Chapter 408: 165. The Candle in the Snow Returns

165. The Candle in the Snow Returns

In the small alley, a snow-white long sword named Zhishuang broke out of the carriage and hovered in the air.

Faintly, snow-white, dazzling sword energy rushed into the sky.

In the courtyard, Rong Zhen, who had closed her eyes to die, suddenly felt the sword energy at the tip of her nose disappear.

The pressure all over her body relaxed, as if the Mount Tai pressing down on her had been moved away.

The palace-dressed girl opened her eyes in a daze; the 【Arc】 in front of her had disappeared.

The bronze fox-masked youth turned his head to look at the anomaly outside the courtyard gate.

And from her peripheral vision, she saw that the snow-white sword energy outside the courtyard wall suddenly weakened, and instead, a clear blue light appeared, faintly overpowering its momentum.

That 【Arc】 seemed to be suppressing the snow-white flash.

"You..."

The icy palace-dressed girl had just started to speak when the bronze fox-masked youth suddenly turned back and grabbed the palm she was using to try to snatch his mask.

Sword energy poured back into her body, and she groaned, vomiting blood.

The bronze fox-masked youth slashed diagonally at her neck with his palm.

Rong Zhen fainted and fell to the ground, lying on her side next to the fainted little Daoist nun who had been severely injured by the true name.

Ouyang Rong did not help her, nor did he even look.

His brows beneath the bronze mask furrowed as he stared outside the courtyard gate.

Beside the carriage, the 【Arc】 descended again, like a crescent moon returning to the sea level.

The sword energy emitted by the snow-white long sword was suddenly suppressed.

On the steps in the small courtyard, the fainted blue-clad head constable suddenly jumped up. He first looked around the courtyard, showing no surprise at the fainted female scribe Rong Zhen and the corpses on the ground, then turned and ran out of the courtyard.

"Prefect, I'm coming."

Yan Liulang, who was closest, ran outside the courtyard gate.

Ouyang Rong controlled the Tripod Sword, and with Liulang's help, tried to put the snow-white long sword into the sword case.

Returning to the sword case together was also the 【Arc】.

However, the two of them never expected that after the snow-white long sword was pressed into the sword case, faint sword energy would still leak out from the gaps.

The tightly sealed long sword case was like a luminous object put inside at night; the snow-white light shooting out from the gaps was hard to suppress.

"Prefect, what should we do? Is this okay..." Yan Liulang turned back, his expression troubled.

Ouyang Rong also furrowed his brows.

This Zhishuang sword is a bit unusual today. Now it seems it's not just because the craftsman left the sword case for the time of an incense stick and lost some suppression.

It's more like it was activated by some existence. Now that the craftsman has returned, the Mohist sword case can't suppress it either; the sword energy is too strong.

"Bring it in with the sword case."

Ouyang Rong suddenly spoke.

He looked around, inexplicably feeling a sense of foreboding.

"This, why is it so heavy!"

Yan Liulang struggled to lift the long wooden sword case overflowing with sword energy; he couldn't lift the entire box body and turned back to ask urgently:

"Prefect..."

Just at this moment, the little girl in the red jacket, who had been silent in the middle of the pile of corpses in the courtyard, suddenly turned her head. She looked north with innocent, spiritual eyes for a moment and said softly:

"Commandant Benefactor, it seems a big sister is coming."

Ouyang Rong did not take off the bronze mask, but she had already seen the truth from the moment he entered.

"What big sister?"

Yan Liulang was curious and couldn't help but look at Huang Xuan's innocent, spiritual eyes a few more times.

Huang Xuan withdrew her gaze and said crisply:

"That big sister has golden hair and is quite aggressive. The energy coming from her is the same as the white-light long sword in your box..."

Golden hair? Same sword energy?

The Candle in the Snow!

Ouyang Rong's scalp suddenly felt numb.

Why won't this woman's soul dissipate?

No wonder the snow-white long sword was acting like it had been injected with chicken blood.

It was originally the personal sword of the Candle in the Snow. Being too close, it received induction and was activated.

Thinking carefully, this was the personal sword of a top-tier sword cultivator standing at the peak of the Qi-refining world; naturally, it was quite mysterious.

As for why this Great Lady of Yunmeng appeared near Xunyang City.

