Minglong

Chapter 239 You Get Rid of Xie Jinhuan (Revised)

Beyond the mountains and rivers.

Beneath the snow-covered plains that stretch for thousands of miles lies an ancient battlefield passed down from antiquity.

The most famous battle in this place was when the Human Emperor decisively defeated the barbarian coalition, thus sweeping across the land and laying the foundation for the current world order.

Throughout subsequent dynasties, whether it was the Taoist path or the Northern and Southern Dynasties, this area served as the boundary for hundreds of battles, large and small. In the eastern part of the snowfield, there is a canyon, which is said to be the remnant of the decisive battle between the Human Emperor and his nemesis. It is called "Jianchuan," which is also the origin of the name of Linchuan County.

However, the fierce battles that raged for thousands of miles have long been buried under the snow and sand. Today, the ancient battlefield looks like nothing more than a desolate, pitted snowfield.

A campfire was burning on a snowy field a hundred miles away from Shanhe Pass.

A traveling performer with gray hair sat on the trunk of an old tree that had fallen many years ago, gazing at the swirling snow and playing his sanxian (a three-stringed plucked instrument).
"Dang Dang Dang~"

"Where the wind howls, the battle flags fall silent, the horses neigh and ghosts and gods grieve; piles of white bones bury old dreams, heroic souls silently guard the desolate hills..."

……

A desolate melody echoed across the snow-covered plains, where countless souls had been buried, yet the land remained empty and deserted. Soon after, the sound of light footsteps could be heard.

Snap, snap~
The traveling performer looked up and saw a figure in black robes emerge from the snowstorm. He immediately stopped playing and greeted the figure with a smile.
"It's been a long time. Young Master Wei has become even more mature."

The newcomer was named Wei Jili. He was quite skilled, but his reputation in the Southern martial arts world was not great. After all, Snow Eagle Ridge had two top-tier disciples, the other being Wei Wuyi, the number one martial artist in the South.

Wei Jili, as the eldest son, is now over sixty years old. In recent years, he has been handling the sect's internal affairs and rarely appears in public. At this moment, he stopped in front of the campfire and cupped his hands in greeting.
"Your Excellency is as dashing as ever."

The traveling performer strummed his sanxian (a three-stringed plucked instrument), shook his head, and sighed, "Things aren't what they used to be. As the saying goes, no one visits a temple without a reason. Young Master Wei has come all the way from the south; it must not be just to reminisce."

Wei Jili's father was serving as the deputy supervisor in the Daqian Dynasty, yet he himself had gone to the north alone, which was rather taboo. Therefore, he didn't mince words and went straight to the point:

"Some time ago, Sikong Tianyuan set up a trap in the Southern Frontier to kill Xie Jinhuan, but all the men he sent failed. The South dared not make any further moves and could only send this boy to the North. I am here to remind you to deal with this boy as soon as possible, otherwise, with his abilities, he may ruin the Northern plans."

The traveling performer sighed: "You've been plotting for twenty years, and in the end, you almost had your table overturned by a mere brat. Even the old man Sikong, who personally orchestrated the whole thing, couldn't do anything about it. Now, you can only dump it in the north and let us handle it, lest it return to the Southern Dynasty and continue to wreak havoc on your turf. Young Hero Wei, your concerns are understandable, but aren't we afraid of alerting the enemy?"

Wei Jili replied, "Even before Xie Jinhuan went south, the Prince of Dan had the intention to send an envoy to Zhou, and he greatly admired Xie Jinhuan. We only facilitated this matter because we saw that Sikong Tianyuan had failed. Whether you intervene or not, this boy will come, and with his abilities, he will most likely ruin your plans."

The traveling performer had clearly heard of Xie Jinhuan's exploits and inquired:
"If you're having the North handle this, you should at least provide some information about their whereabouts, right?"

Wei Jili shook his head: "This boy is too alert, and it's as if he has eyes in the sky. If we rashly follow him, we will most likely be discovered. To avoid alerting him, we can only pay attention to the post stations and passes along the way. But he suffered a loss in the south last time and has concealed his whereabouts when he came here. At present, we can only roughly deduce that he has already crossed the border and reached the north."

