The wind and snow grew stronger, almost knocking him over as he leaned on his sword to stay upright. After the battle, the pain from his wounds made him dizzy and disoriented. If he didn't leave now… he would surely die in this desolate, uninhabited fir forest.
He stopped trying to confirm his opponent's death, and simply turned around with difficulty, staggering forward in a certain direction.
In any case, ever since he entered the martial arts world at the age of fifteen, he has rarely had the habit of ruthlessly eliminating his opponents.
Large snowflakes drifted silently through the fir forest, accumulating to a depth of over a foot in an instant. The pure white snow gradually covered the bloodstains on the ground, burying the thirteen corpses scattered haphazardly in the woods.
The massive fir forest stood like dark gray tombstones, pointing towards the cold, snowy sky.
——
White. White. Still white.
Since leaving that fir forest, only one color has remained in my sight.
He didn't know how long he had been trudging through knee-deep snow, nor where he was; he simply kept walking in one direction. The sharp cries of birds occasionally pierced the air above him; snow hawks were guiding him.
My lungs were burning, each breath felt like a searing pain, and everything before my eyes became even more blurry. The swirling snowflakes seemed to come alive, spreading their wings and dancing in the air, with countless illusions floating among them.
"Ha...hehe, hehe...Senior Brother Huo, I'm here!"
A beautiful face suddenly appeared in the swirling snow, and a voice giggled at him: "Silly boy, come and catch me! If you catch me, I'll marry you."
Qiu Shui? It's Qiu Shui's voice... Shouldn't she be in Lin'an? How did she get here?
Could it be... could it be that Mo'er's illness has worsened again?
He took a large step forward, reaching out eagerly to grab the woman in red in the snow, but the sharp pain in his knees and ribs made his vision blur. In the blink of an eye, that smiling face disappeared behind the swirling white snow.
Running too fast, his exhausted body could no longer support him, and he collapsed forward after three steps.
However, he kept tightly clutching the Dragon Blood Pearl that he had risked his life to obtain in his palm.
"Caw—caw." The snow hawk circled in the wind and snow, looked at the valley that had just begun to emerge in the distance, cried out a few times, then looked down at its master who had fallen again, anxiously flapping its wings and landing on his back.
"Snap!" The sharp beak pecked into the wounded shoulder again, trying to wake the dying man with excruciating pain.
But this time, the person only trembled slightly and could no longer get up.
The days of fighting and running around had exhausted him.
"Caw caw!" Blood dripped from the snow hawk's beak, and its claws frantically scratched at Huo Zhanbai's shoulder, leaving bloody marks. However, upon realizing that its master could no longer respond, it hesitated for a moment, then finally spread its wings and flew away, swiftly disappearing into the valley of layered jade trees ahead.
The cold snow gradually covered his face, and all he could see was a vast expanse of white. In the whiteness, he could vaguely make out people laughing or singing.
"Huo Zhanbai, I really wish I had never met you."
Suddenly, the woman's face reappeared in the snow, this time dressed in white hemp clothing, standing before the brazier, staring at him with hatred—the white being the color of mourning clothes, while the black background was the curtain of a funeral hall. Her eyes were icy cold, almost unfamiliar, fixed on him with deep despair and hostility, pinning him to the spot.
Qiu Shui... Qiu Shui, back then I caught you and thought I could hold onto you for life, but why... did you have to marry into the Xu family? So many years have passed, have you ever forgiven me?
He wanted to ask her, wanted to reach out and wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes, but before his fingertips could touch her cheek, she quietly retreated into the snow. She retreated so quickly, like a white butterfly spreading its wings, melting into the ice and snow in an instant.
He lay on the vast wilderness, buried by heavy snow, feeling his past and future gradually becoming a blank.
He began to murmur a strange name—his only hope for salvation.
But where is that greedy and lustful woman? She's stood him up at this time, what a joke... He muttered to himself, and then lost consciousness in the snow.
Before they could even notice, a faint sound came from the distant snow.
—That was the sound of something slowly crawling through the snow.
"Ding-ling ding-ling..."
The snow was still falling heavily, but a faint, clear, and melodious sound of silver bells drifted in the wind. The bells came from the distant valley, rising and falling swiftly before reaching this snow-covered plain.
A sedan chair landed on the snow, and the silver bells on its four corners jingled crisply in the wind and snow.
"Huh? Nobody's here." The green-clad maid who stepped forward first was only sixteen or seventeen years old, with a graceful figure and beautiful face.
"Greenie, Snowhawk won't lead you astray," a lazy voice replied from inside the sedan chair. "Go and look for it."
"Yes." The four maids silently lifted the curtain, hung it up, and withdrew. Inside the sedan chair, a beautiful woman in purple, warming herself with a purple-gold hand warmer, a purple jade hairpin tucked into her hair, lazily spoke: "That fellow must have collapsed on the way again this year—always making us come out to pick him up, it's such a hassle. Humph, next time we should charge him double the consultation fee."
"I'm afraid Seventh Young Master can't afford it, so he'll have to pay off his debt with his body, won't he?" Greenie covered her mouth and smiled, but dared not be negligent and began to search carefully on the snow.
"Gah—" A white shadow flew over, screamed, and landed on the snow. With a swipe of its claws, it accurately grabbed a piece of clothing and pulled it outwards with force. Snow fell down in a flurry, revealing a person lying stiffly on the ground.
"Hey, here it is!" Greenie exclaimed, bending down to help the person up. She was shocked when she saw the person's condition: having followed the Valley Master in treating patients for many years, she had never seen anyone with so many and such deep wounds!
"..." That person actually had one eye open, and upon seeing the newcomer, he weakly moved his lips.
"Don't touch him!" But with a whistle in his ear, the lazy valley master had already swept to his side, shoved the maid aside, his eyes cold and stern, and bent down with lightning speed to place his fingers on the other's neck.
His body was covered with wounds of all sizes, the blood had congealed, and the exposed skin had turned bluish-purple from the cold.
Is this person... still alive?
"Fortunately, the pulse is not exhausted." After standing in the wind for a while, the Valley Master finally put down his fingers.
The person covered in blood and snow raised their eyes, as if recognizing the figure before them, and smiled slightly, their lips moving slightly: "Ah...you, you've finally come?"
He used the last of his strength to place his left hand in her palm, and then immediately and confidently fainted.
"She does know how to slack off." She frowned and muttered a complaint, then reached out and pried open the injured man's tightly clenched left hand. Suddenly, her expression changed—a deep red bead rolled into her palm, carrying a kind of imposing and chilling aura that instantly suppressed the cold of the snowfield.
This...this is...the Ten-Thousand-Year Dragon Blood Crimson Frost Pearl?!