A City Swept by Wind and Snow GL - Chapter 27

◎”I’m not as good-tempered as you think. Kicking someone, who wouldn’t know how?”◎

Whether it was the slow effect of the Zichunghongjiu (Purple and Vermilion wine), or the strong jolting of the sudden fall, Tang Fei suddenly started to hiccup.

“This is not good,” Tang Fei thought to himself. “This is not the posture for a big shot descending from the sky to land in. Hū, I must use my luck, I must use my luck to suppress it…” The surroundings were pitch dark, he couldn’t see his outstretched hand. He chanted in his heart, focusing his qì on his dāntián, attempting to force down the disobedient wine fumes in his stomach. However, this forced push, unexpectedly resulted in him letting out a fart.

“Bù—”

The qì was faint, long and lingering. The reverberation lingered in his ears, Tang Fei frowned for a moment: “Tsk…”

“Hā—tchū—” Just as the fart sound ceased, a dreamy mumble came from the darkness: “What a captivating little voice, hē!”

The voice had a strange accent, circling within the cave. Tang Fei strained his ear to pinpoint its location. Due to over-concentration, the wine fumes in his abdomen swelled up again, and so—

“Bōom!!”

This one had a rich resonance.

“Mm, listening to the tune, doesn’t sound like a local,” the voice in the dark was strangely sarcastic, androgynous.

Tang Fei knew someone was playing a trick on him and was extremely annoyed. With a qiānglàng sound, he drew his Great Thunderclap (Dà Pīlì) and roared, “Who is it? If you’re a mule or a horse, trot out and let me see! Don’t hide your head and shrink your tail like a wretched turtle!”

“Ai, what mule or horse? This one here is a starving tiger of the Grand Yin Mountain!” The voice carried a challenging tone.

“This deep underground, is actually called Grand Yin Mountain?” Tang Fei couldn’t help but be puzzled. He immediately burst into prolonged laughter and announced loudly, “Unluckily, Tang Fei is a fierce tiger descending from the sky. As the saying goes, one mountain cannot hold two tigers! Tell me, how should we resolve this?” His internal energy was already bursting inside his body, and the Great Thunderclap in his palm emitted a low growl.

“Nay, nay,” the other person seemed completely oblivious to Tang Fei’s murderous intent. Their ambiguous laugh was particularly alluring, with an indescribable strangeness: “One mountain cannot hold two tigers, unless one is male and one is female!”

A tinder lighter was struck in the darkness, illuminating Tang Fei’s surprised face.

“You, sir, are the male, and this humble one is the female!” A plump, greasy hand gently caressed Tang Fei’s face. A sickly pale, large face slowly moved closer, the face smiled shyly and said, “This humble one is called Zhang Yongle. You are better-looking than this one imagined, Tang láng (gentleman).”

“Praying Mantis (Tángláng)? I’m a Grasshopper!” Tang Fei almost fell backward, exclaiming in shock, “What starving tiger? Clearly a big-headed wild boar!”

Tang Fei dodged as if fleeing for his life, but Zhang Yongle’s enormous body was unusually agile, as if his feet were powered by wind, always maintaining the posture of his hands resting on Tang Fei’s shoulders, facing him. Tang Fei was startled, fleeing while cursing wildly: “…You, you, you are clearly a man!!”

“You, you, you actually slander this one as a man!” Zhang Yongle simpered coquettishly. However, the superficial shyness could not hide the inner frenzy, threatening to overwhelm and smother the person.

Some people unleash their potential in moments of crisis, and Tang Fei probably belonged to this category, because, in his opinion, falling into Zhang Yongle’s embrace was truly worse than death. In a flash, quicker than one could say it, just as Zhang Yongle’s lips were half an inch away from Tang Fei’s cheek, suddenly shuā—

A green light stirred up hot bl00d, and flowers blossomed all over the ground.

“Waaaa-yā-yā, it hurts, it hurts! Bl00d! Bl00d ah!” Accompanied by a series of agonizing screams, Zhang Yongle curled into a ball of flesh and rolled violently on the ground, the scene was cruel and terrifying.

Tang Fei swiftly stepped back, shook the bl00d off the Great Thunderclap, and snorted coldly: “Want to be a woman? Grandpa will trim you from the ‘root’.”

A moment before.

The waterfall suddenly split in two.

“Drilling into a cave again?” Jin Se frowned, looking at the pitch-dark front.

