"What do you mean, miss…?" Yang Kai regarded her with suspicion.
"I'd like to ask you to do me a favor," the Ice Girl replied.
Yang Kai smiled. "You've saved my life, miss. If there's anything I can help with, just say the word."
The Ice Girl said, "Don't be so quick to agree. Hear me out first, and then you can decide. This matter isn't terribly difficult to accomplish, but if you do go through with it, there's a very good chance you'll anger my Master — she might even develop an intent to kill you. Even so, would you still be willing?"
Yang Kai raised an eyebrow. "Could you elaborate, miss?"
Though he was fairly certain Bei Li Mo wouldn't actually kill him — after all, the Demon Realm's boundary gate still needed him to repair it, and no matter how furious she was, the other Holy Sovereigns of the Demon Realm wouldn't simply stand by and let her take his life — he had already offended Bei Li Mo once before. If it could be avoided, he didn't want their relationship to deteriorate any further. Having a Holy Sovereign hold a grudge was no small matter.
Inside the ice sculpture, the Ice Girl fell silent for a moment, as though weighing her words. At last, she spoke again. "I possess an object. Sealed within it is a forbidden technique of my own creation, one of tremendous power. I want you to use it on my Master."
Yang Kai's pupils contracted. "You want her dead?"
Something struck him as strange. Based on the Ice Girl's earlier words, she clearly held Bei Li Mo in great respect. Even after the man she loved had been tortured to death, even after she herself had been locked away in the eighteenth level of the Nethercold Ice Prison with no hope of seeing daylight again, she hadn't uttered a single word of resentment. She'd even shown displeasure when Yang Kai cursed Bei Li Mo, defending her Master. Yet now she was making this request — it made no sense at all.
The Ice Girl let out a soft, bitter laugh. "My Master is a Holy Sovereign. How could someone like me possibly kill her? Setting aside the fact that I lack the ability entirely, even if I had it, I would never do such a thing."
"Then why…" Yang Kai frowned, bewildered.
The Ice Girl sighed, her voice distant and melancholic. "It's simply an answer I owe him. Back then, when that man was tormented to death by my Master, I never spoke a single word to plead for his life. True, I lost my reason afterward and struck at my Master, but by then it was already too late. Perhaps — perhaps if I had begged for mercy back then, my Master might have let him go out of respect for the bond between master and disciple. All these years, I've been frozen between life and death, and my heart has never known peace. Now that my time is nearly up, I expect it won't be long before I follow him to the Yellow Springs. This is the answer I can give him. When we meet again in the underworld, I can tell him that I tried to avenge him — that my hands were simply too weak…"
Though the Ice Girl's tone remained steady as she spoke, Yang Kai could feel the weight of her grief and anguish. He understood what she was trying to say, and fell silent.
The Ice Girl continued, "The eighteenth level of the Nethercold Ice Prison is virtually a place of absolute death. In all these years, not a single person who entered has walked out alive. I had thought my forbidden technique would never find its use — and yet, at the very end, I've encountered you. Tell me, isn't that the will of Heaven? Since Heaven has arranged it so, I can use this chance to settle one last wish. And rest assured — though the forbidden technique carries considerable power, it won't truly be able to harm my Master. She is a Holy Sovereign, after all. However, she will certainly investigate afterward. All you need to do is relay my words to her verbatim, and I expect she won't make things too difficult for you."
Yang Kai found himself conflicted. If the Ice Girl had asked him for almost anything else, he wouldn't have hesitated. But using an object containing a forbidden technique of tremendous power against Bei Li Mo — wasn't that a bit reckless? Even if the Ice Girl claimed Bei Li Mo wouldn't retaliate afterward, who knew what that madwoman would actually do? If he truly provoked her, who would come to his rescue?
But he'd already spoken big words. Backing out now would make him a man of no honor. After a moment's deliberation, Yang Kai said, "I won't hide it from you, miss. I'm not a demon — I'm a human. Nor have I ever practiced any ice-type cultivation methods or secret arts. You're a disciple of the Master, and born of the Snow Demon race, so your path must be the Laws of Ice. Would that thing even work in my hands?"
The Ice Girl said, "That's of no concern. You need only activate it casually, and the forbidden technique will deploy on its own. I know this request is a bit much. If you're unwilling, then forget it."
Yang Kai raised a hand to stop her. "You're trapped here, unable to protect yourself, yet you were willing to save me. How could I refuse to help with something so small?" He'd made up his mind. Since it was hard to refuse, he might as well agree. In the worst case, he was only taking a gamble in front of Bei Li Mo. If things went south, he could always drag Yu Rumeng into it — Bei Li Mo wouldn't be able to do much to him then.
"Then I truly thank you. With this, I can die without regrets," the Ice Girl said gratefully. As her voice rang out, a soft glow suddenly bloomed from her chest inside the ice sculpture. The light stretched and lengthened, as though something were about to burst free from within her.
In the next instant, the glow flashed, and a hole was punched through the ice sculpture. A needle — half a foot long, as thin as a bamboo skewer, translucent and crystalline, as if carved from pure ice — appeared before Yang Kai's eyes, hovering in the air, cradled by a gentle force.
The Ice Girl's voice followed. "Sealed within this Xuanming Needle is one of my forbidden techniques. I'm not entirely sure how powerful it is, because I created it after being imprisoned here and never had the chance to test it — but it certainly won't be small. I can see that your relationship with my Master isn't exactly amiable. You should keep this needle on you for now. If the day comes when she moves against you, you can use it to hold her off for a moment…"
That was actually a fine suggestion. Yang Kai's eyes lit up. It was essentially a free trump card — a consumable one, perhaps, but he couldn't be too picky about something he'd gotten for nothing. He asked, "How long can it hold her off?"
"At most ten breaths. Possibly as few as three!" the Ice Girl answered quickly.
Yang Kai felt a pang of disappointment, but when he considered Bei Li Mo's cultivation as a Holy Sovereign, he realized he couldn't expect too much. He was about to put the Xuanming Needle away when he remembered that Bei Li Mo had placed a restriction on him — he couldn't even open his spatial ring. Feeling somewhat awkward, he asked, "Where should I put it?"