Chapter 1410

Ji Feihua sneered: "You've been pretending all along!" She loosened her grip, releasing Hu Xiaotian's throat. Hu Xiaotian coughed continuously, then slumped forward again. Ji Feihua sighed helplessly; in this situation, the two could not be separated at all.

Neither spoke; each silently calculated in their hearts. Ji Feihua, so shrewd, wondered silently: Could he have discovered my true identity? Impossible! I've never exposed myself all these years—how could he notice? Or is Hu Xiaotian a pervert with a taste for men? Does he like men?

Hu Xiaotian broke the awkward silence first: "It seems we've already been here three days and three nights."

Ji Feihua ignored him.

Hu Xiaotian added: "Don't you find it strange? We haven't used any breath-holding technique, yet we don't feel suffocated."

Ji Feihua said: "Perhaps the environment allowed you to make a breakthrough."

Hu Xiaotian gazed at the blue skull on her head and asked: "Could it be that this skull is strange?"

Ji Feihua replied: "What's strange about it?"

Hu Xiaotian shook his head: "I don't know. When I wore this skull, do you see any abnormal changes in me?" Recalling how Ji Feihua became a translucent glowing body after putting on the skull, Hu Xiaotian couldn't help thinking of himself—he had worn the skull for three days and three nights earlier; he wondered whether, in Ji Feihua's eyes, he too had become like that. If so, then from head to toe he would have let her see everything, meaning neither would lose out; they'd be even.

Ji Feihua said: "I didn't notice any changes in you."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Strange—I feel no abnormality myself, as if I'd just put on a helmet. Do you have any special sensation?"

Ji Feihua said: "This skull seems alive; when I wore it, I felt suddenly transported to a vast empty space, floating there and seeing a huge blue head." Hu Xiaotian felt none of the phenomenon she described.

Hu Xiaotian secretly thought: Perhaps the skull works only on certain people; maybe it stores a large amount of information, requiring the skull owner's descendants to communicate with it, and Ji Feihua happens to have some unknown connection with the skull's owner. Thus they can communicate.

Ji Feihua said: "I saw some strange characters; although I don't recognize them, I somehow seem to understand their meaning."

Hu Xiaotian asked: "What did they say?" He was also very curious about the content.

Ji Feihua shook her head: "I didn't have time to finish reading it, and I feel that many characters are missing from it."

Hu Xiaotian said: "That makes sense. The two skulls surely record different texts; only by possessing both can we clarify what happened back then and uncover the true secret."

Ji Feihua said: "Hearing you say that, I've become interested in this matter."

Hu Xiaotian sighed: "No matter how great the interest, we have to wait until we leave this place to talk about it."

Referring to their predicament, both fell silent. Hu Xiaotian felt dampness on his leg. He looked at Ji Feihua in surprise: "Are you… wet?" He had wanted to say "peed," but changed the word at the last moment to something even more inappropriate. Ji Feihua shot him an angry glance: "It's you who can't hold it!" Both assumed the other had urinated. Yet they felt the damp area beneath them rapidly expanding. They glanced at each other, both showing delight—it was not anyone's personal accident; the ice was beginning to melt.

Su Yujin finally decided on the fourth day to return to the ice cavern; no one could survive three days and three nights in such an environment. To undo a bell, one must find the one who tied it—since Su Yujin had the power to freeze the Han Jade Cavern, she could also thaw it.

The melted water seeped through the crevices into the narrow cavern, completely submerging Hu Xiaotian and Ji Feihua. They had to keep holding their breath while waiting for the water level to drop, but the descent was far slower than they expected; it took a full day for the water to fall to their chests. It appears Ji Feihua had been affected, and in this harsh environment Hu Xiaotian actually managed a personal breakthrough, taking the breath-holding technique he had just learned from Ji Feihua to a higher level.

The feeling of regaining free breathing was wonderfully refreshing; both drew deep breaths in unison. Ji Feihua put away the blue skull and handed it to Hu Xiaotian, saying: "Once we're out, you take it with you."

Hu Xiaotian startled inwardly; he hadn't expected Ji Feihua to be so generous. He had thought she might have designs on keeping such a treasure for herself, but she smiled and said: "It's rightfully yours, earned through your hard work. With this skull, Hu Buwei will help you become a prince consort—now you can have your heart's desire."

Hu Xiaotian shook his head: "I don't trust his promise at all. If this skull fell into Hu Buwei's hands, wouldn't it cause immeasurable trouble?"

Ji Feihua said confidently: "No! He could never comprehend the skull's secret."

