Chapter 236: Fire Phoenix Roaring (Revised)

The daylight faded, and a howling cold wind carrying goose-feather snow scattered the green mist drifting over Jianchuan.

Lu Yan's black-and-yellow Daoist robe fluttered in the wind as he hovered above the rift valley scarred by battle, his brows knitted tight.

After receiving a message from his senior brother, Lu Yan had rushed to Lizhou; not knowing Xie Jinhuan's exact location, he had been circling in the sky searching until he just now sensed a disturbance in heaven and earth near Bai Hua County and hurried over.

But he truly did not expect that Xie Jinhuan was indeed the one fighting here, nor that the scene was so gruesome.

As the familiar green poison mist was blown away, the shattered Binghe below and the marks of blades and swords came into view.

Beneath the hundred-zhang cliff face, cracks spread like a spiderweb, with a depression in the middle.

An old man with gray hair, covered in blood, lay within the depression; his chest was stained red with blood, his lower body twisted and bent, and his face sunken by more than an inch, making his original features unrecognizable, only his eyes, dim as a dying lamp, retaining a trace of spiritual sense.

Lu Yan did not recognize his identity, but from the sword marks, he judged this to be the master of Lishan Sword Hut.

Li Huaichuan being killed by someone in Jianchuan was no different from Lu Yan dying in Wuling Mountain; the one who struck was a cultivator from the Southern Court, and this scene, seen by any Northern Zhou cultivator, would stir indignation, let alone Lu Yan, who was already full of anger.

Lu Yan first scanned the area for dozens of li from high in the sky, confirming no fleeing figures, then descended slightly and asked:

"What happened?"

"Hah..."

Before arriving, Li Huaichuan had imagined many scenarios: succeeding quietly without anyone knowing, being exposed and questioned by the imperial court, failing to kill and thus making an enemy, or even Southern Court cultivators attacking to settle the score, but he never thought he would die under this blizzard.

Li Huaichuan still wanted to live, but having been heavily injured and then finished off, he was beyond saving; the only reason he could hold on with one breath until now was that, before his spiritual consciousness scattered, he saw the firelight lighting up the horizon, and now, with the last strength of his life, he spoke hoarsely:

"Old... this old man was patrolling for demons and bandits here when he was ambushed by Xie Jinhuan... there was a Super-Grade Poison Witch with him... Brother Lu... be careful..."

He said this because, though he was dying, behind him still stood Lishan Sword Hut.

Killing for treasure and inviting death was something he certainly could not admit; alive, he had been timid and weak, but in death, he must at least leave behind a reputation of integrity.

Besides, what he said was not entirely false; he was wandering in his own home, hadn't even had time to act, and Xie Jinhuan had ambushed him first—what else could that be but an ambush?

For this reason, a trace of calmness appeared in Li Huaichuan's eyes, and then his spiritual light gradually scattered.

Lu Yan, hovering in mid-air, heard this and knitted his brows tight.

Because he had encountered Xie Jinhuan in Huofeng Valley, he also knew this cunning young man.

Xie Jinhuan was cunning, yes, but his mind was clearly not flawed.

Xie Jinhuan and Lishan Sword Hut had no grudge, Li Huaichuan was no evil cultivator, and there were no heavenly treasures or earthly gems here.

Yet this boy, a Southerner, ambushed and killed Li Huaichuan here, exposing his own position so that Lu Yan could pursue him, not to mention facing the reckoning of the Northern Righteous Path—what did this boy hope to gain?

Could it be he coveted Li Huaichuan's Tingxue Sword?

Lu Yan pondered slightly, feeling that the only thing on Li Huaichuan worth this boy's covetous gaze was that famous sword; although the inference was a bit forced, this was Northern territory, the backyard of Lishan Sword Hut, and Li Huaichuan, who guarded Lizhou for the imperial court, was slaughtered in his own home by a Southern Court cultivator!

Whether as one of the leaders of the Northern Zhou Righteous Path or as the Vice Minister of the Taichang Temple, Lu Yan had to settle this account.

Otherwise, where would the prestige of Northern Zhou stand? How to explain to the Northern Zhou cultivators? How to explain to the imperial court and the people?

Moreover, this cunning young man was not the first to disregard the Northern Zhou Righteous Path as human.

Seeing Li Huaichuan gradually losing his vitality, a solemn killing intent surged on Lu Yan's face; his figure gradually rose into the air, scanning the mountains and fields for dozens of li, but finding no trace of Xie Jinhuan, he then spoke loudly:

"Cunning young man! You drove wolves to swallow tigers in Huofeng Valley, and I could have overlooked it, but this is the territory of Great Zhou!

"As a Southern Court cultivator, if you entered the pass with an envoy, you should not have left the envoy's party; even if protecting the envoy, you must not use force within Great Zhou's borders; if you violate this, you may be killed on the spot according to the law.

