On the Dragon-Slaying Platform, I was executed and became Yang Jian's brother-in-law.

Frost Realm, Northern Region, Snow Ridge Town.

This is a world forgotten by wind and snow. The sky is always a hazy, leaden gray, and the sun, like a frozen egg yolk, hangs on the horizon, radiating a faint, almost imperceptible warmth. Cold is the only dominant theme here.

A barely perceptible ripple spread through the space, and Su Bai's figure appeared silently at the entrance of the town's alley.

The moment they landed, a bone-chilling cold surged upwards from the soles of their feet. This cold wasn't directed at the body, but rather carried a trace of the corrosive power of the laws of nature, as if it wanted to freeze their very soul.

"So this is the Frost Realm..."

Su Bai reached out and caught a falling snowflake. The snowflake did not melt in his palm; instead, it emitted a faint, ethereal blue glow.

This is the primordial energy scattered from the Xuanming realm.

The entire world was born from her shattered true spirit, yet it in turn became a cage that imprisoned and tormented her remnant soul.

"I am coming."

Su Bai withdrew the quasi-saintly aura that was enough to shatter this small world, transforming into a handsome mortal nobleman dressed in a black fox fur coat. Following the guidance of the reincarnation mark between his brows, he trudged through the snow, heading towards the town's market.

The market was desolate; passersby were all wrapped in thick, tattered cotton-padded clothes, their necks hunched, and they hurried along.

Su Bai's gaze pierced through the crowd and finally settled on an inconspicuous stall in the far corner of the market.

There were no stalls there, just a tattered straw mat spread out on the snow.

On the straw mat, there were more than a dozen crystal-clear ice sculptures. There were rabbits, birds, and blooming snow lotuses.

Behind the straw mat sat a young girl wearing a thin, patched linen dress, her hands red and raw.

"..."

The moment he saw that figure, Su Bai's breath hitched, and his heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly, the pain almost making him bend over.

That is Xuanming.

Although it lacked the domineering aura of the Ancestral Witch's true form, and although it no longer wore that dazzling silver armor, even its face had become much more youthful and thin.

But those eyes, those eyes that remained focused, clear, and stubborn even in such difficult circumstances, completely overlapped with those of the woman who silently carved in the Northern Ice Cave back then.

At this moment, she was looking down, holding a rusty little iron knife in her hand, carefully carving on a block of ice that had been chiseled from the river.

The cold wind howled, tousling her dry, yellow hair and making her small, chilblain-covered hands tremble. Yet her gaze was terrifyingly focused, as if the whole world had vanished, leaving only the block of ice in her hand.

Su Bai was all too familiar with that expression.

It looked just like this when she carved those "candle dragons" that filled the room.

Su Bai's eyes stung with tears. He suppressed the urge to rush over and hug her, and walked slowly to her stall, squatting down.

A shadow fell, blocking the light from the girl's eyes.

The girl paused for a moment, her iron knife still in her hand.

She slowly raised her head.

It was a slightly pale, oval face, somewhat pointed due to long-term malnutrition, with the tip of her nose red from the cold. Upon seeing the elegant young man in the luxurious fox fur coat before her, a flicker of panic crossed her eyes, but she quickly regained her aloof and unapproachable demeanor.

This aloofness is the outer shell she uses to protect herself in this life.

"Young master..."

The girl put down the iron knife in her hand, wiped her hands on her tattered clothes, and spoke in a slightly hoarse voice, with a hint of cautious probing:

"Would you like to buy an ice sculpture?"

strangeness.

Completely unfamiliar.

She had no "Brother Jiuyin" or "elder brother" in her eyes, only awe for the stranger in front of her and the humility she had to show in order to survive.

Su Bai felt another sharp pain in his heart.

"Yes, I'll buy it."

Su Bai tried hard to control his voice so as not to sound too excited and frighten her, "Your carving... is very beautiful."

His gaze fell on the piece of ice that the girl had just carved.

It was a strange, long, narrow shape, somewhat like a snake, but with horns.

"What is this?" Su Bai asked knowingly, her voice so gentle it could melt hearts.

