This horrifying scene stunned everyone.
Cai Zhao stammered, "H-how is Chen Fuguang still alive after being swallowed?"
Having learned about rare creatures from his father, Mu Qingyan explained, "Not for long. His bones will be crushed by the serpent's coils, slowly rotting inside its belly—better to be bitten to death outright."
Chen Fuguang's laughter still echoed off the icy walls when a flash of white appeared. The giant serpent flicked out its crimson tongue, coiling around Qi Nong's corpse. With a series of muffled cracking sounds, two streams of blood trickled down the sides of the serpent's gaping maw.
With a clink, the bright red coral hairpin fell from Qi Nong's hair.
After obtaining the secret manual, Qi Nong must have either wounded Chen Fuguang or pushed him into the ice cave, believing he would never survive. Yet he ended up alive inside the serpent's belly, lingering just long enough. When the serpent's throat was attacked by Mu and Cai, forcing it to regurgitate its "meal," it unwittingly enabled Chen Fuguang's revenge.
Hu Tianwei, mad with terror, stripped off his clothes as he ran—first his outer robe, then his undergarments, piece by piece, until only his short underbritches remained.
Qian Xueshen, lying on the ground, laughed wildly. "Useless! Once you're marked by the female serpent's scent, it won't leave you unless you wash immediately..." But where in this freezing cavern could Hu Tianwei find water?
As if to prove his point, the serpent, having fully consumed Qi Nong, coiled and shifted again, its gaze locking onto Hu Tianwei. He had considered begging Duan Jiuxiu for help, but after witnessing Qi Nong's fate, he dared not go near him.
Mu Qingyan remained silent, but his icy defensive stance made his stance clear.
After narrowly escaping the serpent's tongue several times, Hu Tianwei, consumed by rage and terror, screamed, "If you want me dead, I'll take you with me!" He lunged at Qian Xueshen on the ground.
Cai Zhao had been tracking Hu Tianwei's movements. Seeing him try to use Qian Xueshen as a shield, she swung her blade, cleaving off a massive chunk of ice. With a forceful palm strike, she sent it hurtling toward Hu Tianwei.
Hu Tianwei was no weakling. Seeing the ice coming, he struck out with both palms, shattering it into fragments. But the momentary delay was enough—the serpent closed in, its frigid breath washing over him. Panicking, Hu Tianwei leaped desperately, but the serpent exhaled a blinding white frost.
A scream tore from Hu Tianwei as he plummeted.
Through the misty white fog, the group heard the heavy thud of something shattering, followed by Hu Tianwei's agonized wails.
When the fog cleared, the sight forced everyone back three steps.
Hu Tianwei's upper half writhed and howled on the ground. His lower half was gone.
He had been a fraction too slow—the frost had struck him below the waist, freezing him instantly. Like Dongfang Xiao, he shattered upon impact.
Just as a bisected man doesn't die immediately, Hu Tianwei, now halved, lingered. Blood gushed from his waist like a spring, forming a vast pool.
The excruciating pain and blood loss soon ended him. The serpent eagerly flicked out its tongue, swallowing the still-warm half of Hu Tianwei, grinding him to pulp in its belly before consuming him entirely.Now, only four people remained in the serpent's lair.
Duan Jiuxiu's face was pale: "You've all seen it. If we keep fighting among ourselves, we'll all end up as food for this beast. We have no choice but to work together now."
"Fine," Mu Qingyan replied curtly.
Cai Zhao turned her head and saw Qian Xueshen lying pale in the corner, staring fixedly at Duan Jiuxiu with a hatred so venomous it was unlike anything Cai Zhao had ever witnessed in her life.
The attack began. The giant serpent, having fed, seemed even more vigorous. Its head coiled and struck while its tail swept through the air with a howl. For a moment, the ice cavern was filled with shattered ice mixed with bones, as if battered by a violent storm.
Fortunately, the three—Duan, Mu, and Cai—were all skilled in qinggong (lightness skills). Cai Zhao, in particular, had the Bright Sun Blade to aid her. The three kept their distance, circling and dodging. Whenever the serpent nearly caught one of them, the other two would desperately attack its rear. After several rounds of this, the serpent grew impatient. Its head turned, and it lunged toward Qian Xueshen on the ground.
Duan Jiuxiu had long wished to flay Qian Xueshen alive and naturally made no move to help. Mu Qingyan hesitated briefly, but Cai Zhao rushed forward without delay. White and golden-red blade lights intertwined several times as Cai Zhao yanked Qian Xueshen away from the serpent's jaws at the last possible moment. She narrowly avoided being hit by the serpent's icy breath, though a lock of her hair froze and snapped off.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Qian Xueshen roared, "At a time like this, stop playing the merciful saint!"
