended that the host evade immediately!]

Shen Xiao's pupils suddenly contracted to pinpoints.

Almost at the same time he saw the System warning, Xia Lengbai suddenly turned her head to look at the night sky in the northeast.

Her brows were tightly knitted, her nostrils flared slightly, as if she were sniffing an invisible scent carried on the wind.

"A disgusting aura..."

She said in a low voice, a trace of imperceptible tension in her tone,

"Lin Yun? But... it feels wrong. It's too cold, dead and lifeless."

The "correction" of the Heavenly Dao had arrived.

It came so quickly, so precisely, pointing straight to this moment, when they had just escaped danger and were at their weakest.

Lin Yun's appearance was definitely no coincidence.

That "cold and waveless" aura was more like a declaration; the player outside the chessboard had descended to move the pieces personally.

Shen Xiao's heart sank; that cold, foreign energy seemed to sense something, too, and stirred slightly within his Meridians.

He had no time to carefully process the trace of shock and the gradually rising vigilant murderous intent that came from Xia Lengbai through the connection.

"Let's go."

He braced his knees and stood up unsteadily, grabbing Xia Lengbai's wrist, which was still radiating cold air.

The touch was still cold, but slightly better than before; at least it no longer felt like grabbing a block of ten-thousand-year black ice.

"We'll think of a way while we move, to see if we can separate this 'trouble.' For now, let's deal with the bigger trouble."

Xia Lengbai did not struggle, rising with the force of his pull, though her gaze scraped across Shen Xiao's face like a knife before casting toward the deep night in the northeast.

Thirty li.

For a high-level Cultivator, it was merely the distance of a few breaths.

The wind grew colder.