In an instant, the air inside the room seemed to be drained by some invisible force, oppressive as mercury laden with lead.
Qin Youming lay on the kang platform, his eyelids tightly shut, the rise and fall of his chest imperceptible. He was wrapped tightly in a heavy dog-skin quilt, revealing only his head.
That face, which had still held a trace of boyish immaturity, had long been ground by the wind and frost of the Northern Frontier forests into sharp angles, revealing a grit and roughness beyond his years. His dark red face seemed covered in a layer of indelible dust, and his cracked lips were pursed tight, seeping blood in the dry, biting air.
His state of mind at this moment was exceedingly strange; he feared having his disguise seen through by Xie San Ye, yet deep down, he faintly harbored a sliver of anticipation that the other party would uncover him.
Facing this juncture of life and death in the jianghu, Qin Youming, for some unknown reason, felt an impulse surging ghost-like within him to experience it personally, to go through a real fight, even yearning to cross moves with the other party. Even though he had only just touched the threshold of martial arts, and the other party was a top-notch expert who killed without blinking, the more dangerous it was, the stronger Qin Youming's anticipation grew.
But as a living person with a sound mind, facing the threat of death right before his eyes, instinctive trepidation and resistance were also pulling at him madly.
Under the interweaving of this contradictory and tangled psychology, Qin Youming listened with rapt attention to Xie San Ye's breathing.
He discovered that the old fellow's breathing was shockingly long; a single breath was equivalent to seven or eight breaths of an ordinary person, and the airflow was extremely light, almost non-existent, like a hibernating old tortoise.
Finally, after several breaths, Qin Youming heard the creak of the wooden door being pushed open. Feeling the bone-chilling cold that squeezed in through the door crack, he secretly let out a sigh of relief, as if unloading a giant stone from his chest.
Had Xie San Ye just let him go?
It seemed this old thief hadn't reached the point of madness. Could it be that hunting together in the mountains these past few days had actually made him feel some camaraderie, and he intended to let him off?
Qin Youming speculated secretly in his heart.
But when he opened his eyes again, a sinister, raspy, strange laugh fell upon his ears.
"Kid, you're still too green."
Completely different from his usual dull and reticent manner, the current Xie San Ye, though dressed the same, exuded a suffocating aura of murderous ferocity from the inside out in his speech and bearing.
The blood drained instantly from Qin Youming's face, and he stammered, "Don't... don't kill me."
Xie San Ye grinned. "Relax. I've taken a liking to you. You kid have a quick mind and a belly full of schemes; you're good seedling for martial arts. How about coming back to the White Lotus Society with me?"
Qin Youming pleaded with a bitter face, "Can I not go?"
Xie San Ye snorted coldly. "Sure, you can go join Company Commander Yang on the road to the Yellow Springs... oh, and that girl too."
Qin Youming shuddered all over, as if scared out of his wits. "What's it got to do with me? I'm just a kid."
Xie San Ye narrowed his eyes, which were full of mockery. "You kid could talk pretty well before, what with being a grave robber and all, haha."
He walked slowly toward the kang while laughing strangely. "Don't think I don't know you were trying to pump me for information. Playing mind games with me? When I was walking the jianghu, your grandfather was still wearing split-crotch pants. Be sensible and come down the mountain with me obediently, or I'll cut out that tongue of yours that spouts nonsense first."
As he spoke, Xie San Ye's right hand suddenly shot out, grabbing at Qin Youming's ankle.
But Qin Youming suddenly sat up. "No, no, no, I'll go..."
Xie San Ye narrowed his eyes with a smile and was about to speak, but suddenly his pupils constricted sharply, and his expression changed slightly.
He saw Qin Youming's gaze turn ferocious in an instant, spitting out his unfinished words, "I'll go... your mother!!!"
Before the words fell, Qin Youming yanked out the slingshot he usually used for hunting from under the quilt. With a flick of his wrist, the leather band wrapped around a stone was drawn full.
Twang!
A dull sound rang out, and the stone, carrying a fierce wind, flew straight toward Xie San Ye's face.
Unfortunately, Xie San Ye reacted extremely fast. His figure leaned slightly to the side, and the stone grazed past his temple, hitting the wooden wall behind and burying itself three parts into the wood.
Qin Youming's reaction wasn't slow either. Seeing the strike fail, he used one hand to violently flip the cotton quilt over the opponent, and taking advantage of the cotton fluff filling the air and blocking the view, he lunged out the door, plunging headfirst into the wind and snow outside.
Almost immediately after, a skinny figure covered in cotton fluff rushed out.
The cold wind was like a knife. Xie San Ye's gray hair danced wildly in the wind, and his old eyes were filled with a forest of murderous intent, like those of a hawk.
