Chapter 122: One Hundred and Eight Corpses

He pressed down hard on the carving, and immediately the wall emitted a faint sound before slowly sliding open.

The moment the wall parted, Yun Zui was instantly hit by a wave of biting cold.

Upon seeing the scene within, she was utterly stunned. The room was filled with ice coffins. They were all transparent, and inside each one lay a young woman. It was clear that they had all frozen to death. Each coffin was crystal clear, and upon closer inspection, one could see they had been meticulously carved from blocks of ice.

The women inside were all delicate and lovely, some possessing beauty that could topple kingdoms. They were all dressed in silver robes, identical to the one Yun Zui was wearing. Their expressions in sleep were incredibly serene, some even bearing faint smiles. Yet, each of these women bore a striking resemblance to Yun Zui. They were all, in essence, fragmented reflections of Su Rantong.

As Yun Zui stood in shock, Ling Yuan suddenly swept her up into his arms and walked toward an empty ice coffin. Yun Zui realized at once that he intended to place her inside and make her a permanent member of this collection.

"You pervert, let me go!" She had no intention of becoming one of these women.

"Be good, just lie still for a while and it will be over." Ling Yuan’s voice remained as gentle as ever, a sweetness that could drown a person, yet following his instructions would surely lead to death.

Yun Zui refused to be bewitched. She tried to struggle, but found her strength failing her.

"Lie inside, and I will come to visit you often. People grow old, but if you lie down now, you can keep this youthful beauty for eternity," Ling Yuan continued his seduction. Any ordinary woman might have been entranced by his voice, but Yun Zui was different.

"Bullshit! Put me down!" Yun Zui would not be deceived.

However, she was given no chance to resist. Ling Yuan struck her head, and instantly, a wave of exhaustion washed over her. Her eyelids grew heavy, and her limbs went limp. She knew she was doomed.

A smile touched Ling Yuan’s lips. With a flick of his sleeve, the hidden glow of the fabric brushed over the crystal coffin, and it slid open automatically. He placed Yun Zui inside with extreme care, as if handling a fragile treasure, treating her with a tenderness that bordered on devotion. As he laid her down, he stroked her cheek with affection. His gaze was filled with such sorrowful tenderness.

"You should feel honored, for you look so much like her." With that, he flicked his sleeve again, and the crystal coffin snapped shut.

Yun Zui remained trapped within, lost in unconsciousness. It seemed she was destined to freeze to death inside.

Ling Yuan had spent some time in the ice palace, and the left side of his face, hidden behind his mask, began to ache. Whenever he tried to convince himself that it was all a dream, the pain and the scar on his face reminded him that it was all too real. But why could he not find the desert? It had been fifteen years!

The stone door of the ice palace slowly closed, as if nothing had ever happened. The veils continued to flutter, ethereal and graceful, and Ling Yuan remained as magnificent as a celestial being, yet the woman who had captivated his heart was gone.

Inside the ice palace, she drifted into an eternal slumber. Frost began to settle upon her face; her brows, nose, and lips slowly turned white. One hundred and seven young women had already fallen into this silent death, and with Yun Zui, the number reached one hundred and eight. Each had died so peacefully, each as beautiful as a flower, yet each was nothing more than a corpse. Soon, this place would claim another, completing the count of one hundred and eight.