"Snow Eagle Castle?!"
Fang Shuwen considered this for a moment, then said apologetically,
"My apologies. I only know of Sword God Palace. I’ve never heard of any Snow Eagle Castle."
"You..."
The leader’s face filled with terror, but in the next instant, Fang Shuwen’s force had already pierced his skull.
He flicked his gaze upward, looking at the two men still holding Long Qingzhi down.
The two men were scared out of their wits. They subconsciously let go and turned to flee.
But then their vision blurred, and suddenly, Fang Shuwen was standing before them.
"Where are you two off to?"
Before they could answer, Fang Shuwen grabbed their heads and smashed them together.
CRACK!
Two bodies slumped to the ground.
Fang Shuwen clapped the dust from his hands, then suddenly remembered something.
"Oh no, my fish!"
He hurried back to the campfire and inspected it carefully before breathing a sigh of relief.
"Good, it’s not burnt."
He picked it up, sniffed it, and took a tentative bite. A moment later, his eyes lit up.
"Not bad, not bad at all. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and the flavor lingers."
He looked up at Long Qingzhi, hesitated for a moment, and asked,
"Want half?"
Long Qingzhi froze for a second, clutching her stomach. After a long moment of hesitation, she said,
"Thank you."
Fang Shuwen smiled.
"Don’t mention it."
He found a sheet of parchment paper in his bundle, but when he looked around for something to cut with, he couldn’t find anything suitable. Long Qingzhi, however, pulled a pristine, snow-white dagger from her robes and offered it to him.
Fang Shuwen took it, unsheathed it, and glanced at the blade. His eyes lit up.
"So sharp."
With that, he used the dagger to gently scrape half the fish meat onto the parchment and handed it to Long Qingzhi.
Long Qingzhi hurriedly took it. She wanted to wolf it down, but the carp had many small bones, so she had to be patient and take small bites.
Seeing how much she was enjoying it, Fang Shuwen looked at the little bit of fish left in his hands and simply gave her the rest as well.
It wasn’t that he was truly that kind; he had just discovered that the seasonings only changed the flavor of the skin. The meat inside still had a strong, earthy taste.
Long Qingzhi didn’t mind, however. She thanked him repeatedly and continued to eat with gusto.
In the end, she devoured most of the fish by herself and still looked like she wanted more.
Fang Shuwen smacked his lips, then went back to studying his map. But no matter how he looked, his surroundings remained a complete mystery.
"We are here."
Long Qingzhi suddenly pointed.
Fang Shuwen was taken aback.
"Here? I thought we were here... Completely the wrong direction."
"Yes. That’s Four Sisters Mountain, and over there is Gloom Gorge. We’re on the Sunrise Ancient Dao right now..."
"Got it, got it! So if I follow this road north, let’s see... Cold Valley Town, Celestial North City, and there it is, Sword God Palace!"
Fang Shuwen burst out laughing.
"Excellent, excellent. Thank you so much. Otherwise, this would have taken me a lot more effort."
"You’re welcome..."
Long Qingzhi shook her head.
"It also helps me see how long it will take to reach the Eastern Domain."
"You’re going to the Eastern Domain?"
"...There’s no place left for me in the Northern Domain."
"You don’t seem to know any Martial Arts. What kind of heinous crime did you commit to make the entire Jianghu have no place for you?"
"I... I haven’t done anything."
A sorrowful look welled up in Long Qingzhi’s eyes.
"If I had to say, perhaps... I just shouldn’t exist in this world."
Fang Shuwen didn’t take her words to heart. It was hardly strange for young people to wallow in self-pity and blame the heavens when things didn’t go their way.
He glanced in the direction from which Long Qingzhi had come.
"Someone else is coming. A master, by the feel of it."
Long Qingzhi’s expression changed. She subconsciously started to get up, but after glancing at Fang Shuwen, she froze.
"You killed men from Snow Eagle Castle. He won’t let you go.
"Do you... want to come with me?"
"Trying to find yourself a free guard?"
Fang Shuwen chuckled.
"Then you’ve got the wrong idea. I may be in the guard business, but I’m not free.
"Besides, I went through a lot of trouble to get here from the Eastern Domain. I still have things to do. Why would I just turn around and go back?"
Long Qingzhi was taken aback, momentarily at a loss for words.
In the time she hesitated, the master Fang Shuwen had mentioned arrived.
He was a man in his thirties with a somewhat pale complexion. He wore a royal blue satin robe with a Jade Belt at his waist and a sable fur cloak draped over his shoulders, which looked quite warm.
He gave a light cough, his gaze sweeping over the corpses on the ground.
Finally, his eyes moved past Long Qingzhi and settled on Fang Shuwen.
"My men... did they die by your hand?"
Fang Shuwen nodded.
"They did."
"Your Excellency... are you also here for the Glazed Saint Body?" the newcomer asked slowly, his tone somewhat grave.
Fang Shuwen was completely baffled. He couldn’t help but glance at Long Qingzhi.
"What the hell is a Glazed Saint Body?"
"..."
Long Qingzhi blinked. It seemed she hadn’t expected him not to know, either.
"She didn’t tell you?!"
The newcomer suddenly burst into laughter.
"Long Qingzhi, how about I tell him what this so-called Glazed Saint Body really is?
"I’d love to see if he’s still so eager to protect you after he knows the truth."
Long Qingzhi’s wrist trembled. She gripped the dagger hidden beneath her clothes, utterly powerless against the unfolding events.
This, however, had genuinely piqued Fang Shuwen’s curiosity.
"Go on, then. Enlighten me."
"The so-called Glazed Saint Body is a natural medicinal physique. As long as the person remains a virgin, the blood of one with a Glazed Saint Body is an exceedingly precious medicinal catalyst.