This cliff was the only flat expanse of snow within a hundred miles. Twenty zhang from the cliff stood a thatched hut, its exterior completely buried under thick snow. Only a few towering snow pines stood at its back, their upper branches adorned with faded red silk ribbons fluttering in the wind, adding a splash of color to the pristine white world.
Inside the hut, a blazing stove warmed the center. Duan Jiuxiu sat cross-legged in a corner, meditating with his eyes closed. Hu Tianwei sat by the stove, warming himself, while Zhou Zhiqin leaned listlessly against another corner.
Hu Tianwei waved with a smile. "Great Hero Zhou, come warm yourself by the fire. Though we grieve deeply for the tragic death of Hero Dong, it's best to accept fate and move on."
Zhou Zhiqin murmured, "I never imagined... truly never imagined. We were sworn brothers, closer than siblings, having faced death together so many times. Yet he died here..."
"Not just Hero Dong—Old Jin and Old Lan are gone too. The losses this time are truly heavy," Hu Tianwei sighed.
Zhou Zhiqin scoffed coldly. "Hmph, feigned sympathy. I don’t see any real sorrow from you."
Hu Tianwei chuckled. "What good does grief do for the departed? In fact, you should thank me. That white-furred beast that devoured your son—I killed one and wounded another so severely it won’t live long."
Zhou Zhiqin retorted, "I didn’t see it with my own eyes. How do I know you’re not just boasting?"
Hu Tianwei frowned. "What, are you planning to hunt down the remaining White Fur Hou?! What if we run into that Jade-Eyed Ice Crystal Python again?"
Zhou Zhiqin snorted but said nothing.
"Enough, let’s have a drink to warm up." Hu Tianwei picked up a wineskin by the stove, took a swig, then offered it to Zhou Zhiqin.
Zhou Zhiqin hesitated but eventually walked over, took the wineskin, wiped its mouth, and was about to drink when the hut’s door burst open. A snowball flew in, knocking the wineskin from his hand.
Cai Zhao leaned against the doorframe, panting. "Great Hero Zhou, don’t drink that! It’s definitely poisoned!"
Zhou Zhiqin was startled, Hu Tianwei delighted, and Duan Jiuxiu’s eyes snapped open, gleaming with malice like a venomous snake spotting prey.
"Miss Xiao Han, weren’t you supposed to have gone down the mountain? Where’s your brother?" Zhou Zhiqin asked in surprise.
Cai Zhao waved a hand. "Great Hero Zhou, no time for that now. Do you know? That man isn’t Hu’s old servant—he’s Elder Tianji, Duan Jiuxiu! He never died; he faked his death to escape the execution order back then!"
Zhou Zhiqin’s face filled with disbelief, but he decisively moved away from Hu Tianwei and stood beside Cai Zhao.
Duan Jiuxiu slowly rose to his feet, cackling. "I was just worrying about how to find you, and here you deliver yourself to me."
Hu Tianwei obediently went to support him.
Cai Zhao spat angrily, "Evil Demon scum like you and your disciple deserve to be torn limb from limb long ago! Great Hero Zhou, let’s join forces and kill them!"
Zhou Zhiqin slowly drew his heavily notched sword, then handed Dongxiao’s pristine blade to Cai Zhao, his voice grave. "Duan Jiuxiu, years ago, you slaughtered Clear Wind Temple, staining your hands with blood. Since my sworn brother Dong is no longer here, it falls to me to settle this debt!"
"Great Hero Zhou, you are truly noble!" Cai Zhao took the sword, her eyes filled with admiration, then turned and shouted, "Treacherous fiends! Prepare to die!" With that, she charged at Duan Jiuxiu and his disciple.
"Well said!" Zhou Zhiqin followed close behind.Duan Jiuxiu and his disciple remained expressionless and guarded throughout. However, as Cai Zhao lunged halfway, Hu Tianwei could no longer restrain himself—his mouth parted slightly, revealing sharp teeth, his eyes gleaming with anticipation and delight.