"From Shanhe Pass to Yanjing, it spans three prefectures. We don't know when we'll leave the pass or the route we'll take. How are we supposed to find a needle in a haystack? Once we get to Yanjing, we won't be able to make a move."

"Now that I'm here, I naturally have a way to lure this kid out. You just need to find someone to deal with him."

As Wei Jili spoke, he took a piece of paper from his sleeve and tossed it to the traveling performer:
“When this young man comes, he should be accompanied by the master of Queyue Manor. This document contains information about the murder of Bu Qingya and his wife. Once the news spreads, and we wait for him to arrive, he will surely show up.”

The traveling performer took the paper and glanced at it:
“Bu Qingya was once the second-in-command of the Witch Alliance. I even met him once. In the blink of an eye, his daughter has already left the mountain. Time really flies. Alright, Young Hero Wei, go back. This boy will never reach Yanjing, let alone return to the Southern Dynasty.”

Wei Jili reminded him:

"Sikong Tianyuan has already used all his strength, even when hunting a rabbit, but he still couldn't kill it. You must not let your guard down."

The itinerant performer put away the papers:

"Killing someone is not difficult; what is difficult is leaving no trace, whether the mission succeeds or fails, without alerting the enemy or exposing oneself. Fortunately, there are capable people nearby; if this boy dies at his hands, no one will suspect anything."

Seeing this, Wei Jili said no more, bowed, and disappeared into the wind and snow.

Dangdang~
The sound of the sanxian (a three-stringed plucked instrument) rose again from beside the campfire. The traveling musician played alone for a while, then took out three copper coins from his sleeve, tossed them up, and they landed in his palm. He examined them briefly, then frowned slightly.

"A terrible omen. It seems one person alone cannot handle this child..."

……
-
Early morning hours.

The sounds of carriages and horses, along with the cries of street vendors, drifted in from outside the inn's window.
"Lamb's head meat..."

"The coal has been sold..."

……

Xie Jinhuan was awakened by the noise. He silently opened his eyes and saw that he was sitting on the ground at some point. His outer robe was off and there was a soft, warm mass next to him.

Looking over, one could see the Fairy Bu, dressed in a dark blue dress, with her arms wrapped around his chest, holding his robe, and leaning against him shoulder to shoulder. She had fallen asleep unconsciously, and her cheek was resting on his shoulder, her serene face quite peaceful.

"..." Xie Jinhuan knew that if he could find warmth in his dreams, he would find it in reality as well. He was caught between not moving and not moving, and when he saw his ghost wife pop up in front of him, he looked somewhat helpless.

Ye Hongshang, dressed in a red dress, sat at the table and shrugged slightly upon seeing this: "You can't blame your sister for this. That's just how reality is. The reason for the snowfall on the beach was to prevent you from leaving the illusion. Ask Coal Ball for the specific reason."

Xie Jinhuan was puzzled and turned to look at the window, only to find that the cracks he had painstakingly sealed had been completely torn open, and a layer of snow had piled up on the windowsill. His thick-haired personal maid, noticing that he was awake, shook her head to indicate that it was time for breakfast.

“Gujiguji…”

"?"

Let me just say...

Xie Jinhuan discovered that there was no warmth in the room; it was as cold as an icebox. He finally understood why he had been shivering all night.

Perhaps hearing the movement of the coal briquettes, a sound followed from the side:

"Whoo~"

Bu Yuehua had been studying the star chart all night and didn't know when she fell asleep. When her consciousness returned to her mind, she realized that she was leaning on someone's shoulder, so she quickly sat up straight. When she opened her eyes, she found that she was no longer in a dream. She quickly jumped up to check her clothes and saw that her clothes were intact and that she had not actually changed into that horribly sexy stepmother dress. She secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Xie Jinhuan pushed himself up and tossed the little bird that had flown over begging for food aside:
“I told you that the dream was just a hallucination. Yesterday, the coal briquette tore the window open, and it was normal to feel a little cold when the wind blew in.”

