Chapter 88: The Hot-Blooded Little Guy

“Love… my love!”

“I’m here!”

Just as Xu Qingzhao closed her eyes, she heard urgent calls coming from the hillside above.

At first, she thought it was a hallucination caused by her impending death, but the voice grew clearer and clearer.

Xu Qingzhao slowly opened her eyes and saw the bright moon hanging high, the white mountains and snow glowing with a crystalline light, and a man in a fur cloak clumsily crawling on five layers of frozen redwood planks, sliding towards her.

It was that little guy… he… he was still alive?!

Is he a cat?

“My love, I’m here… here, here…”

Ren Ye shouted loudly, his voice echoing in the valley, trying to get her attention.

For some reason, at this life-and-death moment, Xu Qingzhao’s mind inexplicably recalled the story of Anping and Li Mu…

That year, when Li Mu received Anping’s letter in Sichuan, was he as eager as this man on his way to the capital?

But soon, this thought was violently shattered.

Because the little man crawling on the wooden planks suddenly shot past her like an arrow from a bow, heading straight for the cliff.

?!

Xu Qingzhao, whose eyes were blinded by the wind and snow, was filled with questions.

“Holy shit, holy shit, shit… turn, turn turn! Ah too much, too much… I’m done for!”

The echo drifted through the valley, and with a thud, Ren Ye shielded his head with his hands, curled his body, and crashed heavily into the cliff.

“Whoosh!”

The five coffin boards that Ren Ye had been dragging flew in all directions after the collision.

He himself was sent flying three or four meters away, rolling in the snow before finally coming to a stop.

Xu Qingzhao’s body was stiff, and though it was difficult to turn, her remaining consciousness could guess what had happened behind her.

He wasn’t Li Mu.

He was… really foolish.

“Step, step!”

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed in the snow, a cold chill creeping up her back.

“Shush!”

Immediately after, a soft fur cloak was tightly wrapped around her frozen body, including her head and neck.

A warm current, following the intense cold, slowly spread throughout her body. But Xu Qingzhao’s consciousness didn’t clear up. Instead, it grew heavier, as though she could fall asleep at any moment.

Behind her, after wrapping Xu Qingzhao in the cloak, Ren Ye exposed himself to the extreme cold.

He braced against the cold wind blowing down from the mountaintop, bending down to hug Xu Qingzhao’s exposed feet and ankles, shouting, “You mustn’t exert yourself! Your body is frozen, you’ve lost heat, and even trying to resist could cause your heart to stop. Don’t move, just relax, and once you warm up, try to curl your body…”

Inside the cloak, Xu Qingzhao, in a half-sleep, half-wake state, could hear the little guy constantly calling her “my love” and speaking words she couldn’t understand.

Outside, Ren Ye supported Xu Qingzhao’s body with his shoulder, slowly lowering her to the ground.

Due to the cloak’s limited size, Xu Qingzhao stood with it draped over her, but she couldn’t cover her head and neck while protecting her feet and ankles. So Ren Ye first lay her down, allowing her body to come into maximum contact with the warm layers.

After placing Xu Qingzhao down, Ren Ye carefully wrapped his body around hers.

However, the touch of her stiff body was too rigid—she was completely frozen.

What should I do?!

At this rate, she won’t survive, and I’ll die too.

After the hour of the Pig (9-11 PM), the temperature outside dropped to the extreme. If a person stood there for too long, their skin would start to sting, their senses would dull, and their consciousness would gradually fade…

Thinking briefly, Ren Ye quickly removed his not-so-thick clothes, exposing his chest and kneeling on the ground.

At the same time, he opened the cloak, seeing Xu Qingzhao’s lips turning purple, her face covered in melted snow, her body shaking as if electrocuted.

I don’t care. If we’re both going to survive, I need to make sure she gets through this first, or I’ll be done for too.

The sound of rustling filled the air as Ren Ye reached out and carefully undid Xu Qingzhao’s now-softened clothes, slowly pulling them off.

Under the moonlight, two bodies lay together, their skin pressed tightly together.

Though they had never been husband and wife in reality, in this moment, they performed the actions of one.

Sharing life and death, depending on each other, sleeping in one another’s arms—this was what it was…

After protecting Xu Qingzhao, Ren Ye bit hard on his fingers, causing blood to flow.

Drip… drip… the blood fell onto the cloak, making the surface glow faintly, and the warmth grew slightly stronger but quickly faded.

Ren Ye paused for a moment, his back exposed to the elements, bearing the pain as he leaned over Xu Qingzhao’s body, lightly rubbing her neck and armpits with his bloodied fingers…

At the same time, he kissed Xu Qingzhao’s lips, gently pushing past the icy shards on her lips and slowly blowing air into her mouth.

Heaven and earth can bear witness!

The high heavens can see!

Amitabha Buddha, the Three Pure Ones above!

Ren Ye swore, his only purpose was to save her!

I’m an anti-fraud agent, I’ve learned how to survive in extreme environments.

When a person experiences hypothermia, this is really what you have to do—rub their neck and armpits with your warm blood to help warm them; perform mouth-to-mouth to provide oxygen.

This was a great rescue in an impossible situation…

However, doctors often can’t treat themselves.

Ren Ye could only protect half of his body with the cloak, while his back was exposed to the cold, and was gradually losing feeling.

“… Smack!”

Just as Ren Ye was about to lose his strength, Xu Qingzhao’s hands twitched, and her eyes slowly opened.

She was no fool and could naturally sense what Ren Ye was doing…

As her brain regained consciousness, panic, shame, the joy of surviving, and many other emotions flooded her mind.

However, this time, she didn’t slap him angrily. Instead, she tried to lift her arms, pulling at the corners of the cloak, silently covering Ren Ye’s back.