"this……"

The girl paused, seemingly surprised that this young nobleman would speak to her. She lowered her head, looking at the half-finished product in her hand, and said somewhat shyly:

"I don't know. These weird-looking things just keep popping into my head, so I just carved them out. The villagers all say they look like snakes, which is bad luck."

"If you don't like it, young master, take a look at this rabbit. Rabbits are cute."

Su Bai looked at the somewhat rough but full of charm "ice dragon" and felt a mix of emotions.

Even if all memories are lost, even if reincarnation occurs.

Is my true form still etched in your subconscious?

"No, I want this one."

Su Bai reached out and took the unfinished ice dragon, then pointed to the other ice sculptures on the straw mat, "I'll take all of these."

"You...you want them all?"

The girl stared wide-eyed at Su Bai in disbelief. "Young master, these are worthless things, just ice from the river..."

"In my eyes, they are priceless treasures."

Su Bai took out a silver ingot from his pocket (which he had casually turned into gold) and placed it in the girl's hands, which were red and swollen from the cold.

Feeling the slight warmth of her body emanating from his fingertips, though it was cold, Su Bai felt it was incredibly real.

"Is that enough?" Su Bai asked softly.

"Too...too much!" The girl was startled, trying to shove the silver back as if it were a hot potato. "Young master, this is too much, I don't have change..."

"Keep the change, please."

Su Bai held her hand, looked into her eyes, and said, "Take it. It's cold, go buy a warmer coat and some hot food."

The girl stared blankly at the silver in her hand, then looked up at the strange young man in front of her.

In this cold and indifferent Snow Ridge Town, no one had ever been so kind to her. When people saw her, they either avoided her with disgust or hurled insults at her.

"Thank you... thank you, young master."

The girl's eyes reddened, but she stubbornly refused to let the tears fall. She stood up solemnly and bowed to Su Bai. "My name is Ashuang. If you want more ice sculptures in the future, you can come... come to the dilapidated temple on the west side of town to find me."

"Okay, Ashuang."

Su Bai gently savored the name on his tongue, his eyes filled with tenderness. "My name is Su Bai. I will come find you."

……

Su Bai did not take Ashuang away directly.

Firstly, as Pingxin has said, she is currently only a remnant soul, and her spirit is extremely fragile, unable to withstand great stimulation, let alone the direct infusion of immortal magic. Awakening her memories requires a gradual process and gentle nurturing.

Secondly, this is a small world.

A day in heaven is equivalent to a year on earth.

Su Bai has plenty of time.

He bought a small courtyard house in town, not far from Ashuang's place, and settled down there.

What is a long life for mortals is but a fleeting moment for Su Bai. He decided that in this life, he would accompany her through these hundred years in the way of an ordinary person.

I will use this century of companionship to make up for the unspoken regrets of my past life.

For the next few days, Su Bai was like a leisurely rich man, spending his days drinking tea and "passing by" the market to catch a glimpse of Ashuang selling ice sculptures from afar.

He watched her shivering in the cold wind, yet her back remained straight; he watched her gnaw on a hard, dry cornbread, yet still strive to present the most perfect ice sculpture to passersby.

I felt sorry for her, but I didn't dare to get too close, afraid of disrupting her original life trajectory and scaring away this sensitive girl.

Until the fifth day.

"Hey! Isn't that Ah Shuang, that jinx?"

A burst of noisy cursing and swearing broke the tranquility of the market.

A few shady-looking thugs dressed in thick cotton-padded coats strolled leisurely to Ashuang's stall.

The leader, a burly man with a menacing face, kicked over the basket containing Ah Shuang's ice sculptures with a stick.

"Splash!"

Several exquisite ice sculptures fell onto the snow and shattered into pieces.

"Ah! My ice sculpture!"

Ashuang cried out in surprise and rushed over to protect the rest, but was pushed away by the burly man and fell to the ground in the snow.

"Stop crying!"

The burly man grinned maliciously, pointing a wooden stick at Ashuang's nose. "Have you paid your protection money this month? This land is my territory! If you want to set up a stall here, you have to pay!"

