A City Swept by Wind and Snow GL - Chapter 17

◎The Parasitic Demon◎

A flash of brilliance crossed Xue Qianxun’s eyes, alerting her to the danger around her. Yet, oddly, she couldn’t help thinking: “Jin Se is definitely going to scold me.”

Before she could dwell on it further, a small, dark shape streaked past her. With a horrifying scream, bl00d splattered and black feathers flew in every direction. Startled, Xue Qianxun realized it was a crow charging straight into the blade. The bird struck the edge with its body, slightly slowing the flying crescent hook, buying just a fleeting moment. In that instant, Xue Qianxun felt a sudden pull at her waist, and she was rapidly pushed backward. The blade, sharp enough to slice through hair, grazed only a shallow cut across her cheek. Jin Se whispered at her ear:

“You naughty thing, do you know you were wrong?”

The warm, faint fragrance brushing past her wound made Xue Qianxun feel both embarrassed and guilty. She increasingly felt useless, a reckless child causing nothing but trouble for Xifeng and Jin Se.

Seeing Xue Qianxun unharmed, Tang Fei exhaled in relief—but before he could fully relax, a fierce blow struck his abdomen. A searing heat surged through his dantian and chest, up to his crown, while a cold wind whistled past his ears. By the time Tang Fei realized he had been hit by Xifeng’s fist, he was already spinning head over heels, five or six rotations, then shooting upward dozens of feet, his entire body wracked with pain as if it had come apart.

No one saw how Xifeng delivered that blow. All they witnessed was the famed “Three-Blade Killer” suddenly tumbling through the air like a rolling swallow, completely defenseless. At that moment, anyone could have taken the chance to strike him down.

The outcome seemed clear. Yet Zhuque feared Xifeng might deliver another fatal strike and cried:

“Great Priest, please show mercy! He has already lost!”

Xifeng remained silent, her gaze cold and unyielding, filled with invincible killing intent. She didn’t wait for Tang Fei to fall to the ground, instead leaping into the air, spinning beside him, and striking his lower back with her leg. Tang Fei became a missile from the sky, bl00d spewing from his mouth and nose, crashing into the frozen earth and carving a deep pit. Before he could rise, Xifeng’s Ice-Soul Ribbon descended, tightly wrapping around his waist, lifting him and flinging him outward.

Xifeng wasn’t a killer for sport, and Tang Fei wouldn’t die quietly. The “bullet” of his body, battered and bruised, became a blooming meteor of chaos. His eyes spun like mercury, his brain felt mashed into pulp—the agony of flying through the air, battered and broken, rivaled death itself.

After three or four spins, Xifeng finally landed gracefully. With a flick of her wrist, the ribbon loosened, sending Tang Fei flying hundreds of feet into the birch forest, toppling a row of trees.

Some spectators closed their eyes in fright, cursing themselves for watching. Others wished they had more eyes, fearful of missing a single detail. Is Xifeng a monster? They wondered. How could such a delicate and graceful girl contain such explosive power and speed? In an instant, her eyes shifted from a cold maiden’s clarity to the wrath of a demon king.

A terrifying aura spread silently, like an undercurrent, into everyone’s hearts.

Yet they could not help admiring Tang Fei.

“He’s tough!” murmured Master Xuanwu, stroking his beard and exhaling misty smoke from a long crystal pipe.

“Yes, arms and legs intact… surviving that ordeal is incredible,” added Madam Baihu.

Jin Se smiled. “Who’s talking about intact or dismembered? He’s still alive!”

Tang Fei, of course, was still alive. Not only alive, but sharp-tongued as ever:

“Damn the heavens! You let me face a girl drunk on rage!”

“Ah, that’s Three-Blade for you!” whispered the onlookers. “For years, this killer has roamed the world with only three blade techniques, slaying countless formidable figures. Undoubtedly, his skills are extraordinary. But facing Xifeng… he’s really in a bad spot, isn’t he? Never mind, she’s like a demon king!”

Tang Fei gritted his teeth, enduring the excruciating pain in his organs and shattered ribs. He was near death yet unwilling to concede, silently repeating in his mind: “I’m tough. I’ll survive. I still have unfinished business…”

Xifeng, still under the influence of alcohol, turned pale from bl00d loss. She exerted internal force beyond her limits, her back wound gushing, painting the snow beneath her with chaotic crimson flowers. Zhuque cried bitterly, Madam Baihu clasped her hands tightly, and Master Xuanwu’s expression remained calm but tense.

Only Jin Se’s face stayed composed. Holding Xue Qianxun with one hand, she observed every movement, every instant of Xifeng’s gaze.

Initially, Xue Qianxun struggled, but Jin Se calmly said: “Stop it.” Her gentle voice carried irresistible authority. She realized the severity of the situation: this Xifeng was unlike any she had seen before.

“Xifeng, so this is your berserk state…”, Jin Se thought silently.

Xue Qianxun quieted down, cursing herself inwardly for being so helpless. Unaware, Xifeng blamed herself a hundred times more for letting Xue Qianxun get into danger, silently acknowledging: “Luckily, there’s Jin Se… she can protect Qianxun properly.” Anger and frustration surged at Tang Fei, who was barely alive.

“Kill him, Tang Fei is so vile!”

Suddenly, Xifeng’s body resonated with a familiar voice, stirring her awareness. She knew it had come again, compelling her Ice-Soul Ribbon to attack recklessly, hurtling toward the battered Tang Fei.

