Outside, the snow was still falling.
Xue Zi Ye sat in the darkness, her head tilted slightly as she listened to the soft sound of snowflakes hitting the ground. Under her hands, the man was still trembling. A whole day had passed. His voice had grown hoarse, and his resistance had gradually weakened.
She stood up and lit a brazier of Tihu incense. The calming fragrance, meant to awaken the mind and ease agitation, filled the room, soothing the troubled soul in the darkness.
Hours passed, and by dawn, he finally regained consciousness.
This time, he did not react with violence. Whether it was because he recognized the futility of it or because his body was too weak, he lay silently on the bed, eyes barely open, staring up at the darkened ceiling.
"Why didn't you kill me?" he asked after a long silence.
She smiled faintly. "Doctors do not kill."
"Then why did you save me? I don’t have a Returning Heaven Order," he murmured, pausing for a moment. "I know you’re the famous healer of the Medicine Master's Valley."
"Yes," she nodded. "And I also know you’re a killer from the Great Radiant Palace."
In the darkness, she picked up a white jade mask and placed it on her face. It was something she had retrieved from the cold spruce forest outside the valley. There, under the deep snow, lay twelve bodies. From Huo Zhan Bai's description, she knew they were the Twelve Silver-Winged Assassins of the Great Radiant Palace.
And the one leading this elite group was none other than the number one assassin of the demonic sect—Tong.
—The infamous bloodthirsty demon whose assassination skills were unmatched and who had terrified the martial world.
In the darkness, she put on his white jade mask. As the mask settled on her face, he glanced over, and in an instant, he shot upright—his hand moved like lightning, grabbing the mask before she could even react!
But it seemed that movement had exhausted him entirely. His fingers froze in place, and he gazed at her, panting heavily, his body trembling uncontrollably.
“Who are you? Your eyes… your eyes…” He stared at the holes in the mask, muttering as if in a daze, “They seem… they seem like I’ve seen them before…”
It was those eyes that had stopped him on the frozen lake earlier!
Xue Zi Ye smiled faintly—had he forgotten already?
He might not recognize her face, but surely he would remember her eyes?
She gently took his hand and pushed it back under the covers. “I remember your eyes too,” she said softly.
Tong lay in the dark, breathing heavily, staring at the eyes behind the mask. Suddenly, a searing pain shot through his head again. He let out a low groan, clutching his head as he collapsed back onto the bed, the killing intent and hostility that had radiated from him finally dissipating.
“Don’t worry,” he heard her say quietly from beside him, “I will heal you.”
“I won’t let you remain trapped in darkness any longer.”
－
The second round of treatment began in the dark.
The room was filled with the lingering scent of Tihu incense. Xue Zi Ye began inserting silver needles into twelve key acupoints on his body.
To her surprise, despite his unconscious state, his muscles reacted instinctively the moment the needles touched him. The acupoints shifted by an inch, evading the needles.
—The Art of Divine Shifting?
She stared at this assassin in amazement. No wonder Huo Zhan Bai had fallen at this man’s hands. But… how had the child from years ago survived? And how had he become what he was now?
Xue Zi Ye sighed softly and sat cross-legged, beginning the real treatment.
No matter what, she needed to rid him of the pain in his mind before she could ask him anything.
This was an unprecedented challenge—the wounds she needed to heal weren’t physical. She had never treated the kind of madness and chaos caused by the Eye technique. After a long moment of hesitation, she nodded to herself. If that was the case, she would try Guanxin, the "Art of Heart Healing."
Guanxin was a technique used to treat madness and amnesia.
Once the silver needles were securely inserted into the twelve acupoints, she leaned forward, placing her hands on his temples. Close to his face, she gazed into his eyes in the darkness and spoke softly, “Can you hear me?”
He let out a faint, unclear response. The effects of the Tihu incense had plunged him into a deep sleep, his eyes barely open, his consciousness floating in a liminal state.
“What is your name?” she asked gently.
