Transmigrating Into a Fantasy World: Signing in During Pregnancy, Reaching the Summit with My Childhood Sweetheart

21: Chapter 21: Mysterious Shadow and Startling BeautyThe Woodshed door swung wide open, letting in a chilling winter wind carrying the scent of dust from outside the town. Old Sun sat slumped by the doorframe, his graying hair disheveled in the wind. Every breath he took sounded like a broken bellows, and traces of wet blood remained at the corners of his mouth. He looked at the kicked-over withered bone vine, the wide-open door of the pharmacy, and then back at the three ”bodies” inside the Woodshed, pinned to the line between life and death by eerie bone needles. A deep sense of powerlessness nearly overwhelmed him.

Three days... Wang Er’s blustering threat felt like a cold shackle. In three days, if the medicine wasn’t handed over, this small pharmacy and everything inside would be reduced to ashes. And as for him... Old Sun felt his vitality draining away like sand in an hourglass. He pulled at the corners of his mouth bitterly. He feared he wouldn’t even last three days.

The bloody light of the Yuan-Locking Life-Prolonging Needles flickered weakly in the dim Woodshed, like the final heartbeat of a dying man. Nine bone needles locked three lives and had also drained his final Origin. All he could do, it seemed, was wait—wait for that ethereal ”sliver of hope,” or... wait for ultimate destruction.

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Lin Mo’s consciousness sank into absolute darkness and silence. The power of the Yuan-Locking Life-Prolonging Needles acted like a cold, heavy coffin, completely ”freezing” his withered and defiled chaos dao seed, the violent conflict of ice, fire, and poison within his body, and that life-saving sliver of Profound Yin Moon Essence, along with his consciousness. He felt no pain, no passage of time, not even his own existence. Only the System’s cold notification tone echoed at the lowest level of his consciousness like a faint, intermittent signal from a distant star:

【Yuan-Locking Life-Prolonging Needles Seal status stable...】 【Countdown: Approximately 66 double-hours...】 【Warning: Failure to release the Seal/repair Origin/clear defilement before the countdown ends will result in the Host’s total collapse and death...】 【External environmental threat level: Extremely High... Survival rate continuing to drop...】

There was no fear, no anxiety, only a cold, absolute void. It was like sinking to the bottom of an eternal sea of ice.

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Night fell again, and Black Stone Town was shrouded in a deeper fear. The Minions of Black Wind Stockade lit a bonfire at the town entrance, their crude swearing and wild laughter sounding exceptionally piercing in the silent night. The townsfolk kept their doors and windows tightly shut, not even daring to light a lamp. The air was thick with the scent of despair.

Inside the pharmacy’s Woodshed, the oil lamp had long since gone out. Only the dismal moonlight from the window barely outlined three blurry silhouettes. Old Sun leaned against the cold wall, his consciousness gradually blurring under the torture of exhaustion and injury. He felt his body becoming lighter and colder, as if his Soul were slowly detaching from this withered husk.

“Ancestral Master... this Disciple... has done his best...” he murmured soundlessly, his clouded eyes slowly closing, his breath so weak it was nearly nonexistent.

Just as his consciousness was about to sink completely into darkness—

In the outer room of the pharmacy, the broken wooden door that Wang Er had kicked open and never properly closed emitted an extremely faint ”creak.” A tall, upright figure that seemed to blend into the night itself appeared silently at the doorway like a ghost.

The newcomer wore a black-green robe. The fabric looked ordinary, yet it flowed with water-like hidden patterns under the moonlight. He looked to be about thirty years old with handsome features, yet he bore a stillness that came from experiencing many hardships. His eyes, in particular, were as deep as a cold pool or an ancient well—unruffled, yet seemingly able to pierce through all worldly illusions. He stood there, and though he didn’t intentionally restrain his aura, he seemed to merge with his surroundings; even the night wind brushing past the doorframe naturally diverted around him.

It was the very person who had helped them in the snowy wilderness and guided them to Black Stone Town—Nangong Xuan!