“Quick,” Xi Feng muttered in a low voice.

Jin Se gathered her qì and leaped into the Water Curtain Cave, the silver fox clinging tightly to her shoulder; Xue Qianxun carried her yáoqín (jade zither) and followed; Xi Feng was last, the instant her toes touched the ground, the water curtain behind her closed again. Xue Qianxun glanced at the water curtain, picked up a stone and threw it. She only heard a pā sound, and the stone was bounced back by something hard.

Xi Feng looked at the surprised Xue Qianxun and smiled lightly: “As Tang Fei said, this array only opens for an instant.”

Xue Qianxun said, “What about Tang Fei?”

Xi Feng’s brow furrowed slightly and she said, “Either wait for the next opportunity to open, or find another way. None of us here is weak, we will wait for him with peace of mind.”

Xue Qianxun noticed the phrase “none of us here is weak” and was secretly delighted—did that mean Xi Feng also valued her strength?

The cave was quite dim, hundreds of pairs of bat eyes glinted on the stone walls, the air was very humid, and water droplets dripped intermittently. After a short while, the three arrived at a small open area. Dozens of tunnels branched out like a sunflower around them, and light shone at the end of the tunnels.

“Another split path?” Xi Feng’s tone carried an undertone of impatient annoyance. Her voice followed the tunnels, echoing lingeringly.

Suddenly, a water drop flew in from nowhere, hitting Xue Qianxun’s zither string by chance. Zhēng—a faint, lingering sound echoed. Then, an ominous voice came from all directions: “There’s a zither player, hē!”

The three tensed up, instinctively searching for the source of the voice.

“You chose the wrong path,” the man’s voice continued.

“How do you know?” Xi Feng countered coldly.

“Firstly, the Vermillion Bird is not here, and will not return to your side; secondly, Tang Fei is alone, and you will never see him again; thirdly, you are about to lose your third companion, and there’s no avoiding it—I want to keep that zither player.”

Jin Se subconsciously moved closer behind Xue Qianxun, her fingertips touching the edge of Xue Qianxun’s sleeve. Xi Feng, however, shielded Xue Qianxun and announced clearly, “You want to keep Xue Qianxun, did you ask her companions for permission?” Before her voice faded, her slender finger had already flicked a water droplet, which shot towards the end of one of the tunnels like a meteor breaking through the air. Following that, there was a reverberation of “Dīng—Wēng—”.

“Indeed, you are also a musician,” Xi Feng smiled faintly.

Xue Qianxun muttered, “Is it a bell?”

Jin Se said, “Sounds like it’s quite large.”

Xi Feng pushed Xue Qianxun towards Jin Se, dropped the words, “Wait for me,” and walked forward alone, saying in a low voice, “Bell player, state your name.”

“Ha, Great Priestess Xi Feng, your tone is always so arrogant. However, I am very sorry, I am not your subordinate, I don’t need to obey your orders.”

“Then die as a nameless person!”

In an instant, Xi Feng’s figure disappeared into the deep tunnel.

Xue Qianxun stared at the direction where Xi Feng had vanished, feeling cold all over. The hand holding the yáoqín trembled involuntarily.

“What’s wrong?” Jin Se asked worriedly, noticing the unusual aura of the person beside her.

“This was originally a challenge aimed at me, wasn’t it? But,” Xue Qianxun bit her lip and said softly, “Why did Xi Feng take it? She didn’t ask for my opinion!”

Jin Se couldn’t help but smile bitterly. How should she tell her? Xi Feng’s protectiveness of her had not only become a habit but had reached a domineering level.

“She still thinks I’m too weak, doesn’t she?” Xue Qianxun laughed self-mockingly, hugged the yáoqín in her arms tighter, and murmured, “I followed you here not out of willfulness, and certainly not to be a burden. I worked desperately to cultivate, determined to become a reliable companion who can fight side-by-side with you. Yet, your meticulous protection makes me feel… incredibly ashamed. Jin Se, can I only ever be a burden to others?”

“…” Jin Se was startled, then smiled, “You silly girl, you’ve been quiet for a while, just indulging in wild thoughts. I’m telling you, Xi Feng isn’t doing it for you.”

Xue Qianxun looked up, her bright eyes shining like stars.

“She’s doing it for the Vermillion Bird, to get her back quickly. If it were you, could you guarantee to defeat that guy faster than Xi Feng?”

“You can go look for the Vermillion Bird first! I’ll stay, like Tang Fei.”

