In the Tianshu era, Mianzhou was covered in heavy snow.

The Endless Sea was sealed by snow for a hundred thousand li, all the way to the Canglang Northern Domain.

***

It was too cold here. A thin layer of ice floated on the stagnant water.

Wu Xingxue stood on a withered tree in the water, washing the blood from his hands.

Those hands were slender and fair, untouched by the mortal world, as if they had only ever teased the birds of Yao Palace or admired the flowers of the Immortal Capital.

But not long ago, those two fingers had ripped off several heads.

So he washed them meticulously, showing no intention of speaking. The people waiting on the shore dared not speak either.

After a long time of holding their breath, they finally heard him say a sentence.

“What year is it?” Wu Xingxue asked.

His voice, traveling across the vast expanse of water, sounded a bit indistinct.

The people on the shore took a moment to react before hastily answering, “The twenty-fifth year of Tianshu.”

Wu Xingxue sniffed his washed fingers and finally turned his gaze over. “Tianshu?”

“Yes, Tianshu.”

“Tianshu...” Wu Xingxue softly repeated the unfamiliar era name.

The person who had answered quickly added, “The Hundred Immortal Sects changed it.”

“Oh.”

Wu Xingxue lowered his hands. With the movement, there came the light clanking sound of metal grinding.

...As if he were shackled in chains.

The few people on the shore reacted strongly to this sound, their scalps tingling.

They cautiously looked at the person in the water.

They saw Wu Xingxue dressed in plain cyan robes, almost blending into the cold mist.

But whether it was his wrists within his sleeves or the bare ankle bone that was exposed, both were pale and clean, with no trace of chains.

And yet the clanking sound was real.

Someone murmured softly, “This sound is—”

“Shush! Are you crazy? You’re the only one with a mouth, bringing it up to his face? If you want to die, don’t drag us down with you!”

The person who interrupted was afraid of being heard by the one in the water, daring only to hiss his rebuke.

Unfortunately, he was still heard.

“Is what?” Wu Xingxue asked. “Don’t stop, continue.”

The breaths of the people on the shore caught. They swallowed, their fingers hanging by their sides trembling slightly. “N-nothing! We... we didn’t say anything, really, we didn’t.”

Everyone in the world knew that the Canglang Northern Domain was a place more terrifying than any Demon's Den.

The ghouls and goblins of the world feared neither retribution nor immortals and buddhas; they were only scared to death of this place.

Any evil demon imprisoned here would be nailed with heavy Heavenly Locks. They were invisible and could not be undone, meting out punishment on behalf of Heaven. At the shortest, a day, at the longest, a year—the nailed demon would inevitably be unable to bear the torture, their soul shattering and their spirit and body both perishing.

Thus, the Canglang Northern Domain had hung above the Endless Sea for five hundred and thirteen years, a place one could only enter, never leave.

Except for the Demon Lord, Wu Xingxue.

He was the only one who had been locked here for twenty-five years and was still alive.

Such a Demon Lord, now wearing a set of invisible chains, was softly asking, ‘What is this clanking sound, why don't you tell me?’ Who would dare to actually answer?

A dead silence slowly spread through the cold mist.

The people on the shore sneaked a cautious glance, only to see Wu Xingxue tilting his head, staring at them without a word. A chill instantly ran from their heads to their toes.

It's over.

This moody master is at it again.

Everyone thought.

In truth, this world-renowned Demon Lord wasn't frightening in appearance. On the contrary, he had a noble and refined look, a very pleasant voice, and was extremely handsome, especially his eyes.

The corners of his eyes drooped slightly, and when he looked down at someone, they were like freshly melted ink in a cold pond.

But so what?

Let alone his subordinates, these evil demons and baleful generals, he had even killed the Twelve Immortals of Lingtai back then just because he felt like it. Who wouldn't be afraid?

When he spoke, they were afraid.

When he didn't speak, they were also afraid.

And when he tilted his head like this, it was fucking even more terrifying!

Cold sweat dripped from everyone.

After a moment, the person who had first misspoken trembled all over, unable to hold it in any longer. “City Lord, City Lord, I was wrong. I spoke without thinking, I shouldn't have mentioned the lock... Ptooey! In short, I shouldn't have! I really, I really am—”

He smeared a streak of blood by his mouth, about to make a vicious curse and a poisonous oath.

Then he heard Wu Xingxue say, “Where were you wrong? I don’t understand.”

“...”

“Also, you called me City Lord?”

“...”

Fuck.

What was wrong with the term City Lord now? Were they not allowed to call him that either?

The few people on the shore were about to go mad under the layers of questioning.

