The Ninth Section: Western Regions Curved Sword

  Yu Xue absorbed the spiritual energy of Zhu Guo and got up to return to her tribe. Suddenly, she thought that she didn't know how long she had been out, and her father and others must be worried to death! She hesitated for a moment, unable to think of a good excuse. On a sudden inspiration, she flew towards Kunlun Mountain. At this time, she had already entered the middle stage of Qigong, constantly absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into her body, practicing the Heart Mirror Body Method, and suddenly disappeared, moving even faster. In an instant, she arrived at the nearest snow peak. On the mountain waist, she found a large patch of snow lotus after searching for a while. Although it had not yet bloomed, it stood proudly in the snow, its beauty captivating. She took off her outer clothes and carefully picked several dozen plants, packaging them up. They were all selected from plants over ten years old, leaving behind the roots. In this way, when spring came next year, the snow lotus would still sprout new leaves and not be completely wiped out, cutting off its roots. Snow lotus was a precious medicinal material, and merchant teams also collected it for more money than selling sheepskin or cowhide. Her father often said that as he got older, his waist and legs hurt. If she could get some to make wine for him, he would definitely like it. Unfortunately, the place where it grew was too dangerous, and people rarely visited, so her tribespeople didn't have the opportunity to pick it. Now, using medicinal herbs as an excuse, she thought she could probably deceive them.

  As usual, she flew down and saw the tribe's tents from afar. She slowed down her pace, and soon some tribesmen came to greet her. It turned out that she had practiced for three days in the tribe before leaving again for half a month. At first, Ah Mu'er didn't think much of it, thinking that Yu Xue was too tired and should rest for a few more days. After all, his son's fever had subsided, and there was nothing to worry about. But as ten days passed without any news, he began to get anxious. He circled around the tent several times, immediately noticing the torn opening. As soon as he lifted the door curtain, there was no sign of Yu Xue! This adopted daughter was too mysterious! He grumbled for half a day, not knowing where Yu Xue had gone. Knowing that she usually wouldn't get into trouble, he didn't send anyone to look for her, only telling the patrol team to bring her back as soon as they saw her.

  Yu Xue walked into the chief's tent, where Sang Zhu was holding A Mu Tie and scolding him for a while. Yu Xue promised to call out to her when she left, and only then did she stop, happily going off to cook. After a while, Yu Yan returned, with four small wolves following behind her, and said:

  "Sister, you just waved your hand and didn't care about anything, and I don't know where you went for so long. I have so many things to do and still need to help take care of these four little ones." At that time, Yuxue came back and let Yu Yan take out the small wolf from her arms to take care of it. Yu Yan made a nest by the fire pit and found a ewe to feed the small wolf milk. Just now was when she went to feed the small wolf dinner.

  Yu Xue carefully examined the four little wolves. They had grown a lot in just over half a month, now about one foot long, healthy and lively, with agile limbs. At this time, they were rolling around on the mat by the fire pit, playing and fighting, forming a ball of fur that was very cute to see. Suddenly, one of them let out a painful whimper after being bitten. Yu Xue hurried over to separate them. The four wolves consisted of three males and one female. The female wolf looked just like its mother, with pure white fur from head to toe, without any mixed colors. The other three males were: one was entirely dark green, one had a snow-white body but dark green legs, and the last one was the most comical, with black and white stripes all over its body. Especially its face, which looked like a big flower face, with two panda-like eyes, a white forehead, nose, and mouth area, while its chin and ears were black - it was impossible to describe how interesting it looked. Just now, it had been bullied by the other siblings, seemingly because of its ugly appearance being looked down upon. Yu Xue saw her pick up the little flower-faced wolf and examine it closely, also laughing as she did so.

  "This little wolf is the smallest and often bullied. Don't look at how cute they are like little dogs, but in fact, they are wolves. They even take ruthless measures against their brothers. If I hadn't been keeping an eye on it all the time, its leg would have been bitten off long ago."

  Yu Xue smiled and said: "Then let them follow me from now on. I'll train them well to ensure they don't dare to be unruly."

  The two sisters sat with their brother by the fire pit, watching the little wolves frolic and chatting about family matters. Sangzhu came over every now and then to put a plate of food on the table and exchange a few words with them. The yurt was so warm and cozy that Yuxue felt a warmth rising from her heart. For the first time in her life, she felt that being with her mother would be no different.

  The door curtain was lifted and a gust of cold wind blew in. Ah Mu had returned. He had already received the news, settled the livestock, and rushed back. Seeing Yu Xue again, he couldn't help but feel a little resentful. Yu Xue smiled and said:

  "Dad, don't worry about me, I'm fine! Thinking of my brother's illness this time makes me feel lucky. If I had known earlier, I would have collected more herbs in advance and wouldn't have to rush out to collect them and be surrounded by a pack of wolves. This time on God Mountain, it took me some extra time to pick snow lotus for Dad. In the future, I'll still go out to collect medicine frequently, maybe for several days at a time. Just knowing is enough, Dad." Yuxue began reporting her future plans to practice outside to her family.

