The woman was seasoned in the marketplace, her eyes sharp and crafty, her pupils darting around with each glance and flick, taking in everything about Li Xian.
The cloak was made of animal fur.
The price wasn’t low, and only the wealthy could afford such things. But which nobleman would come to buy rouge in the dead of winter?
She noticed beneath the cloak were uniformed garments, clearly marking him as a servant or a lackey.
Most likely someone out of favor, given this perilous task fell to him; otherwise, why would he be doing such a life-threatening errand?
"Come, young master, take a look over here."
The woman’s attitude was dismissive, swaying her hips and trying to walk gracefully. However, her figure was far from fitting, and Li Xian quickly averted his gaze to avoid the eyesore.
She opened a box.
It was full of rouge cases, in red, blue, green—all beautifully decorated, with inlaid pearls and jade...
"Look, if there’s anything wrong, just let me know," the woman said.
Li Xian picked up a case at random and took a light sniff. A faint fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose.
"How much is this?"
Li Xian asked.
"Oh, this is a cheap one, just over seven hundred Wen coins," the woman laughed.
"Pick another one, around three taels of silver." Li Xian waved his hand.
"Alright," the woman turned toward a display wall, "These here are all in that price range."
Li Xian held his chin, staring at the display wall, lost in thought:
"After selling the rouge, I’ll need to return to the manor. The risks are too great. If I can stay longer, I should stay as long as possible."
Li Xian sighed inwardly, feeling his life as fragile as the drifting snow.
He appeared to earnestly select rouge, but it was no more than a silent struggle.
"I say, young master, are you buying or not? You’ve been looking for quite some time!" the woman said impatiently.
"Got any food?" Li Xian replied irrelevantly.
"Yes."
The woman went to the back kitchen and brought out a bowl of plain noodles. "Once you’re full, you should make your decision. It’s not me not wanting to keep you, but... how much longer can you really stay?"
"You have to go back sooner or later, don’t you? This snowstorm has been going on for days," the woman sat across, clicking her tongue and shaking her head, "It’s a shame for such a handsome face."
"Anywhere else, I might be able to introduce you to some work, but now, who knows if we can even survive this snowstorm."
Though the woman’s words were laced with sarcasm, there was a hint of sympathy.
Li Xian said nothing, eating the noodles in large bites and drinking the broth clean. He picked a rouge case he liked and paid the money.
As he left, Li Xian passed by a heater, feeling a pang of emotion.
Getting to Qingning County was as much luck. Whether he could return was uncertain. Having a heater would make things much more comfortable.
So he said:
"Good sister, could you gift me a heater?"
"Oh, your sweet words. Take it," the woman replied indifferently with a wave of her hand.
...
Li Xian crawled through a dog hole, arriving outside the city wall. He confirmed his direction and began to sense the wind’s direction.
Holding the heater close, with a layer of clothing in between, it wouldn’t burn his skin, but the searing heat was intensely painful.
Yet it was better than freezing to death.
"It’s a southwesterly wind..."
Li Xian took a step forward, firmly keeping the initial wind direction in mind. With no reference points thereafter, all subsequent wind directions were deduced from the original.
He walked for half an hour this way.
Li Xian secretly rejoiced, having grasped the "Snow Stepping" technique in advance. Otherwise, with the deep snow, his steps sinking into it would surely distract him.
If that happened, his skill at interpreting the wind would be of little use, and he’d easily lose his way.
Suddenly, the wind stopped for a moment.
"A great opportunity!!"
At this moment, he was facing due west, the direction to return home. Without the wind’s interference, taking advantage of this opportunity to speed up would greatly increase his chances of survival.
Li Xian exerted all his strength, sprinting quickly.
He covered three to five miles before the wind and snow returned.
Li Xian slowed his pace, planning to use the old method again, deducing direction by the wind.
Suddenly, he shivered all over.
A chill spread through his bones, causing his hair to stand on end from head to toe, and it couldn’t calm down for a long while.
In the darkness, two lights appeared in the distance, red and flickering, seemingly drawing nearer.
As they came closer, the lights turned into eyes the size of Copper Bells.
Snow Demon Monkey!
The creature was snow-white all over, with silver needle-like fur, a protruding mouth without cheeks, and a terrifying appearance.
"Damn... how did it track me down!"
This encounter was nothing short of a calamity, adding insult to injury. Li Xian couldn’t waste time and, head bowed, sprinted wildly.
The Snow Demon Monkey ran on all fours, chasing after him. It resembled an ape but didn’t climb trees, running through the snow like a cheetah.
It seemed to naturally possess the "Snow Stepping" ability, moving extremely fast, leaving no footprints.
Li Xian felt irritation rising in his heart. As the demon pounced, he suddenly sidestepped and rolled. His right hand grabbed a handful of snow and infused it with Inner Qi.
Molding it into sharp ice crystals, he hurled them at the Snow Demon Monkey.
This was a little trick he developed on his own, somewhat reminiscent of a master who could kill with a leaf.
Unfortunately, he was a bit lacking in power. The ice crystals shattered into powder upon hitting the Snow Demon Monkey.
"Run!"
With crisis at hand, Li Xian sprinted once more. His speed was much improved from before, but compared to the Snow Demon Monkey, he was still far behind.
In his panicked flight, he’d long since lost his way.
He ran up a hill, surrounded by pitch blackness, and the Snow Demon Monkey’s presence vanished as well.
"Hu... man..."
"Hel... lo..."
Suddenly, the Snow Demon Monkey’s voice came from above.
Li Xian looked up and saw it hanging from a cliff, its Copper Bell-like red eyes curiously observing him.
It seemed to want to talk.
"Is it greeting me?" Li Xian’s hair stood on end, seeing its eyes change from curiosity to mockery.
And then it added two more words.
"De... licious..."
It leaped at him.
"Damn it, scaring me won’t break my courage. I’ll fight you to the end!"
Li Xian summoned a fierce resolve, grabbing the heater directly with his right hand, his palm sizzling and smoking.
In his haste to leave, he’d not taken his sword. He could only use the heater as a weapon, preparing for a fight to the death.
It was at that moment.
"You vile creature, you’ve finally come out."
A cold voice came drifting from afar.
Upon hearing the voice, the Snow Demon Monkey panicked like a dog that lost its home, frightened and fleeing in an instant.
Its speed, even faster than when it chased Li Xian, showed how terrified it was!
In a flash, it put tens of yards between them.
Following closely, Li Xian saw a white figure floating past. The snowstorm was too intense and the figure’s speed too swift that in the blink of an eye, it stretched the distance.
He could barely make out that it was an elegant lady.
The Snow Demon Monkey, realizing it couldn’t escape, made a "tsst tsst" noise.
"Hu... man... wick..."
It suddenly pounced at the woman, wildly slapping out.
The force was tremendous, creating gusts of wind as it moved.
Yet the woman stood in the snow, calm and composed. Facing the Snow Demon Monkey’s attack, she merely reached out with two fingers, pinching lightly.
She clamped down on the demon monkey’s hand.
An invisible force enveloped the Snow Demon Monkey, rendering it completely immobile.
"Becoming my Essence Food is your destiny."
With a gentle tremor of her fingers, the tremor grew from mild to strong, spreading from the hand throughout the demon monkey’s body, making a "crack crack" sound, as if bones were snapping inch by inch.
In almost an instant.
The Snow Demon Monkey was no longer in any recognizable shape.
...
This couldn’t even be considered a fight; it was a complete slaughter. The Snow Demon Monkey’s skin was like iron, its hair like needles, bones like iron, and it had many ways to kill its enemy.
Yet the power gap was so vast that it had no chance to display them and met its end completely.