Chapter 86: Desperate Situation

Madam Xu’s palm covered the sky, and the strange phenomenon that had manifested in this extreme cold land disappeared instantly.

Once again, she had “corrected” this world that had deviated from its course, setting it back on the right track.

On the mountain path, Madam Xu’s transmitted warning slowly faded from Xu Qingzhao’s¹ ears. She was not surprised. In fact, she understood very well that anyone who entered this Star Gate had to abide by its rules—herself included. And that “little guy” with the Heavenly Pardoned One fate was no exception.

There were countless Star Gates in this world, divided into seven tiers. The higher the tier, the more difficult and unfathomable it became. High-tier Star Gate players could enter lower-tier Star Gates, but they would be suppressed by the Star Gate’s rules, limiting their abilities to match the current Star Gate’s tier. They could not break past this restriction.

Except for the hidden gods of this world, no one could violate this rule.

This was an iron law—the Heavenly Dao—and the Gatekeepers were its embodiment.

Xu Qingzhao had not intended to break the rules just now, but when she was forced into a desperate situation, the Dao Body within her had been provoked beyond her control.

At the same time, she sensed that the thing she was searching for seemed to be buried beneath the Princess’ Tomb. But… would she still have a chance to obtain it?

The rugged mountain path was engulfed in bone-chilling winds, sharp as blades cutting against her face. The surrounding temperature continued to plummet.

“Hah… this woman… she seems different from us,” No. 11 was the first to react, sneering. “But it doesn’t matter! Her supernatural ability was just suppressed by the rules. We’re all just ordinary people now—what the hell is there to be afraid of? Get her!”

As soon as his words fell, the seemingly sunny but secretly ruthless Scholar picked up a coffin plank and swung it straight at Xu Qingzhao’s head.

“Whoosh…!”

The wooden plank, frozen as hard as steel, sliced through the air.

“Bang!”

Xu Qingzhao lifted her leg and kicked the plank, sending the charging Scholar tumbling backward onto his butt.

Immediately, Guo Cai’er, Xing Tao, and No. 11 attacked together. One blocked her path down the mountain while the other two wielded wooden planks, swinging them at Xu Qingzhao with relentless force.

She dodged swiftly, her movements as agile as a rabbit. But with no weapon in hand and the narrow mountain path restricting her mobility, her ability to evade was severely limited…

Xu Qingzhao retreated, kicking Guo Cai’er away, but in doing so, she gave No. 11 an opening. He slammed his wooden plank toward her left calf with full force.

“Bang!”

A muffled impact. She couldn’t dodge in time. The plank struck her left calf, sending a sharp pain piercing through her leg.

The wooden planks, their surfaces crusted with ice, had become as hard as iron. If one of them hit her head, her skull would undoubtedly shatter on impact.

Seizing the moment, the Scholar, brutal in his attacks, swung his plank at her head.

Xu Qingzhao hobbled aside, narrowly dodging the Scholar’s attack—only to be struck by Xing Tao’s next assault.

“Bang!”

“…!”

Xing Tao swung his plank with both hands, striking Xu Qingzhao’s left calf once more.

At that moment, she felt as if her bone had fractured, as if shards were about to pierce through her skin. The pain was excruciating, shattering her balance completely.

Xu Qingzhao’s supernatural ability had been sealed by the rules. Though she was physically stronger than the others, with no weapon in hand and facing an onslaught from four opponents, she couldn’t hold out much longer.

If this continued, she would die.

Xu Qingzhao was not one to accept death. She could not allow herself to be killed by these four—to have her corpse at their mercy, even desecrated.

With that thought, she abruptly stepped back, pressing her back against the icy cliffside. She struck out with her palm, sending Guo Cai’er flying.

“Bang!”

At that instant, a plank swung down just three inches above her head. If she had been any slower, her skull would have been crushed.

Xing Tao gripped his plank and raised it high, preparing for another strike.

Xu Qingzhao suddenly bent low, slipped under Xing Tao’s armpit, and darted through.

Not far away, the Scholar rushed in, attempting to block her escape route.

“Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Xu Qingzhao had secretly been holding a handful of snow, shaping it into two compact snowballs with her palm’s warmth. She hurled them forward.

“Smack! Smack!”

The snowballs struck the Scholar’s face, burning his eyes with a sharp, stinging pain.

Seizing the opportunity, Xu Qingzhao endured the pain in her left leg and sprinted up the mountain.

“Get her!”

No. 11 roared, gripping a coffin plank as he chased after her.

The other three followed behind, braving the icy wind and snow as they gave chase.

At this moment, the entire extreme cold land was shrouded in darkness. The bitter wind had become so sharp that even as they ran, the four pursuers felt their skin sting and itch. Their sweat, barely exuded from exertion, instantly froze into ice beads.

Their hair, nostrils, and eyelashes were already coated with frost.

“We can’t keep chasing!”

The Scholar suddenly halted, shouting:
“The Star Gate already warned us—there’s just over a quarter of an hour before the cold wave arrives! We have to get back and build our coffin shelter!”