“Both the Vermillion Bird and Tang Fei are alone, which is not what we wished for. Now, how could we possibly leave you to fight alone?” Jin Se took Xue Qianxun’s hand and slowly walked cautiously in the direction where Xi Feng disappeared. The bat colony above their heads made a faint sound as they passed. The sound of clanging bells and pulling chains came from the end of the tunnel, faintly drowning out the sounds of fighting.

“So slow,” Jin Se muttered, involuntarily quickening her steps.

The front became brighter and brighter, and then dozens of huge silver bells of different shapes came into view. Each bell was suspended by thick chains, crisscrossing and flying in mid-air. Xi Feng flew alone, leaping across the bell tops. The giant bells were like malevolent beasts with spirits, sometimes like breaking waves, sometimes like heavy mountains, sometimes like red clouds, charging viciously towards Xi Feng. Just a few dozen bells gave the impression of a massive, sky-obscuring army. Even observing from a distance gave a feeling of suffocating pressure.

Xi Feng’s opponent’s movements were strange. They could only hear his laughter ringing in one of the fast-flying bells. The moment they identified the direction, a black shadow would fly out from under that bell and instantly dart into one of the other unknown bells. The bells rang one after another, their momentum fierce. Jin Se and Xue Qianxun felt dizzy and nauseous, and Xi Feng, who was amidst the bells, seemed even more dizzy. She dodged the flying bells while chasing the black shadow, yet she was always a hair’s breadth away.

“This doesn’t seem like Xi Feng,” Jin Se murmured, trying her best to observe every subtle change in the battlefield. After a moment, she exclaimed in sudden realization, “So this is also a sealing array!—I didn’t expect it could be so small.”

Xue Qianxun immediately reacted and quickly called out, “Xi Feng, come out quickly!” The moment she said it, she instantly understood: if Xi Feng could break it, she wouldn’t have waited until now.

But the current situation was: despite the not-so-distant distance, Xi Feng couldn’t hear Xue Qianxun’s shouts. She was like a storm petrel flying in a hurricane, yet unable to break free from the vast ocean’s prison.

Jin Se couldn’t help but murmur, “Xi Feng, what exactly are you seeing, hearing, and feeling?”

What was the scene like within the perilous silver bell sealing array? Only Xi Feng knew.

Xue Qianxun stared intently at the bell array. However, even without blinking, the rapidly changing scene surpassed her ability to capture details. She couldn’t see clearly! She couldn’t understand! She looked until her eyes hurt but couldn’t find a flaw! Yet, she couldn’t stop watching Xi Feng in danger.

“Xue Qianxun, don’t strain your eyes,” Jin Se said softly, looking at Xue Qianxun’s reddened eyes, “How about using your keen insight into music to listen carefully? Based on my superficial understanding of the Art of the Puppeteer, I suspect that’s not the Art of the Puppeteer. What do you think?”

After Jin Se’s reminder, Xue Qianxun regained her focus, organized her thoughts, closed her eyes to listen, and then her gaze brightened. She suddenly realized, “It is indeed not the Art of the Puppeteer, but a lower-level ‘Bewitching Sound’. The Zichunghongjiu sealing array was grand, but it only disrupted one’s vision; whereas this array, although very small in scope and scale, superimposes ‘Bewitching Sound’ waves, disrupting all one’s senses, thus making it even harder to break than the former.”

Jin Se was astonished by Xue Qianxun’s rapid and firm judgment: “You are indeed studying the Art of the Puppeteer!”

“I already have internal cultivation as a foundation, so I won’t be easily counterattacked,” Xue Qianxun’s gaze never left Xi Feng.

“But the difficulty of the Art of the Puppeteer… no, there’s another problem before that,” Jin Se mumbled in confusion, “Some things—like the Bewitching Sound—are impossible to understand merely through self-study…”

“Jin Se,” Xue Qianxun finally turned her head and interrupted her, “Since you and Xi Feng anticipate Tang Fei’s potential and trust Vermillion Bird’s medical skills, why do you repeatedly ignore my abilities?”

Jin Se suddenly felt a bit wronged and fell silent.

“Can you trust me?” Xue Qianxun asked gently, staring into her eyes.

Jin Se’s gentle eyes slowly showed a smile: “I can entrust everything to you.”

Xue Qianxun sat down on the ground, placing the zither on her lap, and said, “I will use my zither music to break the bell’s ‘Bewitching Sound’. In that moment, you pull Xi Feng out.”