In the blink of an eye, a silver light shot from Cai Zhao’s left wrist with a chime, embedding itself into the pillar on her left. With a forceful tug, her entire body swung sharply to the side like a nimble, pale kite. Just before colliding with the pillar, she pushed off with one foot and rebounded like an arrow loosed from a fully drawn bow—only to find Zhou Zhiqin now standing before her...
In that instant, a golden-red radiance burst forth like the unstoppable dawn, a fierce and agile sun descending straight upon Zhou Zhiqin. He let out a piercing scream as his body arced through the air before crashing heavily into the corner.
The room fell into abrupt silence.
Duan Jiuxiu and his disciple were stunned beyond words, frozen for a long moment as they watched Zhou Zhiqin writhe and howl in agony—a deep, bone-exposing gash ran from his left shoulder down to his abdomen, and his sword-wielding right hand had been severed cleanly at the wrist.
The moment Cai Zhao had swung away from him, Zhou Zhiqin had known something was wrong. As a renowned expert among the Big Dipper Six Sects, he managed to twist midair with a feigned palm strike, raising his sword to block.
Unfortunately, what he faced was no ordinary weapon.
“The… the Bright Sun Blade?!” Zhou Zhiqin clutched his torn abdomen tightly, forcing himself upright despite the searing pain, his gaze fixed on the dazzling, peerless weapon in Cai Zhao’s hand. “You… you’re Cai Zhao?!”
“It’s been so long since we last met in my childhood. How have you been, Uncle Zhou?” Cai Zhao’s tone was unhurried.
Zhou Zhiqin’s face twisted in sorrow. “Have you lost your mind, child? Why would you strike at me?!”
Cai Zhao smiled faintly. “Spare me the act. My aunt and father grew up in Jade Pendant Mountain Manor—they could recognize your swordplay blindfolded. Though I don’t have eyes on my back, the moment I swung away, I clearly saw Uncle Zhou’s sword poised in the opening stance of ‘Drinking Under the Moon.’
“At that time, there was still half a room’s distance between us and Duan Jiuxiu’s disciples. ‘Drinking Under the Moon’ is a close-quarters technique. Uncle Zhou, who exactly were you trying to kill?”
Cold sweat dripped from Zhou Zhiqin’s brow. “N-no, that’s not it! They said you were a Demon, that you killed Lan Tianyu and Jin Baohui—that’s why I—!”
“Stop joking, Uncle Zhou.” Cai Zhao’s voice turned icy. “Whether I’m a Demon is still debatable, but Hu Tianwei is undeniably the chief disciple of the Demon Elders, his hands stained with countless lives. Yet you could share wine and warmth with him in this very room, while turning your blade on me without hesitation. Who do you take for a fool?”
Zhou Zhiqin had no retort. His pleading eyes darted toward the corner. But the moment he shifted, Cai Zhao’s frigid voice cut through the air: “Elder Duan and your disciple had best not take a single step.”
Indeed, Duan Jiuxiu and his disciple had been about to move forward when they suddenly noticed the small apricot-yellow jade vial in Cai Zhao’s left hand—and she stood barely half a step from the fireplace, close enough to toss it into the flames with a mere flick of her wrist.
They halted immediately.
“I suppose Jin Baohui told you what’s inside this vial.” Cai Zhao held it up for them to see.
The master and disciple scrutinized it—it matched Jin Baohui’s description perfectly: a three-to-four-inch-long apricot-yellow jade vial, its mouth wrapped in aged copper wire. Hu Tianwei sneered, “How do we know there’s really saliva inside? Stop bluffing!”Cai Zhao frowned slightly. "You don't believe me? No matter. I'll sprinkle a little for you to smell." As she spoke, she used her left thumb to push open the jade stopper of the bottle.
"No need, no need!" Hu Tianwei immediately shouted—with such a small bottle, the saliva inside must be scarce. It would surely be reserved for his master first, and only any excess might come to him. Naturally, he didn't want to waste even a drop.
"Elder Duan and your esteemed disciple, please stand farther away—preferably against the wall," Cai Zhao said with a smile.
