Dao Monarch
"Phew..."
"Phew..."
"I'm exhausted..."
Tianshan, perpetually covered in ice and snow, was bitterly cold. At this moment, a voice suddenly rang out. The owner of the voice was a young man, around twenty-two or twenty-three years old, tall and handsome, neither fat nor thin. He wore a black outfit, three layers thick, yet despite the cold, sweat still beaded on his forehead.
He was quite tired. How could he not be, having just climbed such a towering mountain? In Nanchang, within the Phi Ma La Shan range, Tianshan was the highest peak, and the path up the mountain was exceedingly treacherous.
"I wonder where the Tianshan Snow Lotus grows..."
After resting for a while to recover his strength, the young man stood up, his eyes scanning his surroundings, contemplating. His purpose in undertaking this perilous climb was to search for the Tianshan Snow Lotus – an incredibly precious herb. Only it – this precious herb – could help him cure illnesses and save lives.
"The book says the Tianshan Snow Lotus is very special, growing only on black granite. So I can use this characteristic to search for it."
"But... everywhere I look, in all four directions, it's all black granite. How am I supposed to find it?"
The young man frowned, a troubled expression on his face.
"Sigh... I guess I'll just have to rely on luck."
This was his first time climbing to the summit of Tianshan, and unfamiliar with the paths, he could only search by instinct. The young man decided to start in the eastern area. And so, amidst the icy wind and snow, he groped his way across the granite surfaces, hoping to soon find the spiritual herb.
Heaven did not disappoint him; after about an hour of searching, the young man found a Tianshan Snow Lotus. It grew on a cliff face outside a stone cave.
"Finally, I found it!"
Overjoyed, the young man immediately hurried towards the cliff face. After confirming that the delicate, translucent lotus flower was indeed the spiritual herb he needed, he carefully reached out to pluck it.
However, just as his fingers touched it, before he could even pluck it, a clear voice suddenly rang out, sounding quite angry.
"How dare you!"
The young man startled, turning around to find a girl had appeared behind him, he knew not when. She wore a white outfit, very young, perhaps twenty-four or twenty-five at most.
"So beautiful." The young man's heart suddenly skipped a beat. He had never seen a woman so beautiful. Black hair, fair skin, a high nose, her face was no different from a celestial fairy. Her beauty was already striking, but her noble aura was even more so. As she stood there, it was as if the ten-zhang radius around her was bathed in sunlight...
"Stare any longer, and I'll gouge out your eyes!"
Beautiful she might be, but her temper seemed far from pleasant, the girl warned coldly.
Faced with such an unfriendly demeanor, the young man reluctantly withdrew his infatuated gaze, asking with a hint of apprehension, "Are... are you the Snow Woman?"
He was more than half certain she was. As a resident of Nanchang, he had heard stories of the Snow Woman for several years. According to the Jianghu heroes who had ascended Tianshan, a girl resided there. She always wore white, was as beautiful as a celestial maiden, but possessed a very fierce temper. Regardless of who it was – male or female, old or young – anyone who entered Tianshan would be driven away by her.
Of course, there were also arrogant individuals, and not a few curious ones. They successively climbed to the summit of Tianshan in search of the Snow Woman. Their main reasons boiled down to two things: to spar in martial arts, and to behold her beauty.
And the result was... Of the ten who sought to challenge her, all ten were defeated; those who came out of curiosity or admiration for her beauty met a similar fate, beaten black and blue, seeing stars. As for the villains, the lecherous scoundrels who intended to harm Tuyết Nữ, these individuals... they only made it up the mountain alive, but absolutely none of them made it back down. All of them died by Tuyết Nữ's hand.
Gradually, Thiên Sơn Peak became a forbidden land of the martial arts world; for the past two years, almost no one dared to boldly enter it. Until today...
"You know about me, yet you still dare to ascend Thiên Sơn Peak, and even want to steal my Thiên Sơn Snow Lotus that blooms only once every hundred years. You truly have a death wish."
"Clang!"
Tuyết Nữ, it seemed, was exactly as the rumors described: not a benevolent person. The moment her words ended, she immediately drew her sword.
"M-Miss, please calm down! Let's talk this through!"
