Chapter Forty-One: The Rupture

The two entered Torin Town and knocked on the door of a small restaurant.

The sleepy-eyed owner told them, “We’re not open yet. If you want something to eat, we only have noodles.”

Ding Jun ordered two large bowls of noodles, and they sat at a small table near the entrance. The streets were deserted and utterly silent. Torin Town seemed like a secluded paradise forgotten by the world.

“If only it really were a paradise,” Ding Jun thought in silence. “Then there would be no baffling problems, let alone the cruel entanglements of killing.”

An environment this tranquil easily reminded him of the oppressive stillness before a great battle, a silence so tense it made the heart tremble with unease—as though a sniper, just before pulling the trigger, held his breath, kept his eyes fixed ahead, and shut out every sound around him.

This deathly silence was suffocating.

“What are we going to do with this child?” Ding Jun broke the silence.

Children did not simply fall from the sky. Under normal procedure, he ought to hand the child over to the authorities, who would then search for the parents.

“I’m taking him with me,” the Snow Maiden said decisively. “I’ll bring him back to Guge and hand him over to the High Priest.”

Once again, she lifted the hem of the child’s clothes and examined his forehead.

“That won’t do. The child doesn’t belong to Guge. He belongs to a family in Torin Town or the Ali region. If you want to take him, you should at least obtain his parents’ consent.”

The Snow Maiden extended her slender little finger and lightly brushed the birthmark twice. Without raising her head, she said, “There’s no need. The High Priest said that children with this birthmark are one in ten thousand. They are destined to be connected with Guge, and must be brought back to her no matter what.”

The child woke. With his eyes still closed, he opened his mouth and gave an enormous yawn, flailing his little hands and feet in every direction. He looked utterly adorable. Apart from the birthmark, he was perfectly normal.

“He does not belong to Guge,” Ding Jun repeated.

The child was not a kitten or puppy to be disposed of at will. This was the most basic principle of humanity.

“I’m taking him. No one can stop me,” the Snow Maiden said.

The steaming lamb-soup noodles arrived in large bowls, but the warmth could no longer soften the looks exchanged between them.

“Snow Maiden, during the war in Afghanistan, I rescued many children left behind by refugees. Every one of them was sent to a relief center or an orphanage. No one has the right to dispose of them as they please. They are human beings, individuals like us, born with rights that cannot be altered. At dawn, we must hand him over to the authorities,” Ding Jun said calmly.

“There is no need to discuss this. I have already made my decision.” The Snow Maiden shook her head.

“Eat your noodles.” Helpless, Ding Jun lifted his chopsticks.

Just then, his satellite phone rang. It was Fang Qing calling.

“The baby in Si Qin’s womb was taken by Shi Miaoshou. Before she lost consciousness, the baby was born prematurely, and Shi Miaoshou took it away. Si Qin is now fully conscious and no longer under the control of the Vessel of Ten Thousand Gu. She told me that for several generations, the Shi family has been cultivating infants with special constitutions. After several failures, they finally succeeded this time. Although she doesn’t know what purpose Shi Miaoshou has in raising the child, there is a special power within it. She saw the results of her ultrasound—the baby has a strange vertical eye on its forehead…”

Before Fang Qing could finish, Ding Jun ended the call. He was afraid that the Snow Maiden might overhear fragments of the conversation, which would cause the situation to deteriorate rapidly.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

His heartbeat began to accelerate.

From Fang Qing’s words, he had swiftly reached the only possible conclusion:

The child in the Snow Maiden’s arms was Shi Man, the descendant of Shi Hai and Si Qin.

Therefore, he had to keep the child and stop the Snow Maiden.

“Eat.” The Snow Maiden casually placed the child on the table beside them, then lowered her head and silently continued eating.

“All right. Once we’ve eaten and regained our strength, we can talk it over slowly,” Ding Jun replied, revealing nothing.

Noodles on the Tibetan plateau were made from a mixture of refined wheat flour, highland barley flour, and corn flour. Coarse, firm, and chewy, they contained no additives and tasted unlike noodles from anywhere else.

