Chapter 514: – Whale Devouring Grand Technique (Part 1)

Hu Xiaotian pointed at the tent and said, "Princess, come to the tent; I have a few words to say to you alone."

Long Xi Yue nodded and went into the tent with Hu Xiaotian. Originally responsible for tidying the tent, Zijuan was perceptive; she picked up the snowball and quietly left the tent.

After Ziqin left, Hu Xiaotian removed his outer robe. Long Xi Yue saw him enter the tent and immediately begin taking off his clothes, not understanding his intention, her face flushed as she asked, "You... what do you want to say?" Hu Xiaotian swiftly took off his outer robe; underneath he still wore a black vest, the fabric of which was made from some unknown animal's hair.

This soft armor was precisely the Black Silkworm Armor that Li Yuncong had given Hu Xiaotian. After taking it off, he handed it to Long Xi Yue and whispered, "This soft armor is Black Silkworm Armor; wearing it can deflect blades."

Long Xi Yue then realized she had misunderstood Hu Xiaotian's intent, biting her cherry lip as she said, "You give it to me—what about you?" She returned the Black Silkworm Armor to Hu Xiaotian, saying, "Anyway, I have plenty of guards wherever I go; I don't need this thing at all."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Just in case, I have martial arts for self-defense, so I certainly don't need it. I wear it only to avoid others seeing it; as long as you don't mind my scent on it, just wear it obediently."

Long Xi Yue's cheeks flushed; nice words always turned sour in this rascal's mouth. Hu Xiaotian's concern warmed her heart. She picked up the Black Silkworm Armor, went behind the screen, and put it on. The armor was extremely light and thin; wearing it felt no different from ordinary clothes, and once she covered it with outer garments, no one could tell there was an extra protective layer.

Long Xi Yue returned to Hu Xiaotian's side and said, "This Black Silkworm Armor seems to be made of hair."

Hu Xiaotian smiled and said, "Good eyesight. Guess what kind of hair it's made from."

Long Xi Yue shook her head, looking puzzled, and said, "I can't think of it."

Hu Xiaotian reminded her, "Think carefully—black and curly, doesn't it resemble..."

Long Xi Yue covered her ears with both hands, her face red all the way to the base of her neck: "You're disgusting. I won't listen, I won't listen."

Hu Xiaotian laughed and said, "Your Highness, what exactly are you thinking in that little head of yours? I'm talking about the Iron-backed Black Ape—what did you think of?"

Long Xi Yue reached out and twisted his ear: "You bastard, deliberately dragging me into the gutter..."

Although Hu Xiaotian wished to stay with Long Xi Yue forever, the current situation prevented him from lingering. He left the tent. Seeing Zhou Mo having settled the carriages and horses and returning as well, he smiled at Zhou Mo. Since the Black Pine Forest, Zhou Mo had become Long Xi Yue's personally appointed coachman, naturally enjoying many privileges. Because Zhou Mo constantly guarded Long Xi Yue's side, Hu Xiaotian felt much more at ease.

Hu Xiaotian gave Zhou Mo a look, and the two went to a secluded corner by the wall. Zhou Mo said, "I just heard outside that we're not going to Wuxing Commandery tomorrow?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "Wen Boyuan said there's been a civilian uprising there, so we need to change the route. For now we don't know if it's true or false; the information is still being verified. Thank you for your hard work these days."

Zhou Mo laughed, "It's nothing much." He had long harbored a doubt: Hu Xiaotian wanted to rescue Long Xi Yue—what plan did he have? Even now, his sworn brother knew nothing of it. Yet Zhou Mo had considerable confidence, firmly believing that with Hu Xiaotian's wit and courage, he could accomplish this seemingly impossible task. The reason he hadn't revealed his plan was that the time wasn't right; when the moment came, he would certainly tell himself.

While the two were talking, a mournful scream suddenly came from afar; in the quiet night, the cry was especially distinct. Hu Xiaotian and Zhou Mo exchanged a glance, and Hu Xiaotian said, "You stay here; I'll go check it out."

"Be careful!" Zhou Mo urged.

Hu Xiaotian smiled at him: "Don't worry."

The scream came from the village entrance. When Hu Xiaotian arrived at the village gate, he saw many people who had heard the noise gathering there, including Wen Boyuan. Everyone looked up at the village gate archway, where Hu Xiaotian gazed and saw a warrior's corpse hanging from the arch, the body hanging straight, swaying back and forth in the night wind; under the moonlight it looked especially horrifying. What made it feel even more eerie was that the corpse seemed frozen solid—its face deathly pale, a thin layer of white frost coating its hair and eyebrows.

Wen Boyuan ordered people to lower the corpse, and with several soldiers working together they brought it down.

Wen Boyuan summoned the army medic to help examine the wound. Externally the corpse showed no obvious injuries, yet a thin layer of ice had condensed on its skin. The medic, not being a coroner, was so frightened by the sight that his soul seemed to leave his body; he trembled and said, "Wen... General Wen... it seems... it died of freezing..."

Wen Boyuan gave a cold snort, clearly disagreeing with the medic's judgment. This soldier was one of the men he had sent to patrol around Lujia Village; he never expected him to die here, and after death his body was even hung from the village gate archway.

