Chapter 1141 - 302: Bloody Heroes at the Cold Pass, Warriors’ Tragedy in the Snowy Mountains (Part 4)

The north wind wrapped in ice shards pierced everyone’s faces like steel needles, and the filthy clothes of Zhong Renwang, the Beggar Gang Leader, were encrusted with blood ice. He clung to the snow, blood seeping from his fingernail crevices, leaving a sinister dark red trail behind him.

Dugu Yan, the Manor Master of Mingjian Manor, leaned on his broken sword, gasping violently. His sharp voice trembled in the cold wind: "How...how has Shi Feiyang become this strong? Thirty thousand Jinyi Guards have been utterly defeated!"

"Shut up!" "Poisonous Hand Nuwa" Li Wuduo suddenly kicked a hardened blood clot, sending it flying. Bright rouge mixed with cold sweat glistened under the moonlight, turning pale. She sharply flicked out three Poisoned Silver Needles, "bang," they nailed into a stump: "If it weren’t for your firm assurance that Shi Feiyang was secluded, why would we have waded into this dirty water? Now, not only did we miss the imperial reward, but we’re also risking our lives!"

Under the Blood Venerable’s black robe, a scaly hand suddenly extended out, the black mist around him twisted and deformed by the cold wind: "I told you following the Imperial Court would bring no good! Shi Feiyang’s ’Shock Eye Tribulation’ Divine Skill, he has clearly reached a transcendent state..."

Before he finished speaking, Beggar Gang Elder Ding Hong shouted fiercely and pounced, clasping the Blood Venerable’s throat with a hand like an iron clamp: "You charlatan! If not for your boasting about the decline of the Heroic Sakura Association, why would we have become the dogs of the Jinyi Guard?"

"Enough!" Zhong Renwang suddenly swung the Dog-Beating Stick, "crack," it hit the snow, splattering bloody snow all over Wu Yuan’s face. "What’s the point of internal strife now? The priority is to find a way..."

"Find a way?" Dugu Yan suddenly laughed sharply, the broken sword making a screeching sound. "Master Zhong, it’s said you secretly hold a fragment of the ’Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms’? Why not..."

"You’re asking for death!" Li Wuduo’s sleeve burst with cold light, and seven silver needles shot out in the shape of the Beidou constellation.

Dugu Yan awkwardly rolled, the broken sword barely deflecting two needles, while the rest pierced through his sleeve, blossoming into five blood flowers on his arm.

"The Thousand Spider Poisonous Hand isn’t much after all!" He wiped the blood from his mouth, threw out a Soft Sword with a flick of his hand, and three Bone-Piercing Nails sprung out from the mechanism. Wu Shen and Wu Wa took the opportunity to pounce on Zhong Renwang, while Wu Yuan pulled out a Poisoned Dagger aiming directly at the Blood Venerable.

Suddenly, curses, and the clashing of weapons mingled with the wind and snow, startling the crows in the distant forest.

Xie Zhichuan hung upside down from the eaves, spider silk suddenly wrapping around Zhong Renwang’s ankle: "Shut up, all of you! The Heroic Sakura Association patrol is coming!"

Zhong Renwang, filled with rage, laughed scornfully, tearing the spider silk and with it Xie Zhichuan’s half-sleeve: "Shi Feiyang! If that villain doesn’t die, there will be no peace in Jianghu! Back then, he was just a nobody, yet now he spouts righteousness, stepping over us to rise!"

His eyes bloodshot, he suddenly grabbed Wu Yuan’s dagger and stabbed it fiercely into the snow, "He treats us like pawns, we must let him know, even ants can sever a dragon’s throat!"

"Just with us?" The Blood Venerable wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth, a ghostly blue flame igniting in his palm. "Shi Feiyang might not have the Celestial Frost Blade in hand, but his Bright Jade Technique has reached the twelfth level, and he also has..."

"Stop admiring him!" Li Wuduo suddenly tore open his collar, revealing his chest covered in spider web patterns, "If my ’Thousand Spider Poisonous Hand’ can be combined with your techniques, perhaps we can..."

Before he finished speaking, dense footsteps sounded from afar. Everyone’s faces changed abruptly, scattering like startled birds.

Zhong Renwang’s Dog-Beating Stick clashed with Wu Shen’s Iron Ruler, the sparks igniting the snow on the ground; Dugu Yan’s Soft Sword tangled with the Blood Venerable’s ghost fire, the two rolling and struggling in the snow. The cold wind swept up their abandoned weapons, tattered cloth, mingling with the remains of the Jinyi Guards and the Heroic Sakura Association’s herbs, painting an absurd yet brutal picture of the Jianghu against the cold moonlight.

The north wind, carrying scattered snow, swept over the Ningxia Salt Field, sculpting the endless salt mounds into peaks of jade carvings.

Xue Qiuchun leaned against a carved white jade railing, her delicate figure wrapped in a cloak woven from moonlight. Her long black hair cascaded like an ink waterfall, adorned with Ice Soul Pearls swaying gently in the cold wind, reflecting a chilling sheen.

Her delicate, creamy cheeks bore a hint of red, a teardrop mole at the corner of her eye like a stroke of cinnabar, paired with willow-like curved brows and lips that seemed painted in red without color, resembling red plum blossoms in snow, stunningly beautiful, even the howling north wind seemed to soften for her.

When a Northwest Salt Gang disciple handed her a secret letter, her alabaster-like fingers trembled slightly, the mutton fat jade nails lightly tapping the letter, making a clear sound.

Upon reading the letter, her eyes suddenly lit up, resembling two sparks igniting in the cold night, making her whole face glow magnificently. "So... Guo Xiangyu has already left..."

Xue Qiuchun’s vermilion lips parted slightly, her voice melodious as an oriole’s song, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the pearls by her temples beneath the snow-colored cloak, "Feiyang, is this Heaven’s mercy, granting us an opportunity?" Before she finished speaking, she suddenly lowered her head, her long lashes fluttering like butterfly wings, her cheeks flushing with two red clouds, she coyly said: "How could I be so foolish, speaking such nonsense here."

However, this joy was quickly shattered by cold frost. The newly received message about the thirty thousand Jinyi Guards besieging the temporary headquarters of the Heroic Sakura Association at Feima Pass fell to the ground. As she staggered backwards, the hem of her skirt embroidered with silver snow plum swept over the jade railing, and the jade bracelet on her wrist collided with the railing, making a crisp yet startling sound.

"Feiyang!" Xue Qiuchun clenched the fabric at her chest tightly, her whole body swaying like a withered willow in the wind, the teardrop mole at her eye corner blurring with the rolling tears, "Nothing must happen..."

As the night deepened, Xue Qiuchun, draped in a white fox fur soaked in moonlight, paced back and forth in her chamber lined with Persian carpets. With each step, the golden-threaded cloud-patterned soft boots left a faint trace on the ground.

She stopped suddenly before the copper mirror, gazing at her face pale with worry, her fingertips gently stroked her cheek: "If I could trade this appearance for his safety..." Before she finished speaking, large tears fell onto the copper mirror, spreading into a watery glow.