Cai Zhao shouted back, "Your whole family is dead except for you! When you reunite with them in the underworld, your parents will be thrilled! I told you I’d help you get revenge later—why must you keep whining? If I die here today, it’ll be all your fault!"
With that, she tossed him into a recessed ice crevice and turned back to join Duan and Mu in their battle against the serpent.
Dazed from the throw, Qian Xueshen couldn’t tell whether it was from blood loss or the freezing cold of the cavern.
In his haze, he saw the bright red coral hairpin Qi Nong had dropped earlier. His aunt’s shrill scream echoed in his ears—she had clutched the corpse of her child, who had been dashed to death, wailing in grief. But Qi Nong, annoyed by the noise, had simply gripped the woman’s neck and twisted it with a single hand.
The crisp sound of snapping bones. His aunt’s head lolled to the side, silenced forever.
Most girls in town refused to marry into the mountains, but his aunt and uncle had grown up together. She had defied her parents to marry the man she loved. His parents, feeling guilty, had offered a large sum of silver as a betrothal gift—though life in the mountains was hard, they often found larger and more abundant Snow Ginseng and hunted fatter, stronger beasts.
In truth, his aunt’s father was a good man. He hadn’t wanted his daughter to suffer in the mountains, nor had he coveted the silver. Shortly after the wedding, he returned the money untouched, his face stern, and even sent over a cart of dowry.
His parents, uncle, and aunt had been overjoyed. That night, they slaughtered chickens, cooked meat, and drank heartily.
Yes, life in the mountains was tough, but their family had always been happy and harmonious.
His mother often said that once they saved enough money, they would move down the mountain—to the south, where the hills were gentle and the waters warm. They could open a shop, buy farmland, and live well together as two families.
"Qian Xueshen, watch out!" A girl’s voice shouted toward him as a sharp ice shard flew his way. She barely managed to deflect it.
He was bewildered—why was she calling him Qian Xueshen?
That wasn’t his name. His name was Tao Xiaoshu.Father was a burly, warm-hearted man with a thick beard, while Mother had a plump, rosy-cheeked face.
He had an older brother, a year his senior, named Tao Xiaoshan—good-natured and strong—and a younger sister, a year his junior, named Tao Xiaoxi, fair-skinned, soft-spoken, and utterly adorable. There was also a baby cousin, just a few months old, who hadn’t even been named yet.
That day, the snowstorm was especially fierce, the sky so dark it felt like night. His sister sat obediently by the fire, roasting sweet potatoes, while Aunt sang a beautiful mountain lullaby to soothe the baby. Father and Uncle were late returning, and Mother grew restless, scolding him and his brother to behave and not cause trouble.
“Who knows what treasure-hunting Martial World folks are up to this time! Ugh, if there were any treasures left, they’d have been dug up centuries ago! I hope their father hasn’t gotten himself involved!”
“Sister-in-law, you’re just worried about Big Brother. Don’t fret—even if it were just the two of them, Xiaoshan and Xiaoshu know these snowy mountains like the back of their hands. They could walk them blindfolded.”
That night, Father and Uncle used the Snow Sled to drag back eight people. “The others were buried in the snow. Tsk, using black powder like that—triggered an avalanche, nearly cost them their lives.”
The storm had turned Father’s beard white, and Uncle’s face was purple with cold. Their hands and feet were so numb they could barely hold their bowls of hot soup. Mother and Aunt were heartbroken but didn’t say a word against what they’d done.
“We who live off these mountains ought to help each other,” Father said with a grin, flashing his white teeth. “If we come across someone in trouble, we can’t just leave them to die.”
Their family had rescued many mountain travelers—some grateful, others heartless. The former might leave silver or offer sincere thanks, while the latter would walk away without a word, some even suspecting the Tao brothers of stealing their belongings.
But their parents and uncle and aunt never minded. “People are just like that—some good, some bad. Even if we save just one good person, it’s worth it!”
Tao Xiaoshu believed this wholeheartedly.
Until that night.
The eight unconscious travelers gradually woke, and Mother eagerly warmed wine and stewed chicken soup to help them recover.
Xiaoshan and Xiaoshu had been cooped up at home all day, unable to even visit the pair of White Fur Hou cubs they secretly kept outside. Restless and fidgety—mountain children couldn’t stand idleness—they played hide-and-seek while the adults were busy.
Xiaoshu lost four rounds in a row. No matter where he hid, his brother always found him.
Determined, he risked a beating and squeezed into the hidden compartment beneath the floor—the place where meat was stored. Mother had always forbidden the brothers from playing there, afraid they’d ruin the food.
Xiaoshu hid in the crawlspace beneath the back room’s floor for a long time, but his brother never came looking.
