Chapter 48: Xiao Yu

“General Guan, look—we’ve reached Feixian Ferry!”

Captain Zhang pointed to the towering gate ahead, exclaiming happily: “Turn the corner, less than two hundred steps, and there’s a ‘Yunlai Inn.’”

All travelers and merchants stop here to rest.

The place is spacious.

Even with over five hundred of our men, we can all be accommodated.”

Xiao Yu first looked up at the gate ahead—nearly three zhang tall, four or five zhang wide, its wooden frame painted with faded red lacquer, an old object with years behind it, yet solid and imposing.

At the top of the gate hung a plaque inscribed with three large characters in seal script: “Feixian Ferry.”

“When I set out from Luodu, I passed through here too, but didn’t stop. Back then, I galloped past without a second glance. Today, seeing it up close, this ferry is truly a natural stronghold.” Hu Chen surveyed the surroundings slowly.

The road they stood on was still fairly wide, but to the south lay a ceaselessly rushing river, and to the north rose low yet treacherous peaks.

The river was only two or three hundred meters wide, but its banks were sheer cliffs, extremely deep.

Standing at the roadside and looking down, one could barely make out the water—eight hundred to seven hundred meters below. The river narrowed sharply here, its current fierce. Torrents of water crashed against the cliff walls, spraying white foam and shrouding the air in mist.

Xiao Yu had grown up beside the Liusha River and was used to rough waters, but this inland great river was her first encounter.

When she first reached the riverbank, she’d been curious to admire the scenery, but as they advanced, the cliffs grew deeper, the river narrower, and the thunderous roar below grew louder—she began to fear getting too close.

It wasn’t that she lacked courage.

She was mounted now; if her horse slipped and tumbled down...

“The General is right—Feixian Ferry is the first great peril after Hengsha Pass, the foremost stronghold of our Great Shu.” Zhang’s mood was high now that they’d reached their destination, a smile on his face.

“With such a natural barrier, could the thirty-six rebel states have bypassed it?” Xiao Yu asked curiously.

Zhang’s smile froze. “Hengsha Pass and Hualong Pass are both legendary fortresses, guarded by elite soldiers who fight to the death—but there are immortals in this world...”

The great river beneath Feixian Ferry was called “Hualong River.”

Xiao Yu hadn’t yet seen other stretches of the Hualong River. Along her journey, the river between the two mountain walls had grown steadily narrower—from four or five hundred meters wide to less than two hundred meters at Feixian Ferry.

Two thick steel chains, as wide as a bowl’s mouth, stretched across the cliffs, reinforced by thinner chains the thickness of a cup’s rim, forming a wooden plank bridge one zhang wide.

Xiao Yu wandered near the bridge’s entrance.

The iron bridge looked rugged; the chains at both ends were driven deep into the cliff walls like divine fingers gripping the rock.

Solid. Stable. It inspired confidence.

A caravan of seven or eight carts, carrying over ten tons of goods, crossed directly onto the bridge. The wooden planks clattered beneath the wheels, yet the bridge barely swayed—as if walking on flat ground.

Standing at the bridge’s center and looking down, one felt as if suspended in the clouds, a full kilometer above the river.

The mighty river flowed like a dark green dragon, viewed from above as if from heaven.

Xiao Yu finally understood the origin of the name “Yunlai Inn.”

Travelers crossing the bridge seemed to emerge from the clouds themselves.

Hu Chen and his men did not cross the river.

They had come from Hengsha Pass to the north; Lord Riyang would arrive at the ferry from another western route.

“Father, may I go see the other side?” Xiao Yu dismounted and looked at Hu Chen.

Hu Chen was directing his soldiers to build temporary watchtowers in the front courtyard of the Yunlai Inn.

“Don’t wander off. Come back soon.” Hu Chen glanced westward; the daylight was still early, so he didn’t stop her.

Only when she reached Hualong Pass on the other side did Xiao Yu understand why Hu Chen and his men chose to stay at the inn rather than enter the pass to await Lord Riyang.

Hualong Pass was indeed formidable.

It was carved into the interior of a peak beside the ferry.

The peak stood like a chopstick driven into the earth—not very tall, four or five hundred meters, but extremely steep.

A narrow stone staircase, barely wide enough for one person, spiraled upward; halfway up, the mountain was hollowed out to carve out the entire fortress of “Hualong Pass.”

