Spirit Vessel

The cold wind blew snow across the mountains and rivers, making this frosted land even harsher.

When standing at a high altitude looking down below, countless miles could be seen covered in permafrost.

The gales became even more urgent as a gorgeous carriage came from the distance, leaving behind deep lines on the ground. Not only did this journey crush the snow, it also crushed her unwillingness to leave.

“The world says, even heroes have a weakness for the charm of a beautiful woman. However, beautiful women can’t resist a hero either.” She quietly sighed. This was a rare act for her since a woman that sighs would often age faster. Alas, she had been sighing quite often recently.

A sighing woman was definitely a lonely one!

There was only one man in this world that could make Hongyan feel lonely. She wanted to see him, but avoiding him altogether was the easier path.

She had never thought that loneliness would be this dreadful; it actually scared her to death. In times of fear, she would start to sing, so she placed her fingers on her zither strings and gently flicked them.

Xue Wu was driving the golden bird and carriage. She sighed after hearing the sad song from within and lamented: “No matter how cruel and cold a woman might be, they will always have a moment of weakness like this. The thing to blame is that not all men in the world have died just yet.”

Her singing was beautiful and the zither was even more wondrous!

However, on the path ahead, Nalan Xuejian could be seen wearing an ashen buddhist robe while holding a buddhist bead in her hand. She looked like a lotus flower above the snow as she blocked the path of the carriage. She listened to the song inside and could feel the affection from within.

The carriage finally stopped because Xue Wu tugged on the chains.

Hongyan’s song also stopped as her fingers moved away from the strings.

“Are you Nangong Hongyan?” Xuejian stared at Xue Wu in her simple red dress. This woman was indeed beautiful with skin fairer than snow and a delicate figure that seemed to be carved out of jade.

Xue Wu was naturally a beauty and an extremely sexy one at that. Her red dress fluttering in the white snow was truly seductive.

“Haha, that I am!” Xue Wu also stared at this little girl ahead of her. To be exact, Xuejian was no longer a little girl. Her tall and thin figure was lovely alongside her lofty breasts and delicate waist. Even though she was not as sexy as Xue Wu, she was no longer a child.

Xuejian didn’t meet Xue Wu back at the Supreme Beauty Pavilion, so she didn’t recognize her and thought that she was really Nangong Hongyan.

Xuejian asked: “Aren’t you cold wearing such a flimsy dress?”

Xue Wu rubbed the surface of her dress and her snow-white shoulders. Her long fingers directly touched the inside as if she was feeling her enchanting breasts. Any man would vomit blood if they were to witness this scene.

She was truly a temptress. Even if she took all of her clothes off and stood naked in this wintry weather, no one would find it surprising.

Xue Wu teased: “I’ve always been wearing just this much since youth. If you think I’m wearing too little, take off your clothes for me to wear.”

Xuejian angrily blurted: “How faceless!” She wasn’t only angry at Xue Wu, but also at Feng Feiyun. That bastard was indeed a perverted devil, to go as far as liking such a scantily-dressed woman.

“I’m just a courtesan, how can I make a living if I cared about my face! Haha!” Xue Wu laughed. [1. Note, “courtesan” is the closest word, but the raw didn’t denote an actual ranking. Most people probably think of Japanese courtesans which are higher-ranking prostitutes, but Xue Wu’s word is just a euphemism for any prostitute. I also thought about using “companion” or “lady of the night” because “courtesan” isn’t perfect due to its connotations, but it is close enough and better than the other two.]

“Then you don’t need your face anymore!” Xuejian threw out the bead in her hand. The nine holes in to shot out nine rays of light. They looked like pillars that illuminated the entire area. [2. This is the reason why I used “faceless” instead of “shameless” a few lines ago. In Chinese, “face” is reputation, so calling someone “faceless” is the same as calling them shameless. In this line, Xuejian chose the literal path, threatening to cut off Xue Wu’s actual face as a retort. You can also interpret this as her contempt towards prostitution and lack of self-respect. This is actually my first time using faceless in this literal manner, but the text required it. Otherwise, I would have to rewrite Xuejian’s response.]

“Wait a minute, wait, we have no grievances, so why do you want to kill me?” Xue Wu was naturally not afraid of Xuejian. She was still smiling like before.

“We have an irreconcilable feud!” The nine pillars of light attacked at the same time. Xue Wu retaliated by reaching forward and spreading her fingers. They shot out five waves of light and shattered the buddhist lights.

“Boom!” Next, her palm indirectly struck Xuejian’s chest. The fabric of her robe moved and condensed into thousands of buddhist seals to repel this force.