He suddenly thought of the message Aqing had asked Magistrate Diao to send from Longcheng not long ago, saying that the Candle in the Snow had passed through Longcheng and asked about Aqing's intentions again.

Looking at it now, this woman and her possible companions were likely heading straight for Xunyang City to seek the sword and take revenge, washing away their previous shame.

Ouyang Rong, who had just relaxed after breaking the array, took a deep breath.

This isn't Mount Dagu; it's Xunyang City. Not to mention there's no endless incense energy from the Lotus Sect, fighting in the city would easily destroy the buildings of the poor people in Xingzi Ward and hurt the innocent.

Right now, the snow-white long sword's energy is rushing into the sky, the location of this small courtyard has been leaked, and the Candle in the Snow will be here soon.

"Go."

Ouyang Rong suddenly spoke.

Yan Liulang was curious: "Where to?"

Huang Xuan squatted down and picked up the fainted Confucian-robed little Daoist nun. She looked at Commandant Benefactor with worry. The aggressive golden-haired big sister approaching from afar clearly had a grudge against Commandant Benefactor. She wanted to say something but stopped.

It was as if she was asking, with the golden-haired big sister's speed being so fast, whether they could run away, especially if they brought the two of them as burdens.

Without responding to Huang Xuan's worried gaze, Ouyang Rong turned his head and said to Yan Liulang:

"Put down that Zhishuang long sword, carry the sword case in, clean up some traces of you and me in the courtyard, don't worry about the corpses..."

Yan Liulang couldn't help but look at the Prefect's calm expression. He seemed to have found his backbone and immediately took action.

With a "crack," the sword case opened by itself.

In the eyes of Ouyang Rong, Huang Xuan, and others with Qi-refining techniques or spiritual eyes, the heavy snow-white sword energy accumulated in the case poured out like a waterfall hanging upside down.

The 【Arc】 whooshed out of the case, spun around in the air, and returned to the courtyard.

At the same time, a snow-white long sword was abandoned by Yan Liulang beside the carriage, having roughly cleaned up the traces of the hasty drill Ouyang Rong and he had performed not long ago.

Huang Xuan didn't blink, nervously staring at the figure of the golden-haired big sister approaching at high speed in the distance.

Ouyang Rong put away the remaining red leaves with poems, stuffed them into his sleeve, and then quickly walked around the courtyard where the Moon-Under-the-Pool Array was laid, occasionally stopping to move the corpses that were blocking the way.

When passing the place where he had previously put down the porridge bowl, he paused slightly, squatted down again, and picked up a bowl of cold porridge, which still had some of his blood stains in it.

He carried the porridge with one hand and returned to the center of the courtyard.

A moment later, Yan Liulang returned to the courtyard carrying the sword case and came to Ouyang Rong's side.

"Put it on."

Yan Liulang looked curiously at the bronze mask Ouyang Rong had taken off his face and handed to him.

After taking off the Mirage Beast mask, his tall and thin figure also changed, returning to his roughly weak, scholarly appearance.

Only then did Ouyang Rong look pale, with residual blood still hanging from the corner of his mouth, and his back was no longer as straight and steady as when he had walked into the courtyard strolling leisurely in the identity of the "Master of Butterfly Loves Flowers"... Huang Xuan couldn't help but look sideways.

After Yan Liulang took the Mirage Beast mask, Ouyang Rong's freed left hand suddenly covered his right chest and coughed.

"Prefect, is your injury okay?"

Yan Liulang saw that on the right chest Ouyang Rong was pressing hard, the collar of the Confucian robe he had just changed in the carriage was gradually being stained with a smear of blood... The red leaves with poems Ouyang Rong had held in his hand earlier were all written with blood from his injured chest under his staring surprise.

Ouyang Rong shook his head and reached out to put the Mirage Beast mask on Yan Liulang, who was full of concern and anxiety, helping him change his figure.

Ouyang Rong turned his head and flipped the sword case Yan Liulang had brought back over.

With a "thud," the case body slammed heavily onto the ground. He opened a hidden sword compartment on the back of the sword case, specifically opening only a gap, just enough to insert a young girl's hand.

Looking from the gap inside, it was full of dazzling, cold moonlight, condensed like mercury filling the sword case, faintly revealing a sword hilt.

