After being chosen by the Ice Queen

The last rays of the setting sun sank behind the western mountains, and the thick, impenetrable night swallowed the tavern. No stars or moon were visible; the mountain wind howled, swirling withered leaves.

Inside the tavern, the oil lamps had long since gone out. Gu Yan, Qianye Lin, and Daodaosai each occupied a corner, like three frozen sculptures.

Gu Yan sat cross-legged in the shadows at the corner of the stairs, with Huiming lying across his knees. He closed his eyes and concentrated, activating the Mind Source Meditation Technique to its fullest extent. His spiritual awareness spread outwards from the tavern like mercury spilling onto the ground.

The enhanced sense of danger picked up on the sounds of the wind: the flapping of wings of startled forest birds in the distance, the crisp sound of a dead branch being accidentally broken, rustling sounds... and an increasingly intense, chilling killing intent.

The enemy is closing in, far exceeding expectations, at least fifty or sixty people, slowly pressing in in a fan shape. Among them are no fewer than ten individuals with particularly obscure and cold auras—the elite of the Dark Crow.

Chiba Rin leaned against the wall inside the main entrance, her hand gripping the Karmic Chrysanthemum Pattern sword, its scabbard pressed tightly against her leg. Her head was slightly lowered, her long hair obscuring her face, revealing only her strikingly bright eyes. She could feel a slight pulse emanating from the Karmic Chrysanthemum Pattern on her knee, gradually synchronizing with her heartbeat.

Daodaosai crouched in the shadows beneath the back window, the massive iron hammer beside him. He still held the wine gourd in his hand, his cloudy eyes showing no sign of drunkenness.

Time ticked by in the suffocating silence.

"They're here."

At almost the same moment, Gu Yan and Qian Yelin's lips moved slightly, uttering silent words.

The darkness was suddenly pierced by a dozen bright beams of light. The roar of engines shattered the tranquility of the mountain forest. Dozens of dark figures swarmed out, instantly surrounding the small tavern. The beams of powerful flashlights swept haphazardly across the tavern's doors and windows.

At the front of the crowd, a man as imposing as an iron tower stepped forward. He was bald, with several gruesome scars across his face. In his hand, he carried a serrated nodachi (a type of katana).

"You wild girl from the Chiba family, and that damned brat, get out here!" Kito Gou's voice was like a broken gong. "That old codger. Hiding here forging a couple of crappy swords, you think you can turn the world upside down? I'll use your blood to celebrate the arrival of a new era for the Chiba Group!!"

No one answered in the tavern; there was only a deathly silence.

Gui Touhao's face grew even more ferocious: "They don't know what's good for them! Smash them! Drag them out, dead or alive!"

His thugs behind him roared and unleashed a hail of bullets at the doors and windows. The wooden doors and windows were instantly riddled with holes. Another group, brandishing knives and clubs, charged towards the front door and back window, howling as they attacked.

Inside the tavern, Daodaozhai roared and slammed his gourd of wine against the back window. As the gourd smashed through the window frame and flew out, his burly figure shattered the already fragile window like a cannonball. He then brandished his heavy forging hammer and faced the enemies flanking him from behind.

"You old fool, you're asking for it." The leader behind him grinned maliciously and swung his knife at him.

The answer was a deafening roar, like a muffled thunderclap. Totosai's forging hammer swept out with incredible speed, striking the opponent's blade with pinpoint accuracy. The blade shattered into pieces. The hammer's momentum didn't wane; it struck the leader in the chest, sending him flying backward, coughing up blood and knocking down three or four people behind him.

Daodaozhai moved like a tiger among sheep, his hammer whistling through the air. Each strike was powerful and heavy, accompanied by the sounds of bones cracking and screams of agony. He seemed to have returned to that blood-soaked night thirty years ago, only this time, the object of his hammer was the evil seed he had sown in his past mistake.

Almost at the same moment that Totosai crashed through the back window, a sharp flash of light cleaved open the tavern's front door. Amidst flying wood chips, Chiba Rin, wielding the Karmic Chrysanthemum Pattern, charged into the surging assassins.

The chrysanthemum-patterned blade was drawn. The dark red light of the blade instantly surged, transforming into a crescent-shaped arc of blood-red light that swept across the front.

The three gunmen at the front didn't even have time to pull the trigger. They only felt a chill at their waists before their upper bodies slid sideways, blood and entrails splattering everywhere. The blade flashed, easily severing even steel pipes. After the Chrysanthemum Pattern Blade drank blood, the dark red patterns on its blade seemed to shine even brighter.

Chiba Rin didn't stop, her sword moving with her. Blood splattered on her pale face, but she seemed oblivious, her eyes fixed only on the figure surrounded by the crowd ahead.

The moment the door burst open, a ghostly figure flashed out of the side window and landed lightly. Gu Yan's target was clear: the exceptionally dangerous elite members of the Dark Crow gang, hidden among the ordinary members. Especially the gaunt figure protecting Ghost Head Hao from behind. The leader of the Dark Crows, Faceless.