Growing impatient, he shifted carefully in the cramped space.
Then, he saw nothing but blood-red.
He froze, watching helplessly through the floorboards as eight savage beasts slaughtered his family—
Father and Mother lay in pools of blood, eyes wide open, never understanding why the people they’d saved would turn on them.
Uncle screamed and threw himself over Aunt’s body, only for Hu Tianwei’s judge’s pen to slice through his neck, severing his head.
Little sister Xiaoxi’s skull was crushed, her sweet face twisted like a ruined clay doll. His brother Xiaoshan charged in fury, only to be kicked into the wall, his belly split open.
Hu Tianwei and Qi Nong laughed in delight."After all, they saved our lives. Why not let them go peacefully?" The fairest and most refined-looking man spoke up.
"Oh, Great Hero Zhou is showing mercy now?" Qi Nong covered her mouth with a light laugh.
Hu Tianwei snapped, "Enough nonsense! Wasn't this your idea in the first place? You said though this family isn't from the Martial World, they often aid travelers in the mountains. If they talk too much and people discover two noble heroes from prestigious sects mingling with demonic heretics like us, the Azure Tower Sect won't let you off—they'd have to purge their ranks, hahaha!"
Dongfang Xiao said coldly, "Don't make it sound so noble. You and your master fear exposure more than we do. At least we in the Big Dipper Six Sects can explain ourselves, but if you two fall into the Demonic Cult's hands, you'll beg for death in vain. And you, Chen Fuguang—if the Cult learns Chen Shu secretly taught you their techniques, do you think you'll live?"
"Enough, enough," Jin Baohui mediated. "We're all in this together. Silencing them is our only choice. Later I'll donate generously to light a perpetual lamp at the temple for this family, so they may be reborn into wealth and luxury—consider it repayment. Fair enough? Old Lan—eh, Lan Tianyu, why so quiet?"
Lan Tianyu sat hunched in a corner. "...I grew up in the snow mountains too. Those who live in the mountains must help one another. Ah, what kind of monster am I?"
Chen Fuguang whispered, "There's no other way. If our secret gets out, none of us will escape. Let's just find the Snowscale Dragon Beast's saliva quickly."
After the killings, they set fire to the house, reducing the night's sins to ashes—never noticing the Tao family's youngest son was missing.
Little Tao crouched numbly in the snow, letting the blizzard slowly bury his small frame.
He didn't understand what had happened, why it happened, where to go, or what to do.
Qian Miansou dug him from the deep snow before he froze to death, nursing him back to health.
When the boy shared everything and asked why, Qian Miansou sighed: "This is the Martial World. In this world, there is no 'why'—only the strong preying on the weak, endless slaughter."
When the boy vowed revenge, Qian Miansou deliberated three days before accepting him as a disciple, naming him 'Qian Xueshen' per Thousand Faces Sect tradition.
—"A hunter's son with no backing—how will you take revenge? My skills aren't exceptional either... I meant to take that secret technique to my grave, but your elders once saved me. I can't watch you throw your life away."
At seven, Tao Xiaoshu became Qian Xueshen. He lost everything, left utterly alone.
At sixteen, he mastered the Body Transformation Art—and buried Qian Miansou.
By twenty, he'd identified all eight perpetrators—their continued searches for the Snowscale Dragon Beast gave him leads.
At twenty-three, his preparations were complete. Only vengeance remained.
"Ah—!" Duan Jiuxiu howled in pain as Mu Qingyan struck his back.
Age had weakened him; Cai Pingshu's past strike to his dantian never fully healed. Prolonged combat with the serpent left him exhausted. Seeing the serpent fear Cai Zhao's Bright Sun Blade, he'd tried seizing it when the girl was distracted.If the Bright Sun Blade were so easy to seize, it wouldn’t be called the Bright Sun Blade.
Cai Zhao had been practicing with the blade since she was five, never slacking for ten years. She’d spent more time swinging it than eating dumplings. The moment Duan Jiuxiu’s fingers even grazed near, she reflexively flipped the blade and swept it horizontally. Its edge was as sharp as the midday sun, instantly severing two of his fingers.
Mu Qingyan lunged forward, striking Duan Jiuxiu squarely in the back with his palm.
Cai Zhao loathed the old villain to the core. Seeing the giant serpent’s bloody maw approaching again, she decided she’d rather lose an ally than let him live. With a fierce kick, she sent Duan Jiuxiu flying, hoping he’d be blasted by the serpent’s icy breath and smash headfirst into the ground.
But Mu Qingyan had a better idea. He sidestepped and delivered another palm strike, adjusting Duan Jiuxiu’s trajectory so he flew straight into the serpent’s gaping mouth—even the serpent seemed momentarily stunned, unsure why its meal had just leapt in.
