Chapter 375: 118. Candle in the Snow: Caught You

118. Candle in the Snow: Caught You

"???"

Looking at the purple bellyband in his hand, Magistrate Ouyang Rong fell into a brief contemplation.

He opened the sword box that was about to close, pinched out a slender sword arc that was hidden from merit and fame with two fingers, and asked seriously:

"You... where did you pick this up from?" He paused, his tone containing some expectation: "It was picked up, right?"

Craftsman twisted, broke free from the master's fingers, skillfully turned two circles on the head of the master who was holding the bellyband, and then plunged toward the southwest, turned and flew back. The action of coming and going was implicitly pointing to the direction where a certain cold palace-attired young woman was imprisoned not long ago.

Plus, the autumn night wind was cold outside, but his fingertips could clearly feel the slight warmth on this "picked-up bellyband."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong had black lines all over his head, gritted his teeth and said:

"I have done good deeds all my life, what virtue and ability do I have to encounter you, this tripod sword.

"Originally I planned to leave a line, but now it's good, you even snatched the private clothes of a virgin who kept herself like jade, isn't this humiliation and enmity?

"Just now I teased you for not listening to me in front of others, and it really wasn't wrong."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong could not help but clench his fists, his tone hating that iron could not become steel.

Craftsman originally turned circles on his head, as if proudly waiting for the reward from the master to let it play outside for a while. Hearing this, it suddenly hovered, "Chiu" sound, and plunged into the sword box.

Bang—!

The sword box closed heavily.

Ignoring him.

"Can't even say a few words to you? If I don't say you, who knows what you will bring back next time?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong shook his head and chased after it.

The long sword box lay on the table, motionless, without answering.

At this moment, on the table in front of the Great Buddha, an isolated lamp was lit, making the hall more empty and silent.

There was a faint cold fragrance floating.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked toward the southwest, thought for a while, and sighed a little.

He secretly said "sin" in his heart.

His gaze moved to the deep purple bellyband that was a bit hot.

He frowned slightly.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, purple was not a color that just anyone was qualified to wear; it was the most noble and mysterious color.

Because of the limitation of the coloring process in this era, purple cloth was exceptionally precious.

Among the common people, there is the title "Vermilion and Purple Ministers" for the prime ministers of the Great Zhou, because their official robes are vermilion and purple. Among them, the purple official robe has a higher rank than the vermilion one and is exclusive to court officials of the third rank and above.

And among Qi Refiners, purple spiritual qi was also unique to the top grade.

And the Empress of the current dynasty was especially fond of purple clothes.

Thus, wearing purple naturally became a fashion among the top nobles of the Great Zhou, a symbol of noble status.

Ordinary people naturally could not cross the line and wear it randomly.

For example, Xiao Shimei, as a noble girl of the five surnames, the door of the Chen Jun Chenjun Xie Clan, could easily wear purple to show the noble door, but Xiao Shimei followed her own heart, did not like purple, and even disliked it for being ostentatious, instead preferring the whiteness or blue tone of orchids. Xiao Shimei's close-fitting bellyband never had purple.

Don't ask Magistrate Ouyang Rong how he knew so clearly...

That Rong Zhen, who only wore a plain white palace skirt when seen in the past, cold and strict, did not expect that inside was a purple private garment, which was a bit beyond Magistrate Ouyang Rong's expectation.

Although this kind of woman's close-fitting private clothing did not hang with the official rank, wearing it was not considered crossing the line.

But it still showed one point: Rong Zhen's background was not simple. Anyway, she was certainly not some ordinary person, but had some door, just didn't know why she entered the palace to be a female official.

However, according to common sense, on a woman's close-fitting private clothing, there should be some words embroidered, either the woman's nickname, or a lover, or a poem, showing a rich and delicate inner world.

Rong Zhen should be no exception. If you spread this one out and look carefully, maybe you can find something.

