Chapter 266: 152. The sinister force solidifies and refines the sword, hiding the Soul Banner; wolves ahead and tigers behind make it hard to rest (8.5K words - a large Chapter seeking subscriptions) Killing cleanly and directly, soul searching, transformed minion, the techniques incredibly skillful. In the past, Pei Xuehan might have trembled with fear. However, although she broke free from the illusion realm, her heart had already sunk. If it were someone else doing this, she would still be terrified, but if it were Song Yan, she wasn’t afraid. It’s just that, since her youth, she was a straightforward female knight roaming the Jianghu, and later in the sect, she was always one to despise evil and sympathize with the weak. At this moment, she couldn’t help but slightly turn her head, unable to bear watching. Just then, an explanation came from beside her. "In such perilous places, everything poses a great danger, so when encountering anyone, the first thing is to be cautious. If the other party has power, good intentions, and can communicate a bit, then try to communicate first. But this person was already frozen in the snow, staring at us with a strange gaze. If I don’t kill him, I can’t possibly take my time to understand him, right?" Pei Xuehan said: "But he was already frozen, not his fault that he couldn’t blink his eyes shut while staring at us..." Before she could finish, the man in front suddenly turned his head, staring at her with a pair of eyes, and heaved a long sigh: "The Sword Sect being destroyed is just that, with your temperament, your sect just sent you to your death." Pei Xuehan argued: "It was my own decision to come, nothing to do with the sect." The air suddenly fell silent. Song Yan raised his hand and slapped his forehead with a "pa", then immediately laughed, asking: "Why?" Pei Xuehan started counting on her fingers, listing how some junior apprentice sisters couldn’t miss crucial cultivation moments, some senior apprentice sisters were expecting and couldn’t leave, some senior apprentice brothers appeared too cowardly for her liking, and some sect uncles had a big family to care for and couldn’t afford any mishap... She listed many excuses for others, but she had none for herself. Her tone even held a slight hint of pride, as if "being able to step up for the sect" was a glorious thing. After Pei Xuehan finished, she cautiously asked: "Senior, I..." Song Yan said: "There’s not much age difference between us, you might even be older than me, just call me Dao Brother." "Oh, Dao Brother... Did I do something wrong?" Pei Xuehan asked. Song Yan said: "You did nothing wrong." Pei Xuehan said: "Then why is Dao Brother laughing?" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞 Song Yan said: "Was I... laughing? I wasn’t laughing!" Pei Xuehan stared at him for a while, let out an "oh". And then Song Yan turned his head, taking a deep breath. Amidst the snow and ice, all is white in sight, everything frozen in cause and effect, even taking a step forward is immensely difficult, but his mood really lightened up. With some people, being with them no matter how dangerous or desperate the environment, you can feel the warmth of time, genuinely feeling a sense of ease from within. Just then, Pei Xuehan suddenly realized something, suddenly exclaimed: "Dao Brother, you’re already at the Purple Mansion Realm, is your age really similar to mine? What a monstrous talent you must have." Song Yan said: "Maybe you’re even older than me." Pei Xuehan gasped in surprise, covering her slightly open mouth, her beautiful eyes looking at him with astonishment. Meanwhile, Song Yan was already enthusiastically starting to interrogate the dazed ghost. The dazed ghost that was pulled out was still a "dazed ghost", yet now seemed somewhat regained to its senses. "Still human?" "Yes." "Where are you from?" "I’m a cultivator from a vassal state of the Baihong Ancient Race." "Baihong Ancient Race?" Song Yan’s eyes suddenly squinted, saying: "Continue, tell me everything you know." The dazed ghost recounted in full. The Baihong Ancient Race is an extraordinarily large ancient race located north of the Mountain and Sea Demon Race. The tribespeople possess mysterious and powerful forces, but due to certain reasons, they have formed a deadly feud with the three races: the Fox, Wolf, and Tiger races. Hence, after the Changwang Tiger Race was exterminated and the Changwang Soul Threshold was formed, the clan secretly sent subordinate cultivators into the soul threshold. The official version from above was "to reclaim some interest from the Changwang Tiger Race and ambush the entering Fox and Wolf Races." They successfully hunted some Fox Wolf Demons, and this dazed ghost, when alive, accidentally got caught in the heavy snow during retreat, and without realizing, was frozen within it. Before being frozen, he consumed numerous fasting pills while secretly operating a technique to reduce bodily consumption. Even after several years, he wouldn’t perish. His plan was to regain his memory slowly after the snow melted and then leave. However, unexpectedly, this snowstorm lasted who knows how long, he himself didn’t know how long he was frozen... As for why he was staring at Song Yan with a strange gaze. Because... he was a Crimson Palace cultivator, even though frozen, he still retained consciousness, and his eyes could still move, albeit like an idiot. When Song Yan arrived, naturally, he’d look at Song Yan with an idiotic gaze by instinct. Song Yan pondered slightly, but asked two questions. "Did any tribesmen from the Baihong Ancient Race arrive?" "The Mountain and Sea Demon Race is so vast, how did you cross the Mountain and Sea Race to reach the south?" However, this cultivator was at a complete loss. The first question, he only speculated "there should be tribesmen who came", but he hadn’t seen them. Regarding the second question, he followed a covert route to infiltrate, encountering no ambush along the way. Song Yan then asked a third question: "Which race does that route belong to?" The cultivator shook his head. "Don’t know?" Song Yan frowned. To him, this should’ve been a very simple question. The cultivator bitterly smiled: "The Mountain and Sea Demon Race’s vassal states crisscross, frequently being treated as trade commodities, the master should know which race it belonged to when we passed through. But... to my knowledge, that border state, being close to the ancient race’s vassal state, wasn’t appealing and had changed hands so many times it was countless.