Chapter 231: You Removed Xie Jinhuan (Changed)

Outside Shanhe Pass.

Beneath the snowfields frozen for a thousand li lies an ancient battlefield inherited from the distant past.

The most famous great battle here was when the Human Emperor shattered the barbarian alliance, sweeping across the six directions and establishing the current order of the world.

Since then, through successive dynasties, whether the cultivation path or the northern and southern imperial courts, all used this as a boundary, sparking hundreds of battles large and small; in the eastern part of the snowfield lies a canyon, said to be left by the Human Emperor's final duel with his archenemy, named 'Jianchuan', which is also the origin of Linchuan County's name.

Yet thousands of li of rugged blood and fire have long been buried beneath the white snow and yellow sand; the ancient battlefield now looks merely like a desolate, pockmarked snowfield.

On a patch of snow a hundred li outside Shanhe Pass, a bonfire burns.

A grey-haired wandering artist sits on an old tree trunk that has fallen for who knows how many years, gazing at the swirling snow and wind, playing the sanxian in his hands:

"Dang, dang, dang~"

"Where the wind howls~ the war flag rests~ The whinnying of horses chills gods and ghosts, bones piled high bury old dreams, heroic souls silently guard the barren hills..."

The vast melody echoes across the snowfield that has buried tens of thousands of souls yet remains empty of people; soon, the sound of light footsteps rises:

Crisp, crisp~

The wandering artist looks up and sees a figure in black robes emerge from the wind and snow; he immediately stops playing and smiles to greet:

"Long time no see, Wei Shaoxia has grown even more mature."

The visitor's name is Wei Jili; his cultivation is not low, but his reputation in the southern Jianghu is not great, after all, the Snow Eagle Ridge sect has two Supremes, the other being the number one martial artist of the southern martial world, Wei Wu Yi.

Wei Jili, as the eldest legitimate son, is now over sixty; these years he has been handling internal sect affairs, rarely appearing in public; now he stops before the bonfire and bows with clasped hands:

"You, sir, still retain your charm."

The wandering artist plucks the sanxian, shakes his head and sighs: "Not as in the past. As the saying goes, one does not visit the Three Treasures Hall without cause; Wei Shaoxia comes from the south, so this should not be merely for old times' sake."

Wei Jili's father serves as Deputy Supervisor in the Great Qian, yet he himself ran alone to the north, which is quite taboo; thus he does not play word games now, but speaks directly:

"Some time ago, Master Sikong set a trap in the Southern Border to kill Xie Jinhuan, but all those sent failed; the south dares not stir the snake again, so they can only send this youth to the north. I have come to remind you to deal with this youth as soon as possible; otherwise, with his abilities, he will likely ruin the northern scheme."

The wandering artist sighs: "Your schemes span twenty years, yet you nearly had your table overturned by a yellow-mouthed child; even Master Sikong himself setting the trap could hardly handle him, and now you can only toss him northward, asking us to deal with him so he does not return to the Southern Court to smash your stage again. Wei Shaoxia worries well, but are we not afraid of stirring the snake?"

Wei Jili replies: "The Pill King had long intended to send envoys to Zhou before Xie Jinhuan went south, and greatly admires Xie Jinhuan; we merely saw Master Sikong's plan fail and went with the flow to facilitate this. Whether you handle it or not, this youth will come, and with his abilities, there is a nine-in-ten chance he will ruin your great matter."

The wandering artist has obviously heard of Xie Jinhuan's deeds and asks:

"If the north is to handle him, you must at least give us his whereabouts?"

Wei Jili shakes his head: "This youth is too alert, and as if he has opened a heavenly eye; rashly tracking him will likely lead to discovery; to avoid stirring the snake, we can only monitor the post stations and checkpoints along the route. But this youth suffered a loss in the south last time, so he concealed his tracks when coming here; currently we can only roughly infer he has left the pass and reached the north."

