Frontier Hero: From Receiving a Convicted Woman to Becoming an Emperor for All Time

The group had walked less than ten miles from Ling Shuang Pass when it got dark.

Large snowflakes fell from the gray sky, stinging my face.

Tie Niu shrank his neck, muttering curses under his breath.

"This darn weather, it changes so suddenly."

Sun Ergou didn't speak, but tightened his leather armor and scanned the withered trees on both sides of the forest with wary eyes.

Shen Chuxiao rode on his horse without a straw hat, letting the snowflakes fall on his shoulders. His right hand never left the repeating crossbow at his waist.

This is a habit from my past life; once I step out the door, my hands can't be empty.

The official road grew narrower and narrower, and the withered trees on both sides groveled in the wind and snow, like a group of crouching ghosts.

Tie Niu muttered again, "Boss, there's not a soul in sight on this road, we—"

Before he could finish speaking, Shen Chuxiao suddenly raised his hand.

Tie Niu immediately shut his mouth and put his hand on the hilt of his knife.

Sun Ergou had already drawn his bowstring, the arrowhead pointing at the withered trees by the roadside.

Just ten steps away, in the wind and snow, under the largest withered tree, there was another person.

Shen Chuxiao didn't even notice when or how that person arrived.

Tie Niu and Sun Er Gou also saw it, and their expressions changed simultaneously.

The man was dressed in a straw raincoat, his bamboo hat pulled low, obscuring his face. A curved knife hung at his waist, its scabbard old and wrapped in hemp rope, the hilt worn smooth and shiny.

He also had a long sword slung diagonally across his back, the scabbard was pitch black and had no decoration whatsoever.

As the snow fell heavily, he stood there, motionless.

Like a stone statue in the wilderness.

Shen Chuxiao narrowed his eyes.

This person didn't exude murderous intent, but there was an inexplicable sense of oppression about him. It wasn't something he deliberately projected; it was something inherent in his very being—like a sharp blade hidden in its sheath, you know it's sharp even without drawing it.

"Captain Shen?"

The man spoke. His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping against stone, or wind blowing through withered branches, completely at odds with his handsome appearance.

"Who are you?" Shen Chuxiao asked.

Who I am is not important.

The man slightly raised his head, revealing a section of his fair chin with soft lines through the edge of his straw hat.

"The important thing is—you can't go any further down this road."

Tie Niu couldn't hold back any longer, brandishing his broadsword: "Bullshit! No one dares to stop your Uncle Tie from taking the path he wants!"

He lifted his foot to rush forward, but Shen Chuxiao grabbed him.

"Step back."

"Boss—"

"Step back."

Tie Niu gritted his teeth and took two steps back, but he didn't put down his broadsword. His eyes were fixed on the man in the straw raincoat, like a ferocious beast that might pounce at any moment.

Shen Chuxiao stared at that person, then suddenly smiled.

"Are you one of those who robbed the grain supplies?"

The man in the straw raincoat neither denied nor admitted it. He simply tilted his head slightly, as if sizing up Shen Chuxiao.

"I've heard that Captain Shen is quite skilled; he can kill thirty barbarians by himself."

"I heard?" Shen Chuxiao raised an eyebrow. "Who told you?"

"Listen to what those people should listen to."

The man in the straw raincoat reached out from under his raincoat and slowly placed his hand on the hilt of the curved sword at his waist.

I want to give it a try.

Before he finished speaking, he moved.

It's unbelievably fast.

The raincoat billowed in the wind and snow, creating a dark shadow. The moment the curved blade was drawn, a cold light shot straight for Shen Chuxiao's throat. The blade sliced ​​through the snowflakes with a sharp whistling sound, like a venomous snake darting out from the shadows.

Tie Niu yelled, "Boss, be careful!"

Shen Chuxiao did not back down.

He tilted his head to avoid the blade, which grazed his neck, severing a few strands of hair that were being blown by the wind. At the same time, a short knife slid out of his sleeve and swung back to strike.

The two blades clashed, sparks flying everywhere, particularly dazzling in the dim light.

"clang--!"

The clanging of metal echoed along the empty official road, causing the snow on the withered trees to fall in a rustling sound.

