One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Although the original Gu poison in Chen Duo's body had been suppressed, the aura belonging to the "Gu Body Saint Child," which could make most poisonous insects retreat or even die instantly, was still there. Ordinary poisonous insects would either flee far away or freeze to death upon sensing this aura, but this toad... actually let Chen Duo poke its forehead without moving an inch.

Either this toad is naturally slow-witted, or it has become a spirit, or... there's something wrong with this place.

Nie Lingfeng raised his head and looked around.

The night was deep, a cool mountain breeze blew, and the chirping of insects echoed in the grass. In the distance, the sound of night birds flapping their wings could be heard from the woods—everything seemed normal. But that toad, unafraid of Chen Duo, was like a tiny thorn, pricking his heart.

He reached out, intending to poke the toad, but as soon as his finger touched it, the toad suddenly croaked, kicked off with its hind legs, and leaped into the depths of the grass, disappearing from sight.

Nie Lingfeng: "..." He withdrew his hand and looked at Chen Duo expressionlessly.

Chen Duo looked at him, a hint of innocence in her emerald eyes: "It's afraid of you."

"...Maybe it's because I look fierce." Nie Lingfeng chuckled self-deprecatingly, stood up, and said, "Let's go back."

Chen Duo also stood up, patted the grass clippings off her skirt, picked up the doll again, and followed behind him.

The two continued walking down the mountain. Nie Lingfeng, however, was still thinking about the toad.

I'm not afraid of Chen Duo, but I'm afraid of him.

This isn't right.

Chen Duo's aura was far more intimidating to poisonous insects than his own. Unless... that toad wasn't an ordinary poisonous insect, or it sensed something else entirely, not Chen Duo's "poison."

Or perhaps there's something nearby that's interfering with the insects' senses, or even... altering their habits.

Thinking of the eerie quiet of Wangjia Village and the suspicious area behind the ancestral hall, Nie Lingfeng's unease intensified.

---

The next day, the two found a hotel in a small town about 20 miles away from Wangjia Village.

The hotel was ordinary, but clean and quiet. The owner was a middle-aged man who didn't talk much. He took the money, gave them the key, and left without even glancing at them—which was exactly what Nie Lingfeng wanted.

Nie Lingfeng didn't leave the house all day.

He sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, regulated his breathing, and circulated the Xuanwu True Scripture to bring himself to peak condition. In the battle against Ghost Hand and Blood Blade, he forcibly fused the three ultimate techniques of wind, cloud, and frost, unleashing the rudimentary form of "Three-Part Return to Origin Qi." Although its power was astonishing, it also placed a tremendous burden on his meridians. After a night of rest, most of his hidden injuries had healed, but he still needed more meticulous nurturing and consolidation.

Chen Duo, holding a panda plush toy, sat on a chair by the window, quietly watching the street scene.

The town is small, with only one main street lined with various shops—grocery stores, snack bars, barbershops, and hardware stores. The street is bustling with people, mostly locals, but also a few outsiders like them. The sunlight is lovely, casting a warm glow on the cobblestone street.

Chen Duo watched intently. She saw an old woman sitting in a bamboo chair in front of a grocery store, basking in the sun and fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan; she saw a snack shop owner frying dough sticks, the golden-brown sticks tumbling and puffing in the oil; she saw several children playing marbles on a street corner, laughing loudly; she saw a yellow dog lying under the eaves, lazily yawning.

These were all sights she had never seen before, or sights she had seen but never paid attention to.

Now, she can see, think, and try to understand the lives represented by these scenes.

Occasionally, she would pick up the copy of "The Treatise on the Response of the Supreme Being" that Nie Lingfeng had given her and flip through a couple of pages. The book was in traditional Chinese characters, vertically formatted, and written in classical Chinese, which she couldn't understand. But Nie Lingfeng had said, "It doesn't matter if you can't understand it. Read it a few more times and feel the 'qi' within it." So she was truly "feeling" it—her fingers tracing the rough pages, her eyes fixed on the intricate strokes of the Chinese characters, trying to sense some kind of... rhythm, or artistic conception.

Of course, most of the time, she doesn't feel anything.

But she was very patient, watching it again and again, feeling it over and over again.

As evening falls, the setting sun bathes the town in a warm orange-red hue.

Nie Lingfeng slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath. The breath was pale gray and lingered in the air for a moment before slowly dissipating. His eyes were clear as a cold pool, his breathing was long and even, and his overall condition had been adjusted to its peak.

He got out of bed, walked to the window, and looked at the mountains in the twilight in the distance.

That's the direction of Wangjia Village.

"Are you hungry?" he asked Chen Duo.

Chen Duo nodded and closed the book: "Mm."

"Come on, I'll take you to get a good meal." Nie Lingfeng smiled, a relaxed smile, as if a heavy burden had been lifted. "You need to be full to have the energy to fight. Besides, if we lose tomorrow, this might be our last supper—pui pui pui, just kidding, just kidding."

Chen Duo tilted her head, not quite understanding what "The Last Supper" meant, but she understood that "you need to be well-fed to have the strength to fight," so she nodded again: "Okay."

