Chapter 842: The Xue Family
When Ou Yangming opened his eyes, they looked hollow, calm, and leisurely like a starry sky with great changes.
The reflection of a majestic snow mountain could be seen in his eyes. As he was clothed in white, he looked somewhat superior.
After some time, the reflection of the snow mountain faded away from his eyes. Moreover, his temperament changed drastically as though he became a sharp and chilly saber that was stuck in clear ice at the peak of the mountain.
Multi-armed King Kong, the goshawk, and Big Yellow appeared at the same time. They looked happy.
Big Yellow stuck out its tongue and asked cheerfully, “Lil’ Ming, have you broken through?” The goshawk and King Kong looked impassioned as well, and they pricked up their ears as they were afraid of missing any detail.
The compelling sharpness and cold intent on Ou Yangming’s body dispersed. He shook his head and answered, “Not yet, but I’m not far from that.”
He curbed his thoughts and breathed out some cold air before he uttered, “Let’s go!”
With that, the human and the 3 beasts advanced slowly. Their back views slowly became blurry and disappeared in the blizzard.
After walking for an unknown period, an old temple came into Ou Yangming’s sight. He looked at the sky and said after some thought, “It’s late now, so let’s take a break here for the night.”
The 3 spirit beasts naturally did not object to his suggestion. Inside the temple, Ou Yangming lowered his head to look at the weeds in front of him, then he plucked one out and put it in his mouth regardless if it was dirty.
Following that, he used a bamboo stick to stir the wick of an oil lamp, causing the old templer to look brighter. Behind him, along with the dim fire from the lamp, his shadow swayed on the wooden window that was covered with spider webs. As the young fellow looked at the falling snow outside the window and continued to visualize the magnificent snow mountain in his spiritual world, he could imagine that the spear that would appear out of the blue during an avalanche would certainly be earth-shattering.
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The universe was boundless. Cold winds cried and stirred up snowflakes in the sky.
A figure was seen running while her red dress fluttered in the wind, making her look like an intense yet gorgeous red flower. Her charming face could only be seen when she got closer, and she looked like she was 16 years old but appeared to be travel-worn and worried. There were not too many accessories on her green skirt at her waist, hence it gave her a refreshing and natural appearance. Nonetheless, she kept grabbing the corner of her shirt with the tiny fingers on her right hand as if she was a startled vixen.
She went around a rugged hill with strange rocks and pondered when she noticed the abandoned temple that was not far away. It was an ancient temple with oil lamps, and it was probably the temporary lodging for solitary monks. She muttered to herself, ‘Should I go and take a look inside?’
Nevertheless, she quickly thought that she should not cause more trouble. As such, she flashed and made another round. Once she confirmed that nobody was following her, she jumped to the back of a giant rock and pushed the weeds aside to enter a hidden cave.
2 people were seen sitting inside the cave. One of them was a mature-looking middle-aged man, but he was pale and had messy hair. Bloodstains could be seen on the corner of his mouth, and he was releasing a black aura from his body, which was evident that he was being healed. As for the other person, he was a dissolute young master that looked slightly older than the young lady. He wore luxurious clothes and was well-featured with fair skin, but he lacked steadiness and looked flustered. All in all, he looked like a man that indulged in sensual pleasures.
Seeing as the young lady had returned, the young master with expensive clothes immediately got up and welcomed her. He forced an ugly smile and asked, “Little Sister Xuanle, did you find any… Are… Are there thieves hunting us down?”
The young lady, who was addressed as Xuanle, glanced at the wounded man before she answered softly, “This is a remote place that’s out of the thieves’ knowledge, so nobody caught up to us yet.” While she spoke, she also felt relieved. She gently brushed the longsword at her waist, causing a soft ring to be heard.
Even so, she still looked worried as though she no longer had a shelter in the world. It seemed like she was floating duckweed in the river, where she could only flow with the stream. Wherever she stopped, that would be her home. If not, she would be pushed to the riverbed by the waves.
The young man with extravagant clothes sighed a breath of relief and breathed out murky air as before he uttered, “As long as nobody’s chasing us here, as long as nobody’s chasing us here.” He struck his chest and looked like he had a lingering fear. On the other hand, the middle-aged man that was being healed opened his eyes suddenly and sighed.
“Big Uncle Xue, how’s your injury?” Xuanle touched the longsword at her waist as she asked in a deep voice.
The young man answered on his behalf, “Big Uncle Xue has consumed a Blood Conversion Pill, so his injury will be stable after another half an hour. After a few more days, he’ll be able to protect us while we secretly leave. As long as we arrive at Huixun City, we’ll be safe from this disaster.”
Xuanle nodded. Her delicate chin was clear to see. She later walked to the cave entrance and sat with her legs crossed, then she channeled the spiritual Qi in her dantian. The young lady’s Qi momentum was slightly blocked, but lusters could be seen in her eyes from time to time. She was on guard to be prepared for any eventualities.
After some time, she retrieved a jade slip.
The jade slip used to have the names of numerous people from the Xue family on it but very few were left at the moment as more than 90% of the names were erased. It was evident that their lights had gone out.
She sighed and said, “The treasure that was obtained from the Big Ruins is more like a final nail in the coffin. A rich family attracts trouble, but the trouble gets bigger after the family falls! I wonder when this disaster will be over…” Her name was Xue Xuanle, and she was from the Xue family. However, a tragedy happened 3 months ago, where the people from the Xue family were suddenly attacked and killed. If she had not been training outside, she would not have been able to escape death.
“Yes, very few names are left on the jade slip. The Xue family has fallen indeed…” The young man spoke.