"I...I just handed it in the day before yesterday..." Ashuang argued, her eyes red and her voice trembling.

"That was from the day before yesterday! Today's is today's!"

The burly man roared unreasonably, "Stop talking nonsense! Didn't you just take a big silver ingot? Hand it over now! Otherwise, I'll smash all your junk and tear down this little shack!"

"That's...that's the money for medicine..." Ashuang clutched the silver in her arms tightly. It was the money she had prepared to buy herself some cough medicine and repair the leaky roof. It was her life-saving money.

"Give it to me!"

When the burly man saw that she wouldn't give it to him, he reached out to snatch it.

Although the surrounding villagers felt sorry for him, no one dared to step forward. This burly man was called Lai San, a local bully who was rumored to have connections with the government; who would dare to mess with him?

Just as Lai San's dirty hand was about to touch Ashuang's clothes.

"Snapped!"

A slender, fair hand, as white as mutton fat jade, appeared out of thin air and firmly grasped Lai San's wrist.

"Who the hell is being nosy..."

Lai San flew into a rage and was about to turn around and start cursing.

But when he met those gray eyes, the swear words in his throat instantly choked him up.

What kind of eyes were those?

Indifferent, aloof, as if looking down on an ant. But deep within that indifference lies a terrifying killing intent as vast as mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Just a glance.

Lai San felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave that had stood for millennia, and even his soul had been frozen.

"roll."

Su Bai uttered a single word softly.

He didn't use any magic power; he merely released a tiny bit of the evil energy belonging to "Zhu Jiuyin".

"ah!!"

Lai San let out a bloodcurdling scream, as if he had seen the most terrifying demon in the world. He didn't even care about the excruciating pain in his wrist, and scrambled backward, his crotch instantly becoming soaked and emitting a foul stench.

"A ghost...there's a ghost!!"

Lai San and his henchmen fled in a panic, not daring to look back.

The market was eerily silent.

Su Bai withdrew his gaze, and the murderous aura around him instantly dissipated, transforming him back into the gentle and refined noble young man.

He turned around, looked at Ashuang who was still sitting on the snow, shaken, and reached out his hand.

"It's alright now."

Su Bai's voice was incredibly gentle, "Get up, the ground is cold."

Ashuang stared blankly at the hand in front of her, then at Su Bai's handsome face. She recognized him; this was the kind person who had bought all her ice sculptures that day.

She hesitated for a moment, then stretched out her small, red, frozen hands and used them to help her stand up.

"Thank you... thank you, Young Master Su."

Ashuang lowered her head, not with tears of gratitude like most people would, but with her brows furrowed even more and her eyes filled with worry. "But...but young master, you offended Lai San for my sake. He...he's a local tyrant, he'll definitely retaliate."

"You'd better leave quickly, get out of town. Otherwise, if they bring people back, you won't be able to leave."

He watched as she trembled with fear, yet still worried about his safety.

Su Bai felt a warmth in his heart and couldn't help but reach out and rub her dry, yellow hair.

"Silly girl."

Su Bai smiled, his tone exuding an undeniable confidence and domineering air:

Don't worry.

"From today onwards, no one in this world can bully you, and no one will dare to retaliate."

"As for that Lai San..."

Su Bai glanced at the direction Lai San had fled in, a barely perceptible gray glint flashing in his eyes.

He didn't kill Lai San on the spot; that would have been too lenient on him and would have frightened Ashuang.

He only used a small trick involving the laws of time.

The "great terror" that Lai San had just experienced would endlessly loop and lengthen in his dream.

"From now on, he'll only be busy having nightmares and won't have time to cause trouble."

Su Bai spoke softly, as if making a promise.

Ashuang couldn't understand what he was saying, but looking at Su Bai's determined eyes, her heart, which had been hanging in suspense and filled with anxiety, miraculously calmed down.

"From now on... you don't have to worry anymore?"

Ashuang murmured to herself, looking at the man in front of her, and felt that this cold winter didn't seem so cold anymore.