Did the Top-Ranked Girl Get Exposed Today? [HoloVerse] - Chapter 19

The only sound in her ears was the dripping of melting snow, plip-plop, until a drop fell onto Feng Xiaoxiao’s eyelashes.

She blinked, unsure how long she had been walking before she gradually began to hear the wind outside.

This was an upward, winding path with many forks, and at every dark corner, Feng Xiaoxiao feared a monster might leap out at her.

Fortunately, the journey was uneventful. Clutching the cat in her arms for courage, whenever she reached a fork, the white cat would raise its tail, pointing her in the right direction.

Tense and apprehensive, she finally reached the tunnel exit. Before the snowstorm could fully hit her, the howling wind roared in her ears. Feng Xiaoxiao hesitated, uncertain whether she should risk stepping into the blizzard.

She took a few steps back and suddenly noticed the glowing footprints she had left behind.

Oh no!

Feng Xiaoxiao inwardly groaned. This wretched game had thrown her another curveball!

If she fell now, a mushroom would be waiting below. There was no way she could perform a mid-air 360-degree flip to avoid crushing it!

Her feet had inevitably been stained with mushroom juices, which now served as the perfect medium for the mountain villagers to track her.

Sooner or later, they would discover she was no longer in the temple. Once they did, they would turn everything upside down searching for her, and it would only be a matter of time before they uncovered the mystery of the lotus pedestal.

When the villagers descended, no matter how many forks in the road, they would be able to precisely trace her path using the footprints she had left behind.

Should she stay put and wait to be caught, or risk venturing into the snowstorm?

Feng Xiaoxiao didn’t hesitate, she chose the latter. But before doing so, she turned back into the tunnel and, as quickly as possible, scattered her footprints along every unused fork she had passed.

At the very least, this would force her pursuers to expend more effort searching for her. If nothing else, it might split their numbers, reducing the number of people following the correct path.

After finishing this task, without even catching her breath, Feng Xiaoxiao stuffed the cat inside her fox fur coat and hurried into the snowstorm.

She was grateful for the warm fox fur coat that Di Xiang had draped over her earlier. Otherwise, no matter how cold-resistant she was, with 30% of the real sensation preserved in this freezing world, she would have been thoroughly chilled.

Thinking of Di Xiang, Feng Xiaoxiao’s gaze lingered on the red thread around her finger. It was then she noticed that the thread, which had previously stretched into the distance, had now retracted into a loop.

Feng Xiaoxiao: ???

What did this mean?

Didn’t Di Xiang say this was a Red Thread Immortal artifact for tracking?

Could it have malfunctioned too?

Uneasy and suspicious, Feng Xiaoxiao kept moving without pause.

The wind was fierce, the snow heavy, and the world was a vast expanse of white. With no clues or leads, she had no idea where to search. Fear gnawed at her that the villagers would catch up too quickly.

Anxious and impatient, she decided to move straight ahead, avoiding any winding paths.

For a moment, the only sound in her ears was her own ragged panting, almost drowning out the relentless howl of the wind.

The cat in her arms kept squirming, trying to poke its head out, until Feng Xiaoxiao impatiently pressed it down.

“Stay still! I don’t have time to deal with you right now!”

For some inexplicable reason, the white cat struggled even more fiercely at her touch.

As the two wrestled silently, Feng Xiaoxiao approached a platform ahead.

The moment her left foot touched the platform, a sharp sword aura swept toward her!

Reacting almost instinctively, she sidestepped and rolled on the ground, narrowly avoiding two subsequent sword strikes.

Struggling to push aside the fox fur covering her face, her pale features were fully exposed to the snowstorm. Her fox fur coat billowed in the wind, yet Feng Xiaoxiao stood firm, unwavering.

Before she could clearly see who the attacker was, several more sword auras sliced through the wind and snow.

Feng Xiaoxiao cursed under her breath, was there no end to this?!

She casually tossed the cat onto the snowy ground and swiftly unwound the silk ribbon from her hand. The peach-pink gradient color instantly extended several meters, becoming the only vibrant hue in this harsh winter.

The ethereal sound of bells rang out as she flicked her wrist, transforming the six-petaled flower into a shield to block the relentless onslaught of sword strikes.

Seizing the momentum, Feng Xiaoxiao lightly stepped a few times, her figure nimbly evading mid-air. With the fully unfurled peach-pink silk ribbon, she descended from above, landing precisely at the center of the platform.

She straightened up, the wind field created by her skill “Heaven and Earth Resonance” forming a vortex around her, shredding countless falling snowflakes.

“Who’s sneaking around here?!” she called out loudly, scanning her surroundings. She had assumed that once she reached the platform, she would see the ambusher, but to her surprise, aside from a crystal stone coffin beneath the qiong flower tree ahead, the place was empty.

Just as Feng Xiaoxiao was inwardly puzzled, a cold, pale hand had somehow already settled on her shoulder, sending a shiver down her spine.

Startled, she turned to look, “Di Xiang?!”

The person behind her was none other than the white-clad Di Xiang, who had been missing for a long time.

Feng Xiaoxiao was both shocked and overjoyed, instinctively retracting her skill weapon and letting the silk ribbon revert to its decorative form, winding it around her wrist.

“Di Xiang” smiled gently at her and spoke softly, “Did you call me ‘Di Xiang’?”

“What do you mean?” Feng Xiaoxiao frowned, her gaze falling on “Di Xiang’s” empty wrist. Her eyes turned cold, and without hesitation, she summoned a short sword and stabbed it straight through “Di Xiang.”

