Chapter 39: Madam appears and orders the monkey to be killed

The woman was a seasoned businesswoman with a keen eye; her eyes darted around, glancing here and there, scanning the room. She had a good understanding of Li Xian.

The garment was made of animal hide.

The price is quite high; only the wealthy and powerful can afford it. But what kind of noble person would come to buy rouge in the dead of winter?

Beneath the armor, one could see were standard-issue clothes. Clearly, they were servants, slaves, or men of the household.

Most likely, he was disliked and got a lesson from others; otherwise, how could such a deadly task have fallen into his lap?

"Young master, come and take a look over here."

The woman's attitude was rather perfunctory; she swayed her hips and twisted her waist, trying her best to walk with a graceful and slender figure. However, her posture was quite unsuitable, and Li Xian quickly looked away to avoid this visual disaster.

She opened a box.

Inside were boxes of rouge and powder, in red, blue, and green, all exquisitely decorated. They were inlaid with pearls, jade, and other jewels.

"See, if you have any problems, just tell me," the woman said.

Li Xian casually picked up a box, took a gentle sniff, and a faint fragrance lingered around her nose.

How much is this?

Li Xian asked.

"This is cheap, a little over seven hundred coins," the woman said with a smile.

"Change it, it'll cost around three taels of silver." Li Xian waved his hand.

"Alright then." The woman turned and walked to a display wall. "These are all the prices listed here."

Li Xian stroked her chin, staring at the exhibition wall, lost in thought:

"After selling the rouge, we'll have to go back to the manor, which is too risky. We'll stay as long as we can."

Li Xian sighed inwardly, feeling his own life as precarious as the wind and snow.

On the surface, she was carefully selecting rouge, but in reality, she was just struggling silently.

"Young master, are you going to buy it or not? You've been looking at it for far too long!" the woman said impatiently.

"Is there anything to eat?" Li Xian asked, seemingly unrelated to the question.

"have to."

The woman went to the kitchen and brought back a bowl of vegetarian noodles. "Now that you've eaten, you'll have to make a decision. It's not that I don't want you to stay, but... what difference would it make if I kept you a little longer?"

“You’ll have to go back eventually, won’t you? This snowstorm hasn’t stopped for days.” The woman sitting opposite her clicked her tongue and shook her head. “It’s a pity to waste such a handsome face.”

"If we were elsewhere, I might be able to introduce you to some work. But now, I don't even know if you can survive this snowstorm."

Although the woman was making sarcastic remarks, she did indeed have a trace of compassion.

Li Xian remained silent, eating her noodles heartily and drinking all the broth. She then picked up a rouge box that she liked and paid for it.

As Li Xian was leaving, she passed by a heater and a thought struck her.

His successful arrival in Qingning County was largely due to luck, but whether he could return was uncertain. Having a warm stove nearby would certainly make things much more comfortable.

sidewalk:

"Dear sister, could you please give me one of your hand warmers?"

"Oh, you've got a sweet tongue. Here, take it." The woman waved her hand dismissively.

...

Li Xian passed through the dog hole and arrived outside the city wall. After determining his location, he began to sense the wind direction.

He held the heater in his arms; the fabric between his clothes prevented it from burning his skin, but the intense burning sensation was still very strong.

But it's better than freezing to death.

"It's a southwest wind..."

Li Xian took a step forward, keeping the initial wind direction firmly in mind. Because without a reference point, the subsequent wind direction was deduced from the initial wind direction.

They walked like this for half an hour.

Li Xian secretly rejoiced that he had mastered the "Snowwalking" technique in advance. Otherwise, with the deep snow, his feet would have sunk into the snow, and he would have been distracted.

In this way, the skill of discerning location by sound becomes less useful, and it is very easy to lose one's way.

Suddenly, in a split second, the wind stopped.

"A great opportunity!!"

At this moment, he was facing due west, which was the direction back to the village. Without the interference of the wind, he could take advantage of this opportunity to speed up and greatly increase his chances of survival.

