Chapter 125: Chasing the wandering creature desperately, pressing against the bright moon, the long sword moves, and the morning star opens...

The two of them rode at full speed, following the map drawn in Lu Guiyan's letter, heading west.

Qing Guiyu was in front, Chen Juansheng trailing behind, only half a horse's length behind. She didn't turn around, but she could still feel his gaze, though less probing, simply watching her quietly.

She tightened her grip on the reins, looked up and around, and felt that all the ridiculous things she had done in her life were probably concentrated in these few months.

"You don't ask me why you didn't bring any help?" In the end, Shen Juansheng spoke first. His voice was blown away by the wind, but it was still soft.

"Will you tell me if I ask you?" She turned her head.

"Yes," Young Master Jinsheng answered quickly, even with a hint of a cheerful smile. "Whatever Miss Qing asks, I will answer."

She said it in an awkward way, and she felt the saddle was a little hot.

"My father is now," Shen Jian's voice grew quieter, "a mad dog who wants to die together. He won't have many people around him, but he's meticulous and skilled in disguise. If we make a big fuss, we'll only alert him and make him flee."

He paused, his voice lowering. "Besides... this is a family matter. Family matters shouldn't be publicized."

Qing Guiyu nodded, accepting his words, and the two of them rode their horses along the river. In the distance, an abandoned ferry was visible. A few rotten wooden stakes stuck diagonally in the mud, and reeds grew thickly, swaying in the wind, creating a completely desolate scene.

Lu Guiyan, dressed in white, stood alone in the dilapidated pavilion at the ferry crossing, his figure aloof and cold. The Wuwang sword sat at his side, the half-cut warm jade tassel still hanging from its tassel, swaying in the wind.

He had obviously adjusted his breathing. Although his breath was still a little light, his clear sword intent was more condensed than before.

Seeing the two people coming, Lu Guiyan first glanced at Qing Guiyu's face. Seeing that she was fine, he slowed down a little, then turned to the young man in black clothes who was being held by her and looked away.

Shen Juansheng seemed completely unaware, and even smiled politely at him, "Brother Lu, you have worked hard these days."

Lu Guiyan pretended not to see it.

Qing Guiyu was stuck in the middle and felt his scalp tingling. He quickly pulled him to the back and Shen Juansheng frowned.

"Junior sister," he said, a little softly.

"Junior Brother," Qing Guiyu quickly stepped forward and looked him up and down, "You're not hurt, are you?"

"It's okay." Lu Guiyan shook his head. "I've been searching here all night. But Chen Yan isn't here. He seems to be hiding in Yuzhou City. He must have thought we were distracted by the poisonous fog, so he made this risky move."

He spoke slowly, looking at the water city looming in the morning mist, "He knows about our plan to light the lamps and transform the mist, and is taking advantage of this chaos and bustle to blend in."

Qing Guiyu's heart trembled.

"Be an ordinary citizen." Lu Guiyan said coldly.

He turned the trap they set up into his own hiding place.

The three of them said no more, mounted their horses from the abandoned ferry, and returned to Yuzhou City where the storm was about to come.

*

In Yuzhou City, as night falls, the lights of thousands of houses in Yuzhou City are lit, making the city several times more lively than usual.

The saying that "the river god is angry, and lanterns are lit to ward off disasters" has spread to every corner in the past few days. Newly made straw lanterns are hung in front of every household, and the lights are bright.

The streets were crowded with people, and most of the people passing by were holding a lamp in their hands, with a look of awe and prayer on their faces, treating this event, which was originally set up to detoxify, as a grand temple fair.

The air was filled with a slightly spicy medicinal aroma mixed with mugwort and atractylodes.

Therefore, along this road, the lights are gorgeous and the road is bright at night. The flickering light is scorching and the customs are mixed.

The three of them walked among the crowd, leading their horses, and took in the lively atmosphere around them.

Shen Yan's thoughts were truly vicious to the extreme. The more bustling the place, the more mixed the crowd, and the more likely it was to hide a madman who was bent on death.

"He'll be here." Shen Juansheng reined in his horse and walked beside Qing Guiyu, separating her from the crowded crowd. His voice was very low. "This is where the most people are and the lights are the brightest. The louder it is, the calmer it is."

"How to find it?" Lu Guiyan pressed the hilt of the sword, frowning.

"No need to look for him." Shen Juansheng shook his head, "He might come looking for us."

As he spoke, he dismounted and casually handed the reins to a secret agent of the Tianji Pavilion next to him. Then he took her and walked into the crowd.

Seeing this, Lu Guiyan also dismounted and followed the two of them silently.