"From Shanhe Pass to Yanjing, spanning three prefectures, with no knowledge of when he left the pass or his route, how can we fish a needle from the ocean? Once he reaches Yanjing, we cannot act."

"Since I have come, I naturally have a way to draw out this youth; you only need to find people to handle him."

While speaking, Wei Jili takes a piece of paper from his sleeve and tosses it to the wandering artist:

"This youth should be accompanied by the Master of Queyue Manor. This is the situation regarding Bu Qingya and his wife's murder back then; spread the news, then wait by the stump for the rabbit; he will surely arrive."

The wandering artist takes the paper and glances at it:

"Bu Qingya was once the second-in-command of the Wu Alliance; I even met him back then. In a flash, his daughter has come out of the mountain; time truly flies. Very well, Wei Shaoxia, go back; this youth will not reach Yanjing, nor return to the Southern Court."

Wei Jili warns:

"Master Sikong already applied 'a lion fighting a rabbit uses all its strength', yet still failed to kill him; you must not be careless."

The wandering artist puts away the paper:

"Killing is not difficult; what is difficult is leaving no trace; whether the matter succeeds or fails, do not stir the snake or expose yourself. Fortunately, there are usable people nearby; if this youth dies by their hand, no one will suspect."

Seeing this, Wei Jili says no more; after bowing with clasped hands, he vanishes into the wind and snow.

Dang, dang~

The sanxian sounds again beside the bonfire; the wandering artist plays alone for a moment, then takes three copper coins from his sleeve, tosses them up and lets them fall into his palm; after a brief look, he frowns slightly:

"Great misfortune. It seems one person cannot handle this youth..."

——

Morning.

Outside the inn window, the clamor of carriages and horses rises, along with street vendors' cries:

"Sheep head meat..."

"Selling coal..."

Xie Jinhuan is awakened by the noise; he opens his eyes silently and sees he has somehow sat on the ground; his outer robe has been taken off, and beside him lies a warm, soft mass.

Turning his gaze, he sees Nangong Xianzi in a deep blue skirt, arms crossed, holding his robe; shoulder to shoulder, they lean together; having fallen asleep unconsciously, her cheek rests on his shoulder, her quiet face remarkably serene.

"..." Xie Jinhuan knew that if she leaned on him for warmth in the dream, reality would be the same; now he cannot move nor stay still; noticing the Ghost Wife appearing from the front, his eyes hold some helplessness.

Ye Hongshang, in a red skirt, sits by the table; seeing this, she shrugs slightly: "This cannot be blamed on Sister; reality is like this; to prevent you from leaving the illusionary realm, we made snow fall on the beach; ask Meiqiu for the specific reason."

Xie Jinhuan is somewhat puzzled; he turns to look out the window, only to find the window crack he had painstakingly blocked has been completely pulled open; a layer of snow has piled on the windowsill; the close attendant with thick fur, noticing he has awakened, shakes her head and signals it is time for breakfast:

"Gugu, gugu..."

"?"

I told you so...

Xie Jinhuan finds the room has no warmth at all, cold as an ice cellar; he finally understands why he shivered so much last night.

Perhaps hearing Meiqiu's movement, a sound follows from beside him:

"Hoo~"

Bu Qingya had been observing the star chart all night; she is unclear when she fell asleep; now her divine sense returns to her mind, feeling she leans on someone's shoulder; she quickly sits upright, opens her eyes, finds she is no longer in the dream, then immediately springs up to check her skirt; seeing her skirt is intact and she has not truly changed into the stepmother's skirt that drives men mad, she secretly sighs with relief.

Xie Jinhuan pushes himself up from the ground, tossing the small broken bird flying over to beg for food aside:

"I told you the dream was just an illusion; yesterday Meiqiu pulled the window open; being blown by the wind and feeling a bit cold is normal."

"Gurgle~"

Meiqiu failed to beg for food, so she flew onto Bu Yuehua's shoulder and began acting cute.

