King of Hundred Victories Saber

Shi Feiyang acted swiftly, pinching her wrist’s acupoint, as icy blue True Qi flowed like a gentle stream into her: ”First, heal your injuries; we can discuss these matters later.”

Yun Wuyue leaned against the embroidered pillow, gazing at Shi Feiyang’s concentrated profile as he channeled his energy, and spoke softly: ”Hero Shi, do you know why I risked my life to deliver the secret message?” Her voice gradually lowered, ”Because I’ve seen... seen the look in Bai Zhi’s eyes when she mentioned you, like the flames of combustible ice, seemingly cold, yet truly burning hot.”

Outside the tent, the night wind suddenly rose, causing the tent to rustle noisily.

Shi Feiyang was silent for a long time before finally speaking: ”Once you’re healed, we’ll go find Lan Xiaodie together.”

He refilled the extinguished bronze censer with ice crystals, ”One day, the poisonous miasma of Bozhou will be completely dispelled.”

The lunar light of late spring filtered through the broken window lattice among the woods, casting mottled silver patterns on Yun Wuyue’s pale face.

She strained her will to strategize breaking the formation with Shi Feiyang, yet her eyelids grew increasingly heavy, as if weighed down by lead.

Seeing this, Shi Feiyang tucked the brocade blanket further over her shoulders: ”Miss Yun, rest first; we can discuss it later without hurry.”

Before his words ended, Shi Xiong’s low voice came from outside the tent: ”Grand Squad Leader, the horses are ready.”

As Shi Feiyang and Shi Xiong’s figures vanished into the night, the sound of hooves receding, Yun Wuyue finally succumbed to exhaustion, falling into a deep sleep.

The southwestern mountains were enveloped in thick twilight, as Lan Xiaodie passed barefoot through stone steps covered with moss.

Her plain white Miao dress flapped loudly in the chilly mountain wind, the silver horns wrapped in crimson thread at her waist had long lost their splendor, leaving only a few dim emerald pendants, reflecting a cold, desolate light under the moonlight.

She gazed at the curved crescent moon in the sky, eyelashes still clinging to the ice crystals caught while traversing the snowy mountains—those once blinded by the illusions of the Holy Heart Technique now transformed into searching starlight in her eyes.

The mountain wind swept up dead leaves, amidst the rustling sound, faintly interspersed with distant wolf howls.

Lan Xiaodie knew that at this moment, her sister Lan Qin’Er was plotting sinister schemes with Yang Yinglong’s rebel forces in secret, yet she understood even more clearly that only by uncovering her father Lan Xianglin’s past could she sever the millennia-old harmful ties to the Five Poison Sect.

She clenched the poisoned silver hairpin at her waist, allowing the scorching sun to redden her cheeks, the wind and sand to wear holes into her plain dress, step by step, towards the rumored valley where Blind Granny resided.

Upon entering the valley filled with the scent of medicinal herbs, Lan Xiaodie’s ankles were already marked by countless blood stains from thorns.

The valley was enveloped in damp fog, amidst the wild grass beside the stone steps, occasionally flashed the ghostly green eyes of poisonous snakes.

She gritted her teeth against the stinging pain of her wounds, slowly descending the moss-covered stone steps, suddenly spying a faint yellow light emanating from the depths of the bamboo grove, a mortar in front of the thatched hut still retained the scent of crushed mugwort and sulfur.

”Granny, latecomer Lan Xiaodie requests an audience!” Lan Xiaodie’s voice echoed through the valley, startling the birds roosting in the woods.

Before her words were complete, the steady tapping of a bamboo cane was heard from within, as an elderly blind woman with white hair lifted the coarse cloth door curtain, dressed in hemp garments faded pale from washing, her face lined with deep, knife-cut wrinkles, yet her blind eyes seemed capable of piercing the heart.

”Child, you have finally come.” Blind Granny’s voice was hoarse yet steady, as she gently tapped the bamboo cane against the stone bench, ”From the moment you set foot in this valley, I heard your footsteps—they were so much like twenty years ago, when a young person stumbled into this place on a rainy night.”

Lan Xiaodie’s heart trembled, she fell to her knees, her forehead resting against the cold stone: ”I dare to ask about the past of my father Lan Xianglin, the world says he was full of evil deeds, but Xiaodie doesn’t believe, isn’t there a shred of kindness in his heart?”

The wind across the valley abruptly became wailing, stirring Blind Granny’s graying hair.

The old woman remained silent for a long time, her withered fingers caressing the engraved scars on her bamboo cane: ”Lan Xianglin... Ah! In his youth he colluded with Southern Border Witchcraft Masters to vie for the position of Sect Leader of the Five Poison Sect, using living people to breed Gu insects, his methods cruel enough to terrify all of Miaojiang.”

She paused, her tone filled with a sigh, ”His ’Thousand Spider Poisonous Hand’ turned many martial arts heroes into blood; the ’Bone-Eroding Miasma’ he crafted caused countless innocent civilians to die violently in the wild.”

Lan Xiaodie dug her fingernails deeply into her palm, the hem of her white skirt lifted by the mountain wind, revealing scars on her calves scorched by poisonous vines.

These were tales she had heard long ago, but hearing them from Blind Granny’s mouth still struck her heart like a heavy blow.

Yet, she refused to give up: ”Isn’t there... not even one... one thing to prove he still had a conscience?”

Blind Granny’s cloudy eyes turned towards her, a hint of bitter smile appearing at her lips: ”Yes. On a snowy night twenty years ago, he discovered a child who had wandered into the sect’s dungeon. That child was barely seven or eight yet was being treated as feed for Gu insects.”

The old woman’s voice suddenly softened, ”Lan Xianglin, by a twist of fate, released that child, even using his own arm to block a lethal poison arrow for that child when pursuers arrived.”

Lan Xiaodie suddenly raised her head, tears glistening in her eyes: ”Why? Why did he do this?”

”Because...” Blind Granny fumbled and pulled out a blood-stained half Jade Pendant from her bosom, ”that child wore a Jade Pendant identical to the one his mother left him in childhood.”

She placed the Jade Pendant upon the stone table, ”From then on, I often saw him staring blankly at the moonlight alone, yet he never had the courage to turn back.”

The mountain wind howled as it swept through the bamboo forest, Lan Xiaodie stared at the Jade Pendant on the stone table, as if hearing her father’s suppressed sighs in the dead of night.

She finally understood that in seeking not only the truth, but also the slender hope within her family’s sinful bloodline.