As soon as Gu Yan appeared, three dark figures attacked him like a persistent plague. One wielded a poisoned dagger, aiming straight for his back; another swung out a chain with barbs, wrapping it around his legs; and the last one held a ninja sword, aiming straight for his throat.

Gu Yan's mind went blank. Without even drawing his sword, he drew a smooth arc around himself.

Three soft sounds rang out almost simultaneously. Gu Yan's footwork shifted subtly, and he broke free from the encirclement of the three. He drew his sword with a backhand motion.

"Clang—"

With a clear, resonant clang, Huiming was drawn from its sheath. The greyish-white blade suddenly glowed as internal energy was channeled into it.

The blade flashed like a thread, instantly slicing across the necks of the chain-wielder and the assassin facing him. Both men froze, their eyes wide with disbelief and horror. Then, their heads slowly tilted to the side; the cut was smooth as a mirror, no blood gushing forth, only a layer of ashen gray tinge at the wound, as if life had been severed in an instant.

The man with the short blade was terrified and retreated hastily, throwing out three shuriken at the same time.

With a flick of his wrist, Gu Yan deflected the sword with precision, sending it flying. Without pausing, he closed in instantly, his blade aimed straight for his opponent's brow.

The assassin barely dodged the fatal blow, but a deep, bone-revealing gash appeared on his cheek from the blade's edge. Terrified, he dared not linger and hastily retreated.

Gu Yan didn't pursue, having already locked onto the leader known as the Faceless Raven. The other man was also looking at him, and in the shadows beneath his hood, two icy eyes gleamed like the forked tongue of a venomous snake.

The battlefield was divided into three parts.

Behind them, Daodaozhai fought alone against more than twenty ordinary gang members. He wielded his forging hammer like a raging war god, and for a time he forced the numerous enemies to retreat.

In the open space at the main entrance, Chiba Rin, like a red-hot dagger, tore a bloody path through the crowd, charging straight towards Kito Gou. Several wounds had already appeared on her body, her yukata soaked with blood, but her eyes grew ever colder and sharper. The chrysanthemum-patterned karmic flame in her hand emitted a fierce light, her aura overwhelming, and no one could withstand her attack.

On the flank, Gu Yan and Wumian faced off from a distance, with six or seven corpses of the Dark Raven assassins lying around them. Under the oppressive aura of the two, the remaining Dark Raven members dared not advance for a moment.

Faceless slowly drew a pair of oddly shaped short blades from his waist. The blades were curved like hooks and gleamed with a dark blue light.

Huiming slowly raised the blade, its tip pointing towards the distance. Gu Yan sensed a heavy aura of "filth" emanating from Wumian, indicating long-term contact with evil beings, and possibly even the cultivation of related evil techniques. The power of slaying calamity flowed slightly within the blade, conveying a clear yearning.

Meanwhile, Chiba Rin had already reached Kito Gou. She swiftly killed several of her trusted men who tried to block her path, sacrificing their lives in the process.

Kito Gou remained silent, a sinister smile playing on his lips. He gripped the nodachi with both hands and slashed fiercely at Chiba Rin's head.

Chiba Rin neither dodged nor evaded; the chrysanthemum pattern of karmic fire rose diagonally from bottom to top.

Sparks flew as the twin swords clashed for the first time. Kito Gou's powerful attack struck hard, forcing Chiba Rin to stagger back half a step, his hand split open.

"Is that all the strength you've got, huh?" Kito Go laughed wildly, pressing his advantage relentlessly. The afterimage of his katana transformed into a chaotic curtain of blades, enveloping Chiba Rin. His swordsmanship was wide and sweeping, each strike powerful and heavy, forcing Chiba Rin to retreat continuously.

Chiba Rin remained silent, seemingly on the verge of collapse, yet her steps never faltered. The chrysanthemum pattern of karmic fire danced in her hand, deflecting each of her opponent's heavy blows. The dark red light on the blade grew ever brighter, and the murderous and scorching aura intensified. She wasn't powerless to retaliate; rather, she was sensing every feedback from the blade, the flow of power within the Oni-Tou Gou sword technique, and the ten-year-old fire of hatred burning within her. All of this resonated with the sword in her hand…

Faceless's movements were unpredictable and elusive, like a boneless snake, able to dodge and weave even in a small space. His pair of short blades appeared and disappeared without a trace, targeting Gu Yan's vitals, and he also frequently used poison powder, blowguns, and other hidden weapons, making him impossible to defend against.

Gu Yan used the blade to block, seized the opening, and swung his blade to precisely cut off the faceless man's attack. The power of the Calamity-Slaying Technique had a clear effect on suppressing the abnormal aura on the faceless man's body. Each time the blades clashed, the eerie blue poisonous light on the faceless man's short blade would dim a little, and his movements would show an extremely subtle stagnation.

"Your power... counters me?" He discovered that the Shadow Corrosion power he had grown up relying on filth and slaughter was melting away rapidly when facing Gu Yan's blade, like ice and snow meeting the sun.

"Evil spirits and heretics should be slain." Gu Yan's tone was calm, but the force of his sword suddenly changed. He no longer used stillness to control movement, but took the initiative to launch an attack.