Chapter 113

Huang Rong tugged at the blanket, the heavy Cotton Coat seeming especially thin in such bitter cold, yet she held her back straight, her gaze sharp as she swept the surrounding darkness, like a lurking leopard.

"A figure lies a hundred meters ahead to the left," Huang Rong lowered her voice, almost torn away by the wind, yet Li Qingxuan caught it clearly.

He tightened the Rein, the Black Goat nervously pawing the ground, Li Qingxuan followed her gaze, Spirit taut, in the thick darkness he barely made out a darker patch.

"Those shadows seem to move with that person," Huang Rong's fingertips slipped silently into her sleeve, gripping a few cold Iron Thorns, "Should we go in and kill him or..."

Li Qingxuan didn't answer, merely gathering the blanket and slowly drawing the Tang Sword from his waist; the Tang Sword bore no light, yet it seemed to drink in the surrounding chill, its edge flowing with a faint glow.

He gently patted the Black Goat's neck, signaling it to stay still; Huang Rong slipped down from the Black Goat's back, melting silently into the darkness, both of them locking their eyes firmly on that area.

That patch of shadow was denser than darkness itself, writhing like a living thing, approaching soundlessly, with no footsteps, no breath—only a chilling stillness that made the heart race, as if it could devour light.

"That person is coming," Huang Rong's voice remained low, yet taut like a drawn bowstring, brimming with power.

The Iron Thorns she held between her fingertips adjusted their angle slightly, aiming at the Core of that shadow.

Just as that shadow was about to make Contact with the two of them, a sudden change erupted!

Several strands of condensed, substance-like black Changqiang, exuding a malicious aura, shot out from the shadow without warning!

They tore the air, emitting a piercing shriek, so fast that only a few blurred afterimages lingered on the retina, aimed straight at Li Qingxuan and Huang Rong's vital points!

"Watch out!" Huang Rong shouted sharply, and at that instant her wrist flicked like a spirit snake.

Several points of cold light burst from her sleeve, striking with unerring precision toward the few black arrows.

Ding-ding-dang! The shrill clash of metal exploded in the gale, sparks flying, as the Iron Thorns and black Changqiang collided violently in midair, producing a metallic ring that intercepted the deadly ambush entirely in midair!

Almost as Huang Rong moved, Li Qingxuan acted.

The Black Goat beneath him lunged forward, and Li Qingxuan twisted his body with the momentum, his Tang Sword tracing a cold arc of light.

Without any earth-shaking spectacle, only a blade of light condensed to the extreme burst forth suddenly!

"Swish!"

As Li Qingxuan exhaled deeply, the blade met the black Changqiang aimed at his face, snapping it apart less than three feet away, as easily as shattering fragile ice.

Yet the dispersed black shadow did not vanish completely.

The shattered black qi writhed like a living venomous snake, twisting to retract and re‑gather, while a portion of the black shadow, like a bone‑deep maggot, crept up the blade seeking to burrow into Li Qingxuan's arm!

Li Qingxuan frowned slightly, his wrist snapping, a vigorous surge of power wrapped around his Tang Sword and exploded, shaking the clinging black qi into fine fragments that dissipated.

"It's not a physical entity! It's more like an energy aggregate, corrosive!" Li Qingxuan warned in a low voice, his gaze growing graver.

His blade could disperse them, yet it seemed difficult to utterly annihilate these eerie black shadows.

"Hmph, hiding your head while exposing your tail!" Huang Rong snorted coldly, and after deflecting the black Changqiang her motion didn't pause for a moment.

With her agile movement, her slender figure rose weightlessly, her toe lightly tapping the frozen-hard ground, and she shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, not retreating but advancing straight at that silhouette!

Her speed had reached perfection, dragging a phantom afterimage across the ink‑black night sky.

In midair she raised both hands, this time not tentative Iron Thorns but several Willow Leaf Flying Knives whose edges flickered with an eerie blue chill.