Duan Jiuxiu snorted. "Don't act all high and mighty. If we kill you, we can still take the bottle."
Cai Zhao's expression darkened. "The Snowscale Dragon Beast's saliva doesn't freeze in cold and evaporates instantly in heat. Elder Duan, do you think I can splash it into the fire faster than your master can pounce? Or that you two can subdue me quicker than I can sever my own heart meridian?"
Though the girl's earlier strike against Zhou Zhiqin had been a calculated accident, the precision and ferocity of her attack were undeniable. Both master and disciple knew that even two against one, they couldn't overpower her in a few moves.
"Such a lovely young girl—would you really throw your life away?" Hu Tianwei forced a laugh.
Cai Zhao replied coolly, "My granduncle Cai Changfeng once fought Celestial Pivot Elder to mutual destruction without fear. My aunt Cai Pingshu sacrificed herself using the Celestial Demon Disintegration Art to kill Nie Hengcheng—exchanging her life for his. Do you really think I'd hesitate to do the same?"
Hu Tianwei's smile vanished as he glanced at his master, who remained silent.
Had it been anyone else, they might not have believed such disregard for life. But coming from a member of the Cai family—known for their madness—they couldn't help but believe it nine parts out of ten.
"Whether I live or die matters little. What matters is that without this Snowscale Dragon Beast saliva, you two might find yourselves in dire straits," Cai Zhao said with a blooming smile. "Of course, if you can find the Snowscale Dragon Beast, you could always collect more. But..."
She tilted her head slightly, as if gazing toward the mountaintop outside. "The last confirmed sighting of a Snowscale Dragon Beast was a hundred and sixty years ago. Since then, there have only been rumors of its cries—nothing concrete. Tell me, what exactly did your informant say? How did he know the beast had appeared?"
"What informant?" Hu Tianwei couldn't hold back.
Cai Zhao said, "The innkeeper who died—wasn't he your spy stationed at the foot of the mountain?"
Duan Jiuxiu grinned. "Clever girl. Indeed, Feng San (the innkeeper) was our informant. He obtained a scale from a mountain villager, which I had Jin Baohui verify—it was undoubtedly from a Snowscale Dragon Beast!"
Cai Zhao chuckled lightly. "And here I thought it was something substantial. Just a scale? For all we know, the beast might have died long ago. Or perhaps it simply spread its wings and flew away."
She smiled again. "Wouldn't it be easier to take this bottle of saliva from me?"
Duan Jiuxiu clenched his teeth but had no choice but to relent, stepping back until he was against the wall—right beside Zhou Zhiqin.
Hu Tianwei had no choice but to follow, grumbling as he went, "What do you want in exchange for the saliva?"
Cai Zhao said simply, "Kill Zhou Zhiqin."
Hu Tianwei was stunned. "W-what did you say?!"
Cai Zhao added, "And to ensure you don't fake it, I want you to sever his head. Once I see his body and head separated, I'll leave the jade bottle behind and depart."The girl was as fresh and radiant as a peach blossom, yet her words were sharp enough to sever heads. Even the usually ruthless Hu Tianwei was momentarily taken aback.
Zhou Zhiqin clung to Duan Jiuxiu’s leg, pleading desperately, "Don’t, don’t kill me, I beg you…"
Duan Jiuxiu remained motionless, his chilling sneer cutting through the air. "Truly the spawn of that wretched Cai Pingshu—just as venomous as her!"
Cai Zhao’s expression darkened instantly. "Suddenly, I no longer wish to live. I’ll take you all down with me." With that, she reached for the jade stopper of the vial, threatening to pour out the saliva.
"Stop, stop! Hold on!" Hu Tianwei roared in panic. "Let’s talk this through! Why must you act so rashly?!"
Cai Zhao’s face remained icy. "I won’t tolerate any disrespect toward my aunt."
Hu Tianwei broke into a cold sweat. "Shifu was just… ah, no, he merely misspoke! He didn’t mean to slight your esteemed aunt! Besides, your aunt nearly wiped out our entire lineage back then—isn’t it natural for us to resent her?!"