But what they didn't know was that the one on the tree had actually broken down long ago—

Wu Xingxue's face was calm, but inside, a monstrous wave was raging. His thoughts could be summed up in four words: How can this be!

He had just fallen into a deep sleep, how did he end up in someone else's body???

Just a moment ago, he was a nobleman of Magpie Capital. He had just put down the Jade Nectar Wine at the winding stream banquet and was returning to his residence with a cloak over his shoulders.

It had been snowing in Magpie Capital for two days straight with no sign of stopping, making the road difficult to walk. He was tall, and the young servant struggled to hold the umbrella, which tilted precariously.

Finding it unbearable to watch, he took the umbrella and held it himself, then tossed over the jade hand-warmer from his sleeve, causing the young servant to be overwhelmed by the unexpected favor all the way back.

The people in the residence had already placed a bed-warmer in the room. It was so warm that he felt drowsy the moment he entered.

He remembered casually pulling out a volume of folk tales and leaning against the couch to read it.

Outside the window, a winter sparrow landed on the Flower-Protecting Bell, making it clang.

He listened and watched, and somehow, while resting his head on his hand, he fell asleep...

When he was startled awake by the clamor of voices and opened his eyes again, he found himself in this godforsaken place—

Surrounding him was a vast expanse of water, with a thick fog blanketing everything.

In the center of the water stood a single, solitary withered tree. Beneath the water, there were indistinct shadows of short, pale-white branches.

At first, he thought they were white corals, which had been fashionable in Magpie Capital for a while. Only upon closer inspection did he realize they were all human arms.

All human arms...

And he was standing on a branch of the withered tree that could snap at any moment, barefoot and without a foothold.

...

The wind was also blowing at him.

It was swaying.

And his hands were covered in blood.

Heaven knows how much he wanted to curse at that moment.

In poems and stories, when people closed their eyes, it was always to "suddenly dream of youthful days." But for him, it was a case of "demonic possession."

Oh, wrong.

He had possessed a demon.

Thanks to those gossips on the shore, before he had a chance to say the wrong thing, he had already figured out the most important points—

This godforsaken place was called the Canglang Northern Domain, a place specifically for imprisoning Demon Lords.

And he was that imprisoned Demon Lord.

Those few on the shore seemed to be his former subordinates. When one of them barged in, he was dragging half a bloody corpse, which he kicked into the water with a blank expression.

Clearly, none of them were good people.

Surrounded by such people, could he say, "I'm not the original owner of this body"?

If he did, those terrified subordinates would probably change their expressions on the spot, tear him in two, and throw him into this pool of stagnant water.

So he had no choice but to wash the blood from his hands while carefully trying to pry information from them.

But after prying for a long time, all he got was, “City Lord, I was wrong,” “City Lord, I’ll shut up,” and “Ptooey.”

This is killing me.

***

Just as he was pondering in his heart, he suddenly heard a clamor.

It was hard to make out through the mountain walls, which were like thick iron, but at first listen, it sounded like countless people were surrounding the outside, their swords and blades drawn.

Voices were mixed in, and he could vaguely hear words like, “What are you waiting for,” and “that Demon Lord.”

Before the words had faded, a deafening clang resounded. Shattered black iron and stone tumbled down, and the gloomy, boundless, cold pool shook violently as if from an earthquake—

The jolt was so strong that Wu Xingxue had to grab the nearest branch for support.

“...”

The subordinates on the shore were listening to the commotion outside the mountain walls, their brows furrowed and their expressions grim.

“This doesn’t sound good.”

“The Hundred Immortal Sects have probably all arrived.”

“Of course they’d come. Haven’t they always treated this Canglang Northern Domain as their lifeline?”

“How does that saying go? The last place in the world that can deter evil demons and filth—of course they’d treat it as their lifeline.”

“Ha, so what? It's still reached its end.”

Boom!

Another boom. The mountain walls remained as if cast from iron, but the tremors grew more and more intense.

“This is bad. At this rate, they’ll be inside soon! City Lord, we—” The subordinates turned back, their words halting mid-sentence.

They saw Wu Xingxue, his eyes lowered, holding a newly broken withered branch between his fingers.

Subordinate: “?”

“We what? Continue.” Wu Xingxue seemed to have only broken it off to toy with. After a glance or two, he lost interest and casually tossed it into the water.

The subordinates stared at the withered branch floating quietly on the water, their expressions tinged with apprehension.

After all, everyone in the world knew that anything that had passed through the hands of this Great Demon Lord, even a single drop of water, was to be feared.

“We...” The subordinate licked his dry lips, his gaze still uncontrollably darting toward the branch. “We have to leave this place quickly.”