The flying knives tore through the air, spinning and emitting a faint mosquito‑like buzz, the bitter wind ripped apart as they flew with lethal intent straight at the person within the shadow, their angle as devious as a serpent's tongue, sealing off every escape route.

"Show yourself!"

The instant the flying knives plunged into the shadow, that area erupted in violent turmoil, like boiling black mist.

A anguished roar of pain and fury exploded from the depths of the shadow, and the surrounding blackness faltered for a moment.

Within the roiling black mist, a human silhouette snapped into focus, a Willow Leaf Flying Knife embedded there, its blade sunk three inches deep, its chill flickering faintly.

"Now!" Huang Rong's eyes flashed, her body twisting in midair as she unleashed a third wave of attack!

This time it was several Short Daggers, flung with a special technique toward the revealed outline, striking true and lodging in his body.

Li Qingxuan understood instantly when Huang Rong cried "Show yourself!"

He clamped his legs hard on the Black Goat, and this aberrant mount surged forward like a black bolt of lightning, bearing him straight into the shadowed zone!

He drew the Thunder Pattern Spear, and in the final instant before charging into the shadow he drew a deep breath, his inner power surging and pouring entirely into the spear in his hand.

The spear shaft buzzed, lightning flaring like a waterfall, Li Qingxuan's eyes flashing with ferocity; riding the mount's momentum, he thrust the spear like a dragon, smashing into the shadowed figure whose movements had slowed from pain and disruption, knocking it unconscious!

The surrounding black shadows swiftly dissipated, and Huang Rong stepped closer to see the enemy lying unconscious on the ground.

It was a gaunt man wrapped in a tattered Grey Robe, his complexion deathly pale, the blood at the spot where a flying knife had pierced his "arm" already frozen, with two Short Daggers still lodged in his shin and shoulder.

"Why not just kill him outright?" Huang Rong's eyes flashed with a hint of killing intent.

"Keep him for now; we'll interrogate him first, then kill him." Li Qingxuan gave Huang Rong's shoulder a pat.

Huang Rong crouched, her slender white fingers swiftly binding him, ensuring he could offer no resistance, then she carefully examined his belongings.

"His manner of attack is quite strange; we should be cautious." Huang Rong found nothing useful on him, rose, and frowned slightly.

The biting cold wind swept up ice crystals, howling across the clearing where the battle had just ended, stirring the two's heavy coats into a rustling sound.

Li Qingxuan also dismounted, gripping the Thunder Pattern Spear, its tip still flickering with tiny arcs of electricity, he warily scanned the impenetrable darkness all around, confirming no other lurking threats.

The Black Goat let out a loud snort beside them, its hooves digging into the frozen earth.

Li Qingxuan tightly bound the gaunt man to the freshly lashed Simple Wooden Raft, then secured the raft to the Black Goat's waist, after which the two pressed on.

The Black Goat dragged the Simple Wooden Raft across the frozen ground, carving clear furrows, while the gaunt man emitted unconscious groans from the jostling, his body swaying slightly with the raft's motion.

Li Qingxuan and Huang Rong rode side by side, the blanket rewrapped around them, yet the bone‑chilling cold clung like a shadow, seeming to pierce even thick Cotton Coat and wool to reach the marrow.

A fine layer of white frost quickly formed on Li Qingxuan's beard and eyebrows; each breath turned to a fleeting mist before his eyes, only to be swept away by the gale.

Huang Rong's Spirit perception was like the most precise radar, continuously scanning the surroundings; her gaze, sharp as an eagle's, swept over distant ice‑shrouded jagged rocks and low, long‑frozen shrubs, letting no hint of abnormal outline or shadow escape her notice.

"The temperature is still dropping," Huang Rong's voice muffled by her thick scarf, sounding somewhat indistinct, yet the gravity in it was clear.

The two circled the Low Hill and the fort, finding nothing amiss, and decided to head back first.

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