Yet Qin Youming didn't flee toward the direction where the old forest ranger lived; instead, he fled down the mountain, tumbling and sliding into the white, snowy gully.
Xie San Ye intended to pursue, but his gaze swept toward the direction of the cafeteria, and his right foot, which had stepped out halfway, was forcibly retracted.
In this battle, he absolutely could not be distracted; he had to deal with that old ghost first...
However, before the thought was fully settled, Xie San Ye suddenly frowned, because the youth fleeing down the mountain had actually held his breath, and his originally heavy, clumsy steps became noticeably lighter.
Hearing the strange rhythm of breathing drifting in the wind, the old man's face instantly darkened like water.
"Toad Breath Art!"
Finally, amidst the whistling wind came Qin Youming's shouting curses at the top of his lungs.
"Xie San Ye, I curse your eighteen generations of ancestors!"
"Kill!"
Xie San Ye wasted no words. He lunged forward with a bow step, let out a sharp roar, and his whole body pounced toward the youth's back.
For an ordinary person, going down the mountain at this time would be no different from seeking death, but Qin Youming had actually mastered the "Toad Breath Art." Even if he was just a beginner, there was a possibility of change.
Once their identities were leaked, they would face unimaginable murderous intent.
Leaving aside those old grudges in the jianghu, they would likely face the siege and interception of dozens or hundreds of machine guns before even leaving Tahe County. At that point, there would truly be no way to heaven and no door to earth.
Moreover, they had been dormant for so many years, and success was within sight. How could they fall short at the last hurdle?
"Stinking kid, how many times can your little parlor tricks save you? Just obediently accept your death."
Qin Youming's pace wasn't fast, but it was steady. During this time, he had practically memorized the terrain around the logging camp. Although the mountain was sealed by heavy snow, relying on that half-baked "Toad Breath Art," he could slightly offset some of the cold, and his running was much lighter.
But when he looked back at Xie San Ye, he was startled.
The old man's legs exerted force like springs, bending and extending. One step could cover three or four meters. He didn't step on the snow but kicked off the rocks and trees for leverage, agile as a monkey that had become a spirit.
The two were originally twenty or thirty meters apart, but in the blink of an eye, the distance had closed to four or five meters.
This was too fast.
Seeing the other party getting closer, Qin Youming was anxious and quickly said, "Say, you two old men guarding this broken place, what is it actually for?"
Xie San Ye didn't respond at all. His face was iron-blue, and his eyes were full of murderous intent; he had clearly decided to kill.
Just as the distance was getting closer, Qin Youming suddenly turned his upper body, slingshot in hand, and shot two stones wrapped in leather straight at the old man's eyes.
Xie San Ye's facial muscles twitched, fire blazing in his eyes. He grabbed at the air with a large hand, capturing the two stones. His five fingers exerted force, grinding them, and two streams of stone powder drifted from between his fingers, scattering in the wind.
Witnessing this scene, Qin Youming's jaw nearly dropped in shock.
Xie San Ye's face was cold as frost, and he said harshly, "Today, even if you talk until the sky falls, you won't escape death!"
Qin Youming didn't stop his feet. Borrowing the momentum of the downhill slope, his figure suddenly darted to the left, trying to circle around a fallen dead tree.
Xie San Ye was deep in cunning. Seeing him change direction, he subconsciously paused, then pushed off hard with both feet. However, the moment he stepped on the snow, his foot slipped.
It turned out that beneath the dead tree lay a thick layer of soft snow crust. It looked flat on the surface, but it was actually a natural snow hollow.
Xie San Ye stepped into it, and half his calf sank in instantly, his figure unavoidably stalling.
"You kid, you..."
Xie San Ye wanted to speak, but before he could finish, he saw two pellets shooting straight at him. He immediately raised his hand to grab them. Unexpectedly, the moment his palm touched them, before his five fingers could close, the pellets burst open with a pop, scattering two clouds of lime powder directly toward his eyes.
"Wah!"
Xie San Ye's eyes flew wide. He did not dodge. Instead he puffed out his cheeks and, with a roar and a violent exhalation, blew the two clouds of lime powder away in one breath.
Then he stamped down once, and the snare around his ankle snapped apart under the force of his legs.
Watching Qin Youming vanish into the wind and snow, Xie San Ye's face remained expressionless, but from his lips he let out a piercing whistle.
"Fweeeeee!"
The moment the whistle sounded, a yellow shadow carrying a wave of rank wind burst from the forest.
Qin Youming looked back once and his heart immediately sank.
The yellow figure hit the ground. It was an enormous wildcat, all fangs and claws, its eyes blazing with feral malice.
Qin Youming ran even faster.
"Xie San Ye, you're using helpers against a kid? You really have no shame at all!"