Chapter 1035 - 281: Blood-Edged Cold Light Over the Perilous Valley, Xiang’s Strings Convey Deep Affection (Part 5)

The north wind carried fine snow, weaving a silver white net in the Helan Valley.

Shi Feiyang held Guo Xiangyu in his arms. Her cheek gently pressed against his warm chest, listening to the powerful heartbeat, and the whole world quieted down. "Young master, look at the mountain wall over there..." Guo Xiangyu’s voice was as sweet as honey, her slender fingers pointing into the distance, the silver bell in her hair gently swaying with her movement, ringing out a soft sound in the silent valley.

However, this moment of tenderness was quickly shattered.

The north wind wrapped with snow particles like iron sand, turned the Helan Valley into a Shura slaughterhouse.

Forty dark shadows descended from the cliff, the sound of swords unsheathing like the cries of ghosts in a cold night, reflecting a cold blue glint on the white snow.

The leading elder, shaped like a dried-up ape, extended his arm a foot long from under the green robe, knuckles protruding like iron. He was none other than Lu Changshan, the Hall Master "Iron-Armed Immortal Ape" of the Northwest Iron Gang’s Vermilion Bird Hall. Behind him, Li Wuduo swayed her snakelike waist slightly, her blood-red nails glistening with a corpse-like blue-black in the moonlight. She was the notorious "Poisonous Hand Nuwa" known throughout Jianghu.

"Shi Feiyang, truly destiny brought us to meet thousands of miles apart, if not destined, we wouldn’t meet face to face!" Li Wuduo’s sharp laughter pierced like a night owl. Before the words finished, her figure had turned into a remnant shadow, the killing move "Oriole Snatches the Throat" aimed directly at Shi Feiyang’s throat.

This move specifically targets one’s windpipe. Those hit would have their throat bones shattered lightly, or die instantly in severe cases.

Shi Feiyang’s pupils suddenly shrank. In his embrace, Guo Xiangyu felt his muscles tighten instantly. "Xiangyu, forgive me!" He spoke in a low voice, utilizing the Bright Jade Technique to toss Guo Xiangyu into mid-air like a silk ball. This seemingly reckless act actually contained a subtlety — Guo Xiangyu, lacking martial prowess, would become a burden on the ground in battle, tossing her into the air allowed her to avoid the chaos.

As Guo Xiangyu was tossed, looking at Shi Feiyang’s disordered yet heroic profile, his hair danced like ink in the wind, she felt he appeared more majestic than ever. "Young master..." She softly called out, but before the words fell, Xie Wen had already used the "Feixu Qingyan Technique" to swiftly scoop in, the Celestial Silkworm Silk Net retracting like a silver river, securely catching her. Shi Xiong, clinging to Xie Wen’s back, shouted urgently: "Sister Guo, don’t fear!"

On the ground, Shi Feiyang shot towards Li Wuduo like an arrow from a bowstring. The Bright Jade Technique operated to the Eighth Realm, white mist around his body transformed into an ice dragon’s shadow, his palms executing the "Red Dust Slash" — the deadly move from the Hundred Victories Saber Technique. Knife-like energy crisscrossed the air, condensing a golden blade three meters long, spraying blood mist where it went, slicing two masked hulks into four pieces on the spot, their innards spilled onto the snow.

In response, Zhu Yuanhua in his dark robe, clapped his black as coal palms forcefully onto the ground.

In an instant, a deep gully opened in the earth, spewing purple-black poisonous liquid — the Western Holy Sect’s "Bone Rot Palm" at work.

Shi Feiyang snorted coldly, moving his hands as blades, executing successive attacks with "Wind Sweeping Leaves" and "Water Dropping Stone Piercing", his palms akin to the Celestial Frost Blades, shredding the poisonous mist into scattered silver butterflies.

However, the contact with the rock caused it to emit swirling white smoke, rapidly corroding into honeycombed holes.

Li the Fourth rolled over with his bulky body like a meatball, deploying the "Three Stars Shoot the Dipper", a deadly move from the Illusory Seven-Star Palm, instantly covering the major acupoints of Shi Feiyang’s body. This palm technique appeared clumsy, but it secretly contained variations of the Beidou. Where the palm wind reached, the air hummed.

A Taiji phantom formed by True Qi encircled Shi Feiyang, and no matter how vigorous the opponent’s palm force was, it vanished like a cow into the sea, completely absorbed by the vortex.

In mid-air, Guo Xiangyu clutched tightly onto Shi Feiyang’s fallen cloak corner, her nails pressing deeply into her palms.

She kept her gaze fixed on the figure dressed in black, fighting amid the bloody storm, each flash of the blade felt like it cut into her heart. Suddenly, she saw Lu Changshan let out a roar, and forty strong men formed the "Nine Netherworld Array", their swords clashing and igniting a ghostly blue flame, turning the accumulated snow into bloody water on the spot.

"That’s Lu Changshan, the Hall Master of the Northwest Iron Gang’s Vermilion Bird Hall!" Xie Wen called out urgently, the Celestial Silkworm Silk Net in his hand tightened abruptly.

