Chapter 1288: Snow Lady

Chapter 1288: Snow Lady

Zu An frowned. He recalled what they had just gone through and said, “That shouldn’t be the case, though. I always flew according to your instructions and didn’t go the wrong way.”

Yan Xuehen explained, “There was probably something wrong with that snowstorm. Apart from being extremely cold, it also has the ability to interfere with one’s sense of direction. We thought we were heading in one direction, but we were actually going in a different one.” She gave the corpse a look and continued, “When I came here before, this frozen body definitely wasn’t here.”

“You said that this was your martial uncle?” Zu An asked as he carefully inspected the body. The clothing of the one in the ice did indeed resemble the White Jade Sect’s style.

Yan Xuehen nodded and replied, “This is why I told you all of that earlier. My martial uncle went missing when I was rather young. At the time, he said that he was already nearing the end of his life, so he would be going to seek out his own opportunities. From then on, however, he never returned. I did not expect him to have lost his life here.”

Zu An thought to himself that it made sense. After all, there were too many legends surrounding the Great Snowy Mountain. Countless individuals had entered the area, refusing to believe in superstition; however, in the end, they always failed.

Zu An thought for a bit and asked, “What was your martial uncle’s cultivation level?”

Yan Xuehen began trying to recall the past, eventually answering, “I did not spend too much time with my martial uncle, I only remember that he was quite strict and somewhat fierce. As for his cultivation, he was definitely at the grandmaster rank when he was at his peak, but because of his old age when he left White Jade Sect, his strength dropped somewhat. Even if he could not maintain his grandmaster rank strength, however, he would still be much stronger than ordinary master rank cultivators.”

Zu An’s expression turned grave as he remarked, “Even someone so strong couldn't escape being frozen into a statue here...”

A hint of worry appeared on Yan Xuehen’s face too, and she added, “He should not have been frozen by that blizzard just now. If even I could discern the essence of its principles, with his knowledge and experience, there is no way he would have been unable to.

The two of them discussed the subject with each other for a while. They couldn't see a single wound on the body of Yan Xuehen’s martial uncle, nor were there any signs of poisoning. They couldn't tell what the cause of death was at all.

They couldn't just assume he froze to death, right? A cultivator of his level had such powerful internal energy; how could he possibly have frozen to death? Even if the Great Snowy Mountain’s wind and snow were terrifying, that was still impossible.

“Should we bury him?” Zu An asked considerately. After all, this was Yan Xuehen’s martial uncle.

Yan Xuehen shook her head and said, “There is no need. The White Jade Sect has always pursued the natural dao. Right now, martial uncle has the heavens as his cover and the earth as his mat; it is better than resting in pitch darkness.”

Zu An had a strange expression. A corpse in the wilderness can even be described in such a nice way? If he hadn’t known Yan Xuehen for a long time already, he might have assumed she was merely being callous. However, that was indeed the White Jade Sect’s style. Even Chuyan had a similarly cold demeanor.

Looks like this Unshakable Daoist Manual really is a bit ridiculous. I’ll have to warm them up a bit somehow and make them more human.

Yan Xuehen bowed toward the sculpture. Zu An instinctively did so as well. However, Yan Xuehen became extremely embarrassed, asking, “I am greeting my senior; why are you greeting him too?”

With Zu An doing the same, it almost felt as if they were a married couple asking a senior for his blessings. Of course, if anyone else had done so, she wouldn’t think such wayward thoughts, but her relationship with Zu An was just too hard to describe.

Zu An was dumbfounded. He replied, “If this is your senior, he’s my senior too. What’s the big deal with greeting him?”

“What do you mean, my senior is your senior?”

“Don’t you consider yourself my master? Shouldn’t I bow to the martial uncle of my master?”

“So you’re acknowledging that I’m your master now?”

“Not at all.”

…

The two of them argued back and forth with each other. Yan Xuehen was a bit surprised with herself. She usually preferred peace and quiet. Even if she encountered something she didn’t like, she definitely wouldn’t waste her time arguing with someone. And yet, after she met Zu An, all of her habits had completely changed.

The two chatted while walking. Suddenly, they stopped, seeing many more remains before them. The corpses’ outfits were all different, and some were even dressed in the fiend races’ style. However, judging from their remaining traces ofa ura, even the weakest of them was at the master rank.

Yan Xuehen’s expression changed a bit. She remarked, “Even though I do not recognize them, judging from the energy left within them, they were either sect masters from major sects or the leaders of powerful clans… This is bad. We need to get out of here.”

These were all the best of the best, to the extent that based on the traces left behind, they hadn’t been any weaker than Yan Xuehen at her peak. The fact that so many experts had died proved that she and Zu An had gone in the wrong direction. Zu An likewise shared her desire to leave.

