“Meiji, Meiji, I also want you to live a good life…” Her tears fell on his face, and she choked back sobs, “You are my only family in this world—I can’t let you be destroyed like this.”
"No, you don't understand what kind of person I am..." The hot tears falling on her face felt like fire burning through her heart. Tong murmured, "I am not worth your saving."
"Nonsense." Xue Ziye choked back tears, then chuckled softly, "You're my brother."
Outside the cell, someone suddenly knocked softly, interrupting their conversation.
Knowing that Miao Shui was already impatient, Xue Ziye forced herself to stand up and said, "I'm leaving."
"Don't go!" Tong cried out in a piercing voice—this departure would mean a separation of life and death!
The person who had reached the door suddenly turned around and hesitated.
"Miao Shui's words can't be trusted after all," Xue Ziye murmured. She took out an incense stick from her bosom, lit it, and walked around the cage, letting the smoke swirl around Tong's body. Finally, she stuck the incense stick into the ground in front of Tong. At this moment, the incense stick was still about three inches long, emitting a peculiar pale purple smoke. After everything was arranged, she straightened up and took out another pill. "Take this."
Understanding that she was setting up a barrier to protect herself before leaving, Tong suddenly sneered, a sharp and arrogant look appearing in her eyes for the first time.
"Don't think I want to be saved by you." He turned his head away and said coldly, "I'd rather die."
"Ha." Xue Ziye couldn't help but chuckle—Mingjie really did resemble the boy from twelve years ago. However, before her laughter subsided, she raised her hand without hesitation, and a silver needle shot out like lightning, accurately piercing the acupoint under her ribs!
"You..." Tong was speechless, feeling her mind collapse in an instant.
"Listen to me. Once you wake up, everything will be fine," Xue Ziye murmured, sealing his pressure points to induce sleep, and fed him an antidote. "Everything will be fine..."
"Don't go! Don't go—" a voice screamed in his heart, tearing at his soul, but his eyes could no longer hold on and closed. With his last remaining sanity, he looked up, desperately trying to see her one last time—
However, even at the very last moment, all that remained was a blurry figure.
That departing figure, in that merciless moment of farewell, left an indelible mark on the rest of his life.
When Xue Ziye went out, she saw Miaoshui leading a mastiff and leaning against the wall of the Snow Prison, waiting for her.
The woman exuded a rich fragrance, alluring and mysterious. Even as a healer, she couldn't discern what plant it was extracted from—mysterious as the woman herself.
"It's almost midnight." Hearing the door open, Miaoshui said without turning her head, "You've been lingering too long, Doctor."
Xue Ziye locked the cell door and said, "Now, let's make plans for tomorrow."
“Strange…” Miao Shui turned her head in confusion, patted the mastiff’s head, and whispered, “She’s not afraid of death, is she?”
The mastiff glanced warily at Xue Ziye and let out a low growl.
The snow fell heavily, drifting down like goose feathers, enveloping the figures of the two women on the summit.
Apart from the mastiff, no one heard what they were saying.
A quarter of an hour later, Xue Ziye nodded slightly to Miaoshui, uttered a single word, and turned to leave. Heavy snow continued to fall, and the night air was bitterly cold. As she left, she could no longer bear it and coughed slightly, clutching her cloak to her chest.
Miao Shui gazed at the purple-clad figure hidden in the secret passage, a smile appearing in her eyes.
"She's really something... I didn't expect her to find such a perfect partner this time! Isn't that right?" She patted the mastiff's fluffy head, and the huge beast let out a gentle purr like a cat. Miao Shui stood in the snow, gazing at the rolling Kunlun Mountains in the snow, and a flash of bright killing intent suddenly appeared in her eyes!
“Alright, now that the deal is done, now—” She patted the mastiff, turned around and pointed at Xueyu behind her, sneering, “You can go and eat that guy! He’s useless now!”
"Woof—" Upon receiving the command, the mastiff's fur stood on end, and it excitedly let out a "woof" before lunging forward.
Miao Shui stood at the door, tilting her head and smiling, playing with a short flute in her arms, waiting to hear the sounds of flesh and bone being crushed and chewed inside the prison.
However, there was no sound from inside.
Her expression changed slightly. She darted to the doorway, glanced inside, and gasped – in the darkness, only a faint red light flickered. The massive carcass of the mastiff lay across the steps; it had collapsed and died silently the moment it entered the house!
"Heartbreak Grass?" Miao Shui exclaimed in shock as she saw the floating purple smoke in the dim light. She immediately leaped back three feet, her face pale and filled with resentment.
—That woman in purple had arranged everything all along!
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Chapter Thirteen: The Decisive Strike (Part 1)
As we headed west beyond Yangguan Pass, the north wind whipped our faces, and snowflakes danced in the air.
As soon as the city gates opened, a group of people and horses galloped out from within the pass like lightning. The men were like tigers, the horses like dragons, their iron hooves flying, stirring up a gust of wind, and they headed straight west, leaving a trail of hoofprints that cut across the snow-covered plain.
"Ah, we only arrived at Yanmen Pass at midnight yesterday, and set off again before dawn," the old soldier guarding the city murmured. "They were really in a hurry."
"They must be martial arts practitioners." The younger, stronger men gazed longingly at the retreating figures of the seven people. "They all carry swords!"
In three days, they galloped day and night from the Central Plains' Dingjian Pavilion to the Northwest Fortress. Although their horses were all top-quality steeds, they were exhausted and foaming at the mouth, unable to continue. He had to order his colleagues to rest temporarily, contacted the Northwest Martial Alliance, and changed horses at Yanmen Pass. Before dawn, they set off again, galloping towards Kunlun.
A cold wind howled and swept in, and the official road was deserted. Huo Zhanbai looked back at Yanmen Pass in the distance and let out a soft breath.
Once you pass this pass, you will be within the sphere of influence of the Great Bright Palace of the Western Regions.
This time, Dingjian Pavilion mobilized all its resources, sending out all eight swordsmen to take advantage of the internal strife within the Demon Palace and launch a coordinated attack, attempting to cripple it in one fell swoop. As the leading figure of this generation in the martial arts world, he shouldered the heavy responsibility without hesitation, leading the other six swordsmen on a thousand-mile raid.
However, the thought of the people he might face on this trip sent a shiver down his spine.
"Seventh Brother! Something's happened!" Lost in thought, Xia Qianyu's low voice suddenly reached their ears, and the group reined in their horses.
"What?" He jumped down and saw Xia Qianyu, who had been scouting ahead, riding back with something in her hand.
"The Golden Severing Slash?!" The seven swords were all startled and exclaimed in unison.
That enormous horse-slaying sword was the signature weapon of Bronze Duke in the Demon Palace's Shura Field. It had slaughtered countless people in the Western Regions, making him one of the Demon Palace's top assassins and a member of the "Eight Steeds"—but now, it has appeared in this wasteland.
"There are signs of fighting ahead," Xia Qianyu said, throwing the Broken Gold Slash onto the snow and catching her breath. "All eight steeds have been wiped out here!"