If this is not discrimination, what else is?
She couldn't help but glance down at Hitzfeld and found that she was still unusually calm.
No, this calmness is just her disguise.
Although... from the beginning of the changes in the Ice Palace to the freezing of Nian Lun and others, she did not make any expression.
She didn't yell, didn't try to escape, didn't pull me aside to discuss follow-up plans, and didn't even show the slightest bit of tension, as if she had known that we would be fine, and had even figured out that the freezing of others would not be fatal.
But her body kept shaking.
She was shaking all the time.
Is that fear? Or excitement?
Xia Yibing didn't know, but she instinctively felt that it was both.
The preferential treatment from the Ice Palace was undoubtedly reflected, because they were the only two who were not frozen and were able to witness the miracle below freely.
As the two watched excitedly and in shock, a thin aurora beam gushed out from under the ice again. It was like a central column connecting the central ice surface and the center of the ceiling. The light gathered at the center of the ceiling and spread out rapidly, like an umbrella or a firework exploding, refracting again along the twelve ice surfaces of the ceiling, and each refracted aurora beam would condense into ice in the air.
This condensation is regular. The ice crystals first condensed along the aurora beams on the ceiling to form a huge ice crystal chandelier, which was suspended in the air by ice lines as fine as spider silk. The overall outline was like a floating island, with tens of thousands of ice crystal gems hanging on the frame.
Then more chandeliers… carved patterns on the columns… reliefs on the walls… chiseled windows…
It is visible to the naked eye that the entire palace is becoming more magnificent. If the previous ice palace was just an empty "palace shell" and its interior was too empty and too rough, now it seems as if a group of the best sculptures and architects are continuing to work on it, truly making it a miracle of ice and snow.
What did we find?
Xia Yibing looked around as if she had never seen the world before as the ice crystals condensed. She witnessed with her own eyes that the aurora beams actually formed into flags hanging from the pillars and the ceiling - they were probably woven with ice threads finer than spider silk, which was completely beyond the comprehension of mortals.
She also saw candlesticks, candles, torches, armor... On the ground, a huge ice crystal carpet grew out of thin air. A huge cylindrical base quickly formed in the middle of the ice crystal square. It soared up like a double-layer cake, and a female statue was carved on the top.
The face of the statue was unclear, but her figure could only be described as artistic. She was wearing a hazy gauze dress and open-toed sandals, with nothing exposed except her wrists and ankles. She held a cross sword in her right hand and a huge book in her left hand. Her hair was dancing like burning ice flames. Just looking at her like this gave me a huge sense of oppression.
Without asking anyone, Xia Yibing knew that this was a god.
She didn't think that this was the Ice and Snow Goddess in the Ice Lake legend, because she had seen even those great ones. Even if the Ice and Snow Goddess really existed, she was just a rookie god in the north, not as good as the great ones, and it was impossible for her to give her such pressure.
She thought this was a masculine goddess.
Xia Yibing knew that this thought came out of nowhere the moment she saw the statue, and it had no basis, but she just wanted to think so.
Then this is not an ice crystal palace at all...
She turned again to look at the various decorations in the hall.
If it weren't for the ice crystal statue, she might not have thought of this, but the statue was like the decisive stroke, adding the finishing touch to a painting or the title of an article, making her realize instantly that this should actually be a church.
A pious church, a sacred chapel, an extremely luxurious...the supreme temple.
"Aisun."
After hesitating for a moment, Xia Yibing didn't dare to look at Hitzfeld, but just pinched her wrist to remind her.
"Can you tell me what's in your heart?"
[Don't bother her, I can fulfill your wish.]
A cold female voice sounded in her ears.
Xia Yibing instinctively turned around and asked "Who!?", but as she turned around, the scene in front of her changed completely.
The ice palace, the church... the ice sculptures of her companions, and even Hitzfeld, whom she had been holding hands with, were all gone.
Under your feet is the lake as calm as a mirror, and in the distance is the azure horizon.
She was instantly transported to the dreamland she had encountered before, as if she had traveled through time and space and returned to the original appearance of the Depp-Valtina Ice Lake.
"..." Xia Yibing tried her best to control her emotions and not show any panic.
She saw a slender figure standing about a hundred meters ahead and walked towards it.
……
At the same time, Hitzfeld also fell into an illusion.
Unlike Xia Yibing, she had anticipated all this.
It can't even be called expectation, it's more like anticipation, or even fear.
She has already seen through the secrets of the Arctic and completely understood why she suddenly had the urge to come to the Arctic after being stripped of her omniscience and omnipotence. She completely understands the meaning of its existence.
But it was all this that frightened her.
She wasn't sure if she could face that reality calmly.
The scene that Hitzfeld first arrived at was the same as Xia Yibing's, both were mirror-like lake water, and both had a figure standing not far ahead.
She did not move, but just stood there, staring at the figure in the distance, as if trying to see her face, her figure, her inner self, everything about her.
Until the figure turned towards her.
Although I still couldn't see clearly, I could roughly make out that she was extending her hand towards me and making an inviting gesture.
This seemed to give Hitzfeld encouragement and courage, and she took the first step forward with some trembling.
The tranquility of the lake was thus broken.
As the footsteps fell, ripples spread out, and the next moment what appeared was no longer a reflection of the blue sky, but countless jumping images like an LCD screen.
Hitzfeld looked down and saw that one of the clips showed a woman with her back to the camera. She was squatting on the ground with her hands stretched forward in a hugging gesture, and clapping from time to time.
In front of the woman is a tottering baby who has obviously just learned to walk, or may not even have mastered the skill.
