Just as the two were growing anxious, Evan Yang and Lora Luo suddenly heard a voice—clear and crisp, like a woman's.
"Who are you?" the voice asked.
"Is that you speaking?" Evan frowned, hearing the voice coming from behind the ice block.
Lora peered curiously at the ice block. Inside, the demon spoke: "It's me. Who are you? Why do you have a human aura?"
"We're humans, and Richard sent us here," Evan replied.
The demon had seemed calm, as if years sealed in ice had frozen her heart, but Evan's words changed everything. Her tone suddenly became agitated: "Him—where is he? Is he alright?"
"He's fine. Right now, he's outside, drawing away a demon," Evan said.
"A demon? That's the Black Bear General who guards this place. Richard can't beat him—tell him to leave now, hurry, or it'll be too late!" The demon exclaimed in shock.
"We have to get you out first. Otherwise, all Richard's effort will be wasted." Evan thought of how Richard had waited thousands of years for that flower. If he abandoned the rescue now, it would betray Richard's trust and destroy his hard work. Evan couldn't let that happen.
"You can't do it. Leave now—if you wait any longer, you'll all die," the demon warned.
Evan ignored her warning. He had Lora step back, while the demon inside had no idea what Evan was planning. Evan spread his hands, and flames burst forth, instantly surrounding the ice block.
The demon thought it was just ordinary fire and said, "Fire won't work. This isn't normal ice."
But Evan replied, "This isn't ordinary fire either." As Sacred Flame erupted, the ice slowly began to melt, water forming around it. Lora was stunned, and the demon inside was even more shocked—she knew the origin of this ice, and ordinary flames could never break it.
"What is this?" the demon exclaimed, astonished.
"Don't worry about it. You'll be out soon," Evan said, knowing that in just half a刻, the seal would be broken.
So the two humans and the demon waited. The demon was deeply excited—she'd soon be free. She didn't know who these two really were, but she had to get out quickly; if she stayed trapped, Richard would be in danger.
Outside, Richard wasn't trying to fight the bear head-on; he only wanted to stall him, avoiding direct confrontation. Their speeds were evenly matched.
This gave Evan inside the cave the perfect opportunity. As the ice grew thin, cracks appeared—the demon inside was using her power to break through.
Evan withdrew his flames and looked at the demon—her skin was snowy white, and she had the beauty of a human woman.
She spoke gratefully, "Thank you both for saving my life."
"No need to thank us. Richard asked us to come," Evan said.
"Richard—quick, let's leave here and get out fast," the demon urged.
Evan nodded. The three—two humans and one demon—quickly retreated from the cave. Outside, they sensed a fight not far away: one man and one demon locked in battle.
"I'll try to contact Richard," Evan said.
Evan released a plume of flame toward Richard's direction. Richard quickly noticed the smoke rising from the cave entrance.
Seeing this, Richard tried to slip away but was entangled by the black bear.
Finally, Richard seized an opening and quickly disengaged. The moment he saw the demon, his emotions surged, but he knew this wasn't the time for reunions. He shouted, "Dodge!"
Evan understood Richard's meaning, so the three—two humans and one demon—quickly dodged aside. Richard threw the Black-Mist Lotus to the cave entrance.
The black bear was highly sensitive to the Black-Mist Lotus's aura—it had followed its scent all the way here. When it saw the lotus at the cave entrance, it was overjoyed, quickly scooped it up, and planned to refine it later. But after putting the lotus away, its keen nose detected several unfamiliar scents at the cave entrance.
Alarmed, it sensed something was wrong and rushed into the cave. Seeing the situation inside, it was utterly shocked.
"This is bad—I have to report to the King!" the black bear exclaimed. He quickly took something out and sent a message through it.
In another cave, a young man was lounging. When he received the bear's report, he was shocked and furious. "Useless! Go get her back—if you fail, I'll rip out your bear gallbladder!" he shouted.
Terrified, the black bear dared not linger. He immediately followed the scent outside. Meanwhile, the young man paced, summoned more demons, and issued orders.
Soon, the young man was cursing loudly, though no one knew exactly what he was saying. The black bear was now chasing on the road.