"If you entered the pass on your own, a cultivator can form an army alone; you ambushed and killed the master of Lishan Sword Hut, who is neither demon nor bandit, here, which is equivalent to the Southern Court invading the border; as the Vice Minister of the Taichang Temple, I have the duty to suppress demons and bandits, and may also kill you on the spot.

"You had best come out now and properly explain why you committed this evil act; if you wait until I find you, I will not listen to a single word of your explanation."

His voice was like a great bell; though his tone was not heavy, it traveled dozens of li, penetrating every corner beneath the wind and snow.

But in the snow-covered mountains and rivers, there was not the slightest response, silent as a dead realm.

Seeing this, Lu Yan did not waste more words, signaling the Zhanjian Sect's technique of observing the qi to search carefully in the vast mountains and fields.

And more than ten li away, inside a tree hollow covered with snow.

The space in the tree hollow was not large; two people lay inside, somewhat crowded, even having to bend their legs.

Bu Yuehua, suppressing her headache, heard the loud voice coming from afar, and her face paled several shades:

"What do we do?"

Xie Jinhuan knew this situation was hard to handle, but Lu Yan had already told him face-to-face the reason for "killing on the spot"; if he jumped out to surrender, saying he acted in self-defense, what if Lu Yan found some excuse to destroy him?

The two were not without old grudges; he could not bet his life on Lu Yan adhering to the law, so he simply took some healing medicine, held Bu Yuehua with one arm, and carefully checked her injuries:

"It's fine; he won't find us in a short time; let's heal our wounds first."

Bu Yuehua had been stabbed in the chest; the wound had not been treated, and blood had already stained her clothes; just as she was about to cultivate to heal, Xie Jinhuan beside her suddenly raised his hand:

"Don't."

"..."

Bu Yuehua immediately suppressed her entire qi mechanism, as if facing a great enemy.

Ye Hongshang, always by her side, was watching the outside and whispered a reminder:

"The Zhanjian Sect knows the technique of observing qi; if you cultivate or practice qi, your location will be discovered."

Xie Jinhuan repeated the words and said in a low voice:

"Don't stir your qi; first apply healing medicine to cover the wound."

Bu Yuehua then remembered this was not Phoenix Tomb; Lu Yan knew the qi-observing technique, and his perception was incredibly powerful, so she could only suppress all qi mechanisms and raise her hand to try to press down the sword wound.

But the two were huddled in the tree hollow, the space for movement was too narrow; even holding her, Xie Jinhuan had to lie on his side, and with the layers of clothing in between, it was very inconvenient.

Bu Yuehua glanced at the man beside her; with her life hanging by a thread, every bit of combat power meant another chance to survive, so she could not avoid treating the wound; she raised her hand and, with great care, tried to undo her collar.

Xie Jinhuan lay on his side in front, listening to the movements outside with his ear turned; he couldn't even turn around, but outside it was dark, and deep within the dense forest hidden in the tree hollow, it was dim and lightless; even if very close, nothing could be seen. Swoosh~

As the collar was undone with great care, a black soft armor was revealed.

The soft armor fit very closely, outlining the magnificent curve of her chest; the sword wound was a little below the left chest; because the armor was of excellent quality, there was only a tiny sword hole.

Bu Yuehua could not tear the soft armor open with bare hands; she could only lift the armor upward from the lower abdomen with extreme gentleness, but her elbow pressed against the tree trunk, making a faint sound.

Crack~

Bu Yuehua immediately froze.

Xie Jinhuan lay on his side right in front; actually, lifting the clothes was more convenient. Hearing the commotion was wrong, he didn't fuss over small details, slid down a bit, raised his hand to pinch the soft armor, and carefully pushed it up to below the neck.

Thump-thump~

??

Bu Yuehua felt her chest tremble slightly; her serene face suddenly flushed red!

Her original intention was to lift the soft armor to her chest, exposing at most the southern hemisphere; the sword wound was below, completely treatable.

But this rascal pushed it all the way below the neck, causing it to be completely exposed to the extreme cold weather; her delicate skin could even feel the man's breath...

Fortunately, there was no light in the tree hollow, so she could only comfort herself that this boy couldn't see, while taking gauze from her waist, handing it to Xie Jinhuan, and then pouring the wound medicine on top.

Although Xie Jinhuan couldn't see, relying solely on perception, he could sense the scale of the object slightly spread out before him; however, he truly couldn't pay attention to such things now. With his arm pressing against the back of Senior Bu, light and flexible, he could only hold the gauze in one hand, and after the other party poured the powder on, pressed it onto the wound.

But just as the two were busy like this, firelight suddenly lit up outside.

Golden-red light illuminated the wilderness, penetrating the thin snow covering the cave entrance into the tree hollow, causing the surrounding environment to become a few degrees clearer.

And then Bai Xi's unblemished waist and abdomen were presented without reserve in both their fields of vision...