Nangong Xuan’s gaze calmly swept over the mess in the outer room: the overturned counter, scattered medicinal herbs, messy footprints and signs of a struggle on the floor, and the lingering scent of low-quality alcohol, sweat, and... an extremely faint mix of blood and medicine.

His brow furrowed imperceptibly. His gaze then turned toward the curtain leading to the Woodshed. The curtain had been roughly torn halfway open, and a denser scent—a mix of blood, medicine, deathly silence, and... a strange fluctuation of forcibly imprisoned vitality—was emanating from within.

Nangong Xuan’s footsteps were soundless, as if he were walking upon the Void Realm. He lifted the curtain and stepped into the Woodshed.

Under the dim light, despite his composure, a flicker of nearly imperceptible surprise crossed his eyes at the sight before him.

On the hay pile in the corner lay three people whose lives were uncertain:

· Liu Qingxuan: Her face was ashen, her hands swollen and black, with black veins faintly visible under the skin. A bone needle flowing with blood-light was inserted into her Baihui acupoint at the top of her head. Her breath was as weak as a strand of silk, her final life force forcibly locked away.

· Lin Mo: His small body was stiff, his face alternating between blue and white. The most eerie bone needle, glowing with the strongest blood-light, was driven deep into his Shanzhong acupoint! A chaotic aura of depletion, defilement, and the clash of ice and fire was forcibly frozen beneath the needle, exuding a heart-pounding sense of evil and impending death.

· Su Muxue: An ice-blue bone needle was inserted into her brow, with two more on her shoulders. The ice-crack patterns on her brow were suppressed by the needle’s light, and her body emitted a faint, pure cold Qi. She was likewise imprisoned in a strange state of slumber.

And in the corner, a white-haired elder (Old Sun) whose aura had decayed to the extreme, like a candle in the wind, leaned against the wall, seemingly having already lost consciousness.

“Yuan-Locking Life-Prolonging Needles?” Nangong Xuan’s deep voice sounded in the silent Woodshed, carrying a hint of confirmation. He stepped forward slowly, his gaze like lightning as it instantly swept over the bone needles and the state of the three people.

His gaze lingered longest on the blood-light bone needle in Lin Mo’s chest. Within that forcibly frozen, withered, and defiled Origin, an extremely faint yet essentially ancient and desolate aura, along with a sliver of pure Profound Yin Moon Essence, caused a slight ripple in his deep eyes.

“Chaos... Dao Rhyme? Though it is only a seed, incredibly weak, it is exceptionally pure... To think it has been defiled to this extent...” he whispered to himself. Then his gaze fell on the ice-crack patterns and pure cold Qi on Su Muxue’s brow. “Profound Yin Jade Soul Body? The Origin Seal has actually developed cracks... and drawn in the power of Moon Essence?”

Finally, his gaze landed on Old Sun, who was at the end of his rope, his breath as thin as silk. Nangong Xuan knelt down and placed two slender fingers on Old Sun’s withered wrist. A burst of pure, gentle investigative power instantly surged in.

“Origin depleted, Lifespan burned out... The nine Yuan-Locking needles have exhausted his final life essence...” A look of realization flashed in Nangong Xuan’s eyes, followed by deep regret and a hint of respect. “To perform such a Heaven-Defying life-prolonging act with a mortal body... he is truly a responsible physician.”

At that moment, perhaps stimulated by Nangong Xuan’s investigative power, Old Sun’s tightly closed eyelids trembled violently, and he managed to open a tiny slit with great difficulty. His clouded eyes rolled aimlessly. When he saw the handsome, calm face before him, his pupils suddenly contracted!

“You... you are... the wilderness...” Old Sun’s voice was hoarse and weak, like a mosquito, yet it carried an unbelievable shock! He recognized him! He had caught a glimpse of this face once, many years ago... at an extremely secret occasion! Although the temperament was now more restrained and profound, the silhouette and those eyes that seemed to pierce through everything... could not be mistaken!