“Tong.” His body twitched, and suddenly he convulsed in pain. “No, my name isn’t Tong. My name is… my name is… I can’t remember…”
The first question had already met an obstacle. But she wasn’t discouraged. Gazing steadily at him, she spoke slowly and calmly:
“Is it… Ming Jie?”
The trembling under her hands suddenly ceased. He couldn’t respond, as if something was blocking him from remembering.
“Ming Jie…” he muttered, repeating the name.
“Ming Jie, where did you come from?” She continued to gaze into his half-open eyes, her voice low and gentle.
Where had he come from? Where…? Suddenly, his entire body jolted.
Yes, it was a place where snow fell, a place cloaked in darkness all year long. That was where he had come from… no, no, that wasn’t where he came from—that was the place he had fought so hard to escape from!
He suddenly screamed, covering his eyes with his hands. “No… don’t dig out my eyes! Let me out!”
In that instant, blood trickled down from behind his ears like tiny snakes, winding slowly down his neck. He collapsed to the ground in silence.
What happened? Xue Zi Ye’s expression shifted. The Heart-Gazing technique is supposed to gently inspire and coax out forgotten memories. It shouldn’t cause this! Then she saw the blood… could it be? She reached out carefully, lightly touching the back of his head. Beneath the soft strands of hair, she could just make out a cold, hard piece of metal.
She dared not touch it further, for it was a golden needle deeply embedded in the crucial pressure point at the base of the skull. With great care, she traced the path up his skull, discovering two identical needles at the Baihui and Lingtai points (important acupoints in Chinese medicine, located on the head).
Her expression darkened—Golden Needles to Seal the Mind!
Could it be that this part of his memory had been deliberately sealed by someone? What kind of memory… what kind of secret was being hidden? Who, exactly, had slaughtered the entire Moga Clan and killed Xue Huai?
Gripping a silver needle in her hand, she looked down at his pain-wracked, sleeping face, and a sharp glint appeared in her eyes.
—
The snow-covered lake shimmered beneath the moonlight. The face frozen beneath the water remained youthful, forever fixed at sixteen years old, while the woman lying on the ice above was now in her twenties.
She lay there, whispering softly to the smiling boy under the ice.
“Xue Huai… Xue Huai, do you know? Today, I met someone we both know.
“Do you remember the child who was locked in the dark room? It’s been so many years, and I’m sure it’s been lonely with just me talking to you. Seeing someone familiar… I’m sure you would be happy. Even though he no longer remembers, he was once your companion… my brother.
“You two were so close, and you both treated me so well.
“So, don’t worry. I will do everything I can to heal Ming Jie.
“Whatever it takes, I will uncover the truth of what happened all those years ago and avenge the Moga Clan.”
* * *
Huo Zhan Bai tossed the pill across the room. His snow hawk darted forward in a swift dive, snatching it out of the air and returning it to him, cooing proudly.
He tossed it again. The hawk caught it and returned once more.
After doing this for twenty-five rounds, Huo Zhan Bai finally grew bored.
Ever since he had been struck with a flying needle, he had slept like the dead for two full days. But when he woke, there was no one around. Only a plate of cold food sat on the small table beside his bed, a far cry from the attention he was used to. Still, knowing the eccentricities of that woman, he didn’t bother asking questions. He ate, then slept, and when he was awake, he played games with the snow hawk to pass the time.
Three more days passed like this.
His patience was beginning to wear thin. He started looking around, hoping to spot one of the maids to ask about that dead woman—why had she left such an important patient to rot alone in this room? He was still gravely ill, yet he had been abandoned!
The nine Returning Heaven Orders hung on the wall, and he still had the one he had kept for eight years. The other patients must have already been treated this year, so where was everyone? He was in a rush to get back to Lin’an and save Mo’er!
But even Lü-er was nowhere to be found. The few maids who brought his meals couldn’t offer him any answers either—he knew how strict that dead woman was with her servants after these eight years.
He had been confined here for three whole days.
“Where is everyone? Where are you?” he finally yelled, his voice so loud that dust shook from the ceiling. “Xue Zi Ye, if you don’t come out soon, I’ll tear this place apart!”
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