Chapter 404 Candle in the Snow: Got you?
"???"
Looking at the purple bib in his hand, Ouyang Rong fell into a brief moment of contemplation.
He opened the sword case, which was about to close, and with two fingers traced a slender arc of sword light, concealing his achievements and fame. He asked earnestly:
"You...where in which forest did you find this?" She paused, her tone tinged with anticipation. "You found it, right?"
The craftsman twisted and broke free from its owner's fingers, skillfully spinning twice above the owner's head who was holding the bib, before plunging headlong towards the southwest, then turning and flying back. This back-and-forth movement subtly pointed to the direction where a certain cold, palace-dressed girl had been imprisoned not long ago.
In addition, the autumn night wind outside was cold, but he could clearly feel the lingering warmth of the "picked-up bib" on his fingertips.
Ouyang Rong was speechless, and gritted his teeth, saying:
"I have done good deeds and accumulated virtues throughout my life, how could I possibly deserve to be associated with your cauldron and sword?"
"I was planning to leave a way out, but now look what happened. You've even stolen the private clothes of that virgin. Isn't this humiliation and making an enemy of her?"
"I was just teasing you in front of others about not listening to me, and I wasn't wrong."
Ouyang Rong clenched his fist, his tone full of disappointment and frustration.
The craftsman, which had been spinning around his head as if proudly awaiting a reward from its master to let it play outside a little longer, suddenly stopped upon hearing this, and with a "whoosh," plunged headfirst into the sword case.
Bang--!
The sword case was slammed shut.
I'm ignoring him.
"Can't I even say a few words to you? If I don't say something to you, who knows what you'll bring back next time?"
Ouyang Rong shook his head and continued.
The long sword case lay motionless on the table, offering no response.
At this moment, a solitary lamp is lit on the table in front of the Buddha, making the hall appear even more empty and silent.
A faint, cool fragrance wafts through the air.
Ouyang Rong looked southwest, pondered for a while, and then sighed.
He silently cursed himself.
His gaze shifted to the slightly hot, dark purple bodice.
He frowned slightly.
In the Great Zhou Dynasty, purple was not a color that just anyone could wear; it was the most noble and mysterious color.
Due to the limitations of the coloring techniques of that era, the resulting purple fabric was exceptionally precious.
Among the common people, the prime ministers of the Great Zhou Dynasty were called "Prime Ministers of Vermilion and Purple" because their official robes were vermilion and purple. Among them, the purple official robes were of a higher rank than the vermilion official robes and were exclusive to officials of the third rank and above.
Furthermore, among Qi cultivators, purple spiritual energy is unique to the highest grade.
Moreover, the reigning empress especially favored purple robes.
Thus, wearing purple naturally became a fashion among the top nobles of the Great Zhou Dynasty, a symbol of noble status.
Ordinary people should not overstep their bounds and wear indiscriminately.
For example, Junior Sister, as a noblewoman of the five surnames, the Xie family of Chenjun, could easily wear purple to show off her noble lineage. However, Junior Sister is capricious and doesn't like purple. She even finds it ostentatious and prefers the white or blue of orchids. Junior Sister's personal undergarment never has purple on it.
Don't ask Ouyang Rong how he knows so much...
That Rong Zhen, who usually only wore a plain white dress and was cold and stern, was actually wearing a purple private dress underneath, which was quite unexpected for Ouyang Rong.
Although the undergarments worn by women are not related to official rank or grade, wearing them is not considered an overstepping of boundaries.
However, this still shows that Rongzhen's background was not simple. She was definitely not an ordinary person; she came from a prominent family. It's just that it's unclear why she entered the palace as a female official.
However, the faded and slightly discolored fabric of this purple bodice clearly shows the ascetic lifestyle of its owner.
What does this mean? Is it some classic story of a family falling into decline and ending up in the palace?
In any case, the name Rongzhen is definitely a court alias, just like the female official Miaozhen, who at least had a name outside the palace.
In fact, according to common sense, women's intimate clothing should be embroidered with words or phrases, such as the woman's nickname, her lover, or a poem, to show their rich and delicate inner world.
Rongzhen should be no exception; if you spread this out carefully, you might find something.
However, the image of a grown man examining a woman's underwear that had just been pulled off under the lamplight in a dimly lit Buddhist temple is rather absurd.
Ouyang Rong would never do such a thing.
Right now, he only felt that the item, which had been accidentally brought back by the craftsman, was troublesome, and had no intention of searching for it; a gentleman is cautious even when alone.
"What should we do with this new burden..."
Ouyang Rong looked slightly troubled.
After finally dealing with all the clues, an unexpected thing appeared. Who knows, Rong Zhen might follow the scent and bring a group of female officials to "attack" them.
He groped in his pocket and found that the Heavenly Dragon Oil was all used up.
As for returning it... returning it is impossible, at least not in person. Doesn't he have any pride? Even if, by some chance, he comes knocking on the door to settle accounts later, he'll just deny it to the death. Why should the sword master pay for Dingjian's actions?
Ouyang Rong nodded and glanced at the solitary lamp on the table.