Suddenly, however, snow began to surge all around them again, and the temperature dropped sharply once more. Forget about Yan Xuehen; even Zu An, who was vigorous and full of energy, felt his teeth begin to clatter.

Just then, a vague outline appeared in the distance through the wind and snow; it was a woman’s figure. She was dressed in plain white clothes, without any colors or decorations. Her outfit was loosely bound by a silk band, fully displaying her slender waist and wonderful figure. The only regretful thing was that there was snow swirling around her head, preventing anyone from seeing her appearance. However, the two could still tell that she was definitely a beauty.

The woman raised her hand toward them, and although she didn’t speak, a mysterious voice rang out.

“Save me…”

Zu An grabbed Yan Xuehen’s hand and ran. Even though he had a bad track record with such things, he wasn’t stupid. What kind of joke is this? What kind of place is this? This is the freaking forbidden Great Snowy Mountain! How could there possibly be a delicate woman roaming these mountains, waiting for someone to save her?

Yan Xuehen gave him a look of admiration. She had actually been worried that after seeing her figure, this perverted guy would end up having tender-hearted thoughts.

When the white-clad woman saw that her trick had failed, she dropped the act. Her aura surged powerfully, and she turned into a whirling tornado that chased after the two of them.

The terrifying pressure immediately made Zu An’s skin go numb. He exclaimed, “An earth immortal?”

Yan Xuehen was stunned too. She also used ice and snow, but the power the other woman exuded was far greater than what she could muster at her peak. A resolute expression appeared on her face and said, “You should run on your own. I will help you stall for a bit. Otherwise, we will just die together.”

Against an earth immortal, there wasn’t much of a chance for Zu An away alone, let alone while carrying a burden like her.

However, not only did Zu An not let go, he even picked her up in a princess carry, then summoned the Wind Fire Wheels to flee in the opposite direction with everything he had.

“We won’t be able to get away! We’ll both die if you don’t let go right now!” Yan Xuehen exclaimed.

“Then we’ll just die together!” Zu An replied with a firm expression.

Yan Xuehen opened her mouth, but this time, nothing came out. As she lay in his embrace, she could see his resolute and steadfast expression. Her restless heart mysteriously calmed down. She thought, This is fine as well. In these vast Great Snowy Mountains, there’s no point in worrying about the customs and morals of this world. It’s not as if I can’t accept dying with him here…

However, Zu An had no intention of dying here at all, and frantically tried to escape on the Wind Fire Wheels. However, they were already at their limit. The swirling blizzard only drew closer and closer. As the distance between them closed, their clothes, faces, and even hair were covered in frost.

Several times, the Wind Fire Wheels seemed on the verge of being extinguished. They could only continue because Zu An used his phoenix flames to continuously fuel them. Even so, more and more ice gradually appeared on the Wind Fire Wheels. Their once-blazing flames were reduced to embers, and even those were on the verge of being extinguished.

The two of them felt as if the blood in their bodies was about to freeze over. In comparison, the uncomfortable blizzard they had previously experienced in the sky was like child’s play. They finally understood why all of those powerful individuals had all been frozen to death without any wounds on their bodies. This mysterious blizzard was precisely what had frozen them.

Zu An began using the Sunflower Phantasm repeatedly, along with Grandgale’s instantaneous movement technique. That prevented the two of them from being caught immediately. It was all thanks to the fact that he had pulled Mo Xi and gotten her skill, which helped him greatly shorten the cooldown time of Grandgale and let him use it so many times in a row. Even so, after using every tool he had, and yet the frightening blizzard was only getting closer and closer.

“It’s so hot!” Yan Xuehen exclaimed as she began to tug at her own clothes, almost as if she wanted to remove them. Her injuries were so severe that she was nowhere near strong enough to resist the cold at all.

When surrounded by extremely low temperatures, people wouldn’t feel cold and want to put on clothes; rather, because their internal temperature was still higher than that of the surrounding air, they would instinctively feel hot and want to take off their clothes. That was why so many frozen corpses in the Great Snowy Mountain were completely naked.

Of course, if Zu An hadn’t been fleeing quickly, Yan Xuehen might have already been frozen into a statue before even having the chance to reach such a state. However, Zu An couldn’t spare the attention to look after her. The whirling snowstorm was within a few meters of him. They would be swallowed up in less than a second.

Zu An clenched his teeth. He activated the Star Shattering Imprint, successfully raising his strength tenfold in an instant. Then, he crushed the Last Breath Talisman that Xie Daoyun had given him when he left the capital. After that, he activated his Keyboard Come skill, yelling, “Send us a thousand li away!”

As soon as he spoke, the two of them instantly vanished from the area.

The snowstorm ravaged the area they had just been in. When it discovered that it had lost its targets, it began to disperse eventually. Only a white-clad woman stood there, confused.