Her slender fingers danced on the clear seven strings, plucking the strings like clashing metal. Xue Qianxun’s Art of the Puppeteer zither technique, the thirteenth form, ‘Brightness’—the tone was clear and bright, ringing like metal, possessing the aura of resonating pines, pausing autumn rain, and dispelling panic. Once within it, the mind immediately opened to the music of nature, and sight and hearing became clear.

Jin Se concentrated her qì and waited for the best breakthrough point in the array.

A moment later, the moment the Bewitching Sound was broken and her body rushed into the bell array, Jin Se suddenly realized that the surrounding air was slightly humid and hot. Yet, the bell array and Xi Feng, which had been clearly in front of her, suddenly disappeared like a dream bubble, replaced by a chaotic, vast, white mist.

“Oh no!” Jin Se realized something, but it was too late. In that moment of hesitation, several of her acupuncture points suddenly felt a needle-like soreness, followed by excruciating pain.

Jin Se’s body, which was flying forward, suddenly arced sharply upwards, or more precisely, was hoisted high into the air. Crimson bl00d dropped, splattering all over Xue Qianxun’s zither. The bell array instantly vanished, and Xi Feng was no longer in sight. Xue Qianxun stared blankly at the bl00d on the strings. In that instant, her heart nearly stopped!

“—Mirage!” The first four words that flashed through Xue Qianxun’s mind were these.

This place was rich in cold water vapor from the waterfall and artificially arranged hot air, thus forming a mirage-like illusion, similar to what is seen in a desert. Furthermore, the opponent’s superb ability to control sound waves caused people to misjudge the direction of all sound sources. The price of this mistake was that Xue Qianxun, carrying Jin Se’s trust, had delivered her into the enemy’s net.

Looking up blankly, Xue Qianxun saw Jin Se dangling in mid-air like a puppet on thin black threads. The threads passed through her Nèiguān, Shàohǎi, Tiānzōng, Kūnlún, and Wěizhōng acupuncture points, penetrating her wrists, elbows, ankles, knees, and shoulders. Bl00d continuously flowed from the wounds, soaking her clothes red.

“Hurry, Xue Qianxun, go find Xi Feng,” Jin Se looked at her with a hint of apology.

Xue Qianxun could not move her feet. This sudden turn of events was a thunderous, devastating blow. Anger, grief, fear, and despair, all kinds of complex emotions filled her chest. Xue Qianxun’s whole body was trembling, and she couldn’t control it. Her pale fingers barely pressed on the zither strings, the notes of gōng, shāng, jué, and zhǐ stagnated in the lukewarm bl00d aura.

Suddenly, a mature woman’s voice drifted down from above, saying with a teasing tone, “So, not just a zither player, but aspiring to be a puppeteer too, huh? To easily break the Bell Ghost’s Bewitching Sound shows you have some skill. However, to be a true puppeteer, you are still too inferior. Encountering an opponent with a vast disparity in strength before you’ve even cultivated to a combat-ready level, I can only sympathize with your bad luck. But, in life, one always unexpectedly encounters blows beyond one’s capacity to bear. Heaven is not so merciful as to give everyone enough time to prepare.” Saying this, the woman sighed softly and teased, “Flee? Well, let you try. I’ll give you three chances. If the first one…”

“Enough of the nonsense!” Xue Qianxun roared. Her fingertips stroked the strings, the zhēngzhēng sound full of anger and murderous intent, “State your name, woman! Puppeteer Xue Qianxun challenges you!”

“The opponent the Bell Ghost coveted challenges me? Interesting. But that depends on whether you have the ability! I’ll state beforehand: I won’t hold back against an ill-mannered little girl!” Interrupted rudely, the woman was clearly displeased, her tone filled with hostility.

Before her voice faded, there was a sudden huā of beautiful string music. Jin Se trembled painfully in the melody. All of Xue Qianxun’s zither strings snapped simultaneously. The broken strings jumped up, scratching Xue Qianxun’s arm.

“Tsk tsk, looks like a very precious zither, yet so fragile. Puppeteer Xue Qianxun? You can’t even protect your own weapon, yet you dare to call yourself a Puppeteer?”

In the first round, which ended in an instant, Xue Qianxun’s weapon for combat was destroyed. Furthermore, her opponent, the woman, was even more unfathomable than the man speaking inside the bell—the Bell Ghost. She was a true Puppeteer, traceless and invisible, a Puppeteer who could kill using only ‘music’.

