The silence between them wasn't empty—it was full. Full of echoes. Of icy winds, sealed qi, and the warmth of a single moment in a realm meant for death.
The old man's voice broke the stillness, tinged with a weariness only time could bring.
"Ah, yes, that time," he murmured, his eyes softening, gaze distant. "We stumbled into that cave while trying to escape. Our cultivations sealed… our lives hanging by a thread. I still remember the sound of your breathing—sharp, controlled. Ready to fight even when you couldn't win."
Lu Wei's expression grew solemn. The memory wasn't a faint one. It was seared into her—branded by fear, adrenaline, and the first moment she ever looked at that man… truly looked.
She remembered the enemy disciple who had come for her, blade gleaming with malicious intent, her own qi sealed by a spirit treasure trap, her body exhausted from protecting the others. She had fought like a lioness—until her strength gave out.
And then—he appeared.
That man… always laughing. Always joking. The one she never took seriously because he was too cheerful for the cold mountain winds she lived in. But that day, he wasn't laughing.
He stood between her and the blade.
He shielded her with his back.
Blood splattered like red snow, and it was only when he lifted her into his arms—still running, still smiling, still looking back to check on her—that she realized the blood was his.
"Can you see if anyone else is chasing us?" he had asked, still breathing heavily.
Glancing over her shoulder, Lu Wei had seen four shadows slicing through the haze of the death realm. And one voice—chilling and clear—had carried over the distance:
"Capture the woman. Dispose of the man. The young master wants her alive. Fail, and we die. Understand that."
It had made her stomach twist—not with fear, but rage. She had not been a pawn to be delivered. And he… he had not been someone to be disposed of.
In the present, Lu Wei sat beside him once more, her eyes reflecting the flicker of remembered frost. "I never forgot that moment. When you bled for me."
---
Back then…
"They're gaining," he had muttered between gritted teeth. Each step jostled her in his arms, and she could feel how hard he was pushing through his wounds.
She'd made a quick decision.
From her storage ring, she pulled a white, softly glowing crystal.
"Here. Freeze them."
He'd looked at it with surprise, understanding its nature in an instant—a low-grade Heaven Ice Crystal, capable of freezing even spiritual qi for a few seconds.
With steady hands, despite the blood dripping from his fingertips, he channeled the last of his inner qi into the crystal.
The glow intensified—then exploded outward as he hurled it toward the advancing disciples.
They were ready. They conjured shields, layered with protective runes. But it wasn't enough.
The moment the crystal shattered, a howling wind and brilliant frost burst out in a twenty-meter radius, engulfing everything.
The pursuers froze mid-stride—like statues sculpted in anguish, encased in glassy layers of ice.
He didn't stop to look. He just kept running.
But Lu Wei felt it. The tremble in his arms. The slower pace. The pain he tried to hide.
"We've got distance now," she had told him, trying to reassure. "Let's find shelter. You need to rest."
She never forgot how he nodded, still carrying h
er despite the wounds… despite the fact that she could walk.