Right now, Ivy Shen was following beside Eli Crane. She couldn't see his face, couldn't see their tightly clasped hands, couldn't see the road beneath their feet—everything was pitch black. Yet a faint herbal scent gently surrounded her, thick with fritillaria, fresh and sweet as a summer pear.
At this moment, she suddenly wanted to just sink into it.
"Careful!" a low voice suddenly rang out by her ear.
Ivy Shen was lost in thought. Even after his warning, she didn’t stop in time and bumped straight into Eli Crane’s back. His straight spine made her nose sting with pain; she sniffed, rubbed her nose, and grumbled in a muffled voice, annoyed like she’d been teased: "You did that on purpose!"
Eli Crane’s brow arched slightly in the darkness. Even though he couldn’t see her, he could easily guess she was shaking her head indifferently, so he clarified, "I didn’t."
"Then why’d you suddenly stop?" Wrapped in darkness, Ivy’s personality suddenly turned lively. "If you were Aiden Chen, I’d definitely beat you up!" She joked with mock seriousness.
"Watch your step, there’s stairs."
"Huh?" Ivy Shen blinked, still processing his words, when she suddenly felt Eli Crane squeeze her hand and gently pull her forward.
All around was silent, only the sound of their footsteps echoing slowly in this Crane Dynasty Mausoleum, untouched by anyone for countless years.
Following the slope downward, Ivy Shen trailed closely behind Eli Crane, not knowing how long they’d walked—always down, always down. She couldn’t help but wonder, if they kept going like this, would they end up in the underworld?!
But just as her mind was running wild, suddenly, the ground beneath her feet turned flat and smooth.
It was level, polished, but so cold it felt like the chill was stabbing right into her bones.
"Be good, stay here and don’t move. Wait for me!" Before Ivy Shen could reply, Eli Crane suddenly let go of her hand and walked ahead alone.
She listened as his footsteps grew farther away, his voice fading too, until the vast darkness instantly swallowed her up. The cold from the floor shot up through her feet and straight to her head, and she seemed to sense the heavy, ancient air drifting in from the depths.
Ivy Shen started to panic a little. Worried about Eli Crane, she reached out and gingerly took a step forward, but the icy cold stabbed even deeper, forcing her to pull back.
"Eli Crane, Eli Crane, where are you..." Ivy Shen called softly, but only darkness echoed back at her. Her heart tightened with worry—Eli was so frail, what if something happened...
The more she thought about it, the more anxious and scared she felt. "Eli Crane, are you okay?"
"I’m fine," came his calm voice from ahead. In an instant, a gentle flame lit up, like a tiny firefly, casting a soft, round glow.
Eli Crane stood by a candlestick in white robes, his back straight. In the candlelight, his pale face glowed softly. Wide sleeves, ink-black hair, and calm eyes turned toward Ivy Shen as he smiled faintly: "Don’t worry, I’m fine."
Then he walked to another candlestick and lit it, and soon, one lamp after another flickered to life, illuminating the whole corridor.
Ivy Shen stood there, watching as the space suddenly brightened. The gloomy wind in the corridor brushed past her, making her shiver—this place really did feel like hell, even the wind felt like something from the underworld.
Now, with candlelight shining everywhere, this pitch-black place looked almost magical. In the darkness, massive black stone lions stood tall in every corner, and the floor was paved with white ice bricks—no wonder her feet were so cold.
Eli Crane slowly walked over to her, smiling, "Follow me." With that, he took down a candlestick and led the way forward.
"Little White, are you familiar with this place? Have you been here before?" Seeing him find the candlestick so easily, Ivy Shen was curious.
Eli Crane paused for a moment, then replied lightly, "No."
"No? Then how come you seem to know your way around so well?" Ivy Shen was puzzled.
"When my grandfather was alive, he drew a map of this place on the ground once, so I memorized some of it."
"Huh? How old were you then? Your grandpa drew it just once and you remembered? Were you a genius or something?"
"Genius?" Eli Crane echoed the word softly, then smiled. "No, I only remembered a little, and he was already pretty old then, so the map wasn’t very complete."
"That’s still amazing."
Just as she finished speaking, a heavy stone gate appeared ahead of them, and an even colder, icy wind came howling out from inside. Eli Crane walked forward to investigate, but accidentally stepped on something—there was a loud 'creak,' and the ice brick beneath his foot suddenly sank, slowly pushing the heavy stone door open.
In an instant, a magnificent golden hall appeared before them, though all the gold was covered in a layer of transparent ice. Even so, the brilliance couldn’t be hidden.
Eli Crane led the way in, and Ivy Shen followed after him.
Before them was a vast main hall. Except for the floor, which was paved with black stone, everything else was dazzling gold—lamp posts, tables, chairs, all made of solid gold. Ivy couldn’t help thinking this place was basically a treasure vault.
On top of each golden pillar sat a small metal bowl, each holding a bright, icy snowball.
At the very top, there was a giant snowball—so huge it sat in a massive golden bowl, with two black iron chains attached beside it. Standing under it, the two of them seemed tiny. That giant snowball looked like the ancestor of all the little ones, huge and intimidating.
Ivy Shen took a deep breath. The architecture before her was so grand, 'masterpiece of the gods' didn’t even begin to cover it.
Just then, a cold wind suddenly swept through, making the giant snowball on the altar start to sway.
"Crap!" Eli Crane exclaimed. With a sweep of his sleeve, he pulled Ivy Shen into his arms. His frail body suddenly erupted with strength as he pivoted and floated backward.
With a dull thud, countless snowballs from the little bowls started flying at them like deadly weapons.
Ivy Shen hadn’t even recovered from the shock when, in the next moment, the rattling of the chains grew louder and louder.
The wind outside kept roaring in, wild and relentless, sounding like ghosts wailing. The noise made both their eardrums ache.
"Little White, above your head..." Ivy Shen gasped, her voice trembling with fear.
At that, Eli Crane jerked his head up. Above them, countless sharp icicles were already swaying, like swords about to drop. He knew if those things fell, they’d be skewered straight through.
But that wasn’t even the scariest part—the ice bricks beneath their feet also started to tremble.
"Crap! The Ancient Ice Beast is waking up!" Eli Crane said, frowning.
"What ice beast? Why did your ancestors lock a monster down here? Who were they trying to kill?" Ivy Shen asked, her face pale as he held her tight.
"I’ll explain later. Right now, there’s something more important to do," Eli Crane replied, his expression turning serious.
"What?" Ivy Shen blinked, confused.
"Run!" With that, Eli Crane scooped her up in a princess carry and dashed for the door.
A heavy crash sounded. In an instant, chunks of ice came crashing down, shattering on the floor. The iron chains snapped, and the giant snowball rolled out of its bowl, thundering toward the exit. The ice bricks cracked in rapid succession—Eli Crane knew the Ancient Ice Beast was waking up!
Sweat beaded on Eli Crane’s forehead, but he kept clutching Ivy Shen tightly and sprinted forward.
Behind them, the pillars crashed down, sending clouds of dust and debris flying, nearly smashing into them.
The giant snowball was smashed into chunks by the falling columns. Seeing this, Eli Crane twisted aside, shielding Ivy Shen as he tackled her to the ground, protecting her head while shards of snow crashed down onto his back.
In that instant, Eli Crane felt a sharp pain in his back. He frowned, tasted blood in his throat, and the next second, a mouthful of blood spilled uncontrollably from his lips.