A City Swept by Wind and Snow GL - Chapter 16

◎“Drunken Immortal Hand?!”◎

Tang Fei seemed to suddenly transform into a different person. His embroidered robe swelled with internal energy, like a flowered serpent about to burst.

Xifeng was momentarily stunned. She flicked her wrist, and the five-zhang-long Ice Soul Ribbon immediately rose into the air like a dragon, swirling through the snowstorm, watching Tang Fei with keen interest but no longer attacking. Xifeng stood gracefully amid the silver dragons and white snow, like a lone, cold jade branch—remote and serene.

The onlookers instinctively held their breath, staring at Tang Fei, overwhelmed by his ferocious aura. Yet they didn’t realize that the person now bearing the name “Three Blades” was no longer the Tang Ran they once knew.

However, Tang Fei’s eyes only focused on Xifeng. This seemingly nonchalant and delicate woman emitted an unprecedentedly oppressive aura. Tang Fei gathered his energy, waiting to act.

A moment of calm ensued.

Xifeng exhaled lightly, diverting her tired gaze from Tang Fei. She wanted to sit and rest for a while, but the birch forest carried hostile energy. Frowning slightly, she glanced quickly at Xue Qianxun; her indifferent eyes flashed with a brief, rare mix of concern and tenderness.

Xue Qianxun stared at her, her eyes blank, frozen, as if even her breath had stopped.

Xifeng’s heart tightened. Little dummy, why that expression again? She then glanced at Jinse. Jinse gave her a meaningful, slight smile, and Xifeng felt slightly reassured. She knew no one understood the turbulence in the birch forest better than Jinse, nor anyone who grasped her concerns.

The ears of Grandfather Xuanwu and Grandmother White Tiger twitched slightly. They exchanged low words: “In the birch forest—”“—there’s a mouse stirring.” Their usual tacit understanding brought a faint smile to their lips.

Only Jinse remained composed. She glanced at Tang Fei in his raging lion-like state and told Zhuque, “Look at him, quite interesting.”

Zhuque, oblivious to the subtle currents in the birch forest, anxiously tugged at her neck fur and stomped her feet. “Interesting? I’m just worried about the High Priestess’s wound.”

Tang Fei, still seething with anger, bellowed, “Xifeng! I’m finally starting to believe that you might truly be capable of killing my brother. So… you might be doomed!”

Xifeng noticed Tang Fei pause before saying something else. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, “Hm?”

Had she been distracted? Tang Fei was enraged, suppressing his fury. “Xifeng, you’ve seen Tang Ran’s Fourth Blade. Do you know what my Fourth Blade is?”

Xifeng frowned slightly, impatient. “Stop babbling. Make your move.”

Tang Fei’s face turned crimson. “Watch carefully!” With tremendous force, he hurled the Little Thunder Crescent at Xifeng, its sharp edge slicing through the cold air like a thunderbolt. Swift as lightning, his attack was nearly beyond the eye’s perception.

“So fast!” someone gasped.

Before another word could be spoken, the little crescent shattered the ice where Xifeng had stood, the thunderous crash echoing far through the winter forest.

But when the snow settled, Xifeng was gone.

Tang Fei scanned the shattered snow, thinking, Where is she? Then he noticed a trail of broken bl00d leading toward him. Just then, a chill ran down his neck. Xifeng’s voice said, “Carelessly thrown, no longer want to play?”

Tang Fei turned. The faint smell of medicinal wine hit him. Xifeng’s normally pale cheeks were tinged with red; she smiled lightly, dazzling him. In her palm lay fragments of the Moon Crescent. Tang Fei nearly stumbled.

Few knew that the famed weapon Moon Crescent actually existed in two pairs. Both pairs were crafted by the alchemist Mo Xijin of Thunder Island in the East Sea. Tang Ran’s crescent pair ranked twenty-seventh in the Weapon Manual, while Tang Fei’s Little and Big Thunder Moon Crescents were Mo Xijin’s improved version of the originals. Rarely seen and unlisted in the manual, their power exceeded the first. Tang Fei was shocked because this was not something his throw could break.

