Love Better Than Immortality

Ice Gorge ♡

As Ye Xing Zhu stands guard at the Lotus Pond Pavilion, the entrance of Qian Yue Cave, Chun Hua brings a blanket into the Ice Gorge and covers Qiu Yue with it, commenting that it was a good thing they had Ye Xing Zhu guarding otherwise they wouldn’t be able to retrieve necessities. When Qiu Yue tells her that he had thought Ye Xing Zhu would escape with Gu Xing Zhu, Chun Hua retorts that Ye Xing Zhu had always been really good to him. Qiu Yue was still cold even with the blanket so Chun Hua started a fire in a pan and fed him mooncake to warm him up. When Chun Hua commented on the fact that he actually ate mooncakes everyday, Qiu Yue told her that he liked eating mooncakes with her. Qiu Yue then asked for a drink but when Chun Hua brought the spoon up to his lips, he told her that that wasn’t the way to feed him and she sets the bowl aside with a huff and goes to warm herself in front of the fire, ignoring his comments that he was cold. Qiu Yue persisted, telling her that he was injured and couldn’t move so she had to take on all the responsibility, shamelessly telling her to “come hug me”. When Chun Hua relents, Qiu Yue smiled as he told her that she was good to him and Chun Hua retorts that once he had healed, he should look for someone else to hug. Qiu Yue replies that he will only let her hug him.

( The peace before Qiu Yue startles awake )

Qiu Yue soon falls asleep leaning on Chun Hua and she traced his eyebrows and eyelashes, commenting that he really was a Yao Nie[1]. She then recalls what the system had told her about the first person she meets being her fated one and knowing that going against her fate will not end well, she brushes it off and rests a hand on the side of Qiu Yue’s head. Qiu Yue startles awake before calming down when he realised that it was just Chun Hua. He then explains that up till he was 15 years of age when he had escaped, ‘that lady’ had forced him to read and practise martial arts daily and he only got 2-4 hours of sleep. When he was 5, he had sneaked out but due to his unfamiliarity with the traps and mechanism, he had fallen into a ice ravine. He was soon found because he had sustained severe injuries and the blood on his clothes and water had frozen. He was beaten and starved for 3 days, only managing to survive by eating the pieces of ice in the Ice Gorge. Since he was 6, regardless of whether it was day or night, she would launch sneak attacks on him to test his kungfu and reflexes. Every time she succeeded, he wouldn’t be given food for a day. Naturally, between a restful sleep and living, Qiu Yue chose the latter. She was only soft-hearted towards the Ice Silkworm and carefully grew them in the Ice Gorge. When he was 12, he burned all her Ice Silkworm and she almost killed him, forbidding him from eating or drinking for 5 days. When Qiu Yue explained that all this was done because she wanted him to avenge her, Chun Hua realised that he had been referring to Shang Guan Hui and reacted with disbelief but he told her that people will be changed by their experiences. Hearing this, Chun Hua became downcast so Qiu Yue held her hand and promised not to let her end up like Hui. Chun Hua was curious about what happened to Shang Guan Hui and Qiu Yue explains that after Hui was abandoned by Xiao Yuan, she spent the latter half of her life confined in the Ice Gorge and in order to survive, she followed many man, some who were later killed by her while others were bewitched by her to do bad things. Chun Hua sympathised with Hui because in her position, Hui had no other choice. Qiu Yue had only found out that Hui was his mother just as she was dying. He adds that every Mid-Autumn, she would force him to swear to kill Xiao Yuan. In the end, Hui died in front of Xiao Yuan and Xiao Yuan died at the hands of her old friend (Chief Li).