"ARRRGGHGHHHHHH!" Suddenly a loud cry of someone below the mountain broke the suffocating silence.
And as if that was a signal or the hammer that broke the dam.
A flood of screaming tore through the entire greenwater town and the Shadow Wolf Sect.
Lin Feng also waited for his master to start showing his agony. He waited for the scream, the buckling knees, or at least a grunt of pain.
However, T-800 stood there, silent and still as a stone statue.
Lin Feng watched in horror as the twenty-stroke mark on T-800's shoulder started to glow, and then a thick blue frost started to coat the skin as the ambient humidity started to suck towards T-800 despite a roaring bonfire near them.
But the horror of Lin Feng turned to shock because despite the frost and glowing Penance Mark, yet the man refused to shiver.
The screams outside were deafening, but his Master Tie Yuan remained silent as if cannot sense the cold or heat.
—----
Meanwhile, at the center of the sect in the courtyard of Elder Jin was in his bedroom, in his bed, inside a sheet till his waist and with a wine jug in his hand.
The Penance Mark on his right forearm, whenever it glows a little bit with blue flame glow, searing his skin.
He takes a large chug of the wine. The high concentration of Yang Qi in the wine immediately douses the Soul-Severing Cold.
But that was not the only jug he had for the whole night. A line of large jugs was near his bed in a neat line.
It was so much Yang Qi concentrated wine that even if he drank heavily everyday, it would take a year to finish all of it.
The Penance Mark flared again and he took another large chug. "Ahhh!" The wine was soothing against the cold and yet he was shivering and sweating at the same time.
BAM!
Suddenly the door of his room burst open.
A shivering figure stumbled inside.
It was Ye Feiyu.
Her usually perfect red silk robes were now stiff with white frost, and her jade-like skin had turned a pale, sickly blue. Her teeth chattered loudly because the Soul-Severing Cold was eating into her very bones.
Although she only had two strokes on her arm but that was enough for her, a woman like her who cultivates Yin Qi.
"You... heartless... bastard!" she hissed, her voice trembling. "You knew! You knew I had no preparation!"
Elder Jin did not look surprised. He did not even sit up. He simply took another slow sip of his wine, enjoying the warmth spreading through his chest. He looked at her misery with a calm, indifferent eye as if he had expected this.
She slowly stepped closer to the bed and kept glaring at him and Elder Jin kept taking sips from his wine jug.
Both of them staring at each other, one was glaring and another was expressionless or rather faintly enjoying the misery of her.
He then slowly extended the heavy wine jug toward her.
Ye Feiyu gritted her teeth, she has come this far so this was no more about her dignity or face anymore.
She snatched the jug from his hand. She threw her head back and drowned her throat in one long sip, emptying the jug. The fiery, spicy liquid rushed down her throat, fighting the ice in her veins.
CRASH!
She smashed the empty clay jug onto the floor. "Is this it?!" she screamed, panting heavily as steam rose from her wet skin. "This cheap Fire-Spirit Wine? It is barely keeping me warm! I am still freezing to death and the night is long!"
Elder Jin let out a faith smirk as his hands reached into his robe and pulled out a small, red jade bottle. He popped the cork. Immediately, a dense, spicy, fiery aroma filled the freezing room, smelling of pure sunlight and condensed heat.
Ye Feiyu's eyes went wide. Her pupils dilated. "A Great Yang Pill," she gasped, her voice full of desperate longing. "You have one! Give it to me! Now!"
Elder Jin took the pill out. It glowed with a soft red light. He slowly placed the pill on his own tongue. But he did not swallow. He leaned back against the headboard and opened his mouth slightly, showing the glowing red pill resting there on his tongue.
There was a pause. The air crackled with tension.
Ye Feiyu looked at the pill, then at his cold malicious eyes. The Soul-Severing Cold bit into her marrow again, making her shudder. She did not hesitate any longer.
She jumped onto the bed like a starving tiger pouncing on meat. She mounted herself on his waist and grabbed his face with both hands. There was a pause, a killing intent on Ye Feiyu eyes but then it turned into a lustful glow.
She instantly slammed her lips against his. Her tongue aggressively invaded his mouth, seeking the heat, seeking the pill.
Both of their tongues started battling each other, for one pill, stealing its Pure Yang from each other, slurping each other's saliva with loud slurpness.
Elder Jin wrapped his arms around her waist.
RIP!
The sound of silk tearing echoed in the room. Her cold hands also tore at his robes, and his hot hands tore at her dress, desperate for skin-to-skin friction as the Soul-Severing Cold and Lustful Flame started to rise.
—----
Lin Feng was hugging his knees, sitting as far back against the rough stone wall as he could. The heat was stifling, almost unbearable for a mortal like him because the bonfire was roaring like a trapped beast in the center of the cave.
The air shimmered with waves of intense heat that made his skin sting and his throat dry.
However, the scene before him defied all common sense.
Master Tie Yuan was standing right next to that blazing fire, so close that the tongues of flame kept touching his robes.
Yet, he was not burning. Instead, he was encased in a thick, jagged layer of blue translucent ice on blue flame.