The two left the hotel, strolled around the streets, and finally chose a restaurant that looked the cleanest and was the most crowded.

The restaurant is called "Old Zhang's Local Cuisine Restaurant." The storefront isn't large, but the interior is spacious, with seven or eight square tables, most of which are already occupied. The air is filled with the aroma of stir-fried dishes, the pungent smell of chili peppers, and the unique sweet fragrance of steamed rice.

Nie Lingfeng found a corner by the window to sit down, picked up the menu, and ordered several main dishes—spicy chicken, boiled fish, twice-cooked pork, and Mapo tofu. He also ordered two bowls of rice and a pot of rice wine.

"Can you drink alcohol?" he asked Chen Duo.

Chen Duo thought for a moment and shook her head: "I've never had it."

"Try it." Nie Lingfeng poured her a small cup of rice wine. The wine was homemade, slightly yellow in color, and had a faint sweet and alcoholic aroma. "Drink only a little, just to taste it. If you don't like it, don't drink it."

Chen Duo picked up the cup and carefully took a small sip.

Then, her brows immediately furrowed, and her whole face scrunched up as if she had eaten something extremely sour.

"Spicy." She uttered the word with obvious disgust in her voice, then immediately pushed the cup far away, as if it were some kind of poison.

"Hahaha!" Nie Lingfeng laughed, ruffling her hair. "If you don't like it, don't drink it. Eat your food."

The dishes arrived quickly. The spicy chicken was a vibrant red, the chicken meat fried until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, buried in dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns; the boiled fish fillets were white and tender, soaked in red oil, and sprinkled with scallions and sesame seeds; the twice-cooked pork was a perfect balance of lean and fatty meat, stir-fried until glossy; and the Mapo tofu was spicy, fragrant, tender, and smooth.

Nie Lingfeng served Chen Duo some food: "Try this, spicy chicken, be careful it's too spicy. This boiled fish, the fish slices are very tender. Twice-cooked pork is best with rice..."

Chen Duo carefully tried a little of everything. Her expressions were very rich—when she ate something spicy, her brows would furrow and she would inhale; when she ate something numbing, her lips would feel slightly numb and she would gently touch them with her finger; when she ate something delicious, her eyes would squint slightly, like a satisfied cat.

As Nie Lingfeng ate, he told her a series of jokes. For example, he recounted how, when he was practicing martial arts in the mountains, he chased a wild rabbit across three mountains, only to find it had disappeared into a burrow. He waited outside the burrow all night, only to discover the next morning that it was a rabbit hutch inhabited by a family of seven, all looking at him with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot. Another example was how Xu Si once got drunk and insisted he was the reincarnation of the Monkey King, wielding a mop as his golden cudgel and dancing around the office all night. The next day, Xu San punished him by making him clean the toilets for a month.

Chen Duo listened attentively. She didn't quite understand what was funny, but when she saw Nie Lingfeng laugh, she would also smile and her eyes would light up.

This meal took a long time to finish.

Towards the end of the meal, they were the only table left in the restaurant. The owner, Old Zhang, leaned against the counter, dozing off, his head nodding slightly. The waiters were clearing away the other tables, the clinking of bowls and chopsticks making a crisp sound. The dim light from above cast a warm glow on the table, stretching their shadows long.

The air still held the aroma of food, mixed with the faint sweetness of rice wine, and the cool night air drifting in from outside the window.

Everything was quiet and peaceful, like the most ordinary dinner.

"Chen Duo," Nie Lingfeng suddenly spoke, his voice very soft, as if afraid of disturbing the tranquility of this moment, "If... I mean if I don't come back tonight, then do as we said yesterday, go to Longhu Mountain and find the Old Celestial Master. He will protect you and teach you how to live from now on—to live like a normal person."

Chen Duo's hand holding the chopsticks paused slightly.

She looked up at Nie Lingfeng. The light shone down from the side, casting varying shadows on his face, making his expression somewhat blurry, but his eyes were clear and serious, showing no sign of joking.

She didn't answer immediately, but instead lowered her head and stared at the remaining half bowl of rice for a long time.

Then, she raised her head and looked at Nie Lingfeng, his reflection clearly and completely reflected in her emerald green eyes for the first time.

"You will come back," she said, her tone certain, as if stating a fact.

"Are you so sure?" Nie Lingfeng smiled, a smile that contained both helplessness and warmth.

"Yes." Chen Duo nodded earnestly. "You said you would always protect me. You won't go back on your word."

Looking at her earnest expression, Nie Lingfeng felt a gentle, bittersweet feeling stir within him. He reached out and ruffled her soft hair, which carried a faint scent of shampoo.

"Yes, I always keep my word," he said with a smile, his eyes hardening. "So, I will definitely come back. I'll take you to the beach, to the snow-capped mountains, to the desert, to see everything you've never seen before. We'll continue to go shopping, eat delicious food, and buy you the things you like. Just like a normal person."

Chen Duo nodded, a faint but genuine smile curving her lips.

"Um."

She picked up her chopsticks again and continued eating, but her grip on the chopsticks tightened slightly.