“Nan... Nangong...” Old Sun used his last ounce of strength to point a withered, trembling finger at the three unconscious people in the Woodshed, his eyes erupting with an intense, almost pleading light. “Save... save them... the children... innocent... please...”

Before the final ”please” could fully leave his mouth, the light in Old Sun’s eyes suddenly went out like a spent candle! His withered arm fell powerless, his head slumped to the side, and his breath was completely severed! Only on his face remained that final, complex expression filled with pleading and relief.

This old pharmacist, who had practiced medicine anonymously in Black Stone Town his whole life, had exhausted his lifelong cultivation and final Lifespan to protect three ”patients” he had met by chance. He was finally at the end of his rope and passed away peacefully.

The Woodshed was deathly silent. Only the blood-light on the nine bone needles continued to flicker weakly and stubbornly, guarding the three lives forcibly frozen on the line between life and death.

Nangong Xuan quietly looked at Old Sun’s lifeless face and fell silent for a moment. He slowly reached out and gently brushed over Old Sun’s unclosed eyelids, whispering, “Rest in peace. You have done your best.”

His gaze returned to Liu Qingxuan, Lin Mo, and Su Muxue. In his deep eyes, there was no longer just simple scrutiny, but an added layer of solemnity. Old Sun’s dying entrustment, these three children with special identities, strange bonds, and desperate situations... it seemed this was not merely a chance encounter.

He stood up with his hands behind his back, his black-green robes moving without wind in the dim moonlight. An invisible, gentle yet vast aura, like mercury spilling across the ground, quietly spread out. It instantly enveloped the entire Woodshed, isolating all auras and sounds from inside and out. The sound of the wind outside and the distant clamor of the Black Wind Stockade Minions vanished instantly. The Woodshed fell into absolute silence.

“Since we have met, let it be.” Nangong Xuan’s voice was calm and unruffled, yet it carried an unquestionable power. “That sliver of hope—I shall fight for it on your behalf.”

His gaze first locked onto Lin Mo, whose situation was the most critical. The withered and defiled Origin frozen under the bone needle on his chest was like a destructive vortex that could erupt at any moment.

Nangong Xuan slowly raised his right hand, pressing his index and middle fingers together. A point of cyan light, warm as jade yet containing an incredibly sharp aura, lit up at his fingertips!

“Break the Calamity!”

His fingertips, carrying the cyan light, were as fast as lightning, pointing with absolute precision at the Yuan-Locking Life-Prolonging Needle on Lin Mo’s chest that held the strongest blood-light!

The tips met! There was no world-shaking boom, only an extremely faint ”crack” like the shattering of glass!

Under the impact of the cyan light from Nangong Xuan’s fingertips, the bone needle imprisoning Lin Mo’s withered and defiled Origin was instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks! The blood-light and runes flowing on the needle flickered violently like popped bubbles, then completely dimmed and crumbled!

The moment the bone needle shattered! ”Boom—!” A terrifying storm that had been forcibly suppressed and imprisoned for a long time instantly erupted from Lin Mo’s chest!

The withered chaos dao seed, the defiled bone rotting grass Origin poison, the violent clash of ice (Profound Yin) and fire (the remaining power of the Crimson Sun Flower Stamen), and that sliver of pure Profound Yin Moon Essence! The four forces were like runaway horses. Having lost the forced freezing of the Yuan-Locking Life-Prolonging Needle, they instantly launched into the most primitive and tragic battle and collision within Lin Mo’s small body!

“Argh—!” Even in his deep slumber, Lin Mo’s body arched suddenly and began to twitch violently as if he had been thrown into a purgatory furnace! Veins bulged under his skin, blood vessels writhing like black earthworms, and his small face instantly contorted to the extreme! A chaotic, violent, and destructive energy fluctuation erupted uncontrollably from his body, turning the hay beneath him into powder!

The Yuan-Locking needle was broken! The storm of destruction had been instantly ignited!