Chapter 1135: [Black and White War] (Part 2)

Hu Xiaotian quickly made a decision in his heart, and said softly: "Help the Snow Eagle!" He drew his bow and shot into the air; the arrow flew like a meteor, straight at a black eagle. This arrow actually hit its mark, piercing the black eagle's chest, and the black eagle fell head over heels.

Zhan Peng received Hu Xiaotian's order and continuously shot into the air; his archery was outstanding, and of the five arrows he fired, three actually achieved a double kill with one arrow, the five arrows killing eight black eagles. Such efficiency left Hu Xiaotian stunned and greatly shocked the black eagle legion.

Although Hu Xiaotian's arrow speed was not slow, his aim was truly terrible; he shot ten arrows but hit only one. Even so, the black eagle legion had already begun to collapse, and the Snow Eagle, aided by the two, grew braver in battle, and in a short while struck down three more black eagles.

The black eagles were not frightened off; the remaining black eagles continued to launch frenzied attacks. One black eagle actually swooped down from high altitude, straight at Hu Xiaotian. Hu Xiaotian shot two arrows in a row, but both missed. Just as the black eagle reached him and he was about to draw his sword to slash, a feathered arrow whistled out, piercing the black eagle's neck—it was Zhan Peng who timely shot and killed it.

Hu Xiaotian let out a sigh of relief and turned to smile at Zhan Peng.

Zhan Peng pursed his lips toward the sky; Hu Xiaotian quickly looked up and saw another black eagle lunging at him. He hurriedly drew his bowstring, and this arrow hit the mark, entering through the black eagle's mouth and directly piercing its brain.

Under the combined attack of the two and the Snow Eagle, the black eagles in the air dwindled. Seeing that more than thirty black eagles had been reduced to just the last two, those two finally gave up attacking, turned their bodies, and flew off into the distance. Hu Xiaotian and Zhan Peng simultaneously shot an arrow; Zhan Peng's arrow never missed, and this one struck down another black eagle. The other black eagle that Hu Xiaotian aimed at, however, managed to escape.

Moreover, the Snow Eagle did not give chase but instead flapped its wings and flew toward the north. Having just experienced that great battle, the Snow Eagle was now exhausted, its flight altitude and speed clearly affected. Hu Xiaotian said to Zhan Peng: "Let's go and see!"

Zhan Peng nodded. Thinking that Hu Xiaotian was worried about the Snow Eagle's safety and might still be ambushed by black eagles along the way, the two mounted their horses and followed the Snow Eagle in the air all the way. Although the Snow Eagle flew slowly, its speed still far exceeded that of ordinary horses. Zhan Peng's mount could not compare to Hu Xiaotian's divine steed. Seeing Hu Xiaotian pull farther and farther ahead, he spurred his horse and whipped it, but his mount was willing yet unable. Watching Hu Xiaotian recede into the distance, Zhan Peng shouted from behind: "My lord, don't chase any further!"

Although Hu Xiaotian heard Zhan Peng's voice, he still had no intention of giving up. Seeing the Snow Eagle flying lower and lower, either it could no longer fly or it was preparing to land. Hu Xiaotian urged his mount; Little Grey's two ears perked up. Hooves raised dust, launching a ground‑to‑air chase. The snowy plain ahead had reached its end, and Hu Xiaotian saw the Snow Eagle land in the pine forest ahead. He dismounted, patted Little Grey's hindquarters, and said softly: "Wait here; I'll go take a look."

Hu Xiaotian, partly out of curiosity and partly because his skill made him bold, did not fear the rule "do not enter the woods". After venturing only a short distance into the forest, he heard the Snow Eagle's low cry. Hiding behind a tree and looking ahead, he saw the Snow Eagle not far off; beneath it, a white‑haired man leaned against the trunk. Seeing the Snow Eagle covered in wounds, its white feathers stained with blood, the man cried out in alarm: "Snowy! What happened to you? Who injured you like this?" His voice was weak, lacking strength.

Hu Xiaotian could tell from the man's voice that the white‑haired man was undoubtedly the Feather Demon Li Chang'an; looking at his back, indeed only his left arm remained. Li Chang'an had severed his right arm when poisoned during the ambush on Mount Sumeru to save his life, and Hu Xiaotian, having been present then, knew this clearly.

The Snow Eagle threw the hard‑won rabbit in front of Li Chang'an. Li Chang'an looked at the blood‑stained rabbit, tears welling in his eyes: "Snowy, you went through all this to find food for me, and I'm useless…" Saying this, he felt a surge of heat in his chest and spat out a mouthful of blood with a puff, which fell on the snow, shocking to behold.

The Snow Eagle cried out in alarm as its master spat blood.

Hu Xiaotian had thought he had been discovered and was about to reveal himself, but he felt the ground emit a series of dull tremors.

These footsteps were already shocking—whose steps were so heavy? Hu Xiaotian followed the sound and saw, in the pine forest, a huge silhouette slowly emerging. That figure was not human but a giant black bear, walking upright on its hind legs, making it look like a black giant from afar.

The black bear lumbered sideways, snapping branches with a crackling sound that never ceased. Arriving at the clearing ahead, its forepaws slammed heavily into the ground, sending snow flying where it landed. The bear's thick layers of fat made its glossy fur ripple like waves, then it raised its massive head and let out a low, furious roar that shook the snow from the treetops. Its small eyes fixed on the target ahead, gleaming with menace. The rhythm of its paws on the snow shifted from slow to fast as it lunged toward Li Chang'an at full speed.

