Chapter 918

Xiang sat grumpily on Kat’s shoulders like a kid who was told he couldn’t get any candy at the store. He wasn’t trying to sleep. He wasn’t trying to be lazy. He was ‘the lookout’. That’s what he told himself anyway after being browbeat into letting Kat carry him while they ran. He didn’t feel at all comfortable sleeping for the moment despite the creeping fatigue. They were walking through hostile terrain and the visibility was shit. Yes, the need for someone on watch wasn’t a surprise at all.

Of course, Xuena could use the snowstorm itself to get a good sense of threats nearby and was using that talent to steer them away from the occasional spirit beast on their path. They didn’t have the time or the strength to properly fight them in this sort of weather. It also wasn’t entirely clear, at least in Xiang’s mind, if Kat’s fire would do anything to these beasts considering their ice immunity.

He was partially correct. The freezing effect would be essentially useless but the slow infection of hostile demonic energy would still kill them eventually assuming Kat didn’t manage to cripple them physically before it became an issue. Despite that though... fights would be rather deadly for the rest of the group, perhaps even Lily.

See as time wore on and they got closer (if not that much closer) to the centre of whatever was causing this endless snowstorm the ice started to become more sinister. The snow started sharpening. Instead of small snowflakes drifting down, they were fragile little pins and needles trying to drive themselves under the skin. They weren’t strong enough to so much as scratch Kat, and she was using her wings to protect Lily as well as she could... but a few stray snowflakes did get themselves caught in Lily’s fur. Turns out that it’s a real problem when they repeatedly jab into you. Fur is great until something tiny slips through the cracks.

Xuena was fine. She used the fact they were full of qi to throw them ever so slightly off course and curve around herself. It was somewhat mentally taxing but the constant stream of fresh ice qi she was taking in helped offset a lot of the effort. It wasn’t a perfect system, and Xuena would need to rest at some point but for now it was good enough.

Yang went for her own tactic, she used sunlight to turn up her body temperature, disrupting the snowflakes enough for them to simply melt and shatter against her skin. It wasn’t perfect though, and a few small cuts still appeared on her hands and face, where her clothes didn’t protect her at all. Xiang was in some ways getting the worst of it... and better off in others. He had no supernatural protection from the ice, but his skin was tougher than everyone else bar Kat. It was annoying, but closer to a rain of annoying flicks then true cuts.

After a while... it started to actually started to get relaxing. It was night time, the visibility was horrible. He couldn’t see anything and the sounds of the wind whistling in his ears became soothing lullabies. In the end, he slumped over and sleep took him. Kat readjusted so that he was less likely to fall off the side and then just kept walking.

.....

—

Three days of walking and the group was starting to get used to everything. Kat had only taken one break during that time, and even then, it was only because they’d found a nice cave entrance shielded from the wind. They all used that time to eat as much food as they could stomach, well Kat ate a normal meal, and then they passed out for a full twelve hours. Since then they were starting to relax a bit. The constant snowstorm covered their tracks. They’d changed directions a few times randomly to try and throw off any pursuers they had, and they’d managed to avoid combat even against the spirit beasts in the area.

It was early morning and Yang was just waking up on Kat’s shoulders when something happened. Xiang tensed, for just a brief moment. His combat instincts apparently the best of them all. Kat’s mind slowed the instant she saw Xiang’s stance shift. A blink later and suddenly in Xiang’s place was a tall, imposing figure backhanding their companion into the snow.

Kat’s eyes widened in fear. *I DIDN’T EVEN SEE HIM MOVE! I had my mind slowed nearly to my maximum!* The man stood casually, at seven feet tall even. He had thin, Van Dyke style facial hair with the hair on his head tied into a neat bun. His robes were flowing around him as if their wasn’t a major breeze flowing the opposite direction, and his ice were a piercing ice blue. He oozed confident, and fake disappointment at the group surrounding him. “You know... normally this sort of thing isn’t worth my... personal attention. Normally I have subordinates who can handle themselves. This time though... well... it IS rather personal,

“You see. I get back from trying to SAVE MY SON, only to find my sect in shambles, my treasures plundered and my prisoners escaping! Perhaps I should have gone after the more powerful ones, the Rank 3 I had locked up, or the group of Rank 2 assassins that thought I was weak... but no. They were all professionals. It wasn’t anything personal really, they were paid to attack and they did so. Thoroughly mercenary. You though...

“You came for your friend. I can respect that. I can understand that. I can empathise with that. Which is why I am HERE. You CAN NOT escape me. You WILL NOT escape me. I will not let this fester into some ridiculous bit of drawn out revenge for what you perceive as a poor deal! And really. Was I out of line? I understand if I might’ve been a bit harsh,” the wind seemed to double in speed the snow came in thicker, heavier, “but I was rather annoyed to find out the ingredients I paid for. Bargained for... were used on some NO NAME RANK 1!”

The wind screamed in Kat’s ears. She readied herself for the attack, trying to see properly through the snow... and then it ended. “Once again... I apologise. Perhaps I am overreacting but it just galls me... now Xuena...” The man, the Endless Rain of Immortal Ice Sect Leader “was I truly so horrible a jailor?” he said slowly as he turned to face the much smaller ice cultivator. She started to shake under the pressure of his gaze and Kat let her own aura expand, calming and comforting Xuena the best she could.

The Ice Patriarch sent a sharp gaze to Kat out of the corner of his eyes but didn’t say anything. Simply waiting for Xuena to answer. With the calming effect working overtime she looked up at him and took in a deep breath to say, “No. It was not so bad,”

The Patriarch smiled as if he’d already known the answer, “I see... I gave you research materials, food, shelter, safety as well perhaps. Was it really worth escaping?”

Xuena shivered not from the snow, but his gaze. “I do not know,”

“You... don’t know?” he asked slowly, playing up his confusion and restraining his anger.

“I did not resent being your prisoner. I understood it for what it was. I accepted the damage it would do to my cultivation and the benefits it would bring me in terms of research. I was not happy but I was accepting. Then my friends kicked down the door and dragged me away. I am touched by the lengths they would go, and I now must stand by them as they stood by me. As they trekked across the continent to free me. It may or may not be worth it, but I’d be a shitty friend if I simply collapsed now,” said Xuena cleanly.

The patriarch sighed, “I see... it is a shame to hear you say such things. Understandable, but still a shame. If this was a more just world I would simply drag you all back and lock you up again. You are a brilliant mind, even if you’re a terrible cultivator. The other two... well once again, in a better world I was use you to ensure their compliance but... well... that would make me look WEAK” He spat the word like it had personally murdered his grandmother.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“If I’m known to show such leniency for something like this... well I’m practically INVITING the criminals of the world to take a shot at me. If they fail so what? They won’t die, they can live to escape again and again... you see...” He paused for a moment as Xiang burst out of the snow, blood dripping from his broken draw and sword in hand. The patriarch didn’t even look backwards as he kicked out at Xiang, the air pressure alone sending him flying back into the snowstorm. “Sorry... where was I? A fly seems to have interrupted my thoughts...”