The temperature was very low, and the view was a panorama of white.
But there were no shimmering auroras in the night sky.
Because this was not the North Pole—
It was on the road back to the Eastern Land from Blackwater Forest!
Someone was crawling forward with difficulty in the thick snow.
There were two people.
Two men?
Not really?
Because both Shen Congdao and Miao Hanyu had their masculine characteristics cut off with a single stroke by Murong Mingyuan and her people days ago.
They had long ceased to be men, but now they seemed to have lost the ability to walk.
It wasn't because the wounds were too painful.
It was because they lacked the strength to even stand up, let alone walk.
They couldn't remember how many days it had been since they had eaten anything.
When the hunger became unbearable, they would eat some snow or chew on some wild grass.
They truly wanted to stop crawling and just sleep in the snow.
But a strong desire to survive drove them forward, like maggots.
Days ago—
About a day's journey past the town of Las, three trucks driven by eight guards were suddenly ambushed by about ten unidentified enemies.
The eight guards looked and said, "Holy crap, the wind's not right, let's bail!"
With no injuries on their bodies, they abandoned the trucks and fled into the vast snowy plains.
The ambushers did not pursue the guards; instead, they began to slaughter the wounded in the trucks!
Shen Qingming—
Although those people were masked, when one of them hissed at his companion to speed up the killing, Shen Congdao's sharp ears recognized the voice as Shen Qingming's, who was specifically hired by the Shen family for dirty work.
Shocked and enraged, Shen Congdao's mind also raced faster than ever before.
He knew what was going on.
It was because they had disgraced the Thirteen Great Families.
The patriarchs of the Thirteen Great Families wanted them to die in a foreign land!!
No one wanted to die.
Even though Shen Congdao and the others were no longer men, they still didn't want to die.
So, they began to jump out of the trucks and escape, disregarding their wounds.
Shen Qingming and his group numbered ten people.
Shen Congdao and his group numbered as many as thirty-five.
If Shen Qingming's group wanted to slaughter them, it would take some time.
Besides, nine of the non-men were former guards!
It was precisely the desperate resistance of these nine non-men, who were former guards, that bought Shen Congdao and Miao Hanyu some time to escape.
After fleeing into the snowy plains, they cursed their respective patriarchs and, like stray dogs, hid in a grass burrow that could provide warmth.
After hiding for several days, not wanting to starve to death, they had to crawl out of the burrow.
But soon, they were discovered and pursued by Shen Qingming, who was searching for them everywhere.
Shen Congdao and the other man were in despair.
Cursing in their hearts, they crawled forward desperately.
Finally, they came to a forest.
Shen Qingming, who had been walking leisurely, finally quickened his pace with two men, blocking their path.
"Stop crawling. You can't escape."
Shen Qingming said slowly, taking off the scarf covering his face, revealing his true features.
Since these two were about to die, it didn't matter if they saw who was killing them.
"Shen Qingming!"
Shen Congdao raised his head with difficulty, his voice hoarse, "You, a collateral branch descendant, dare to lay hands on me, a core member of the direct lineage who has risked his life for the Shen family? Aren't you afraid of punishment from the Shen family?"
"Ha, ha."
Shen Qingming burst into laughter, as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.
Actually.
Even Shen Congdao knew that he was just joking!
Without the order of the Shen family patriarch (the patriarchs of the Thirteen Great Families), how could Shen Qingming have led people to intercept them midway?
"You worthless lot, dare to call yourselves risking your lives after what you've done representing my Thirteen Great Families in the western campaign?"
Shen Qingming's smile faded, and he said slowly, "Of course, you could barely be considered risking your lives. After all, you suffered so much in Blackwater Forest. Oh, right, esteemed Young Master Shen, Young Master Miao. I heard those thugs took you as their new brides?"
Shen Congdao and the other man—
A rare blush appeared on their pale faces.
"Ha, ha!"
Shen Qingming burst into wild laughter again.
His two subordinates also joined in the laughter, as if playing a supporting role.
They looked at Shen Congdao and the other man as if they were looking at the most pathetic mangy dogs!
Shen Congdao and his group held a good hand but played it poorly.
After being captured alive, they were first severely beaten. Then, because they were both refined and handsome, they attracted the close attention of the heroes of the Rhode team, who then bestowed upon them unspeakable 'care'.
They were already miserable enough, weren't they?
Murong Mingyuan was even more cruel, unleashing the most inhumane butcher's knife upon them!
Even though they had fallen to such a state, Heaven still refused to let them go.
