# Chapter 258: Finding Life in Desperate Straits
Xia Qingyue touched her cheek and felt a cold trail of tears.
She stood there in a daze, as if she couldn't believe she was actually crying.
Tears were something far too unfamiliar to her. After crying fiercely at the age of four, she had never shed a single tear since. The Ice Heart Art of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace allowed her to calm her emotions under any circumstances—no joy, no sorrow, no grief, no anger. Under the Ice Cloud Art, her heart had always remained cold and ethereal, with almost nothing able to stir her inner turmoil... except when facing Yun Che.
...Only when facing Yun Che.
Even she herself didn't know why.
But now, touching the tear stains on her cheek, she finally began to understand why...
Her jade-white hand slowly lowered, gently resting on Yun Che's face. Her vision blurred with tears, and through that blur, she no longer saw a completely rigid face, but a succession of expressions—sometimes resolute, sometimes indifferent, sometimes frowning, sometimes leering with a cheap smile...
In her world, Yun Che was a very special existence. Not just because of their marital bond, but because he was different from every other man she had ever met. Those men who faced her either dared not meet her gaze out of fear, or tried their utmost to put on the airs of a gentleman, yet could not hide the scorching light in their eyes that she found disgusting. Only Yun Che... before her, he had no cover, no pretense. Even in his most down-and-out moments, he showed no trace of inferiority in her presence. Sometimes he was unfathomably mysterious, making her want to know every detail of a man for the first time; sometimes he was so calm it surprised her; sometimes he spoke and acted without restraint like a child; sometimes he was like a rogue... And every one of his faces, she could firmly remember, then recall again and again without meaning to...
But she was destined to be someone who must pursue the pinnacle of the Xuan path. To reach that height, she was willing to sacrifice everything, and naturally she repelled this image that had imprinted itself into her heart without her noticing...
Only, not everything in this world could be controlled by willpower.
After the first tear fell, her tears flowed like a stream breaking through its dam, streaming down uncontrollably, soon wetting her entire face.
"Yun Che... there's no need to wait for a next life... actually, on the Sword Discussion Platform, the moment you defeated me, you had already conquered me..."
"No matter how much I calm my heart... I can never truly seal away my emotions completely. My constant coldness has merely been my selfish escape..."
"You once overexerted yourself to open all my profound passes, nearly leaving yourself with permanent damage. If not for you, there would be no Xia Qingyue of today. On the Sword Discussion Platform, you fought so desperately just to prove you were worthy of being my husband, yet you would rather worsen your own exhaustion and internal injuries by shifting your attack direction than bear to harm me. And now, to protect me, you've exhausted all your strength and life... You're clearly so clever, yet you truly believed that doing all this for a woman... what woman wouldn't be conquered by you?"
Xia Qingyue slowly stood up, placed her hands on her chest, closed her eyes, and said softly: "Yun Che, you are the man I, Xia Qingyue, married. How can you fall here like this? A husband is the pillar of a wife, yet I have never once fulfilled my duty as a wife..."
"At least this once, I want you to know... I, Xia Qingyue... am willing to be your wife."
A pale blue light slowly emerged around Xia Qingyue's body, gradually growing denser, illuminating this freezing space with an almost dreamlike radiance. These blue lights persisted for a long time, then, guided by Xia Qingyue, gathered entirely into her hands, causing both her jade-like hands to concentrate a nearly blinding icy-blue glow.
Xia Qingyue gently bent down and placed her hands over his chest. Her gaze was hazy as she silently watched the blue light on her hands flow like water into Yun Che's chest, little by little seeping into his body... Soon, a faint blue halo floated on the surface of his body.
The light dimmed, and a weak, gentle glow reflected off Xia Qingyue's serene cheeks. She softly closed her eyes. At that moment, she was beautiful to an indescribable extreme...
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Yun Che had already fallen into the abyss of death. At the moment his consciousness completely dissipated, he thought he would never wake again.
But beneath the abyss of death, he suddenly began to feel the existence of his body. The cold sensation on his skin grew clearer and clearer, and it was no longer as unbearably frigid as before...
Had he come to a freezing hell?
...He had killed so many people in life. After death, he was bound to descend into hell...
A piercing pain came faintly from his chest, and Yun Che's consciousness grew clearer. Slowly, he opened his eyes, barely catching a glimpse of a weak blue light.
"You're finally awake. Hmph! Even dying like this didn't kill you—your life is tenacious indeed."
Mo Li's voice reached his ears. Though it sounded huffy, it still couldn't hide the joy and relief within.
"I... didn't die?" Yun Che forced his eyes open, whispering in disbelief. His internal organs ached, but not with a shattering pain. The air was cold, but no longer bone-piercing. On the contrary, his skin even felt a faint warmth. His five senses had returned to normal, his body and limbs had regained feeling, and his previously depleted body had a slight sense of strength.
