Hope's eyes widened, her gaze shifting towards the long hallway. Her eyes dilated at the sight of the wooden door standing at the end of the hallway. She quickly stood up, dusting herself off as the cat slowly walked forward.
"Where is this taking us?" She asked absentmindedly.
The cat remained silent as a brick, ignoring her words as if they were air, and continued. The three Hunters, including Schizel, followed after her, but after hearing their footsteps, Hope glanced in annoyance, which made the three quicken their pace.
Zixin is not worth all that effort to look for… except for me… Hope sighed internally.
She shifted her gaze, glancing at Schizel and thought: As for him, as long as he doesn't harm us, it should be good for us.
She withdrew her gaze and walked forward with the cat leading the way. On their way, Schizel suddenly asked, "Why did you ask just now?"
Hope blinked twice, and he elaborated, "What I meant was, why did you just ask where the hallway leads to?"
He does make a good point. No one besides me, Zixin, and Fang Hau would know that this black cat can talk. No sane person would think like that, but Schizel probably already figured it out and is just trying to probe. Hope smiled lightly and said.
"Isn't it normal to blurt things out of surprise?"
Schizel's gaze remained the same, his eyes deep like an abyss. He stepped back and chose to keep silent for the rest of the way.
Hope didn't look back but instead heard the three Hunters talking to each other.
"Hey, boss, what would we do if we kill Zixin?" Although she didn't turn around, she felt like that voice sounded like Jack.
"Are you two serious? We can do whatever we want. Even if we kill him, as long as we bring his head, we'd be famous. And if he survives, that just means that we'll have to humiliate him while he's still alive." Eman spoke resolutely, his eyes fuming with hatred.
This… there wouldn't even be benefits. Others might not know this, but I did; I did my research, and even though gathering documents was difficult, finding rumors wasn't. As long as someone was in a position of power, there would probably be rumors slandering them. This was the case for Zixin, a member of the Longevity Bloodline, but… although it was a prestigious Bloodline, it didn't come with all the benefits rumors would suggest. As Hope thought, her expression softened, remembering the first time she saw him.
Back then, she found him on Mount Lorebale, lying on the ground with tears flowing down his cheeks. There was a wolf corpse next to him, and Hope chose to ignore it but instead focus her attention on treating his injuries.
One of his biggest failures was entering the Hex Zone, splitting his mind, so that one would be sent to the White Palace where his ability lies. Because I've talked a lot with him, I can deduce most of the truths, but it's really a… pity. She reached her hand forward, trying to grab something, but there was only air.
She pulled her hand back and realized what she had just done and contemplated silently while following the cat. The cat noticed the door and increased its pace.
Moments later, they halted, stopping not close to the door. Hope took a deep breath, steeling herself and extending her hand, reaching for the doorknob. She slowly opened the door, and a loud creaking sound echoed.
When the door opened, a foul smell wafted through the air. Hope waved her hand, fanning her surroundings and backing off, and as the scent moved through the air, it reached Schizel, who had no reaction.
However, when it reached the three Hunters, their eyes widened, and they backed off several meters with faces filled with disgust.
She glanced at Schizel and noticed his indifference but immediately forgot about it as the scent rushed through her nostrils, assaulting her.
Hope quickly shut the door, and the scent started to dissipate in the air. Once it did, Hope let out a deep sigh of relief. She glanced at the three Hunters, and sensing her intention, Eman took a deep gulp of air and spoke hesitantly, "I'll… lead."
Eman stepped forward, and not long after, he arrived right next to the door. He opened the door and walked inside with the rest following after.
The inside was out of the ordinary. What looked like furniture was either burned down or had already rotted away, as the scent of decay and rot wafted through the air. Hope bit her lip and tried to search, but immediately noticed the cat moving towards the center of the room.
In there was a large piece of destroyed furniture that appeared to be a bed. The cat tapped a plank that was somehow intact, alongside the entire bedframe. Schizel walked forward and lifted the plank, revealing a spiraling staircase leading down.
Schizel entered with Hope following after, taking the cat back to her bag. The three Hunters followed with wary and excited expressions.
The staircase wasn't long, but it was rather narrow, with small lamps at intervals on the wall that emitted dim green light. At the end, Schizel stepped forward, followed by Hope, who saw the white room.
The room was neat and clean, with white walls and a large chandelier atop. On the walls were strange engravings of an unknown language glowing just like the lamps. At the center was a young man wearing a white linen shirt and black pants. His long white hair cascaded down to his waist like a flowing river.
The center of the room had a strange crescent moon with three circles on each end, respectively, and at the center of the crescent.
The young man opened his eyes and noticed the incoming bunch. When he saw the three Hunters, a flash of annoyance crossed his eyes before it quickly returned to normal.
He also saw Hope and Schizel who he never saw before despite having gone to the underground market quite a bit.
Schizel ignored Zixin and tried to sit down, but Zixin immediately stood up and grabbed his wrist, preventing him. Schizel gave Zixin's expression a thorough examination before standing up and stopping.
Unfortunately, the three Hunters attacked in unison, but since Schizel was quite close, he became an unexpected target. He raised his left hand and blocked the three with ease.
Zixin released his hold and said to them, "If you want my head, that will have to wait until the matter with Mount Lorebale is dealt with."