Although he knew a bit of martial arts, the young man didn't believe he was strong enough to fight Tuyết Nữ, so he could only use words, hoping to salvage the situation.
Unfortunately, Tuyết Nữ acted as if she hadn't heard. With the white sword in her hand, she launched an attack.
"Miss, please let me explain...!"
"Explain it in the underworld!"
"Miss, a gentleman uses words, not fists!"
Tuyết Nữ scoffed, continuing to wield the longsword in her hand.
She was a woman, not a gentleman.
One was the foremost martial arts master, the other merely an unknown nobody; their skill disparity was so vast that even a fool could guess the outcome. Very quickly, the young man was defeated by Tuyết Nữ, sent flying into the rock face.
Thud!
Falling onto the cold snow, the young man immediately coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood. Just as he raised his head, he saw Tuyết Nữ's longsword pressed against his neck.
The blade was cold, and the face of the one holding it was even colder. Tuyết Nữ said, "Speak your last words."
The young man swallowed hard, waiting for his surging blood to calm before speaking: "Miss, you are the foremost martial arts master, with a towering reputation. To strike down an unknown, unarmed person like me – aren't you afraid of being ridiculed by the world?"
Tuyết Nữ's face remained utterly cold: "If you've finished your last words, then I shall send you on your way."
"Wait a moment!"
Tuyết Nữ showed disdain: "Afraid?"
Angered by such contempt, the young man retorted: "For a scholar, death is as light as a feather. What is there to fear!"
"Good. Then I shall sever this feather."
With that, Tuyết Nữ applied force, intending to cut the neck of the "scholar" before her.
"Wait!"
Tuyết Nữ frowned: "Didn't you just say you were a scholar unafraid of death?"
"Of course I'm not afraid of death, it's just..."
The young man took a deep breath, bravely looking straight into Tuyết Nữ's ethereal, beautiful face: "Miss, this time I risked ascending the mountain to pluck the Thiên Sơn Snow Lotus because I want to save my daughter's life. My daughter has a tragic fate; her mother passed away right after she was born, and since then, she has been constantly ill. Today, she is gravely sick... I consulted ancient texts, which state that only by using the Thiên Sơn Snow Lotus as medicine can she hope to be cured. That is why I had to embark on this journey, offending you, Miss..."
"You may kill me, Miss, but I beg you, please save my daughter. Please help me raise her. For this great kindness, I swear to be a beast of burden in my next life to repay you."
Tuyết Nữ stood listening, her heart stirred slightly. She hadn't expected the man before her to have such a pitiable plight.
The white sword was silently sheathed. Tuyết Nữ asked, "What is your name?"
He's alive!
Realizing the tear-jerking tale he'd spun had worked, the young man inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, but outwardly, he maintained his expectant demeanor: "I am Gui Bao."
"Gui Bao?" Xue Nü repeated, a hint of doubt in her voice. That name really was quite strange.
"Young lady, that truly is my real name. My ancestors indeed bore that surname."
"What is your daughter’s name?" Xue Nü asked again.
"Gui Ling'er."
"And your wife?"
"Chen Xiaolian."
After waiting a moment and still hearing nothing further from Xue Nü, the young man, Gui Bao, finally spoke up: "Young lady, my daughter’s illness is already very severe; she cannot wait much longer. If you wish to kill me, then do so, but please, young lady, save this poor child."
Xue Nü did not reply. She walked to the granite cliff and quickly plucked the freshly bloomed Tianshan Snow Lotus.
"Take it."
"Young lady?"
"Take it back and save your daughter."
"Thank you, young lady!" Gui Bao was overjoyed, expressing his sincere gratitude: "I shall never forget your great kindness for the rest of my life!"
"Go down the mountain."
After Xue Nü finished speaking, she turned and walked away, and in a flash, her figure vanished.
"Phew… I thought I wouldn't live to see spring again this time."
Gui Bao recalled the image of the cold blade pressed against his neck just moments ago, and his heart still trembled. He placed the Tianshan Snow Lotus into the prepared box and hastily descended the mountain.
He had to quickly get away from that Xue Nü, the farther the better!
"This fellow…"
Gui Bao hurried away, unaware that behind him, a pair of eyes was intently watching. With a countenance that surpassed frost and snow, who else could it be but Xue Nü?