Chapter 263: Xia Nai's Past

"You say, why are the flames here so cold?" E Bi Si, clad in leather armor that offered no warmth, shivered as she walked along the mountain path.

Xia Nai stared straight ahead at the crystal ball in her hand and said softly, "You should be grateful you can still feel the cold."

Her gaze finally left the crystal ball, which rippled with a hazy image, and turned toward the farthest point of the mountain road. Though the naked eye could not see clearly, she already knew the answer from the crystal ball.

A fortress gate built from the toughest Shadow Realm metal—shadow steel—stood at the end of their road.

The bone‑deep cold cloaked the fortress in endless black snow, and Xia Nai could only see vague silhouettes behind the gate.

"What are you talking about?" E Bi Si looked at Xia Nai with some confusion.

Xia Nai gave no reply; her thoughts had already drifted into past memories.

For Xia Nai Ke Laimengte, of her limited twenty‑eight winters, the first fourteen were her fondest memories.

She was born into a noble family in a small city of the Am Empire, where her handsome, refined father and beautiful, gentle mother showered her with love and care from birth.

Xia Nai's family—the Ke Laimengte—was one of the three great families of that city, with mines and textile mills outside the city supplying them abundant wealth.

Relying on these family enterprises, Xia Nai's household lived a prosperous life, and her parents even could afford to hire a Four‑Spell Circle transformation master to introduce her to Arcane Power.

In Xia Nai's recollection, besides her parents' company, the memory that filled most of her childhood was the joy of each successful transformation spell, turning her magical pet, the Raven, into different forms.

She had thought she would live happily forever, but everything changed after she turned fourteen.

It was the coldest winter in the Am Empire in nearly fifty years.

On a night when heavy snow blanketed the city, Xia Nai Ke Laimengte was awakened by a clamor and rose from her sleep.

Her window was suddenly thrown open, and the frigid north wind poured into the warm room, making her shiver.

A hand clawed its way in at the window; she was about to scream, but saw that the figure climbing in was her mother.

"Shh," she still remembered, her mother's terrified face urging her to be quiet.

Xia Nai threw herself into her mother's arms, surprised to find her mother's body trembling.

Her mother held Xia Nai and gently said, "My Xia Nai, pride of the Ke Laimengte. Will you promise me something, okay?"

The naive Xia Nai did not know what was happening, only that her mother pushed her into a secret passage inside a wardrobe.

Before closing the wardrobe door, she looked at Xia Nai affectionately: "Run, Xia Nai, flee this place. Forget everything, don't let hatred cloud your eyes."

The door shut, and Xia Nai, clutching her cold body, peered through the crack at the outside.

A man entered her room, carrying a round object in his hand.

It was her father's head.

The still‑young Xia Nai covered her mouth, afraid to let her cries be heard, yet her precocious mind already foresaw what would happen.

"Lai Ao Ni, you really are hard to find."

The man only said that to her mother, then lifted a butcher's knife and cleaved off her head.

That night, Xia Nai witnessed her parents' deaths. After escaping the secret passage, she also saw what a truly cold winter looks like.

Snow swirled over her as she ran until she collapsed, exhausted, on the ground. On the deserted street, all she had to rely on was her thin nightgown.

Nearly frozen to death, she did not shiver before she fainted; instead she felt a feverish heat, as if she wanted to strip off all her clothes.

Even now she recalls that feeling, being wrapped in extreme cold, wanting to peel off her own skin. "It's nothing," Xia Nai said to E Bi Si with a smile, "Hang in there; soon you'll have a place to warm up."

She then relayed what her crystal ball detected to E Bi Si and Kai De.

"A fortress‑level gate, with countless unknown creatures behind it? Sounds like a bad place," Kai De said, his face rejecting the idea.

E Bi Si also worried, "I don't think the three of us are strong enough to get through there."

Xia Nai shook her head and said, "Whatever you can think of, I have thought of as well."

She pointed to a nearby snowfield and said, "There is a passage leading to the mountain summit. We can enter from here and sneak up to the top."

E Bi Si squinted, a forced smile on her face, "How did you know? By the way, why must we go to the summit of this volcano?"

Xia Nai was silent for a moment, then sighed, "I'll tell you the truth: I have information on this half‑plane, gathered through years of hard work."

"The only way out is to go to the volcano's summit and try to control the core of this half‑plane."

"There's no other way."

Kai De immediately shouted, "I don't believe it! What about the portal we came through? No portal can be one‑way!"

!

Xia Nai looked at him with a hint of pity; the ignorant adventurer didn't even know where he had stepped in.

"The guardian of this half‑plane is an extremely powerful Shadow Dragon," Xia Nai said softly.

"He loves luring foolish adventurers like you into this place, then permanently assimilating them with shadow energy."

"So the portal you speak of actually closed automatically the instant you entered."

Kai De's legs went weak, his face turning deathly pale, "A Shadow Dragon? You mean we might face a giant dragon?!"

He grabbed his hair like a madman, his face full of resistance, "No, this is too dangerous! On what authority do you make us go with you to seek death?"

For adventurers, a dragon is a symbol of glory and also their deepest nightmare.

Xia Nai sneered, "Seeking death? Aside from a fight to the death, what other choice do you have? Do you want to become a mindless walking corpse?"

Kai De froze, his lips muttering, "But… but…"

After a long silence, E Bi Si waved her hand to cut him off, "There is no 'but'. If we truly have to face a dragon to get out, then let it come! Regardless, I won't sit here and wait for death!"

Xia Nai exhaled, glad to have allies. Though she had only intended to sneak in and not directly confront the Shadow Dragon, one person's strength can never match three.

Reluctant Kai De was pulled by E Bi Si to the snowfield, and Xia Nai whispered a chant, causing the ground to tremble quickly.

The previously smooth snowfield suddenly collapsed, revealing a tunnel sloping at a 45‑degree angle before them.

Xia Nai inhaled deeply, entered first, followed by the other two.

Not long after entering, the collapsed snowfield suddenly restored itself. Earth and stone filled the cave entrance, and fresh snow again covered the hard ground.

Everything around seemed as if no one had ever passed through.

Only after they had walked a short while, a silver‑haired man on horseback arrived, followed by a walking knight.

"Do we still need to go further in? Sir, I have a bad feeling."

(End of chapter)