"Do you wish to understand the meaning of life? Do you want to truly live? Yes / No."
Staring at the tacky pop-up ad flashing on his computer screen, Cheng Yang didn't hesitate.
"Yeah, right. No thanks," he muttered, clicking the little X at the top corner.
The screen went black.
Then… everything went white.
When his vision cleared, he was lying on snow, soft, endless snow that stretched in every direction.
A biting wind whipped around him, carrying flakes like shards of glass.
Cheng Yang groaned and lifted his hands, only to realize he didn't have hands.
He had… stubby little paws.
His body was long and segmented, covered in translucent white fur.
He froze. "What the, I'm a bug?!"
Before he could process that, a furious voice echoed behind him.
"Tianmeng! Don't you dare run! I'll eat you today if it's the last thing I do!"
Cheng Yang, or whatever he was now, turned around and saw an emerald-green scorpion charging across the snow, her body gleaming like carved ice, her stinger raised high.
His mind blanked.
"Nope, nope, nope!"
He spun and scrambled forward, his six legs flailing awkwardly through the snow.
"Why me?! I didn't even click Yes!"
"Stop running, Tianmeng!" the scorpion roared, gaining on him.
"Once I devour you, I'll finally break through four hundred thousand years!"
Cheng Yang blinked.
"Four hundred thousand? Lady, you need therapy, not dinner!"
His brain worked overtime.
He was a massive silkworm, being hunted by a scorpion… wait, the names.
Bing Di. Tianmeng Ice Silkworm.
Realization hit him like lightning.
" I-I crossed into Douluo Dalu?! And into Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's body?!"
The situation was worse than any nightmare.
In the original story, the Ice Emperor, that terrifying scorpion, eventually became Tianmeng's companion.
Do you know right now? She clearly wanted to make him lunch.
"Plot! Think! How did Tianmeng survive this?!"
He remembered: Tianmeng had escaped by diving into the sea.
But one look around told him there was no sea for miles, just endless snow and deathly cold wind.
"This is so unfair! The real guy fell into the ocean and met Huo Yuhao. Me? I get a guaranteed death route!"
The Ice Emperor's shadow loomed closer.
Her tail whipped, sending a blast of freezing energy that barely missed him, freezing a massive chunk of ice where he'd been seconds ago.
Cheng Yang screamed and sped up.
"Why chase me?! You want sweet syrup or something? I'll give you all of it!"
The Ice Emperor sounded genuinely confused.
"What syrup? Are you mocking me?!"
"No! I'm ugh, never mind!" Cheng Yang gasped for air.
"Can't we talk about this like civilized soul beasts?!"
"Talk? You'll be talking from inside my stomach soon enough!"
"Hold up!" Cheng Yang yelled, panting.
"How sure are you that eating me will help you break through? Ninety percent? A hundred?"
Ice Emperor hesitated slightly.
"The chance is much higher with you than without. That's all that matters."
"So… not guaranteed?" Cheng Yang's eyes gleamed.
A crack in her confidence, that was something.
"Aren't you curious why I lived so long? Why didn't I die like every other ice silkworm?"
"Luck," she said coldly.
"You stumbled into a cave full of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow and ate your fill. Don't pretend you're special."
Another blast of frost shot past him, freezing the air itself.
Cheng Yang dodged and shouted back,
"Do you really think that was a coincidence? Out of all the soul beasts in the north, I alone found that cave? You think that's random chance?"
That made her falter. She frowned, her icy blue eyes narrowing.
"Then what are you implying?"
"That I can sense heavenly treasures!" Cheng Yang declared, desperation turning his voice bold.
"I can feel the energy of rare materials, Profound Ice Marrow, spirit grasses, even divine relics! I can find them anywhere on the continent!"
The Ice Emperor snorted, clearly unconvinced.
"You think I'm a hatchling who'd believe that nonsense?"
She lashed her tail again, the tip glowing with cold light.
Cheng Yang barely dodged.
"I'm serious! I know another place, an entire lake filled with Profound Ice Marrow, even richer than the one I found! I can take you there, prove it's real!"
For the first time, her attacks stopped.
The Ice Emperor eyed him warily.
"If this is a trap, I'll end you before you finish speaking."
Cheng Yang gulped.
"If I wanted to trap you, do you really think I'd be running for my life right now? Please, just let me show you. If I'm lying, you can eat me afterward!"
A tense silence. The icy wind howled between them.
Finally, she spoke.
"Fine. Stop running. If you dare try anything, I'll freeze your soul."
Cheng Yang hesitated.
His instincts screamed at him to keep running, but he knew this was his only shot.
Slowly, he forced his body to stop, trembling.
The Ice Emperor approached, her aura pressing down like a mountain of cold.
He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for pain.
Instead, something small and hard flicked against his head.
"Hey! Open your eyes," she said, her tone laced with amusement.
"You're terrified of death, huh? For a creature with nearly a million years of cultivation, you act like a terrified rabbit."
Cheng Yang peeked one eye open and muttered weakly,
"Can you blame me? You just said you'd eat me five minutes ago."
The Ice Emperor smirked, her icy breath forming a mist between them.
"That depends. Convince me you're useful, Tianmeng, or I'll change my mind."
Cheng Yang sighed.
"Great. Traversed into a bug and got a murderous scorpion for company. Perfect start to my new life."
The Ice Emperor tilted her head, curious despite herself.
"You talk strangely, Tianmeng. Maybe you are worth keeping alive, for now."
And for the first time since arriving in this frozen world, Cheng Yang allowed himself a shaky laugh.
"At least she's talking instead of biting," he whispered under his breath.
Far away, under the silent northern sky, two ancient soul beasts, one desperate, one wary, began a fragile truce that would change the balance of the Extreme North forever.
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