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

For Ah Shuang, who was all alone and helpless, life in Xueling Town has recently undergone some subtle but delightful changes.

Ever since that strange young master Su appeared and drove away Lai San, her life seemed to be truly blessed by the goddess of fortune.

Her business at the market suddenly became booming. Ice sculptures that used to be ignored were now being sold out. Even a small rabbit that was carved casually would attract passing merchants who would rush to buy it as if it were a rare treasure, and the prices they offered were outrageously high.

"Oh my, young lady, your ice sculpture is...it's so lifelike! This little bird looks like it's about to take flight! I'll give you five taels of silver, no, ten taels!"

"Old Li, don't try to take it from me! I'll offer twenty taels! This ice sculpture will bring good luck and protect your home!"

Ashuang clutched the heavy silver ingots in her hand, completely bewildered. She looked at those little trinkets, which were clearly just ordinary river ice sculptures, and couldn't understand why they were worth so much money.

Of course, she had no idea that it was the "neighbor" who had just moved in nearby who had secretly used a little magic called "psychological suggestion."

Not only that.

The cold ailment that tormented her the most seemed to be improving.

Every night, when the chill seeped into her bones and the pain made her want to bang her head against the wall, she would always feel a warm current flowing into her body in her hazy state. That warm current was both domineering and gentle, like the blazing sun in winter, instantly dispelling all the gloom and pain, allowing her to sleep soundly.

Each time I wake up, the pain subsides by more than half, and even my pale face regains some color.

"Father, Mother, are you watching over Ashuang from heaven?"

At dawn, Ashuang knelt before the drafty window, kowtowing devoutly to the gray sky, her eyes filled with grateful tears. "Thank you... Ashuang is doing very well now, really well."

A hundred feet away, in a seemingly simple thatched hut that actually holds a wealth of secrets.

Su Bai looked through the window at the silly girl kowtowing, a helpless yet heart-wrenching smile appearing on his lips.

"Silly girl, there's no such thing as God protecting you."

Su Bai withdrew his fingers, which had just been channeling the Ancestral Witch's blood energy, and muttered to himself, "It's your incompetent brother who's paying off his debts."

……

The peaceful days didn't last long before a big piece of news suddenly came from the town.

On this day, several officials dressed in brocade robes and looking menacing knocked on the wooden door of Ashuang's dilapidated little courtyard.

Ah Shuang turned pale with fright, thinking it was Lai San's revenge, and dropped the carving knife in her hand to the ground.

"You're the one who can sculpt ice, Ah Shuang?"

The leading officer sized her up but didn't make a move. Instead, he gave her a polite smile. "Don't be afraid, we're from the City Lord's Mansion. The City Lord heard about your excellent skills and gave us a special order."

"Lord of the City...?" Ashuang was stunned.

"Next month is the city lord's sixtieth birthday. He has a great fondness for rare and precious treasures, and having heard that there is a 'master ice sculptor' in Snow Ridge Town, he has specially commissioned you to carve an auspicious 'Candle Dragon Chasing the Sun' ornament as the main course for the birthday banquet!"

The official pulled a blueprint from his pocket and stuffed it into Ashuang's hand. "If you carve it well, the magistrate will reward you handsomely! Not only will you receive a hundred taels of silver, but your dilapidated house will also be exempt from taxes for the next ten years! But if you don't carve it well..."

The officer didn't finish his sentence, but instead gave a cold laugh, the threat of which was self-evident.

Ashuang held the blueprint, her hands trembling.

A ten-year tax exemption! That was something she never dared to dream of! With this money and the tax exemption, she could fix the house, never have to worry about waking up freezing in the winter again, and even buy lots and lots of medicine…

"This humble woman...this humble woman will do her best!" Ashuang knelt down to express her gratitude.

……

However, in the following days, Ashuang fell into unprecedented anxiety.

The drawing on that blueprint depicted a legendary mythical beast—the Candle Dragon.

It stretched for thousands of miles, with a human face and a snake's body, holding fire essence in its mouth, and chasing the sun. The painter's brushstrokes were extremely lifelike, vividly depicting the majesty and domineering aura of that ancient mythical beast.

Ashuang locked herself in her room and carved day and night.

Her craftsmanship was truly exceptional; she could carve the dragon's body, scales, and even claws with remarkable realism. However, whenever she tried to carve the "dragon's eyes," her carving knife simply wouldn't come down.

"No...nothing's right..."

Ashuang looked at the ice dragon that had taken shape but was missing a pair of eyes, tears streamed down her face. "The finishing touch... without that spirit, it's just a dead snake, not a dragon."

"But... what do real dragons look like?"

She was just an ordinary person, and the most powerful animal she had ever seen in her life was a tiger in the mountains. Where had she ever seen such a mythical beast that only existed in legends?

If you can't imagine it, you can't carve it.

As the delivery date drew closer, Ashuang became so anxious that blisters appeared on the corners of her mouth, and she quickly lost weight, even the little bit of health she had managed to regain disappeared.

A hundred feet away.

Su Bai watched this scene, and his heart stirred slightly.

"The Candle Dragon Chases the Sun..."

Su Bai stared at the blueprint, lost in thought. In this small world born from the remnant soul of Xuanming, the "Candle Dragon" totem had actually appeared, and it was even specifically requested by the city lord.

This is no coincidence.

This means that even though Xuanming has forgotten everything, there are still traces of him deep in his shattered subconscious.

"She couldn't capture the spirit of the sculpture because she forgot me."

Su Bai's gaze was deep, his fingers lightly tapping the table. "Perhaps... this is an opportunity to awaken her memories?"

