Chapter 1295 - 330: Smoke Shrouds the Ancient Crossing, Slaying Ruthless Foes; Blades Gleam on the Cold Peaks, Upholding the Hero’s Name (Part 2)

He stood up and lifted the curtain of the tent. The night wind from Dianchi Lake carried mist to his face. In the distance, the lights of Duke Qian’s Mansion flickered in the night. "Every time I come to Kunming, it inevitably brings bloodshed. I can’t risk exposing the sub-branch."

Wu Xiongzhi was about to reply when he suddenly heard a very light rustle of clothes slicing through the air outside the tent.

"Grand Squad Leader!" Xie Wen emerged from the shadows, the falcon on his shoulder fluttering its wings restlessly, clutching a blood-sealed secret message in its claws. "Urgent news from the Capital. The Divine Strategy Camp has secretly dispatched three thousand firearm troops to the south."

As Shi Feiyang took the secret message, the temperature inside the tent plummeted.

The vermilion characters on the letter were still wet, and it bore the seal of Jinyi Guard Commander Xiang Yushan.

"A clever plot to kill with a borrowed knife." He let out a cold laugh, as ice-blue True Qi surged from his palm, freezing the letter into fragments of ice. "The Imperial Court wants to use the hand of the Mu Royal Mansion to eliminate me, yet fears the rise of the Mu Family, so they secretly have the Divine Strategy Camp monitor them."

Wu Xiongzhi gripped his steel whip tightly. "Grand Squad Leader, should we rally support from the surrounding sub-branches?" "No need." Shi Feiyang gazed at the flickering fishing lights on Dianchi Lake, his eyes glinting coldly. "The more perilous, the more we should remain still. Send the order to have our brothers learn from the chameleons of Dian Nan—"

His fingertip touched Wu Xiongzhi’s chest, sending a wisp of ice-blue True Qi into his meridians, "Hide in the shadows, and act when the opportunity arises."

Xie Wen suddenly remembered something and took out a paper-wrapped package from his bosom. "By the way, there’s a new rose pastry from the pastry shop near the Commandery Princess Mu’s Mansion, Grand Squad Leader..." Shi Feiyang’s hand trembled slightly as he took the package, and the atmosphere inside the tent froze instantly.

He looked at the lotus pattern embroidered on the packaging paper, a faint blush on his glass-like skin. "Just leave it there." His voice unconsciously softened. "Go prepare some sealing wax; I need to write a letter to the Bozhou Sub-Branch."

As the first ray of dawn pierced the clouds, Shi Feiyang had already packed up the tent.

He gazed at the indistinct silhouette of Duke Qian’s Mansion in the distance, carefully tucking the rose pastry into his bosom. The waves of Dianchi Lake continued to surge, yet unbeknownst to them, the night’s scheming had already woven a vast hidden web beneath Kunming City, awaiting the prey to walk into the trap.

The morning fog by the lake had not yet dissipated as Shi Feiyang tread the dew-covered green stone path, heading deep into the mountains.

He wore a plain colored martial robe. As the Bright Jade Technique circulated through him, his glass-like skin emitted a subtle glow, as if the morning light had been fragmented and merged into his skin texture, captivating the early-morning woodsmen.

Upon reaching midway up the mountain, he suddenly halted before an ancient pine tree. The gnarled branches twisted like dragons, and its crown spread like an umbrella. On the stone table beneath it lay half a jug of cold wine. Shi Feiyang’s mouth curved into a cold smile—yesterday he drank here, deliberately leaving behind the wine jar and half a piece of cooked meat, knowing someone would be unable to resist.

"Grand Squad Leader Shi truly has refined tastes." An eerie voice came from behind the tree, and three shadows appeared like ghosts.

The leader’s face was deathly pale, wearing a black martial robe, with a poisoned soft whip coiled at his waist. He was Li Wuchang, the eldest of the "Poisonous Shadow Three Furies" of the Healing Association. "I’ve heard Grand Squad Leader Shi has been lingering by Dianchi Lake these days. Could it be you are waiting for an old friend?"

Shi Feiyang picked up the wine jug and took a deep gulp, the liquor trailing down the corner of his mouth, staining his collar with dark marks. "An old friend hasn’t arrived, but some uninvited guests have." Before he finished speaking, a cold aura erupted around him, the Bright Jade Technique activating the "Supreme Forgetting Emotions Ice Soul Cold Prison". His glass-like skin shimmered with an ice-blue radiance, forming a crystal-clear ice platform three feet beneath him.

Li Wuchang’s pupils contracted. His soft whip swung out with a "whip" sound, leaving a trail of poisoned emerald-green liquid in the air. "Capture Shi Feiyang! The Holy Heart Technique and Xu Fu Immortal Pill are within reach!"

The two assassins behind him moved simultaneously—one wielding a pair of judge’s pens, the other brandishing the Ghost Head Saber, surrounding Shi Feiyang in a triangular formation.

Shi Feiyang’s hands slowly raised, the "Heaven’s Edge" aspect of the Hundred Victories Saber Technique executed.

Nine golden blade auras, carrying a chilling cold, fanned out like a sweeping arc, making the very air erupt with a piercing crack.

The judge’s pens and Ghost Head Saber hadn’t even touched the blade aura before they were knocked out of their hands. Meanwhile, Li Wuchang’s soft whip shattered into pieces within the sword’s glow. "How... how is this possible! Not even half a move?" Li Wuchang retreated in horror, only to see Shi Feiyang step lightly on the ice platform, approaching like a specter.

With the Bright Jade Technique, a vortex-like suction suddenly appeared in Shi Feiyang’s palm, drawing Li Wuchang uncontrollably forward. "Do you know... why I deliberately revealed myself?" Shi Feiyang’s voice was as cold as Profound Ice. "Because clowns like you need to be cleared out."

He unleashed "Demon-Vanquishing Cloud" with both palms, intertwining golden blade auras like a backward-spilling Milky Way.

Li Wuchang and his companions had no time to dodge, instantly shredded into a mist of blood, with severed limbs scattering beneath the ancient pine.

Shi Feiyang brushed his sleeves, merely dusting off some dirt, then picked up the wine jug to take another sip. "The aroma has somewhat diminished," he remarked.

However, that was just the beginning. The following days, the mountains surrounding Dianchi Lake frequently echoed with the clash of weapons.

In the misty bamboo forest, Shi Feiyang used the "Ocean Watching" aspect of the Hundred Victories Saber Technique to send twelve black-clad assassins plummeting down a cliff.

By the tumultuous stream, he activated the "Infinite Asura’s Human Purgatory" of the Bright Jade Technique, freezing the Western Monks attempting to ambush him into ice sculptures.

On the seventh day at dusk, he halted before a waterfall.

The setting sun stained the waterfall blood red, droplets splashing onto his glass-like skin, refracting into rainbow hues. "You’ve followed me for seven days; still not planning to show yourself?" he suddenly spoke, his voice blending with the waterfall’s roar, yet clearly reaching the ears of the person in hiding.