“She’s not dead yet!” No. 11 barked back.

“Fuck, if she stays out here, she’ll freeze to death anyway!” Xing Tao gritted his teeth. “We can’t risk our lives just to stop her! She already dropped her wood—we’ve got what we need. Chasing her any further is pointless!”

No. 11 gritted his teeth, his gaze dark and ruthless as he stared up the mountain path. After hesitating for a long moment, he decisively turned around.

“Go!”

With that, the four of them quickly gathered the wooden planks on the ground and turned to head back down the mountain.

About five minutes later, the four players hiding at the mountain path entrance—waiting to ambush Xu Qingzhao a second time—were now shivering violently, their skin tinged with a purplish-blue hue from the cold.

“That woman is too proud to die by our hands,” the Scholar said through chattering teeth. “She must have guessed we’d be waiting at the entrance… She probably won’t come down. Let’s go.”

“Should we split up on the way back? If the other players notice that two people are missing while the four of us are still together, even an idiot would know what happened,” No. 11 asked. “We might become targets.”

“No need,” the Scholar shook his head. “I’d actually love for someone to jump out and demand justice for them. We’ll go back together.”

“Alright.” Xing Tao nodded.

After a brief discussion, the four of them each pushed their wooden boards and swiftly made their way back to the starting point.

…

Another three or four minutes passed.

A notification from the Star Gate rang in all the players’ ears.

[The cold wave is approaching. Please construct your snow shelter coffins as soon as possible.]

At the starting point, Imperial Inspector Liu had already built his coffin. Meanwhile, the Horsekeeper, Tang Feng, and Li Yan each leaned their incomplete snow shelter coffins against another’s for support.

In reality, the four of them could lie inside their coffins already, sparing themselves from the brutal cold. However, they had all witnessed the strange phenomenon in the valley earlier, and there were still six players unaccounted for…

A feeling of unease crept into everyone’s hearts—something must have happened.

In the pitch-black starting area, both Li Yan and Tang Feng were growing increasingly anxious. At the same time, countless thoughts raced through their minds.

Tap, tap…

Footsteps approached.

“They’re back!” the Horsekeeper said first.

“Dammit, dragging their feet—do they want to freeze into icicles?” Imperial Inspector Liu muttered, sitting down on his coffin.

The snow shelter coffins were built without a single nail, relying entirely on ancient woodworking techniques. Each was just large enough for a single person.

The footsteps grew closer, and four figures emerged from the darkness, pushing wooden planks and covered in snow.

The Horsekeeper immediately asked, “Where are the other two? Where are No. 5 and No. 2?”

“You ask me? Should I ask God?” No. 11 snapped, his expression cold. He pressed himself against Tang Feng’s coffin and started arranging his planks. “The cold wave is coming. Are you seriously going to wait around for those two?”

Of the four, only No. 11 responded. Xing Tao, Guo Cai’er, and the Scholar immediately focused on assembling their coffins upon arrival, offering no explanations and making no effort to engage with the others.

Li Yan and the others weren’t fools. One glance at No. 11’s disheveled appearance—his torn clothing, the visible bruises on his neck and face—made it clear that a fight had taken place.

Beside the coffins, the Scholar hurriedly assembled his, subtly scanning Li Yan, Tang Feng, the Horsekeeper, and Imperial Inspector Liu from the corner of his eye.

He wanted to see who would break first—who would ask about No. 2 and No. 5, and who would be reckless enough to rush out in search of them despite the impending cold wave.

Among the group, Tang Feng only needed one look at No. 11’s group for a wave of despair to wash over him.

It’s over.

Ren Ye and the Princess… Something must have happened to them!

Li Yan clenched his fists, his gaze fixed on the pitch-black valley, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

Did they… die?

Should he go check?

But there was no time. And in this situation, if he took even a single step outside, it would immediately confirm that he was No. 5’s ally.

The four would undoubtedly attack without hesitation, killing him on the spot. Even if Tang Feng stepped in to help, it would still be a 2v4—or worse, a 2v6—situation.

Because Imperial Inspector Liu and the Horsekeeper, as bystanders, would be fools to intervene on the weaker side. The smartest move for them would be to continue watching from the sidelines.

What to do?

Li Yan clenched so hard his entire body tensed.

Beside him, Imperial Inspector Liu scanned the group, feeling a wave of despair himself.

“Shit, is this No. 5 Li Yan’s fate? He dies just after I confirm his identity? My mom was right—I’ve been cursed with bad luck since birth… If I step in now, I must be out of my mind. Forget it, I’ll just get in my coffin and sleep.”

…

In the valley.

Ren Ye, dressed in a fur robe, stood trembling in the snow, frost covering his entire body. He looked down at the neatly arranged five wooden planks, still contemplating how to cross the ten-meter-wide gorge.

The temperature was plummeting fast, but he kept reminding himself:

“Don’t panic. There’s always a way… stay calm. I will find a way across this gorge!”

Swish!

His attention was razor-sharp, completely unaware that while his fur robe had barely shielded him from the earlier wind and snow, it was now somehow withstanding the extreme cold…