Because of their actions, the Thirteen Great Families had lost face, so they sent people to send them to another world.
To die after suffering torments unimaginable to normal people.
If such people were not pitiful, then who was?
"Go die."
After Shen Qingming finished laughing, he wiped the tears from his eyes and said, "Blame yourselves for being recorded while you were assaulting those cheap internet celebrities. Now the whole world is mocking our Thirteen Families. We won't have peace if you don't die."
Shen Congdao and the other man, full of despair, began to curse their respective patriarchs.
They used the most vicious language they could think of!
"Stop cursing."
Shen Qingming waved his hand, "After you die, we will spread the news that you were killed by Li Qianfan's men. After all, it was to save you that Li Qianfan is still missing and his whereabouts and fate are unknown. If Li Qianfan's men don't kill you poor wretches, they'd be letting him down!"
With a wave of his hand, two subordinates quickly stepped forward and grabbed their necks.
Like dead dogs, they were dragged towards the forest.
Considering they were core members of the same family lineage, Shen Qingming decided to grant them a complete corpse.
They would be hanged in the forest!
Hanging them would fit the Li family's modus operandi for killing, wouldn't it?
Secretly sending people to eliminate the "Peerless National Scholar 26th Young Master" and then framing Li Qianfan.
Only in this way could they help the Thirteen Great Families minimize the ridicule as much as possible.
It had to be said.
The patriarchs of the Thirteen Great Families were indeed ruthless and sinister!
Shen Congdao and the other man struggled and cursed desperately.
They even cried—
What was the use of that!?
They could only be dragged into the forest and see the nooses that Shen Qingming and the other two had tied. Suddenly, they stopped struggling, crying, and cursing.
They accepted their fate.
"Go on your way. When you get there, don't blame us. We are just following orders. If you must blame someone, blame Li Qianfan. Alas."
Shen Qingming sighed and waved his hand again.
The two subordinates bent down and reached out—
Whoosh!!
Just as one subordinate's hand was about to touch the back of Shen Congdao's neck, a sharp, piercing whistle suddenly sounded.
Before Shen Qingming and the others could react, a tree branch suddenly appeared on the neck of the subordinate.
A spear-like branch had pierced straight through the man's neck!
"Ah?"
Shen Qingming was greatly alarmed.
Before he could even utter a complete "ah," the whistle sounded again.
It was still a spear-like branch, which fiercely pierced the other subordinate's heart!
The man was sent flying backward by the powerful force of the "spear" for a full three meters before landing.
He then began to writhe in agony as he died.
"Who is it!?"
After Shen Qingming's great alarm turned into terror, he frantically turned to look.
The two fools, Shen Congdao and the other man, also instinctively turned their heads.
A white figure, holding a tree branch in its right hand, slowly walked in from outside the forest.
It was a woman wearing a white coat and a white scarf around her face, revealing a pair of indifferent eyes, while her long hair fluttered in the wind.
"You, who are you?"
Shen Qingming looked at the woman, his voice hoarse and trembling as he asked, his right hand secretly reaching for his waist.
There was a gun there!
But as Shen Qingming's right hand touched the gun handle, Shen Congdao and Miao Hanyu saw her suddenly raise her hand.
Whoosh—
The third, extremely piercing whistle, flashed past the eyes of Shen Congdao and the other man!
Thud!!
With this muffled thud.
Shen Congdao and the other man saw Shen Qingming, who had just drawn his pistol from his waist, not only pierced through the heart by that spear-like branch but also "nailed" to the tree two meters behind him!
How much strength was that?
How fast was that speed!?
Shen Qingming's eyes bulged almost out of their sockets. He glared fiercely at the woman, opening his mouth.
Blood gurgled out.
The white-clothed woman, who was walking slowly, knew what he wanted to say.
Her voice was cold but clear as she replied, "I, am Li Qianfan's woman."
She was Li Qianfan's woman.
Just as Shen Qingming was about to hang Shen Congdao and Miao Hanyu and, as per the Shen family patriarch's orders, blame them (and all the deceased National Scholar Young Masters) for their deaths on Li Qianfan!
Li Qianfan's woman appeared.
Three spear-like branches cleanly and efficiently ended the lives of Shen Qingming and his two subordinates!!
Shen Qingming bravely raised his hand and asked his last question in life, "You, are you going to save these two?"
"Yes. I am going to save these two."
The woman looked at Shen Congdao and the other man and replied slowly, "I want them to live. Only if they live will the Thirteen Great Families be happy."