“What did you just do?” Tang Fei asked coldly.

Xifeng, weary, exhaled the faint aroma of medicinal wine. “You didn’t want it, so I threw it.” She flipped her hand; fragments fell. On the back of her hand, two faint bl00d streaks appeared.

She used her bare hand? Tang Fei’s heart jolted. He tensed, gripping the Big Thunder weapon. Loudly, he said, “I’ll be serious now. Watch out!” He had always been gentle with women; even now, knowing Xifeng had killed his brother, he couldn’t help reminding her to be careful.

“Wait,” Xifeng suddenly interrupted, turning to Jinse with an apologetic smile. “Beast trainer, I’ll leave the little wolf cub to you.”

Outsiders didn’t understand.

Jinse grinned. “Of course.”

Xifeng rubbed her temples, then pointed at Tang Fei. To the three guardians, she said, “This person… must not be killed, correct?”

Zhuque nodded emphatically. “He is no enemy of our sect. Spare him!”

Xifeng nodded thoughtfully, murmuring, “I understand. Sister Zhuque doesn’t want me to add to my sins of killing.” Bitterly, she smiled. “Then later, you help me save him.”

Having finished delegating, Xifeng glanced at the sky, then at the birch forest, feeling her instructions were complete. She retrieved the small wine gourd from her waist and drained it in one gulp.

Tang Fei, confused, shouted, “Are you ready? I’ve made my move!!”

Xifeng raised her drunken, hazy eyes, staggered back a few steps, and leaned against a half-human-high boulder. Immediately, the stone was stained with bl00d.

“Thank you. That’s enough.” Xifeng said lazily, signaling Tang Fei to attack.

At that moment, Zhuque couldn’t hold back tears.

Xue Qianxun, however, felt helpless to cry.

Even without ever seeing Xifeng’s face, even after witnessing her chest pierced and believing she couldn’t survive, the dazzling, domineering brilliance in her eyes, her gentle, lingering speech, her ruthless precision in battle, and her unique alcohol-induced drunkenness… there could never be another like her.

I’ve found you! Xue Qianxun silently cried.

That fleeting glimpse at Lingbo Lake years ago left her inexplicably melancholy. That night at Qiongyu Garden lingered in her memory. Deep in her subconscious, Xue Qianxun had long known: Xifeng was that person—the one with the same name, born to fight for her, to live and die for her, yet destined never to have her own path.

Jinse, observing for a while, was puzzled. She asked Zhuque, “Is that little drunk girl truly the same cold, unyielding ice sculpture she used to be?”

Zhuque lamented, “This is bad!”

Grandmother White Tiger asked, confused, “What’s wrong?”

Zhuque said, “Tang Fei will face near-certain death, and Xifeng will exhaust her power—they’re both in danger.”

Jinse seemed to understand. “Xifeng stole your medicinal wine. Are you worried that…”

“Yes,” Grandfather Xuanwu interjected. “The issue isn’t the medicine—it’s the wine. You don’t know how terrifying little Xifeng becomes when drunk!” Even the usually stern Xuanwu shivered, sweat beading his forehead.

“Terrifying?!” Grandmother White Tiger was shocked.

Xue Qianxun was also startled. Terrifying? I know her drunken state—how could it be scary?

“When she’s drunk,” Zhuque continued, “she loses control and kills recklessly. Because in her body…”

Zhuque paused as Xuanwu made a gesture. Realizing this was a secret known only to certain elders of the Xiaoyao Sect, Zhuque stopped. Jinse smiled, knowing Xuanwu had forbidden disclosure. Xue Qianxun, unfamiliar with them, didn’t press, though anxious and confused.

Zhuque immediately yelled at Tang Fei, “Stop! Run!”