"Guji~"

After failing to beg for food, Coal Ball flew to Bu Yuehua's shoulder and started acting cute.

Bu Yuehua felt a little embarrassed yesterday, having been forced to spend the night with Xie Jinhuan in a revealing dress. But Xie Jinhuan had indeed been teaching her the Martial Arts Manual; the coal ball just wanted to eat—what could it have done wrong? She could only treat it as a dream.

"Thanks. The Martial Arts Divine Scripture is indeed profound. I didn't understand it very well. I'll probably need to study it for several more days. Coal Ball has been hungry all night. Let's go eat first."

Xie Jinhuan didn't know what to say, so he flicked the coal ball's head with his hand and then accompanied him downstairs to the restaurant across the street.

Coal Ball had been peering out the window all night, and when he saw the mutton shop, he couldn't resist. Xie Jinhuan could only accompany him and ask for two ounces of lean meat, finely chopped into small pieces, without a single bit of fat.

Bu Yuehua sat in the restaurant waiting, watching Xie Jinhuan show off his knife skills while carrying coal briquettes, and couldn't help but shake her head inwardly. Just as she was waiting for breakfast to be served, she suddenly heard some street vendors chatting:
"The government is useless. More than a dozen people have died in Baihua County, and there's still no resolution..."

"You can't entirely blame the government. I've heard that the sorcerers who extract people's souls use 'soul-binding locks,' which are said to be a weapon used by the Corpse Ancestor..."

Upon hearing the words "Soul-Binding Lock," Bu Yuehua was startled. Her serene and elegant face beneath the veil softened, revealing a chilling murderous intent. She turned to look at the three lackeys:

"Are you sure?"

Caught off guard, the three drinkers were startled by the veiled female warrior. Sensing something was amiss, they immediately fell silent. However, this seemingly delicate and charming woman turned out to be quite fierce, immediately grasping her slender sword.

Are you sure it's a soul-binding lock?

"Uh……"

The henchman's face paled, and he stammered in response:
"I'm not sure either, I just heard people talking about it on the street..."

Bu Yuehua took a light breath, picked up her knife, stood up, nodded in apology, and then walked quickly into the street.

Xie Jinhuan was buying breakfast for Meiqiu when he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Bu Xianzi was suddenly rushing out. He immediately put down the money and quickly followed her.

"Senior Sister Hua?"

Bu Yuehua, carrying a knife, retrieved a horse from the inn. After a moment's consideration, she explained in a calm tone:
"We need to go to Baihua County. There's a wave of demon bandits there, and I heard it's related to the Soul-Binding Lock. This weapon is connected to old grudges within the sect, so it's quite important."

Xie Jinhuan had already heard about the events in Baihua County. According to folklore, it was related to the "Red Witch Cult" of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. This cult emerged shortly after Empress Dowager Guo came to power, and it harvested the souls of the people everywhere. There were also rumors such as "the country will perish because of the Red Witch and demons will descend upon the Zhou land." Some even said that Empress Dowager Guo was a witch reincarnated from the Red Witch and was preparing to take control of the Great Qian Dynasty.

But Xie Jinhuan knew the red-haired older sister and didn't believe the rumor at all. He casually bought a few steamed buns, then mounted his horse.

"What is the Soul-Binding Lock? Is it related to the Red Witch Cult?"

Bu Yuehua spurred her horse through the bustling streets, explaining along the way:

"The Soul-Binding Lock was originally the treasure of the Corpse Witch Sect. It was later obtained by the Corpse Ancestor and lost in the war. After the war, the righteous sects searched everywhere but could not find it until it reappeared thirty years ago. As for the Crimson Witch Sect, I don't know its origin. Anyway, there is no such branch in the witch sects."

Xie Jinhuan could tell from Bu Xianzi's sudden change in mood that this matter might be quite serious, but Bu Yuehua didn't elaborate, and he didn't ask any further questions. He simply accompanied her on her flying horse towards Baihua County...

(End of this chapter)