Seeing Cai Zhao about to tip the vial again, Hu Tianwei had no choice but to yield. "Fine, fine! We won’t speak of her again, we won’t!"
Only then did Cai Zhao reseal the vial.
Duan Jiuxiu was seething with rage, gritting his teeth. "Don’t think you can bluff your way out of this. Push me too far, and… hmph! I might not need this saliva, but you’ll die for sure!"
Cai Zhao shook her head. "Even if I must die, you and your disciple will meet a far worse fate. The Demon Sect strictly forbids outsiders from practicing its arts—violators are tortured to death. And the punishments…"
She recalled the terrifying stories Mu Qingyan had told her late at night. "A century ago, someone stole and practiced the Demonic Arts. When caught, they were burned alive as a ‘sky lantern.’ They say the fire was kept small, roasting the victim for two full days until they shriveled to half their size, a dried-up husk."
"Seventy years ago, a bold disciple from the Four Stallions Gate infiltrated the Demon Sect to steal techniques. He was sliced to death—over a thousand cuts, they say. By the time his flesh was entirely flayed, he was still breathing."
"Fifty-some years ago, a reckless outlaw broke the taboo again. The Demon Sect’s punishment hall impaled him with a red-hot iron rod through his anus. His screams lasted three days and nights before he finally died…"
"Enough! Stop!" Hu Tianwei’s face twisted in horror, his cheeks trembling uncontrollably.
"You and your master have already been expelled from the Demon Sect," Cai Zhao said calmly, though inwardly she was repulsed by the gruesome punishments, silently cursing Mu Qingyan for filling her head with such horrors.
"...And if it’s discovered that you not only sought to steal the arts but also targeted Nie Hengcheng’s divine skill, I can’t help but wonder what fate awaits you both."
Duan Jiuxiu’s expression turned grim. He kicked aside the still-pleading Zhou Zhiqin. "If I kill you, no one will even know I’m still alive." Murderous intent flared in his eyes.
Cai Zhao smiled faintly and countered, "Why don’t you ask where my ‘elder brother’ has gone? He escaped here too, didn’t he?"
Duan Jiuxiu paused, halting his advance. "Where is your elder brother?"
"Wrong again. You should first ask Uncle Zhou whether I even have an elder brother," Cai Zhao replied amiably.
Suppressing his fury, Duan Jiuxiu shot a glance at Zhou Zhiqin, who hastily clarified, "N-no, she doesn’t. Cai Zhao only has a younger brother, no elder brother."
"Then who was he?" Hu Tianwei pressed.
"Naturally, my bodyguard," Cai Zhao said. "Young Master Yan was injured earlier, so I ordered him to descend the mountain first. He knows everything that needs to be known. Whether I return or not, he certainly won’t keep your secrets.""Would he leave you alone on the mountain?" Hu Tianwei doubted.
Cai Zhao replied calmly, "I am his master. Naturally, a servant must obey his master."
—This convinced Hu Tianwei and his disciple.
Duan Jiuxiu's face darkened with murderous intent. "So, in a few days, everyone in the martial world will know I'm still alive?"
Cai Zhao nodded. "Yes, which is why you absolutely need the Snowscale Dragon Beast's saliva—only it can save you and your disciple's lives."
Hu Tianwei grew increasingly nervous, fidgeting helplessly.
Duan Jiuxiu suddenly laughed. "Little girl, stop spouting nonsense. All this talk of stealing divine skills is just lies concocted by your Big Dipper Six Sects to frame me. Back then, your aunt failed to kill me, and now you’re trying to incite others to finish the job. My brothers won’t be so easily fooled."
Knowing he wouldn’t admit defeat easily, Cai Zhao said, "Fine, then let’s talk this through properly."
"Ever since I saw you at the inn and witnessed the dangers along the way, I’ve been puzzled—you and your disciple, Chen Fuguang, Jin Baohui, Lan Tianyu, Uncle Zhou, and Dongxiao, none of you have any connection. What could possibly unite you all to risk your lives climbing this snowy mountain?"
