Chapter 183: Yun Xi, Great Luck!
Whoosh—
A crosswind swept through the snow-covered forest. The sun, hidden behind the vast snow clouds, was barely visible.
Yun Xi, pulling her bamboo hat lower, gazed in the direction of the Moon Shadow Sword Sect. If the weather were better, she could see the sect’s iconic thousand-foot stone sword sculpture from here. But now, her vision was limited to about two miles ahead; beyond that lay a vast expanse of snow mist.
As soon as dawn broke, she had checked out of the inn and, with Zhang Yihe, planned to travel as far as possible while the snow was light. Unexpectedly, shortly after leaving Wangchuan Town, the wind and snow intensified.
The weather affected her mood, and Yun Xi felt incredibly frustrated.
Recalling the past half-year’s misfortunes, she was so angry she could have flown into a rage.
— Half a year ago, after leaving the Moon Shadow Sword Sect for the Western Regions, her first priority was to discuss cooperation with Li Feng. However, not long after arriving at Chi Long Mansion, Li Feng died. She almost died there too, and only one of the twelve people she brought with her survived.
— She encountered two people who were suspected to be her father’s illegitimate son and daughter. Now, all she knew about the “illegitimate son” was that he had a pair of purple eyes and was tall; she knew nothing else.
— On the way back, the unrest and bandits were a given. Even the weather seemed to conspire against her, first with heavy rain and then heavy snow. Now, when she was almost back to the Sword Sect, she encountered strong winds.
And these were only the events that had already happened. She shuddered to think that upon returning to the Sword Sect, she would be verbally attacked by a group of elders for “incompetence.”
Yun Xi felt like giving up. She’d let fate decide whatever came next. If she could just stop being a young miss, wouldn’t that be enough?
But it was easy to say she wouldn’t be a young miss anymore. If she made such a choice, her two dreadful elder sisters would surely be overjoyed beyond imagination.
To suffer herself while watching the two people she disliked most rejoice…
“Pah! It’s just a hurdle! Your grandma will leap over it for you!!”
Just as Yun Xi was hyping herself up, Zhang Yihe, who was following her on his flying sword, intervened.
“Young Miss, the snow is getting heavier. I see a decent spot below where we can set up two tents and build a campfire. We can continue our journey once the snow subsides; it would be safer.”
“Seek shelter from the snow…”
Yun Xi pouted, glared at him, and then looked down.
Amidst the white forest, there was a circular clearing. Not far away, a frozen river flowed. It was likely that many cultivators passing through this area chose to stop and rest here, and over time, it had become this designated spot.
However, due to yesterday’s encounter, Yun Xi’s perception of the place changed as she looked at it. She found it increasingly suitable for an ambush.
“This place does seem quite suitable for an ambush…”
Zhang Yihe disagreed. He waved his hand and replied, “Young Miss, where are there so many bandits? Even if our luck is terrible, we wouldn’t be robbed twice in two days, right?”
“…”
Yun Xi shot him a look. But seeing the snow getting heavier, she knew that if they rested directly in the forest, they wouldn’t be able to react if attacked by people or demonic beasts. With no trees for cover around here, at least they wouldn’t be ambushed.
After a moment of hesitation, she still guided her flying sword down to the clearing below, taking out some talismans to place around as a precaution.
However, the moment she stepped off her flying sword and onto the accumulated snow, she stepped on something round and plump. Losing her balance, she tumbled headfirst into the snow.
“Ouch!”
“Ah…” Zhang Yihe quickly jumped off his flying sword and rushed to help her up from the snow. “Young Miss, are you alright?”
“Pah, pah, pah…” Yun Xi spat out snow, wiped her face, and turned with a look of extreme bad luck towards the object that had tripped her. She kicked it with a shove. “Damn it! Even rocks dare to…”
Her words abruptly stopped.
She thought it was just a rock, but after kicking it away, she discovered it was a human head, burned beyond recognition.
