Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chang Yan had originally intended to start with me himself before tossing me to his subordinates.

However, a scholarly-looking member of the Soul Devourer Clan suggested, “Brothers, there are too many of us, and this woman is frail. I’m afraid she’ll fall apart too quickly. It would be better to use her as bait to lure Lan Yi here first.”

Chang Yan flashed a malicious smile and said in a low voice, “Very well. Once I have swallowed Lan Yi’s Snow Soul, I will let him watch with his own eyes as the person he cares about is broken into pieces.”

And so, I was locked in one of the wooden cages.

This cage wasn’t as crowded as the others. Besides me, there were two beautiful women and three children.

As the night deepened, the temperature plummeted. Cold air rose from the ground, and wearing only a thin cotton coat, I shivered uncontrollably.

The woman closest to me took advantage of a moment when no one was watching to take off one of her outer layers and drape it over me. “Young lady, you aren’t from around here, are you?” she whispered.

I clutched the lapels of the garment, looking at her with gratitude. “No, I come from the Northern Frontier.”

She gave a faint, weary smile.

“My grandmother was also abducted from the Northern Frontier by them. To ‘improve’ their bloodline, they entered her cage time and time again…

“The girls born were used for breeding, while the boys were raised until they were ten. Then, their Snow Souls were extracted to prolong their lives.

“Chang Yan is already one hundred and twelve years old. It seems he intends to live forever…”

Listening to her narrative, I felt a chill that went deeper than the cold. I wondered how many people’s Snow Souls Chang Yan had absorbed to maintain the appearance of a man in his thirties.

That very night, the three children in the cage were called away.

They didn’t cry or struggle. They simply shared one last embrace with their mothers before walking out submissively.

This time, they did not return.

Before dawn, during the darkest hour of the night, I curled up in the corner, my consciousness blurring.

In that half-awake state, I vaguely felt a woman lean close to me. Her voice was as ethereal as the night mist.

“Little girl… could you do us a favor?”

The next morning, a guard passed by the wooden cage, stifled a yawn, and announced, “There are corpses over here that need to be handled.”

The woman who had lent me her clothes was named Ah Xuan, and the other woman was Xiao Lian.

After losing all their children, they had lost their will to live. When the wind before the break of dawn swept through, their hearts stopped beating.

I draped the clothes Ah Xuan had lent me back over her shoulders.

She could no longer hear me, but I still whispered in her ear, “Thank you.”

Next, I was taken to see Chang Yan.

He looked several years younger than he had yesterday, his face glowing with vitality-clearly the result of absorbing the Snow Souls of those three children.

He lifted my chin, studying me with a mocking smile. “Last night you were bundled up so thickly I couldn’t see clearly. Now, in the daylight, I see you have quite a pretty little face.”

He leaned in close and whispered, “Why not follow me? It would be better than falling into the hands of my subordinates.”

I stared at him and said calmly, “You’re so ugly. I’d rather die than be with you.”

His fingers suddenly tightened, nearly crushing my jaw.

After a few moments, he let out a cold laugh and ordered his men to bring over a wooden rack.

I was placed upon it, my hands and feet secured.

Chang Yan had a basin of ice brought over. He picked out the smallest piece and rubbed it in his palm.

His tone was pitying, yet filled with anticipation. “Do you know what I can do to you with this?”

I stared at that piece of ice, watching as it changed shape between his fingers. In an instant, it condensed into countless tiny needles of frost that flew toward my limbs.

Then, a second piece of ice transformed and flew into the joints of my hands and feet.

I didn’t scream. Only cold sweat poured down my neck, soaking the clothes on my back.

I remembered swinging on a swing set as a child; the iron chains had chafed my fingers raw, and I had cried loudly from the pain.

While my brother bandaged me, he had turned the snow into flowers, making them bloom one by one in the night. Back then, a single glance at that sight in the night sky was enough to distract me, making me forget to cry.

Only now did I realize that when pain reaches its limit, one also forgets how to cry.

Seeing me drenched in cold sweat, Chang Yan took out a third piece of ice and asked, “Guess… where will it be next?”