It was exactly that moonlight long sword he hadn't seen for many days. He didn't know how long it had been warming in this Mohist sword case that hid wind and nurtured energy, accumulating how much moonlight sword energy.

Huang Xuan suddenly found Ouyang Rong's gaze cast over.

"In a moment, as long as she walks one step into the courtyard, you immediately draw the sword, understand?"

Huang Xuan's small hand was grabbed by Ouyang Rong, inserted into the gap of the sword case, and placed on the hilt of the moonlight long sword.

"Oh." The little girl in the red jacket nodded hurriedly. Reacting, she said weakly: "Benefactor, I don't know sword techniques."

"It's okay, you just need to pull it out."

Ouyang Rong's slightly magnetic voice sounded a bit weak in Huang Xuan's ears. Her small face turned red, and she stammered:

"Okay... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. How could I possibly hurt Benefactor." Her tone was surprisingly firm: "Those words scolding you were all fake. I felt bad too."

Ouyang Rong's movements paused, and he nodded, signaling to the girl full of guilt that it didn't matter.

Actually, in this critical moment, he didn't have time to think about previous matters. At this moment, the wound on his right chest was already aching to the point of numbness.

Ouyang Rong's mouth was pale and dry, suffering from blood loss and lack of water.

He reached out and stopped Huang Xuan, who was about to let go of the hilt to get some water.

Ouyang Rong lowered his head, drank a mouthful of cold, thin porridge, and instead picked up the Golden Four-Eyed Fierce Mask from Rong Zhen's hand.

Faintly hearing from Rong Zhen and Lian Qing, this fierce mask seemed to be called the Xiang Face.

Ouyang Rong put on the Xiang Face, then took the fainted Confucian-robed little Daoist nun from Huang Xuan's arms, holding her in his arms with his arm.

With porridge in one hand and the little person in the other, the face wearing the Golden Four-Eyed Fierce Mask scanned the array in the courtyard.

Carrying porridge in one hand and holding the little person in the other, the face wearing the fierce four-eyed golden mask surveyed the formation within the courtyard.

Just at this moment, outside the courtyard wall, the snow-white sword Qi that had originally lost its suppression suddenly vanished.

Inside the small alley, there was complete silence.

Huang Xuan stared straight outside the courtyard gate; Ouyang Rong and Yan Liulang turned their heads to look.

A tall Hu woman with hair like flames held a snow-white long sword in a backhand grip, holding the sword horizontally before her as she walked quietly toward the courtyard gate.

Her cold, arrogant, and azure gaze swept across the courtyard, passing over the corpses everywhere, the unconscious female scribe, and the masked youth, before finally, excluding the slightly shorter youth wearing the bronze mask, her gaze fell fixedly on the young man in Confucian robes who had been in the center earlier, wearing the golden mask.

A familiar 【Arc】 hovered before this young man in Confucian robes, faintly blocking the golden-haired Hu woman's line of sight.

The bloody stench filling the courtyard, blown by the autumn wind, did not fade but instead became even more pungent.

Hazy water mist slowly emerged from beneath the feet of the young man in Confucian robes wearing the golden mask, continuing without pause, causing the air in the courtyard to become faintly hazy with water mist.

The golden-haired Hu woman, who was advancing while holding her sword, suddenly stopped, stopping exactly where Ouyang Rong had also stopped not long ago before Rong Zhen, Lian Qing, Yan Zhang, and the others.

Nor did anyone see the Candle in the Snow make any move.

Yan Liulang and Huang Xuan suddenly felt their vision go black.

The next instant, when they opened their eyes again, a towering snow-capped mountain standing in the extreme north rushed toward them; an overwhelming avalanche spread down from the peak covered in snow lotus flowers, rushing directly toward the two of them.

A tiny individual situated before this magnificent avalanche was simply like an ant compared to a vast ocean, not worth mentioning.

Yan Liulang and Huang Xuan's eyes were filled with terror; a sense of powerlessness to resist arose in their hearts, and their originally stiff limbs and bodies began to move mechanically and uncontrollably, producing an instinctive reaction to kneel or retreat and flee.

This was a pressure that could not be resisted; despair spread in their eyes.

Until a gentle voice rang out in the small world before them where mountains were collapsing and avalanches were destroying the world:

"At it again? Who do you think you're scaring, Your Excellency."

(End of chapter)