A Pawn's Passage

Just as Lu Yuting hesitated to receive it, Qi Xuansu stepped forward and took the bowl of water first.

Holding the bowl in his hands, he looked at the strikingly beautiful woman with bright eyes and white teeth. “Thank you for your kindness, miss. After traveling such a long way, a bowl of hot water is just what I need to chase away the chill.”

Li Mingshan continued his simultaneous translation.

After hearing this, the woman still did not speak. She simply lowered her eyes and knelt quietly by the stove.

Qi Xuansu raised the bowl of hot water to his lips.

Han Yongfeng, Qian Daren, and the others looked like they wanted to say something, but they stopped themselves.

Qi Xuansu did not immediately drink the water. Instead, he suddenly asked, “Miss, aren’t you curious about who we are?”

The woman still did not look at Qi Xuansu, but she finally broke her silence, speaking a few gentle words in the Wa language.

Without needing a signal from Qi Xuansu, Li Mingshan had already translated it. “She said she knows who we are. She’s neither curious nor afraid.”

Qi Xuansu joked, “You’re not on the verge of death, are you?”

As soon as those words left his mouth, the atmosphere in the room turned tense.

The several Daoists all stared intently at the woman.

A seemingly fragile woman, living alone in the deep mountains, unafraid even when confronted by a group of foreign strangers, was either naively ignorant of the world or pretending to be harmless while hiding her true strength. She clearly did not take them seriously.

By now, it was evident that the latter was more likely.

Qi Xuansu continued, “If you’re a dead person, then it makes no difference whether you’re from Fenglin or the Central Plains. There is indeed nothing for you to be afraid of.”

The woman finally looked directly at Qi Xuansu, her eyes like an icy lake, devoid of any warmth.

Qi Xuansu met her gaze.

He was not repaying kindness with suspicion, but rather, he had strong reason to believe this sudden snowstorm was caused by the woman before him. She was the mastermind behind it all.

Suddenly, the woman smiled brightly, as if it radiated the warmth of spring capable of melting away the snow.

At that moment, a surge of frigid air rushed in.

Qi Xuansu flung the hot water in his hand, but the moment it met the cold air, it instantly turned into a cloud of icy mist, rebounding toward him.

He had no choice but to sweep his sleeve to block it.

A layer of white frost immediately formed on his sleeve.

Qian Daren and Han Yongfeng reacted swiftly. Each of them grabbed Lu Yuting by her arms and retreated. Meanwhile, Tang Yongshui drew an already-loaded Divine Dragon Pistol from his wide sleeve and aimed it at the mysterious woman.

Li Mingshan, well-versed in the customs and legends of Fenglin, shouted, “We’re in serious trouble! This woman is a Yuki-Onna!”

The Yuki-Onna was a well-known demon in Fenglin, so infamous that even Daoists from the Central Plains had heard of her.

There was a common saying in Fenglin that one should hurry home when the Yuki-Onna appears. Skilled in conjuring snow and ice, the Yuki-Onna was not a singular being like the legendary Yamata-no-Orochi, but rather a well-known race, familiar even to children.

These mountain-dwelling female demons looked no different from humans and were blessed with breathtaking beauty. Often, they would lure men into secluded areas under the snow-covered peaks, kiss them, and freeze them entirely to steal and devour their souls.

To the Fenglin people, the Yuki-Onna was a paradoxical monster, with snow-white skin, stunning beauty, and a gentle and graceful disposition, yet capable of taking a life without hesitation. She was beautiful, yet terrifying.

Encountering a Yuki-Onna often meant experiencing a horrifying yet seductive ordeal.

The Yuki-Onna could also bear children, known as Yukinko, believed in Fenglin to be the spirits that brought the first snowfall of winter. People often reported seeing Yuki-Onna roaming the snowy plains with their children.

Most Yuki-Onna were innately cold and ruthless, subordinates of the mountain gods, tasked with governing the winter snow. While the Yukinko were harmless to humans, adult Yuki-Onna would freeze the men they fancied and bring them back to their mountain dwellings as ice sculptures for their own viewing pleasure.

Clearly, this was an adult Yuki-Onna.

By Daoist cultivation standards, even young Yuki-Onna and Yukinko were born with the strength of a Xiantian Being. Adult Yuki-Onna were undoubtedly Heavenly Beings. Some could even attain the Wuliang stage.

Some Yuki-Onna were no longer mere servants to the mountain gods and had become mountain gods themselves, with Zaohua-stage cultivation.

The Yuki-Onna race was quite similar to the fox demons. All kinds of birds resided in a vast forest. Some were kind, some wicked; some powerful, others weak.

Some Yuki-Onna froze men into ice statues to consume their souls, and others married humans and bore children. There were tales about Yuki-Onna entrusting their babies to strangers or a maiden seeking shelter on a snowy night, only to vanish by dawn, leaving behind a white robe with gold tucked inside.

Thus, the Yuki-Onna closely resembled fox demons. Some repaid kindness by offering themselves, while others deceived wandering scholars with illusions to drain their life force.

Han Yongfeng cursed, “Old Qian, you jinxed us by talking about the Yuki-Onna and Shiranui! Now look! There’s no sign of the Shiranui, but here we are facing a Yuki-Onna. At this rate, we’ll all be frozen into ice sculptures!”

Qian Daren protested, “I was just blabbering! Who knew my words would summon her?”