However, a big man studying a woman's close-fitting clothing that had just been pulled off in a dim Buddha hall, this painting style was too outrageous.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong could not do such a thing.

At the moment, he only felt that this thing brought back accidentally by

However, for a grown man to be hunched over in a dim Buddhist hall, studying a woman's intimate garment that had just been snatched away, this style is simply too outrageous.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong cannot bring himself to do such a thing.

Right now, he only finds this item, which was accidentally brought back by the craftsman, to be troublesome. He has no intention of searching through it; a gentleman is cautious when alone.

"How to deal with this new burden..."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong's face showed a hint of difficulty.

After finally dealing with all the loose ends, it turns out there's an extra item not in the plan. Perhaps in a while, Rong Zhen will follow the scent, bring a group of female officials, and "kill" her way here by following the trail.

He felt inside his robe; the Heaven-Burning Flood Dragon Oil had already been used up.

As for returning it to her... returning it is impossible. At least, it cannot be returned in person. Does he not want his dignity? Even if, in the one-in-a-million chance, he is confronted later to settle the score, his main strategy will be to deny it to the death; it's the tripod sword's behavior, why should the sword-master pay the price?

Magistrate Ouyang Rong nodded and glanced at the solitary lamp on the table.

He hesitated slightly.

He immediately crumpled the purple bodice into a ball, walked to the table, took a smoke furnace, emptied the ash, placed the empty furnace in front of the lamp, and prepared to put the garment ball inside to burn it.

At this moment, an unfamiliar yet cold female voice sounded in his ear: "Caught you."

In fact, to be precise, this stiff female voice didn't just sound in his ear; it also sounded in the ears of everyone on Mount Mount Dagu who was awake and not asleep at this moment.

It came from above the nine heavens, resounding throughout Mount Mount Dagu.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong was stunned for a moment, then suddenly startled.

Above his head, the golden-tiled roof of the Sutra-Copying Hall, which had just been repaired not long ago, was completely ripped off by sword Qi descending from the sky.

Like taking a broom out to sweep snow in the twelfth lunar month, thousands of broken tiles exploded and flew everywhere.

The pitch-black, cold wind poured into the hall like seawater. Magistrate Ouyang Rong's sapphire-blue Confucian robe fluttered violently, and the solitary lamp in front of him extinguished instantly.

This sudden change in an instant was like switching between a dream and waking up. The scene of the empty and desolate green lamp and ancient Buddha was replaced by the cold evening wind and the star-filled sky as soon as he opened his eyes.

And under this brilliant starry night sky, Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked up and vaguely saw that familiar scene... one person and one bird.

He saw a strange, snow-white, four-eyed, three-legged bird of prey spreading its wings and flying high under the bright moon. It let out a clear cry, and like a meteor, its wings streaked across the pitch-black, ink-like deep night sky.

A tall female figure wrapped in snow-white fox fur jumped off the bird's back. Her hands stretched out naturally, her large sleeves fluttered, her toes pointed downward, and she was slowly falling from the nine heavens.

In Magistrate Ouyang Rong's eyes at this moment, this was "slow," but in reality, there was a faint sound of breaking through the air, fast as lightning.

The downward momentum also caused her long, golden hair reaching her waist to hang upside down on her head. Seen from afar, it looked like a long, swaying candle flame that even the fierce wind could hardly blow out, and it burned brighter and brighter, as if it were about to ignite the sky.

If someone were to look down from above at this moment, they would find that this golden-flame-like beautiful figure not only streaked across the deep night sky but also, like a rigid, sharp sword, vertically split the thick incense smoke that had once covered many auras above Mount Mount Dagu!

The destination of the straight trajectory that the tall woman split like a sword—that is, directly below—happened to be the Sutra-Copying Hall where Magistrate Ouyang Rong was located. But before she arrived, the sword Qi had already arrived, first ripping off the roof of the Sutra-Copying Hall and locking onto someone's aura.

"Candle in the Snow!" Magistrate Ouyang Rong blurted out.

