Chapter 78: The Most Despicable Are Those Who Toy with Others’ Feelings

Chapter 78: The Thing I Hate Most Is People Who Toy with Others' Feelings

Shen Nian was carrying a longsword, and he looked relatively normal.

Seeing that He Ci was about to collapse, Shen Lian immediately went over to support him.

Just as he pulled He Ci's arm up, another hand suddenly reached over to take him. Shen Nian said gently, "You're not in good shape either. I've got him."

Shen Lian's lips moved slightly, but he didn't insist.

But then Shen Nian turned to He Ci with a blank face, grabbed his hand, and started dragging him across the ground.

Shen Lian's eye twitched. "No need to be that rough."

Shen Nian said flatly, "He's a sword cultivator and a body cultivator. He's not that fragile. And the ground's covered in snow. It's fine."

Shen Lian wanted to say more, but his stamina was completely spent. He'd already burned through most of his energy on the immortal ship, and now he was being hunted by the bone dragon.

They needed to figure out why spiritual energy was being suppressed here.

Shen Lian still slid a rectangular board under He Ci.

That way, it worked like a sled.

They finally found a pitch-black cave. Shen Lian tossed a treasure inside—a hundred-bird treasure used for scouting.

The wooden-looking hundred-bird circled the cave. Shen Lian followed its vision, and once he confirmed there was nothing inside, they went in.

Shen Lian then used another treasure to seal the cave's entrance.

That way, from the outside, it looked just like ordinary snow-covered ground.

Only after doing all that did Shen Lian finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He fed He Ci a few pills, and only then did He Ci slowly regain some strength. But soon, he realized his spiritual energy was being slowly drained again.

Shen Lian looked at Shen Nian. "Since you're a demon, do you know what's going on?"

Shen Nian seemed thoughtful. "Legend has it that this piece of the abandoned mending stone was actually discarded. When the goddess Nuwa was mending the heavens, she searched for five stones, all imbued with the essence of heaven and earth, gentle and pure in aura. But this one was different."

"It's both supremely good and supremely evil."

When white snow appears, it represents supreme good. When darkness falls, it represents supreme evil.

So during the day, they could move around without issue, but when night came, that's when the demons could come out.

"So we just need to hold out until sunrise."

Shen Lian thought it sounded simple. Shen Nian paused. "Here, the night lasts three hours longer than the day."

Shen Lian: "..."

He Ci groaned, "How is this possible?"

"But A Lian, what was that flame of yours? I saw even that demon run off scared."

Shen Nian looked at Shen Lian.

Shen Lian just said, "Just a treasure."

After all, that flame had come from the demon dragon. Though he didn't know why it hadn't been expelled along with the demonic energy when Yan Huaixuan had purged him of it back then.

Shen Lian hadn't sensed any demonic energy from the flame either, but to be safe, he kept it hidden.

He Ci looked a little disappointed. "A Lian, I'm not that stupid."

Shen Lian remained silent.

He Ci smiled. "So the name you gave me really was fake, huh?"

Shen Lian felt it was time to make things clear with He Ci once more. "He Ci, I'm not what you imagine me to be, and I won't return your feelings."

He Ci's face paled slightly. After a long moment, he let out a bitter laugh. "I already guessed as much, but did you really have to say it without even a moment's hesitation?"

Shen Nian's eyes shifted slightly, landing on Shen Lian's face. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

Shen Lian said expressionlessly, "Yes. Making things clear is better for everyone. If there was never any hope to begin with, don't hesitate and give others false hope."

He said slowly, "Rather than acting high and mighty—giving someone hope, then stabbing them in the back."

Shen Nian's smile froze on his lips. He stared straight at Shen Lian.

Shen Lian's eyes were filled with undisguised coldness. "In my entire life, the thing I hate most is people who toy with others' feelings."

Hearing this, He Ci nodded in agreement. "I think you're right. Those kinds of people never truly care about others. At their core, they're just cold-blooded."

Shen Lian looked at Shen Nian and suddenly smiled. "Don't you think I'm right?"

Shen Nian pursed his lips, then nodded. "Right."

Shen Lian looked away and returned to his expressionless face.

A campfire crackled to life in the cave. With the pills, it wasn't too unbearable.

But they couldn't take too many pills at once, since pills carried impurities that needed time to be flushed out of the body.

This wasn't a long-term solution.

They could only search for a way out once daytime came.

Shen Lian thought for a moment, then took a pill out of his storage ring.

He Ci leaned over curiously. "A Lian, what are you refining?"

But before he could get close, Shen Nian coldly pulled him back. "Hasn't he already rejected you? Why are you still hanging on?"

"Are you trying to play with his feelings?"

He Ci burst out laughing. "I'm not that kind of beast. Yeah, A Lian rejected me, but that doesn't mean I can't keep pursuing him. In fact, I admire him even more now—at least A Lian is upfront and honest."

Hearing this, Shen Lian was a little stunned.

But he still kept his guard up.

Shen Lian, on the other hand, had no time to pay attention to them. After about an hour, he finally had two bottles of pills in his hands.

He Ci looked over curiously. "What are those?"

Shen Lian said flatly, "These can alter the spiritual energy in our bodies, temporarily making it look like demonic energy."

This way, the Forsaken Snowfield would not drain their spiritual power.

Shen Lian popped one himself; whether anyone else took one was none of his business.

He Ci swallowed one directly. Shen Nian watched for a bit, then popped one in his mouth.

Shen Lian's gaze seemed to casually sweep across Shen Nian's face, then he coolly looked away.

He Ci said excitedly, "A Lian, after taking it, I really don't feel my spiritual energy being drained anymore."

Shen Lian grunted in acknowledgment.

Shen Nian also nodded, "A Lian, you're amazing."

But they couldn't leave just yet, as danger was lurking all around outside.

After holing up in the cave for about three hours, a sliver of daylight finally broke through outside.

The three of them immediately went out.

They saw that all the demonic beasts had burrowed down into the snow, while some, having been injured in battle, lay on the ground wailing, unable to enter the snow.

They threw their heads back and screamed in agony as the sunlight slowly dissolved their bodies into bloody water, until the snowfield swallowed them whole, leaving no trace—almost impossibly clean.

Shen Lian glanced at them briefly before looking away. "First, let's find a way out."

Meanwhile, he was still pondering what the Bone Dragon had meant by the Nine Abyss Fire.

Shen Nian suddenly spoke up, "I've heard that Jiuyou is an ancient divine beast, born with nine heads, each able to spew a different flame. However, the flame from the main head is the most formidable, capable of burning away all filth in the world."

"But Jiuyou fell in battle on the ancient battlefield, and most of its bloodline did not survive. Only one inheritor of the thinnest bloodline remains in the mortal world, though their whereabouts are unknown."