The Price of Lies
The answer was obvious.
Entering their sight was a massive, ferocious icicle connecting the shattered dome and the dried-up spring.
It was not crystal clear; inside, there were still traces of chaotic spiritual energy flowing through.
The surface of the icicle was covered with twisted patterns, maintaining the roaring form of a frozen waterspout, like a giant ice crystal dragon sealed here.
Hundreds of solidified ice prisms of various sizes hung around, and ice shards with a broken jade texture were scattered on the ground...
All of this was truly... too familiar!
Yingshi's memory was completely awakened. The place they had fallen into from the Gate of Death was not only the Domain of the Marrow-Cleansing Spring, but also the exact same Domain of the Marrow-Cleansing Spring they had once entered at the Cliff of Repentance!
A few months ago, in the second before the domain closed and collapsed, she had even made eye contact with Shuangjian, who had opened his eyes inside the icicle!
Now, the tragic scene caused by the eruption of that power had been preserved intact!
The domain under the Cliff of Repentance and the domain under the Gate of Death were actually connected?!
And it actually allowed them to step in twice?!
Yingshi was horrified in her heart, and the most horrifying point was the timing of their entry into the domain—falling into the domain from the Gate of Death was a rare development that matched the original plot, but Shuangjian was not yet dying in the Gate of Death. The key event that truly happened before the domain opened to them was clearly Xiangxiang eating the spirit!
"Xiangxiang?!" Yingshi excitedly lifted Xiangxiang over her head. "You're not an ordinary little pig, are you?!"
Xiangxiang's two short little legs flapped a bit, obediently looking at Yingshi, its black bean-like eyes still without the slightest flash of wisdom.
Yingshi then looked at Shuangjian again.
He was staring motionless at the huge icicle, his profile showing a bit of cold focus under the faint blue glow of the ice crystals.
Perceiving her gaze, Shuangjian quickly turned his head to meet her eyes. Although his expression remained restrained, even expressionless, Yingshi could faintly feel that he seemed to be very... happy? She couldn't describe it, but even if it was happiness, it was different from a normal person's happiness, because Shuangjian was inherently an extremely complex person.
Entering the Marrow-Cleansing Spring was indeed something to be happy about, but there was no longer any spring water inside that could help strengthen the body and replenish spiritual energy. It was no longer a help to them; it could only be said that it temporarily rescued them from the dangerous environment of the Gate of Death and transferred them to another enclosed space from which they didn't know how to escape.
"Shuangjian..." Yingshi called him softly, considering whether to make an out with the old, in with the new summary of their conversation in the Gate of Death.
But Shuangjian spoke at the same time as her, and as soon as he opened his mouth, it was that classic: "Sorry..."
Their voices overlapped, and Shuangjian paused first, waiting for her to finish speaking.
Yingshi blinked, stayed silent for a moment, and spoke with a bit of seriousness: "Shuangjian, you really should apologize to me this time... because you underestimated me."
"..." Shuangjian's long eyelashes fluttered, and he raised his eyes to look at her, a hint of astonishment flashing in his eyes.
"Why didn't you tell me you fell into demonic cultivation? Why did you shoulder everything alone? Do you think I'm the kind of person who would be intimidated by an abstract identity label and not believe in the tangible person who has been inseparable from me? After learning the truth, would I immediately distance myself from you, yell at you, act incredibly hurt, and break off relations with you from then on? Is my image in your heart that flat? Or is it that you were simply worried I'm unreliable and would accidentally expose your identity?"
As Yingshi spoke to the end, her originally full voice couldn't help but weaken a bit. She also began to examine that last possibility... No, no, she was also very reliable at critical moments, okay! Yes, be a bit more confident!
After silently affirming herself in her heart, she continued: "No matter what reason you had for hiding it from me, when facing the trial of the karmic fire, you should have put your own safety first, instead of forcefully enduring it just to keep hiding it from me and not break my heart, you know?"
As she criticized him like this, looking at Shuangjian's lightly pursed lips, slightly curled hands, and lowered gaze caused by her words, even if she had been angry, it would have dissipated long ago. Facing such a face, it was hard for anyone to get angry, not to mention that the emotion filling her heart wasn't anger to begin with.
She could completely empathize with Shuangjian's psychology, and his deception had never caused her any harm from beginning to end.
Most importantly, the root cause of Shuangjian falling into demonic cultivation was still related to her safety.
Mi Ruotian had initially gone to persecute her; it could be understood that Shuangjian picked up the knife to protect her. If she felt he was a terrifying person holding a knife because of this, it would really be no different from burning bridges after crossing the river.
Not to mention that as a transmigrator, she didn't have that much native sense of substitution for this cultivation world. She had no concept of good and evil being irreconcilable.
In modern times, villainous male leads have become popular, often wanting to destroy the world for the female lead at the drop of a hat. Compared to them, Shuangjian couldn't be any better.
"Alright, alright." Yingshi couldn't bear to see Shuangjian continue to look so pitiful. She undeniably shoved Xiangxiang into his arms, freeing up her hands to give him a comforting hug. "How could it be that scary? Sometimes, I really don't understand what you pessimistic people are thinking, always considering the worst possibility, literally scaring yourselves with your own fantasies! The most terrifying things are clearly tangible things like bugs, blood, and the like..."
Yingshi hugged him from the side, wrapping her arms around his waist, her head resting gently against his arm.
Listening to the words coming out of her mouth, which were called judgment but were actually comfort, and feeling her unreserved acceptance, kindness, and tolerance, Shuangjian was once again bewitched, wanting to pour everything out regardless of the consequences.