The surroundings fell silent again. Jin Se stopped her body from trembling due to pain. She lowered her eyes, her alluring grace quietly fading, replaced by a tragic beauty and serenity, like a peach blossom frozen in time. Xue Qianxun’s heart was twisted with grief. How could she not know that deep, agonizing pain?

“Don’t panic, Xue Qianxun; stay calm, Xue Qianxun.” Xue Qianxun lowered her gaze, silently reciting in her heart, but her sight involuntarily returned to Jin Se. “…Jin Se, Jin Se, Jin Se, Jin Se…” Something deep in her heart suddenly collapsed: panic, anger, and unbearable pain.

It seemed as though she had seen every one of Xue Qianxun’s glances in the dark. The voice gloated, “That’s right, your friend is still with me. Alright, since you, this Puppeteer, are so incompetent, I’ll teach you a lesson!”

The thin threads high in the air suddenly changed their tension. One thread rose, another pulled down, intertwining, stretching, and exerting force. Jin Se’s face instantly turned ashen white, and her lips were bitten with a row of teeth marks. However, despite this, she tried her best to suppress any whimper.

“See, that’s how a street-performing puppeteer does it. Have you learned, Xue Qianxun?”

Xue Qianxun did not answer, her fingernails dug deep into her palms.

“Not a word? Does that mean you haven’t learned? Alright, let me teach you some more.”

“Stop it!” Xue Qianxun finally shouted, “Don’t teach anymore! I’ve learned, I know it all! Come and fight me! I am your opponent!”

However, the woman completely ignored her. A faint string sound came from afar, and along with it, another person was hung on the threads.

That person was Xi Feng!

Perhaps fearing Xi Feng’s strength, the Puppeteer threaded more black long threads through her body than through Jin Se’s. Who knows what kind of excruciating pain she had just endured, yet not a single sound came from her.

Seeing this scene, as if a mountain of ice had fallen onto a landscape of ice and snow, Xue Qianxun felt like ten thousand arrows were piercing her heart, worse than death.

The long threads controlling Xi Feng suddenly pulled forward, making her look like she was flying in the sky.

The woman explained, “If you just let the puppet perform the ‘Celestial Being Flying Through the Sky’, then it’s merely a street performer’s puppetry. But,” her tone shifted subtly, “what if you use the puppet as a weapon to attack…”

Xi Feng’s body suddenly accelerated, charging towards Jin Se. Her arm suddenly lifted and struck Jin Se’s back. Both simultaneously let out a low, suppressed groan.

“This is Martial Puppetry! I wonder which one of these two weapons is stronger…” The woman paused, then added, “Of course, a Musician Puppeteer mainly uses music to interfere with the yuánbō (primal waves) within the human body, thereby controlling the body’s movements. Relying on zither strings tied to the puppet’s joints is considered inferior.” After saying this, she seemingly plucked casually, and the thin threads tying Xi Feng and Jin Se suddenly let out a faint ringing sound.

It turned out these threads were actually zither strings.

However, at this moment, the person who plucked the string suddenly let out a low cry, as if struck by an unexpected blow.

Xi Feng raised her eyes and said lightly, “Your string-stroking and power-transmission is quite interesting. I tried it, and it doesn’t seem very difficult.”

Xue Qianxun followed Xi Feng’s gaze and glimpsed a fleeting piece of clothing in the heap of rugged rocks. The enemy that Xue Qianxun couldn’t catch was easily hit by Xi Feng.

Jin Se also looked at Xi Feng in shock, then smiled with difficulty, realizing, “I almost forgot, you are a monster who is even proficient in ‘Finger-Sword’ (Zhǐjiàn).”

Xi Feng frowned slightly and smiled, “If the ‘monster’ in your mouth is a compliment, I will accept it without objection.”

Xi Feng’s move was similar to the principle of ‘Finger-Sword’: condensing zhēnqì and spiritual power on the fingertips, thus transforming the invisible sword qì into tangible power. Originally, the Finger-Sword was difficult for long-distance attacks, but the tough and fine zither strings served as an excellent medium. However, the most difficult part was how to accurately predict the attack target, as the strings radiated like light, and the Puppeteer could be hiding at the end of any string.

