At night, snowflakes the size of goose feathers began to fall on the snowy mountain. The snowflakes danced and twirled in the air, resembling graceful butterflies. They added a touch of liveliness to the desolate darkness of the snow-covered mountain.
Elaine sat on the edge of the bed, absent-mindedly gazing out of the window at the scenery. After about ten minutes, she shifted her gaze to the order on the bed, her eyes filled with complexity. She reached out her right hand and gently poked the soft and smooth face of Order. "The texture feels good."
Immediately, Order's fingers trembled slightly, and her eyelashes fluttered as if she was about to wake up. Seeing this, Elaine quickly withdrew her hand and muttered to herself, "Less than twelve hours since the ice coffin shattered, and signs of awakening already. This woman is indeed extraordinary!"
"Mmm..." Suddenly, a muffled grunt came from the bed, sounding both painful and relieved. Elaine couldn't figure out the situation clearly. Then she saw Order, who had been lying on the bed, slowly open her eyes. Her golden pupils were like stars, shining brightly but filled with a hint of indifference.
"How do you feel?" Elaine blinked, looking at the awakened Order, and asked.
"I feel... pretty good," Order looked at Elaine in front of her, slightly puzzled.
"You... look familiar," Order stared at Elaine's face for a long time before slowly spitting out these words. Perhaps because she had been frozen for too long, she couldn't remember who the human she had once known was.
"I'm Elaine. What's your name?" Elaine looked at Order with a radiant smile, her face exuding a gentle charm that was hard to resist.
"I'm Order. Did you save me?" Order looked at the smiling girl in front of her, her gaze confused.
"Well..." Elaine shook her head and said, "I just found you. It was mainly thanks to my master's power that she carried you out of the cave."
"I see!" Order responded calmly, her eyes revealing a few strands of strangeness as she said, "Thank you for saving me!"
"It was mainly my master's effort. I didn't do much, just led the way," Elaine shrugged and casually said, "Now that you've woken up, I'll go and practice."
"Okay," Order replied without saying anything more.
She watched Elaine's figure as she walked away and couldn't help but call out, "Yun Junshang!"
Hearing this name, Elaine paused for a moment, then turned around and looked at the still lying Order. Frowning, she asked, "Who is Yun Junshang?"
"Do you really... not remember?" Order's eyes became somewhat dim, and her voice became much lower. "You look so much like Yun Junshang. I mistook you for her..."
"Oh..." Hearing Order's words, Elaine suddenly realized, "Rest more and don't overthink. Focus on recovering your body first. I'm in the room next to yours. Just call if you need anything."
"Okay," Order responded.
In her memory, Elaine and Yun Junshang looked almost identical. It was normal for her to have illusions when both of them had the same appearance and even similar personalities. The only difference between the two was that Yun Junshang looked more mature and stable, while Elaine appeared more naive and innocent, like a blank piece of paper untainted by the world.
Regardless of temperament or demeanor, Yun Junshang is more elegant and dignified.
Could Elaine be the reincarnation of Yun Junshang? This thought suddenly popped into Order's mind.
"Sigh..."
As Order pondered, she let out a sigh and then closed her eyes, entering a meditative state to quietly restore her body and regain strength.
Her current situation is not too bad, but definitely not optimistic.
Order has been frozen for too long and suffered severe injuries. Her physical functions have deteriorated, to the point where even standing is a problem.
Her current physical fitness is worse than that of an ordinary human, and she lacks even the most basic combat ability. She can still use magic to some extent, but it's not enough to fight against those demons. It will probably take a considerable amount of time to fully recover.
Half an hour later, Diderite returned with food and clean clothes.
Upon hearing her master's return, Elaine immediately stopped her cultivation and ran towards the door.
"Master, Order has awakened." Elaine saw her master and informed her of the situation.
Diderite asked, "How do you know her name is Order?"
"She told me herself. Do you think I can read minds?" Elaine pouted.
"Hehe!" Diderite chuckled and ignored Elaine's joke, walking towards the room where Order was.
When she saw Order entering a meditative state, she quietly retreated and whispered to Elaine, "Don't disturb her recovery. Let her slowly restore her body."
Elaine obediently nodded and returned to her own room to continue her cultivation.
Diderite went back to her own room, flipping through medical books to find a way to treat Order.
...
Shuowang Empire.
Baixi knelt on a stone stool, transcribing the family rules, with her pen gliding through effortlessly, her expression relieved.
After transcribing the family rules twenty times, she finally finished. "Finally done with the family rules. I can lay on the soft bed and get a good rest now."
Baixi put down her pen, raised her head and rubbed her sore neck. Then she picked up an apple nearby and took a bite, preparing to deliver them to her mother.
Just as she was about to stand up, she found that her legs were paralyzed and she couldn't feel them, making it impossible to stand.
She then reached out to Iris for help through the Consciousness Space, "Mother, I finished transcribing the family rules. Come and take a look."
"I'm busy!" Iris responded.
"I knelt for too long and my legs have gone numb. I can't stand up," Baixi said with a face full of grievances, weakly.
"Oh." Iris's voice sounded very indifferent, as if she didn't care at all, "I'm going to sleep, let's talk about it tomorrow."
"Wu~" Three black lines appeared on Baixi's forehead, and her fair face was full of frustration. "Wu~ Mother, you're so heartless."
No matter how Baixi acted cute and threw tantrums, Iris still ignored her, not even bothering to respond.
"Wu~"
Tears streamed down Baixi's delicate face as she couldn't help but cry out loud, feeling extremely down. "Mother, you're completely ignoring me. Wuwu~"
"Mother, I'm no longer your little cotton jacket. Wu~"
At this moment, Iris found Baixi annoying and interrupting her sleep, so she simply blocked the communication between them and let the little one cry.
Making mistakes always comes with consequences. Twenty sentences of family rules are not enough to offset the mistakes she made. She still needs to endure fifty lashes and three months of solitary confinement. This is already Iris being lenient with Baixi.
"Uu~~"
Seeing that her plea was in vain, Baixi suddenly felt like the whole world was collapsing. She knelt on the stone stool, covering her face with her hands and crying louder and louder, like a cuckoo's mournful call echoing through the forest.
"Uu~~ Uu~~"
Iris heard the wailing by her ear and helplessly lifted the blanket, opened her eyes, put on her shoes, and walked towards Baixi's location.
She really didn't expect that Baixi, this little rascal, would cry for over an hour, risking harming herself.
Next time, she should just leave her in the jail to be punished and let Baixi trouble the prisoners there.
"Stop crying, what stupid thing did you do again?" Iris walked up to Baixi, knocked on the stone table, and spoke lightly.
"Mother~ You finally paid attention to your daughter." Upon hearing Iris's words, Baixi immediately wiped away the crystal-clear tears from her face and broke into a smile.
"Useless nonsense." Iris rolled her eyes, extended her hand to pinch Baixi's cheek, and said in a low voice, "If I hadn't come, were you planning to cry the whole night and keep me from sleeping?"
"Daughter's legs got numb." Baixi looked at Iris with a pitiful expression and spoke softly.
"Hmph." Iris snorted, then picked up Baixi and walked toward her own bedroom.
"Huh?" Baixi blinked slightly, then reacted, "Mother, are you going to sleep with your daughter?"
Iris glanced at Baixi, then went straight into her own bedroom.
She put Baixi on the bed, soaked her feet in hot water to ease the discomfort, and covered her with the blanket. After doing all this, she turned off the lights and went to sleep.