"You should indeed be dead. But this woman gave you all her profound power, sealing your internal injuries and blocking the cold here, so you've temporarily come back to life. However, this place is inside that Overlord Xuan beast. There's no way out. So the two of you will still die—just in reverse order. She will die before you."
It was... Qingyue?
Gave me all her profound power?
Yun Che's heart jolted. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself upright. Under the weak blue light, he saw Xia Qingyue quietly lying on his body, her snow-white face extremely peaceful and calm, showing no joy or sorrow, yet with a faint, almost imperceptible trace of satisfaction he couldn't understand.
"Qingyue! Qing—"
Yun Che's hand touched Xia Qingyue's hand, then he pulled back like lightning, his face panicked. Due to cultivating the Ice Cloud Art, Xia Qingyue's body was naturally cool, but never cold—it was a comfortable coolness. But now, her body was as cold as profound ice.
"She used all her profound power to soothe your internal injuries, resist the cold, and restore your vitality. Without profound power to protect herself, she simply can't withstand the cold here. If her body hadn't been accustomed to the cold over the years, she would have frozen to death before you even woke up. But now, she's barely clinging to life... This is an ice-attribute Overlord Xuan beast—the cold within its body is far beyond what you two can endure!" Mo Li said with a deep frown and cold words.
"Qing... yue..." Yun Che struggled to sit upright, his hand slowly touching Xia Qingyue's cheek... His movements were very, very gentle, because the current Xia Qingyue was like an ice beauty that would shatter at the slightest touch, making his heart ache to the point of suffocation.
She had always been cold to him, yet she was willing to follow and protect him silently when his injuries hadn't healed, appearing to take him away when danger struck... and now, to save him, she was freezing her own life away.
He couldn't understand her constant coldness and indifference, but at this moment, he clearly saw the moonlike soul beneath her cool exterior.
"Qingyue! Wake up... Qingyue, wake up!"
Gently shaking Xia Qingyue's upper body, Yun Che called out urgently. Then, thinking of something, he hastily pulled a large pile of clothes from the Heavenly Poison Pearl and covered Xia Qingyue with them all, until he had taken out every piece of clothing he had... In the end, even Mo Li's pink blanket was taken out and wrapped tightly around Xia Qingyue.
But the temperature here was too terrifyingly low. The cold seeped into Xia Qingyue's body like a nightmare, draining her already dwindling life force.
"No... I have to get out. Staying here means certain death... I have to get out!" Yun Che gritted his teeth. He tried to stand, but a sharp pain shot through his chest and back, and his stiff limbs refused to obey him, causing him to fall heavily back down. Just as he was about to struggle again, he suddenly noticed that in this pitch-black space, not only was there the blue light on his body, but also a trace of green light.
Yun Che quickly raised his left hand and saw that the Heavenly Poison Pearl was glowing with a faint green light.
This was the detection light of the Heavenly Poison Pearl, and the green light was quite dense, proving that whatever it detected was very close to his position—perhaps only a few steps away!
"Could there be some treasure hidden in here?" Yun Che said unconsciously.
Mo Li materialized, glanced at Xia Qingyue, then at the light of the Heavenly Poison Pearl, and said coldly: "This ice profound beast can swallow half a mountain in one bite. It's not at all surprising that it has swallowed heavenly materials and earthly treasures into its stomach."
Yun Che took a deep breath, then suddenly pointed ahead: "Mo Li, help me go over there and see what the Heavenly Poison Pearl has found... The light this time is very strange—not only is it intense, but it's flashing at a high frequency. Maybe it's something unusual."
"On the verge of death, and you still care about some strange treasure?" Mo Li's small brow furrowed tightly, somewhat angrily.
"I don't care about some strange treasure... but about any possible hope!" Yun Che panted heavily. "I have nothing on me that could possibly get Qingyue and me out of danger... The only thing that could save us now is something with teleportation properties... What if... what if it's a treasure with space attributes!?"
"Naive! Do you really believe there would be such a coincidence in this world?" Mo Li muttered, but still walked in the direction Yun Che pointed. Her petite, crimson figure soon disappeared into the darkness... After a short while, an "ah" sound came from ahead.
Yun Che's spirits lifted. For Mo Li to make an exclamation of surprise, it must indeed be something extraordinary. He asked eagerly: "What did you find? Could it be a space-type treasure?"
Mo Li's voice carried an unusual emotion: "Your life is so tenacious it makes me jealous! It's not the space-type treasure you wanted, but it can still keep you from dying... No wonder an ice-attribute Overlord Xuan beast appeared here—it had actually swallowed 'it' into its stomach! It has been absorbing the power radiating from it for years... Yun Che! Catch it, then swallow it immediately!"
Amid Mo Li's half-excited, half-serious voice, a deep blue speck of light flew from the darkness and landed in Yun Che's palm.
...