The hidden woman suddenly laughed. Her tone was no longer as steady as before, suggesting she had suffered a significant internal injury. She said, “Xi Feng, I heard you have a constitution that makes you go berserk the moment you touch alcohol. I’ve prepared a huge bell for you, are you surprised?”

Xi Feng sneered, “Fine, since you wish for this cavern to collapse so much.”

“Who knows what will collapse first, this cavern or your body. We learned from the Golden Fish that another powerful soul is parasitic within your body. Usually, you can suppress it with willpower. However, when you are severely injured and mentally confused, your fortress of mind will fall, and your body will be controlled by the parasitic soul.”

Everyone’s expression changed. That woman, no, it should be the Golden Fish, was actually privy to this secret! It took Jin Se two or three years of being with Xi Feng to even make a guess, and Xue Qianxun was completely in the dark.

“How about it? Have a drink and try! The spectacle of two souls fighting for one body isn’t something you see every day. —Mighty Bell Ghost, if you please.”

Following the woman’s command, a stout, black-clothed man flew out of the mist. He carried an inverted giant bell, as tall as two people, which was filled with wine. The Bell Ghost placed the giant bell in a pre-dug pit on the ground, with the bell opening facing up, directly towards Xi Feng.

“Alright, put her down!” the Bell Ghost shouted.

The zither strings on Xi Feng’s body suddenly lost their tension and she plummeted into the wine with a pēng sound, splashing wine mixed with bl00d. Then the strings tightened again, forming over a dozen taut silver lines around the outside of the deep giant bell.

Xi Feng quietly sank into the wine. Bl00d flowed freely from Xue Qianxun’s palms. Immersed in strong alcohol with a body covered in wounds—she dared not think, dared not look. Her destroyed zither clattered to the floor, and she closed her eyes.

The woman laughed: “What’s wrong? You dare not look anymore, are too ashamed to look, or have you given up resisting and are calmly waiting for death? Heh, at least you have some self-awareness, you weak, timid, pitiful little girl.”

The extreme predicament made Xue Qianxun unusually calm. She concentrated all her spiritual power on her hearing, meticulously sensing every tiny sound wave around her.

“A woman who goes on and on yet still hides her head and shrinks her tail is surely an ugly, sallow-faced crone. So, from now on, even if you stand ostentatiously in front of me, I would absolutely not bother to look!”

“You! You little wretch.” The woman’s voice trembled, then she seemed to be relieved and said, “You are tempting me to show myself, but I won’t fall for it.”

“Don’t be self-important, I have no interest in your true appearance. However, I must warn you: if you don’t want to regret it later, you better kill me now, because my Art of the Puppeteer will surpass yours sooner or later.”

Xue Qianxun was luring the opponent into attacking.

The woman sneered coldly and said, “I am very interested in your abilities and background. I didn’t intend to kill you so quickly, but since every word you say is so irritating… Poor, pitiful child, just wait to die in the darkness!”

“Don’t kill her!” Jin Se’s voice came from the air.

Xue Qianxun remained still, calmly discerning every subtle movement around her. She was coming, slightly to the left opposite her, ten zhàng (33 meters), five zhàng, seven fēn (2.3cm), ten lí (0.33mm), one háo (0.033mm)… She was here!

Xue Qianxun’s eyes suddenly opened, and she struck like lightning, fiercely clamping onto the newcomer’s wrist, her fingernails digging deep into the skin.

“What?!” The woman was extremely shocked. She had observed Xue Qianxun in the dark for a long time, and had previously learned about her martial arts cultivation from the assassins of the Water Moon Palace. Therefore, until the moment her wrist was pierced by Xue Qianxun’s fingers, she couldn’t believe this delicate, snow-like beautiful girl possessed such terrifying power.

“As expected, an ugly old hag! That mouth… Hē, from the big-mouth clan? Next time you show up, at least wear a veil,” Xue Qianxun stared at the opponent’s pale face, saying coldly.

The woman’s face suddenly changed from pale to purplish-blue. Her appearance was that of a woman in her thirties or forties. Although certainly not a great beauty, there was still some of the charm of a middle-aged woman in her features; she must have been beautiful when young. If there was any flaw, it was her mouth, which was slightly thin, and when surprised, it became somewhat wide.

“Stinky girl, you’re asking for death!” A bright black zither string suddenly shot towards Xue Qianxun’s face. The woman carried a strange zither on her back. All the strings on the zither had been removed, and the one shooting at Xue Qianxun was her last one.