  A Mu carefully instructed her to pay attention to safety. Seeing Xue Lian knew that it was not easy to pick in the cold winter, he was delighted and moved. He drank wine with beef and mutton. After a few bowls, his dark face with wrinkles carved by wind and frost showed a red glow. He put down the wooden bowl and said seriously: "Child, I have something important to discuss with you."

  Yu Xue saw Ah Ba and asked seriously what was going on.

  Amur said: "Son, Dad believes you won't lie. But that day you alone killed over a thousand wolves. How did you do it?" Yuxue thought for a moment and didn't tell him about her cultivation of Taoist magic for the time being, so she said:

  "Dad, didn't I almost get eaten by a tiger before? You still remember that, right?"

  Everyone nodded. Yu Xiang also shouted: "How can you forget! If it weren't for my sister saving me, I would have been eaten first!"

  Yu Xue continued, "After that, I was afraid of running into something like that again, so I practiced my martial arts diligently. I often took the sickle and went out to practice my knife skills. As time passed, I found my strength increasing and my knife skills improving. That's all." This statement was half true and half false. Huang Jin muttered in the Beast-Sealing Bell, "How did this little girl become like me?"

  Amur nodded: "I've thought of this long ago." He got up and rummaged through a trunk, returning with a curved knife. After stroking the knife for a while, he handed it to Yuxue: "This is a treasured sword. In the past, I led my tribe to join the Khan's army and fought bravely. The Khan's general, Chi Lao Wen, gave me this sword as a reward. Later, when our tribe suffered defeat after defeat, I grew disheartened and used old age and weakness as an excuse to bid farewell to the general. I refused all rewards but brought back only this treasured sword. Today, I pass it on to you. Although you are a woman, I hope you can lead my Zhebe tribe to greatness like a true Mongolian warrior."

  Jade snow in her heart, hot blood surging, she knelt down on one knee and paid respects to her father. With both hands, she solemnly accepted the curved sword. Feeling the weight of the precious sword, her heart knew that she had also taken on a heavy responsibility. She proudly said:

  "Dad, rest assured. As long as I'm around, our family and you, mom, brothers, and sisters will be safe for a day. Unless they step over my dead body!"

  Ah Mu Er nodded and sat down. He was already old, his son was still so young, and he often felt overwhelmed lately. Sometimes after a busy day, he would come back with his whole body aching. Among the children, only Yu Xue was capable and could help him share some of the burden. Over the years, he had long regarded Yu Xue as his own daughter, completely forgetting that she was someone he had picked up.

  Yu Xue carefully examined the curved knife in her hand. The knife weighed about 20 jin, was two feet long and shaped like a crescent moon, with a sharp and shiny blade. The hilt was half a foot long, with a golden tiger head at the top, holding a golden ring in its mouth, looking lifelike. It was a precious Western Regions knife. She tried swinging it and found it very handy. Now she just happened to be short of a curved knife, so getting this treasure was like having a pie fall from the sky, making her extremely happy.

  A'mu'er saw her and couldn't help but smile as she stroked her whiskers:

  "A great sword is always paired with a hero. My son has obtained this sword and it's definitely like adding wings to a tiger! Hurry up and show your old man what you've got!"

  Everyone came out of the tent. In front of the tent, there was a piece of empty land that was used by the clan leader to discuss matters with the clansmen at ordinary times. Ah Mu'er summoned the clansmen and lit a large fire to announce:

  "Today, I've brought everyone here to show you all my daughter Yuexue's skills. I know some of you have been skeptical and don't believe she single-handedly killed those many wolves, thinking there must be some sort of trickery involved. But I, Ahmu'er, believe she used genuine skill, honed through hard practice! If anyone still has doubts, they can challenge her right now!" He then nodded to Yuexue to begin.

  Jade Snow walked to the center of the arena, closed her eyes and carefully thought for a moment about the swordsmanship she had come up with when fighting against the pack of wolves that day. The sword moves flowed like water from her mind, each move vivid in her sight. In an instant, she opened her eyes, shining brightly in the firelight, making it hard for others to look directly at her. Taking a deep breath, she swung out her curved knife with a swift motion.

  At first, the knife style was a bit stiff, after all, the sickle and curved knife were different. Gradually, she grasped the trick and made it come naturally. In the firelight, everyone saw only the flashing knife light, and Yu Xue's figure was agile and swift, with movements that were beyond compare. With a sidestep, she slashed diagonally with a hook, or turned her body to swing horizontally, or leaped up to slash downwards, or rushed forward to stab... Each move was exquisite and unpredictable. The crowd watched in awe, their eyes dizzy and minds shaken, cheering repeatedly. As Yu Xue continued to speed up, the crowd could no longer see the moves clearly, only a whirlwind of knife light wrapped around a small figure, with the wind from the knives making people's faces sting. The crowd retreated non-stop, until they had nowhere to retreat to. When the knife wind suddenly stopped, Yu Xue stood still, holding her knife, her face not red and her breathing steady, her clothes fluttering in the firelight, her posture like a fairy. The crowd was stunned for a moment, then erupted into cheers.

  A'ermu'er proudly looked around:

  "Who dares to claim they can defeat Yuxue and come out to challenge!"

  The clansmen looked at each other in dismay, and no one stood out.