The Snow Eagle let out a long cry and took flight. Hu Xiaotian hesitated, thinking the Snow Eagle would sacrifice anything to protect its master, but he never expected it to take off at the critical moment.

If the Feather Demon Li Chang'an were uninjured, this black bear, though fierce, he could handle; but now he was utterly unable to resist, and he shouted loudly: "Snowy, get away quickly!"

After the Snow Eagle took flight, it beat its wings and arrived above the black bear. Hu Xiaotian then saw that the Snow Eagle's talons gripped a stone the size of a millstone, which it aimed from mid‑air at the bear's head and hurled down. Although the stone was not small and struck true, the Snow Eagle's flight altitude was too low, and moreover the bear's skin was tough and its skull extremely hard; the stone smashed onto the bear's head without leaving a mark.

The black bear's charging speed did not slacken. Seeing the situation turn bad, the Snow Eagle dove from above, talons reaching for the bear's face.

Hu Xiaotian watched clearly from the woods: though the Snow Eagle was brave, on the ground it was no match for the black bear. He nocked an arrow, aimed at the bear's left eye, and shot—miraculously, the arrow hit true, striking the bear's left eye. The bear howled in pain, its fury fully aroused; the hairs on its neck stood on end. At the same moment, the Snow Eagle swooped down, its talons viciously gripping the bear's muzzle. Though it missed the right eye, its sharp claws caught the bear's nose; the Snow Eagle's talons, harder than metal, tore the bear's nose open, and blood gushed forth.

The black bear seemed dull, but its reaction speed was surprisingly quick. In the instant the Snow Eagle tore the bear's nose tip, its right paw lashed out sideways, heavily striking the Snow Eagle's body and sweeping it away. A white blur was flung sideways by the bear's paw, and the Snow Eagle slammed heavily into a tree trunk two zhang away, shaking snow from the canopy.

Seeing this, Li Chang'an's eyes nearly burst, and he cried out in anguish: "Snowy!" He had raised the Snow Eagle since childhood, and their bond was deep. Seeing the Snow Eagle struck down while protecting him, he felt anguish beyond words.

The black bear was about to reach Li Chang'an when, bearing the title Feather Demon, he was a top‑tier beast tamer, yet no method could influence the bear in the slightest. As he seemed destined to die in the bear's jaws, a figure lunged out from the side, raising a great sword and slashing down at the bear.

Hu Xiaotian's sword strike did not emit sword qi, but it successfully cut the bear's right foreleg. With his strength plus the sharpness of Hidden Edge Sword, the bear's right leg was severed at the root; blood spurted. Losing a forepaw, the bear lost control of its forward momentum, lost balance, and fell with a thud onto the snow, leaving a long bloody trail.

Even so, the black bear was ferocious; after falling, it immediately pushed itself up from the snow, standing upright on its hind legs, raised its left paw, and aimed to strike Hu Xiaotian, who had stepped forward, with a heavy blow.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Two arrows flew from the dense woods, striking the bear's two eyes accurately—these were Zhan Peng's timely shots to help.

In fact, with Hu Xiaotian's skill, even if Zhan Peng did not intervene, he should have been able to handle the bear. From behind, Zhan Peng called out: "My lord, stab the white fur on its chest!" As a hunter, he naturally knew these beasts' weak points. The black bear's weakness lies in the triangular white fur patch on its chest; now the bear's posture fully exposed that weak spot.

Hu Xiaotian hesitated no longer; at this point he could no longer worry about protecting animals. In a life‑and‑death struggle, saving a person comes first. He thrust Hidden Edge Sword fiercely into the bear's chest white triangle; the sword pierced the bear's body with a puff, all the way to the hilt. After stabbing, Hu Xiaotian withdrew backward to avoid the bear's death‑throe counterstrike.

Sure enough, the bear gathered all its strength and lifted its left paw to slap Hu Xiaotian, but because Hu Xiaotian had retreated in time, the paw struck empty, smashing into a nearby cypress trunk. A bowl‑thick cypress was snapped at the waist, and the tree slowly toppled toward where Li Chang'an stood. Li Chang'an saw the falling tree, sighed inwardly, "My life is over!" He never expected to escape this fate, but just as life and death hung in the balance, someone grabbed his collar from behind and pulled him aside—it was Zhan Peng, who arrived at the crucial moment and dragged Li Chang'an back from the brink of death. (To be continued~^~)

That black bear indeed gathered all its strength, raised its left palm and slapped toward Hu Xiaotian. Because Hu Xiaotian retreated in time, the slap missed, sweeping across a cypress beside him. The cypress, as thick as a bowl's mouth, was actually snapped at the waist by it. That cypress slowly toppled downward, exactly where Li Chang'an stood. Seeing the fallen cypress, Li Chang'an inwardly sighed, "My life is over!" He never expected that in the end he still could not escape this calamity. At the critical moment between life and death, his collar was seized from behind by someone, dragging Li Chang'an to one side—it was Zhan Peng, who had rushed over at the crucial juncture, pulling Li Chang'an back from the brink of death. (To be continued~^~)