"It wasn’t until Jin Baohui revealed in the ice cave that he came for the Snowscale Dragon Beast’s saliva, and Elder Duan’s identity was exposed, that I began to suspect something. And as this suspicion grew clearer, Uncle Zhou and Dongxiao couldn’t hide anymore."
She cast a disdainful glance at Zhou Zhiqin on the ground and continued, "Chronologically, it started with the massacre at Clear Wind Temple. I suspect Dongxiao didn’t escape by luck that day—Elder Duan spared him on purpose."
Duan Jiuxiu cackled. "Correct! Everyone at Clear Wind Temple was stubborn to the bone. I was getting bored of killing when I stumbled upon a coward—pissing himself and begging on his knees for his life! Hahaha! I spared him, thinking he might be useful someday."
"Such foresight, Elder. And indeed, he proved useful later," Cai Zhao mocked. "My aunt led the effort to eliminate your followers and hideouts, finally capturing you—if I’m not mistaken, Dongxiao secretly intervened to help you escape, didn’t he?"
Duan Jiuxiu bared his yellowed teeth. "That spineless worm had a sharp mind. His senior, Yunzhuan Daoren, was already crippled, leaving him as the sole survivor of Clear Wind Temple. Cai Pingshu handed me over to him for execution. The coward claimed he’d make me suffer a slow death, proposing to drown me in a crocodile pit while secretly sending word to Tianwei."
"Within a day and night, they dragged me to the pit, and Tianwei had already dug a secret tunnel beneath it. After I was tied to rocks and thrown in, Tianwei rescued me immediately and replaced me with a corpse of similar build. Once the crocodiles had gnawed most of it away, a few floating limbs were enough to close the case."
"Scum!" Cai Zhao seethed, furious that her aunt’s efforts had been wasted on such vile schemers.
After calming herself, she went on, "Next was Chen Shu’s death. After my aunt crippled his Five Venoms Palm, he lived in constant terror. I’ve heard Nie Hengcheng, though brutal to outsiders, was kind to his own. I suspect he pitied his disciple’s suffering and passed on his newly acquired divine skill... Isn’t that right, Elder Duan?"Duan Jiuxiu said, "Exactly. Nie Hengcheng may be a scoundrel, but he truly treated those four disciples as his own sons. Chen Shu was a worthless fool—unwilling to patiently cultivate superior martial arts, he instead practiced trash like the Five Venoms Palm just to gain fame quickly. Hmph! Since ancient times, has there ever been a shortcut on the path of martial cultivation? Serves him right for having his life-saving technique broken by Cai Pingshu!"
"If he had just holed up in the Nether Bamboo Path to train in peace, nothing would have happened. But he had a volatile temper and couldn't stand provocation. Over some trivial matter, he risked leaving his hiding place, and as a result, the people of Jade Pendant Mountain Manor discovered his trail."
Cai Zhao nodded. "That's how it happened. That time, Chen Shu was accompanied by many elite Demonic Bandits, and Jade Pendant Mountain Manor suffered heavy losses in their efforts to eliminate him."
At this point, she suddenly turned her gaze downward. "Uncle Zhou, when you think about it, you're the source of all this. Without you, none of this mess would have happened, and your beloved only son wouldn't have died."
"No, no, that's not..." Zhou Zhiqin clutched his wound, his face deathly pale. Meeting Cai Zhao's icy stare, he finally slumped in admission. "Yes... it was me."
Cai Zhao continued, "Uncle Zhou was Uncle Zhou's right-hand man. After all the Demonic Bandits were eliminated, it would naturally fall to you to handle the aftermath. I suspect you found something on Chen Shu's corpse. Hmm... a letter?" She fixed her gaze intently on Zhou Zhiqin.
"...It was an unfinished letter," Zhou Zhiqin said, his face ashen. "After days and nights of pursuit, Chen Shu knew he couldn't shake us off. He must have tried to send the letter out with one of his men before we closed in, but we attacked before he could finish writing."
His mind wandered, his thoughts drifting back to that rain-soaked morning.
