Chapter 2083: Perish
Zu An had never expected that he would actually end up encountering this cliched problem of who to save. He really wanted to say that he would save them all. However, in the end, he couldn't say those words, because he knew that there was no way for him to save both of them at all.
Whether it was Qiu Honglei or Chu Chuyan, they were both lovers whom he would live and die together with. He had pledged his undying love to both of them and loved them deeply. This was evident from how both of them were willing to give up their lives to save him after encountering a problem they couldn't deal with this time. How could he fail to live up to these women he loved so much?
Regardless of who he chose, it would imply the death of another. For the first time, he felt despair.
When she saw his expression change as if he had made his decision, Mi Li was frightened. She hoped that her questioning didn’t make him suddenly lose his mind. She quickly said, “Stop dwelling on it already. Chu Chuyan has already turned into wind and snow, so you can’t even save her anymore even if you want to. Also, it doesn’t even seem as if she’s truly died. In the future, once you have the ability to do so, you can try to figure out a way to save her then. In contrast, Qiu Honglei is on her last breath here. If you don’t pay her any attention, she might really die.”
Zu An trembled all over. A third party always saw the situation more clearly, after all. Just then, he had been completely crestfallen and his brain hadn’t been working properly. Now that he was reminded by Mi Li, he quickly went over to Qiu Honglei’s side to check her condition. She was preserved in the ice lotus, completely maintaining her appearance when she was ‘alive’. There was still an expression of reluctance in her eyes as she looked at Zu An, because she knew that she was going to die.
“Chu Chuyan’s Pure World Icelotus is indeed powerful. It can even freeze damage to this degree. But this process does nothing but slow down her death. As time goes on, she still won’t be able to escape her end,” Mi Li said, sighing.
Zu An suddenly thought of something. He took out the leftover Feather Mountain spring water and carefully poured it on top of the lotus. He had originally planned to drink all of it to recover his fighting strength as quickly as possible, but he'd decided to leave this amount for some reason. He hadn’t expected it to be able to preserve Qiu Honglei’s life.
When the spiritual spring water landed on the ice lotus, it quickly entered. Qiu Honglei’s terrifyingly pale complexion became a bit rosier.
“Alright, with this Feather Mountain spring and the Pure World Icelotus’ protection, her life should be preserved for now. Once you're strong enough or find a way to save her, you can then release her from the lotus,” Mi Li said; she had also been watching the process nervously. Now, she sighed in relief.
Zu An was stunned, asking, “I still can’t let her out even now?”
After all, Feather Mountain’s spring water could revive even the dead, and yet it only managed to barely keep her alive?
Mi Li rolled her eyes and replied, “Why don’t you think about what kind of being that one was? The fact that she could even keep her life is all because of the special method Chu Chuyan used, thus transferring away most of the damage. That’s the only reason why you even had a chance to use Feather Mountain’s spiritual spring in the first place and obtain this result. You should just count your blessings.”
Zu An asked seriously, “Who was that just now? Why was he so strong?” He had his fair share of experience, with many secret dungeons under his belt. He had seen all types of powerful beings too, but the pressure he had felt just now was unprecedented.
Mi Li’s expression became grave as she said, “He's probably someone of the highest level across the universe’s various worlds. He might have even transcended the worlds.”
“You know him? You can’t say his name?” Zu An asked, recalling her saying that there were some beings whose names couldn't be spoken.
Mi Li shook her head. “I don’t know him, but I was able to deduce all of this from what happened. As for his name, there’s no way I would know that.”
Zu An became quiet.
Just these casually spoken words already told him many things, but he didn’t continue to ask about it. He knew that he was still too weak, and that by telling him, she would only be putting him in danger.
Even though he knew that he couldn't randomly trust people, if one didn’t have even a single person they were willing to trust in this world, that would really be a bit too tragic.
“Do you think I’ll have a chance to reach that level?” Zu An asked. He was someone who always had confidence, but what happened just now had delivered too great of a shock to him. Right now, he couldn't help but feel a bit lost.