Qi Xuansu dispelled the frost on his sleeve and said in a deep voice, “No need to panic. Just take care of yourselves—I’ll handle the demon.”

“Deputy Hall Master, you’re so mighty and invincible!” Li Mingshan shouted before immediately turning and dashing out.

Only Qi Xuansu and the Yuki-Onna remained in the room.

In that brief moment, the entire room had turned into a realm of ice and snow, with bone-piercing cold filling the air.

Qi Xuansu remained unshaken. He had seen his fair share of formidable figures, including two of the three Deputy Grand Masters and all three Ancient Immortals. Compared to the Anchor the Monkey operation in Wuxing Mountain, this was a mere sideshow.

White mist drifted from the Yuki-Onna’s mouth in thin strands.

Qi Xuansu spoke steadily, “The Daoist Order has come to Fenglin in response to a call to suppress rebellion. Our target is the rebel local lords. As long as you spirits and demons don’t interfere, we have no intention of doing anything to you. I’ll give you one last chance. If you cease this snowstorm and let us go, I will let bygones be bygones.”

He paused and added, “You understand what I’m saying, don’t you?”

The Yuki-Onna replied slowly, “Eat...your...souls...become...mountain god...”

Qi Xuansu nodded slightly, “I see. Your kind also wants to evolve. While men mean no harm to the tiger, the tiger still desires to harm men. That means there’s nothing more to say.”

Before he finished his sentence, a Dragon Painting Pistol appeared in Qi Xuansu’s hand. Without hesitation, he fired a shot.

Since the Dragon Eye series ammunition could injure even True Lord Siming, it could certainly wound a Yuki-Onna.

With a thunderous boom, the massive explosion not only shattered the surrounding ice and snow, but it also blew the entire house off its foundation.

Qi Xuansu stood his ground, unmoved as the howling shockwave battered against him. His Youyi Cloud Robe flapped violently, and his face glowed crimson from the explosion’s fiery light.

The Grade-A Series Seven Dragon Eye Bullet had clearly dealt some damage to the Yuki-Onna. Though there were no visible signs, Qi Xuansu could distinctly feel her aura weaken.

A piercing shriek came from her mouth, and countless icicles materialized out of thin air, shooting at him like flying swords.

Qi Xuansu had already drawn Flying White Shadow. Empowered by the Demonic Blade’s instincts, he slashed without missing a single strike, cutting down all the ice shards that flew toward him.

Seizing the chance, Qi Xuansu advanced with his blade in hand, aiming straight for the Yuki-Onna’s pale throat.

The Yuki-Onna floated backward as a swirl of snow and wind formed around her, solidifying into three revolving ice shields that blocked Qi Xuansu’s blade.

Just then, Li Mingshan shouted, “Deputy Hall Master, I heard that if someone embraces a Yuki-Onna with a sincere heart, she’ll melt away, and where she melts, she’ll be reborn in a human body!”

Qi Xuansu raised his brow, mimicking Zhang Yuelu’s expression. “Why don’t you try it? I’ve only got a cold and unfeeling heart of stone.”

Li Mingshan shrank back. “Forget it, then. I’d rather not freeze to death.”

Qi Xuansu was not lying. His original heart had been pierced long ago by The Inn’s assassin. Now, all that remained was a heart of stone. But truthfully, the real reason was Zhang Yuelu. He had no interest in starting a tragic cross-species romance with some foreign demon.

He would much rather kill this Yuki-Onna in one strike than slowly try to move her with sincerity.

Qi Xuansu’s strikes grew ever faster. But Flying White Shadow had an inherent icy aura, which had no effect against the Yuki-Onna. So he infused the blade with divine power, causing it to glow with a golden light.

Brilliant gold radiated with each swing of the blade.

Since Qi Xuansu was participating in a war, the Daoist Order had provided him with some supplies. Qi Xuansu had declined the Dragon Eye and Phoenix Eye Series ammunition, opting instead for 800 marks of divine power.

Qi Xuansu already had over 2,000 marks of divine power. With the additional 800, he now had nearly 3,000 marks, which was more than enough to expend freely.

Under divine power’s enhancement, each slash from Flying White Shadow left a deep gouge in the ice shields. Cracks soon began to spread across them.

In the next instant, Qi Xuansu threw a punch using the Wind Thunder Fist from the Tantai Fist Intention.

One of the ice shields shattered under his blow.

Seizing the opening, Qi Xuansu followed with another slash.

The blade sliced through the Yuki-Onna’s head and knocked off her tsunokakushi, causing her long black hair to tumble loose and flutter wildly in the wind.

But the Yuki-Onna was far from dead. Her white robe whipped wildly around her as an endless surge of frigid air burst from within her body. Seizing the moment, she instantly froze the approaching Qi Xuansu into a lifelike ice statue.

This scene shocked the Daoists in the distance. How could Deputy Hall Master Qi be defeated just like that? What about his semi-immortal object? Isn’t he the rumored fourth prodigy of the Daoist Order?

Only the learned Lu Yuting remained calm. “Deputy Hall Master Qi’s aura hasn’t disappeared. It’s too early to speak of victory or defeat.”

The next moment, countless cracks spread across the ice statue. Beneath those cracks shone a dazzling brilliance of purple and white, casting flickering light and shadow across the Yuki-Onna just a few centimeters away.