There were seven or eight roads leading to Jiaoyu Town, and now each one was bustling with people hurrying toward the Beauty Abode. The cold wind whistled, and the freshly snowed paths were damp and gloomy, further churned into muddy pits by passing horses, making the journey even more arduous. One man, leaning on a bamboo cane, staggered unsteadily along the treacherous path. With his faltering steps, it would likely take him a full day to reach Jiaoyu Town.
Behind him followed a silver-haired scholar dressed in white robes embroidered with intricate calligraphy. His face was as flawless as jade, his lips as red as cinnabar, exuding an air of effortless charm—though his age was impossible to guess. As the cane-wielding man wobbled forward, the scholar sighed with every step. "I say—couldn’t you at least disguise yourself a little? Are you really planning to show up with that ‘celestial beauty’ face of yours? The moment you step into Jiaoyu Town, every single person—no, make that a hundred and twenty out of a hundred—will recognize you as Liu Yan. Then you can look forward to being hacked to death or beheaded and whipped posthumously."
"Shut up!" Liu Yan’s face remained horrifying—patches of skin had regrown in some places, while others were still raw and crimson. The contrast between his delicate complexion and the glaring scars made it unbearable to look at him for long. The silver-haired scholar flicked a lifelike mask from his sleeve. "Come on, put this on. Even if you’re too proud—and I do admire that pride—at least spare some pity for me, your bodyguard. I’ve lived a carefree life and don’t fancy dying under a flurry of blades in my old age. I’d much rather pass away peacefully in bed."
"You’re noisy," Liu Yan snapped impatiently. "Can’t you stay quiet for even a moment?" The scholar patted his chest dramatically. "I was perfectly carefree—just planning to grab Xiao Shui for some fish head stew. Who knew I’d bump into a walking disaster? If I’d known Little Tang was there, I’d have stayed far away. Now… sigh…" He shook his head repeatedly. Liu Yan snorted. "Didn’t you take a ten-thousand-tael gold note from him? What’s there to cry about?" The scholar was none other than the renowned Xue Xianzi, who now groaned even louder. "Originally, Little Tang owed me six thousand taels of gold. Now he hands me a ten-thousand-tael note and expects me to return four thousand taels in change! A wandering scholar like me, living hand-to-mouth—where would I get four thousand taels to give back? Now I owe him that much, and if it weren’t for this debt, I’d never have taken this job as your bodyguard. Dangerous, troublesome errands like this are exactly what I avoid." As he rambled on, he suddenly pressed the mask onto Liu Yan’s face. In an instant, Liu Yan transformed into a frail, elderly man covered in dark spots. Xue Xianzi clapped his hands in satisfaction. "Much safer now. Guaranteed—even your own mother wouldn’t recognize you—" Before he could finish, a pack of a dozen stray dogs burst from the withered grass along the muddy path, barking furiously at Liu Yan. Xue Xianzi froze, and Liu Yan frowned. What was going on?
"Just as expected. No matter how you disguise yourself, you can’t escape the nose of a dog." From the overgrown grass emerged over a dozen men clad in black martial attire, their backs embroidered with peonies. Among them stood a cold-faced, delicate-featured youth—unfamiliar to Liu Yan and Xue Xianzi—whose eyes burned with hatred. This was Cao Wufang. After the Dissolute Shop’s defeat at Good Cloud Mountain, he had vanished from sight, only to resurface in the shadows under Gui Mudan’s command as one of the Demon Soul Death Warriors."Dogs?" Xue Xianzi gaped, "Why dogs... How many are there? All on this road?" Cao Wufang replied indifferently, "All eight roads leading to Beauty Abode have five hundred and forty-four dogs in total. The scent traces back to your Elixir Chamber in the Shumei Room, and what's about to hang from Beauty Abode's rooftop... is Lin Bu. The inescapable net ensures we'll catch you one way or another." His arm extended horizontally, black sleeves fluttering lightly in the wind. "Come with me."