No one could have imagined that a disaster that could have overturned the entire city had been quietly averted amidst this clamor. Even less could anyone have imagined that the person who had stirred up all this turmoil was now mingling among this jubilant crowd.

Qing Guiyu felt very nervous, and felt that all the men and women, young and old, on the street looked like Shen Yan in disguise.

"Don't be afraid." Shen Juansheng leaned over and whispered, "I'm here."

Qing Guiyu put his hand on the purple bamboo flute at his waist and walked through the bustling crowd and through one archway after another hung with lanterns.

As we passed the memorial archway, the crowd grew thicker, the sounds of hawking, laughter, and string music mingling together, making our ears buzz uncomfortably.

They crossed a stone bridge hung with colorful lights. Under the bridge were a constant stream of pleasure boats. A stage had been set up on the boats where a lively play was being performed. The deafening sound of gongs and drums attracted people from all over the place to stop and watch.

At this moment, an old man holding an ordinary plain paper lantern walked out of the alley with a unsteady gait and happened to meet them face to face.

He was hunched over, wearing a washed-out coarse cloth suit, and his face was wrinkled under the light. He looked as ordinary as any ordinary old man who came out to enjoy the lanterns on the street.

But the moment he passed Lu Guiyan, the white-clothed swordsman's footsteps suddenly stopped.

Shen Juansheng pulled Qing Guiyu behind him.

The old man didn't seem to notice and just continued walking forward. The paper lantern in his hand swayed slightly in the wind, revealing a lonely warm light.

"stop."

Lu Guiyan slowly turned around, drew out the Wuwang Sword, and spoke in a clear and cold voice like a pool of autumn water.

The old man paused and slowly turned around.

He still had that ordinary face, but in his cloudy old eyes, a hint of sinister cruelty, which came from the cold pond and iron prison, gradually revealed itself.

It was Chen Yan.

He looked at the three young men in front of him who were facing a formidable enemy, and a gentle smile appeared on his face. He even raised his chin towards the lights all over the city.

"You guys did a great job."

He said approvingly, his voice hoarse, as if he was praising a few outstanding juniors, "The medicinal aura that fills the city is enough to dispel the poison I have planted. If Ah Wan saw this, she would surely praise you for your kindness and skill."

He turned his gaze to Lu Guiyan, looked him up and down, and nodded, "It seems that the cold skill has been completed. It's worth... all the years of hard work I put in."

He looked at Chen Juansheng again, the smile on his face deepened, but it revealed a deep sadness.

"After all, this was Ah Wan's last wish," he said softly, as if explaining it to himself. "She always said that these two sets of skills should be one. If they could be combined, it would be the most supreme martial art in the world... Now, someone has finally achieved it."

He spoke calmly, as if everything before him was just an insignificant game.

Lu Guiyan's face was ice-cold, and the Wuwang Sword made a sharp buzzing sound in its sheath.

"What does my Snow Mountain Sect's martial arts have to do with you?"

"Fool." The gentle smile on Chen Yan's face gradually faded, and he suddenly became silent and crazy. "If it weren't for me, all of you would be nothing but dry bones in the grave. How could you even talk about the ultimate martial arts realm?"

Qing Guiyu nodded.

"You're crazy."

Chen Yan just shook his head and raised the lantern in his hand slightly. The dim light reflected on his wrinkled face, which looked sad and lonely.

"Crazy?" He chuckled softly, "Who in this world is more sober than who else?"

Before he finished speaking, he pinched the paper lantern in his hand. With a soft puff, the light went out and turned into a wisp of green smoke.

His figure shook.

It wasn't a sudden, earth-shattering attack, but rather like a drop of water merging into the ocean, blending into the crowd of people turning and retreating. One wrong step, one turn, and he was already within thirty feet.

There was no palm wind, no murderous aura, as if he was just an ordinary old man who was pushed by the crowd and accidentally bumped into.

But Lu Guiyan and Shen Juansheng's expressions changed drastically at the same time.

"Junior Brother!"

"Father!"

They attacked almost at the same time.

The Wuwang Sword flashed with a clear light, bringing with it a frosty sword aura that pierced the lantern. Chen Juansheng pushed Qing Guiyu, and several golden threads emanated from his wrist, attacking Chen Yan from behind.

The people around were shocked by this sudden change. Screams were heard everywhere and the crowd scattered in all directions, becoming a mess in an instant.

"Everyone, retreat!" Qing Guiyu staggered after being pushed by him. Without caring about anything else, he summoned his inner strength and shouted at the chaotic crowd, "Retreat quickly!"

She raised her hand and threw a few golden needles, which hit a huge gong on the stage of the painted boat.

when--!

A deafening roar instantly drowned out all the noise.