Although Pingxin had said that they should proceed step by step, seeing Ashuang so painfully trying to grasp that blurry shadow but unable to, Su Bai felt that perhaps he could give her a little push.

"Since you want to see a real dragon..."

Su Bai stood up, his figure gradually becoming ethereal, transforming into a gray stream of light that disappeared into the night.

"Then I'll let you see enough."

……

Late at night, the wind and snow stopped.

Ashuang lay on the cold table, still clutching the carving knife tightly in her hand. Exhausted, she fell asleep without realizing it.

The dream arrived as expected.

In her dream, she found herself no longer in that drafty little house, but standing on a vast, desolate, and ancient ice field.

The sky was dark red; there was no sun, only eternal gloom.

"Where am I...?"

Ashuang was a little scared and looked around blankly.

Just then.

"roar--!!!"

A desolate, distant roar, seemingly spanning countless ages, suddenly resounded across the sky without warning.

Ashuang suddenly looked up.

Suddenly, a huge crack appeared in the dim sky.

A colossal, crimson dragon, so enormous it could encircle mountains, slowly emerged from the crack.

It was a bizarre face with a human face and a snake's body, but it was not ferocious. Instead, it exuded a kind of holiness and majesty that made people want to worship it.

Especially those eyes.

His left eye was like the sun, and his right eye was like the moon.

The moment those eyes opened, the previously dark world instantly became as bright as day!

Time, at this moment, seemed to be visualized, flowing slowly around it.

"Candle... Dragon..."

Ashuang stared blankly at the giant dragon, unconsciously uttering those two words.

She had never seen this creature before, but for some reason, the moment she saw it, a feeling so familiar that it made her want to cry instantly overwhelmed her heart.

The giant dragon circled in the air, then lowered its head, its enormous eyes looking down at the tiny girl.

There was no oppression, no murderous intent.

There was actually a hint of... tenderness hidden in that gaze?

"Did you see it clearly?"

A gentle voice echoed in Ashuang's mind, "This is Zhulong."

The dragon swooped down but did not harm her. Instead, it circled her slowly, displaying every detail of itself and the texture of every scale clearly before her.

Ashuang stared blankly, tears streaming down her face without her realizing it.

"I...I feel like I've seen you somewhere before..."

She reached out, wanting to touch the enormous dragon horn.

Just as my fingertips were about to touch it, the dream shattered.

……

"what!"

Ashuang suddenly woke up from the table, panting heavily, her whole body already soaked in cold sweat.

By this time, it was already dawn.

She looked at the unfinished ice sculpture in front of her, and the image of the crimson dragon in her mind was still crystal clear, especially its eyes that contained the sun, moon and time, which were engraved in her heart like a brand.

"That feeling..."

Ashuang clutched her chest, where a strange, sharp pain was throbbing, as if she had lost something most precious. "Why...why do I feel so sad when I see it?"

Although her heart was filled with doubt and sorrow, her hands seemed to have a mind of their own.

She picked up the carving knife, and this time, without the slightest hesitation.

Brush brush!

Ice shards flew everywhere.

The blade moved across the ice as if divinely aided.

In just half an hour, a pair of majestic, deep dragon eyes, seemingly able to see through time, appeared on the ice sculpture.

The finishing touch!

As the final strike landed, the once lifeless ice sculpture suddenly burst forth with an indescribable divine aura, as if it were about to break through the ice and fly away in the next second!

"It's done..."

Ashuang watched this scene, but felt no joy.

She stared blankly at the ice dragon, her eyes becoming empty and lost.

"Who is it? Who am I?"

"Why... do I feel like it's waiting for me?"

……

In the days that followed, Ashuang's life did not become easier after completing the task.

Instead, she fell into a deeper anguish.

That dream did not end when I woke up.

Since that night, she has dreamed of the Candle Dragon almost every night. Sometimes it hovers over the icy plains, sometimes it shields her from a fatal blow in a storm, and sometimes... it is the blurry silhouette of a man in black, saying to her, "I'll take you home."

Every time she woke up from a dream, she would find her pillow soaked with sweat, and her heart would ache as if it were being torn apart.

The throbbing and sense of loss that came from the depths of her soul tormented her, making her grow increasingly haggard. Even when she was carving during the day, she would often stare blankly at the ice dragon, tears inexplicably streaming down her face.

A hundred feet away.

Su Bai looked at Ashuang's increasingly thin figure and saw her suffering because of that non-existent "illusion," and his heart was filled with regret.

"I was wrong……"

Su Bai slapped himself hard. "I was too hasty!"

He thought that awakening his memories was a good thing, but he forgot that Xuanming was just a mortal now, and a mortal with a broken soul!

Her soul was like a cracked porcelain vase, utterly unable to withstand the magnificent yet tragic memories of the ancestral witch. Forcibly awakening her would only cause her to collapse between reality and memory, and might even shatter her already fragile spirit completely!

"We can't upset her any further."

Su Bai felt an overwhelming pang of heartache seeing Ah Shuang clutching her chest in pain.

"Forget about it...forget about it for now."

Su Bai sighed, raised his hand and cast a gentle time law, which silently entered Ashuang's dream, sealing and fading the memory of Zhulong once again.

"As long as you live a peaceful and safe life, that's all that matters."

"Leave the rest to me."

From then on, Su Bai stopped trying to awaken any memories.

He simply stood silently by the small courtyard, like an invisible guardian angel. He shielded her from all the storms, helped her recover, and watched as she delivered the ice sculpture to the city lord's mansion, received the reward money, repaired the house, and a smile returned to her face.

Even though his shadow was no longer in that smile.

As long as she smiles, that's enough.