Ambush, Snow Demon Zhao Dongyan

With his astonishing physique, a single sleepless night had no effect on Li Dao.

Early the next morning.

After a night's rest, Shen San was sent out again to track down the Eldest Prince of the Tamu Tribe's party.

Finally, at noon, Shen San came running back, hauling his rotund body along.

"They're here! I spotted the Tamu Tribe's party. It should be that eldest prince or whatever."

Shen San spoke between gasps.

"They're finally here?"

Sun Zheng and Gao Liang, the two Embroidered Uniform Guards, immediately rose, a sharp aura naturally radiating from them.

Gao Liang glanced at Li Dao and the others. Gone was the flippancy he had shown during last night's conversation. "Get ready, everyone, and remember what we're here to do."

Meanwhile.

On one side of the valley, a caravan approached from the distance.

The entire caravan was red, and many of its laden wagons were decorated with large red rosettes, looking particularly strange in this desolate valley.

"Master Liu, is all this really necessary? I'm only marrying a woman who's lost her chastity. Why make such a grand affair of it?"

A young man riding a white horse spoke impatiently to the middle-aged man beside him, who was also on horseback and wore a blue Daoist robe.

The middle-aged man nodded. "It is. Princess Mingyue is the Great Qian emperor's favorite princess. Even if she has lost her chastity, she still holds the highest standing among all the princesses of the Great Qian Imperial House."

The young man frowned. "But surely we don't need all this. Can't we wait until we've crossed the Great Qian Border?"

"No. You must remember what we're after, so we have to take this with the utmost seriousness."

Hearing that, the young man curled his lip. "Fine. I hear Princess Mingyue is Great Qian's Number One Beauty. So what if she's lost her chastity? I'll just have some fun with her."

Those words also revealed the young man's identity: he was none other than the Eldest Prince of the Tamu Tribe.

The man he addressed as Master Liu had been his teacher since childhood, and was also serving as his protector on this journey.

The caravan slowly advanced toward the valley.

At that moment, on one side of the valley.

Li Dao and the others had already been waiting there for some time.

"You two, how do we proceed?"

Knowing that Sun Zheng and Gao Liang, the two Embroidered Uniform Guards, were commanding this operation, Li Dao naturally would not overstep his authority.

Sun Zheng swept his gaze over the party below and quickly made his assessment. "Look. Those two men are surrounded by guards, and they're dressed differently from the others. One of them should be the Tamu Eldest Prince who's come for the marriage alliance."

Then he looked toward the wagons at the rear of the caravan. "Those should contain the betrothal gifts for this marriage alliance. Unless something unexpected has happened, that special treasure is hidden in one of them."

"So our next step is straightforward: create a disturbance, then find the treasure in the caravan and take it away. That will complete our mission."

"One more thing, and this is crucial. Whatever happens to the others in the caravan is fine, but the Tamu Eldest Prince must not die by our hands."

Li Dao looked at the two men. "Then how do we divide the work?"

Sun Zheng glanced at Li Dao and the others. "What do you have in mind?"

Shen San spoke first with a grin. "Killing isn't my specialty, but stealing is what I do best. Leave the treasure to me."

Hearing that, Li Dao glanced at the other three. "Then Old Ghost and the other two can help you. There are quite a few guards at the rear, after all."

Then he turned to Sun Zheng and Gao Liang and continued, "I'll help you create the disturbance."

For no other reason than that he wanted to see what this toad lusting after swan flesh looked like.

"Fine."

Sun Zheng nodded, agreeing to Li Dao's suggestion.

As time passed, the Tamu Eldest Prince's caravan drew ever closer to their ambush position.

"Release!"

At Sun Zheng's command, Li Dao and Xu Hu each shoved a huge boulder down the slope.

"Attack!"

Seeing this, Gao Liang gave the order and led the others charging toward the caravan.

Meanwhile.

The caravan was advancing steadily through the valley when two tremendous rumbles suddenly echoed through the open space.

The travelers looked up and saw two huge boulders hurtling toward the caravan.

Instantly, the caravan descended into chaos.

"An ambush!"

The guards around the Tamu Eldest Prince immediately went on alert.

"Master Liu!"

Startled by the sudden commotion, the Tamu Eldest Prince hurriedly turned toward Master Liu beside him.

"Rest assured, Your Highness. Nothing will happen to you."

The middle-aged man called Master Liu swiftly scanned their surroundings, his sharp eyes soon spotting the figures attacking down the slope.

"Assassins! Everyone, prepare!"

At the middle-aged man's command, all the guards formed an orderly protective ring around the Tamu Eldest Prince.

Then the middle-aged man cupped his fists toward the prince. "Wait here, Your Highness. I'll go kill these assassins."

With that, he stamped down and shot forward.

On the other side.

Sun Zheng, Gao Liang, and the others also saw the middle-aged man charging toward them.

When they saw the true qi surging around him, one term sprang into their minds.

Xiantian Martial Artist!

"I'll handle him!"

Leaving those words behind, Gao Liang rushed straight toward the middle-aged man.

As a proper company commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he was also a Xiantian Martial Artist. Otherwise, he would never have held that position.

"Hmph!"

Seeing that his opponent actually dared to attack him, a cold sneer flashed in the middle-aged man's eyes, and he immediately struck out with his palm.

Gao Liang showed no fear either, thrusting out his own palm to meet the attack.

Bang!

Their palms collided in midair.