“You definitely will,” Mi Li said, now sounding particularly confident.
When he saw her intense gaze, Zu An also recovered his fighting spirit, saying, “That’s right. I managed to reach my current state despite being a crippled loser in the past, so what do I have to be scared of?!”
“That’s more like it,” Mi Li said, a smile returning to her expression.
“Then how long do you think it’ll take for me to get there? That way, I’ll be able to save Honglei,” Zu An quickly asked.
Mi Li’s smile froze. She said, “Uh, I feel like for now, it’d be more practical for you to search for other methods.”
Zu An was speechless.
Mi Li gently touched the ice lotus with her hand and said, “There is definitely a way to save her across the worlds, but I’ve lost too many of my memories and can't think of them. That's why you need to slowly search for now, and I need time to recover my memories in the meantime.”
“That’s good to hear,” Zu An said as he looked at Qiu Honglei inside the ice lotus.
“But there's another issue right now. Where should I put her?” Zu An asked.
As he looked at the ice lotus, he was a bit hesitant. With his current authority, he could find places whether it was the fiend or human side. But if he didn’t personally watch over her, he was just worried that something would happen. If he left her with the Devil Sect, Yun Jianyue would naturally be trustworthy. Even so, she was a sect master and couldn’t constantly watch over her every second. Besides, the Devil Sect was a place where all sorts of crooks lived. If something bad happened, it’d be too late for regrets.
“Isn’t that easy enough? Just put her in that bead of yours,” Mi Li said, not seeming worried at all.
Zu An frowned, saying, "The Brilliant Glass Bead can't store living creatures...”
“Did you forget about that jade container you took when you were searching for Lord Sui’s Pearl?” Mi Li suddenly asked.
Zu An nodded. Back then, Lord Sui’s Pearl seemed to have had a close connection with the Medusa Race. The jade coffin was invulnerable to any sword attacks and seemed a bit special, so he'd taken it.
“That jade coffin is actually something really good. It can preserve someone inside for ten thousand years without decay. Store Qiu Honglei inside, and then you’ll be able to store her inside that bead,” Mi Li explained.
“Really?” Zu An asked hesitantly. After all, this was no joke. If he made a mistake, Qiu Honglei could just die on the spot.
“When have I ever lied to you?” Mi Li replied with a frown. But she knew that he really cared about his lover, so she suppressed her impatience and explained, “That jade coffin has a space of its own inside. To a certain degree, you can view it as a cosmos flying ship. Didn’t you used to always talk about some nine dragons pulling a coffin? If I am not mistaken, that coffin should be a cosmos ship.”
Zu An was speechless. He had never expected her to still remember the random webnovels he talked about, let alone the fact that this jade coffin was actually so amazing.
He quickly took out the jade coffin. Its entire body was sparkling and transparent, and there was an extraordinary light flowing around it. He carefully placed Qiu Honglei into the jade coffin. He gave her a light kiss on the forehead, saying, “Honglei, don’t worry. I'll definitely do my best to save you as soon as possible.”
When he looked at those beautiful eyes, he couldn't help but ask Mi Li, “Will she be lonely or scared if she's locked up in this pitch-black space?”
“You’re overthinking it,” Mi Li said in annoyance. “She’s currently in a state between life and death. Time is already meaningless to her. In other words, she's unconscious. Even if you forgot about her in this jade coffin and left her until the end of time, she wouldn’t feel a thing.”
Zu An was speechless. Even so, her words still brought him a bit of relief. Then, he stored the jade coffin back into the Brilliant Glass Bead. A few seconds later, he took her out again to check if she was still okay. Only then did he store the jade coffin away again.
Mi Li rolled her eyes and asked, “Did you really think I was lying to you? Rather than paying attention to these trivialities, you should start thinking about the current situation.”
“What situation?” Zu An asked. As soon as he spoke, however, he suddenly felt the world surge up and down like an ocean wave, as if the entire Great Snowy Mountain Range was about to be destroyed.