After a night of fierce battle, the corpses of elite Demonic Bandits littered the inn's courtyard, their blood mingling with the rainwater to stain the ground crimson. The Zhou disciples were utterly exhausted. As the future manor lord's trusted aide, Zhou Zhiqin was responsible for handling the aftermath as usual.
When he came to Chen Shu's corpse, for some inexplicable reason, he found himself searching it. His fingers brushed against a shattered jade vial, its fragments still emitting a strange herbal scent—cloyingly sweet yet pungent... and half a letter.
"That letter was addressed to Chen Fuguang, wasn't it? About Nie Hengcheng's divine skill?" Cai Zhao asked.
Zhou Zhiqin nodded. "Chen Shu wrote that he was running out of time, and was sending his most trusted subordinate to deliver the Snowscale Dragon Beast's saliva that Nie Hengcheng had given him to his younger brother. Combined with the mental cultivation formula that Chen Fuguang had previously memorized, one could master the first layer of Nie Hengcheng's divine skill."
"So you were tempted by evil," Cai Zhao said coldly.
Zhou Zhiqin's pupils dilated. "That was Nie Hengcheng's divine skill! Even just the first layer would grant unimaginable power. Old Sect Leader Yin used to be able to fight Nie Hengcheng to a standstill, but not long after Nie Hengcheng cultivated that skill, the old sect leader was no match for him at all... I wanted to learn it too! Once I mastered it, I wouldn't have to be anyone's damned right-hand man anymore! No more exhausting myself putting on a smile to do the dirty work! My talent and martial arts are no worse than Zhou Zhizhen's—why couldn't I be manor lord?!"
Cai Zhao remained unmoved. "There's something you should know—my aunt told me this. Every time Jade Pendant Mountain Manor held martial competitions, you only lost to Uncle Zhou by a move or two, so you thought your skills weren't much worse than his. In truth, Uncle Zhou was deliberately going easy on you. Back then, my aunt often teased him for not being honest. Uncle Zhou said Zhou disciples had a hard enough time growing stronger—they needed encouragement.""If he goes all out, he could have you picking your teeth off the ground within a hundred moves," she sighed. "It still comes down to Auntie after all."
Zhou Zhiqin was thunderstruck. "No, it can't be true, this is impossible..."
Hu Tianwei curled his lip. "A leopard can't change its spots. Even if Zhou Zhizhen defeats Zhou Zhiqin within a hundred moves, he'll still harbor that same grudging resentment."
Zhou Zhiqin slumped to the side like a paper effigy drained of all Vitality.
Cai Zhao spoke: "Now, everything connects."
"Uncle Zhou discovered Brother Chen's secret, but he didn't know Chen Fuguang at all, let alone where he was hiding—Chen Shu protected his younger brother so thoroughly that ordinary people couldn't get near him. Uncle Zhou must have searched for a long, long time before finally realizing he couldn't obtain the divine skill alone, so he began seeking allies."
"His first ally was likely Dongxiao, but Dongxiao probably thought searching for a needle in a haystack was pointless. The Demonic Trove's people should let their own Demons handle it. And that, Elder Duan, is where you came in."
"Elder Duan, your roots run deep in the Demonic Trove. Even after suffering heavy losses, you must have retained some remnants of your power. And you, Elder Duan, weren't content to live in obscurity forever. So the two sides struck a deal."
"After Elder Duan found Chen Fuguang, the next step was obtaining Snowscale Dragon Beast Saliva. I'm guessing the Demonic Trove didn't have any more saliva left, so you had to come to these great snowy mountains to try your luck. That meant you needed someone skilled in navigating snowy terrain—Lan Tianyu—and someone proficient in taming beasts who could identify Snowscale Dragon Beast Saliva—Jin Baohui."
"And with that, the team was complete."
Cai Zhao looked at Duan Jiuxiu. "Elder Duan, am I correct?"
"Correct, of course you are." Duan Jiuxiu gave a sinister chuckle. "However..."
Suddenly, a series of knocks sounded at the door.
Cai Zhao froze.
Who could be knocking in these remote, snow-covered mountains?
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