The sky over the rivers and lakes is very clear - Chapter 197
Feng Xuese dismounted and strolled into the plum grove. After walking about ten paces, he saw an octagonal pavilion for appreciating plum blossoms perched on a rock. He climbed onto the pavilion, casually looked around, and said with a laugh, "I've arrived. Won't you show yourself, sir?"
The plum grove was completely silent.
Feng Xuese smiled and said, "Since you refuse to show yourself, then I, Feng, will have to offend you!"
The long sword, still in its sheath, was raised diagonally, pointing towards an ancient plum tree three zhang away.
With this seemingly casual gesture, the plum trees in the forest suddenly rustled without any wind.
As the wind rustled the leaves, a dark shadow suddenly burst forth, swift as lightning yet without light or shadow; fast as thunder yet silent, carrying only an incomparably fierce killing intent, determined to strike with certainty.
The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Part Three: Chapter Thirteen (3)
A rotating black net appeared out of thin air between heaven and earth.
Feng Xuese drew her sword with a backhand motion, swirling up a dazzling snow-white aura, cold and profound, as she plunged into the black veil of hatred and murderous intent.
A chill filled the air.
With a "crack," the gnarled trunk of the century-old plum tree split open in the middle and fell to both sides.
Behind the plum tree, a gaunt man appeared, his face gloomy and somber, dressed in dark brown cloth, the color of dried blood. Below his right rib, bright red blood was seeping out.
The blood dripped onto the soil, like red plum blossoms unfolding, beautiful yet horrifying.
Feng Xuese said calmly, "What a pity for such a beautiful plum tree!"
The man ignored the wound under his ribs and just glared at him, asking in a hoarse, hissing voice, "How did you know I was here?"
"Because of the murderous intent."
Feng Xuese lowered his eyes to look at his sword, which had a line of blood on the blade. He said with some regret, "In the third month of spring, the plum blossoms have already faded, but their iron will and icy heart remain unchanged, still elegant and refreshing. It's a pity that your killing intent is too strong, even these thousands of acres of icy branches cannot cover it up!"
The man gripped his weapon tightly, but the strain caused him to cough violently, and blood quickly seeped from his ribs. He had to use one hand to hold it down.
Feng Xuese glanced at the weapon and asked, "Right Protector of the Blood-Seeing Pavilion, Manji Demon Thousand Lotus He Qiu?"
The man nodded in agreement.
"Excellent skill!" Feng Xuese praised sincerely.
He Qiu said with a wry smile, "I still can't kill you!"
“But killing the entire family of Zhou Tai, the old master of Qiyang, and his sons is more than enough!” Feng Xuese’s expression turned cold as he mentioned this name.
He Qiu sneered: "So what if I kill him?"
Feng Xuese slowly said, "Before Old Master Zhou's spirit tablet, I promised his young grandson that I would avenge his family."
He looked at He Qiu with a solemn expression: "Old Master Zhou is my equal. Of the three sons of the Zhou family, two are focused on the imperial examinations and are not skilled in martial arts. These four men, father and sons, have always been kind-hearted, repairing bridges and roads, and distributing porridge to help the poor. They really do not deserve to die!"
He Qiu kept his mouth shut for a long time before finally saying, "I can't care about that!"
Feng Xuese sighed and said, "Then you can go!" He paused, then added, "Do you have any words for me to pass on to Jianxuelou or anyone else?" The implication was that he wanted He Qiu to give his last words.
He Qiu gave a cold laugh: "Alright, please pass on a message to Jianxuelou for me, saying that I, He..." Suddenly his voice lowered and he coughed violently.
Feng Xuese frowned slightly, took two steps forward, and asked, "What did you say?"
His sword swiftly pierced He Qiu's right rib, penetrating his lung. Because the blade was thin and sharp, and the withdrawal was quick, the wound was very small. Therefore, He Qiu did not bleed much on the surface, but a large amount of blood flowed into his internal cavity!
He Qiu knew he couldn't survive his injuries. He raised his head, his mouth and nose covered in blood and foam, gave a bleak smile, staggered forward two steps, and said, "Tell our leader...you...go...to...die!"
With a thunderous roar, the flying scythe in his hand suddenly exploded, and countless glittering iron lotus seeds burst forth from the black mist, swirling towards Feng Xuese from different angles.
The maple leaves and snow rose into the sky, and the long sword drew up a silver flower. The flower seemed to have a strange magnetic force, and hundreds of iron lotus seeds, like bees flocking to a hive, were drawn by a powerful and dense force and fell into the silver flower. Then there was a continuous "plop" sound as they fell to the ground.
The color of maple leaves and snowflakes fluttered down.
He Qiu stared blankly at him, his body swayed twice, and he collapsed to the ground, a large amount of blood gushing from his mouth and nose.
Maple Snow Color sighed softly and said slowly, "I have never forgotten that Manjiki Senren is a lotus, not a sickle!"
Gazing at He Qiu's corpse, a hint of pity flickered in his eyes. In truth, he always felt this way after killing someone. Even though those who died by his sword had a thousand and one reasons to die, he still felt sorrow…
Suddenly, I really want to see Zhu Huihui, to see those bright black eyes, that rosy face. I really want to scare her with my sword, and then hear her fawningly call me "Great Hero"... That would be such a relaxing feeling...
The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear, Part Three: Thirteen (4)
"That little rascal has been gone for a long time, he should be back by now..."
He accidentally blurted out his true feelings, and fearing the old man would chop him up, Zhu Huihui ran away in a flash.
At first, I thought the place with the rising smoke wasn't far away, but after walking for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, I still hadn't arrived. I jumped up to a high place and saw that the place was actually on another hillside.
Zhu Huihui was so angry that she started cursing—the one being cursed was, of course, that pretentious old man in white! If it weren't for him, she might be somewhere right now, leading Hua Hua around the streets looking for something delicious!
With the sun shining so brightly, it's the perfect time to eat and drink to your heart's content, then find a spot to bask in the sun and take a long nap...
Sigh! She could curse all she wanted, but after that, she still had to get on with her work! She dared not slack off. She only hated this wretched mountain; she couldn't see a single living soul, and it had worn out her legs.
Zhu Huihui, full of complaints, wandered through the plum grove. After walking for a long time, he finally saw a mansion in front of him.
The courtyard was large, with pink walls and red tiles, and plum trees in front of the gate. The black lacquered gate was closed, and above the gate hung a black plaque with three large, gleaming gold characters.
Zhu Huihui tilted her head and stared at the three characters for a long time, noticing that the strokes were twisted and turned, very similar to the characters on the medicine bottle from Beikong Valley that she had received earlier, but she didn't recognize what it meant, so she stopped paying attention to it. Noticing that the side door next to her was ajar, she didn't stand on ceremony, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.
Behind the door was a blue brick floor. After walking a few steps, there was a screen wall with a character written on it. It looked familiar at first glance, like the character for Buddha, but the wild and unruly strokes were different from what she had seen before, so she couldn't be sure.