The Chief Great Lady of the Lady Yunmeng Yunmeng Yunmeng Jian Ze.

Why did she come!

Magistrate Ouyang Rong opened his eyes wide and immediately recognized the visitor.

After all, he would never forget this unforgettable scene descending from the sky, and tonight, it had actually reappeared.

And this time, it was obvious that there was no Qiu Qiu Shenji or old sword-smith for her to find; the target of this Great Lady of Lady Yunmeng Marsh descending from the sky was extremely clear.

The tables and chairs in the main hall creaked, and the kind-faced golden Buddha in front of Magistrate Ouyang Rong shook. On the Buddha's body, the golden lacquer shell peeled off rapidly, just like a cooked eggshell being rolled between two hands.

The person had not arrived, but the sword Qi was close.

Amidst the snow-white sword Qi raging in the main hall, Magistrate Ouyang Rong's shoulders suddenly sank, and the floor tiles under his feet exploded.

When he witnessed this scene in front of the Jia-1 Sword Furnace on Little Gu Mountain, he had not yet become a sword-wielder and stood like a lackey; when the sky fell, there were tall people like Qiu Qiu Shenji and Wei Wei Shaoxuan to hold it up.

But now, the only target this Great Lady of Lady Yunmeng locked onto was him, and she came with the weight of Mount Tai.

The experience of these two times was simply worlds apart.

Only by being in this situation did he realize how great this woman's pressure was!

The First Seat Great Lady of the Lady Yunmeng Yunmeng Yunmeng Jian Ze Ancestral Hall, a genuine Purple Qi Grade 5 cultivator, the leader of the world's sword path!

Even the veteran Grade 5 peak cultivator of the military strategist, Qiu Qiu Shenji, was beaten by this "junior little girl" until he lost his armor and fled, seriously injured, and demoted in rank.

The floor of the main hall appeared with spider-web-like cracks, centered on the position under Magistrate Ouyang Rong's feet.

His shoulders were pressed down inch by inch.

Damn, this woman is simply outrageous! How did she find her way here? He had clearly hidden his aura the whole time.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong cursed inwardly. There was no time to burn the garment or think too much. He ran over at the first opportunity, picked up the sword case, stuffed the crumpled garment ball into the instrument-shaped sword case that isolated the aura. At the same time, the little guy who had been sulking and ignoring him earlier also flew out of the sword case with a "whoosh," circling Magistrate Ouyang Rong to guard his side.

The snow-white sword Qi was worn down by the tripod sword, and the pressure dropped sharply.

So Magistrate Ouyang Rong and the craftsman, one person and one sword, ran away.

But he was fast, yet someone was faster than him.

"Want to escape?"

Not long after the young Confucian scholar wearing the bronze mask ran away, the figure of Candle in the Snow landed at the position where he had once stood in the Sutra-Copying Hall that had lost its roof.

He saw the tall woman with golden hair like flames in a snow-white Wu skirt, carrying a long sword on her back. Both hands were holding things: one hand was holding the Red Lotus Sword Seal that was flashing with clear blue light at a frequency, and the other hand was holding two bloody heads.

Her appearance, which should have contained exotic customs due to her Han-Hu mixed blood, was like a frozen snow lotus, arrogant and indifferent. Her azure-blue eyes were as deep as an abyss, captivating the soul.

Candle in the Snow threw the heads of the two spies who had infiltrated Lady Yunmeng Marsh onto the floor in front of the Great Buddha, and her figure disappeared in an instant.

The next moment, the tall Hu woman's figure with a long sword on her back appeared a hundred feet behind Magistrate Ouyang Rong... as if jumping through space, the distance between her and Magistrate Ouyang Rong was getting closer and closer.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong felt like he had thorns on his back, like an unlucky person chased by an avalanche, urging all his spiritual energy to run wildly. Just at this moment, the craftsman beside him suddenly stopped following and went vertically upward, rushing straight into the nine heavens.

