Chapter 429

Luna White felt like she was dying. Her body was cold as ice—no, colder than ice. She wondered if she'd already turned into an ice sculpture.

She couldn't even move a finger. Her entire body was stiff as a corpse.

"Andrew, come back... please..."

She prayed silently. At this moment, she realized she'd gone too far.

To save these people, she'd thrown caution to the wind. Though she knew her supernatural ability would keep her alive, no one had ever experienced being frozen solid like this.

The slow thawing process felt like dying all over again. She knew this pain too well.

If it were bearable, would she have needed energy potions in her past life?

But where was her energy potion now?

Letting go of Lily Collins' hand would stop the freezing—her only way out. But she could still see the mudslide surging inward.

Letting go meant condemning over a dozen people to death.

She couldn't do it.

A dozen lives hung in the balance. She wouldn't—couldn't—release her grip.

Their clasped hands bound their fates together.

Live or die as one.

For her, it might not be literal. But for those trapped inside, it was life or death.

If there really was a higher power, she refused to believe she'd been reborn just to watch innocent people perish.

These teammates were good, loyal people. They didn't deserve to die in this dark, damp cave.

They deserved warm beds. Their families' embrace.

As long as she stood here, she wouldn't let a single teammate fall.

Never letting go.

Andrew Smith and Hank Miller rushed forward.

Andrew spotted Luna and Lily's interlocked hands immediately. He grabbed Luna's wrist—the biting cold made him shudder.

"Damn it!"

He tore off his raincoat, trying to pull her free. But her body was rigid as a wooden doll, refusing to bend.

What kind of determination is this?

"The... others..."

Luna's vision blurred, but she still thought of her teammates.

Andrew tried to cradle her, but her frozen form wouldn't yield. He could only hold her tight, rubbing her arms desperately.

"Hank, dig faster!" Andrew couldn't spare hands to help clear debris—not when Luna's condition was this dire.

Yet he understood exactly what she was doing. If he'd only suspected before, the visions from his near-death experience had hinted at her secret.

Her healing arts were unlike any medicine.

That so-called "vital energy" wasn't so simple. Maybe it drained her life force—her very essence. He couldn't explain it, but he felt it.

This cold wasn't natural. Yet she was freezing colder than ice itself.

He said nothing. He knew they shared something deeper.

A connection he'd seen clearly when death nearly took him.

Perhaps now, he alone could help her.