The Ice Temple in the Mountains
“Trivia: It is a temple entirely made of ice, believed to be magically constructed from the creator’s deep cultivation. Muxue Yan erected the temple in loving memory of his beloved late wife, Ao Yun. His descendants believed this temple to have consisted of about sixteen rooms, and every room in the temple served a different purpose. As only Muxue Yan knew the secret location of the temple, nobody apart from himself has set afoot on the temple, and the basis for the existence of the temple was a myth that passed down generation after generation of the Muxue clan.
Nobody knows how much cultivation Muxue Yan utilised to create the temple, or what eventually happened after he went missing thousands of years ago.”
Xiao Tian paused suddenly, tapping Dongyue on the shoulder as he attended to Xiyu who was still bleeding and was gradually losing consciousness.
“Brother, something….is wrong.”
Dongyue looked up to the sky. All of a sudden, instead of the exterior of the mountains earlier, a huge structure with countless ice blocks appeared before the travellers. As if it was an illusion, it was continuing to build itself gradually. The Ice Temple seemed to evolve and grow while Dongyue, carrying the unconscious Xiyu, treaded about the mountains, followed by their confused companions.
The men were captivated by the mystical sight before them. Earlier, they had seen the ice stairs in the mountains where Muxue Yan was chained, but not realised the stairs were part of the hidden Ice Temple. Hence, all the while, they had been in the Ice Temple, but it was sheltered from view.
Nobody knew what was behind the strange phenomenon, and Dongyue could only suspect it was linked to Muxue Yan and his sudden disappearance. If Muxue Yan created this structure, it all made sense.
They would need a place to rest, Dongyue thought. He would have to find a place for Muxue Xiyu to recuperate.
(Five hours after the chained man’s disappearance)
With a soft grunt, Xiyu opened her eyes. Her body was still stinging as if someone had poked her all over with tiny needles, and she was unable to move.
Her surroundings were unfamiliar to her. She was unclear when Dongyue had carried her away from the scene, or when she had lost consciousness. The clanging of the chains cuffing the man earlier oscillated in her mind, reminding her of what had happened. She was still at unease about how she had disappeared so suddenly. She now knew that he was Muxue Yan and the ancestor she had only heard of all her life without ever came close to understanding how he acted or looked like at all. Thus, she felt a lot of questions in her mind were left hanging.
Now that her ancestor was back, did he want to take control over the island? Or, did he want something else?
Who had locked him up, and why?
Lady Peony had never told her much about Muxue Yan, and only that she should avoid the mountains at all costs. Neither had her granduncle said much, and she now realised that he might have done so to prevent anyone from knowing the secret of the chained man.
Muxue Yan did not appear an evil person at all. With skin as smooth as a baby, a sharp nose, a distinguished appearance without any signs of malicious intent in his eyes, she believed he was on her side as her only kin now. Though she had only seen him once and their meeting had been relatively brief as it had lasted only about twenty minutes, she was amazed by how vividly his image had been embedded in her mind, leaving a deep impression of him.
Her mind was crystal-clear when she had bled to rescue him without further thought. Xiyu couldn’t explain her notion behind helping him when she was cold and emotionless, but she felt she needed to. Perhaps this was affinity and fate. She and Muxue Yan were related by blood, after all. If she, as his descendant, did not help him, then who should?
As Dongyue thought, she had leapt before she looked, and not considered the risks involved when she reached out to help. Nevertheless, he was wrong by thinking that Muxue Yan had used soul-controlling magic on her when her resistance to mind-control magic was so strong. He had misunderstood her to be in a trance. She had been too absorbed by what was happening to pay attention to how he was calling out to her.
Her body was very frail, and seeing Dongyue’s silhouette hover over her in her daze soothed her. She heard his voice, reciting a string of words that seemed like gibberish to her, and once again, she drifted back into a deep sleep.
……………………………………………………………………………..
She smiled to see Dongyue approaching her in what looked like a comfortable orchard of plum blossoms. She had never seen this flower before and guessed that she was in a dream because her surroundings were no longer covered by snow. It must be a dreamscape, she thought happily. At least, since she was dreaming, she didn’t have to be so cold with Dongyue? Or did she?
A beam of light encircled them, rejuvenating her and replenishing her body with massive energy. It was as if she had just woken up from her sleep.
“Miss Muxue,” Dongyue’s tender voice calmed her.
“Young Master Zhan, where are we?” she asked, opening her eyes. The plum blossom orchard disappeared, and they were alone in a room with a small fire lighted between them to keep them warm.
“We are… in the Ice Temple.”
The Ice Temple? She repeated in her mind. Why did the name seem so familiar? She racked her brains, before recalling one of the stories of Muxue Yan.
Was the temple an illusion, as the Muxue clan believed?
She attempted to get up but was appalled to realise he had immobilised her.
“Young Master Zhan, what happened?” she demanded. “I can’t move!”
“You need to rest, Miss Muxue. Pardon me for my insolence, but it’s all for your good.”
He sat her up, cross-legged against the ice wall of the room and faced her sullenly. Turning his palms around in a circle, he began to chant.
She couldn’t understand what he was saying, but his incantation seemed nothing like his usual spells. An indescribable warmth spread across her body and enveloped her in a shroud of heat. She opened her mouth to tell Dongyue to stop, but she was too weak to utter even a sentence.
Dongyue touched her palms with his, allowing his energy to flow into her bit by bit, until eventually, Xiyu sensed the wild surge of energy encompassing her. She found herself deeply connected to the man, and his emotions bridged into hers. She knew that he had done something beyond the scope of healing, but she couldn’t pinpoint what exactly he had done. Given her vulnerability at the moment, she could only accept his help.
“It’s all over, Miss Muxue,” he whispered. “You will be fine.”
“Young Master Zhan,” she gasped, “What have you done?”
“I healed you,” he whispered. “Don’t worry anymore, okay?”
He unlocked her pressure point to return her mobility. It was an old martial arts trick that Xiao Tian had taught him. Fortunately, she just nodded, and he backed off slightly to allow her to regain her senses.
From the corner of her eye, she saw a scroll that had fallen from her bundle containing items from the chest, and she instantly knew what it was. This scroll contained ancient magic. It was one of the things that she had taken from the trunk earlier.
Dongyue must have used the ancient magic, she comprehended. But the risks involved were just too dangerous. He could have lost his life, or even earned himself complications, which were likely to be permanent!
Were his feelings for her so profound, that he had braved such consequences to save her?
She gazed at him, wondering what could be in his mind that had allowed him such insanity!