Xue Qianxun was neither surprised, flustered, nor did she dodge. Her other hand flew up instantly and grabbed the zither string with a shū sound. Due to the sudden grip on the thin and fast-moving string, another deep wound was added to her palm.

“Since you have so many zither strings to play with, why don’t you give me one!”

Xue Qianxun applied more force, pulling the string towards herself. This caused the opponent’s string-holding hand to also be cut, but the part of the string hidden in the zither body was longer. In the close-quarters struggle, it was impossible for Xue Qianxun to pull the string out.

The woman was unwilling to let go, and her other wrist was firmly held by Xue Qianxun, so she couldn’t even pluck the string. Only her feet remained free.

“Stinky girl, let go if you don’t want to die!” At the moment, this was the only zither string the woman could utilize, so she was absolutely unwilling to let go easily.

“I finally caught you, how can I just let go?” Xue Qianxun exerted even more force.

The woman suddenly flew up her foot and kicked towards Xue Qianxun’s abdomen. Xue Qianxun quickly dodged, and the opponent’s foot kicked her hip bone, the pain making her eyes red.

“If you don’t let go, your bones will shatter!”

Xue Qianxun’s momentum was fierce. She focused only on firmly holding the woman’s wrist and seizing that zither string. She thought that if the woman wasn’t free, she couldn’t torture Xi Feng and Jin Se anymore.

The Bell Ghost leaned against the inverted bell, watching the confrontation between Xue Qianxun and the woman with interest, mocking, “How were you forced into such a pathetic state by a little girl?”

The woman was displeased. She silently gathered all her power and suddenly kicked Xue Qianxun again. Xue Qianxun grit her teeth and endured the pain, concentrating on gathering strength in her hands to firmly restrain her opponent.

The woman began to feel anxious, but for some reason, she was too proud to call the Bell Ghost for help. She gathered some internal energy and kicked again fiercely. However, as this kick flew halfway, Xue Qianxun also stubbornly kicked up, accurately hitting the Yīngǔ point behind the opponent’s knee.

Xue Qianxun sneered, “If you think I’m weak, that is a complete illusion. I’m not as good-tempered as you think. Kicking someone, who wouldn’t know how?”

Xue Qianxun hadn’t resisted the previous two kicks, firstly because she was observing the opponent’s movements and potential openings, and secondly, this was her first time kicking someone, and she didn’t want the kick to be ineffective.

The woman was indeed in severe pain, almost crying out. Her string-gripping hand involuntarily loosened a bit. Xue Qianxun had anticipated and was waiting for this exact moment. She immediately seized the opportunity to add force, pulling out a longer length of the string, while rotating her arm to wrap it around her wrist, completely disregarding the bloody marks the fine string left on her fair skin.

The woman’s eyes could no longer hide her terrified astonishment. Had she really misjudged? Her strength, her judgment, her calmness, and that desperate momentum, all exceeded her expectations. Was this seemingly delicate girl in front of her actually a secret weapon sent by the Carefree Divine Cult?

At this moment, all the woman’s zither strings were occupied, preventing her from using her most skilled zither music puppetry. Moreover, the external injuries inflicted by Xue Qianxun were minor, but the internal injuries previously dealt by Xi Feng’s sword qì were major. Thus, she looked back at Jin Se hanging in mid-air and the quiet wine bell, managed a cold smile, and said, “Xue Qianxun, I remember you. My name is Fifth Mei. I await your next challenge!”

With that, she finally abandoned the last zither string and quickly flew away. Fifth Mei, who was not adept at close-quarters combat, had exceptionally high-level qīnggōng (lightness skill). Gaining her freedom, she instantly pulled away the zither strings that were hoisting Jin Se and Xi Feng, and at the same time escaped without a trace.

“Bell Ghost, I’ll rely on you!” Although she didn’t explicitly ask, Fifth Mei knew the Bell Ghost wouldn’t let the three of them catch up to her quickly.

Jin Se fell, and Xue Qianxun rushed over, barely catching her. On the other side, Xi Feng was pulled out of the wine, and after the strings were removed, she was thrown out. Xue Qianxun had to gently place Jin Se down and desperately rush towards Xi Feng.

The Bell Ghost walked towards them, stroking his chin and muttering, “Fifth Mei always has a bit of a womanly softness. But I always insist: strike when you are down. Heh heh, in any case, the five of you are already broken—the Vermillion Bird, captured by the Little Wolf, can’t return, and Tang Fei, he is as good as dead.”