Three days later, Yunzhou border.
“Miss, we have now officially entered the territory of Yunzhou. Here is one of the so-called Eight Scenes of Yunzhou, Steaming Cloud Mountain.”
The carriage curtains were lifted, and Yun Shan pointed to the distant mountain peak shrouded in mist and clouds, and said softly: "Look, that's Steaming Cloud Mountain."
Following the direction Yun Shan pointed, Su Qiongluo looked over and saw only a majestic mountain peak submerged in clouds and mist. Through the rolling clouds, the outline of the mountain appeared and disappeared.
The sea of clouds moved with the wind, sometimes like murmuring streams, sometimes like furious waves.
But no matter how the wind changed, the mist still enveloped the entire mountain peak, without a trace of movement.
"It's so beautiful!"
Su Qiluo widened her eyes, and her little mouth was also slightly open.
As she admired this scenic view, she did not forget to share it with Duke in the carriage.
"General, general!"
"Come and see, this is one of the Eight Scenes of Yunzhou!"
"Meow?"
The cat, just woken up, twitched its ears and slowly raised its head. The fur on one side of its cheek was deformed from being curled up for a long time.
To put it in perspective, it was like a soft steamed bun that had been squeezed.
The sleepy-eyed Duke looked at Su Qiluo, and its drowsiness faded slightly. It rested its head on the window frame quite readily and enjoyed the distant scenery with Su Qiluo.
"Awoo, awooo!"
With the barking, Su Qiluo also picked up Thirteen and let it sit side by side with Duke to enjoy the view.
Thirteen rested its front paws on the window sill, seemingly looking into the distance, but in fact, its eyes kept peeking at Duke.
Little by little, its little paws moved closer to Duke.
"Meow!"
Duke pushed the silly dog away expressionlessly, signaling it to keep its distance. If it got too close, it would just slobber all over, too dirty.
The rejected little Ha didn't give up and kept sticking to the white cat.
No matter how much the white cat disdained it, little Ha shamelessly clung on.
Duke kept pushing little Ha away, but with little Ha's size, he was the one squeezed into a corner of the window sill.
Thus, Su Qiluo and Yun Shan happily watched little Ha cling tightly to Duke, squeezing it against the edge of the window frame.
"Whine!"
Little Ha nuzzled Duke, looking like a lovestruck fool. Duke didn't know why this dog liked him so much.
At first it just chased his tail and wouldn't let go. Later after being fed the Crescent Pill, it wised up, but also became more clingy to the cat.
Sigh, households with cats are best not to raise dogs, it's not good for the cats.
Unable to stand little Ha's clinginess, Duke jumped out of the carriage and went straight to the roof.
The curled up white cat rested his paws under him, with his long tail coiled around his body.
"Awoo!!"
Seeing the white cat gone, little Ha let out a resentful cry. Its voice was grieved, like an abandoned lady from a deep boudoir.
Duke ignored the silly dog and lay comfortably on the roof, letting the cool breeze blow to clear his head.
Crackle crackle.....
Duke's ears twitched. He wondered where the sound of a campfire came from in this biting cold weather.
The next second.
Heat rushed up suddenly and Duke's fur stood on end. A sense of foreboding exploded in his heart.
But before he could react, a fireball the size of a carriage wheel directly hit the carriage he was in.
The moment the fireball made contact, it exploded, blasting smoke and fire in all directions, overturning the carriage and charring the coachman and horses.
The carriage tipped to one side and Duke was blasted away by a powerful shockwave and heat, flying into the distance.
At the instant the carriage was attacked, a long cry exploded.
"Who dares ambush my Su family's convoy!"
In response were several more fireballs the size of carriage wheels, flying in from various directions. They seemed random and chaotic, but actually enveloped the entire convoy.
"Immortal Martial Great Hand Seal!"
With a low roar, an armored warrior suddenly left his mount, raised a palm to meet the incoming fireballs.
The air exploded from the pressure, and with a sharp whine, a transparent palm imprint dozens of meters wide dispersed several fireballs.
But even so, some slipped through the cracks.
Just the few fireballs that made it to the ground blasted the convoy into smithereens.
