Chapter 48

#I never understood what it meant to feel warmth, or why people loved…

It felt like another dream.

But unlike any dream I’ve ever had in this life, this one had warmth.

Cold and cool, yet not uncomfortable—like the temperature of Xie Zhuo’s palm, perfectly refreshing.

Everything I could see was chaos, but it wasn’t the same kind of chaos as when I was controlled by demonic energy.

In this chaos, that shapeshifter no longer appeared. There was only a voice, faint and lingering beside my ear.

He said: “Someone once told me to love my life, to love this world, but I never understood how to love, or why…”

“Not long ago, I finally understood…”

That cool, refreshing sensation wandered through my body, as if it brushed against every vein and inch of skin.

“This is joy and love.”

His words landed on the tip of my heart, burning me painfully against that coldness.

My heart clenched. Almost instinctively, I reached out, trying to grasp the person speaking.

And just as I summoned all my strength to break free from the force that bound me like a bandage, the moment I finally extended my fingertips—

The chaos faded, and blinding light poured into my eyes.

My hand hung in the air.

“Xie Zhuo…”

Before me, there was no one. Only a breeze brushed past my fingertips, carrying a golden leaf that gently slipped through the spaces between them.

A… fallen leaf?

I sat up and looked around, feeling utterly lost for a moment.

Where… am I?

I was still in the forest, but it looked completely different from before I lost consciousness. The snowy woods now seemed tinged with flame. Everywhere I looked were orange-red, autumnal leaves fluttering down, covering the forest in a whirl of color.

The rustling of the leaves made the surroundings feel even more deserted.

“Xie… Xie Zhuo?”

I called his name as I tried to stand.

I thought it would be difficult—but strangely enough, the rot and ruin I had felt in my body before had completely vanished, as if by magic.

In fact, I felt lighter than I ever had before, even at my healthiest.

I looked down. Beneath my feet was a now-dimmed formation, and instead of the ice lake from before, there was solid earth.

So strange…

Why am I fine? Why am I here? Where exactly is “here”? Is it still five hundred years ago? Or have I returned five hundred years later? Or have I arrived at some other strange point in time?

“Xie Zhuo?!”

I called out his name loudly in the woods, but aside from the rustling leaves, there was no reply.

Where did he go?

Suddenly, a sharp pain jabbed my head, and a blurry, chaotic image flashed before my eyes.

In that vision, Xie Zhuo knelt beside me. Dark energy surged around him, and his eyes had turned completely black. He reached into the formation beneath him and drew out a blade of pure white—

Then, without hesitation—

He stabbed the blade straight into his own heart!

I snapped back to reality.

The image in my mind vanished, but I stood frozen in place.

What… did I just see?

A hallucination? Or something that truly happened…

I looked down at the ground again. In that vision, this very place had still been an ice lake, yet the formation drawn on the ice and the one beneath my feet now—they were exactly the same…

I reached down to touch the formation.

It wiped away easily, like it wasn’t even a real formation—just a childish scribble drawn with a stick.

But the unease in my heart grew heavier and heavier.

“Xie Zhuo!” I turned and looked around, calling his name again, then started walking. I began searching the autumn woods for him.

But he was nowhere to be found.

I searched every corner of the forest. At first I ran, then I used spiritual power to ride the wind, flying through the forest ablaze with red leaves like flames. I screamed until my voice went hoarse—but I found nothing.

At last, I reached the forest’s edge.

And it was only then that I confirmed—this forest was indeed the snowy forest Xie Zhuo had brought me to.

In the distance, the towering inner walls of Undying City stood as proof—this was a land under restriction.

But this place… was no longer the same as when we arrived.

Its pristine serenity was gone. Now it felt like just any ordinary woodland.

And Undying City in the distance… had changed too.

The sinister demonic aura that had once constantly coiled above the city—was gone.

I paused in thought. Maybe Xie Zhuo had gone toward the city. Maybe he needed to retrieve something there. Maybe, like always, he had left silently, hiding things from me as he did for the past five hundred years, only to return with his usual quiet and mystery.

Only now I knew—he left because he had to slay the demonic forces.

He must be fighting in Undying City.

Riding the wind, I flew at full speed. With my magic restored, the distance between the forest and the city vanished in a blink. I didn’t even use the city gates—just soared straight over the city’s inner walls.

These inner walls…

Were far more worn and broken than when I last saw them. As if they had endured the passage of even more time.

I flew into Undying City and hovered high in the sky, searching for any sign of demonic energy. I thought if Xie Zhuo was still here, he would only be where the demons gathered. But as my gaze swept across the city, I saw no sign of battle.

The crumbling ruins remained, but…

The city felt even stranger.

I saw many people—emerging from the broken ruins and running toward the outer walls.

There was no longer any fear or suspicion. They ran desperately, staggering yet unrelenting, racing for the outer walls. Even if they bumped into each other, even if they nearly collided, none of them spared a glance at the other—they all just pushed forward.

I descended a little and finally heard their voices through the wind.

“The demons are gone!”

“The snow barrier outside Undying City has shattered!”

“We can leave!”

“Undying City is alive again!”

Amid the shouts, some were crying, some were screaming, some were trembling—but all moved forward.

Just like their cries said, the lifeless city I’d seen before was now full of vitality. Everyone rushed out, desperate to return to the world outside.

But… the demonic forces…

How could they have vanished into thin air?

A sudden throb at my temple—and another image flashed in my mind.

I saw Xie Zhuo, shrouded in black aura, both hands clutching the ice blade that pierced his chest.

His face was resolute, without the slightest hesitation.

“With my body, I accept you—and with my body, I bury you.”

As his words fell, the black aura poured inward. Every last trace of demonic energy in the air surged into his body—and then, with a thunderous boom—

The vision vanished again.

And this time, a chill crept over me. My hands, feet, spine—everything was growing cold.

I realized that those blurry images in my mind might be what I feared they were—but I didn’t want to believe it.

My emotions were unstable, and I couldn’t maintain my spiritual power. I had no choice but to hurriedly land on the ground. I saw cultivators rushing past me one after another, each face filled with yearning to escape.

To many people, perhaps a great calamity had finally come to an end.

I staggered to my feet and looked at them, then began walking in the opposite direction, heading deeper into Undying City.

Maybe it was all just a dream. Maybe I was just caught in a nightmare. Maybe Xie Zhuo was still around. He was so powerful—able to wield the Pangu Axe with a demon’s body, capable of slicing through time and space over and over, able to use a barrier to block all the immortals of Kunlun. He was so strong… how could he…

How could he choose… to perish together with them?

My steps faltered, and I fell to my knees.

A cultivator rushed past and accidentally stepped on the back of my hand, which was bracing me on the ground.

The numbness in my hand lingered for a while, then pain bloomed—reminding me that everything around me was real.

Suddenly, a shadow stopped in front of me. The outline of the figure was familiar. My eyes widened slowly, and then I quickly looked up.

“Xie… Zhuo?”

The person was dressed in black and wore a wooden mask.

Behind the mask, those eyes seemed to be studying me.