Excavating a grand fortress within a mountain was undoubtedly a massive undertaking. But the peak’s volume was limited; its interior space was small.

Using her identity as “General Hu’s daughter,” Xiao Yu climbed up for a look—fewer than two hundred men had already filled the mountain’s interior encampment.

Against a normal army, two hundred men defending this pass would be more than sufficient. With Hualong Pass’s elevated position, archers and crossbowmen raining fire from above could crush any invaders.

And in wartime, they’d burn the bridge’s wooden planks—any enemy force attempting to cross would become nothing but targets.

Unfortunately, this world had immortal warriors.

Even without true sky-flying, earth-piercing immortals, just four or five martial experts like Hu Chen, clad in heavy armor and charging head-on, could likely storm into Hualong Pass in one sweep.

“Brother soldier, are you from around here?”

Before leaving Hualong Pass, Xiao Yu approached a soldier with a simple, honest face.

“No, no, Miss Guan, just call me ‘Li Er Dan.’”

Li Er Dan lowered his head, flustered, waving his hands. “I live in Li Family Village. My mother is sixty. My older brother died in the war last year. I have two younger brothers and a younger sister.

My sister’s about to marry. My brothers study at Master Gao’s village school. I...”

Xiao Yu quickly said: “I just want to ask about something.”

Not to check your household registry!

“Oh, Miss Guan, ask away.” Li Er Dan visibly relaxed.

“Is there an ‘Old Man Qin’ or ‘Squire Qin’ around here?”

Xiao Yu hadn’t forgotten Hu Chen’s warning yesterday: Don’t get entangled with spirits again, especially don’t let anyone know.

She’d just suddenly remembered: the man on the donkey, Old Man Qin, had gotten lost after crossing Feixian Ferry and missed the start of the grand event.

Back then, her mind had been foggy—listening to ghosts, acting on whims, with no clear purpose.

Now, only when encountering matching scenes did she feel a faint trigger, recalling one or two phrases.

Old Man Qin was a local who knew the ghost paths well. Though Feixian Ferry to Sun Family Village was quite far, ghosts perceive spatial distance differently from humans.

A seasoned ghost getting lost was abnormal.

Old Man Qin had even said he met a “rival” who changed the path?

“Squire Qin...” Li Er Dan scratched his head, thinking. “About eleven or twelve li southeast of here is ‘Two Surnames Village.’ There’s a major Qin family there worthy of the title ‘Squire.’”

“Was Squire Qin’s father deceased?” Xiao Yu asked.

“Yes. Squire Qin celebrated his sixtieth birthday three years ago. His father had passed long before.” Li Er Dan replied.

Xiao Yu thought a moment, then asked: “Is the Qin family’s ancestral tomb nearby?”

Li Er Dan’s expression turned strange, but he dared not ask further—only nodded and pointed southeast. “That mountain belongs to the Qin family. At its foot stands the Qin ancestral hall, guarded by an old servant named Wang.”

Xiao Yu had originally planned to visit Old Man Qin, perhaps hear him speak of ghosts and clarify the mystery of the lost donkey.

But following Li Er Dan’s direction, she saw it was six or seven li away—and the mountain was thick with dense foliage, brambles, and weeds, nearly impassable.

Still, upon returning to Yunlai Inn, Xiao Yu sought out Hu Chen alone and recounted the anomaly of the familiar ghost losing his way.

Hu Chen listened, unimpressed. “The realms of the living and the dead are distinct—this isn’t something to be taken lightly.

Humans walk the human path; ghosts walk the ghost path. They’re separate. A ghost getting lost has nothing to do with humans.”

Xiao Yu had been worried about his “darkened forehead, destined for disaster,” which was why she’d paid special attention to any anomalies nearby.

Now that the expert himself said there was no issue, she had nothing more to say.

In truth, Hu Chen had been too hasty.

Only the next day at noon did a messenger with a “Fire Crow Flag” arrive at Feixian Ferry, informing Hu Chen to prepare for Lord Riyang’s arrival in two days.

These two days were agonizing for Hu Chen.

Several times he nearly gave in, riding alone to gallop northwest along the direct road to find Lord Riyang.

But his reason held—he could move fast alone, but if he encountered an immortal ambush, he’d die just as fast.

Wasn’t the whole point of bringing three hundred “burdens” from Hengsha Pass to ensure safety through sheer numbers?

Immortals are powerful, but even after slaying hundreds of elite cavalry trained in martial arts, they still tire, still grow weary, still get wounded.

