Chapter 319 – The Fifth Wife, Joining the Ice Folk - Part 3
A few days later.
The old hunter’s strength faded markedly.
Snow fretted; she loved this life, this husband, and the man she now called her father. Surely, the ones she now called family deserved the most sacred funeral rites.
That night, after a long struggle with herself, she nudged Li Yuan awake. He slipped an arm around his new bride.
“Whatever you are,” he murmured, “you’re my wife.”
“Mhmm. I’ll always be Woody’s woman.” Gathering courage, she went on, “But I’m not from here. I...ran away from home. Where I come from there’s a special place, the Deathless Tomb. When a tribesman is near death, we carry them there. Body and soul freeze solid. The prophecy says that when sunlight returns to the land of Evernight, they’ll awaken...and be reborn in a new age.”
Li Yuan listened without a word.
Snow went on, voice hushed but earnest. “Father’s so sick. I’d like to take him there, let him rest in our Deathless Tomb. He’ll fall into a sacred sleep there. When you and I grow old, we’ll go too. Then one day, when sunlight finally breaks the endless night, the three of us will wake together...reborn.”
She searched his face. “Woody...do you believe me?”
“I do.” He drew her into his arms. Her skin felt cool as ice yet burned with hidden heat, muscles far tougher than any ordinary woman’s. Since reaching fifth rank, no one apart from Yan Yu had brought him such sheer delight until her.
“I’ll convince him,” he promised. “Then we set out.”
“I don’t really want to go back,” she admitted. “Home is nothing but cold and darkness.”