Qing Guiyu didn't dare to delay any longer, and immediately used his Qinggong skills to kick the nearby sugar painting stove. The stove overturned, and the scorching charcoal fire splashed all over the lantern stall next to it.

The lantern caught fire immediately, and in an instant, flames shot up into the sky and thick smoke billowed.

"The fire is coming! The fire is coming!"

The crowd was already in an uproar due to the sudden change. When they heard the warning and saw the three people in the field had already started fighting, with swords flying everywhere and palms blowing fiercely, they dared not stay.

The golden needles were thrown out, and the gongs in the distance were hit by her and rang continuously.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

"Follow the sound! Don't look back!" she shouted in a hoarse male voice.

Few of the people from all directions came here with the intention of doing so, and they just headed towards the place where the gongs and drums were far away from the fighting.

At this moment, the situation on the field was clear.

Frosty sky, snow falling, long stars across the sky.

Lu Guiyan's sword light was ethereal, and Shen Yansheng's golden threads were flowing. The two of them, one on the left and one on the right, trapped Shen Yan in the center.

But Shen Yan seemed to have fallen into madness, his moves were wild and open, with no defensive posture at all. Every palm and every finger was wrapped in the determination to die together. He didn't care about his injuries at all, he was just crazy.

The old man's martial arts skills were already unfathomable, and at this moment he was fighting in a way that burned his life, forcing the two great masters to join forces, but they could only barely hold on.

The streets have become a purgatory.

The lights on the bridge were dimming, and a crowd of people was rushing under the bridge.

The Wuwang Sword slashed through the wind and snow, its energy chilling and cold. Chen Yan didn't dodge, willingly accepting the consequences to deliver his palm strike. After just a few moves, several more bloodstains appeared on his white robe, clearly injuring his internal organs from the overwhelming palm force.

The golden blade emitted several rays of light, agile and strange. It did not confront Shen Yan head-on, but sometimes wrapped around his wrist, sometimes blocked his lower body, trying to create a slight gap.

But Chen Yan was now determined to die. Lu Guiyan had just mastered his cold skills and had been injured in recent battles. Chen Juansheng's cold poison had just been cured, and he was exhausted after days of hard work.

Qing Guiyu was extremely anxious.

If we keep fighting like this, sooner or later we will be exhausted to death together with this old madman!

She couldn't move forward. The Tianji Pavilion Master, who had annihilated several martial arts sects, fought to the death. What kind of skills did he have? If she touched him, she would die. If she brushed against him, she would be injured.

what to do?

A violent attack is useless, so use wits... How to outsmart a madman who is not afraid of death?

His eyes suddenly swept over the sugar painting stall that he had kicked over.

The charcoal fire was still burning, making a pot of unused syrup bubbling. The golden syrup rolled in the firelight, emitting a sweet and burnt aroma.

The syrup overflowed from the edge of the pot and dripped onto the hot stone slabs, quickly solidifying and then slowly melting and flowing under the high temperature. The beautiful dragon, phoenix, scales and fish were all transformed into sticky and ugly pools of syrup.

melt……

Suddenly I remembered the scene in the secret room in Baidi Villa.

The beautiful face that had been sleeping for twenty years was rapidly decaying in the melting ice coffin.

That's it!

Without hesitation, she took advantage of the moment when the two of them forced Shen Yan back half a step, and with a flick of her body, she scurried over like a civet cat. From the mess on the ground, she picked up a phoenix sugar painting that had not yet completely melted. The phoenix's wings had melted halfway, leaving its shape a sad and strange beauty.

"Old senior!" she shouted loudly.

Then he turned his wrist, mobilized his internal energy, and threw the half-melted sugar painting towards Chen Yan's outstretched hand.

This move is like child's play in a fight between masters.

Chen Yan didn't even bother to dodge, thinking that the girl had lost her mind due to fright, and was about to slap her away with his palm.

But the sugar painting he got was not a hidden weapon, but just a pool of warm and sticky liquid. With a "pa" sound, it all stained the back of his hand and cuffs.

The familiar feeling of melting, collapsing, and being irreversible instantly penetrated his skin and pierced the old man's mind.

He looked down.

Under the light, a melting sugar phoenix clung to his hand. The amber-colored syrup resembled the color of corpse fluid after a melted ice coffin.

Twenty years of obsession, twenty years of crazy dreams, all vanished on that day.

"——damn girl!"

The old man roared angrily and rushed towards her recklessly. He concentrated all his palm power, determined to kill her with one blow, even if it meant sacrificing his own life.

This strike, the culmination of a lifetime of cultivation, was filled with a murderous intent so fierce it was unparalleled in the world.