Hu Chen suffered. Xiao Yu suffered too.

Except during mounted marches, she practiced the “Tiger Soul Seven Kill” every day.

She trained with her sword by day, cultivated the heart mantra by night.

She no longer dared practice swordplay at night—afraid that fatigue would destabilize her soul.

But cultivating the tiger’s divine intent at night helped nourish her spirit and calm her soul.

Perhaps because the Divine Spirit Pill had unlocked her sword bones, her “Tiger Soul Seven Kill” advanced by leaps and bounds.

Combined with the cheat-like heart mantra, her qi, heart, spirit, intent, and body were nearly achieving perfect harmony, the great fivefold unity.

Especially her “divine intent”—she was certain, beyond doubt, she had surpassed Hu Chen.

Once she channeled the sword intent (Tiger Soul divine intent) into her sword bones, her physical body would become terrifyingly strong.

Without battlefield testing, she didn’t know exactly how strong she was—but “Great Death Dad” had clearly told her: she now met the conditions to suddenly kill Hu Chen.

In short, the “Method to Kill Hu Chen” had been fully deduced by her Purple Mansion.

Once deduced by the Purple Mansion, that “Death Dad Method” was guaranteed to be usable by her.

If perfectly executed, it would kill him.

Hu Chen was a famed general of Western Shu, a top-tier expert even among the western states.

To slay such a master—even with the aid of “Great Death Dad”—proved her own strength had surged dramatically.

Increased strength should have been a good thing. Yet she felt restless, tormented.

Because her realm in the “Tiger Soul Seven Kill” was too high; the “Method to Kill Hu Chen” deduced by the Purple Mansion had nothing to do with Hu Chen’s far-seeing eyes.

She didn’t need to sneak, hide, or strike when he was unprepared.

Now, simply walking up to Hu Chen, facing him directly, and suddenly striking would be enough to sever his head with a single sword.

It relied not on stealth or concealed aura, but on the overwhelming power of the “New Tiger Soul Seven Swords.”

Huchen taught Xiao Yu the Furious Tiger Divine Intent and the Seven Kill Secrets; the Zi Fu directly identified all the flaws in the Seven Kill Secrets based on these experiences and heart principles, then reverse-engineered the completely countering “Kill Tiger Divine Intent” and “Kill Tiger Five Forms.”

The Kill Tiger Divine Intent utterly counters the Furious Tiger Divine Intent; the Kill Tiger Five Forms counter the Seven Kill Secrets.

There are only five forms because Huchen had mastered only five moves of the Seven Kill Secrets.

The final two moves, Soul-Shattering Blade and Proud Immortal Blade, he had not yet entered.

Since he did not know them, she naturally had no need to master the counter-techniques for Soul-Shattering Blade and Proud Immortal Blade.

Huchen possessed the Tiger Soul Seven Kill, but he did not know its flaws; Xiao Yu, having trained under him in the Tiger Soul Seven Kill, understood its defects and also mastered the Kill Tiger Divine Intent—this caused her divine intent level in the Tiger Soul Seven Kill to far surpass Huchen’s by miles within just a few days.

Fortunately, she had not trained the breathing techniques of the Tiger Soul Seven Kill; otherwise, she wouldn’t have needed to launch a surprise attack—she could simply have said, “Hey, Huchen, come die,” and killed him face-to-face.

The problem is, the most valuable thing on Huchen’s person isn’t the Tiger Soul Seven Kill—it’s the Immortal’s Eye!

Xiao Yu wanted to use the Zi Fu to unravel the mystery of the Immortal’s Eye and reverse-engineer a “Stealth Technique” to counter it.

The Immortal’s Eye’s greatest power is observation: even across thousands of mountains and rivers, even if hidden deep within a mountain cave, it could still see as clearly as examining the patterns on one’s palm.

Countering the Immortal’s Eye means concealing one’s form and aura.

What kind of terrifying technique would be required to evade the Immortal’s Eye through aura suppression and stealth?

It would certainly be a technique of Immortal-level cultivation.

An Immortal-level secret technique, specifically for survival and ambush—how could the mere Kill Tiger Seven Swords possibly compare?

But now her power was too great; she didn’t need stealth or concealment—she could simply launch a sudden, overwhelming strike against Huchen, and the Zi Fu ceased its reverse-engineering.

“Should the Immortal’s Eye be wasted like this? Too bad.”