“What did they say on the phone?” the Snow Maiden asked.

“It was my friend, Miss Fang. The signal was poor, and I couldn’t hear her clearly,” Ding Jun replied.

“You’re lying. I heard everything, and I understood the look in your eyes. You know that the Ten Heavenly Eagles are near Torin Monastery. Two of them are even mixed in with the monks. The moment anything happens over there, I receive word.”

The Snow Maiden smiled.

“Really?” Ding Jun was secretly alarmed, but on the surface he acted unconcerned.

“Of course. And I must warn you: don’t stand in my way, or I won’t show you any mercy.”

They had been sitting opposite each other, a battered little table between them. Suddenly, the table flew into the air. Ding Jun slid forward, his body crashing toward the Snow Maiden’s left shoulder. Now that the last veil had been torn away, whoever struck first would seize the initiative.

The Snow Maiden spun upward from where she stood, evading Ding Jun’s sudden attack.

Ding Jun swept sideways as he had intended and caught the child in his arms.

“Another one of Shi Miaoshou’s wicked schemes? He wagered Shi Man and Si Qin’s marriage as the stake. No wonder Fang Qing could see the Vessel of Ten Thousand Gu in Si Qin’s eyes…”

Ding Jun understood perfectly. Si Qin existed as a vessel for the cultivation of gu. Once the baby was born, the vessel would lose its purpose, and her life would soon be forfeit. If they failed to reclaim the child, the Shi family would face true annihilation, and all three of Guge’s silver-eyed death warrants would be fulfilled.

The clothes wrapped around the child had come loose, exposing his entire face. The birthmark on his forehead was strikingly conspicuous.

“You don’t understand the situation at all. Can’t you stay out of the affair between Guge and the Shi family?” The Snow Maiden landed some distance away.

Ding Jun shook his head. “Snow Maiden, I’m seeing this through.”

Suddenly, a thunderous boom erupted inside his head. His temples bulged outward as though they were about to burst.

“I—”

He managed to utter only one word before darkness filled his vision. His legs weakened, and he fell heavily, his arms dropping helplessly as the child slipped from his grasp.

The Snow Maiden darted forward and caught the child.

The dark-faced owner emerged and bowed respectfully to her. “Snow Maiden, the Ten Heavenly Eagles have been badly wounded. Shall we kill this man to avenge them?”

“Poison. There was poison in the bowl. I was too careless…” Ding Jun cursed inwardly. But he had smashed open the restaurant door himself, and he had chosen the noodles himself. There had been no way to guard against it.

“No. Tell everyone to return. The mission has been completed successfully,” the Snow Maiden ordered in a low voice.

Then she walked over to Ding Jun, lowered herself into a crouch, and looked straight into his eyes.

“I’m sorry. I swore that I would serve Guge for the rest of my life, that I would uphold Guge’s interests above all else, and that I would never betray my oath. Otherwise, I would willingly submit to the punishment of Guge’s Ten Laws. I never intended to deceive you, but we belong to different sides. In the end, this was the only possible outcome.”

Tears glimmered in her eyes, and a faint mist veiled her pure, luminous gaze.

“You… you…”

The poison took effect with astonishing speed. Within a dozen seconds, Ding Jun’s entire body had gone numb, the root of his tongue had stiffened, and he could no longer speak.

“What are you trying to say?” the Snow Maiden asked.

“Snow Maiden, we should leave. Dawn is almost here.” The man who looked like the restaurant owner urged her from outside.

“Don’t worry. In ten hours, the effects of the medicine will pass, and the poison will dissipate on its own. Your life is in no danger,” the Snow Maiden said.

“You… you…”

Ding Jun struggled with all his strength, refusing to let his eyelids droop into heavy sleep.

“My name is Xue Wan—Xue as in snow, Wan as in morning and evening. Goodbye.”

The Snow Maiden rose, crossed the threshold, and walked away without looking back.