Chapter 4

If a person's heart is filled only with their own so-called justice, then they will not consider the feelings of others. This applies not only to those who uphold their beliefs as if they were their own lives, but also to those who dedicate their entire lives to upholding them.

Yang Yuan and Xue Hua rode their horses, galloping along the forest path. Their hooves pounded the muddy ground, kicking up a shower of decaying petals. Unfortunately, a torrential downpour began on their way to the Five Poisons Sect. The rain washed away the dust from their faces and also cleansed the bloodstains left by Ye Min on Xue Hua's body.

When they found him, Ye Min was on the verge of death. His cold body had been washed by the river for a long time. He was stuck in a crevice in the steep cliff on the riverbank. To avoid being swept away, he used a soft water shard to pierce the rocks, bound Xi Tian Ling Xue to himself, and cut off his wide sleeves to entangle his hands with his light sword, ensuring he wouldn't move. He had many cuts on his body, the most serious being on his forehead brow bone and the area from his neck to his collarbone. When Xue Hua pulled him out of the water, Yang Yuan suddenly covered her mouth and screamed, only to be met with a shout from Xue Hua: "Shut up! Make another sound and I'll cut out your tongue!"

During this process, Tang Feng simply stood by the cliff, watching the surging river water crash against the shore, the splashing water wetting the hem of his clothes.

They traveled quickly, and Yang Yuan, not being a frequent rider, lacked the strength of men and was not skilled in horsemanship. She did her best to keep up with Xue Hua, urging the horse to gallop at full speed. The group encountered no further danger and arrived safely at the Five Poisons Sect.

The territory of Miao territory is not open to just anyone. When the group arrived, Miao soldiers blocked their way. At that moment, Tang Feng, who had been guiding them from the sky, suddenly landed, folded his wings, and looked at them. Upon seeing the faces of these people soaking wet, the Miao soldiers exchanged glances for a moment, then immediately led the group into the village to heal their wounds without reporting their arrival.

Elder Ai Li, who was welcoming everyone, didn't say anything when he first saw Tang Feng's soulless appearance. But when he saw Xue Hua carrying Ye Min on his back, he immediately sent someone to take Ye Min away to heal his injuries.

Xue Hua was about to follow the direction Ye Min was taken when he was blocked by the Five Poisons disciples. As they stepped aside, Yang Yuan's soaking wet appearance was revealed to him.

The little girl stayed with him the whole time, without crying or making a fuss. He brushed the hair off his face and calmly told the Five Poisons disciples about Ye Min's injuries, the condition of his wounds, and whether they had been bandaged.

Xue Hua was stunned; he didn't remember her following him. He had even snapped at her when they left Qutang Gorge.

"Xue Hua".

He snapped out of his daze, and Yang Yuan walked up to him with the clothes in her hands.

"That lady said the environment here is different from the Central Plains, and it gets chilly after it rains at night. She told you to change your clothes." Yang Yuan held the clothes and finished speaking quietly, her face showing fatigue, but her eyes looked at him naturally, without anger or fear.

Xue Hua took the clothes in a daze, watching Yang Yuan hand the other clothes to Tang Feng, exchange a few words with Elder Ai Li, and then a female disciple led her out.

Yang Yuan followed the female disciple to a clean room. Most houses in Miao territory were built of bamboo, clean and tidy. The female disciple fetched a set of their sect's robes, gave them to Yang Yuan, and then told her to rest in the room.

In the large, spacious room, Yang Yuan looked around. It was even bigger than the place she and several female disciples shared, and it was clean and tidy. She didn't dare sit on the chair, afraid of getting it dirty. So she walked to the window, put the clothes aside, and gently opened the package.

A comb, a sandalwood box, and a broken hairpin.

They didn't even have a decent piece of clothing.

She quietly opened the box, her trembling hands nearly knocking over what was inside.

A few pieces of broken silver, and a yellowed silver hairpin.

The gold ingots she received before were given to her by a disciple of the Hidden Sword Manor whenever she accompanied Senior Sister Jiang on her medical practice. She had always been reluctant to spend them. All her parents left her was this box, nothing else.

She took out the hairpin, which originally had several blooming flowers on it, but had turned yellow and worn from being stored for too long. It looked as if the flowers had fallen and withered, lying on the ground, their color gone.

