Yunxi and Xun Kun were furious enough to curse, yet they had no choice but to step forward and clean up the mess. If they did not, the ones who would benefit in the end would be the evil cultivators who had entered the Misty Snow Domain. Both of them suspected that the Zou siblings might be accomplices of the evil cultivators, deliberately stirring chaos.
The deep blue in the Snow Wolf King's eyes did not fade. It stared fixedly at Yunxi."Human cultivators, if my child dies, every cultivator who entered this place will be buried with him. I, Xue Li, keep my word."
"Alright. Agreed."
Yunxi could only accept first. She was a human cultivator. Even if she did not want the blame, she had to shoulder it.
Snow Wolf King Xue Li then led Yunxi and Xun Kun to rejoin the pack.
Throughout the secret realm, cultivators heard the Snow Wolf King's piercing howl and the responses from other snow beasts. Many halted their steps in confusion. Some bold ones had already begun to creep toward the wolves' location.
Only the three companions who had separated from the Zou siblings had a rough idea of what had happened. They wanted nothing more than to get as far from the wolf pack as possible, praying not to be dragged into the disaster.
"Senior Brother, what do you think the Zou siblings did to enrage the Snow Wolf King?"
The first woman who escaped asked with an ashen face.
"Hmph. Knowing Zou Suyao's nature, if she cannot obtain something, she destroys it. Eighty percent chance she harmed the king's cub."
As their Senior Brother, he knew well how arrogant and overbearing the Zou siblings were.
"We did not help them this time. If she causes trouble for us when we get back, what then?"
The male cultivator snorted in disdain. "Cause trouble for us? That is only if they can leave the Misty Snow Domain alive. The Snow Wolf King is fifth-rank. Do you think it will let the Zou siblings walk away after harming its cub?"
The woman still looked uneasy. "What if the two Zūnzhě intervene?"
"The two Zūnzhě will never save them. The dignity of Divine Transformation Zūnzhě is not so easily provoked.
Zou Suyao is a fool. She thinks that because the secret realm suppresses the two Zūnzhě's cultivation, she can stand on equal footing with them. Ridiculous.
Ran Xi Zūnzhě ended six fourth-rank snow wolves in a single exchange. Xun Kun Zūnzhě at her side did not even need to act. That is the gap in strength.
Zou Suyao even wanted a Divine Transformation Zūnzhě to take the calamity for her. Daydreaming. In the end she will not even know how she died." He spoke with certainty, clearly still incensed by the Zou siblings.
After thinking it over, the woman said, "In that case, when we get out, we say the five of us were pulled into the Misty Snow Domain and became separated. You and I are Dao companions, so we found each other through the Heartlink Knot. As for the other three, we did not encounter them. The Zou siblings' life or death has nothing to do with us."
"Good. We will say exactly that. I believe Junior Brother Zhou, if he does not want trouble, will say the same."
The two quickened their pace to flee farther.
The mentioned Junior Brother Zhou was also cursing the Zou siblings in his heart. If not for pressure from their masters, he would never have teamed up with them. Even the mild-tempered Senior Brother Liang could not tolerate their selfish arrogance. This time they had nearly dragged everyone into the grave. He only hoped the wolf pack would tear the Zou siblings to pieces so they would stop harming others.
Deep in the underground cavern, Yun Chen and Han Lian had already finished harvesting the local resources. After a brief discussion, they decided to keep following the underground river. It would eventually flow into a greater river, then into a large waterway. That way they could leave the depths and reach the surface, so they did not hear the Snow Wolf King's mourning howl.
When Yunxi and Xun Kun followed Xue Li to the wolf mother, she was licking the blue blood from the little snow wolf's fur. The pup's aura was growing weaker. Even though the wolf mother tried to pass her own power into the cub through her tongue, the little one's breath did not strengthen.
Xue Li called out, and only then did the wolf mother look back. Her ice-blue eyes had already turned a deep blue. She had pushed her power to its limit, and her fury had peaked as well. When she saw Yunxi and Xun Kun, her lips curled to bare her sharp fangs, ready to attack.
The Snow Wolf King nuzzled his mate's head, as if explaining why the two humans had come.
Yunxi flipped her palm over, revealing a leaf from the Shengji Tree on her hand. She offered it to Xue Li. "This is a leaf from the Shengji Tree. Let your child hold it in his mouth to keep his vitality from scattering. Only then can I treat him."
Soothed by Xue Li, the wolf mother's deep blue gaze slowly lightened back to ice-blue. She sniffed the leaf, swallowed it, then approached the pup and passed the leaf into his mouth.
Moments after the vitality leaf entered, the little wolf's aura steadied. He remained extremely weak, but at least he was no longer worsening.
Yunxi and Xun Kun both exhaled in relief. A good start.
Xun Kun sent a voice transmission. "Ran Xi, that was Ye Yirui's thank-you gift to you. You are being very generous."
"No choice. We have to stabilize the pup's vitality first, or we will not even have a chance to treat him. We need time."
Xun Kun asked, still uneasy, "Can you do it?"
"I do not know. It depends on how grave the injuries are. Do not worry. I am the sole successor of Yixian Gate. Have some faith in me."
"Alright. Treat him with everything you have. If the worst happens and you fail, we will join forces against the Snow Wolf King and his mate."
Xun Kun trusted Ran Xi, but he still prepared for the worst. He could not allow every cultivator in the secret realm to pay for the Zou siblings' malice.
Their exchange was all through voice transmission. Over there, the wolf couple also sensed a glimmer of hope as the pup's aura no longer declined. They turned to Yunxi, signaling for her to come examine him.
Yunxi nodded to Xun Kun, then stepped forward to the wolf couple and crouched down to inspect the pup. She released a silken thread of spiritual power. The moment it touched the pup's still-wet blue blood, it triggered something, just like when she saw the ruby ring worn by Ye Yuchen. Fragmentary images flashed before her eyes once more.
Through those broken scenes, she saw that after the pup's death, the snow wolves, crazed for vengeance, forged an alliance with the evil cultivators and slaughtered every human cultivator who had entered the Misty Snow Domain. They helped the evil cultivators contract the realm spirit, turning the secret realm into a mobile lair for the enemy.
By forming an equal pact with the evil cultivators, the snow wolves left the Misty Snow Domain. Snow Wolf King Xue Li led the pack to annihilate the Northern Region's Hanbing Sect, the very sect to which the Zou siblings belonged, avenging his child.
From then on, the snow wolves were dragged into the war between righteous and demonic. They were not born to do evil. They only sought vengeance for a murdered child.
The visions vanished in the next instant. Yunxi drew a deep breath. She was grateful she had stalled the Zou siblings for one breath, giving the Snow Wolf King the chance to kill the culprits himself and vent his wrath for the moment. Now she had to do everything in her power to bring the little wolf back from the brink.