Sept nuits de neige

Chapitre 29

A cold laugh came from inside the temple: "Seeking battle."

The man in white, like a demon from hell, slowly swept past Zi Nu without even glancing at her: "Tian Shu, don't be like Tian Xiu."

Tian Shu chuckled softly, "The same." He didn't say much, but Shen Yuntan understood.

They are all the same—he, Tianxiu, and Tianshu. They don't value other people's lives, they kill without blinking an eye, and they all have their own desires and purposes.

Tianxiu is dedicated to revitalizing the Sangmen sect.

He was merely trying to protect himself in the martial arts world.

"Tian Shu, what is it for?"

"Protect."

Seeing that he was unwilling to say more, Shen Yuntan shook his head and said in a deep voice, "You can't count the injury to my people. I won't hold it against you for going mad. I'll set you on fire. Whether you can escape or not depends on your fate. Consider it my way of repaying you for the antidote."

"Um."

Yun Tan sighed. They had always been indifferent to each other's fates, even in life and death. No matter how much they disliked their master, his teachings were still deeply ingrained in their bones.

He stopped speaking, slowly turned his head, and his clear eyes were fixed on Zi Nu, making her shudder: "You took Nineteen away?"

The voice was gentle and pleasant to hear, but Zi Nu was terrified.

"I'd like to ask, did this guy touch her?" He smiled innocently, shaking the severed head in his hand. Zi Nu, however, shuddered...

I shivered.

Before she could answer, he asked and answered himself, "No matter what, I still saw her." As he spoke, his fingers moved lightly, as if digging into tofu, deftly drawing out Wu Yuan's eyeball. "And you, how much have you done?"

Zi Nu trembled like a leaf as she watched him smile and effortlessly dismember Wu Yuan's corpse piece by piece. That burly man had become as fragile as a clay doll she used to play with as a child in his hands.

His white robes remained spotless, yet he resembled a demon born from the flames of hell, every pore of his body reeking of blood.

He slowly pinched her chin, his fingers still stained with Wu Yuan's blood, the stinking, still steaming blood. He looked her up and down with apparent satisfaction, enjoying her terrified expression.

However, Zi Nu smiled, a smile full of tenderness: "Do you want me? Do you want to kill me?" Her nimble hands quickly unbuttoned her clothes, and the purple gauze fell to the ground, revealing her crystal-clear, jade-like body, which looked exceptionally beautiful in the moonlight.

"It's no use." He looked at the woman before him, who seemed ready to offer herself, with a contemptuous smile. "I'm not Wu Yuan, I don't fall for that."

"I know." She gripped her own shoulders and squeezed hard, leaving five bloody marks embedded in her snow-white skin, creating a unique kind of beauty. "No one can tempt you except Tang Weiqi." Her smile was as dazzling as a shooting star in the night, yet heartbreakingly poignant. "I've followed Tang Weiqi for years, and you don't even recognize me."

The contemptuous smile froze on her face. Zi Nu looked at Shen Yun Tan's astonished face, a cruel pleasure rising in her heart, but tears welled up and slowly flowed down her cheeks. "Tang Wei Qi doesn't know martial arts, so I've been following him to protect him."

The fingers that were pinching her cheek loosened, as if a thick fog had enveloped her, and the woman, as beautiful as a lotus, gradually faded into the distance in the haze.

He vaguely remembered that behind that figure in pale yellow, there was always a purple tail following. Tang Weiqi was born weak and unable to practice martial arts, and being an illegitimate child, she was not valued at home. However, her extraordinary talent in poison making could not go unnoticed, so she specially arranged for a highly skilled maid to protect her. He remembered that Weiqi was extremely protective of this little girl, treating her like a sister.

Zi Nu easily caught Shen Yun Tan's momentary lapse in concentration, a cold smile playing on her lips. With a flick of her purple veil, three sharp points of light shot towards him. Shen Yun Tan stood still, reaching out to grab the three hidden weapons in his palm. However, Zi Nu hadn't expected them to hit; in that brief moment of grabbing, she vanished into the night. Shen Yun Tan stared at the three points of light in his palm; he should have returned them to her.

However, for some reason, they ultimately did not take action.

The wind rustled the leaves, and a few fell with a soft rustling. Crickets hid in the grass, chirping intermittently. Nineteen leaned against a tree, watching the distant mountain god temple where the firelight was gradually fading, her hope burning away bit by bit. She didn't want to go too far, hoping that the firelight would guide Yun Tan to rescue her.

