Chapter Twenty-Two: Ice Lotus and Eggshell

At the Foot of Mount Jiuhua

As Liao Hongda charged up the mountain, the others no longer hesitated and rushed after him.

Meanwhile, halfway up the mountainside, Su Xiaomu tugged at Shi Qi, who stopped in midair.

Shi Qi asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Su Xiaomu replied, “Big brother, don’t fly any higher. There’s nothing at the summit.”

Shi Qi questioned, “How do you know?”

Su Xiaomu shook her head, “I don’t know, I just feel it... Come, follow me.”

With that, she took Shi Qi’s hand and led him toward a peak on the side.

After the two of them departed, Liao Hongda caught up. He glanced up at the summit, took a breath, and continued leaping dozens of meters at a time, making his way upward.

A short while later, Shi Qi and Su Xiaomu landed at a cliff on the side of the peak, shrouded in swirling mist and treacherously steep.

“Big brother, there’s something beneath this cliff,” Su Xiaomu said.

Still somewhat skeptical, Shi Qi took Su Xiaomu and leapt down.

The cliff was incredibly deep. Riding the Wind Control technique, it took them the time it takes an incense stick to burn to finally reach the valley floor.

At the bottom was a solitary pool of water, hidden under the mountain’s shadow, never seeing daylight.

Shi Qi asked, “Is it beneath the water?”

Su Xiaomu nodded.

Shi Qi glanced around. Aside from the pool, sheer cliffs and wild mountains hemmed them in.

Having come this far, Shi Qi set aside his doubts. Having grown up by the South Sea, he was at home in the water. He took a deep breath and dove in headfirst, sending up a cascade of spray. Su Xiaomu followed, entering the water with barely a ripple.

Inside, it was pitch dark, not a trace of light. Shi Qi activated the Daoist Heavenly Eye, just barely making out his surroundings.

Like a nimble seal, he swam downward. The deeper he went, the colder it grew. Even though cultivators are immune to mundane cold and heat, Shi Qi felt a chill that pierced to the bone. The further he descended, the more intense this sensation became. He had to circulate his true energy to resist the cold and the pressure.

Shi Qi looked back at Su Xiaomu—astonishingly, the girl seemed completely unaffected, her wide eyes peering curiously as she swam downward.

They had descended hundreds of meters when Shi Qi felt a cold unlike anything he’d ever experienced, as if he were an ordinary man thrown naked into a blizzard. What puzzled him was that despite the frigid temperature, the water hadn’t frozen.

They dove dozens of meters further when, suddenly, Shi Qi’s inner demon core began circulating on its own. Warmth surged through his body, bringing immense relief.

At that moment, Su Xiaomu spoke from behind, “Big brother, we’re almost there.”

Shi Qi looked down. Sure enough, the lakebed was just ahead. He swam faster, finally setting foot on the soft mud of the bottom.

“I know, this way!” Su Xiaomu exclaimed, as if she had discovered something. She pulled Shi Qi in a certain direction.

Before long, they reached a rocky outcrop. In the inky blackness, faint blue light shimmered around the stone, illuminating the area.

Shi Qi peered closer and found a small hole beneath the rock. The blue glow emanated from within.

He approached and looked inside.

Within, a few broken eggshells lay scattered, and beside them bloomed a blue lotus, radiant with that same ethereal light.

“Eggshells? Did some creature hatch here? Xiaomu… eh?”

Shi Qi turned to look for Mu Jin, but she was gone. In her place stood a white snow fox, glowing faintly blue!

The fox’s fur was snowy white, its furry tail held high, its body suffused with blue light, and its dark eyes sparkled with intelligence.

Those eyes seemed so familiar that Shi Qi called out, “Su Xiaomu?!”

The little fox didn’t reply but shook its head, darting into the hole with a swish.

Shi Qi watched as the fox picked up the remaining eggshells in its mouth and crunched them noisily.

Shi Qi was dumbfounded. He pieced the events together: he had met Su Xiaomu outside Mount Jiuhua, she led him to this side peak, they jumped from the cliff, dove into the lake, found a cave beneath the rocks filled with eggshells and a blue lotus, and then Su Xiaomu turned into a snow fox and ate the eggshells!

What kind of plot was this?

How did a fox hatch from an egg?!

Could it be that the great treasure soon to emerge from Mount Jiuhua was Su Xiaomu herself?

Before Shi Qi could react, the white snow fox had finished the last eggshell. With a swish, she darted out of the hole and into Shi Qi’s arms.

He held the fox as she grew larger in his embrace, her white fur receding. Within a few heartbeats, she had transformed back into her human form—Su Xiaomu.

She slowly opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was Shi Qi’s handsome face. She blinked and looked down.

“Ah!” Su Xiaomu shrieked. Having just transformed from fox to human, she was utterly naked, lying in Shi Qi’s arms.

With a squeak, she shot out of his grasp, snatched up her lost green dress, and slipped it on in the blink of an eye.

Shi Qi, meanwhile, stood rooted to the spot, his cheeks flushed.

“You…” Su Xiaomu whispered, “What did you see just now?”

Shi Qi murmured, “So white… a white fox, you went in and ate the eggshells…”

Su Xiaomu’s cheeks also turned rosy as her memory returned. She realized she truly was the white snow fox that had hatched from the egg beneath the lake at Mount Jiuhua. After emerging, she’d eaten half the eggshell, then fell into a deep sleep. When she awoke, she was in human form, floating on the deserted lake. She flew up the cliff, and with her innate speed, raced down the mountain, stole a green dress from a small village, and wandered the area, her memories fading.

It wasn’t until the scent of roast chicken lured her that she met Shi Qi, setting all that followed into motion. As for her name, it had simply popped into her mind.

She recounted everything to Shi Qi.

At last, Shi Qi understood and marveled that she might truly be the exotic treasure foretold by the great sects to appear on Mount Jiuhua. But this treasure was not a magical artifact, nor a rare material, but a snow fox hatched from an egg…

“Oh, right, big brother.” As if recalling something, Su Xiaomu returned to the cave, reached in with her pale little hand, and pulled out the blue lotus.

She offered the lotus to Shi Qi, saying, “Big brother, this Ice Lotus was probably born with me. I don’t know what it does, but I’ll give it to you—just promise to let me eat chicken with you from now on.”

Shi Qi looked down at the innocent little girl before him and sighed helplessly, accepting the lotus.

At that moment, the blue light of the Ice Lotus flared, and an intense surge of icy energy poured from the blossom, rushing into Shi Qi’s body through his hand!

In an instant, Shi Qi was frozen into a solid block of ice…