Beitang Shiyue subjects Lian to ancestral ice to test whether the duel left weakness. Lian must not reveal that some pain belongs to Yanluo.

At the same moment, Chi Huangdu strikes Yanluo in the southern pavilion off-screen. Lian receives the chest impact during her test but hides it.

In the southern pavilion, Chi Huangdu has struck Yanluo's chest in rough approval. Yanluo also suffers the cold from Lian's test and masks it before his father.

After Beitang leaves, Lian stands alone in the ice chamber except for Shuang He. The pain fades. The humiliation of almost being seen remains.

Lian meets Yanluo and Mo Qiran on a causeway beneath hanging ice lanterns. Shuang He watches the road. They bargain for a path to the hidden fate market.

The blood bowl spills onto the causeway, revealing stairs descending through transparent ice. Lanterns burn upside down under the lake like trapped stars.

On the descent, Lin Ruo bumps into them while carrying shrine offerings. A chipped prayer tablet falls into the snow-dusted stair and catches Lian's attention.

Holding the prayer tablet triggers Lian's buried grief. Yanluo feels the emotional wound and reacts with tears he tries to disguise as blood from the cold air.

The stairwell narrows. Lian and Yanluo stand in a quiet pocket of blue lantern light while Lin Ruo gathers offerings behind them. Lian holds the prayer tablet out to return it.

The group reaches the gate to the hidden market. Unseen by them at first, the Mortal-Fate Dice Swarm clicks inside the ice, tracking their arrival.