Yun Tan came to save her!

Nineteen wanted to laugh at her own thoughts. Why not rely on Tianxiu instead of that good-for-nothing? But she didn't even have the strength to raise her lips in a smile. She realized that even a smile required so much effort. She was thirsty and hungry; despite it being summer, she felt colder and colder. Her bound hands were gradually losing feeling. In the distance, those bright lights—were they stars, or the eyes summoned by that lone wolf?

She seemed to see Tian Man, covered in mud, running around in the mountains. And Xu Ziqing, wearing a blue cotton robe, holding a bamboo sword, standing on the Beiming Platform where they were dueling. At that time, Xie Dongsheng had just taught her a new sword technique, which she grasped immediately. Everyone said that when Shijiu wielded it, it was as beautiful as clouds turning and catkins flying, and flowers chasing leaves.

"Senior sister, I just can't seem to learn the sword technique Master taught me today. Could you teach me?" His face was slightly flushed as he followed behind her with his head down, like a half-follower.

Perhaps he didn't like her even back then. At least not like he liked her as much as he liked Gu Yan. Towards her, he was always just a junior brother or senior sister, with a bit of fear and a bit of deliberate flattery. There was no love between them.

"Senior sister, you're very good." His voice sounded unreal, yet it still pleased her.

"Really?" She couldn't help but beam with joy.

"Unfortunately, I still prefer Gu Yan." The supple and charming junior sister suddenly appeared out of nowhere, timidly sizing her up, her innocent big eyes like those of a little deer.

"Senior sister, you lost." The little deer suddenly transformed into a cobra, tightly coiling around her, its foul stench spraying onto her face and neck, making her want to vomit.

"Don't be afraid, Nineteen, don't be afraid." Someone embraced her and rescued her from the snake's bite. The bright firelight stung her eyes, and Nineteen regained some of her senses.

His face pressed against the broad, warm chest brought him immense comfort. The anxiety of running for so long had left his white shirt sticky with sweat, the sun-dried scent from the starch mingled with a hint of earthiness—not exactly pleasant. Yet, at that moment, Nineteen felt this was the safest, most comforting place.

Shen Yuntan rested his bluish chin on her head, holding her tightly in his arms with one hand, while gesturing with a torch towards the menacing wolf pack in the other. The pack was small, only two or three wolves, but their gleaming green eyes shone with an eerie light in the darkness, enough to make one's legs tremble at the mere sight of them.

"It's okay." As if knowing what she was thinking, he tightened his grip on her hand.

Although she knew the man in front of her didn't know any martial arts, for some inexplicable reason, she just wanted to trust him and lean on him. "Hmm..." Nineteen smiled slightly, and tried to raise her arms to wrap around his waist, like hugging a large rag doll. He pointed a finger at her sleeping acupoint, and she closed her eyes, her breathing gradually becoming deeper.

Shen Yuntan gently put the person in his arms down, holding a torch in his left hand and slowly drawing the Xuanbei Blade from behind his back with his right.

Chapter Nineteen Moonlit Night

The moonlight wasn't bright tonight. She leaned against him, clutching his clothes tightly with one hand, as if afraid he would run away. Tian Shu's clothes were loose, and with the slightest movement, they fell down, revealing her smooth, jade-like shoulders and a corner of her bright red bodice. The bloodstains had dried, like tattered flower petals. Nineteen's wounds weren't very deep, and Shen Yuntan used his clothes, dampened with water, to carefully wipe them clean. The loose robe was removed, and the girl's tender breasts rose and fell with her breath beneath the crimson peony bodice. His hands trembled slightly, and a sudden impulse surged within him—to pluck the peony and touch the softness beneath the flower.

However, he finally composed himself and gently stroked the pale wound. Due to excessive blood loss, Nineteen's face was deathly pale; the rosy complexion she had regained over the past few days at the clinic was nowhere to be seen. He closed his eyes slightly, inwardly sighing that he shouldn't have let that woman go earlier.

Only seven, only seven, only seven.

Tianxiu is right. He loses his composure whenever Tang Weiqi is mentioned.

Nineteen nineteen nineteen nineteen.

However, he found that when he discovered she was missing, he was completely flustered and lost all reason.