I hesitated for a moment.
He immediately crumpled the purple bib into a ball, went to the table, took a stove, emptied the ashes, placed the empty stove in front of the lamp, and was about to put the ball of clothing into it before burning it.
Just then, a cold and unfamiliar female voice rang in his ear: "Got you."
To be precise, this stiff female voice not only rang in his ears, but also in the ears of everyone who was awake and not asleep on and around Dagushan Mountain.
It comes from the highest heavens and resounds throughout Dagushan Mountain.
Ouyang Rong was stunned for a moment, then suddenly startled.
Above their heads, the golden-tiled roof of the Sutra Copying Hall, which had been recently renovated, was completely ripped off by a snow-white sword aura descending from the sky.
It's like going out to sweep snow in the twelfth lunar month, with thousands of broken tiles exploding and flying everywhere.
A dark, cold wind rushed into the hall like seawater, causing Ouyang Rong's sapphire blue scholar's robe to flutter wildly, and the lone lamp in front of him to go out instantly.
This sudden change was like the transition between a dream and waking up. The scene of the empty and desolate ancient Buddha with its green lamps was replaced by a scene of cold evening wind and a sky full of stars as soon as you opened your eyes.
And under this starry night sky, Ouyang Rong looked up and vaguely saw that familiar scene... a man and a bird.
A strange, snow-white bird of prey with four eyes and three legs spread its wings and soared into the sky under the bright moon. With a clear cry, it flew like a shooting star, its wings cutting through the deep, inky night.
A tall female figure wrapped in a snow-white fox fur leaped off the bird's back, her arms outstretched freely, her sleeves fluttering, and her toes pointing downwards as she slowly fell from the heavens.
At this moment, Ouyang Rong saw it as "slowly," but in reality, there was a faint sound of something breaking through the air, moving with lightning speed.
The downward force caused her long, golden hair, reaching her waist, to hang upside down on top of her head. From a distance, it looked like a long, swaying candle flame, which even the strong wind could not extinguish, and it burned brighter and brighter, as if it wanted to burn down the sky.
If someone were to look down from above at this moment, they would see that this golden flame-like figure not only cut through the deep night, but also, like a sharp sword, vertically cleaved the thick incense smoke that had once concealed many auras above Dagushan Mountain!
The tall woman's sword-like straight trajectory ended directly below, coincidentally, right where Ouyang Rong was in the Sutra Copying Hall. However, before she even arrived, her sword energy had already arrived, first tearing off the roof of the Sutra Copying Hall and locking onto someone's aura.
“A candle in the snow!” Ouyang Rong blurted out.
The chief female ruler of Yunmeng Sword Marsh.
Why is she here!
Ouyang Rong opened his eyes wide and immediately recognized the person who had come.
After all, he would never forget that unforgettable scene that fell from the sky, even if he were beaten to death, and tonight, it happened again.
This time, it was clear that neither Qiu Shenji nor the old swordsmith had asked her to find the target of this Yunmengze Grand Queen who had descended from the sky.
The tables and chairs in the main hall creaked, and the benevolent-looking golden Buddha in front of Ouyang Rong swayed. The gold paint on the Buddha's body peeled off rapidly, like the shell of a hard-boiled egg being rolled between two hands.
Before the person arrived, the sword's aura was already close.
Amidst the raging white sword energy that shook the main hall, Ouyang Rong's shoulders suddenly sank, and the floor tiles beneath his feet shattered.
When he witnessed this scene in front of the Jia Yi Sword Furnace on Xiaogushan Mountain, he was not yet a swordsman and stood like a lackey. When the sky fell, there were tall people like Qiu Shenji and Wei Shaoxuan to hold it up.
Right now, the only target of this Yunmeng Great Queen's focus is him, and she is pressing down on him like a mountain.
The two experiences were worlds apart.
Only when he was in this situation did he realize how powerful this woman's aura was!
The First Lady of the Ancestral Hall of Yunmeng Sword Marsh, a genuine fifth-grade Qi cultivator and the world's leading swordsman!
Even Qiu Shenji, a veteran Qi cultivator at the peak of the fifth rank, was defeated by this "young girl," suffering heavy injuries and fleeing in disarray, thus losing his rank.
Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the floor of the main hall, centered on the spot where Ouyang Rong was standing.
His shoulders were pressed down inch by inch.
Damn, this woman is absolutely outrageous! How did she even find us? She had completely concealed her presence the whole time.
Ouyang Rong cursed inwardly, not having time to burn the clothes or think further. He rushed over immediately, picked up the sword box, and stuffed the crumpled bundle of clothes into the zither-shaped sword box that isolated his aura. At the same time, the little guy who had previously ignored him in a huff flew out of the sword box with a "whoosh" and circled around Ouyang Rong, guarding his side.
The snow-white sword energy was dissipated by the cauldron sword, and its oppressive power decreased sharply.
So Ouyang Rong and the craftsman, each with a sword, fled.
He may be fast, but there are people who are faster than him.
"Trying to escape?"