She lifted her right foot, looked at the black-and-red bloodstain on the tip of her boot, wiggled her toes, and remained silent for a long time.
“Could this get any more unlucky, Zhang Yihe!!!”
“Ah…” Zhang Yihe flinched at her shout and quickly chased after the head. He leaned in for a closer look and reported, “Young Miss, it seems to be a rogue cultivator. They were probably trying to rob someone but were killed instead.”
Yun Xi’s eye twitched. “Who was it that just said there weren’t so many bandits around?”
“Uh, this…” Zhang Yihe paused, then quickly replied, “That’s good news! It looks like they haven’t been dead long. Since the bandit is dead, we won’t run into them, right?”
“…”
Yun Xi narrowed her eyes, sighed in resignation, and threw the talismans in her hand at him.
“You go stick up some beast-warding talismans around here!! I’ll set up the tent.”
Zhang Yihe looked at the precious talismans in his hand, paused, and said, “Young Miss, these talismans can block demonic beasts up to the peak of level four. We won’t be resting for long…”
— Roar~~~!!
Mid-sentence, a sound like a bellowing ox came from deep within the forest to the east.
Along with the sound came a gale that shook the heavens and earth, making Zhang Yihe and Yun Xi’s eyelids flip inside out and their gums expose.
Yun Xi recovered her senses and immediately realized that this ox-like bellow was not from an ordinary ox. Both the sound and the wind carried spiritual energy. If her cultivation wasn’t Mid Foundation Establishment, she would have fainted on the spot.
A level three demonic beast? No… the peak of level three was already a level four demonic beast.
Although level four demonic beasts had low intelligence, their combat power could match cultivators in the Mid to Late Foundation Establishment stages. For Mid Foundation Establishment cultivators like herself and Zhang Yihe, it would be almost impossible to deal with without prior preparation and setting up traps.
Boom, boom, boom! —
The towering pine trees to the east began to snap and fall one after another.
As more and more trees fell, Yun Xi’s feet, pressed into the accumulated snow, felt the vibrations. The demonic beast in the forest was rapidly charging towards them.
The hoofbeats were like thunder shaking the earth, and the roars reached the heavens.
Roar!!! —
“Zhang Yihe!! Can you be any more unlucky?!”
“I…” Zhang Yihe was now speechless. He frantically took out his flying sword from his storage bag and stepped onto it. “Young Miss, let’s fly!”
However, by this time, the snow ox had already entered the clearing where the two of them stood.
It lowered its head, its two formidable horns pointing straight forward.
Zhang Yihe saw Yun Xi only now taking out her flying sword. It was too late to ascend into the sky. He quickly ran towards her, intending to push her out of the snow ox’s path.
“Young Miss!!”
Unfortunately, he was still a moment too late.
“Wha…”
Before Yun Xi could utter the last syllable, the snow ox’s hard skull slammed heavily into her belly, forcing her to swallow the rest of her words.
“Ugh—”
Boom—thump, thump, thump—
Yun Xi was sent tumbling across the snow-covered ground like a child skipping stones, bouncing up and down, scattering piles of snow. She flew from the center of the clearing towards the edge, breaking two pine trees as thick as an adult man’s waist before finally being stopped by the trunk of a third pine tree.
Leaning against the tree trunk, Yun Xi coughed up a mouthful of blood. After recovering for a moment, she struggled to lift her head and glared at the snow ox, gritting her teeth.
“You beast!! Your grandma will…”
Thump—thump—
Facing Yun Xi, the snow ox’s eyes blazed with anger. It lowered its head and stomped its front right hoof onto the snow, aiming its two forelegs at her.
At this moment, Zhang Yihe also pulled out his spirit sword and, from the side, thrust it into the snow ox’s hindquarters.
“How dare you hurt Young Miss, I’ll…”
Unexpectedly, this sword strike only served as spurs on a cowboy’s boots to the snow ox. The beast reared up, kicking Zhang Yihe aside, and then charged directly towards Yun Xi again.
