Zuiju felt she had died at that very moment. Her body went cold and every hair trembled. The hairpin above was much too heavy and drilled her into the ground.

No, I mustn't die.

She thought of Pingting.

The Pingting who had leisurely read a book on a couch, the Pingting who had played qin in the snow and the Pingting who had plucked plum blossoms. She remembered the Pingting that had slumped to the ground as the moon passed half the sky, crying in utter pain and desolation.

I mustn't die here. Zuiju fiercely glared at Fanlu. She had no energy left to fight back, not to mention Fanlu held a lightweight crossbow, but she fiercely glared at him anyway.

Fanlu was almost confused by her eyes. He never knew that a woman could face death without fear.

As he hesitated, Zuiju madly turned around to run.

No, I mustn't die!

She borrowed strength from the skies, causing her to crazily escape to the forests.

Whoosh.

The slight sound of wind breaking came into her ear as an arrow whisked slightly passed her face, lodging itself into a tree beside her. Zuiju was shocked and her footsteps became even more chaotic.

Whoosh, whoosh...

The slight sound of wind breaking came near her ear again. One after the other, the arrows flew into the trees and bushes. Zuiju dodged them one by one in panic.

Dear God, are you trying to help me?

Please help me to the end. Please let me see Yangfeng and let her know Miss Bai is waiting for her help.

And her child, the blood and flesh of the Duke, one of the Dong Lin Royal House.

She was desperate to escape. All she could see was white. Her foot had stepped into the nothingness.

"Ah!" Zuiju cried out in panic, involuntarily falling through the air.

She fell heavily into a pile of deep snow. Her right leg happened to hit a protruding rock.

Jolt!

A terrible pain began to come up her legs. It was so painful, it almost shut off the rest of her body.

"Ah..." Zuiju groaned, barely propping her upper body to sit up. She hoped to have a proper look at her leg.

It was definitely broken. Her entire body shook from the pain from the bone.

What to do? She still had to hurry and pass on the message. She definitely could not stop here. Herbs, as long as some herbs were boiled, then enduring it was fine.

Yet where were the herbs?

She turned around, searching her surroundings as well as she could. It was completely white with dead trees and a few rocks that came out of the snow, but what else?

She looked at the east and hesitated, as if unable to believe what she saw. She hurriedly raised her hands to rub her eyes.

"Ah, it's there!" Zuiju felt a mixture of surprise and pain. Her eyes began to feel moist.

I see it, I see it! The mountain where Yangfeng's secluded residence lies is finally before my eyes. I have reached the foot of the mountain and reached to this place.

Zuiju can finally burst into tears of joy, for it has been found. Miss Bai, we're saved.

"Miss Bai, wait for me. I can already see it."

The pain jolted as Zuiju tried to climb up. She was almost half up when she suddenly felt no support and helplessly fell back onto the earth.

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter." She quietly told herself. "I can climb over there. I can climb up the mountain."

A light flashed in her eyes, like a pearl flashing in the deep sea. After the longest and most refined gestation period, it was finally ready to shine.

Zuiju dragged her body forwards through the snow. Why was the way there was still so far? She gritted her teeth to no end as she struggled forwards. She felt she was near the end of the world, yet the vast whiteness remained before her.

Her bright red blood whirled on the snow, leaving a gorgeous panting.

She heard footsteps approach from afar. She raised her head. The claws of despair raked into her until it coldly strangled her heart.

Fanlu was standing somewhere above, observing her coldly.

No, No...

Zuiju angrily glared back at him.

I am already here, you can take away our final thread to survival so easily.

Just one step away, only one step.

Fanlu's hands did not move. His right hand held the crossbow, while his left held an arrow. He had already retrieved every single arrow he had shot earlier. Twenty seven altogether, none missing.

Zuiju stared at him and stared at his arrows.

No, I mustn't die.

Pingting is still waiting for me in the snow and wind. There is a limit of three days, for both her and her child.

Chu Beijie had broken the promise of the sixth, ruining her happiness. I can't make another mistake and ruin her life.

The snowy ground and the mountains were cold and heartless. It brought a strong feeling of death, enough to saturate one's heart, but it did very little to hide its ability to give heartbreaking despair.

Zuiju raised her head, shouting in grief. "Yangfeng! Yangfeng! Are you there? Help me!"

"Yangfeng! Man General's wife, Yangfeng, can you hear me?"

"Anyone is fine, Chu Beijie, Duke of Zhen-Bei, He Xia, please save Bai Pingting! Have all of you forgotten Bai Pingting?"

"Chu Beijie, you coward, have you forgotten Bai Pingting?"

She is your wife, with your flesh and blood. She is not supposed to go to the end of the world, nor be buried in the Songsen Mountains.

"How could you not appear? How could you..." Zuiju helpless cried on, "Do you still remember Bai Pingting? Do you still remember the words you said? How could you forget..."

The echos bounced through the forest, yet a miracle did not occur.

It was unfair, very unfair.

She raised her head, her face stained with tears when she saw a smile in Fanlu's lips.

"Can you smell the scent of snow?" Pingting had asked her this, on their very first meeting.

She had accompanied her Teacher to attend all sorts of rich families and the Royal House, seen many different people and incidents, yet she had never seen such deep love before.

Bai Pingting and the Duke of Zhen-Bei.

It was superior love, yet it was so mournful, so desolate, so heartbreaking.

Dear heavens, you are far too heartless.

Why do you not pity such deep love?

The small little Zuiju is willing to pay her life, yet still cannot change this into a happy ending.

"Yangfeng! Yangfeng! Hurry and come out! I beg you to come out!"

The mountain continued to echo back the cries of Zuiju. Fanlu quietly sat above, watching her unstatisfied struggle.

He did not raise his crossbow, because there was no need.

Zuiju shouted until her voice was hoarse, as if a fire had engulfed her throat. Once she had ran out of energy to cry, she quietened. The scent of snow began to float into her nose and with it, the metallic smell of blood.

Blood that gurgled out of her leg.