As darkness fell outside, she slowly supported herself and stood up. She took a few unsteady steps and then pulled at the door.
The door shook once, then bounced back.
Xuezhi felt a chill run down her spine. She pulled harder and realized one thing: the door was locked.
She couldn't understand why Yuan Shuangshuang was doing this. Yuan Shuangshuang had brought her out, and now that she was gone, Chonghuo Palace would naturally demand her return. Even if she intended to blackmail her, this was far too audacious.
Just then, a woman's voice came from outside the door: "You brat, you're awake?"
Xuezhi pressed herself against the door without replying.
"It seems you still haven't thought it through?"
"Yuan Shuangshuang, what's wrong with you! Let me out!"
"Will you keep your promise to me?"
Xuezhi could have tried to deceive her first, but the thought that her demand was to submit to Shangguan Tou, and the fact that she was carrying his child while he was going to marry someone else, ignited her anger. Xuezhi pounded on the door, shouting, "Let me out!!"
"I know. You won't shed a tear until you see the coffin."
It was quiet outside for a while.
Xuezhi's efforts were in vain, so she simply leaned against the wall and waited.
Suddenly, a crack appeared between the two doors, revealing Yuan Shuangshuang's sinister smile through the gap. Her gaze shifted downwards, and Xuezhi followed suit.
Yuan Shuangshuang put something in.
Xuezhi felt stiff and cold all over.
It was a snake.
A black head and neck, with black and yellow stripes all over its body. Anyone with even a little knowledge of poisons would recognize what this is.
The golden-ringed snake is rare and highly venomous. It is a type of venomous snake that is favored by both the Xuan Tian Hong Ling Temple and the Ghost Mother Helian Jinghong. The world-renowned poisons Ten-Step Soul-Binding Powder, Poison Dart Golden Ring Buckle, and the poisonous skill "Golden Ring Chasing Wind Break" are all made from the venom extracted from this snake.
Xuezhi protected her abdomen and slowly stood up.
The banded krait was swaying its head, flicking its tongue, and swimming towards her.
It was moving very slowly, seemingly unaware of her presence.
However, if the snake were to touch her even slightly with its teeth, she would die instantly.
The entire kitchen space suddenly felt too cramped.
She stood beside the cold stove, staring intently at the venomous snake, fine beads of sweat beading on her forehead.
There is no way to retreat.
She kept squeezing into the corner, as if she wanted to make a hole in the wall and crawl inside.
"You brat, have you figured it out yet?" Yuan Shuangshuang's leisurely voice came from outside the door.
Xuezhi didn't dare to utter a sound. She just nodded gently, repeatedly.
Gently clutching her stomach, she knew her will to live had never been so strong before—at this moment, she also bore the heavy responsibility of giving birth to another life.
She leaned against the corner of the wall, preparing to yell for compromise—
At that moment, the wall behind her suddenly loosened—or rather, the stove on the wall, without her noticing, began to cave in.
At the same moment, the golden krait discovered her presence and darted toward her like lightning.
Xuezhi had no choice but to take a desperate gamble and rammed backward with all her might.
The golden krait had already slithered to her feet.
The stove was a mechanism that spun her around. She was pulled into a secret passage and rolled on the ground. Looking up, she saw that one side of the stove was now facing the passage, and the edge of the mechanism had clamped the head of the golden-ringed snake. The snake was still flicking its tongue at her and slowly sliding forward.
Xuezhi lunged forward and pushed against the mechanism.
The golden banded snake's seventh inch was pinched off, and its head fell off.
Blood was everywhere.
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Xuezhi tore a piece of cloth from her clothes, wrapped it around its body, dragged the back half in, and then pushed the stove back to its original position.
She sat on the ground, leaning against the wall, and could faintly hear Yuan Shuangshuang shouting outside.
This location was lower than the ground, likely the tunnel east of the abandoned kitchen. There were small holes at intervals above, allowing her to barely see the path. The tunnel was extremely narrow. She had to duck to squeeze forward. Feng Cheng, about her height and slender, seemed to have just enough space to move forward. If it were Shangguan Tou, he would probably struggle to even bend over. It seemed Feng Cheng had dug this tunnel himself.
Xuezhi followed the secret passage forward. The ground was slightly damp, but after walking for a short while, she could vaguely see a bright, open room.
She stopped and waited patiently.
Although there were lights ahead, there seemed to be no one there. So, he tiptoed forward, holding his breath.
The room was larger than she had expected. There were no windows on any of the four walls, but each wall had a secret passage in its center, including the one Xuezhi had come out of. The walls in front of her were covered with densely packed reliefs of hundreds or even thousands of tiny figures wielding swords. In the northwest corner was a weapon rack, filled with swords of varying lengths. And on the left side of the south wall was a small door, seemingly another exit.
It turns out this was a sword training ground.
This place is actually fraught with hidden danger.
Xuezhi glanced at the small door, then at the other three secret passages. Should she go and explore, or leave this nonexistent place as soon as possible?
She took two steps toward the small door, but then stopped, pulled up her hood, and darted quickly and nimbly into the secret passage to the north.
This secret passage was obviously much shorter than the one we had come from earlier; after a few steps, we entered another room.
It was another sword-training ground. However, compared to the spacious and open one before, this one was a complete mess: broken iron and steel swords littered the ground, the walls were covered with sword marks of varying lengths and depths, and there were fragments of stone statues and crumpled pieces of paper of all sizes scattered on the ground. Xuezhi picked up a piece of paper and unfolded it to examine it. It depicted a small figure dancing with a sword, very simple, but with a large "X" on it. She picked up a few more crumpled pieces of paper and examined them; they all depicted the same small figure, but with slight differences in pose. Xuezhi picked up a few more and put them in her bosom. After looking around and finding nothing unusual, she returned to the secret passage.