This short sword was the very one Di Xiang had given her for self-defense before she descended, and it happened to come in handy now.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

The little white cat, having finally caught up to Feng Xiaoxiao, looked up just in time to see her stabbing someone with a sword.

White Cat: ???

It instinctively took a few steps back, letting out a startled meow.

“Di Xiang” slowly lowered her head, her gaze fixed on the short sword embedded in her chest.

She frowned, gripping Feng Xiaoxiao’s hand that held the hilt, and asked in confusion, “How did you recognize me?”

Feng Xiaoxiao exerted force to drive the short sword deeper, intent on killing the imposter pretending to be her master. At the question, she rolled her eyes dramatically.

“That woman would never smile so flirtatiously like you!”

“Di Xiang” grew even more puzzled. “But isn’t this what you desired? I merely materialized your thoughts. You longed for this woman to smile at you, to speak to you gently, and you even wanted her to, ”

“Shut up!!” Feng Xiaoxiao shrieked, delivering a fierce kick to “Di Xiang’s” stomach before executing a swift shoulder throw, slamming “Di Xiang” and the short sword in her chest onto the ground.

“Does this damn game have no concept of privacy?!” she yelled, avoiding “Di Xiang’s” face with her punches and instead hammering several blows into the woman’s shoulders. She viciously grabbed “Di Xiang’s” collar. “I don’t care what you are, but if you dare tell a third person any of this, I’ll crawl my way back here and take you down with me!”

Di Xiang: “…………”

Foam had already begun to form at the corners of her mouth as she repeatedly cried for her to stop.

Feng Xiaoxiao released her collar and plopped down on the ground, panting heavily, all while shooting fierce glares at “Di Xiang.”

Freed from her grasp, “Di Xiang” straightened her collar and spoke in a placating tone, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

Feng Xiaoxiao didn’t believe her. “Swear it.”

Di Xiang: “…………”

Under the increasingly dangerous glare of Feng Xiaoxiao, she helplessly raised her right hand as if taking an oath. “I swear, I will never reveal what’s on your mind to anyone else.”

Only then did Feng Xiaoxiao seem satisfied.

Snapping back to reality, she widened her eyes and sprang up abruptly. “Wait!”

“What now?”

The imposter “Di Xiang,” still with a dagger lodged in her chest, looked puzzled. “I’ve already sworn an oath. Don’t you trust me?”

“You’ve had a dagger through your heart for so long, how are you still alive?”

Feng Xiaoxiao frowned.

“Heart?”

Di Xiang asked curiously, “What’s that?”

“Well,” Feng Xiaoxiao hesitated, “it’s… it’s an organ that everyone has…”

Di Xiang shook her head. “I’m a monster. I don’t have the ‘heart’ you’re talking about.”

“Oh, I was so focused on killing you earlier that I forgot to ask what you are, so, what kind of monster are you?”

Di Xiang beckoned Feng Xiaoxiao closer, pulling out the dagger to show her.

Cautiously, Feng Xiaoxiao approached the imposter and took a look. The dagger that had pierced through the heart was now lying intact in Di Xiang’s hand, unstained by even a drop of blood, aside from a few specks of snow.

Just as Feng Xiaoxiao was growing more confused, Di Xiang untied her sash and pulled open the upper part of her garment.

“Hey, hey, what are you doing?!”

Feng Xiaoxiao hurriedly tried to stop her. “Even if this body is yours, you’re wearing my master’s face!!”

“Don’t use Di Xiang’s face to do weird things!”

Di Xiang gave her a strange look and pulled open the final layer of her thin inner garment.

Before Feng Xiaoxiao could close her eyes, she had already seen everything above the waist.

It wasn’t the female body she had expected, but a block of ice, or rather, the thing in front of her, whose name she didn’t know, had a body entirely sculpted from this strange, frigid ice beneath its clothes.

Unaware of Feng Xiaoxiao’s shock, Di Xiang said calmly, “Before the Mountain God passed away, he called me ‘Snow Woman.'”

Snow, the purity of heaven and earth.
Woman, the essence of the sun and moon.

Snow Woman continued, “I have no body or face of my own. Whenever I wish, whoever sees me will perceive me as the person they most desire in their heart at that moment.”

She smiled faintly at Feng Xiaoxiao. “Just like you are now.”

“Since you’re thinking of Di Xiang right now, I become ‘Di Xiang.'”

Feng Xiaoxiao interrupted with a frown, “But you’re not Di Xiang. You’re Snow Woman, and you have your own name. Please stop speaking to me with Di Xiang’s face. Even if your true form is just a pile of ice, change back!”

Snow Woman was taken aback for a moment, then smiled in understanding. Her face gradually shifted until it settled into a “faceless” state.

Just as she had said, she truly had no face or body of her own.

When she looked at you, the space where a face should be was blank; when she stood up, her body was supported by limbs crudely carved from ice.

Those few who had seen Snow Woman’s true form, even if prepared, were still terrified by her horrifying appearance.

But Feng Xiaoxiao was different. There was no fear on her face. Instead, after seeing Di Xiang’s features disappear, her brows finally relaxed, and a smile lifted the corners of her lips.

Snow Woman couldn’t quite understand this person. Did she like her or despise her?

Humans with hearts, their hearts were truly complicated.

Snow Woman shook her head and stopped thinking about it.

“Not right,” Feng Xiaoxiao suppressed his smile and raised an eyebrow to look at the Snow Woman. “So it was you who ambushed me earlier and struck me with sword energy?”

The Snow Woman was very honest and nodded at Feng Xiaoxiao.

“Yes. I am following the Mountain God’s orders to guard her remains, preventing anyone from approaching this place, especially the villagers of Snowstorm Valley.”