Not long after the young Confucian scholar wearing the bronze mask ran away, Xue Zhongzhu's figure landed in the spot where he had stood in the now-roofed Sutra Copying Hall.
There stood a tall woman with fiery blonde hair, dressed in a snow-white Wu-style dress. She carried a long sword on her back and held two things in her hands. In one hand she held the Crimson Lotus Sword Seal, which was emitting a clear blue light at regular intervals, and in the other hand she held two bloody heads.
Her mixed Han and non-Han heritage should have given her an exotic beauty, like a frozen snow lotus, proud and aloof. Her deep blue eyes were as unfathomable as an abyss, captivating the soul.
Xue Zhongzhu casually tossed the two heads of spies who had infiltrated Yunmengze onto the floor in front of the Buddha statue, and his figure vanished in an instant.
In the next instant, the tall figure of the Hu woman carrying a long sword appeared a hundred feet behind Ouyang Rong... as if by leaping, the distance between her and Ouyang Rong was getting closer and closer.
Ouyang Rong felt like he was being chased by an avalanche, as if he were a thorn in his side. He urged all his spiritual energy to run wildly. Just then, the craftsman beside him suddenly stopped chasing him and went straight up into the sky.
Seeing the cauldron sword depart, Xue Zhongzhu did not chase after it. He continued to pursue the fox-faced scholar without stopping, getting closer and closer.
She let the craftsman make the sword, and went straight for the one wielding it.
A voice came from behind him, like a whisper right next to him, and Ouyang Rong broke out in a cold sweat.
"Return to the past? But why is the distance between your swords so far? Aren't you an eighth-rank Blue Qi cultivator? Could it be that I've misjudged you?"
Her stiff voice held a hint of doubt. Ouyang Rong activated his spiritual energy to escape, revealing the color of his spiritual energy.
However, this did not prevent Xue Zhongzhu from drawing his sword.
A magnificent, snow-white waterfall gushed forth from the sword sheath, as radiant as a swimming dragon, striking directly at Ouyang Rong's shoulder and back.
With a whoosh, Ouyang Rong's vision went black. He felt as if a towering snow-capped mountain, thousands of feet high, was pressing down on him. On the mountain, a snow lotus flower swayed like a cold beauty. The snow mountain filled his entire field of vision, and the surrounding world was silent. The feeling of suffocation filled his senses, making him unable to muster any thought of resistance. Suddenly, he wanted to admire the snow lotus flower one last time before he died, without putting up any resistance.
But the craftsman, who was frantically absorbing the incense offerings of Dagushan Mountain from the clouds, suddenly received a burning urgent thought. This urgent thought transformed into a sword in his mind, cleaving the illusion of snow-capped lotus flowers before the sword master's eyes.
Ouyang Rong suddenly realized what was happening, bit his tongue hard, and forced himself to wake up.
Turning my head again, all I saw was a snow-white longsword aimed straight for the vital point; it was nothing like a majestic snow mountain or a cold, beautiful snow lotus.
Humans' survival instinct in times of crisis is unconventional.
At the critical moment, with no ground to lean on, Ouyang Rong mobilized his cervical spine and all the muscles in his body, twisting his body at an extremely unnatural and unconventional angle, barely avoiding the sword. The movement was so large that his right shoulder twisted to its limit, and with a crack, it was dislocated and fractured.
At the same time, having dodged a sword strike, he lost his balance and crashed heavily into a pile of fallen leaves that a monk had lazily left unshoveled in the corner of the courtyard below.
Xuezhongzhu let out a soft "Eh".
Just moments ago, the Cloud Dream Sword Intent, which should have been inescapable even for a sixth-grade Qi cultivator, suddenly gave rise to numerous Zen-like illusory lotus blossoms beneath the feet of the fox-faced scholar in the Confucian robe.
A brilliant explanation that pierces through illusion.
As for the fox-faced scholar in the scholar's robe, there was the unconventional and bizarre twisting motion in the air behind him.
Xuezhongzhu frowned slightly, sensing something unclean.
However, she intended to capture this rare swordsman alive, and only used half of her strength in this strike.
He nodded, then offered another sword.
But at this moment, the cold and hazy moonlight around us quietly intensified, and the surrounding scenery, objects, and people were tinged with a faint blue halo.
In the sky, a clear blue crescent moon, condensed over fifteen breaths, descended.
The candle in the snow suddenly stood still, gazing up at the sky.
What's the name of this sword?
She suddenly asked.
The young man in the scholar's robe did not answer. He stood up from the pile of withered leaves, supporting his dislocated right shoulder. Beneath the bronze fox mask, which was covered with frosty autumn leaves, blood dripped from his lips. Only a pair of dark eyes were visible through the mask, as deep as a secluded pool in a deep mountain, reflecting a crescent moon and the person beneath it.
Xuezhongzhu nodded, carrying an air of untamed purple, and faced the "difficulty" head-on.
Alone with her sword, she collided head-on with a crescent moon.
In the next instant, under the thick, dark sky, a point of light exploded, intertwining with purplish-red and clear blue.
The entire Dagushan Mountain was as bright as day.
(End of this chapter)
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