The Madam Appears, Fingers Slay the Demon Monkey

That woman had long been in business, and her eyes were shrewd as a thief's. Her gaze roved back and forth, glancing, appraising, and sweeping over him. She had Li Xian figured out completely.

His outerwear was made of fur and velvet.

It was not cheap. Anyone who could afford it was either rich or noble. But what sort of distinguished person came to buy rouge in the dead of winter?

Then she saw the standardized clothing beneath his outerwear. He was clearly a household servant, slave, or some other kind of underling.

He was probably disliked and had been taught a lesson. Otherwise, how could such a life-threatening errand have fallen to him?

"Young master, come take a look over here."

The woman's attitude became much more perfunctory. She swayed her hips and tried her best to walk gracefully, but her figure was wholly unsuitable for it. Li Xian quickly looked away to spare himself the visual disaster.

She opened a box.

Inside were rouge and powder cases in red, blue, green, and every other color, all exquisitely decorated.

They were inlaid with pearls, jade, and other jeweled ornaments.

"Take a look. If there's any problem, just tell me," the woman said.

Li Xian casually picked up a case and gave it a light sniff. A faint fragrance lingered around his nose.

"How much is this?"

Li Xian asked.

"This? Cheap stuff. A little over seven hundred copper coins," the woman said with a smile.

"Change it. I want something around three taels of silver." Li Xian waved his hand.

"Fine." The woman turned and walked to a display wall. "Everything up there is in that price range."

Li Xian pinched his chin and looked at the display wall, falling into thought.

After buying the rouge, I'll have to return to the manor. The risk is too great. I should stay as long as I can.

Li Xian sighed inwardly, feeling that his life was as unsteady as the wind and snow.

On the surface, he was carefully choosing rouge. In truth, he was merely struggling in silence.

"I say, young master, are you buying or not? You've been looking for far too long, haven't you?" the woman said impatiently.

"Do you have anything to eat?" Li Xian answered with another question.

"Sure."

The woman went to the back kitchen and brought him a bowl of plain noodles. "Once you've eaten your fill, you need to make up your mind. It's not that I don't want to keep you, but... what would it change if you stayed a little longer?"

"You still have to go back eventually, don't you? This blizzard won't stop for days." The woman sat across from him, clicking her tongue and shaking her head. "What a pity about that handsome face."

"If this were somewhere else, I might even be able to introduce you to some work. But now, who knows whether you'll survive this blizzard?"

Though the woman was speaking coldly, there was indeed a trace of pity in her heart.

Li Xian said nothing. He wolfed down the noodles and drained the soup as well. Then he picked up a rouge case he rather liked and paid for it.

As he was leaving, Li Xian passed a brazier, and an idea came to him.

It had taken some luck for him to reach Qingning County safely. Whether he could return was another matter. If he had a brazier with him, he would at least be much more comfortable.

So he said,

"Kind sister, could you give me one of these braziers?"

"Oh, what a sweet mouth. Take it." The woman waved her hand indifferently.

Li Xian crawled through the dog hole and arrived outside the city wall. After confirming his bearings, he began to sense the wind direction.

He held the brazier against his chest. With a layer of clothing between them, it would not burn his skin, but the waves of scorching pain were still intense.

Still, it was better than freezing to death.

"It's a southwest wind..."

Li Xian took a step forward, firmly remembering the initial wind direction. Once he lost all landmarks, he would have to estimate every subsequent shift in the wind based on that original direction.

He walked like this for half an hour.

Li Xian secretly rejoiced that he had mastered the Treading Snow trait in advance. Otherwise, with the snow blanket so deep and his feet sinking into it, his attention would certainly have been scattered.

If that happened, his skill at determining direction by listening to the wind would be of little use, and he could easily lose his way.

Then, in an instant, the wind suddenly stopped.

"What an opportunity!!"

He was currently facing due west, the direction back to the manor. Without the wind's interference, he could use this chance to increase his speed and greatly improve his odds of survival.

Li Xian used all his strength and sprinted forward.