This time she entered the secret passage on the east side.
This secret passage was slightly longer than the previous one, but it still ended quickly. This room was even smaller and equally cluttered, seemingly a library of secret manuals, except that the two bookshelves directly in front had very few books left. The books were scattered all over the floor: open, torn to shreds, or worn and tattered from frequent use. Xuezhi squatted down and picked up one of the books; the cover prominently displayed the words: "Flying Flower Heart Sutra."
She could hardly believe her eyes, and flipped through several more books, namely "Flaming Lotus Fist", "Bright Light Great Law", "Nine Luminous Shadows", "Clear Cold Transformation into Moon", and "Blazing Sun and Fiery Might".
These... are all martial arts manuals of Chonghuo Palace.
Next to the bookshelf was a small stone seat with a very old and worn-out book on it. Even from a distance, Xuezhi could see the five characters on it: "Azure Sea Snow Lotus Sword".
The Snow Lotus Sword of the Vast Ocean!
Xuezhi was both surprised and delighted. The secret manual that Lin Yuhuang had lost and that she had been searching for for many years had been found by such a chance encounter.
But why is "The Snow Lotus Sword of the Vast Ocean" here?
Why are so many of Chonghuo Palace's secret manuals here?
She flipped through the Snow Lotus Sword manual, glancing at a few lines of text. The handwriting was elegant and flowing, clearly the work of Chong Lian. Looking at the content, the moves seemed strangely familiar. Filled with doubt, she pulled out the crumpled papers from her bosom. Opening them, she found the figure's sword-wielding posture exactly the same as the first few lines of the book. However, every single page was marked with an X.
Could it be that the Snow Lotus Sword, like the Flaming Phoenix Blade, only has three levels, and both are unremarkable moves? The cultivator must have been driven mad by this manual, repeatedly drawing and studying the sword techniques, but without figuring anything out.
Xuezhi put the Snow Lotus Sword manual into her bosom and quickly left the room.
Back at the sword-training ground, she initially considered searching the last secret passage, but carrying something so important, she dared not take the risk. Looking at the small door again, she wasn't sure if it was an exit. Finally, she decided to return via the same secret passage she had come from.
But as soon as they stepped into the secret passage, a voice came from ahead: "Palace Master Xue, are you satisfied with this place?"
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Xuezhi was quite frightened, and her voice trembled as she spoke: "Feng... Sect Leader?"
Gradually, Feng Cheng's figure emerged from the darkness, holding a cold, sharp sword in his hand.
“Naturally it was me.” Feng Cheng stroked his beard and smiled meaningfully. “Palace Mistress Xue is indeed amazing. You even discovered the secret room that my concubines and sons didn’t know about.”
Xuezhi's back was soaked with cold sweat, but she still tried to appear calm as she backed away: "It's all thanks to the former sect leader. If she hadn't gone crazy and locked me in that old kitchen, I wouldn't have known that Sect Leader Feng had already become a disciple of Chonghuo Palace."
"Hehe, hehe. Chong Xuezhi, Chong Xuezhi, you are so beautiful, why do you have such a foolish father?"
"You are not allowed to insult my father!"
"It's a waste that the world calls him 'Martial Hegemon,' and a waste that he is well-versed in the world's number one evil skill—how can a piece of trash who can't even write a second-rate manual be worthy of the title 'Martial Hegemon'?"
"That's because you're foolish; you can't master his martial arts!"
“That makes sense. So, Palace Master Xue, you'd better hand over the secret manual honestly so I can go back and study it some more.” Feng Cheng spread out his left hand and brandished his sword in his right hand. “You’d better not try to get close to the weapon rack behind you, otherwise, my sword doesn’t know how to be gentle with women. I might impulsively separate your beautiful little head from your body.”
Xuezhi immediately stood still, not daring to move:
"You...you can't kill me."
"Not kill you?" Feng Cheng stroked his beard again. "Hmm... Tell me, now that you know so much, should I kill you or not?"
"Please, I really can't die now."
"Beg me? You have no sincerity whatsoever. Kneel down and let me see."
Xuezhi immediately knelt down.
In the deserted sword-training ground, the candlelight flickered red.
Xuezhi's voice was soft and gentle, like the buzzing of a mosquito:
"Please, Sect Leader Feng... After spring arrives, I need to burn incense and pay respects at my father's grave. I promised Sister Zhusha I'd bring her some snacks from Hangzhou. I... I'm still so young, I haven't even gotten married yet, I don't want to die..."
Feng Cheng burst into laughter, his laughter arrogant and overbearing, almost drowning out all of Xue Zhi's voice.
"I never imagined that the renowned heroine Chong Xuezhi, even on her deathbed, would still be thinking of her youngest daughter. How can someone like you possibly take over your father's great cause?"
Xuezhi lowered her eyes, appearing so humble and insignificant: "The aura of a king belongs only to men like Sect Leader Feng. The title of 'heroine among women' is just used to appease us pretentious little women."
Feng Cheng laughed even more wildly than before: "Hahaha, a woman is just a woman after all!"
Xuezhi pursed her lips and remained silent.
After a moment of silence, Feng Cheng suddenly said in a sinister tone, "You want to make a fool of me? I've heard plenty of flattery. With your abilities, it's all ineffective and won't change anything. Although I'm reluctant to kill a beauty like you, but—"
The cold, sharp edge of the sword was pointed at Xuezhi's neck.
Xuezhi's chin was pressed against the blade, forcing her to look up.
The bright red hood slipped off with the movement. Her long, thick, black hair framed an impeccable face. Xuezhi blinked, tears trembling and glistening on her long, thick eyelashes.
"Sect Leader Feng..."