Liu Yan paid no attention to the dogs on the ground. He gave Cao Wufang a sidelong glance and asked coolly, "When Hua Wuyan died, did you hate me for not saving him?" Cao Wufang's expression turned icy. "You could have saved him, but instead you played the zither to see him off." Liu Yan smiled. "I don't save trash." Cao Wufang's face twisted in anger. "He wasn't trash! He gave his all for you, even his life! While he fought desperately for you, you sat there playing the zither, composing poems about his death as if it were some theatrical performance... Someone like you deserves hell!" Liu Yan smiled again, the expression grotesque on his peculiar face. "Had he lived, he would have only made more mistakes, suffering increasingly. You were his friend, yet you don't understand." Cao Wufang sneered. "Look at yourself now—you're the living embodiment of trash!" He clasped his hands behind his back. "Capture them alive!"
Over a dozen black-clad men surrounded Liu Yan and Xue Xianzi. Cao Wufang drew his sword and thrust toward Liu Yan's shoulder. Liu Yan retreated a step with his bamboo cane, while Xue Xianzi sighed. "Hold on!" He stepped forward. "Young man, if these dozen helpers are all you have, I suggest you take your dogs and leave quickly."
Cao Wufang leveled his sword. Liu Yan's gaze lifted slightly. Xue Xianzi's sleeves suddenly billowed as a red-clad woman emerged halfway from behind a tree, her snow-white skin and dark hair still retaining their charm. She smiled sweetly at Xue Xianzi. "Xue Lang, it's been thirty years since we last met, yet you're still as dashing as ever." Xue Xianzi sighed again. "Eyebrows too short, face too long, nose not straight enough, teeth uneven—even after thirty years, you haven't changed." The woman behind the tree giggled. "Xue Lang has seen countless beauties; I dare not count myself among them." She stepped out gracefully, her expression warm, as if greeting a long-lost dear friend.
Liu Yan's heart skipped a beat—this was Hongchan Niangzi, the "Thousand Shapes Shadow Shift," a renowned poison master from decades ago. Even Xue Xianzi, famed throughout the martial world, might not gain the upper hand against her. As he tensed, another figure approached slowly from nearby—blind in one eye, covered in scars, with a dark, gaping hole in his neck that pulsed with each breath, a horrifying sight. Liu Yan's heart rose steadily in his chest—Yu Qifeng...
Xue Xianzi laughed heartily. "It's been thirty years since I last faced a worthy opponent." Hongchan Niangzi tittered. "Oh my, I never intended to be your opponent, Xue Lang. Just one kiss on your face, and I'd die content." Yu Qifeng walked slowly to her side, his rusted iron sword twisting as he rasped in a strange voice, "A duel with Xue Xianzi would not disgrace the title of Sword King."Cao Wufang led the crowd a step back, glaring fiercely at Liu Yan behind Xue Xianzi. Clad in flowing white robes, Xue Xianzi faced the two formidable opponents head-on. "I must say—being in debt truly feels awful. Pitiful that at my age, I still have to fight for gold... how tragic and helpless!" Liu Yan murmured softly, "You should leave." Xue Xianzi chuckled, "Ah, even if I were to flee, I'd take you—worth four thousand taels of gold—with me. Have some faith in me." Liu Yan replied, "Alright."
Dark clouds churned as the wind picked up. The overgrown path stretched endlessly, as if leading to the ends of the earth.
Yu Qifeng slowly raised his broken sword. "I seek your guidance." Xue Xianzi nodded, his gaze fixed on Yu Qifeng's shattered blade. Though damaged, the sword's "West Wind Cleaving Wildfire" technique remained formidable. Hongchan Niangzi giggled coyly, "Ah, ignoring me, are we? Xue Lang, you truly break my heart." With a flick of her sleeve, a cloud of crimson mist drifted toward Xue Xianzi—undoubtedly a poisonous haze.