Guo Xiangyu focused her gaze, witnessing Lu Changshan wave his ape arms lightly, and even pulverize a millstone-sized rock to powder.

Her eyes gleamed with cold light, her voice full of endless concern, "Young master, be careful..."

Guo Xiangyu mouthed to herself, tears mixed with snow water flowed down, yet she was completely unaware. At this moment, the Helan Valley had turned into a human purgatory.

Her eyes stayed fixed on the bloody silhouette that fought on.

Guo Xiangyu looked around, seeing the leading elder shaped like a withered ape, his arm bones extending three inches longer than ordinary, his claw-like iron hooks glistening ghostly blue in the moonlight. Li Wuduo took the opportunity to entangle Shi Feiyang, her poisonous nails scratching over his shoulder, instantly seeping black blood.

"Young master!" Guo Xiangyu’s heart-wrenching cry was drowned in the clamor of battle.

In truth, when Li Wuduo’s poisonous nails scraped across Shi Feiyang’s shoulder blade, they were repelled and broken by the ice armor formed by Shi Feiyang’s Bright Jade Technique, causing her fingers to be injured and bleed. Shi Feiyang was not hurt at all.

Guo Xiangyu struggled to break through the protection of the Celestial Silkworm Silk Net, but Shi Xiong held her tightly: "Sister, don’t move! It’ll choke you to death!" Tears blurred her vision, she could only watch as Shi Feiyang used the Bright Jade Technique, surrounding himself with white mist that formed into ice blades, and the Hundred Victories Saber Technique transformed into vast silver chains.

Where Shi Feiyang’s palm wind passed, knife energy spread in the air, a dozen masked strong men were split in two and flew backward like crippled frosty crows, hitting the snow wall and blossoming into crimson plum blossoms.

All forty assassins were elite from the Northwest Iron Gang, even though their companions were heavily wounded and dead, they still formed the "Nine Netherworld Array" using Xuan iron chains.

Within the shrill sounds of chains slicing the air, Guo Xiangyu suddenly noticed Shi Feiyang’s steps faltering slightly — it must be the effects of Li Wuduo’s potent poison!

In fact, Shi Feiyang was employing the Eight Trigrams Nine Palaces Positioning Step of the Divine Dragon Claw Divine Technique’s "Dragon Walk Seven Steps".

Enemy leader Lu Changshan sensed Shi Feiyang’s strange footwork, realizing things were not looking good, he let out a sharp whistle that pierced the skies.

In an instant, massive snowballs rolled down both sides of the valley, forty assassins taking advantage of the snow fog to disappear into the darkness.

But how could Shi Feiyang easily let Li Wuduo go? Empowered by the Bright Jade Technique, Shi Feiyang’s hands acted like blades, the blade glow transforming into a golden dragon’s shadow, and with a move "Golden Dragon Coils Around", the gathered blade energy fiercely struck Li Wuduo’s back.

The poisonous woman’s inner power was indeed extraordinary, she only coughed out black blood and stumbled into the snow valley, glaring venomously at Shi Feiyang before disappearing: "Shi Feiyang, you bastard! You may dodge the monk, but you can’t dodge the temple, let’s see how it ends!"

As the snow curtain gradually settled, Xie Wen pulled Guo Xiangyu down while carrying Shi Xiong on his back.

Guo Xiangyu shook off the Celestial Silkworm Silk Net’s shroud and threw herself into Shi Feiyang’s arms.

She shakily unclasped her collar, revealing a jade vial she kept close: "This is the detoxification ointment made from Celestial Snow Lotus... Young master, quickly apply some..."

Hot tears dripped onto Shi Feiyang’s blood-stained "wound", "It’s all Xiangyu’s fault for being useless, unable to help the young master slay the enemy..."

Shi Feiyang looked at her tear-streaked face, suddenly reaching out to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes.

The cold wind blew through, and his voice wrapped in the remaining smoke, was yet gentle enough to melt millennium-old ice: "Silly girl, you living well is the biggest help to me. In fact, I wasn’t injured at all, the blood came from that vile woman Li Wuduo when she broke her finger."

Guo Xiangyu buried her face into his chest, listening to the heartbeats gradually steadying, feeling that this moment’s peace was more precious than any martial arts secret. The north wind circled with scattered snow at the cave entrance.

Suddenly, Xie Wen’s eyes lit up — the cave entrance previously blocked by accumulated snow had been blown open by the force from Shi Feiyang’s earlier fierce battle.

He brushed the remaining snow aside and stepped into the cave. The natural lines on the stone walls shone with a soft glow under the light of pearls, and the furnishings in the stone chamber seemed like familiar faces greeting one: stone bed, stone table, wooden chair, even the arrangement of the twelve-numbered stone cabinets in the wall, appeared as if someone had just lived here.

When Xie Wen stumbled out of the cave, his hair still clung with snowflakes.

"Grand Squad Leader! Come see this!" Xie Wen’s call startled a few cold crows, which took off and soared over everyone’s heads. Shi Feiyang, holding Guo Xiangyu, stepped into the cave, her cheeks still flushed red from the cold wind, her fingers unconsciously tugged at his cloak’s hem.