“Kill him! Kill him for others to see! Let no one hurt her again!” the voice urged.

Xifeng trembled.

“Yes…” she coldly whispered. The world had hurt her too many times, and now her eyes glowed with a strange, inhuman light.

Tang Fei saw Xifeng slowly approaching. Despite fear, he accepted his fate. Seeing the inevitable, he felt a strange relief:

“Brother, we’ll meet soon!”

Xifeng extended her wrist; the Ice-Soul Ribbon wrapped around Tang Fei’s throat and life, her voice grim and chilling:

“Disappear, Tang Fei…”

From her palm, a brilliant light emerged, shaped like a golden crow, racing along the ribbon. Tang Fei felt the intensity even through his closed eyelids, his organs trembling in agony.

Master Xuanwu observed the deathly glow and said: “It has arrived.”

Madam Baihu, unsure of what was coming, grasped her husband’s hand firmly, resolutely: “I’ll go with you.”

The sky darkened as a massive flock of crows rose. Cold winds whipped through the birch forest.

Jin Se smiled slightly, holding Zhuque’s hand: “Your skillful hands will be needed!”

The four of them rushed toward the battle zone of Xifeng and Tang Fei.

Earlier, Xifeng had said: “Then, later, you all help me save him.”

In that moment of blinding light, twenty years of memories flashed through Tang Fei’s mind like lightning—humiliation, warmth, joy, bl00d, tears, dreams, ambition… He thought: this glow marks the end of his life, the closure of a life filled with fleeting brilliance, dreams left incomplete.

Dreams? Let them remain broken. Not everyone in this world can realize their wishes… the heavens don’t care how unwilling a mere mortal is.

Tang Fei mourned his brief, firework-like life. Just then, a teasing voice reached his ear:

“Hey, kid!”

Opening his eyes, he saw a beguiling face—Jin Se?

“Tearful… having a nightmare?” she mocked.

“Huh?” Tang Fei barely reacted when pain struck under his ribs—the kick he hadn’t noticed.

“What are you staring at? Thank her properly!” Jin Se said as she retreated quickly with Zhuque.

Jin Se’s kick was fierce enough that Tang Fei’s cracked ribs probably broke for real this time. He also recalled Xifeng’s deadly demeanor, still feeling the shock.

Yet his gaze toward Xifeng was blocked by two massive snowballs.

“Grandma, here we come!” a deep voice called.

“Bang!”

Two elderly voices, strong and resolute, guided the snowballs, clashing perfectly against the Ice-Soul Ribbon, stopping the blinding light.

Tang Fei, suspended in midair, Jin Se shielding Zhuque, and Master Xuanwu and Madam Baihu stepped back with the recoil. In that instant, they watched the enormous snowballs melt and vaporize into a rainbow in the sky.

Yet the effect was silent—no crash, no hiss. It wasn’t a collision or block, but thunder’s dominion, a demon king’s arrival, a disparity in strength swallowing all.

Xifeng’s Thunder Over—her overwhelming power—was unveiled for the first time, dazzling and tragic.

Tang Fei felt icy terror to his core, finally understanding why Tang Ran vanished without a trace that snowy night. Perhaps every inch of Tang Ran’s body had been obliterated like drifting snow.

“Brother… you died by the hands of someone so strong,” Tang Fei thought. “As a supreme warrior surviving on killing, to be cleansed this way… perhaps nothing could be more complete.”

He closed his eyes, having given all to avenge his brother. Tang Ran, his most important relative, the kind and selfless elder brother—he knew how cruel and despicable Tang Ran could be in front of prey. He had always known, but refused to face it, clinging to childhood beliefs of his brother’s righteousness.

The duel ended. Tang Fei lost—and survived.

Yet Xifeng did not stop. Her spiritual force surged violently, flowing from her hands as if dragging all living beings within sight into hell along with her own life.

Indeed, borrowing that thing’s power came at a price. It could not be used at will, nor stopped at will.

The Ice-Soul Ribbon flared with dazzling light, evil intent swelling inside Xifeng: “Kill—kill—kill—”

The medicine’s effect faded, her entire body ached fiercely, yet the dark force still urged: “Kill—kill—kill—”

“Strike them!” shouted the rebel forces in the birch forest. Dark weapons and poisons flew at Xifeng.

“Kill! Eradicate the Xiaoyao Sect! Kill the demon king Xifeng!”

Xifeng’s eyes went cold. Lips moving silently: “Those who should die are you.”

The cries echoed in her mind. Her body was losing control, hands stained with fresh bl00d, and only endless pain filled her heart. A shield born to protect had become an instrument of slaughter.

She glimpsed Xue Qianxun’s pale, terrified face. Jin Se guarded her closely. A dense flock of crows, under Jin Se’s command, attacked and defended in perfect order.

“One day… I will truly become a demon,” Xifeng thought miserably, gazing fondly at Xue Qianxun. “By her side, there is already a more reliable protector. I, this companion star, am no longer needed.”

Suddenly, an overwhelming desire to self-destruct arose in Xifeng.

Perhaps, only when this body completely collapses will the parasitic demon truly disappear.

Unconsciously, Xifeng killed—first those who rebelled, then innocent spectators, even members of her own sect. At the same time, her life gradually drained along with the flowing bl00d.

Xue Qianxun felt as if her heart were being cut with a knife, unable to cry. Xifeng… what have you become? Covered in bl00d… a demon.

“Qianxun—!” she shouted desperately. “Come back! Return to who you were!”