83.3

"We have been named by the Lord of the North to be executed, so be careful. The roads south will be heavily patrolled in the coming days, maybe hide out for a while then leave."

The two of them thanked her once more then left. Aji turned to Ji Ning and said, "Come with me. You can find your own way after we get out of the north."

Ji Ning nodded stiffly, as if he still did not come around to what had happened. They walked further north into the forest. She believed going up into the snowy mountains would be easier than trying to head south at the moment.

They slowly hiked through the trees and chit chatted along the way. Aji thought they would exit the forest soon, but a few hours later, there were still no signs of an end. The deeper they went, the colder it became.

The surrounding trees began to freeze, even the trunks. Ji Ning started to have trouble handling the extreme temperature.

Aji gave him her outer robe and cast a small fox fire in her palm. But as the air grew colder and colder, the fire was no longer sufficient in keeping them warm. The temperature had dropped so low that even Ji Ning's eyelashes froze.

This part of the forest was oddly much colder than everywhere else, and it made Aji ponder. Maybe it was the doing of a powerful demon, or some kind of a magic formation… Either way it was probably not a good thing for them.

Aji was about to tell Ji Ning to turn around and go back when a clearing suddenly opened up in front of them. It was not an exit, but an icy flat surrounded by a circle of white trees that had been completely frozen solid.

The flat was covered by ice spikes of different heights protruding from the ground, rough and uneven. No one in their right mind would dare to step onto them. Ji Ning hid behind Aji and asked her nervously, "Let's go back? This place looks so bizarre..."

Aji nodded and was about to turn around, but for some reason, she stood on her toes and looked inside.

"Wait," she said.

"Wait here for a moment."

She drew a circle of fox fire around Ji Ning, enclosing him and warming him. Then she stepped into the ice spikes.

"Aji..." Ji Ning called out in a whisper, not daring to raise his voice. She tiptoed one step at a time and carefully approached the center of the flat.

She soon noticed some black fabric embroidered with dark patterns vaguely visible underneath the thick icy formations. A step later, she saw some silver hair. As she moved forward some more…

Aji finally realized it was a person lying under the ice.

Who was this? Why was he lying here? Was he sealed? But she did not sense any magic aura...

It almost looked like this person had just fallen asleep here... and was then covered by ice and snow.

Was he still alive?

Aji bent down and used the fox fire to melt away some spikes. They turned into water then soon froze back into ice again. She did not intend on melting them completely, she just needed a foothold.

She sat on her knees and leaned over to examine the person. The ice between them fragmented his face and made it difficult to see him clearly, but just from the outlines, she could tell he was extremely beautiful...

And such long silver hair... was it a man or a woman...

"Aji..." Ji Ning watched her slump down and called with some concern.

"Aji... what are you looking at, let's go... Aji?"

Aji sat up and said to Ji Ning, "Wait a minute..." As she spoke, the ice underneath suddenly trembled. The vibration was not strong, but it was very apparent. She looked down and saw a pair of ice blue eyes open. Aji froze. When their eyes met, her world abruptly grew silent and still, and every beat of her heart whispered into her ear,

"Changyi… Changyi... "

Those were the first words she thought of. Like a sigh breathing out from the depth of her soul...