The internal force came in abundance, and the eight extraordinary meridians seemed to be pressed down by a mountain, making it difficult to breathe. The Listening to the Rain Step light skill was suppressed so tightly that he couldn't move at all.

But when he turned around, his entire back was exposed to the sword light and silk blade without any protection.

Chasing the wandering, pressing the bright moon,

The long sword moves, and the morning star opens.

At the moment when that withered palm, yet filled with the power of thunder, was about to press against her crown—

laugh.

The sound of flesh and blood being pierced by a sharp blade rang out behind him.

The forward momentum came to an abrupt halt.

The sword pierces the body and the golden thread cuts off the veins.

Chen Yan's figure suddenly froze when he was only an inch away from her.

Qing Guiyu was suppressed by this internal force and fell to the ground. He just tried to raise his head and look directly into the old man's eyes that were enough to make ghosts and gods tremble.

Her body trembled uncontrollably, and she had to try her best to steady her voice which had changed in pitch.

"You've guarded her remains for twenty years, and you've become like this. Even if you could bring her back to life, what good would it do?"

It seems like he said it calmly,

"She was in her twenties when she died. Even if she were alive, she wouldn't recognize you."

"You are now an old man with white hair and beard."

He was guarding a corpse that would never age, but he was no longer the young man who could stand on the top of the snow-capped mountain with her.

She would not recognize him. She would always be that bright and beautiful girl in her twenties, but he had long since become a lonely soul that even he hated.

What we pursue throughout our lives is nothing but a mirage that can never be reproduced.

Life and death,

Suspended between two levels.

“Ha…hahaha…hahahahaha!”

Chen Yan suddenly looked up to the sky and laughed out loud. At first, the laughter was filled with reluctance and madness, but then it gradually turned into a pure sense of relief and sadness. Finally, the laughter gradually died down and merged into a dead silence.

The old man stood there quietly, his eyes passing through all the people in front of him, looking at the bright lights of Yuzhou City, as if he saw something far away.

The wind blew, lifting his gray hair.

For a long time, he just stood there, motionless.

Qing Guiyu looked at him, and a sense of sadness suddenly arose in her heart. She raised her hand and probed for his breath.

there is none left.

A powerful hero who had been stirring up the world for decades, just disappeared amid the noisy lights of the city.

Died suddenly.

Qing Guiyu was stunned.

I just stared blankly at the old man for a while.

I was shaking a little and tried to stand up, but found that my legs and feet were not responding well.

This life, as if borrowed from heaven, was now being drained of its strength, both original and extra, leaving only the exhaustion and fear of having survived. Her hands, supporting herself on the ground, were shaking, and so were her knees.

Everything before him seemed shrouded in a white mist, blurry and unreal. The shouts of the crowd and the crackling of the flames seemed to come from a distant world.

All that could be seen was Chen Yan's still upright, lonely body, and the clear, blood-stained sword blade protruding from his chest.

She won.

She didn't look up, nor did she need to. The familiar cool fragrance, mixed with the smell of blood and fireworks left behind by the previous fight, silently enveloped her.

Lu Guiyan was still standing behind Shen Yan, holding his sword, his breathing disordered, and he was obviously exhausted. He looked at her, his eyes full of worry, and was about to step forward.

But someone is faster.

Shen Jiansheng slowly fell down in front of her.

He said nothing, just looked at her quietly. Then he reached out and embraced her, covered in dust and blood, in his arms.

This embrace was not warm, but with the body temperature from years of practicing cold energy, it was as cold as a piece of jade. But when the familiar cold fragrance enveloped her, and when the dark robe blocked out all the noise and chaos of the outside world,

The string in my heart that had been stretched for too long finally broke.

She paused and suddenly felt sad, as if she had just woken up from a long nightmare.

Unable to hold back any longer, I burst into tears.

"I'm so scared..."

She grabbed the collar of his shirt, her voice mixed with tears, intermittent, and she cried breathlessly.

"I'm so scared... Shen Yansheng... I'm really... so scared..."

"I'm afraid you'll die, I'm afraid my junior brother will die... I'm afraid... I'm afraid we'll all die here..."

She is a doctor and is used to seeing life and death.

At that moment, if he miscalculated or said something wrong, the melting sugar phoenix would not have been able to shake him at all, and then it would not just be Shen Yan who fell here.

What if my limited skills are not enough to change the chess game that concerns the people of the whole world, and in the end I have to watch the lights in the city turn into ghostly flames that take my life?

"Don't be afraid."

Young Master Jin Sheng hugged her tighter, one hand on her back and the other gently stroking her messy hair in a soothing manner.

"It's okay." He said, leaning his cheek towards her, his voice gentle, but more stable than ever before.

"Don't be afraid."