The armored warrior landed on his horse's back, took off his mask, revealing a handsome face.
It was none other than Su Xiuwu.
Su Xiuwu looked at the dozens of charred corpses left by the fireballs, his expression turning ugly.
"They actually dared attack my little sister!"
"What are you still dawdling for, little brother?"
Su Xiulin rushed over from the rear of the convoy with a pale face. Though his feet didn't touch the ground, he glided swiftly, waving his sleeve and shooting forward several meters.
"Eighth brother, go check on little sister. I sense there are still enemies attacking!" Su Xiuwu had just finished speaking when a handleless short sword silently reached his neck. This short sword was only as long as a palm, but the icy glow on its blade made one's skin sting as if trapped in an ice cave.
Clang!!
The handleless sword stopped three inches from Su Xiuwu's neck, blocked by a thin veil of golden light.
At the same time, a crack appeared on the jade pendant at Su Xiuwu's waist.
"Handleless Sword?" Su Xiuwu quickly retreated and shouted, "This is the Flying Sword Technique of Shu Zhou!"
"You have good eyesight!"
An old woman leaning on a peach wood cane somehow appeared behind Su Xiuwu. She heavily struck her cane and dense, peach-colored miasma spread out.
"But can you also escape my Peach Blossom Miasma after dodging the flying sword?"
"Hmph,"
With a cold snort, Su Xiuwu pulled out a soft sword from his waist. With a casual wave, the taut sword released streaks of light.
The dense peach blossom miasma was immediately shredded by the sword light, like chopped up cotton candy.
But the shredded peach blossom miasma kept spreading. The peach red grew lighter and a sweet aroma filled the air.
"This old one's Peach Blossom Miasma is made from gathering the pollen of peach forests spanning three hundred li. One whiff leaves the body powerless, two breaths destroy the meridians, and in three breaths one turns into a walking dead."
"Young Su, how long can you last?"
The old woman laughed sinisterly as her body seemed to sink into the ground, like plant roots embedding into the earth to absorb nutrients.
"Old hag, don't look down on us Su family like we're your ilk of mountain demons!"
Su Xiuwu bellowed, the invisible sound waves disturbing the air and leaving ripples.
At the same time, he sealed all his pores and in a flash appeared in front of the old woman. His left hand formed a seal and struck the ground while his right sword took her head.
Sensing the crisis, the old woman's expression changed greatly. She was about to sink completely into the earth, but Su Xiuwu was faster. His palm imprint shattered the ground and his sword light landed on the old woman's forehead.
The sword light entered from her brow and exited the back of her skull. After Su Xiuwu retrieved his long sword, there was one more corpse on the ground.
Before he could even catch his breath, an angry roar came.
"You dare!!!"
Looking towards the roar, a bad premonition welled up in Su Xiuwu's heart.
"Eighth brother!"
In front of the overturned carriage, Su Xiulin held a short spear in each hand, icy glints flickering from the spearheads like venomous snakes flicking their tongues.
Several corpses were sunk into the mud with their heads tilted back, obviously pierced through their brows by Su Xiulin's short spears.
Looking behind Su Xiulin, Su Xiuwu saw a golden light still standing firm amidst the flames.
Su Xiuwu heaved a sigh of relief in his heart, knowing that was his maidservant's life-saving object. Once activated, even his elder brother would be unable to break through that golden light in the time it takes an incense stick to burn.
Upon seeing his niece was unharmed, Su Xiuwu silently rushed to support his eighth uncle.
At the same time, a furtive figure crawled out of the carriage, sticking close to the ground and using the charred remains of the horse to quickly flee the center of the battlefield, disappearing into the roadside bushes.
Entering into the bushes, Little Thirteen kept sniffing as he searched, soon finding an unconscious white cat.
The white fur covering the cat, which should have been as white as snow, was now withered and yellowed. In some places, large patches of flesh and blood were exposed, making for a ghastly sight.
Little Thirteen looked back in the direction of the carriage before bending down to grip the white cat's neck in his jaws, flinging it onto his back.
Carrying the white cat, the small husky didn't even glance at the oppressive battlefield, directly burrowing into the dense forest until he disappeared without a trace.