The three bit their lips and fell silent.
Zixin shifted his gaze to Hope, but before he knew it, she hugged him, her body warm like the morning sun. Zixin blinked twice in confusion. He raised his hands but ultimately chose not to embrace her fully.
The three Hunters who had just gotten beaten saw this, and their eyes widened, and their jaws dropped. Schizel, on the other hand, looked curiously for a second before withdrawing his gaze.
"You… What happened?" Zixin asked, his tone laced with concern and confusion.
Suddenly, he heard sobbing noises, and when Hope lifted her head to meet his gaze, tears had already started flowing down her cheeks.
"How could I not be worried?! If you die, I'll be stuck here forever and most likely die to the Wolf Lord. Although it's an ending, it's not the one I want." Hope spoke, her body trembling and growing slightly weak.
"But don't you appreciate all endings?" Zixin asked, his confusion rising.
Hope stepped back, wiping her tears, her expression turning a little red. She said, appearing rather upset, "Of course I do! But… we're friends; I'd rather have you live than die. Who doesn't love happy endings?"
Zixin fell silent, and after a while, he spoke solemnly, "I'm sorry."
Hope finished wiping her tears, replying, "It's fine. As long as we complete this, it's worth it."
Zixin nodded silently.
Hope sighed and opened her bag, taking out the artifact shell and handing it to Zixin. He grabbed the artifact shell and sat back down at the center of the room.
He closed his eyes and split his mind, entering the White Palace. Soon, he felt a portion of the artifact's will entering his mind and stepping into the White Palace.
When it entered, he couldn't help but recall when he had tried to learn it with the wolf's will.
…
A few days back, inside the storage room, Zixin sat down with the wolf corpse right in front of him. Inside the White Palace, the two were discussing.
"So you think it's better to try first… hmm, it doesn't sound like a bad idea," Zixin said and started to think of simple conditions.
After a bit, he spoke the terms: "When I 'lend' Snowdrop, you can only use it when I speak the word 'now'."
The wolf nodded, and Zixin grabbed his Heart, the rusted key, and activated Snowdrop. Soon, a surge of power entered his body, but since he hadn't touched anything yet, it wouldn't work.
Not even a minute in, a wave of exhaustion nearly overwhelmed him, making him feel dizzy and blurring his vision. He bit his lip and grabbed the wolf's will.
The strange surge moved through his body, and the condition he had just spoken of suddenly rang through his mind like a loud echo from a valley. As the surge moved from his body to the wolf's will, the wave of exhaustion subsided, gradually disappearing over time.
After the feeling vanished, he released his grip on both the wolf's will and the key. He sighed and took a deep breath, recovering slightly before asking, "Did it work?"
The wolf's will nodded. When it did, Zixin paused and a wave of joy spread through him.
It actually worked. He thought, smiling lightly from excitement.
"Now," Zixin said, and observed the wolf's reaction. After a long time passed, nothing happened. Zixin pondered for a second: Nothing… hmm? I have an idea.
He closed his eyes and left the White Palace. Just as he did, both of his minds merged together, returning to normal. He opened his eyes in the real world and took out his wallet, grabbing a coin and placing it on the floor. He slowly pushed the coin until it finally touched the wolf corpse's paw.
He immediately entered the White Palace and touched the wolf corpse, and the wolf's will entered the White Palace with him.
When it appeared, Zixin immediately noticed its expression, containing its worry and shock. The wolf's will howled, and after translating it, Zixin thought to himself: It's confused about how I am fine even after using Snowdrop? What did it even experience?
Before he could even ask, it howled again, but after hearing it, Zixin paused.
"I see… experiencing the pain of melting under such intense heat certainly sounds painful. Apologies." He said after a bit of thought.
"Truth be told, I haven't used Snowdrop much—only three times, to be exact. The first was on a scholar named Elmer, the second was on the strangely proud wooden table, and the last was on the pitiful Wolf Lord." He fell silent, recalling the events, then continuing, "Although these have helped shape me more and even increased my understanding of Snowdrop, at the end of the day, I am me, Zixin, Zixin of Longevity."
The wolf howled, its voice softer.
"The pain? Well…" Zixin closed his eyes as the memories of the past flooded him.
On his first time on Mount Lorebale, he used Snowdrop on Elmer, successfully entering the Hex Zone after three years of failure. But the memories weren't without bitterness. He vividly remembered Elmer suffering the betrayal of Cael, the same person who betrayed him and set them up. This ultimately led to Elmer's death.
There were also the wooden table's lofty memories. It was filled with pride unlike anything he had ever seen before, but this pride only made the pain of having its body torn apart into countless pieces even more painful.
And lastly, the Wolf Lord. The greatest pain to the Wolf Lord was losing its mother, which forced it to become stronger. Zixin understood what it felt like to lose your mother, but in the end, their paths were vastly different.
"It was painful, but I learned a lot from them," Zixin answered, his eyes filled with melancholy.
The wolf pondered for a second before posing a question with a low howl.
"Huh? Well, whenever I use Snowdrop, it doesn't take much time at all. So, experiencing two years in an instant for you seems reasonable." Zixin's gaze returned to normal after the question, and he started to think.