After traveling roughly three to five li, the wind and snow returned.

Li Xian slowed his pace, intending to use his old method again and estimate his position through the wind direction.

Suddenly, his whole body trembled.

A chill rose from his bones. Every hair on his body stood on end, from his feet to his scalp, and would not settle for a long while.

In the darkness, two lights appeared in the distance. They glowed red and swayed as though they were approaching him.

When they drew closer, the two lights became eyes the size of bronze bells.

Snow Demon Monkey!

Its entire body was snow-white, its silver fur sharp as needles. Its mouth protruded, its cheeks were hollow, and its appearance was terrifying.

"Damn it... how did it find me?!"

This encounter only made matters worse. Li Xian had no time to think and simply lowered his head and ran for his life.

The Snow Demon Monkey chased after him on all fours. It resembled an ape, yet did not climb trees. Instead, it raced through the snow like a leopard.

It seemed to possess the Treading Snow trait by nature. It was incredibly fast and left no footprints at all.

Fury rose in Li Xian's heart. At the instant the demon lunged at him, he twisted aside and rolled. With his right hand, he scooped up a clump of snow and squeezed it with his inner qi.

He compressed it into sharp ice crystals and hurled them at the Snow Demon Monkey.

This was a little trick he had figured out himself. It carried something of the expert bearing of Killing with a Leaf.

Unfortunately, his strength was lacking. The ice crystals struck the Snow Demon Monkey and instantly shattered into powder.

"Run!"

With danger upon him, Li Xian broke into another desperate sprint. He was much faster than before, but compared to the Snow Demon Monkey, he was still far too slow.

In his panic, he had long since lost his direction.

He ran onto a mountain slope. Everything around him was pitch-black, and even the Snow Demon Monkey's trail had vanished.

"Hu...man..."

"You... hello..."

Suddenly, the Snow Demon Monkey's voice came from above him.

Li Xian looked up and saw it clinging to a cliff face. Its bronze-bell-sized crimson eyes studied him curiously.

It seemed to want to talk.

"Is it greeting me?" Li Xian's hairs stood on end as its gaze changed from curiosity to mockery.

Then it added the next two words.

"Deli...cious..."

It sprang down at him.

"Damn it, you won't scare the guts out of me! I'll fight you to the death!"

A fierce impulse erupted within Li Xian. He grabbed the brazier directly with his right hand, and his palm sizzled with smoke from the heat.

He had left in too much of a hurry to bring his saber. He could only use the brazier as a weapon and prepare for a fight to the death.

Just then,

"You beast, you finally showed yourself."

A cold voice drifted over from afar.

Upon hearing that voice, the Snow Demon Monkey panicked like a homeless dog and immediately fled in terror.

It was even faster than when it had chased Li Xian!

In an instant, it opened a distance of dozens of zhang.

Right afterward, Li Xian saw a white figure drift past. The blizzard was too fierce, and the figure was too fast. In the blink of an eye, it had widened the distance.

He could only vaguely make out that it was a graceful woman.

Knowing it could not escape, the Snow Demon Monkey let out shrill chittering sounds.

"Hu...mans... cun...ning..."

It suddenly lunged at the woman, striking wildly.

The force of its blows whipped up gust after gust of wind.

Yet the woman stood amid the snow, calm and composed. Facing the Snow Demon Monkey's attack, she merely extended two fingers and gave a light pinch.

She caught the demon monkey's palm.

An invisible force enveloped the Snow Demon Monkey's entire body, rendering it completely unable to move.

"To become my Essence Food is your destiny."

Her two fingers gave a slight shake. The force of the tremor spread from weak to strong, traveling from its palm throughout the demon monkey's body. Cracking sounds rang out, as though its bones were shattering inch by inch.

Almost instantly,

The Snow Demon Monkey was reduced to a shapeless mess.

This could not even be called a battle. It was nothing but slaughter. The Snow Demon Monkey's skin was like iron, its fur like needles, and its bones like steel. It actually had many ways to kill.

But the gap in strength was too great. Before it could use any of them, it had already been utterly killed.