Yang Yuan stared at the hairpin, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes. Through her blurred vision, she vaguely saw her hands, chafed and raw from riding horses, covered in cuts; the wounds on her arms, when wet, stung like salt. Her feet were covered in blisters, painful with every movement.

"Father...Mother..."

The hoarse throat uttered those two words, and in an instant, he closed his eyes, as sorrow spread throughout his body.

Her cries came from her throat; her mouth was almost useless. Tears flowed like a river. She hugged herself and squatted on the ground, her small body wailing in pain. She had no other words and could not call out anyone's name.

Heartbroken. The scars are exposed to the air, revealing my most vulnerable side. Whether or not anyone touches them, the pain is unbearable to talk about.

"Waaaaaah..."

"Waaaaah..."

The rain hadn't stopped. Xue Hua stood outside the door, holding an umbrella, listening to the sound of rain inside. The rain was coming from both inside and outside, and the raindrops were being blown about by the wind, some hitting Xue Hua's face like tears streaming down his sorrowful face.

The next day, early morning.

Xue Hua got up early to practice his martial arts. There was a thin mist in the early morning, and the air was chilly. But for him, who had spent most of his time at Yanmen Pass, it was just a gust of wind passing by his ear, and he paid it no mind. He wielded his Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) and held a Xuan Tie (a type of black iron) shield. Every move he made was powerful and forceful. Wherever he went, grass and trees were cut down, and the air was swept away.

"Xue Hua".

Hearing the sound, he slowly withdrew his attack. Turning around, he saw Yang Yuan, dressed in a green silk dress, standing under a towering ancient tree, one hand on the trunk, her long hair tied in two buns, adorned with a peach blossom hairpin. Her face was youthful, and her gaze was gentle.

Xue Hua paused for a moment, then lowered his head and slowly walked over.

Yang Yuan knew what was bothering him, so she didn't say anything and walked alongside him towards the altar.

"Brother Ye Min is still sleeping. He is badly injured and needs to rest more."

"kindness."

Elder Ai Li said we can rest here for a few days before going to see Sect Leader Qu Yun.

"kindness."

"That person in black was never seen again after we arrived."

Xue Hua was taken aback, and only after looking up did he remember Tang Feng, who had led them all the way here.

"Do you know him?" Yang Yuan asked.

Xue Hua shook his head. "I've only heard about it in the martial arts world."

"I've heard that the Tang family of Sichuan used to take on assassination jobs. When something happened in the court, some people were pleased, while others were resentful. In order to get rid of those who were an eyesore, they would hire assassins at high prices to solve the problem. The Tang family is good at using hidden weapons and mechanisms, so doing these things is naturally no problem for them."

"Was that person in blue also an assassin?" Yang Yuan didn't show any fear; on the contrary, she calmly inquired about these matters.

"Anyone can get their hands stained with blood." Xue Hua glanced at the weapon in his hand and continued looking ahead.

"..."

"However, he retired from public life quite early."

"?"

As Xue Hua walked, he said, "I don't know the specifics of what happened. I only heard that during the operation to wipe out the Tianyi Sect, the Tang Clan instigated a split within the Five Poisons Sect, and Tang Feng was among them. Although it was easy to deal with the Miao soldiers, the Five Poisons Sect's corpse-refining method gave the Tianyi Sect an opening. They captured Miao people and refined them into poisonous corpses. They used this to fight against the Five Poisons Sect, and no one could defeat them..."

"Young general, that's a mistake."

Xue Hua was taken aback, and the two looked up. Above the towering ancient tree, dense leaves obscured the sky. On one of the branches sat a person, backlit, only their bare feet and a patch of purple vaguely visible. The newcomer chuckled softly, and a silvery sound echoed in the air.

"Refining giant poisonous corpses is not something our Five Immortals Sect does. Look at yourselves on the way here, which one of you looks like a monster?"

Xue Hua bowed and looked at the shadow of the branches above, asking, "If I have offended you in any way, please forgive me, young lady."

"Hehe... Forget about the apology, just make it up to the girl next to you!"

Suddenly, the sound of a flute reached his ears, like a gust of air descending from the sky. Xue Hua frowned and drew his sword and shield. Instantly, the leaves rustled, and a beam of purple light shot straight towards Xue Hua's face. He raised his arm to block it, and a pungent smell wafted from above.