The man in the straw raincoat missed his first strike, but his second strike followed immediately.

His swordsmanship was unlike that of the border troops or the barbarians; it was fast and ruthless, with each strike aimed at vital points, yet it carried a calm and unhurried rhythm.

One cut after another, each cut connected, flowing endlessly like a stream.

Shen Chuxiao blocked three blows in a row, and the mouth of his hand was numb from the impact.

A top-notch expert!

The man in the straw raincoat wielded a knife that was not only fast but also heavy.

Each strike carried a heavy force, not brute force, but rather the weight of the entire body pressed onto the blade.

This kind of swordsmanship cannot be mastered without more than ten years of hard work.

Shen Chuxiao stopped playing defensively.

When the fourth slash came down, he didn't block it again. Instead, he slid to the side, his whole body sliding past the blade like an eel. He reversed his grip on the short sword and aimed straight for the straw-cloaked man's ribs.

This move was both quick and cunning.

The man in the straw raincoat hummed in agreement, seemingly somewhat surprised.

He sheathed his sword and returned to defense, drawing a semicircle with his curved blade in front of him to deflect Shen Chuxiao's short sword.

"Impressive footwork."

He gave a thumbs-up, but it was impossible to tell whether it was praise or sarcasm.

Shen Chuxiao didn't reply. He had already drawn a repeating crossbow from his waist with his left hand and fired an arrow.

"Whoosh—!"

The crossbow bolt whistled through the air, heading straight for the man in the straw raincoat's face.

This arrow came suddenly; no one else could have dodged it.

But the man in the straw raincoat reacted incredibly quickly—he leaned back abruptly, the crossbow bolt whizzed past his nose, and his straw hat was blown off by the force of the arrow, revealing an exceptionally handsome face.

The face belonged to someone in their early twenties, with fair skin, bright eyebrows, and eyes that shone like stars. The eyes weren't large, but they were frighteningly bright, like two cold stars embedded in the face.

His features were so refined that he didn't look like a江湖人 (jianghu person, a martial arts world) who had been living a life of luxury, but rather like a pampered young master from a wealthy family.

Tie Niu, watching from behind, gasped in shock: "That man's face..."

"What a nice view!"

A man more beautiful than a woman!

Sun Ergou didn't speak, but his hand holding the bow paused slightly.

The man in the straw raincoat steadied himself, raised his hand to touch his face, and glanced down at the straw hat that had fallen into the snow.

"This straw hat has been with me for five years." His voice was still hoarse, but with an indescribable quality to it. "You destroyed it with one arrow."

Shen Chuxiao held the crossbow in his hand, with his short sword held horizontally in front of him, and said calmly, "I'll compensate you with one."

"No."

The man in the straw raincoat suddenly laughed, a laugh that carried an indescribable eeriness.

"You can pay me whatever you want if you beat me."

After he finished speaking, he didn't give Shen Chuxiao a chance to speak again.

The scimitar rose again, this time even faster than before.

Shen Chuxiao advanced instead of retreating, his short sword meeting the attack head-on.

Two figures crossed paths in the wind and snow, their swords flashing and scattering the snowflakes.

The man in the straw raincoat wielded his curved saber with clean, crisp movements—slashing, chopping, parrying, and thrusting—each move swift and decisive, without a single superfluous motion. Shen Chuxiao's short sword, on the other hand, focused on unorthodox attacks, targeting the lower body and ribs, each strike potentially fatal.

Tie Niu was terrified.

After exchanging more than thirty moves, the man in the straw raincoat suddenly changed his tactics.

With a feint, the scimitar tricked Shen Chuxiao into raising his blade to parry, while at the same time, the longsword on his back had somehow appeared in his left hand.

The curved blade pressed down on Shen Chuxiao's short sword, while the long sword pierced straight for his heart.

This sword strike was both swift and deadly.

Shen Chuxiao's pupils contracted sharply, and his body twisted violently. The sword blade grazed his ribs, piercing a large hole in his clothes. The cold blade brushed against his skin, leaving a trail of blood.

Tie Niu was terrified: "Boss!"