Evan and Lora couldn't keep up with Richard's speed, and the demon woman seemed very weak. So even though Richard was fast, the other three slowed the group's overall pace.
The black bear followed close behind, using divine sense to track their direction, steadily closing the distance.
"I'm furious! You dared to trick me—I’ll take your lives!" the black bear roared.
Richard spoke up, "This can't go on. We'll be caught at this rate. How about this—you three go on, I'll stay behind and stall the bear."
"No way! He’ll kill you—and once he finds out, you won’t even have a chance to fight back," the demon woman immediately objected.
"White Snow, your life matters more than mine now. No matter what, I have to stay. You all need to go," Richard said through gritted teeth.
So her name is White Snow, Evan and Lora thought to themselves.
White Snow replied, "If that's the case, I'd rather stay trapped there forever and never come out."
Richard hadn't expected White Snow to say that, but he couldn't bear the thought of her being recaptured or harmed. He would rather die for her.
Richard shook his head. "White Snow, just listen to me this once, please?"
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"Except for this request, I'll listen to anything else you say," White Snow replied.
"I..." Richard was at a loss, but he truly didn't want anything to happen to White Snow. He sent Evan a message: "I might need your help again. Soon I'll knock her out and take her away. If I survive, I'll contact you with the communication stone. If I die, just leave me behind."
Evan was stunned—he hadn't expected Richard to send him a message at this moment. Before Evan could respond, Richard gave White Snow a pill as she was about to speak again. She became furious, but before she could react, she fainted.
"Please, I'm counting on you," Richard said.
Evan hesitated but finally carried White Snow's body, then quickly left with Lora. Richard stopped and watched them go, thinking, "White Snow, I'm sorry. I hope you find someone worthy in the future and never get captured by that evil demon again."
Evan had no idea what kind of relationship Richard and White Snow had, and there was no time to ask. But from their actions, both Evan and Lora could tell their bond was extraordinary.
So Richard stayed behind to fight the black bear, while Evan, Lora, and White Snow traveled far away. After half a day, Evan found a quiet spot and finally laid White Snow down.
As the effects of the pill wore off, White Snow slowly regained consciousness. She saw herself lying under a tree, with Evan and Lora whispering nearby. Startled, she exclaimed, "Where am I?"
Evan walked over. "You're awake?"
"Where's Richard?" White Snow asked, alarmed to find him gone.
Evan knew the truth couldn't stay hidden forever, and enough time had passed that everything was already decided. He explained what had happened to White Snow. Hearing it, she became agitated, struggling to stand with her weak body and saying, "No, I have to save him. I have to save him."
"If we go back, we'll only cause him trouble," Evan said. He knew Richard was the strongest among them, and their return would only make things worse.
White Snow was stunned—Evan was right. Their return would only cause Richard more trouble. But after thinking it over, she said, "I believe they won't kill him. I can go and exchange myself for him."
"Miss White Snow, Richard risked his life to save you and hold off the black bear. If you go back now, you'll waste his sacrifice. We don't even know if Richard is in danger or has already escaped. If he has, your return would only complicate things," Evan explained. He truly didn't know Richard's fate—whether he was captured or killed—so he could only say this to White Snow.
White Snow still couldn't calm down. "You wouldn't understand," she said.
"What is there not to understand? He saved you and risked his life to distract the black bear. He said he'd contact us later. I don't want him to come looking for you and not find you," Evan sighed.
"Did he really say that?" White Snow asked.
"Yes, that's what he said," Evan replied.
Seeing neither of them would settle down, Lora suggested, "How about this—we wait two more days. If Richard hasn't returned by then, we'll go look for him."
Evan and White Snow both thought Lora's suggestion was reasonable. But White Snow still felt uneasy—she wanted to rush off, and if not for Evan and Lora holding her back, she would have already left.
"Are we really going to wait two days?" Lora couldn't stand seeing White Snow sitting under the tree, recovering her strength but full of worry.
"Do you have a better idea?" Evan replied. He knew how strong the black bear was—if more helpers arrived, Richard would be in real danger. Even if they went back, they couldn't help, and Evan hoped Richard could escape. Maybe they'd hear from him in two days.