# 1689
Chapter 1682: Jialan's Request
Who was it?
Jialan, wrapped in a Han robe, was held in that person's arms. Frozen almost stiff, she could only make out half of that face.
It appeared to be a young man. Even just half his features couldn't hide his handsome looks, dressed in an elegant manner. The jade token hanging from his waist bore the words "Bureau of Evil Suppression," and he didn't seem to be an ordinary person.
Most critically, he actually knew her name?
After leaving the Jade Pool, she had rarely spoken her name among mortals. The only person recently who knew her name was the old woman who had tricked her into the Willow Green Lane.
So that's how it is... Chen the Skinflint sent someone to capture her?
Thinking this, Jialan bit her lip. Her weak hands tried desperately to break free from Lin Qiye's embrace, but no matter how hard she struggled, those arms remained immovable as bedrock.
As if sensing her movements, that gentle voice rang out once more:
"Don't be afraid. I'm here to save you."
For some reason, this voice seemed to possess a certain magic, soothing the unease in her heart. Her hands that were resisting stopped.
"Who did this to you?" The voice asked again.
"You... who are you?"
"My name is Lin Qiye."
"I don't know you."
"You will."
"Put me down."
"You're in very poor physical condition. If I put you down, you'll die."
"I don't need you to worry about that. Put me down!"
"Tell me who did this to you, and I'll put you down."
"You... why are you asking these questions? Knowing won't help."
"How do you know it won't help if you don't tell me?"
Seeing that Lin Qiye was unmoved by anything she said, embarrassment and anger rose in Jialan's heart. Watching the wall of Qingshan County grow closer, she anxiously opened her mouth wide and bit down on the palm.
"Ah!"
"What's wrong?"
"Your hand is so hard! I chipped a tooth!"
"..."
"We're running out of time! Put me down! They're coming!!" Jialan, enduring the toothache, tried to pry open Lin Qiye's palm with her hands, but no matter how hard she tried, it had no effect.
"Who?"
"The monsters that want to kill me!"
Lin Qiye's eyes narrowed slightly. In his mind, the paintings on the coffin in Fengdu suddenly surfaced.
If his deduction was correct, the paintings on that coffin depicted Jialan's fate in this era. What left the deepest impression were those countless bizarre creatures that came like an endless tide.
Due to the limited size of the paintings and the difficulty of the craftwork, the appearance of those monsters was almost impossible to distinguish. But there was no doubt they all seemed to be coming for Jialan.
"Put me down! I can't enter the city! Otherwise they'll harm the other citizens inside!" Jialan grew increasingly urgent.
Lin Qiye stopped in his tracks.
"How long until they arrive?"
"At most half an incense stick's time... Put me down and leave quickly. You can't handle them!"
"Half an incense stick... There's not enough time to go back."
Lin Qiye glanced at distant Qingshan County, then turned and carried Jialan, walking into the snow and ice.
When he stood atop a small hill, he carefully set Jialan down. That winter-green Han robe was wrapped around her, making her look like a tightly packed zongzi, with only a dirty face exposed, staring at Lin Qiye.
"You... let me out!" Jialan tried to break free from the Han robe, but Lin Qiye had used some technique on it. It was as if it had merged into one piece—she couldn't break free at all.
Jialan rolled twice on the ground wrapped in the Han robe. Just as she was about to roll off the hill, Lin Qiye grabbed her back to his side with one hand.
He looked at that dirty, stubborn face and couldn't help but let a smile curl his lips.
"What are you laughing at!" Jialan snapped angrily.
"I wasn't laughing." Lin Qiye's smile grew even more radiant.
"You were laughing! Do you even know who I am? If you dare do anything to me, you're dead!"
"Oh? Who are you?"
"I'm actually..." Jialan started to say, but then realized something and swallowed the second half of her sentence. "You don't need to know!"
"Yes, yes."
Listening to Lin Qiye's extremely perfunctory tone, Jialan felt even more embarrassed and angry. Just then, a thunderous sound came from the horizon. Lin Qiye's expression shifted slightly as he turned to look above the clouds.
"Thank you for the clothes and umbrella. Leave quickly! If you don't go now, you really won't make it!" Jialan's expression also turned grim. She urged him to leave.
Lin Qiye gazed at the clouds overhead without speaking. His hand rested on the broken sword at his waist. His green robe billowed dramatically in the snow and wind.
"What are you going to do?" Seeing Lin Qiye's posture, Jialan frowned and asked.
Lin Qiye's eyes narrowed slightly. With one hand gripping Ame-no-Murakumo, threads of karma extended invisibly in all directions.
"I'd like to see who dares harm you... with me here."
Jialan stared at that green-robed figure, frozen in place.
Weng-—!!!
A low humming sound flew out from the clouds. Endless waves of pink rushed madly toward the hill where the two stood!
"Migo?" Lin Qiye saw those familiar monsters and raised an eyebrow slightly. "In this era, it shouldn't be An Qingyu... It's the 【Key to the Gate】?"
In this era, the Cthulhu Faction gods hadn't yet descended, so Migo, as a race that pursued truth, shouldn't exist either. However, they possessed the ability to travel freely through time and space. They must have come from another time to hunt Jialan.
An Qingyu's era was over two thousand years later. He couldn't possibly send Migo across such an immense span of time. Therefore, these Migo could only have come from the 【Key to the Gate】.
"There are even more this time than last..." Jialan saw the sky-covering pink figures and her expression turned ugly. Her gaze fell on Lin Qiye, wavering between emotions.
"Hey! You're Lin Qiye, right?"
"What is it?"
"Can you do me a favor?"
"Go ahead."
"I don't have much time left... There's a cauldron in my embrace. Take it, and four days from now, deliver it to Kunlun Mountain for me." Jialan hooked her feet into the snow, managing to stand up on the icy ground wrapped in the Han robe, looking like a green spring roll.
"Cauldron?"
Lin Qiye raised an eyebrow and set Ame-no-Murakumo aside temporarily. He walked to Jialan and pulled out a white cauldron from her embrace.
He turned the cauldron over. On its base, three large characters were clearly visible:
—【Pill of Immortality】.
"This is something very important. It concerns the fate of all beings in the world!" Jialan swayed as she stood in the freezing gale. Her face was pale as paper. "I had wanted to try again, to see if I could survive their wave of pursuit... Given this number, it seems there's no hope.
You held an umbrella for me, draped clothes over me, wanted to bring me into the city—you must not be a bad person. Perhaps your presence here is the only chance for survival that fate has given me.
Take the cauldron and go! I'll hold them off for you!"