After the path was cut off

The road down the mountain was more difficult to walk than the road up the mountain.

He was becoming increasingly afraid of the Hall of Mastery; its silence seemed to hold back its power, as if it were about to unleash a powerful attack.

Li Wangxiang wasn't sure if he could bear the responsibility; that unfinished letter home might have to be turned into a will.

We must leave something for future generations, for relatives we may never see again.

Li Wangxiang stepped down the jade steps, the wind and snow swirling around the hem of his robe, the end of the mountain path a vast expanse of white.

But the moment he looked up, his steps suddenly faltered slightly.

There are people ahead.

The person stood in the wind and snow, wearing a black cloak, with black hair hanging down, and a slender figure. The world was covered in snow, and she alone was like a stroke of ink that refused to dissolve, silently lying in the middle of the road down the mountain.

Siam.

She seemed to have been waiting there all along, her posture unchanged. The edge of her cloak fluttered slightly in the wind, revealing half of her pale wrist.

The black and gold treasure pouch had already quietly settled in her palm.

Li Wangxiang's pupils contracted slightly.

He recognized it immediately; it was Siam's famous magical artifact, the [Wish-Fulfilling Pouch].

The next instant, the Siamese man pointed his fingers together, gently gestured, and softly uttered four words:

"Fire Vein Lock Form".

boom--

Below the mountain path, the earth suddenly trembled.

A crimson line of fire suddenly erupted from the ground without warning, as if it had been pulled out from the depths of the mountains. Then, a second, a third, a fourth... In the blink of an eye, several fiery veins crisscrossed, rising simultaneously from Li Wangxiang's feet and all around him, instantly forming a semi-circular fire prison that trapped him inside.

The fire surged, and the heat was oppressive.

Standing in the fiery prison, Li Wangxiang felt the two cracked Dao Foundations deep within the Crimson Palace tremble slightly, and his sea of ​​consciousness also felt a series of sharp pains.

He had anticipated that someone would test his true abilities.

But I never expected it to come so quickly and so fiercely.

Li Wangxiang raised his eyes, looking at Siam through the flickering firelight, his voice not loud:

"Did Lord Huanyou send you?"

Siam stood outside in the wind and snow, his expression indifferent.

"Of course not."

Li Wangxiang's gaze darkened slightly.

"If that's not the case, why test me?"

Siam looked at him and said casually:

"Of course, I've got my eye on the treasure you brought from Beichen. Hand it over obediently, and I won't make things difficult for you."

Upon hearing this, Li Wangxiang actually twitched the corners of his mouth slightly.

"Then you're too late. I've already given the treasure to Lord Huanyou. If you want it, you should ask Lord Huanyou for a reward."

The wind and snow, carrying the firelight, swept between the two.

Siam did not respond immediately.

She simply stared at Li Wangxiang for a moment, and the tense coldness in her eyes seemed to loosen almost imperceptibly.

The person who can prioritize the Hall of Merit is none other than Li Wangxiang.

But the next moment, she slightly closed her five fingers.

The raging crimson flames in the fiery prison suddenly tightened, and the underground fire veins surged up again, with heat waves pressing down on the center layer by layer.

Li Wangxiang frowned slightly. Siam had been in the late stage of Foundation Establishment for many years, and he couldn't beat him even in his prime, let alone now.

Without hesitation, he pulled out a talisman that had already been imbued with spiritual energy from his sleeve and placed it in front of him.

But just as he was about to unleash his power, Siam suddenly spoke, his voice still cold and flat:

"【Hundred-Mile Escape Talisman】".

"How extravagant! Such a precious talisman, just used up like that?"

Li Wangxiang remained unmoved.

"Bei Chen has returned, but he is severely injured and is not fit for combat."

"I'll come back another day to learn from you."

The Siamese man's eyes gleamed with a cold light.

"It's just a matter of putting in a little more effort."

"I can't trap you today, but I'll have plenty of ways to deal with you in the future."

She paused, her voice lower and colder:

"Li Wangxiang, you can escape for now—"

"Can you really escape forever?"

The moment those words reached his ears, Li Wangxiang's heart jolted.

In a daze, he seemed to hear again the echoing, reverberating voice of judgment from his dream—

Escape? ...Can you escape for a while, or for a lifetime...?

The talisman between the fingers has not yet been activated.

The firelight reflected in his eyes, and for a moment he seemed lost in thought.

Outside the fiery prison, Siam had a complete view of everything.

That wasn't the reaction she had expected.

But it was precisely because of this that she felt even more strongly that Li Wangxiang had something to hide.

"Li Wangxiang".

She stared at him and spoke slowly.

"What are you afraid of?"

Li Wangxiang lowered his eyes and did not answer immediately.

