Chen Jiuyang caught the arrow feather with a single finger, his expression calm, as if nothing had happened. He took out a leaf from his embrace and tossed it to Zhu Zizhen.
"You're right, one shouldn't return empty-handed from a hunt in winter. Take this home, consider it payment for your wine and dried meat."
"A leaf?" Zhu Zizhen was bewildered. "Is this thing valuable?"
While Zhu Zizhen didn't recognize its worth, Zhu Jianfeng, an old hunter of decades, did. Upon seeing the leaf Chen Jiuyang offered, his body trembled, and his face flushed red. "Young sir is generous, thank you!"
Then, Zhu Jianfeng pulled his grandson away.
The cold wind howled, and heavy snow fell.
Chen Jiuyang sat there, picked up a cup of wine, and gazed in the direction of Fengcheng, his eyes complex.
"Xi Bu Tui, this cup is to your contributions to the nation."
"Not all heroes stand in the light."
"Our positions are different."
Then Chen Jiuyang poured himself another cup of wine, tilted his head back, and drank. "If not for the Yao family's affairs, you and I might have become good friends."
"But there are no 'ifs'."
"Clap! Clap! Clap!"
Applause rang out, and a middle-aged man, bare-chested, slowly appeared. A bow was slung across his back, and his vital energy was incredibly vigorous.
"Marquis Xuanyang truly has a good mood and spirit, to be drinking and reminiscing about old friends amidst life and death."
"That arrow just now was good."
Chen Jiuyang calmly commented, "Meeting is fate. You don't lack this bit of time, do you? Sit down, have a drink, and something to eat?"
The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Good, Marquis Xuanyang, you are indeed a true hero. I admire you. Why not accompany you for a drink and some meat?"
Two people destined to fight to the death could sit down together for drinks and meat.
The martial world isn't just about fighting; it's about human relationships, differing stances, and being unable to escape one's circumstances.
"I am Yang Zhengxiong, from Mongolia."
Yang Zhengxiong looked at Chen Jiuyang with a slightly complex expression. "Marquis Xuanyang, you are a peerless prodigy, born into a prestigious family. Why must you oppose the Third Prince?"
"If you had shown weakness and bowed your head, perhaps the Third Prince wouldn't have treated you this way, intent on killing you."
Chen Jiuyang smiled slightly and said, "My bones are hard, Chen Jiuyang. I simply cannot bend or kneel."
"Alas," Yang Zhengxiong sighed, "a true man."
"Cheers."
"Clang."
Their wine cups clinked. Chen Jiuyang asked, "And you, why are you acting for Zhou Fangzun?"
Yang Zhengxiong replied, "Years ago, my Yang family was transporting goods when we were robbed by a local influential family. It was the Third Prince's Zhennan Army that intervened and brought justice to my Yang family."
"Without the Third Prince, my Yang family would have long since turned to dust. I wouldn't have even had the chance to marry and have children. I owe him a life-or-death debt, and I've come to repay it today."
"A life for a life. After today, my Yang family will owe the Third Prince no more."
Yang Zhengxiong clasped his hands in a salute towards the sky.
"Good," Chen Jiuyang nodded, admiringly. "A promise worth a thousand gold pieces. You're a man."
"I also respect you as a true man," Yang Zhengxiong said. "If not for this, we might have met elsewhere."
"We have no grievances, yet we must fight to the death. Some things, once you enter the martial world, you are no longer in control of your own fate."
"Marquis Xuanyang, the wine is drunk, the meat is eaten. It's time to get down to business."
Chen Jiuyang looked at him and asked, "You still have a wife and children. Won't you reconsider?"
"Before I left home, I entrusted my wife and children to the care of my elders."
Chen Jiuyang nodded slowly. "Since that is the case, this Marquis shall let you make the first move."
"Then I shall not be polite."
Yang Zhengxiong let out a loud shout, immediately stood up, and leaped ten meters away from Chen Jiuyang. With a wave of his hand, the large bow on his back was drawn into a full moon. A silver-feathered arrow was nocked onto the bow, and then, accompanied by a surge of violent true qi, it was infused into the arrow.
"Rumble!"
The arrow shot forth from the great bow, immediately followed by the sound of rolling thunder.
This arrow possessed extremely formidable power.
"Arrow thunder sound, archery mastery achieved."
Chen Jiuyang remained seated, listening to the sound, and exclaimed in admiration. "In all my years of practicing martial arts, I've never encountered this before."
"However, it is a pity."
Chen Jiuyang's voice was calm. He slowly drew his saber with one hand, then slashed. A sharp and terrifying saber aura shot out.
"Bang bang bang!"
The saber aura collided with the arrow. After a moment, there was a loud explosion. The arrow turned to dust, and the saber aura dissipated into nothingness.
Yang Zhengxiong's eyes showed solemnity. Before he could loose a second arrow, Chen Jiuyang's indifferent voice drifted over.
"Brother Yang, I have received your arrow. Now, try my saber."
"Chii—"
Chen Jiuyang was ten meters away from him. In the next instant, a cold glint flashed. The long saber in Chen Jiuyang's hand had enlarged ten times over. In a mere moment, the terrifying shadow of the Yan Sheng Saber cleaved down towards his head.
"This is!!!"
Yang Zhengxiong's expression was horrified. He quickly circulated the true qi within his body and lifted his great bow upwards to block.
"Boom!"
"Bang!"
After another loud crash, Yang Zhengxiong's figure was embedded in the snow and earth, his arms shattered, revealing stark white bones. His aura was extremely weak.
"Such a... domineering saber..." Yang Zhengxiong spoke weakly.
The terrifying and majestic saber shadow had already dissipated, returning to its normal size.
"Brother Yang, your strength is good. You have a wife and children waiting for you at home. You are no match for my single move. Do not force yourself any further." Chen Jiuyang's indifferent voice sounded from ten meters away. It was clear that he had held back his strength with that saber strike.
Otherwise, Yang Zhengxiong would have been killed by Chen Jiuyang's saber, not merely severely injured.
"Cough cough..." Yang Zhengxiong, heavily wounded, gritted his teeth and struggled to climb out of the snow. His aura was weak, and his pupils were somewhat dull. "It's not over yet..."
From the moment he left his home, he knew he could not return. If he did not kill Chen Jiuyang, his Yang family would be annihilated. Even if he killed Chen Jiuyang, he would face the legal consequences of the Dragon Kingdom.
Regardless of the outcome, he could no longer return home.
However, in his weakened state, he had no strength to fight. He could only stagger towards Chen Jiuyang's figure. Midway, his heart stopped beating, his life force extinguished, and he fell to the ground, never to move again.
"Alas."
Chen Jiuyang sighed softly. "I spared your life, why did you have to do this?"
In the cold wind, Chen Jiuyang poured himself another cup of wine, then tilted his head back and drank. He stood up and continued on his way, heading towards Longjing.
After walking about ten kilometers, more than a dozen martial artists dressed in black and wearing black masks appeared before Chen Jiuyang. They blocked his path.
Chen Jiuyang said indifferently,
"How far have I walked? Why have you come to die again?"