After finishing their meal, Nie Lingfeng paid the bill, and the two left the restaurant.

Night had completely fallen, and the streets of the small town were lit by a few scattered streetlights. There were few pedestrians, only a few people hurrying by on their way home, their footsteps echoing in the quiet streets.

Back at the hotel, Nie Lingfeng took out his phone and dialed Xu Si's number.

The phone rang three times before it was answered.

"Fourth Brother," Nie Lingfeng said, his voice calm and even, "we'll take action tonight."

Xu Si was silent for a few seconds on the other end of the phone.

The sound of a lighter igniting came through the receiver, followed by Xu Si taking a deep drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaling.

"Have you thought it through?" Xu Si's voice was a little hoarse, as if he hadn't slept all night.

"I've made up my mind," Nie Lingfeng said. "The Wang family is already prepared. If we delay any longer, it will only give them more time to make their moves. Besides... I sense that they have other trump cards up their sleeves. We can't wait any longer."

Xu Si was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "What kind of support do you need? I can transfer some people from the Southwest Branch. Although I can't openly help you, I can provide support from the outside and at least block the Wang family's reinforcements."

"No need," Nie Lingfeng shook his head. Although Xu Si couldn't see, "You guys just wait outside. If I succeed, you go in to clean up the mess, take over Wangjia Village, and eliminate the remaining rebels, just like we agreed before. If I fail..."

He paused, then laughed. The laughter was light, but it sounded rather harsh to Xu Si: "Then I'll trouble you, Fourth Brother, to take care of Chen Duo for me, and... to collect my body. Don't leave me to rot in the wilderness; find a place with beautiful scenery to bury me. Remember to burn some paper money for me on Qingming Festival, in large denominations, because inflation is rampant down here."

"Don't fucking say such unlucky things!" Xu Si cursed, but his voice was hoarse and trembled slightly. "Come back alive. I'll wait for you to drink. I've been saving a bottle of 30-year-old Moutai, and I've been holding back from drinking it. When you come back, we'll down it together."

"Okay." Nie Lingfeng nodded. "It's a deal."

After hanging up the phone, Nie Lingfeng looked at Chen Duo.

Chen Duo had changed into that light green dress—she had chosen it herself, saying, "Green is pretty, like leaves." Her hair was neatly combed and tied into a simple ponytail at the back of her head, adorned with a hair clip with a bow—also chosen by herself, saying, "Butterflies can fly, it's pretty." She was holding the panda plush toy in her arms—the toy was a bit old, one ear drooping, but she held it tightly, as if it were a precious treasure.

She stood quietly in the center of the room, the light shining down from above, casting a soft halo around her. She was like a quiet orchid blooming in the night, unassuming yet resilient, possessing a unique beauty of her own.

"Let's go," Nie Lingfeng said.

"Um."

The two walked out of the hotel, disappeared into the night, and headed towards Wangjia Village, step by step, with unwavering determination.

Meanwhile, in Wangjia Village, twenty miles away, the eldest elder slowly opened his eyes in the ancestral hall and looked at the dark night sky outside.

His eyes were cloudy, as if covered with a layer of gray, but at this moment, a sharp, knife-like light flashed in them.

"He's here." The elder spoke slowly, his voice hoarse, like two pieces of rusty iron rubbing against each other.

In the center of the ancestral hall, Wang Ai gripped his dragon-headed cane tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force. The relaxed muscles on his face twitched slightly, and the murderous intent in his eyes surged like the sea before a storm.

"Activate the grand formation." Wang Ai spoke each word slowly and deliberately, as if squeezing them out from between his teeth. "All those lying in ambush, take your positions. Tonight... we'll ensure he doesn't leave alive!"

The pale white light curtain surrounding the ancestral hall suddenly lit up!

The blinding white light exploded like a small sun bursting in the night sky! The ink surged wildly, like countless ink dragons rolling and roaring in the light curtain! The entire "ink painting" began to change drastically—mountains moved, rivers changed course, forests grew wildly, and the ink-colored figures began to move faster, their weapons gleaming coldly!

The Divine Coating Array is fully activated!

In the open space outside the ancestral hall, more than thirty experts from the Wang family simultaneously opened their eyes, stood up, and gripped their weapons. Their gazes were icy, and their auras were unified, forming an invisible wall that stood in front of the ancestral hall.

Further away in the residential houses, the lurking figures began to move, converging towards the ancestral hall like a tide.

Wangjia Village, an ancient village that has been silent for hundreds of years, has tonight become a huge killing trap, waiting for its prey to walk into its net.

Storm is coming.

Meanwhile, at the eye of the storm, the gray-haired youth and the green-eyed girl holding a panda doll had reached the village entrance.

Nie Lingfeng stopped and looked at the strange area in front of him, shrouded in white light and churning with dark ink. A cold, battle-ready smile appeared on his lips.

"Chen Duo," he said, his voice soft but clear enough to reach Chen Duo's ears, "stay close to me. Tonight, we..."

He paused, then spoke slowly and deliberately:

"Slay the Wang family."