After a while, Ren Ye felt warmth on his back and moved his lips away, whispering, “My feet… my feet are about to freeze, and my head feels like it’s splitting. This cloak is too small, it can’t protect both my head and feet.”

“This material… although it has… some elasticity…,” Xu Qingzhao, at the bottom of the robe, had recovered most of her strength: “But… but after one night, I won’t last much longer…!”

Ren Ye also lowered his head as much as he could, burying his face in the her chest, hoping to keep his skull from freezing off.

The two embraced, adjusting their positions constantly. Any part of their bodies that started to lose feeling was quickly covered with the cloak, allowing them to rest for a while.

But this wasn’t a long-term solution. As their bodies remained partially uncovered, death was inevitable.

What should I do?

After thinking for a long time, Ren Ye suddenly spoke: “My… my love, we need to make a final push. If we keep going like this, we’ll certainly die.”

“You… how do you plan to do that?” Xu Qingzhao’s tone wasn’t as cold as before.

“I don’t know what awaits us once we reach the bottom, which is why I brought these five coffin planks too,” Ren whispered.

“Do you think it’s possible to assemble the five planks and place the missing side down on the ground?” Xu Qingzhao asked softly.

“Impossible. The rules are strict; the snow-avoiding coffin must be six complete sides to be effective,” Ren shook his head. “But I’ve been thinking about this robe…”

Upon hearing this, Xu Qingzhao’s eyes lit up, no longer in despair: “After the hour of the Pig (9-11 PM), from the starting point to here, I was close to death after about half an hour of travel, but after being wrapped in the cloak, I’ve regained most of my strength.”

A light went off in Ren Ye’s mind.

He froze for a moment, then suddenly shouted, “A blind spot in thinking, a blind spot! My love, you’re truly brilliant!”

…

The next morning, the sun rose, and the extreme cold began to fade, slowly restoring the daytime temperature.

[The sun rises in the East; the cold wave recedes. Players may now leave their coffins.]

The cold, robotic voice of the Star Gate echoed in the ears of all the players.

Tang Feng, who had not slept all night, immediately pushed open his coffin lid, turned his head to look around, and froze in place.

“Bang!”

Shortly after, Li Yan pushed open the coffin lid and sat up, scanning both sides frantically.

The two had stayed in their coffins all night without sleep, but Li Yan was far more anxious than Tang Feng because, as a member of the Court Faction, he had no idea whether anything had happened to Prince Huai’s side.

Tang Feng was also anxious, but he still had one thought. If Ren Ye died, Prince Huai’s faction would directly lose, but throughout the night, he had not received any alerts from the Star Gate.

That was his sole hope.

“Creeeak!”

Next, the Imperial Inspector Liu’s coffin lid was pushed open, and he stretched lazily. “Heh, this Star Gate is quite considerate. The coffin can only be opened from the inside. I slept so comfortably last night… It’s a pity for No. 2 and No. 5, sigh…”

Just as he finished speaking, Imperial Inspector Liu froze.

He saw a man, whose face was purple-red from frostbite, skin cracked, wearing a robe covered in frost. In his right hand, he held a coffin lid, scanning the players as he stood over them.

Next to him was a woman with an ordinary appearance after disguising herself, also holding a coffin lid, her body enveloped in a flesh-colored fur robe. Her hair had turned to icicles, and her calm eyes were scanning the eight coffins.

The man and woman, like they came from the ancient frozen plains, emitted a chilling and barbaric aura.

“Creeeak… Creeeak…”

Soon, the second-to-last coffin slowly opened.

No. 11 looked at the blue sky and the hot sun, and yawned. “This sunlight is pretty strong…”

Just as he spoke, two purple-red, ghostly faces appeared above him.

No. 11’s pupils contracted as he slowly recognized these two “ghosts.”

Not far away, Imperial Inspector Liu, Tang Feng, and Li Yan all stood with their mouths agape, staring at the man and woman. The pair first split to the left and right, standing on top of No. 11’s coffin, and then in perfect unison, they lifted their coffin lids.

“Damn!”

That was the last exclamation of No. 11’s life.

“Swish!”

The two faces were flanked by two coffin lids raised high.

Without a word, without a change of expression, the man and woman’s stiff movements, like pounding garlic, drove the coffin lids directly down toward No. 11’s head.

“Bang!!!”

A muffled thud rang out. No. 11’s head, which had been about to lift, instantly snapped back.

The frozen coffin lid struck his eyes with full force. In that instant, both of his eyes were crushed, and blood spurted out, reaching half a meter high.

“Poof!”

The second coffin lid followed, and like a guillotine, slammed into No. 11’s nose and teeth, breaking them apart.

He had already lost consciousness, slipping into shock…

“Swish, swish!”

The two lids were lifted once again.

“Poof!”

“Poof!”

Like a guillotine, they fell once more.

No. 11 woke from the pain, screaming and struggling wildly.

“Bang!”

The man holding the lid kicked No. 11 away from the coffin, then walked up to his legs.

The woman followed closely behind, standing next to him.

They watched as No. 11 twisted in agony, then in perfect synchronization, they raised their lids again, aiming at his knees, and slammed them down.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

“Crack, crack…”

The sound of bones snapping rang out relentlessly.

The man and woman circled the coffin, as though they were the black-and-white messengers of Yama, cold and heartless.

They struck from his head down to his feet, and then back up again. Relentlessly. Without screams. Without expressions.

They just smashed, and kept on smashing…

Imperial Inspector Liu only took a quick glance at No. 11’s coffin before lying back down in his own, pulling the lid over like an ostrich. “That’s too savage. I’m a professional… but I wouldn’t go that far.”

Who knows how these two survived the night…

Death was not an option.

I must crush you!