Chapter 255: Woman's Heart

"Who... who are you?"

Mu Tianbei had never imagined he would one day be so terrified by a little girl that his whole body would convulse. Jasmine, currently in a half-soul state, possessed less than one ten-thousandth of her normal power and aura, yet for Mu Tianbei, it was still a nightmarish pressure. Although the figure before him was merely an indescribably beautiful little girl, he felt as if he were staring into the abyss of death, every part of his body trembling uncontrollably.

Jasmine's tender lips curved slightly, forming a cold, faint smile. "This princess has given you a chance to choose how you die. Since you refuse to choose, then this princess will choose for you... Vanish!!"

Jasmine's small hand lightly swept through the air...

A faint popping sound echoed, but before it could travel far, it was completely swallowed by the wind and snow. Amidst this tiny sound, Mu Tianbei's body instantly exploded... or more precisely, it disintegrated! It broke down into countless tiny fragments, and then these fragments continued to break down further, and further... decomposing into particles even smaller than dust, until nothing remained, not even a trace... reduced to primal nothingness.

Watching Mu Tianbei vanish before her eyes, Jasmine's face remained impassive. She clasped her hands before her chest, and with a turning motion of her palms, formed a strange profound formation. This formation spun rapidly and vanished into her chest, and Jasmine's figure also disappeared from that spot.

Having been pursued by Mu Tianbei, Xia Qingyue had believed escape was impossible and was about to forcefully activate her Ice Cloud Domain. To her astonishment, she suddenly felt Mu Tianbei's oppressive aura disappear. When she looked back, Mu Tianbei's figure was nowhere to be seen. Despite her surprise, she dared not linger, carrying Yun Che and moving further and further away at an incredible speed... Before she knew it, countless icy peaks had been left behind.

Feeling Jasmine's return, Yun Che immediately asked, "Is it done?"

"Do you honestly think he could leave my hands alive?" Jasmine retorted, annoyed.

"...What about Fen Juecheng? Did you take care of him too?"

"I only said I'd help you kill one person. I'm not in the mood to deal with any Fen Juecheng!"

"Damn it... If Fen Juecheng isn't dead, then Fen Juebi was killed for nothing! All he has to do is tell Fen Moli, and the whole world will know I killed Fen Juebi! I might as well have just personally finished off Fen Juebi earlier!"

"That's your business, what does it have to do with me?"

"..." Yun Che's face twitched. He could only take a deep breath and say helplessly, "Fine! Where's Mu Tianbei's body? Is it still around where he almost caught up to us earlier?"

"I made him completely vanish from this world. Forget a corpse, not even dust was left behind. What do you want his corpse for?"

"Damn it!" Yun Che nearly leaped off Xia Qingyue. "Mu Tianbei was the master of the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress! The master! His spatial ring must have contained a vast amount of sect treasures, and who knows, maybe even some world-shaking secrets! And you just made him vanish like that! How much better would it have been if you'd just casually cut him in half? It would have saved time and effort! You, you, you, you, you... you're definitely going to be a wasteful woman when you grow up."

Jasmine snorted coldly. "You couldn't kill him yourself, so if you want me to act, don't talk so much nonsense!"

"..." Yun Che was left speechless.

Glancing back, Yun Che could only swallow his idea of turning back to kill Fen Juecheng. In the vast snowy plain, it was impossible to discern direction. Xia Qingyue left no trace while running, and even if she had, it would have long been covered by the wind and snow, making the possibility of finding their way back virtually nonexistent.

"Now, I have sealed my profound energy. For a long time to come, my power will only be used to expel poison and cannot be released externally. Even I cannot undo this seal. If you encounter any danger again, you're on your own." Jasmine said, and she was clearly not joking. She had very seriously self-sealed her profound energy. However, this seal didn't prevent her from using profound energy; it only prevented her from releasing it outside her body.

"For a long time to come? How long is that?"

"The sealing profound formation I casually set, I don't know how long it will last. At shortest, a year; at longest, perhaps more than ten years!"

They continued moving for over an hour. After confirming that Mu Tianbei would no longer pursue them, Xia Qingyue's tension eased, and she collapsed into the snow with Yun Che.

Yun Che let out a startled "Ahya!" and instantly lunged forward, falling onto Xia Qingyue and holding her tightly.

After running at full speed for so long, Xia Qingyue's profound energy was mostly depleted. She stabilized her internal breathing, then with a gentle yet firm lift of her hand, she pushed Yun Che off her. She stood up, her breathing gradually became calm, and her face remained utterly serene, showing no joy or sorrow.

"Get up, stop pretending. I know your internal injuries haven't relapsed at all." Xia Qingyue said expressionlessly, looking at Yun Che, who she had pushed into a snowdrift.

Yun Che stood up from the snowdrift, casually patted off the snowflakes, and was about to speak when he suddenly froze... While Xia Qingyue had been fleeing at full speed with him, her veil had fallen off at some point, and now an indescribably beautiful face was presented before him at close range, so stunning it was almost suffocating. Her snowy robes fluttered, and she was bathed in the wind and snow. Such grace would likely make even the legendary Snow Maiden pale in comparison.