Bu Yuehua had been forced to wear a cool dress and squeeze in with Xie Jinhuan all night yesterday; her heart felt a bit awkward, but Xie Jinhuan was indeed teaching her the Martial Dao Divine Canon, and Meiqiu just wanted to eat—what fault could she have? For this reason, she could only treat it as a dream:

"Thanks. The Martial Dao Divine Canon is indeed profound; I didn't understand much of it. Unless something unexpected happens, I'll need several more days to learn it. Meiqiu has been hungry all night; let's go eat first."

Xie Jinhuan couldn't say much either; he raised his hand and flicked Meiqiu's head, then accompanied her downstairs to the restaurant across the street.

Meiqiu had peered out the window all night; now seeing the mutton shop, she couldn't move. Xie Jinhuan could only accompany her over to order two taels of lean meat, finely chopped into meat granules, with not a bit of fat.

Bu Yuehua sat in the restaurant waiting. Seeing Xie Jinhuan carrying Meiqiu while showing off his knife skills, she couldn't help but silently shake her head. Just as she waited for breakfast to be served, she suddenly heard a passerby chatting on the street:

"The government office is useless too. More than ten people have died in Bai Hua County, and there's still no resolution..."

"We can't blame the government entirely. I heard the demonic Taoist who steals human souls uses a 'Soul-Restraining Lock.' This item is said to be a weapon once used by the Corpse Ancestor..."

Hearing the three words 'Soul-Restraining Lock,' Bu Yuehua was shaken to her core. The quiet and elegant face beneath her veil added a few degrees of cold killing intent. She turned her head to look at the three passersby:

"Are you sure?"

The three drunkards, caught off guard, were startled by this veiled swordswoman. Sensing something was wrong, they immediately fell silent. Unexpectedly, this swordswoman who looked so delicate and charming was quite fierce; she directly gripped her slender sword:

"Are you sure it's the Soul-Restraining Lock?"

"Uh..."

The speaking passerby's face turned pale. He stammered a reply:

"I'm not sure either; I just heard people on the street mention it..."

Bu Yuehua gently inhaled, stood up holding her sword, nodded in apology, and then walked quickly into the street.

Xie Jinhuan was buying breakfast for Meiqiu. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Nangong Xianzi suddenly rushing out of the door. He immediately put down the silver and hurried after her:

"Senior Sister Hua?"

Bu Yuehua took her sword, retrieved a horse from the inn, pondered briefly, and explained in a calm tone:

"We must go to Bai Hua County. A wave of demonic bandits has emerged there. I heard it is related to the Soul-Restraining Lock. This weapon is tied to past grievances within our sect, so it is quite important."

Xie Jinhuan had already heard about the matter in Bai Hua County. According to folk rumors, it was related to the 'Chiwu Sect' of Northern Zhou. This sect appeared shortly after Empress Dowager Guo ascended the throne, harvesting the essences and souls of the common people everywhere. There were even rumors like 'The nation will perish by the Red; demons will descend upon Zhou lands.' Some even claimed Empress Dowager Guo was a demoness reincarnated from the Chiwu, preparing to seize control of Great Qian.

But Xie Jinhuan knew the red-haired big sister and completely disbelieved these rumors. At that moment, he casually bought a few steamed buns, then flipped onto a horse:

"What is the Soul-Restraining Lock? Is it related to the Chiwu Sect?"

Bu Yuehua urged her horse through the bustling market, explaining along the way:

"The Soul-Restraining Lock was originally the treasure of the Corpse Wu Sect. Later, it was obtained by the Corpse Ancestor, then lost during the war. After the war, the Righteous Paths searched everywhere but found no trace. It only reappeared thirty years ago. As for the Chiwu Sect, I am unclear about its origins; anyway, this branch does not exist within the Wu Sect factions."

Xie Jinhuan, merely observing Nangong Xianzi's sudden shift in mood and demeanor, knew this matter might involve significant consequences. But since Bu Yuehua did not elaborate, he did not ask further questions. He simply accompanied her as they galloped toward Bai Hua County...

(End of this chapter)