(⊙⊙)!

?!

Bu Yuehua, caught off guard, quickly blocked with her hand, but her hand was relatively small and couldn't even cover it all...

Xie Jinhuan blinked, also stunned for a moment, but immediately his expression changed; he turned his head to look outside:

"What is that old Wang Ba doing? Setting the mountain on fire?"

Whoosh~

Wild wind and scorching waves swept over the mountains and fields; from very far away came a 'crackle-crackle' sound. Through the snow covering the cave entrance, the towering flames outside were visible.

Bu Yuehua's heart turned to ash; she gritted her teeth and said:

"We cannot withstand the Blazing True Fire. When Lu Yan burns, he burns a large area; we definitely cannot hide."

Xie Jinhuan knew time was short; because environmental noise covered them, he no longer cared about his movements, took out the bandage, caught it with his left hand which was pinned underneath, and wrapped it around once.

Seeing this, Bu Yuehua, for convenience, could only raise her chest high, using her left hand to catch the bandage passing behind her back; she had no strength left to block. Because the tree hollow was too small with no room to move, it was almost fed right to Xie Jinhuan's mouth. Her face was redder than the firelight outside, but she gritted her teeth hard and didn't move wildly.

Xie Jinhuan thought Sister Bu had such a strong will; in this situation, she still knew to prioritize the big picture. Although he could just open his mouth and hold it, he shouldn't recklessly suckle at this time. His hands and feet were nimble as he finished wrapping the bandage, then pulled it tight, pulled the soft armor back down, and covered the waist and abdomen with clear abs.

Bu Yuehua felt a great weight lifted; she glanced slightly at Xie Jinhuan, found that this child was fully focused on the outside and didn't take this small embarrassment to heart, so she bit her lower lip lightly, pretending nothing happened, secretly regulating her internal breath, and listening to the commotion outside...

——

Daylight completely faded; Chongshanjunling was shrouded by wind and snow, yet illuminated by golden-red flames like broad daylight.

Lu Yan flew through the air; the glowing Imperial Fire Token displayed a phantom of a fire bird, pouring down raging flames below. From a distance, it looked like the Milky Way pouring upside down, or Taishang Laojun kicking over the alchemy furnace. Several mountain peaks turned into seas of fire; first, the accumulated snow evaporated into white mist, then withered trees turned to flying ash, until revealing scorched black earth.

Lishan and even Jianchuan were considered the cave-heavens and blessed lands of Lishan Sword Hut. If a fellow Daoist from another land set fire here, normally they would be blocked, but since Li Huaichuan was already dead, the remaining miscellaneous people dared not approach this area where powerful beings were clashing.

According to estimation, Xie Jinhuan couldn't run that fast; he should still be hidden within this area. The Gaze-Seeking Art couldn't find his tracks, but using the Blazing True Fire would definitely burn him out.

The good news was that Lu Yan's judgment was indeed correct; Xie Jinhuan was hiding in the shaded slope ten li away. Although he couldn't be found temporarily, as long as he was in the sky, he couldn't escape right under his nose.

But the bad news was that Lu Yan didn't know in what direction Xie Jinhuan was hiding. He pondered in his heart that this boy should have fled in the opposite direction from where he came, so he was pushing westward.

But actually, Xie Jinhuan killed too fast; only halfway did he realize Lu Yan was coming, so he was actually in the opposite direction. Burning like this for a short time would definitely yield no results.

However, this severely harmed another group of onlookers.

Over twenty li away, seven figures lay side-by-side on the mountain ridge, looking at the world-destroying flames ahead pushing towards them; all their faces changed color.

Although Lu Yan burned very carefully and kept using the Gaze-Seeking Art to survey the surrounding heaven and earth, slowing his advance speed.

But as long as Lu Yan persisted, sooner or later he would burn here. If they weren't discovered by Old Demon Lu in advance, they would all turn into roast chickens!

He Can sensed something was terribly wrong; he turned his head and asked:

"Is this also within your plan?"

Chu Xing's face turned green; after all, when he came, he acted as an observation post to see the result, lying on a mountain ridge over thirty li away, just worrying about being caught in the crossfire.

But who could have expected that Lu Yan, having failed to block the person, was actually preparing to burn them out? He probably saw Xie Jinhuan running northeast, but as a demon bandit with pure roots and black origins, he didn't dare to remind anyone!

What to do then...

If Chu Xing showed his head, he would be discovered by Lu Yan; at this moment, he could only hold his breath and condense his qi, treating himself as a dead man, and said in a low voice:

"The distance is over ten li; Lu Yan might not search that far."

"He is in the sky; that's only a few steps. What if he really burns over here?"

"Uh..."

Die together then; what else can be done...

Chu Xing had absolutely no way; now he could only bet the distance was far enough, and Lu Yan simply couldn't search this far...

(End of this chapter)