Li Xian used all his strength and ran as fast as he could.

After walking about three or five miles, the wind and snow started again.

Li Xian slowed down, intending to use the old method again to deduce the direction by taking advantage of the wind.

Suddenly, he shuddered.

A chill ran through his body, and goosebumps rose from his feet to his head, one by one, and lingered for a long time.

In the darkness, two red lights appeared in the distance, flickering as if they were approaching.

As they got closer, the two flames transformed into eyes the size of copper bells.

Snow Demon Monkey!

This creature is entirely white, with silver hairs like needles, a protruding mouth, and no cheeks; its appearance is terrifying.

"Damn it...how did it find us!"

Such an encounter was like adding insult to injury. Li Xian didn't care about anything else and ran wildly with his head covered.

The Snow Demon Monkey, on all fours, gave chase. It resembled an ape, but instead of climbing trees, it sprinted through the snow like a cheetah.

They seem to have an innate ability to "walk on snow," moving extremely fast and leaving no footprints whatsoever.

Li Xian was furious. Just as the demon pounced, he suddenly rolled to the side. He grabbed a handful of snow with his right hand and squeezed it with his inner energy.

They shaped the ice into sharp ice crystals and hurled them at the Snow Demon Monkey.

This is a little gadget he came up with himself, and it has a bit of the skill of a master who can "kill enemies with a leaf".

Unfortunately, its strength was slightly inferior; when the ice crystal struck the Snow Demon Monkey, it shattered into dust in an instant.

"run!"

Faced with danger, Li Xian sprinted again. His speed was much faster than before, but still far inferior to that of the Snow Demon Monkey.

In their panic, they lost their way and ran out of options.

They ran into a mountain peak, where it was pitch black all around, and the Snow Demon Monkey had vanished without a trace.

"Human beings..."

"Hello…"

Suddenly, the Snow Demon Monkey's voice came from above.

Li Xian looked up and saw that it was hanging on a cliff, its red eyes, like copper bells, curiously examining Li Xian.

They seem to want to talk.

"Is he saying hello?" Li Xian's hair stood on end as he saw the man's gaze shift from curiosity to mockery.

And then the next two words were added.

"tasty…"

He leaped forward and pounced.

"Damn it, you think you can scare me? I'll fight you to the death!"

Li Xian suddenly became fierce and grabbed the heater with his right hand, his palm sizzling and smoking from the heat.

Because I left in a hurry, I didn't take my sword. I had to use the heater as a weapon, prepared to fight to the death.

It was at this moment.

"You beast, you've finally come out."

A clear, cold voice drifted from afar.

Upon hearing this sound, the snow demon monkey was terrified, like a stray dog, and fled in an instant.

Its speed was more than twice as fast as when it was chasing Li Xian!

They suddenly separated by tens of feet.

Immediately following behind, Li Xian saw a white shadow drift by. The wind and snow were too strong, and the white shadow was too fast. In the blink of an eye, it had already distanced itself from him.

Only a vague outline could be made out that she was a graceful woman.

Knowing it could not escape, the snow demon monkey hissed.

"Humans... are... cunning..."

He lunged at the woman, wildly slapping her.

The force was so great that the spinning tops created gusts of wind.

But the woman stood calmly and composed in the snow. Facing the snow demon monkey's attack, she simply extended two fingers and pinched it.

He then seized the demon monkey's hand.

An invisible aura enveloped the Snow Demon Monkey's entire body, rendering it unable to move.

"Becoming my prey is your destiny."

With a gentle tremor of his two fingers, the vibration, growing stronger, traveled from his palm throughout the entire body of the demon monkey. It produced a series of cracking sounds, as if bones were shattering inch by inch.

Almost instantly.

The Snow Demon Monkey was no longer recognizable.

...

This wasn't a fight; it was pure torture. The Snow Demon Monkey had skin like iron, hair like needles, and bones like iron; it actually had many ways to kill its enemies.

However, the difference in strength was too great, and he had no way to use his abilities before he was completely killed.

(End of this chapter)