In his frenzied struggle, Duan Jiuxiu watched as the jaws slowly closed before him, two razor-sharp fangs sealing his fate. Despairing darkness swallowed him as he slid down the serpent’s throat.
In the silence, Qian Xueshen heard the distinct sound of bones cracking. He knew Duan Jiuxiu was being crushed piece by piece in the serpent’s belly, not dying instantly but slowly corroding in its stomach acid—a painful death.
Qian Xueshen smiled in delight.
“Didn’t you say earlier you had a way out? What is it?” Mu Qingyan’s voice cut in.
Cai Zhao replied, “Behind this ice wall is water. We just need to break through.”
“How do you know it’s flowing water? What if it’s just trapped meltwater between ice layers?”
“No, it’s flowing,” Cai Zhao insisted. “On the way here, I heard there’s an underground spring beneath this snowy mountain. The ice is just too thick for it to reach the surface.”
The two immediately began chipping away at the ice wall with a clanging rhythm.
Qian Xueshen thought to himself, There is indeed flowing water behind the ice wall, but it’s much thicker than they realize. Breaking through will take a long time—but the serpent is already stretching its neck. Will they make it?
“This is too slow,” Mu Qingyan muttered, noticing the serpent’s increasing agitation. “Let’s blast through instead.” He pulled out several fist-sized black spheres from a pouch at his waist.
Cai Zhao’s lips twitched. “...Isn’t that the Storm of Thunder?”
“Luo Yuanrong enlightened me. These things are far more useful for demolition than as hidden weapons. After you chased me down the mountain that day, I had a few made urgently—with double the gunpowder.” Mu Qingyan bundled the spheres together.
“Your sect’s talents are truly versatile,” Cai Zhao remarked sourly, considering that her granduncle Cai Changfeng had essentially died by the Storm of Thunder.
Mu Qingyan examined the ice wall, searching for the best spot to place the explosives. Suddenly, Qian Xueshen spoke up. “Don’t place them on the ground—the ice is thickest there. Higher up is better. Let me handle the placement. I know where the ice is thinnest.”
Cai Zhao objected. “You’re injured. I’ll do it—just guide me.”
Qian Xueshen smiled. “That won’t work. I need to feel it myself to know the exact spot. You two wait below. Once I climb up and secure the explosives, I’ll jump down—catch me.” He secretly bit his tongue, summoning the last of his strength.
Cai Zhao glanced at Mu Qingyan, who nodded in agreement.Qian Xueshen hung the black orb around his neck, gripping a dagger in each hand as he slowly climbed the ice wall. As he ascended, he lightly tapped various spots on the icy surface, listening carefully to the different echoes from behind the ice.
The higher he climbed, the more he struggled to find a suitable spot. Meanwhile, the giant serpent had completely swallowed Duan Jiuxiu, exhaled a freezing breath, and lunged once more toward Mu and Cai.
"Qian, you bastard, hurry the hell up!" Mu Qingyan's voice was thick with impatience and anger.
Qian Xueshen acted as though he hadn't heard, focusing intently on tapping the ice wall, meticulously searching for the weakest point.
Finally, just as Cai Zhao attempted for the third time to bind the serpent's jaws with her silver chain—narrowly avoiding its icy breath—he found it.
Hearing his shout, Cai Zhao was overjoyed. "Hold on a moment! I'll come get you as soon as I free my hands."
Mu Qingyan wrapped an arm around Cai Zhao's waist, leaping past the serpent's fangs. As he turned, his icy gaze shot upward.
Qian Xueshen understood his meaning—truthfully, he had been thinking the same thing. The serpent's breath was deadly; once struck, there would be no saving her. How could he let the girl stop and take such a risk?
The Tao family repaid debts—both of vengeance and gratitude.
"Take your time. I'll look for the firestarter first," Qian Xueshen said with forced calm, his tone steady.
Cai Zhao believed him, slashing frantically with her blade in an urgent attempt to drive the serpent back.
Then—BOOM! A deafening explosion rocked the cavern, sending tremors through the ice. Flames erupted everywhere as Qian Xueshen was violently thrown back by the blast.
Deep cracks spiderwebbed across the ice wall, rapidly widening.
A powerful underground current, suppressed for centuries, burst forth with thunderous force, smashing through the fissures. A colossal jet of water surged directly toward Mu, Cai, and the serpent.
Water—living water, and warm at that.
So there were hot springs beneath the snowy mountain.
One jet, then three, then seven… More and more cracks split the ice wall until, with a final deafening crash, the entire structure shattered. A deluge of scalding spring water flooded the cavern.
In an instant, the serpent's lair became a vast, churning sea.
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