The pessimistic presets in his mind were broken once again. He couldn't help but start thinking luckily again: confess everything, gamble that Yingshi would also be able to understand his choices and struggles, forgive him, hold him, and not leave him.
But he didn't have the qualifications to gamble.
The ultimate lie he dared not touch was the source of all of Yingshi's trust and closeness to him.
The sourness in Shuangjian's heart overflowed. The warmer the embrace was at this moment, the more terrified he would be of other forms of karmic fire proving guilt that might appear in the future.
Those moments would come one day—this premonition grew stronger.
Even if they didn't come until death, would the peace in his heart ever be found one day?
Therefore, in front of Yingshi, to be forever ashamed, forever terrified, forever holding onto that trembling and swaying heart that dared not be presented—all of this was the price of lies.
Shuangjian heavily hugged Yingshi back with one arm.
"Sorry..."
He couldn't utter any other words besides sorry.
"Oink."
Xiangxiang squirmed uncomfortably, struggling against the unconsciously heavy grip of his hand.
Both Shuangjian and Yingshi suddenly snapped back to reality. Yingshi let go, preparing to take Xiangxiang back, but Shuangjian said, "Let me hold him."
Yingshi didn't argue with him. Instead, she furrowed her brows in a solemn expression and said seriously, "Shuangjian, speaking of which, did you notice? Before we fell into the Marrow Cleansing Spring Domain, Xiangxiang ate the essence within the raging fire! And how did we end up in the exact same Marrow Cleansing Spring Domain? I originally thought that the domain beneath the Repentance Cliff was a misplacement of destiny, something that wouldn't happen again after entering it once. I didn't expect us to come in again, and into the very same one where the spring water has already been depleted! How are we supposed to get out this time? Once we're out, will the altar explode just like in the original text? Will those three people still at the altar be alright?"
It was obvious that Yingshi was truly bewildered, firing off a barrage of questions. Fortunately, in the milliseconds he spent gazing at the ice pillar, Shuangjian had already deduced most of the answers, and those very answers made his heart race.
The most important point was that his previous tests had yielded results: one could indeed enter a domain for a second time, and its state did not undergo a reset.
This resolved the greatest underlying anxiety in his heart—if one day Yingshi, who had entered the domain of I See Frost and Snow, had to escape from it, she would still have the chance to enter again. Furthermore, that chance would occur within his current cycle of reincarnation, rather than in some illusory next life that might have nothing to do with him in this world.
Compared to this, everything else became much less important.
The fact that Xiangxiang could devour the essence of the karmic fire within the Death Gate meant that it was definitely no ordinary pig. However, this extraordinary display contradicted the length of time it took for it to hatch. Moreover, it was something that had appeared for the first time in his three lifetimes of reincarnation, completely exceeding Shuangjian's understanding. Shuangjian suspected that this spiritual pet in the form of a little pig was also one of Yingshi's exclusive variables.
As for why they had entered the domain?
He originally thought that the moment of near-death was the specific time he entered the domain within the specific place of the Death Gate. Now, it seemed that was not the case.
The domain was opened because the karmic fire was extinguished, just as the domain beneath the Repentance Cliff had once opened due to the breaking of the restrictive chains.
Therefore, his so-called near-death state in his past lives could actually be seen as the dissipation of the self. Within the Death Gate that incubated fear, the self of his previous two lives and the karmic fire of this time were equivalent things.
From this, he could almost deduce that the specific time was when the function of the specific place failed, and its core was completely depleted.
So, for the domain of I See Frost and Snow, what would be the specific time and specific place for Yingshi, this specific person?
Shuangjian knew this all too well.
For the first time, he felt grateful for those repetitive cycles of reincarnation; they had actually provided him with a pattern he could reference.
At the end of his previous two reincarnations, he had gained brief moments of freedom after killing his father in the Immortal-Breaking Cave, and in those fragments of freedom, he had committed destructive acts of suicide and slaughtering the world.
Because the plot had ended.
Just like the ending of the novel Yingshi had told him about.
The specific time of a book could only be its completion.
When Yingshi first met him, her naive vow in that thatched cottage to work hard to reach the end of the plot and find her way home—it turned out to be accidentally accurate.
Then what if... he never carried out the so-called ultimate goal of killing his father, never went to the final completion map of the Immortal-Breaking Cave? Would Yingshi also never reach that specific time to leave this world?
...
In a daze, Shuangjian looked at Yingshi, who was gazing at him with confusion and reliance, waiting to discuss things with him. He suddenly snapped back to reality, a chill running through his entire body because of that sinful delusion.
Were the sins upon him not already enough?
For the sake of freedom, he could ask for Yingshi's red string, he could sign a blood contract with her, and he could fabricate a fake identity to get close to her. But he absolutely could not hurt her, control her, or trap her, tying her to his side forever.
If he did that, what difference would there be between him and the rules he hated the most?
"Shuangjian, do you have any ideas?"
Having sorted out her muddled questions, Yingshi was just about to hear Shuangjian's thoughts when she saw him remain motionless for a few breaths. Then, he nodded blankly and suddenly raised his hand to slash at the center of the ice pillar.
The giant ice crystal dragon, struck by the spiritual energy, instantly shattered. A small broken piece of the ice crystal flew precisely into Shuangjian's palm.
Yingshi was startled and quickly asked, "Shuangjian, what are you doing?"
"I want to try..." Shuangjian said in a hoarse voice, "to bring the ice crystal of the Marrow Cleansing Spring outside."
This was his final test.
Was his relationship to I See Frost and Snow not the same as the Marrow Cleansing Spring to the Marrow Cleansing Spring Domain?
If the ice crystal could be taken to the outside world, did that mean he might truly have a chance to go home together with Yingshi...?