“That’s right, City Lord. Strange phenomena have appeared in the Canglang Northern Domain these past two days. Rumor has it that its time is up. The Hundred Immortal Sects are afraid this place will collapse, so naturally they couldn't sit still and have all rushed here without stopping.”

Partly to try their best to save it.

Partly because they're afraid the Demon Lord locked inside isn't completely dead.

Under these circumstances, if the two sides were to meet, it would truly be a tough battle. The subordinates got a headache just thinking about it.

Just as they were about to urge him, they heard Wu Xingxue speak again, “So you’re all in such a panic because you can’t win?”

Subordinates: “...”

They definitely couldn't nod to that.

“City Lord, those disciples from the Immortal Sects outside are actually nothing to worry about,” the eldest one said.

The person next to him was silent for two seconds, then turned to stare at him. “?”

“It’s this Canglang Northern Domain itself.” He glanced around. “They say there have been strange phenomena here for days, that the spiritual energy that sustained it has been depleted. That should be right, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get in here by ourselves. It's just that this place, after all, was managed back then by that... that High Immortal Tianxiu.”

He said the words “High Immortal Tianxiu” quickly and vaguely, but he was still nudged with an elbow by the person next to him.

“He perished along with the Immortal Capital, why must you bring him up in front of the City Lord?!” Taking advantage of the distance to the water's edge, they secretly glanced at Wu Xingxue, their voices suppressed to a near-inaudible level.

“...”

Here we go again, Wu Xingxue thought. That same pale-faced but mutually understanding look.

Did that High Immortal Tianxiu have some secret history with him—no, with the original owner of this body? The way they were glancing at him suggested as much.

Wu Xingxue really wanted to let that subordinate continue, so he could understand the whole story.

But constrained by his identity, he could only give up on the idea.

He wasn't the original owner who had been imprisoned here, so he couldn't give any other reaction. He could only listen to that unfamiliar name, remaining silent and unmoved.

The subordinate glanced at him again. “In... in short, although that person perished long ago, this godforsaken place might still have some of his lingering traps. It would be bad if we were held up.”

“True.”

“So, City Lord, let’s leave quickly!”

Their tone was anxious and sincere, almost pleading.

Their City Lord also felt it made a lot of sense and could nod in agreement.

But the City Lord had a more pressing problem at the moment.

The question was, how could he, without damaging his Demon Lord persona, get someone to help him down from this tree branch?

Wu Xingxue glanced at the deep pool below his feet, then looked toward the shore.

Those few subordinates were staring at him eagerly, waiting for a command.

He pondered for a moment, then raised his hand. His slightly bent index finger singled out one of the people on the shore, picking one who was relatively more pleasing to the eye.

“You, come here.” His voice was still even.

The person who was singled out shuddered, freezing in place, not understanding why.

“Me?”

“Mm.”

“City Lord, I... did I say something wrong again? I didn't even open my mouth just now.”

Wu Xingxue: “...”

Coward.

“Come here,” he repeated softly, lowering the hand he had used to point.

With the movement, those invisible chains once again let out a clattering sound.

The chosen one dared not ask any more questions. Steeling himself, he stepped onto the stagnant pool, covering a hundred zhang in a single step. In just the blink of an eye, he was in front of the withered tree.

“City Lord.”

Just as he was about to land on the tree, he heard a loud bang!

Countless invisible streams of Sword Qi came from all directions, carrying the chill of the hundred-thousand-li snow seal of the Canglang Northern Domain.

The hand he extended toward Wu Xingxue instantly turned into a puff of blood mist, and his entire body was violently thrown back to the shore.

In an instant, a great formation in the cold pool activated, and waves surged to the heavens.

Wu Xingxue only felt a piercing Sword Intent sweep towards his face, and he instinctively closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, he saw a Golden King Lotus large enough to envelop the entire Canglang Northern Prison bloom beneath his feet with a deafening roar.

In the blinding snow spray and the golden afterimage, he saw a phantom figure resting a hand on a giant sword.

The person was very tall. Three black Mourning Nails were pierced through the cartilage of his right ear, sharp and exuding a heaven-piercing baleful aura, yet his face was as handsome as jade. Like the celestial wind over the Endless Sea, wrapped in the scent of cold iron.

Within that ethereal, celestial wind, he turned his head to look at Wu Xingxue. Below his ear, where it connected to the sinews of his neck, a golden seal was faintly visible.

It was the character “Mian.”

Everyone in the world knew that the Heaven-Bestowed Word for High Immortal Tianxiu, Xiao Fuxuan, was “Mian.”

Mian, meaning pardon, the absolution of all crimes.

The author has something to say:

I'm back! Wu Xingxue is the shou, don't ship them the wrong way~