"Watch out!" Miao Feng instantly transformed into a bolt of lightning, catching her just before she fell onto the snow.
"I'm sorry for the offense." Miao Feng sighed, pulled the lynx fur coat over her chest, leaped onto the horse, held the reins with one hand and continued galloping, while the other hand went back and pressed on her Xinlingtai acupoint on the back of her head, and a warm internal energy flowed in continuously. He whispered, "If you can move, put your hands on my Xuanji acupoint."
Xue Ziye moved slightly and raised her hand to press it in the center of his chest.
Suddenly, it felt as if a warm current flowed freely through her body—the warm current rushed in from the back of her heart, circulated throughout her body, and then flowed back into Miaofeng's body through her palms, repeating the cycle endlessly, as if the two of them had become one.
"That's it." Miao Feng breathed a long sigh of relief as her inner energy completed a full cycle.
"Lean on me and rest." He continued on his way, but his inner energy circulated continuously, dissolving the chill that had accumulated in her body. "That's fine, don't worry—we'll stop and rest when we reach the next town."
"Hmm," Xue Ziye responded, somewhat worried, "Can you handle it yourself?"
Miao Feng smiled slightly, but quickened her pace: "People who come out of the Shura Field can withstand anything."
"Sigh." Xue Ziye hid in the lynx fur coat, like a small animal wrapped in a golden ball of fur. She looked up at that perpetually smiling face, lost in thought. "Actually, being able to live a lifetime for only one person... isn't so bad. Miaofeng, do you feel happy?"
“Yes.” Miao Feng smiled. “Before I met the Pope, I was not needed by anyone.”
Xue Ziye nodded and closed her eyes: "I understand."
As if she were utterly exhausted, she wrapped herself in a golden lynx fur coat and nestled against his chest, falling asleep quietly.
The snow continued to fall endlessly, drifting like goose feathers, covering the two of them completely. The caravan galloping through the snowstorm seemed like a bolt of lightning tearing through the white expanse.
Miao Feng lowered his head and glanced at the sleeping woman. Suddenly, a hint of unease flashed across his brow.
Yes, he remembered... indeed, he had seen her before.
The wind picked up, and the snow fell heavier.
After a night of rapid travel, they had already crossed the Kizil Desert. In the snow ahead, tire tracks and signs of human footsteps gradually appeared. He knew that if they continued forward, they would reach Uliastai, where they could find a place to rest and fodder to feed their horses.
Dawn came very slowly; the snowy night seemed endless.
Miao Feng gradually felt tired, and the hand holding the reins began to weaken. When the other hand loosened, the person in her arms almost slipped off the horse.
"Huh?" Xue Ziye woke up in a daze. She opened her eyes and found that the rider who was carrying her had fallen asleep, but his body was straight and he was still riding the horse, protecting her as she moved forward.
She sighed softly, raising a hand to pull his hood back up, when she suddenly caught a slight movement on the ground, as if something was rising from beneath the snow—
Is it a hallucination?
Looking closely, they saw nothing. The eight horses continued galloping, but the one carrying two men had slowed considerably, panting heavily, unable to keep up with its companions.
However, it was precisely that moment of falling behind that saved it.
"Sizzle—" Xue Ziye suddenly saw the horse running in front of her split in two out of thin air!
A long sword suddenly rose from the snow, facing the galloping horse, and with a single sweep, cleaved the swift steed in two! The horse let out a mournful neigh, and large splatters of blood splashed onto the snow, like blooming crimson flowers.
She gasped in surprise, but before she could utter a sound, her body was suddenly lifted into the air.
A long sword suddenly pierced through the snow, instantly cutting through the horse she was riding and going straight through the saddle!
Miao Feng didn't know when he woke up, but before he even opened his eyes, he picked her up and lifted her ten feet off the horse. In mid-air, he spun around and landed on another horse. Before she could finish her cry, she was back on the ground.
"Chasing Lightning?!" His eyes slowly narrowed as he gazed at the mount nailed to the snow.
Such a single strike that kills a galloping horse must be the lightning-fast one of the eight steeds in the Shura Field!
Tong, who is in charge of the Shura Field of the Great Bright Palace, selects one person from the assassins of the Great Bright Realm every year and trains them into the Eight Steeds for eight consecutive years. The first is Chasing Wind, the second is White Rabbit, the third is Nie Jing, the fourth is Chasing Lightning, the fifth is Flying, the sixth is Bronze Goblet, the seventh is Morning Duck, and the eighth is Rouge. Each of them is an assassin who can stand alone and is the most elite part of the Shura Field. They directly obey Tong's command.
Now, could it be—
The thought had barely crossed his mind when the horse beneath him reared up again, and a faint, almost invisible light streaked across the snow. With a soft "crack," the horse's leg was severed at the knee, and it neighed mournfully as it collapsed to the ground.
In a flash, Miao Feng pressed down on the horse's head with his palm, and shot out like an arrow, thrusting his sword into the snow!
That was the first time Xue Ziye had seen him make a move. However, she didn't see the person clearly, nor did she see the sword clearly. She only saw a red light flash across the snow, as if flames were burning along the sword. Where the sword struck, the snow on the ground instantly melted, revealing a human figure.
"As expected, it was you." Miao Feng's sword pinned the arm of the man beneath the snow, preventing him from using Snow Escape again, and she coldly asked, "Whose orders?"
"Heh." The masked man let out a cold laugh, then suddenly jerked his left hand off!
Snowflakes instantly fell, obscuring the person's figure.
"Useless." Miao Feng sneered: Even with his companions covering him, the blood on his arm would surely make him nowhere to hide in the snow.
He followed the trail of blood, thrusting his sword into the snow once more—this time, he was certain he had pierced Lightning's chest. However, after only a short distance, he suddenly realized what was happening, instantly turning and lunging towards the horse as if his body and sword were one!
"Swoosh—" A thin, invisible thread swept up from the snow and was severed just as it was about to ensnare Xue Ziye's throat.
However, another short arrow shot out from under the snow at the same time, aiming straight for Xue Ziye's heart—the assassins had actually split into two groups to take them both apart! Miao Feng's sword was still entangled in the thin thread. Seeing the short arrow shooting out from under the snow so close by, she didn't have time to turn around and save him. She quickly turned her body to the side and barely managed to block it with her shoulder.
Xue Ziye let out a low cry as the arrowhead emerged from behind his shoulder, the blood already turned green.
"It's nothing." Miao Feng's expression remained unchanged. "Stand still."
"The arrow is poisoned!" Xue Ziye immediately reached into her robes, took out a bottle of white medicine, and quickly applied it to his wound.
This arrow... could it be Flying Arrow? Miao Feng was startled; all eight steeds had actually arrived?
Without a second thought, he instantly drew his sword and plunged it into the snow, quickly drawing a circle.
With a sharp "clang," the sword struck something beneath the snow. Suddenly, the snow burst open, and someone leaped out, a long, swift sword descending upon him with a gust of wind!
The Bronze Duke's Golden-Slaying Slash?!