Wen Boyuan said, "Take off his clothes!"

The medic dared not move; Wen Boyuan summoned two trusted soldiers, who removed the dead warrior's armor and inner garments, only to see that the warrior's body was deathly pale, devoid of any blood, with a faint blue palm print on his chest.

Wen Boyuan gently felt the temperature of the palm print with the back of his hand, then spread his palm to compare its size, and said in a low voice, "It should be the Ice Soul Asura Palm!"

Upon hearing this, Hu Xiaotian's heart involuntarily trembled. The Ice Soul Asura Palm is the secret technique of Hong Beimo of the Heaven's Secret Bureau; most would assume Hong Beimo had appeared here, but Hu Xiaotian didn't think that—his first thought was Wen Ya.

Wen Boyuan shouted, "Brothers, rally your spirits to twelvefold and search Lujia Village again!"

"Yes!" The atmosphere instantly grew tense.

Hu Xiaotian turned around, only to see Tang Tiexin standing beside him, also having come after hearing the news to see what had happened. The sight before them also frightened Tang Tiexin considerably; he smiled at Hu Xiaotian, though his smile was somewhat stiff.

Hu Xiaotian secretly thought it best to return quickly to Long Xi Yue's side; if it really was Wen Ya tracking them, there was an eighty to ninety percent chance she was after him. He couldn't help recalling his encounter with Xi Yan in Tianbo City, when Xi Yan told her she had been commissioned by someone to kill him—could that person be Sumitian? Considering the countless connections between Sumitian and the Wuxian Sect, this seemed quite plausible. Although Xi Yan had let him go, Sumitian would not easily give up if his goal remained unmet.

What troubled Hu Xiaotian most was what exactly happened between him and Wen Ya on the night the Bright Moon Palace burned down. In his memory, the clearest segment was Wen Ya attempting to kill him with a poisonous scorpion; when that failed, she ended up harmed by Lin Wan instead. As for what came after, those were fragmented hallucinations he could not verify; the only thing he was certain of was that that night he had almost certainly been... violated.

When Hu Xiaotian left, Tang Tiexin also departed; both shared the same thought—return quickly to their own turf and strengthen defenses.

After walking just a few steps, Hu Xiaotian saw Tang Tiehan leading a group of people rushing over in a panic. He thought, "These Tang family members are really curious—afraid they'd miss the fun if they arrived late?" But why hadn't he seen Tang Qingxuan?

Tang Tiehan shouted from afar, "Old Three, have you seen our sister?"

Tang Tiexin shook his head and said, "Isn't she with you?"

"No!" Tang Tiehan was clearly getting anxious; breaking a long-standing estrangement, he proactively asked Hu Xiaotian, "Lord Hu, have you seen my sister?" If it weren't for his concern for his sister's safety, he would not have taken the initiative to approach Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, "I saw her once before at the oil workshop." After becoming sworn brothers, their relationship had grown very close.

Tang Tiehan said, "I'm not referring to that time; I mean just now."

Hu Xiaotian said, "No!"

Tang Tiehan, sweating profusely from anxiety, told Tang Tiexin, "Let's search everywhere again."

Hu Xiaotian said, "I'll go back and check; maybe she went to see the Princess for a heart-to-heart."

At that moment, a mournful cry suddenly rang in their ears; all three started, the cry close enough that they heard it clearly—it came from the right-side thatched hut. Tang Tiehan, naturally bold, raised his torch and rushed to the hut, kicking the door open. Everyone followed him inside, only to see a warrior lying stiffly on the floor. Tang Tiehan lifted his torch for a closer look and saw that the warrior's facial flesh had completely withered, the skin wrinkled and clinging tightly to the bones, turning into a desiccated corpse, as if his flesh and blood essence had been suddenly sucked away.

Among those who followed him in, several people, upon seeing the horrifying scene, felt nauseous and vomited on the spot.

Hu Xiaotian scanned the surroundings, confirming no one was hiding, then approached and grabbed the warrior's arm—only to see that the warrior's right hand had also shriveled into a bird's claw. At that moment another wail came from outside; the endless eerie spectacle terrified everyone to the point of losing their souls, and no one dared linger in the room. They fled in panic, each returning to their own camp.

Hu Xiaotian returned to the courtyard where Princess Anping was resting, noticing that the guards on duty outside had increased considerably. It seemed that, due to the recent strange incident, Wen Boyuan had promptly reinforced the defenses here. Zhan Peng happened to be in charge of this area; Hu Xiaotian nodded at him and quickly entered the courtyard.

Seeing Hu Xiaotian return, Zhou Mo hurriedly greeted him and whispered, "What exactly happened?"

Hu Xiaotian briefly recounted what he had just witnessed; hearing it, Zhou Mo's face grew solemn as he whispered, "You mean all those warriors turned into desiccated corpses?"

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, "Not all of them—one turned into an ice man, another into a desiccated corpse, as if someone had drained his essence and blood, leaving nothing but skin and bones."

Zhou Mo said, "Could it be the Whale Devouring Grand Technique?" (To be continued...)