Xue Xianzi stood unmoving as the red mist settled on his robes, instantly corroding the fabric and leaving small holes in the pristine white cloth. Yet the faint traces that brushed his face left no mark, as if the poison had no effect. Hongchan Niangzi froze in surprise. Xue Xianzi's profound inner strength rendered him immune to even the deadliest toxins. Though her mist could dissolve flesh and blood, it only damaged his clothing. Swiftly, she flipped her wrist, revealing a curved saber gleaming with an eerie blue light—its blade undoubtedly laced with countless poisons. With a single stroke, "Gazing at the Moon in the Breeze," she aimed for Xue Xianzi's neck.
Xue Xianzi's focus remained unwaveringly on Yu Qifeng's sword. As Hongchan Niangzi's blade closed in, his figure blurred—without shifting his stance or gaze, he abruptly retreated three feet, effortlessly evading the strike. Even Liu Yan couldn't discern how he had done it, as if he had vanished and reappeared in an instant.
"Xue Lang is truly unfathomable as a ghost or god. But I've heard that even the finest teleportation techniques can't exceed a range of ten feet. A man is still a man—he can't vanish every time." Hongchan Niangzi laughed sweetly, shaking out a length of red silk that shot straight toward Xue Xianzi's head.
The silk unfurled midair, its four corners spreading like a net over Xue Xianzi and Liu Yan. With a faint rustle of his sleeve, a sharp tearing sound echoed—the center of the silk burst apart, scattering shredded crimson fragments across the ground. Hongchan Niangzi twisted her body like a serpent, slipping through the drifting remnants as her blade lunged straight for Xue Xianzi's heart. "Such impressive skill, Xue Lang!" Though she appeared to be in her forties, she was in truth a woman in her sixties or seventies, yet her movements remained agile. The strike carried decades of refined power, far from ordinary. Xue Xianzi's eyes never left Yu Qifeng's broken sword as he pivoted, pulling Liu Yan another four feet back. The moment he shifted, Yu Qifeng's blade howled, stirring wind and dust as it thrust toward Xue Xianzi's chest. Simultaneously, Hongchan Niangzi spun, her blue curved saber slashing toward his back. In that instant, sword winds whipped up a storm of dust, and a strange blue light pierced through the haze. A bizarre shriek echoed from within the swirling debris as Xue Xianzi clasped his hands behind his back, his white sleeves suddenly billowing upward.Liu Yan had been standing behind Xue Xianzi the entire time. When Yu Qifeng's sword strike and Hongchan Niangzi's saber slash converged, his heart instantly leaped to his throat. Even if his martial arts hadn't been completely crippled, he knew he couldn't withstand their full-force combined attack.
Yet, Xue Xianzi merely raised his white sleeve. Yu Qifeng's sword pierced through the fabric, driving straight toward his chest. Xue Xianzi's palm brushed along the blade, sliding against its edge before lightly tapping Yu Qifeng's hand. With decades of refined skill and the added might of the Ape-Demon Nine Heart Pill, Yu Qifeng's grip on his sword was unparalleled—unshaken by this strike. The blade continued its deadly path, seemingly about to pierce Xue Xianzi's chest. But the moment it touched his body, the sword shattered into countless fragments, scattering like iron dust across the ground.
Yu Qifeng froze in shock, then swiftly retaliated with a palm strike. Despite his profound cultivation, his iron sword had crumbled under Xue Xianzi's effortless touch. Xue Xianzi smiled faintly and raised his own hand to meet the attack. With a resounding bang , their palms collided—neither budging an inch, locked in perfect equilibrium.
At the same moment the sword shattered, Hongchan Niangzi's Blue Curved Saber let out an eerie shriek as it slashed toward Xue Xianzi's back. Suddenly, Liu Yan extended his bamboo staff, giving the blade a deft flick.
OpenNovel