Seeing the departure of that tripod sword, Candle in the Snow did not chase it. Her footsteps chasing the fox-faced Confucian scholar did not stop at all, and the distance was getting closer.

Letting the craftsman deploy the swords, she went straight for the sword-wielder.

He only heard a voice coming from behind, like a whisper close at hand, and Magistrate Ouyang Rong broke out in a cold sweat.

"Returning? But why is the sword deployment distance so far? Aren't you Grade 8 Blue Qi? Could it be that this seat saw wrong."

Her stiff voice was a bit puzzled. Magistrate Ouyang Rong urged his spiritual energy to run away, revealing the color of his spiritual energy.

However, this did not hinder Candle in the Snow from drawing her sword.

A snow-white, peerless waterfall sprayed out from the scabbard, bright as a swimming dragon, striking straight at Magistrate Ouyang Rong's shoulders and back.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong felt his eyes go dark with a "hum," only feeling that a thousand-foot-high, towering snow mountain was pressing down on his face. On top of the high mountain, there was a snow lotus flower, swaying like a cold beauty. The snow mountain occupied his entire field of vision, the surrounding world was silent, and a sense of suffocation filled his five senses, making him unable to raise a single thought of resistance. Suddenly, he really wanted to appreciate the snow lotus flower one last time before death, without resisting.

But the craftsman, who was far away in the clouds and frantically siphoning the incense smoke of Mount Mount Dagu, suddenly sent a burning, urgent thought. This urgent thought turned into a sword in his mind, splitting the illusion of the snow mountain and lotus flower in front of the sword-master.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong suddenly woke up, bit his tongue hard, and forcibly sobered up.

Looking back again, it was just a snow-white long sword striking straight at his vital points; where was there any towering snow mountain or cold beauty snow lotus.

A person's survival instinct in a crisis is unconventional.

At the critical moment, Magistrate Ouyang Rong, who had no ground to borrow force in the air, mobilized his cervical vertebrae and muscles all over his body, and with a very anti-human, unconventional twisting angle, barely avoided this sword. The movement was so large that his right shoulder was twisted to the limit, and with a "crack," it dislocated and fractured.

At the same time, having dodged the sword, his figure was unstable, and he smashed heavily into a pile of fallen leaves in the corner of the small courtyard below that the monk had been too lazy to sweep.

Candle in the Snow gave a light "eh."

Just now in her field of vision, it should have been the Lady Yunmeng Sword Intent that even a Grade 6 cultivator could not dodge, but under the feet of the fox-faced Confucian scholar, lotus flower phantoms full of Zen flavor suddenly emerged.

A wonderful solution, breaking through the illusion.

As for the strange, unconventional twisting movement of the fox-faced Confucian scholar in the air.

Candle in the Snow frowned slightly, smelling unclean elements.

However, she originally intended to capture this rare sword-wielder alive, and this sword only used five percent of her strength.

Nodding, she was about to deliver another sword.

But at this moment, the cold and hazy moonlight around them quietly grew a bit, and the surrounding scenery, objects, and people were all dyed with a faint blue halo.

In the sky, a "clear blue crescent moon" that had condensed for fifteen breaths fell.

Candle in the Snow stood still abruptly, looking up at the sky.

"What is this sword called?"

She asked suddenly.

The Confucian scholar did not answer. He held his dislocated right shoulder and stood up from the pile of withered leaves. Under the ancient bronze fox mask stained with fallen frost leaves, blood dripped from his lips. The only pair of pitch-black eyes exposed by the mask were as deep as a deep mountain pool, reflecting a crescent moon and the person under the moon.

Candle in the Snow nodded, carrying a body of arrogant purple Qi, and met the "difficulty" head-on.

She, one person and one sword, collided head-on with a crescent moon.

The next moment, under the pitch-black, thick night sky, a point of light exploded, with purple and clear blue intertwined.

The entire Mount Mount Dagu was as bright as day.

(End of chapter)