The smell slowly spread, and Xue Hua's other hand was still not covering his mouth and nose. He looked at Yang Yuan, his pupils gradually dilating.

Two king cobras, one blue and one green, were coiled around Yang Yuan's body. They writhed coldly on their flesh, crawling upwards along each other's bodies and Yang Yuan's legs, getting close to her head, looking at Yang Yuan's pale face with their thread-like eyes, and flicking out their bright red tongues to probe for information about her.

Yang Yuan dared not move, her chest heaving only slightly. Two snakes stared at her from both sides; any movement from her would put Xue Hua in a passive position. She glanced at Xue Hua, her lips trembling as she parted them and uttered:

fine.

Having received Yang Yuan's message, Xue Hua felt somewhat relieved but dared not act rashly. Although the unpleasant smell was gone, he felt pressure from above and slowly lowered his hand. Suddenly, the figure in the tree stirred.

"Ai!"

The woman's roar pierced through his ears. Suddenly, a purple light flashed before Xue Hua's eyes, the surrounding scent gradually diminished, and the two cobras slowly slithered away from Yang Yuan's body. The two stood rooted to the spot, not daring to move.

"Get down here right now!"

"No!...Oh no!"

The same voice rang out again, and this time Xue Hua saw who it was. At that moment, someone was standing five feet away from him and Yang Yuan, grabbing a little girl by the ear.

"Didn't I tell you to go and help the Jade Toad Envoy? You're bullying the guests again, aren't you asking for a beating!"

The woman in purple angrily grabbed the ear of the little girl dressed in Miao ethnic clothing and said in a fit of rage.

The little girl, whose ear was being pulled, trembled in pain. She dared not retaliate and could not escape, and cried out in desperation:

"They're the ones talking badly about us, so what's wrong with me teaching them a lesson!"

"You dare to talk back, huh?" The woman in purple suddenly released the little girl and shoved her forward. "I should have locked you in a cage and shackled you. Otherwise, you'd be causing trouble for me all day long, and I'd have to clean up your messes!"

The little girl bit her lip, turned her head away, and covered her face with her hands so they wouldn't see her.

"Stop crying! Go to the Earth Altar and don't come out! Otherwise, I'll throw your myriad ghosts into Heartless Ridge!"

"You...you're bullying me! Waaaaah..." The little girl burst into tears and ran away crying.

Alena stood with her hands on her hips, watching the little thing run away crying. People along the way were frightened by her indifferent gaze and sheepishly withdrew their arms.

"One of them runs around all day, and the other is always fighting. Do they think I'm some kind of old lady cleaning up their messes? Really..."

She glanced at Ai Yi's back, turned around, her eyebrows relaxed, and like a friendly older sister, looked at the two figures, one in black and one in green, who were standing there in a daze, and smiled.

"Please excuse my behavior. The young girl is naive and doesn't know any better. I hope she's not hurt?" Alena, completely unlike her fierce demeanor just now, walked up to the two of them, bent down, and patted Yang Yuan's head.

Yang Yuan nodded, blushing with embarrassment.

This older sister...is so gentle...

Alena was dressed in a snow-white outfit. Her hair was long and black, but neatly combed and adorned with silver accessories. The fabric she wore was extremely precious, with purple and black colors that shimmered beautifully, like butterfly wings, making her alluring and captivating.

Her face was as white as a flower petal, her brows exuded the charm of a Miao woman, her eyes were captivating, and her bright red lips were like freshly picked fruit, tender and delicious.

A beauty completely different from Senior Sister Jiang's...

Alena glanced at the dazed little girl, then straightened up and looked at Xue Hua.

The latter covered his face and looked away, the unnatural blush on his face revealed when he glanced at Alena.

Alena was puzzled. What was wrong? Was her headdress crooked?

“I am a disciple of the Heavenly Spider Envoy, you can call me Alena. But my name in the Central Plains…” She rested her chin on her hand and thought for a moment, “If I remember correctly, it’s… Qu… Qu… Qu Yan? That’s what that old geezer told me.”

Just as Yang Yuan was about to speak, someone suddenly ran over from a distance and shouted loudly at them:

"Alena! Zanu... Zanu is missing!!"