Alas, Xue Wu was still a Heaven’s Mandate cultivator. The robe couldn’t deflect all of her power, so Xuejian fell and rolled down in the snow. Her hair and clothes were full of flakes.

“Haha, little sister, your cultivation is still too weak!” Xue Wu’s laughter was as crisp as a bell as she drove the carriage away.

Nangong Hongyan suddenly gave an order: “Wait, she is wearing the Nalan Buddhist Robe, take off her clothes!”

Xue Wu affirmed and stared at Xuejian. No wonder why her palm strike earlier couldn’t hurt Xuejian. So it turns out that she was wearing the Nalan Robes.

They didn’t waste their trip this time.

“What are you doing?” Xuejian gripped the front pieces of her robes in fear.

“Taking off your clothes, obviously.” Xue Wu captured Xuejian and began to undress her with a smile.

“Nangong Hongyan, you are too shameless!” Xuejian tried to run for her life, but she was caught by Xue Wu and directly pushed down to the ground. Half of her robes were about to come off.

“Indeed, how about I strip you bare and hang you on a tree so that every man that walks by can see the exquisite figure of a little beauty like you?” Xue Wu acted like an evil madam. Nevertheless, her smile was still very pretty as she began to resemble a heinous pervert more and more.

Xuejian was truly frightened as her face paled. Tears ran from her eyes as she shouted: “Hongyan, you will not die a pretty death! I’ll tell Feng Feiyun! If he knew that you bullied me like this, he’ll dump you for sure!”

Xue Wu had already torn open Xuejian’s robes to reveal her pretty breasts, but she stopped after hearing the name “Feng Feiyun” and looked back at the carriage.

“Feng Feiyun...” Hongyan pondered for a moment and replied: “I understand. You want to kill me because of him?”

“Nangong Hongyan is who I want to kill!” Xuejian was down in the snow while trying her best to cover her breasts. She felt that Xue Wu was about to eat her, so she was naturally in deep panic.

“I’m Nangong Hongyan.” Hongyan got out of the carriage and stood before Xuejian while signaling for Xue Wu to back down.

Hongyan stared at the disorderly girl. A little smile appeared behind the white veil, one so beautiful that it even stunned Xuejian down on the ground.

The world actually had such a beautiful woman!

“I’m Feng Feiyun’s wife!” Xuejian was still hiding her breasts. For some reason, she was a little afraid of Hongyan.

Hongyan sighed: “You are too childish.”

Xuejian retorted: “Not at all!”

Hongyan nodded and said: “Fine, if you’re his wife, then we’ll definitely have to strip you. Not only that, we’ll take your life too.”

“You want to kill me?” Xuejian didn’t expect Hongyan to be so cruel and treat murder this lightly; it was as if she had grown used to it.

“I’ll kill Feiyun’s wife.” Hongyan really wanted to kill this time, she wasn’t just trying to scare Xuejian.

Flames surfaced and wrapped around Hongyan’s palm. She reached forward, seemingly wanting to choke Xuejian.

“Amitabha, amitabha, Benefactor, let go of the butcher’s knife to become a Buddha, don’t continue to make mistakes!” A buddhist mantra was emphatically recited in the wind.

Nalan Xuejian was suddenly nowhere to be found!

Hongyan pulled back her hand and turned to the north. Xuejian was already standing in the snow quite a distance away. Next to her was a monk holding a wine jar with its scent pervading far into the night sky.

Hongyan glared at the monk and sneered: “I’m afraid I can’t become a Buddha!”

“Then evil has penetrated your heart too deeply. I have a scroll of exorcism; if you chant it three hundred times each day, your heart will be as clear as water and everything will become easy.” Monk Jiu Rou took out a crumpled scroll and threw it towards Hongyan.

Hongyan caught it but didn’t bother looking. On her fingers appeared a spark that immediately burned the scroll into ashes.

She sneered: “Nosy people usually don’t live too long!”

She slowly raised her slender fingers towards the side of her face and into her hair, wishing to take off her veil…

“Don’t move! I still want to live for several more years, leave your face for Feng Feiyun to see!” Monk Jiu Rou knew that one of the most powerful weapons for murder was a beauty’s face. This was the prettiest woman in the world, so he couldn’t afford to catch half a glimpse of her. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to live too long afterward.

Because of this, he grabbed Xuejian and fled at an unprecedented speed.

Hongyan put down her hand and stared at the flying snowflakes in the sky. The veil made her look quite mysterious while the answer of the monk kept on echoing in her mind: “Leave your face for Feng Feiyun to see…”

‘Perhaps I really should let him see my face so that one day, even if I’m no longer here, he will still remember me alone and miss me like I miss him… but... sigh!’ She lamented once more.

The old carriage continued deeper towards the storm.