Xifeng and Tang Fei turned simultaneously—one drunk, one bewildered—and both said, “Run from what?”

Tang Fei exclaimed, “Pretty-eyed girl, you’re talking to me!”

Xifeng blinked. “Oh, you mean you?” Then smiled. “But you can’t run.”

Seeing Xifeng increasingly drunk, Tang Fei asked, “Are you alright?”

She shook her head, cheeks flushed. “I’m fine. You, however, may die.”

Tang Fei laughed helplessly. “Little girl, you underestimate me. Wait until you see my skills before boasting!” He cocked the Big Thunder weapon and extracted a steel rod from its handle, revealing two nested layers. With each pull, the Moon Crescent transformed into a spear-like weapon.

“Switching to spear?” Xifeng murmured, blinking.

Tang Fei didn’t answer. He spun the spear with techniques: point, thrust, flick, hook, spin, chop. Graceful yet deadly, surpassing his previous three-blade techniques.

Xifeng, weakened by the wine, staggered, leaning on her hand but parried effortlessly. She circled the stone, unwilling to leave this advantageous spot. Tang Fei’s rapid strikes couldn’t touch her. Frustrated, he condensed 90% of his strength into the weapon, slashing through the stone. Ice shards flew as the stone split in two. The weapon surged toward Xifeng.

Seeing her stone smashed, Xifeng muttered in irritation. Her body arched like a swimming dragon, yet her hand elegantly met the blade, releasing a sudden feminine force.

A dazzling reverse strike!

“Drunken Immortal Hand?!” Tang Fei thought, horrified. That ethereal, beautiful girl unleashed such violent drunk-style martial arts?!

With a thunderous roar and a crisp “crack” only Tang Fei perceived, the Big Thunder weapon shattered. His hand dropped in defeat.

Xifeng withdrew her hand, bl00d dripping lightly, murmuring, “麻呢” (“Numb”).

Without Zhuque’s pain-relieving wine, she would have said, “It hurts.” The crowd laughed and cried. Tang Fei, however, truly wanted to cry. His wrist was badly injured, and one of the Moon Crescents shattered and flew away, leaving him in a pitiful state.

Zhuque cheered, “Tang Fei, you lost! End this duel. Step away from Xifeng!”

Stubbornly, Tang Fei ignored her, searching for the Big Thunder weapon in his other hand. Face flushed, he shouted, “Again!”

Xifeng, slightly tipsy, murmured, “Okay.” Her clothes were soaked in bl00d, yet her expression remained calm.

Jinse frowned. Even a monster’s body couldn’t endure this. Must stop her.

Grandfather Xuanwu worried, “Little Xifeng is severely injured. Repeatedly using her inner energy like this will exhaust her body. Only the Azure Dragon Guardian could rival her…”

Grandmother White Tiger added, “Even if you were thirty years younger, you couldn’t match her! What to do?”

Jinse asked, “If left unchecked, will she faint or die first?” Everyone looked at Zhuque.

Zhuque grimly replied, “Either is possible.”

Xuanwu threw his pipe in frustration, accidentally hitting the monkey climbing around him, who yelped in pain. Jinse had to calm it personally. In that instant, Xue Qianxun broke from Jinse’s sight and ran desperately toward Xifeng, determined to stop her at all costs.

Xifeng’s Ice Soul Ribbon had wrapped Tang Fei’s Big Thunder weapon, pulling him close. Tang Fei resisted, unwilling to release it, risking further injury if she struck again. People thought he had gone mad.

When Tang Fei neared Xifeng, he smiled. “My Big Thunder isn’t a spear—it’s actually…” He split it into three sections, each with long chains, leaping like living things. “A three-section chained staff!”

He had risked everything, intending to ensnare Xifeng with the chain and strike unexpectedly. But the chain’s wide range coincided with Xue Qianxun running up, and one of the bladed sections whistled toward her face.

Seeing this, Tang Fei panicked. “Not good!”