He has roughly figured it out.

The fact that Siam had to personally test her was most likely due to that survivor. That person must have something extremely unusual about them, which is why she had drawn her suspicions all the way to herself.

A few breaths later, Li Wangxiang raised his eyes again, his voice a few decibels deeper than before.

"You have questions, and so do I."

Since we can't avoid it today, we might as well ask for clarification.

"You ask me one question, and I'll ask you one question."

Siam neither immediately agreed nor refused.

She simply looked at him, and after a moment, slowly spoke:

"Lord Huanyou, has he ever issued a decree to you?"

Li Wangxiang answered quickly.

"no."

Siam's eyes flickered slightly. Without any decree, yet so ostentatiously bidding for sacred land to establish a celestial gate—was this his own idea, or the General Affairs Department's? Siam already had a vague suspicion.

"now you."

Li Wangxiang paused for a moment before asking:

"Is there anything unusual about the survivor you brought back?"

A chill ran through Siamese eyes.

"He doesn't speak human language and has no sense of reverence."

"Oh, right, he also has some special abilities, such as transforming into white light..."

Li Wangxiang's fingertips clenched almost imperceptibly.

When Zhao Si'er disappeared, she also turned into a puff of white smoke and vanished.

Between these two—

Is there really some connection?

Outside the fiery prison, Siam's gaze never left him.

That extremely slight pause, of course, did not escape her notice.

It was indeed true that Li Wangxiang and the survivor were not completely unrelated.

After a moment, Siam spoke again.

"What did Shen Bai say to you?"

Upon hearing this, Li Wangxiang's mind raced, but he showed no sign of it on his face, simply saying:

"Shen Bai intends to have me bid for a sacred site."

"As for where we are going—we cannot say for sure at this time."

"I can only tell you that this is not the intention of the General Affairs Department."

"It means a higher level."

Upon hearing this, a genuine change finally appeared in Siam's eyes.

The change was so subtle, yet it did not escape Li Wangxiang's notice.

He lied, but in the end, it was indeed the [Shi Shui] True Man. He knew that this attempt to leverage the situation had worked, so he followed up by asking:

"Why do you say that the survivor—doesn't speak human language and knows no reverence?"

The wind and snow swept across the mountain path, while the crimson flames in the fire prison continued to churn silently.

Siam did not respond immediately.

She simply looked at Li Wangxiang, her gaze even colder than before, as if trying to determine whether the question was a test or if he truly cared.

After a moment, she spoke softly:

"I cannot say about this."

Li Wangxiang's eyes flickered slightly.

"To fulfill Lord You's decree?"

Upon hearing this, Siam paused for a moment, a rare occurrence.

"It is not the decree of the adults."

She paused, her voice still calm, yet it inexplicably sent a chill down one's spine.

"But Aoto said—"

"The things the survivors said should not be known to anyone."

The mountain wind suddenly picked up.

Li Wangxiang fell silent.

This scene seemed familiar. Back then, when the eldest sister was ordered to perish, the True Person summoned her and issued a similar decree to silence her.

No one should know how similar they are; that's why my senior brother is so taciturn.

After a few breaths, he slowly said:

"it is good."

"I've memorized that sentence."

Outside the fiery prison, Siam watched him silently, as if also trying to see how much he had actually understood.

A moment later, she loosened her grip slightly.

The churning flames around them did not immediately dissipate, nor did they continue to press inward, maintaining only that scorching and dangerous boundary.

This means she's giving up.

The [Hundred-Mile Escape Talisman] that Li Wangxiang held at his fingertips, yet remained dormant, was ultimately not activated.

The two were on opposite sides, one inside and one outside, only a few steps apart, yet the mountain path seemed to be covered by an invisible layer of ice.

After a long while, Siam finally opened.

"Li Wangxiang".

"You'd better always stay yourself."

Her tone was flat, almost without any emotion.

But precisely because of this, no one doubts that this is not a threat, but a line that she has already drawn in her mind.

"otherwise--"

Her gaze fell on Li Wangxiang, like a blade gently turning in the snow.

"Next time, I won't trap you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Siam raised his hand and waved it.

The black and gold treasure pouch trembled slightly, and the spiritual patterns at the pouch's opening flickered. The several fire veins crisscrossing the mountain path instantly surged back like a tide and disappeared back into the ground.

The heatwave dissipated, and the white vapor faded with the wind.

Li Wangxiang stood still, not moving immediately.

He simply lowered his eyes to feel the churning spiritual energy within his body, and only after the sharp, stinging pain gradually subsided did he raise his eyes again.

But in the snowstorm ahead, the Siamese were nowhere to be seen.

"I am who I am..."

Li Wangxiang repeated it softly.

"I am who I am..."

Why does Siam say that?