Aurora Town.
In a dark basement.
Qu He was bound tightly to a blood-stained chair, his body covered with countless inhumane wounds.
There were scorch marks on his nose from smoke, charred burns on his limbs from electric shocks, and numerous iron nails driven into the gaps between his fingers.
"Old man, are you going to talk or not?"
A burly man with a head of yellow hair stared coldly at Qu He, trying to extract some secret from him.
"I don't know…"
Qu He gave a bitter smile, revealing a mouth completely devoid of teeth.
"You're f***ing looking for death!"
Smack!
The yellow-haired man slapped Qu He hard across the face, nearly knocking it out of alignment.
Apparently one slap wasn't enough to vent his anger, so the man began kicking Qu He savagely in the abdomen.
Qu He, a frail old man, could not possibly withstand such pain.
In less than a minute, he passed out again.
"Damn dog."
Even after seeing Qu He lose consciousness, the yellow-haired man still wasn't satisfied. He glanced coldly at one of his subordinates.
"When he wakes up, feed him to the snow wolves."
There was not the slightest hint of emotion in the man's eyes, as if he were talking about something utterly ordinary.
"Yes, boss."
The subordinate immediately complied, then obsequiously asked,
"Boss, there's no point in capturing this old man. Those people are doomed anyway, aren't they?"
The subordinate was curious. In his eyes, Xiao Lin's group was as good as dead.
Doing this seemed like a pointless extra step.
"You know nothing. The boss once said he didn't want anyone investigating him. Everyone who knows anything has to die."
The yellow-haired man spoke as if it were only natural. Of course he understood.
He was simply making sure to minimize risk.
If the mission wasn't completed, the one who would die… would be him.
This thought flashed through his mind, and a trace of fear flickered in his eyes.
He knew well what methods their gang boss was capable of.
There was once an assassination squad that worked for them. Dissatisfied with their pay, they tried to demand an explanation from Yang Laibing.
The result: one of the squad's Soul King–level members was killed.
The death was hideous.
No one could have imagined that the Soul King's body would die in an instant of terror, his remains fused into the frozen ground.
Not buried, but physically melded with the permafrost—flesh and ice indistinguishable from each other.
Such a bizarre death was not something the yellow-haired man ever wished to experience.
Fortunately, the two subordinates he had sent out were his most capable men.
Both were already at the Soul Sect level, and their teamwork was flawless.
In the icy, snowy far north, their abilities would be brought to the fullest potential.
Under such conditions, he was certain those brats wouldn't survive.
At the same time—
The two members of the Laibing gang in the far north, the yellow-haired man's subordinates, were thinking the exact same thing.
The far north was vast.
Even with a map, it would be difficult for Xiao Lin's group of five to locate the Xuanming Serpent-Turtle for the Shi brothers.
Not to mention that along the way, other soul beasts might suddenly attack them.
They had already been traveling for about a day and a half.
Due to the region's unique environment of constant daylight, it was hard to sense the passage of time.
It was for this reason that Ye Lingling had begun to truly feel exhausted, and Xiao Lin decided to have the team rest.
At present, only Xiao Lin and Tang Ni still had some energy left.
Huff… huff…
Ye Lingling and Tang Ni leaned against each other; the Shi brothers leaned against each other as well, everyone sharing body warmth.
The cold of the far north drained stamina even faster.
Even a single exhaled breath instantly froze into water droplets in the frigid air.
If someone relieved themselves here, it might just freeze before hitting the ground.
Xiao Lin, silently observing the team's condition, frowned. This wouldn't do.
Never mind hunting soul beasts—after ten days to half a month of marching, the team would collapse from exhaustion alone.
In such an environment, the body lost heat far too quickly—and then there was the weather…
He looked up and noticed a strange black cloud forming in the sky.
In theory, black clouds should be impossible here.
Before water vapor could gather into clouds, it would freeze into snow and fall.
"Everyone be alert—possible enemies ahead."
Regardless of their fatigue, Xiao Lin warned the others with a grave expression.
The moment the group became alert, the enemies he suspected launched their ambush.
In an instant, black, oppressive rainclouds covered the glacier above them.
"Damn! They're trying to freeze us to death with rain!"
Xiao Lin reacted instantly, his eyes widening in shock.
In this place, the most dangerous thing wasn't soul beasts or hostile soul masters—it was the extreme cold and the brutal environment.
If his teammates were drenched by rain here, Xiao Lin was certain that only he would survive.
"We can't let the rain touch us!"
He shouted urgently, scanning their surroundings.
He alone could withstand both rain and extreme cold—he was the best candidate to find the enemy.
Splash!
Before he could even scout for a few seconds, a torrential downpour began.
"Xuanwu Turtle possession—First Soul Skill: Xuanwu Shield!"
Almost instantly, the Shi brothers activated their Martial Soul possession.
With the Xuanwu Turtle spirit enveloping them, their already strong bodies became as solid as granite.
With massive frames, they raised their earthy-yellow turtle shell shields above their heads, like two giants holding up the sky, perfectly shielding Tang Ni and Ye Lingling.
Drip… drip…
The rain poured down relentlessly, yet failed to harm a single member of the team.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew some rain past the shields and onto the Shi brothers' bodies, the bone-chilling cold making even them draw sharp breaths.
But even so, they stood firm, using their massive forms to block Tang Ni and Ye Lingling.
In terms of defense, their Xuanwu Turtle spirit was on par with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon—a top-tier beast spirit.
For the Shi brothers, letting those behind them get hurt would be a disgrace.
Absolute defense at their level was no empty boast.
"Heal, everyone!"
Sensing that the brothers were shielding her from the storm, Ye Lingling reacted quickly.
She instantly summoned her Nine-Heart Begonia Martial Soul, sending a white, petal-shaped glow into the Shi brothers' bodies.
Her powerful healing instantly eased their cold and even reduced their soul power consumption.
Ye Lingling did not actually have the ability to reduce soul power usage—rather, her strong healing meant the brothers didn't need to use much power to protect themselves, and their recovery rate increased slightly.
(End of chapter)