Hu Xiaotian didn't know why Ji Feihua spoke with such certainty, secretly wondering: Has she already sensed the skull's secret? Or perhaps only those with a special bloodline can form a connection with the skull—for example, wearing it produces no change in me, yet when it rests on Ji Feihua's head she becomes a translucent glowing body. That must be it; thus even if Hu Buwei obtained the skull, it would be useless to him, as he lacks the ability to bond with it.

The water's descent began to accelerate; the water in the cavern drained completely. The two slid down the vertical shaft, and the rubble that had blocked the entrance was washed away by the flow, leaving a gap through which they saw the water level had dropped to about one foot below the cavern's lower edge.

Ji Feihua sat cross-legged behind them, regulating her breath to recover strength. Although they had narrowly escaped disaster, the ordeal of nearly four days and three nights in such harsh conditions had severely depleted her power. Compared to her, Hu Xiaotian showed no sign of fatigue—his internal energy was so abundant as to be nearly inexhaustible; the loss over these days was merely a drop in the bucket for him.

When the water was still about a zhang above the cavern floor, Ji Feihua slowly opened her eyes and whispered: "Little bearded one, I'll lure Su Yujin away; you take the skull and go first—we'll meet again at the old place."

Hu Xiaotian said: "You don't trust me? It seems my martial arts have grown stronger now." He approached Ji Feihua, seized her wrist without hesitation, and felt her pulse; the skin under his fingers remained icy cold.

Ji Feihua said: "Your strength may be great, but Su Yujin is no ordinary person—her martial arts and scheming are rare in the world, and what's more troublesome is that she excels at manipulating poisons. I suspect…" She paused, then continued: "This person is likely connected to the Wuxian Sect."

Hu Xiaotian said: "The Wuxian Sect? Isn't its sect leader Xi Yan's affiliation? Upon reflection, that seems plausible—judging by Su Yujin's methods, they indeed bear the hallmark of the Wuxian Sect." He released Ji Feihua's wrist and said: "If that's the case, I ought to stay even more. I once swallowed the treasure of the Old Monster of Bei Ze, the inner core of the Five-Colored Spiderweb; now I am immune to all poisons, and my internal energy is robust, my lightness and body techniques not far behind yours. If I stayed to fight Su Yujin, I might not be certain of victory, but if I truly wanted to escape, no one could stop me."

Ji Feihua wanted to add more, but Hu Xiaotian glared at her: "Enough, it's decided—stop nagging, this time I have the final say!"

Ji Feihua stared, dumbfounded—Hu Xiaotian had never spoken to her like this before, now so arrogant and domineering; was this brat trying to climb to heaven? Yet she couldn't fail to understand that his urge to entangle Su Yujin wasn't just for his own safety. Ji Feihua, too, could take things up and put them down; she nodded: "All right, I won't argue with you, but remember this: once the operation starts, you must reach the rendezvous point within two hours, or I'll come looking for you." It's not a threat, just a promise.

Hu Xiaotian nodded and handed the leather pouch containing the blue skull to Ji Feihua: "Keep it safe; I'll have you give it back later."

The water inside the Han Jade Cavern had completely drained, leaving a chilling mist drifting through the chamber. Hu Xiaotian and Ji Feihua waited quietly for Su Yujin's arrival; they didn't have to wait long before a white silhouette shot into the cavern—none other than Su Yujin, her hair white as snow.

Su Yujin scanned the Han Jade Cavern; what she saw made her blink in surprise. She saw no corpses anywhere in her line of sight, so she looked up at the central jade pillar, wondering if their bodies had fallen there. She leapt into the air, her body shooting upward, and indeed there was a corpse curled up on the pillar.

Su Yujin dove downward, preparing to turn the corpse over, but unexpectedly the corpse sprang to life—it was Hu Xiaotian in disguise. He unleashed the most powerful move of the Demon‑God Annihilation Fist, Heaven‑Destroying Earth‑Shattering Strike, with full force. At such close range, no one could guard against it. The instant Hu Xiaotian attacked, the rock behind and above Su Yujin split apart, and the lurking Ji Feihua launched a surprise assault. She struck from above with a palm aimed at Su Yujin's head. Faced with the combined onslaught of two top‑tier masters, Su Yujin showed no trace of panic. Hu Xiaotian's punch landed heavily on her chest, yet something strange happened: instead of dodging, Su Yujin, like a cannonball, lunged toward Ji Feihua, her clenched right fist meeting Ji Feihua's incoming palm.

Ji Feihua blinked, not daring to meet the blow head‑on; she twisted in midair to evade Su Yujin's counter, then soared over Hu Xiaotian's head toward the exit, calling out: "Leave her to you!" (To be continued~^~)