The woman actually guides him/her.
Encouraging him/her.
She uses her actions, gestures, expressions, and emotions to infect him/her, give him/her courage, and make him/her take the first step after a long period of hesitation and concern, and walk towards her little by little.
"Yes~ yes~ that's it!"
The woman was overjoyed. She opened her arms, held the child in her arms, and then lifted him high into the sky.
"As expected of my child! Very brave~!"
Hitzfeld's lips trembled slightly, he looked up at the figure in front of him, and took another step forward.
The ripples spread, and the picture that appeared turned into a woman sitting on a swing holding her child in a daze.
This was an autumn yard. She recognized that it should be a corner of the Hitzfeld Manor. Perhaps at some point in history, two rows of parallel swings had been installed here. It was surrounded by shrubs and flowers, and everything looked particularly bleak because of the fallen leaves.
"He still hasn't come."
The woman gently rocked the child in her arms.
"I can understand him..."
"You know, Aisuen, how important what we carry is."
"Your dad is a hero."
"Of course, mom too~"
My heart was contracting and twitching uncontrollably until I heard her say my name, and all my guesses were confirmed.
yes……
Why didn’t I think of this before…
aurora……
memory……
A lake that is big enough to freeze everything, and it is said that even time cannot escape it.
Who would be so bored as to create such a spectacle?
Don't eat people.
Do not harm others.
What's the point of a being with this ability doing this...
"After all, this world is still too dangerous."
The woman in the picture is complaining again.
"Don't think I can still play with you now, but you will be sent away soon."
"This is necessary for your safety. We have considered whether to let you inherit this job, but after careful consideration, I still hope that you can spend your life as a mortal."
"So it's still mom, okay?"
"That idiot, his mind is all on me."
"Don't blame him. He actually loves you very much, but he is just a little stupid and doesn't know how to express his feelings."
"How can I expect anything from him? His emotions have long been worn out by years of work. I am honored to be able to pry open that frozen heart. We can't ask for more..."
"It's just that I made a plan for the final outcome."
"When it happens, I will do everything I can to protect you from harm."
"Of course I'm going to die after that."
"What a pity..."
“I can’t see you grow up.”
“So sometimes I wonder about it.”
"If fate can really help me, please give me a chance to record my love for you."
"At least I can give you a complete childhood."
“…That would be great.”
Chapter 53: Miracle of Love (Two in One)
Hitzfeld has seen many scenes like this.
It's not just about a woman sitting on a swing holding her child and daydreaming, nor is it just some routine toddler exercises and parent-child games, but also something more subtle, penetrating into every detail of life.
She saw the ignorant child moving around in the middle of the night and kicking off the quilt. The woman sleeping in the other bed woke up automatically and rubbed her eyes groggily. Although she looked very reluctant, she jumped out of bed immediately, without even wearing slippers, and came over to wrap the child in the quilt.
She saw the woman sitting in the study browsing documents, and saw that from time to time some servants came in to obey her orders. She watched how she instructed these people to do things, dispatched them to deliver letters or messages, and during this process she still held the child in her arms.
"Mansoura." Someone knocked on the door and entered the study, revealing an old face.
Hitzfeld recognized her; it was her great-grandmother, Kardashian Hitzfeld, although that identity was only her own.
"Why are you here?" The woman looked a little surprised. She wanted to get up to greet him while holding the child, but the old man waved her away.
"We are all family, don't try this on me."
"But, Mansoura. You must send this child away as soon as possible."
The smile on the woman's face disappeared and her brows quickly furrowed.
"But Aisuen is so young... If you just don't want to distract me, then I can understand and I am willing to do it, but do you think so? You simply want to use this child and make her the backup of the family."
"I know this is unfair to you and Aisuen." Kadesan looked at her calmly, "But this is the fate of the Secret Keeper family, isn't it? Aisuen is not the only one who has to be treated like this. You went through this too, and so did I!"
Such a rebuttal was indeed powerful enough, and the woman was speechless for a moment. She knew that she was in the wrong in this matter.
But some things can't be viewed simply as a fault, right? She is not only the owner of Hitzfell Manor, not only the leader of this family, but also a mother. Of course, she values the fate of her children!
So it was natural for her to want to fight back: "What if I could take up the burden of Aisuen?"
"You can't choose." Kardshan smiled strangely, "The sons of each generation of heirs will be secretly sent to the secular world to grow up. This is not only to protect them, but also to prevent the worst situation from happening - the manor will be lost!"
“The manor cannot be lost.” The woman retorted, “We have the Corpse Stitcher, and we have an agent on earth. His power alone is enough to suppress all the extraordinary people in the secular world. Let alone breaking into the manor, they won’t even have a chance to get close to here.”
"It's not impossible just because you say it's impossible. We must take precautions."
The old woman seemed a little angry. She narrowed her eyes and said, "Mansoura, wake up... Your mother was reluctant to part with you, and I was also reluctant to part with those children. But this is not an area where we can be willful."
The woman frowned and didn't respond.
"Sending you out is to prevent any accidents from happening in the manor. At least one seed can be preserved in the outside world." Kardashian continued, "If they grow up and become adults at the age of 18, and this accident doesn't happen, you can come back normally."
"So don't make it like a life-and-death separation, okay? The rule is that the dead are alive again, and you don't have to wait until you are 18. Your mother often secretly brought you back to the manor to play, and I just pretended not to see it."
The woman was finally amused, and her smile was a little embarrassed: "But what I'm thinking is... I don't want Aisuen to come back. I want him to live his whole life as a mortal."