“I…”
Looking at the snow ox, a sword sticking out of its hindquarters, charging at her again, Yun Xi was now convinced that Zhang Yihe was truly her nemesis, someone who wouldn’t stop until he had caused her demise.
She wanted to stand up and dodge, but her legs wouldn’t obey. As the snow ox’s horns grew closer, Yun Xi understood that if this blow landed on her, she would almost certainly die.
“Zhang Yihe!! Don’t let me see you in the next life!!”
“Young Miss! Hurry and dodge!”
“Dodge your **…”
Whoosh—
A black shadow flashed out from the nearby forest, streaking past Yun Xi.
Boom—
Almost simultaneously, with a loud explosion, the area beneath the pine tree where Yun Xi was standing seemed to detonate. Accumulated snow flew up, covering everything within a four-foot radius.
Zhang Yihe, lying on the ground with his arms outstretched, couldn’t close his jaw for a long time. He stared at the swirling snow dust, stunned for a long spell, unable to utter a word.
“Young… I…”
However, in the next moment, the light sound of footsteps crunching on snow reached his ears.
Rustle—
Then, a clear, feminine voice said, “Here.”
Zhang Yihe turned his head blankly. A girl wearing a cyan-blue immortal robe and possessing a pair of orange eyes stood behind him, holding his Young Miss in a bridal carry.
Pei Lianxue looked at his stunned gaze and asked, “Are you alright?”
“Ah…” Zhang Yihe quickly came to his senses. “Thank you, miss, for the rescue.”
“Mm.”
Yun Xi stared blankly at Pei Lianxue, who was holding her, with a hint of confusion in her eyes. However, seeing her cold demeanor, she shook her head and quickly refocused. “Thank you, miss, but… cough cough— let’s run first! That snow ox…”
“It’s fine, I’ll handle it.”
Pei Lianxue interrupted with two calm phrases, gently placed Yun Xi on the snow, and then slowly walked past the two of them.
Her steps were light, leaving no trace on the snow.
As she walked, she made a sword gesture with her hand. A faint blue light flew out from her storage bag and transformed into a spirit sword in her right hand.
The snow ox, having missed its charge, shook its slightly dizzy head and turned its angry gaze back towards them.
Roar—!!
The sonic wave, carrying a gale, struck. However, Pei Lianxue’s expression remained unchanged. She merely raised her right hand and swung her spirit sword.
The wind, imbued with spiritual energy, was split down the middle by her sword’s edge, parting into two streams that blew the snow on either side, but the snow beneath her feet and around the two behind her remained undisturbed.
Yun Xi and Zhang Yihe watched, dumbfounded.
Wind was an intangible thing, yet this woman before them had split it with a mere sword strike, her movements incredibly light.
Furthermore, her cultivation was only Early Foundation Establishment. If she hadn’t deliberately concealed her cultivation, then she was a genius cursed by heaven.
Seeing that its roars were ineffective against Pei Lianxue, the snow ox’s eyes showed a hint of fear. However, the pain from the spirit sword stuck in its hindquarters obscured its fear with anger.
Stomp—
The snow ox charged forward, its hooves thundering like the earth. All the pine trees within ten feet behind it were uprooted by its frantic stomping.
Pei Lianxue held her breath, bent her knees, lowered her center of gravity, and stepped off the white snow beneath her feet.
Swish—
In an instant, Pei Lianxue and the snow ox switched positions and then stood still.
Light snow fluttered from the sky into Yun Xi’s eyes, causing her to blink unconsciously. The next moment, a small tear appeared on Pei Lianxue’s light blue cloud-patterned sleeve, revealing her arm as white as jade.
The snow ox, on the other hand, bore ten fissures. Drops of blood fell, and finally, it split into ten pieces like an orange, falling to the ground.
…