He was Xue Yuan, who was a core disciple in the clan. After the disaster happened, he only managed to get away because he was escorted by powerhouses from the clan.
Xue Xuanle looked sorrowful but deep down she was also furious. She suddenly became full of killing intent as she shouted angrily, “The Teng family!” She would remember this enmity forever and would never forget it.
The sky was gloomy while the northern wind whistled. Petal-sized snowflakes were flying everywhere.
“Buzz, buzz, buzz.” All of a sudden, deafening chimes filled the cave, which began to shake intensely. Gravel spiraled into the air like dragons, resulting in an invisible airwave to be stirred up.
The sounds became more hurried like water being splashed without a break. They struck the bottom of the hearts of Xue Xuanle and the 2 other men like heavy hammers, each time causing their faces to turn paler. At last, blood even flowed out of the corner of their mouths.
“Quickly leave, quickly leave… The cave’s about to crumble!” The middle-aged man looked anxious. “This is the work of an Intermediate Spiritualist. Even if I wasn’t injured, I might not have been able to stop it.” He did not expect the Teng family to send such a powerhouse to hunt them down. Apart from feeling appalled, he was in despair.
The 3 of them quickly fled outside. The air was ice-cold, but it was not as cold as their hearts.
As snow covered the ground, everywhere looked terrifyingly white.
An evil sound was heard. “I thought that you’re going to hide in the cave forever without coming out.”
Following the voice, the chimes were heard once more. An invisible soundwave spread and caused the 3 people to bleed from their eyes, nose, and ears!
Xue Yuan spat out some blood, then he collapsed to the ground and panted heavily.
As for Xue Xuanle, she squeezed the corner of her shirt with one hand while she pulled out her sword with the other. The young lady sighed with a shrill look on her face and thought, ‘We still reached the end.’
Blood dripped like raindrops from her mouth, causing the snowy ground to be painted in red. Before long, her blood was frozen by the cold air. The clear network inside the blood became visible.
On the other side, the messy-haired middle-aged man had blood flowing out of his eyes. He forced himself to lift his saber to gather his Qi, then he slashed the roughly 25 meters long saber in the air. Consequently, a white light flashed like a startled goose. The Intermediate Spiritualist’s force burst out, whereas the saber-light and sword shadow zoomed toward the sky. A strong wind stirred up the space in front of the man, causing the sky that was within 33 meters from the top of his head to fall silent. Subsequently, the air exploded as he yelled, “Get your *ss out here, you cowering nobody!”
Having said that, the chimes did not stop, but the frequency reduced. A mocking voice was heard. “The northern wind’s whistling while snow is falling—it’s great weather for me to kill someone! Drops of your blood from the tip of my saber will freeze into ice crystals on the snowy ground, and they’ll look like sad yet beautiful plum flowers that are embroidered by a graceful lady. If your body’s also buried by the blizzard, it’ll look clean and neat. Tsk, tsk, tsk, one word—comfortable.”
“Woosh, woosh!”
Xue Xuanle felt a chill in her heart as she sensed a pair of eyes scanning her without any restraints.
“Oh, what a pretty lady. What more, a vir… Ah, I got a bargain. If I use you as my incense burner, I might be able to break through my current state!” The voice was frivolous and wicked. As soon as it was heard, countless snowflakes in the sky gathered into a massive hand and grabbed Xue Xuanle.
Xue Xuanle’s body seemed to have been frozen. She could not move an inch, and she no could no longer think.
Even if she wanted to self-explode her dantian, she was helpless as she could only let the hand capture her.
It was then when a bewitching voice was heard. “If you hand over the treasure that you acquired from the Big Ruins or tell us where it is, I might just let you go. If not, I’m sure you’re aware of what the Teng family’s capable of doing.” The giant hand that was condensed from the blizzard conveniently stopped above Xue Xuanle’s head.
Inside the old temple, Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up. He mumbled, “A treasure from the Big Ruins?” He had only seen one treasure from that place, and it was Qiu Chengwang’s Suicidal Coffin. Now that the young fellow heard about another treasure, it reminded him of the calling in his spiritual world. He could not help but smile and make a move.
The northern wind blew the broken windows in the ancient temple that was just a distance away, then the main gate suddenly collapsed and broke. Without warning, a dim light penetrated the blizzard and entered the sight of the people near the cave. For some reason, when the faint light appeared, Xue Xuanle and her 2 companions felt like their fears were driven away.
As for the person hiding in the dark, the light was striking and fearsome to him.
“So noisy!” At the same time, a scoff was heard coming from behind the fallen main gate. One could not tell the age of the person that spoke, but the voice was pleasing to the ear as if it carried a certain charm. Soon enough, an invisible soundwave spread and stirred up strong winds and the blizzard. As a result, the large hand that was gathered from snowflakes dispersed into the air. The winds blew faster, and the snow became heavier.
Teng Jiao had a grim look on his face as he showed himself in the dark.
He had dry hair and a thin body, and his eyes looked evil, but he still bowed at the sky. “I’m Teng Jiao—a great elder from the Teng family’s inner sect. Please forgive me for disturbing you during your cultivation. These people here are the surviving evil members of the Xue family, and they’re despised by everyone in Zhangzhou now, so I hope you’ll stay out of this, senior.” The man sounded humble, but he was being soft yet unyielding at the same time. He first noted that he was an honorable great elder from the Teng family’s inner sect, then he stated that the 3 people had no backing. If one were to forcibly make a move, one’s loss might outweigh one’s gain.
“Hmph, you deserve to be killed for extorting them by force!” Ou Yangming quickly figured out the context of the matter from the man’s brief description.