Seeing him remain silent for a long time, staring blankly at her face, Xia Qingyue reached up and touched her cheek, only then realizing her veil was gone. Her moon-like eyebrows twitched slightly. She turned her face to the side and asked indifferently, "Fen Juecheng and Fen Juebi wanted to kill you because of Princess Cang Yue, but why did Mu Tianbei want to kill you?"

Clearly, she had overheard Yun Che's previous conversation with Fen Juecheng and Fen Juebi. Yun Che snapped back to attention, pouted slightly, and said, "Mu Tianbei once invited me to join the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress and also mocked the Azure Wind Profound Palace. I mocked him back and injured his core disciple, so he held a grudge... It's just that simple."

Xia Qingyue said softly, "Mu Tianbei dominates the northern region, and no one dares provoke him. Such people never tolerate the slightest offense from others. I've also heard my master say that he's always been arrogant and conceited... It's best if you provoke such people less in the future."

"I never actively provoke anyone; others always provoke me. It's just that I've never learned to be polite or patient with those who provoke me," Yun Che said indifferently. He smiled as he looked at Xia Qingyue's perfect profile. "Qingyue, my dear wife, it's a good thing you were here this time, or I surely would have fallen into Mu Tianbei's hands. But since you're my wife, I won't bother with thanks... By the way, why were you nearby then? You weren't secretly following me because you saw my injuries hadn't healed and were worried about my safety, were you?"

"I merely happened to be passing by."

Xia Qingyue was clearly not good at lying; her tone and expression were unnatural as she spoke, and her gaze shifted away, avoiding Yun Che's eyes. She turned half away and said coolly, "Mu Tianbei has likely lost track of you. It's almost impossible to find you in this secret realm. Your injuries have healed, and your profound energy has recovered at least seventy percent. You're fully capable of protecting yourself here. Take care."

After speaking, Xia Qingyue's snowy robes fluttered as she prepared to leave.

"Hey, hey! Wait!" Yun Che quickly stepped forward, blocking her path. "You're not really going to leave, are you? Actually... actually, everything I said before was just to trick Fen Juecheng. My injuries aren't healed at all; they're only halfway there at best. Especially my internal injuries, they're still... *cough cough*... *cough cough cough cough*... My profound energy has only recovered about thirty percent, really... What if Fen Juecheng or Mu Tianbei finds me again, and you're not here to protect me? Then wouldn't I be... It doesn't matter if I die, but to make you a widow, how could I bear to do that..."

Xia Qingyue's beautiful eyebrow visibly twitched.

"Besides, we are proper husband and wife. As husband and wife, we should sleep together in life, be buried together in death, share blessings, and face adversity together. Right now, I'm plagued by all sorts of troubles. As my wife, shouldn't you fulfill your duty and take responsibility for protecting me... Hey, hey, don't leave..."

When Yun Che's profound veins were crippled, facing the then utterly unapproachable Xia Qingyue, he often spoke provocatively, making her both angry and helpless. Now, in terms of strength, Yun Che couldn't compare to Xia Qingyue, but if it came to a desperate fight, Xia Qingyue definitely couldn't beat Yun Che. Therefore, the two were basically evenly matched, and Yun Che naturally had even fewer reservations when speaking to Xia Qingyue.

Xia Qingyue couldn't be bothered with what he was saying. She simply walked around him and stepped lightly on the ice and snow, heading north. Yun Che stood still, asking with great resentment, "You're not... you're not really going to just leave me alone, are you?"

Xia Qingyue didn't answer. After walking a considerable distance, she suddenly stopped and said in a very soft voice, "What are you still standing there for? Aren't you going to catch up?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Yun Che immediately beamed, lightly tapped his foot, and darted to Xia Qingyue's side... not looking injured in the slightest.

The two traveled north, quickly disappearing into the wind and snow.

It was impossible for him not to be grateful for Xia Qingyue's appearance to save him. The person he had faced then was Mu Tianbei, a super powerful sect master. Xia Qingyue saving him undoubtedly carried the risk of dying alongside him at Mu Tianbei's hands. But he was also very confused... When he had met Xia Qingyue again at Heavenly Sword Villa, all he had felt from her was a sense of ordinariness—not closeness, not repulsion, not coldness, just that kind of ordinariness that made him incredibly uncomfortable.

In the few days after their marriage, he had tried hard to plant his image in Xia Qingyue's heart. However, such a long period of separation was clearly enough to make that shallow image completely dissipate from her heart. He had even come to believe that in Xia Qingyue's eyes, he was merely an ordinary presence, someone who could exist or not, bound at most by a marriage certificate. But Xia Qingyue's act of following, protecting, and saving him today confused him once more... He couldn't fathom what position he held in her heart now.

For a man, if there was one thing in this world he could never fully comprehend, it was undoubtedly a woman's heart.