But in the next instant, Gao Liang's expression changed sharply.

He shifted in midair, hastily retreating and landing on the ground.

He looked down at his palm and saw a layer of frost coating it, sending a bone-piercing chill through him.

Moreover, a bone-piercing force within that frost was continuously eating into his hand.

"This is... the Heavenly Mountain Sect's supreme technique, Frost Palm?"

Gao Liang spoke with an ugly expression.

Hearing him, the middle-aged man sneered. "You know a thing or two, at least. You recognized Frost Palm."

By then, Sun Zheng and the others had reached Gao Liang's side.

At a glance, they could tell Gao Liang had been driven into a disadvantage after just one exchange with the middle-aged man.

Sun Zheng also noticed the strange condition of Gao Liang's palm, his face filling with surprise. "Frost Palm?"

He quickly turned his gaze toward the middle-aged man.

Suddenly, he frowned, then froze before crying out involuntarily, "It's you! The culprit behind countless bloody massacres on the frontier fifteen years ago-Snow Demon Zhao Dongyan!"

Hearing that name so suddenly, the middle-aged man was also taken aback. Then an amused expression appeared on his face. "To think someone still remembers the name and title Snow Demon Zhao Dongyan after fifteen years. How unusual. Now I'm rather curious who you are."

"Who's Snow Demon Zhao Dongyan?"

Shen San asked curiously from the side.

Sun Zheng's face was grave as he explained, "A traitor from Great Qian's Heavenly Mountain Sect. Fifteen years ago, when the Heavenly Mountain Sect pursued him to the frontier, he committed countless bloody massacres."

"They say the Heavenly Mountain Sect's experts severely wounded him back then, and he fled into Northern Barbarian territory. We thought he'd died there. I never imagined he was still alive."

Shen San could not help asking, "Is he really that strong?"

"He was already a Xiantian Martial Artist fifteen years ago. What do you think?"

Already a Xiantian Martial Artist fifteen years ago. Then now...

Shen San shuddered and instinctively edged toward Li Dao, seeking a sense of safety, only to be stopped short by a glare.

The middle-aged man shook his head with a smile. "Zhao Dongyan was my name fifteen years ago. I've since joined the Tamu Tribe and taken on a new identity. You may call me Liu Yan."

Sun Zheng sneered. "No matter how you change yourself, you'll never change the fact that you're a murderous fiend who betrayed his master and trampled his lineage. Now you can add treason to the list."

Liu Yan looked utterly unconcerned. "Say what you like. No amount of talk will change the fact that you'll all die here today."

He had survived the Heavenly Mountain Sect's many experts partly through his strength, and partly through his thick skin. Otherwise, he would never have joined the Tamu Tribe.

In the next instant, Liu Yan vanished from where he stood, charging straight at Gao Liang with icy air wreathing his palm.

Clearly, he intended to eliminate one opponent first.

Seeing this, Sun Zheng hurriedly moved to intercept him.

Neither he nor Gao Liang could match Liu Yan alone, so he naturally could not let him succeed.

Soon, the two sides were locked in battle.

At this sight, Shen San suddenly spoke. "Boss, what do we do now? How about we run? Those two look like they're in more danger than they can survive."

"Run where? If those two die, do you think you'll fare any better?"

Li Dao spoke irritably.

Shen San looked aggrieved. "Then what do we do?"

Li Dao swept his gaze over the caravan below the slope. "The mission continues. Keep looking for that so-called treasure."

"What about you?"

"I'm helping those two, of course."

Seeing Shen San about to say more, Li Dao raised his leg without another word.

Shen San hurriedly dodged away, not daring to continue.

As Old Ghost passed, he cheerfully took out a small bottle and handed it over. "Little boss, this can help that Embroidered Uniform Guard. Just remember to collect them afterward."

Collect them?

For a moment, Li Dao could not understand what he meant.

Xu Hu said nothing as he passed. He simply needed to follow orders.

Little Madman went with Xu Hu.

Once they had all left, Li Dao looked at the bottle in his hand and strode over to Gao Liang.

"What are you doing?"

"Applying medicine."

With that, Li Dao opened the bottle and poured out the medicine.

The so-called medicine turned out to be plump little bugs.

Gao Liang froze at the sight of them and instinctively asked, "How do you apply this medicine?"

Li Dao frowned. "Could it be meant to be swallowed?"

Hearing that, Gao Liang immediately shook his head. "I'd rather die than eat that."

Just then, a bug accidentally crawled out of the bottle's mouth and fell onto Gao Liang's frost-covered right hand.

The bug suddenly turned blue, and the condensed frost actually began to recede.

Seeing this, Li Dao understood and immediately poured all the bugs onto Gao Liang's right hand.

All the bugs began turning blue, seemingly absorbing the frost condensed from true qi.

Before long, the frost vanished, and Gao Liang's hand returned to normal.

"It's healed!"

Gao Liang looked at his right hand in delighted surprise.

Li Dao looked down and discovered that every bug had gone stiff.

Seemingly understanding what Old Ghost had meant by collecting them, he gathered the bugs up and put them back in the bottle.

Meanwhile.

Sun Zheng was beginning to falter on the other side.

Although he was also a Xiantian Martial Artist, his cultivation was clearly below Liu Yan's.

The greatest problem was Liu Yan's Frost Palm. Without any special means to counter it, Sun Zheng simply could not deal with it and dared not make contact, leaving him even more hamstrung.