Chapter 0139

Chapter 139: Nothing but a Little Wind and Frost

Zhang Chu Qiao opened her eyes and found herself in a strange world. It was an endless sea. The water barely covered the tops of her feet. She looked down and saw a perfect face reflected there, then ripples blurred it out.

She took a breath as her gaze cleared and said to herself: “I remember. This is the spiritual world. I’m breaking through the Heavenly Dao blockade. I need to leave here fast, then go help Junior Brother.”

She picked a direction and started to run. As long as she didn’t stop, she would find the edge of the world someday. But the sea stirred. A wave rolled toward her from far away. It wasn’t even three feet high and it moved slowly, but it stretched out so far she could not dodge it.

She snorted and swung her palm, saying coolly: “Nothing to fear.” Her power roared and should have torn the water apart. But it was like punching cotton. Her aura blasted the distance, yet the wave still came on time and slapped her full on.

With her level, even a thousand-foot tsunami would not bother her. But she cried out in surprise, lost her footing, and fell into the water.

She sputtered as the water deepened and struggled back to her feet, only to feel her strength fade and a tiredness like never before weigh her down. She clenched her teeth and realized: “I get it. It’s not that simple.”

Pain pounded in her head. The waves carried the ache of the mind and held the memories she least wanted to face. Everyone has a past and hurts they cannot bear to look at. When the waves crashed, those hurts stacked together and grew a hundred times heavier. This was the Heavenly Dao’s test. Only by defeating the past could a person carry a great destiny and walk into the future. Even Zhang Chu Qiao nearly failed to bear it.

Her face grew solemn as the sea rose again, this time not gentle at all. Ten layers of waves came one after another, each higher than the last, power multiplying each time.

She sucked in a sharp breath. Even she felt a sliver of fear.

Then a voice sounded beside her, calm and familiar, and she turned in joy: “Junior Brother?”

Zhou Tong answered with a warm smile in his eyes: “I’m here.” His aura stirred, and with a light move he shattered the waves and boiled the whole sea away to mist.

She stared, stunned, and whispered: “What incredible spiritual power.” He struck again, tore open space, and made a straight path through the void.

He pointed and said: “Go back. Follow this and you’ll shake off the Heavenly Dao blockade and return to the real world.”

Her heart jumped and she asked at once: “What about you? Won’t you come with me?”

He laughed and pointed behind him, where space had cracked to show a very different world, and he said lightly: “Me? I still have my own test to finish. Senior Sister, take care.”

He looked back once, then stepped through. She did not hesitate and called out as she chased: “Wait for me.”

The moment she entered the New World, a deafening blast sounded behind her. The old world shattered and vanished. Before she could be shocked, a dreadful aura swept across the land. It shook her to the core, but did not truly harm her. This was Zhou Tong’s spiritual world. She was an outsider, so it did not target her.

Only now did she have time to look closely. One glance stole her breath. It was a world of blood and fire. The sky burned. Below, a pool of blood boiled. Countless skulls clawed and cried. Ghosts stuffed the heavens. Cruelty was everywhere. Compared with this, her trial had been like a gentle rain.

Her eyes grew misty as pain tightened her chest and she chased the distant figure, thinking: [Junior Brother, what have you lived through?]

She ran hard, wanting to hold him and comfort him and smooth away every hurt. But the truth was cruel. It was like they stood in two different worlds. They stayed a short distance apart, yet she could not catch him.

She did not know how long it went on. Then the world changed. Blood and fire faded. Cutting winds screamed and bitter snow fell. She shivered and hugged herself. Even as an outsider, she felt the cold. The snow piled higher and higher. The wind grew heavier and heavier, and each step took all her strength.

Her foot slipped and she cried out: “Ah.” She was about to fall when she landed in a warm embrace.

Zhou Tong smiled, frost lining his hair and cheeks, and said softly: “I caught you.”

She curled her arms around him and corrected with tender eyes: “It’s me who caught you. You finally noticed me.”

Blood and fire, wind and snow were only the surface. The terrible part was the rush of past memories. She could not know how deep his pain went. She stroked the ice on his face and called with love: “Junior Brother…”

He met her gaze and said calmly: “Don’t worry. It’s nothing but a little wind and frost.” His tone only made her heart ache more.

She shook her head and urged him, voice firm: “Don’t carry it alone. Across thousands of mountains and rivers, will you take me to see them with you?”

He asked with a faint smile: “And if the road ahead is the halls of Hell?”

She held his eyes without fear and answered: “Then I will still be with you.” As she spoke, heat flowed from her body and melted the ice on his face.

He turned and nodded: “Since that’s so, follow me and don’t fall behind.”

They walked on, this time shoulder to shoulder. Zhang Chu Qiao braced both hands against Zhou Tong’s back and supported him as they moved with steady steps. The world changed many more times: a sun that scorched the earth, Heavenly Devils raging across the land, Asura demons roaring with endless wrath. Calamity after calamity unfolded, but they did not flinch. They crossed them all. After a long time, they finally found a bright passage.

She cheered with relief and pointed: “We can go back.”

Zhou Tong lifted his hand and blew the path to dust. She stared and protested, anxious: “Junior Brother, what are you doing? Without a road, how do we get out?”

He turned, starlight bright in his eyes, and answered simply: “Easy. I’ll open the road myself.”

Light burst from him without restraint, shining over ten directions. Zhang Chu Qiao watched him, dazzled, as he clapped the rhythm and sang with easy grace, yet every word held deep sorrow:

He said with a clear voice: “Across the raging seas walks a free wanderer; fate cuts the loving without mercy. I have stepped through the halls of Nine Nether and wish only for all blades and spears to grow quiet. Spirits wronged in death will find release, and the bridge of the afterlife will lift the lost. I will sweep the filth from heaven and earth and scour away the frost to honor those who fell.”

At his last word, heaven and earth trembled and thundered. He spoke again, steady and sure: “Let there be a road.”

And there was a road.