Li Ming let out a ball of her energy that surrounded the stack of parchments before they can completely disintegrate.

She hurriedly crouched down beside the parchments and started mumbling a spell, a few seconds later the parchments were back to their original state.

A sigh of relief left her lips as she watched the parchments which looked completely fine once again.

She stood up and looked around the room. The door was protected by some kind of ward and the same went for the window.

Just like the ward around the Snow Fields, this ward was also very powerful. There was no way that she could break it given her current cultivation level.

Giving up on fleeing, she started walking towards the attached area at the other end of the living room which looked like a kitchen.

And if her guess was correct then that sour smell was coming from that place.

---

"I thought you will be happy after seeing one of us nearly after seven or eight years. Who knew that you will be traumatized by our visit?" The Heaven Emperor said to the old man.

To his surprise, the old man didn't say anything. It was like he was too deep in his thoughts that he didn't even hear his words.

The Heaven Emperor was curious to know exactly what had suddenly taken over the mind of the old man.

Unknown to him, the thoughts of the old man were filled by a little girl who was currently left behind in his precious hut.

He was going crazy after realizing that if she could set the blood cherry plant on fire to enter the Snow Fields then who knew if she would set his entire hut on fire to get out of it.

Though he had tied her to a chair before coming out but he had a feeling that he had underestimated the girl.

That's why currently his main focus was on reaching back to his hut as soon as possible and due to this, he didn't even realize that the Heaven Emperor was talking to him all this time.

It took them around eight to nine minutes to reach the hut from the western end of the Snow Fields.

The old man landed in front of his hut and relief washed over him after seeing his house still standing there without any trace of harm.

But he still needed to make sure that the girl was still bound to the chair and had not fled. Therefore, he hurriedly rushed inside the hut.

The Heaven Emperor who was getting more and more confused by the old man's behavior also entered the hut.

As they both entered the house, the old man's eyes immediately landed on the chair. But to his horror, all he saw was the crumbles of the rope which was supposed to be tied around the girl's hands.

"You are finally back. Were you planning to kill me?"

The sudden icy voice that greeted them from the kitchen, surprised both the old man and the Heaven Emperor.

A girl in a dark blue dress and a fur cloak draped over her, was standing at the counter of the kitchen.

She was carrying a basket in her hands which were filled with things to the brim.

Her long black hair was tied high on her head with a single golden hairpin in it. Her simple blue jade earrings were long enough to reach her shoulder.

And her beautiful cute face was a direct contrast to her icy gaze which was currently trained on the old man.

"Are you going to answer or not? Normally it's impossible to make you stop talking then what happened now?"

Li Ming asked the old man as she walked towards him and dropped the basket at his feet.

The eyes of both the men followed the basket and after realizing that the basket was filled with the ingredients for his lunch, the old man hurriedly started crouching down to pick it up.

"Don't you dare touch it! I can't believe you were planning to eat these. Well, it's more like you were planning to kill me when you left me behind trapped inside this foul-smelling hut." Li Ming said in an icy tone.

"What smell? There's no smell...oh!"

Just when he was going to say that there was no smell, Li Ming took away her hold from the smell, and immediately the entire hut was filled with that sour foul smell.

She was quick to place a charm on herself which saved her from breathing in that smell.

On the other hand, the Heaven Emperor wasn't expecting to be suddenly attacked by such a smell. He too immediately flicked his sleeve and the smell vanished from the room.

His movements finally made Li Ming take notice of his presence in the house. Her eyes took in the man who was draped in a golden fur cloak. His hair was swept back neatly and a single golden hairpin was peeking out from it.

His chin had a hard edge and his sharp black eyes were now also looking directly at her.

It was like the world stopped at that moment as the two looked into each other's eyes. Li Ming could tell that there was something special about that man but before she could find out what it was, the loud booming voice of the old man crashed their moment.

"What do you think you are doing?" The old man asked her in his usual angry tone as he looked at her like he was looking at a little spoilt girl.

"How dare you barge into my kitchen and touch my food? You even dared to throw them out."

Li Ming neither flinch nor did she back down at the old man's angry words. She had already taken enough of his shit.

"Listen to one thing very carefully old man. It was you who brought me into your house against my wish and left me here tied to a chair with that foul smell. You should be happy that I just cleaned up your so-called kitchen a little bit and not ended up setting your entire house on fire. You better not test my patience." Li Ming's tone explained that she wasn't kidding even a little bit.

Well, of course, she would never have set his house on fire, but he didn't need to know that, right?

The old man was left completely speechless. Looked like he was not completely wrong when he thought that the girl could end up setting his house on fire.

On the other hand, a small twitch appeared on the lips of the Heaven Emperor as he watched the little girl and the old man bickering.

"You-you...How...These are the ingredients that I was going to use in the lunch!" The old man finally found the words that were refusing to come out of his mouth.

"Huh! Are you kidding me? You are going to eat this poison. Can't you find something better to eat?" Li Ming asked with a scoff.

At her words, the old man huffed with ridicule. "What do you think this place is? In this place filled with nothing but snow, you can barely find anything to eat. Ever heard of Beggars can't be choosers?"

"I didn't know that you are a beggar. Also, you can always grow vegetables and fruits in this place, seeing that you are a high-level cultivator. Just don't find excuses for your laziness."

How could Li Ming back down so easily? Of course, being the boss of the agriculture business and after earning millions during the winter season even when the Dongji village was covered in snow, she had a vast knowledge about how to farm in snow.

"Do you think that it's that easy? Go home, little girl. Don't stand here insulting my food and house. You can only understand if you have been living here like me." The old man didn't miss a single second to retort.

"What if I can do it?" Li Ming asked with a smirk plastered on her face.

For a moment, the old man was left shocked but then he got a grip on himself. The girl was probably trying to play with him.

"Don't talk big when you are not even going to do it. Now go back to your home and don't wander around such places again in the future." The old man said.

"Will you let me do whatever I want in the Snow Fields without any interruption if I end up proving myself right?" Li Ming asked with a raised eyebrow.

The challenge was clear in her eyes, making the Heaven Emperor look at her with curious eyes.

She was getting more and more interesting with each sentence that was leaving her lips.

"Do you seriously think that it's that easy to build a house in this place and live here happily? Alright then! I will be willing to watch you eat your own words when you will fail badly. I'm giving you my words if you end up proving my lifestyle in this place as a result of my laziness, I'll let you do whatever you want in the Snow Fields."

The old man declared.