“Xiao Tian, how did you know that Muxue Yan is the key to us leaving this place?” Dongyue asked his friend.
Xiao Tian chuckled and pointed to the book in front of him, where the title of the book was written in a not-so-ancient script, “Secrets of the Ice Temple”. Xiao Tian further revealed that the book entailed details of what the descendants believed about the Ice Temple being a creation of Muxue Yan and would differ significantly in each person’s sightings due to the affinity of that person to Muxue Yan. The similarity between each person’s account of the Ice Temple was that each survivor had met Muxue Yan and he had directed them to the temple’s exit.
It dawned upon Dongyue that if this place was created out of Muxue Yan’s thoughts and cultivation, it was strange indeed that he would keep books relating to his history and the mystery of the Ice Temple. Shouldn’t he be creating items that had sentimental value to him instead, like gifts to him from his late wife or even books that he had written?
Xiyu wondered if Muxue Yan was trying to give her hints, or if Muxue Yan was still inside the temple. What if Muxue Yan was inside the locked room in the centre? How should she make her way to him?
What was even the motive behind her reading about Muxue Yan’s youngest, which she had read in the book ‘The last of Muxue Yan’s children’? Was the infant linked to their passage within the Ice Temple, and apart from being related to her, did the infant had an affinity with her?
Or did Muxue Yan just want her to find the whereabouts of his lost child?
She didn’t know, and most likely, the answers could be only found through Muxue Yan himself.
They continued after reading the most they could get out of the books and opened the next door to step into a maze of sorts. By then, Xiyu had been fatigued as she had utilised a number of her spells to identify various magical equipment and scrolls, which they then pocketed and resumed browsing in the library. Among the equipment were a few winter cloaks, which she shared among the four of them, an ice staff which Xiao Tian wielded, and some higher-level spellbooks, which she studied and memorised.
She needed rest to replenish her energy and spells, having exhausted about sixty per cent of her magic. At this point, her limbs were too weak to walk or fight. And this way, another day had passed. She reminded herself that the countdown was now eleven days more, and hence, six days before the devastating side effects kicked in.
Xiyu woke up in Dongyue’s embrace, warm from the touch of his skin on hers. After three days of sticking to him, she no longer felt him as foreign as he was before. Maybe it was a good thing; she thought; if she could eventually accept his companionship. Between them, they had shared five fruits to survive, drank from the same camel-haired bottle, and tasted each others’ lips frequently in the last few days.
Still, the ritual would take them into a different situation with each other and possibly ruin the mutual feelings they had. She still wasn’t very optimistic that Dongyue would agree to perform the ritual with her, even though he had committed his life to hers. The ancient magic in the ritual was very dark, and she wasn’t sure if there were any lasting effects.
They made every step carefully, watching for any secret traps around that were intended to injure them fatally. Eventually, they entered another room that was separated by a big door. Though the temple only consisted of sixteen doors, they had not expected that one room had led into a larger hall containing the maze. It appeared that there was only one way to tread through the maze, but yet every step they made could be their last. There were snares embedded deep in the ice that had taken the lives of some passing unlucky travellers; which they told from the skeletons lying on the ground.
Xiyu lighted up a torch as the group faced a puzzle in front of them which Dongyue determined, through his intellect, that the arrangement of stones should open up a path, something Xiyu had problems understanding and decided to just take his word for it. After minutes of pulling the rocks up and down to create a pattern, a path opened up in front of them to allow them to proceed. They found an army of ice monsters ready to attack in front.
Was this also part of Muxue Yan’s plans? She wondered as she pulled out her ice dagger to prepare to fight. Dongyue whispered chivalrously in her ears, “Leave it to me, Xiyu. I will prove my worth.”
Her heart was beating so rapidly as she saw him elude the monsters and boost their allies in a circle around them, Xiao Tian who would be at the frontline flanked by Ya’Xing. They were two men who could fight and Dongyue braced himself for the ensuing battle. After praying and casting a myriad of defensive spells, he launched himself towards the impending troop of enemies. Xiyu silently prayed to Minami, wishing for him to stay alive and well.
Unlike a witch or wizard’s limited spell selection which relied heavily on memorisation and rest, shamanic magic was limitless. She witnessed herself how Dongyue summoned spiritual allies to aid them in their fight and used his shamanic abilities to bring about forces of destruction, calling upon powers of various elements. He crushed the approaching enemies by using fire, which they were most vulnerable against, imbuing their weapons with fire. At the same time, a war-shield emerged around him, bolstering from any probable melee damage.
As more enemies swarmed in, she panicked to see the men overwhelmed by the rampage of ice beasts, and a few minotaur-like creatures who were swinging heavy weapons, entering the scene. As the ‘minotaurs’ approached, she used what was left of her powers for the day to call upon her most lethal spell: her meteor swarm that wiped off about three-quarters of the lesser creatures. This left the ‘minotaurs’ that were highly proficient in heavy-weapon fighting; one wielded a large axe and another, a large hammer. There was no way Xiao Tian and Ya’Xing could be their match.
She crawled all she could to Dongyue; hugging him for all she was worth. Because she didn’t know if given the two’s meagre skills, they could prevail against the mighty enemies.
“Xiyu, it’s dangerous! Fall back,” he ordered. She shook her head, unsure of what was going to happen next. Her witch sense told her something terrible was about to happen.
“Dongyue, I can’t.”
“Xiyu, are you concerned about me?” he looked gratified as he made his point. Xiyu looked around, and she knew it was futile for her to deny her feelings any longer since it was a matter of life and death now. If he lost his life, the odds were that she would not be likely to survive; firstly due to the soul-bond and secondly, there was nobody to keep her safe. Even with her magic, the place was bound to have a few anti-magic zones that her magic was entirely useless in. She had heard a lot of stories of such occurrences over the region.
She nodded hesitantly. “Yes, Dongyue, you are right. I don’t want you to die. I need you.”
With that, she unleashed a series of fireballs at the ‘minotaurs’ with a delay of a few seconds, hurriedly pushing her and Dongyue out of the way before the fireballs exploded. But in that split second, one of the beasts pulled on a switch next to him, causing the icy floorboards to open and send them sprawling down into the ground beneath.
And as they fell, they heard a rambunctious sound as the fireballs exploded, vanquishing all standing in the way of her magic, in one single line. Dongyue felt his chest ache as he thought of the fates of the two men, but he knew everything was too late.
They were now on an underground level of the temple, far from their allies and not knowing if there was a way to get back to the storey above. Dongyue prayed there would be no enemies in the room with them, and fortunately, they had landed on a soft haystack which had broken their fall.
Scouring the area with his keen eyes, Dongyue noticed two vials of red potions on a shelf in the room and a few locked chests. Xiyu could unlock the chests with one of her lesser spells, but unless they found a way to heal themselves quickly, it would be risky for them to travel together without their companions. If they ran into some capable enemies, it could be the end for them.
“Xiyu, the potions are of dubious origin, but at this point, everything is a gamble. I’m willing to give it a try and take the risk. Maybe this is the only choice we have, as we don’t know what exists behind that door,” he whispered weakly to her.
“I believe you,” she whispered, holding onto him tightly. From then onwards, she understood what it meant to be dependent on someone. Trust was not something that could be built in a night. But now, she had grown to trust and believe him.
She was starting to accept the fact that maybe, they did have a fate just as he had said to her in the past.