Chapter 174: It's a Deal

By midnight, they could feel that the wind and snow had stopped.

All beneath Heaven was silent.

The next day dawned bright and clear. Ten thousand rays of golden sunlight made the endless snowfields glitter brilliantly.

The heavy entrance curtain lifted, and the group walked out of the relay station into air cold enough to bite the face.

Wrapped in a black fur cloak, Niu Youdao stood straight on the steps with both hands resting on his planted sword as he surveyed the surroundings.

Lei Zongkang and Wu Sanliang headed out on either side to fetch the horses.

Relay attendants were scraping and shoveling the snow from the station grounds, clearing paths with rhythmic strokes.

Others were working on the roofs.

If too much snow accumulated there, the buildings could collapse. Great slabs of packed snow came crashing down beneath the eaves.

“A good dog does not block the road!”

Yesterday’s party emerged from the relay house, and the effeminate young master opened her mouth with nothing pleasant to say.

“Young Master!”

Lady Pei tugged at her.

Niu Youdao glanced back, stepped aside, and extended a hand in invitation.

“Miss Hao, safe travels.”

The young woman immediately bared her teeth and glared.

“Are you blind? Who is a miss?”

Niu Youdao nodded solemnly.

“How about I treat you as a man?”

“Pfft...”

Black Peony, standing nearby, could not hold back her laughter.

When she and Master Dao had been naked together yesterday, he seemed to have said exactly the same thing to her.

“You...”

Before the young woman could explode, Lady Pei shoved her hard from behind and sent her stumbling down the steps.

“Young Master Li truly possesses lofty character.”

Lady Pei cupped her hands.

Liu Fenghai and Chai Fei also cupped their hands as they passed Niu Youdao.

He nodded to each in turn.

The horses were brought over.

Only then did Niu Youdao descend the steps. With a sweep of his cloak, he mounted.

The group rode out of the relay station, joined the official road, and followed the route already packed down by earlier travelers.

“Young Master!”

Lady Pei’s shout came from behind.

Niu Youdao and the others looked back.

The effeminate young master came galloping past them and quickly overtook the group. As she swept by, she lifted her chin toward them in open challenge.

She clearly refused to ride behind Niu Youdao’s party.

Lady Pei and the others passed soon afterward, chasing after her.

For the rest of the journey, the two groups seemed to be traveling the same route. They remained within sight of one another, sometimes ahead and sometimes behind.

The people in front apparently noticed as well.

Lady Pei separated from her party and stopped to wait.

When Niu Youdao’s group caught up, she turned her horse and rode alongside them.

Smiling, she asked, “Young Master Li, where are you headed?”

Niu Youdao knew they were probably wondering whether his group was deliberately following them.

He smiled. “We are going to have a look at the Ice and Snow Pavilion.”

Lady Pei gave an “Oh.”

“So we are traveling the same road.”

Niu Youdao asked, “You are going to the Ice and Snow Pavilion as well?”

Lady Pei glanced ahead and jerked her chin toward the young woman riding in front.

“Our young mistress is traveling outside for the first time. She has heard of the Ice and Snow Pavilion but never seen it, and she has always longed to. She insisted on coming here for a look.”

Niu Youdao nodded.

“Since we are going the same way, how about traveling together? The three of you are experts. We can borrow a little of your light and have someone to watch our backs.”

Lady Pei giggled. “Young Master Li treated us yesterday, so I would like to return the favor. But I cannot keep our young mistress’s mouth shut the entire way. If Young Master Li can endure it, I have no objection.”

Niu Youdao knew she meant the young woman’s sharp tongue.

He laughed freely. “A trivial matter. Nothing worth worrying about. I will simply pretend I did not hear her.”

They traveled on through a world of ice and snow.

Along the way, they overtook a convoy hauling wagon after wagon of fodder.

After asking, they learned it was being delivered to the relay stations farther along the route.

Late that night, the two groups entered another relay station to rest.

This was the last station on the route to the Ice and Snow Pavilion.

Beyond it, there was no road at all—only snow-covered mountain ridges.

Horses could travel no farther and would have to be left here.

After settling in, Lady Pei came back and found Niu Youdao’s room.

She knocked.

Niu Youdao invited her inside and asked her to sit, but she showed no intention of doing so.

Instead she explained, “Our young mistress is not bad by nature. She simply has a hard mouth and a soft heart. If anything happens, I hope Young Master Li will not take it personally.”

Niu Youdao looked puzzled.

“Elder Sister came here only to explain that?”

Lady Pei hesitated, then gave a bitter smile.

“How should I put it? I can tell she is still sulking inside, but after saying those things yesterday, she cannot lower her face now.”

“She is actually quite easy to coax...”

Lady Pei looked slightly embarrassed.

“Since the red-braised pork is your private recipe, I would not ask you to hand it over. But could I trouble Young Master Li’s side to make another serving?”

“I will take it to her afterward and tell her I made it myself. Otherwise, who knows how long she will keep brooding over this.”

Niu Youdao understood.

He chuckled. “Since Elder Sister has gone so far as to ask, of course. Once it is ready, I will have someone notify you.”

Lady Pei cupped her hands. “I will spare you empty courtesies. If Young Master Li ever has occasion to visit the Qi capital, and if you truly wish to find me, you should be able to ask around and do so.”

“When that time comes, I will properly repay today’s hospitality as the host.”

That was already something of a revelation concerning her origins.

Niu Youdao’s eyes flickered faintly.

He probed, “Does Elder Sister know Zuo Annian?”

“Young Master Li means Lord Zuo Annian, who is presently serving as envoy to the State of Zhao?”

The moment Lady Pei said it, she herself paused slightly.

Niu Youdao gave a faint nod.

Lady Pei blinked. “I have heard of him, but we are not familiar.”

Niu Youdao smiled.

“Elder Sister, wait here. I will have someone prepare the food now.”

Outside, cold stars filled the night sky.

The cross-dressed young woman leaned against her window and stared absently into the darkness.

Inside the room, a Moon Butterfly fluttered gently, its soft light pulsing.

A knock sounded.

Lady Pei pushed open the door carrying a large pottery bowl in one hand and a pot of wine in the other.

She set both on the table and called, “Young Master, I brought something good. Come try it.”

“What good thing could there be...?”

The young woman muttered under her breath.

Then her nose twitched.

She turned and saw what was inside the pottery bowl.

Immediately she came over for a closer look.

The instant she recognized it, she turned her face away disdainfully.

“I am not eating anything they made. Unless they come beg me to eat it.”

Lady Pei did not know whether to laugh or cry.

They were already willing to make it for you. You still want them to beg you to eat?

Would someone who could casually throw down that much money lower himself like that?

She sighed.

“Young Master, I asked them for the cooking method and made this personally. I wanted you to taste it and judge how well I did.”

The young woman clasped both hands behind her back, plump lips pursed as she raised her chin.

“Of all the things you could learn, why learn this?”

Then she relented grandly.

“Fine. I cannot let your effort go to waste. I will taste it and see.”

Lady Pei moved a chair behind her.

The young woman sat down, lifted her chopsticks, picked up a piece, and inspected it from every angle before slowly putting it into her mouth.

After only a couple of chews, she could no longer stop.

One piece followed another.

When she was eating most happily, she grabbed the wine pot beside her, raised it high over her head, and poured.

Wine streamed downward.

She tilted her head back, opened her mouth, and drank in great gulps.

Before long, the large bowl of red-braised pork was completely empty.

“Burp!”

The young woman set down the wine pot and rubbed her stomach.

“The flavor was only so-so.”

Lady Pei sighed dramatically. “I wanted the other two to taste my cooking as well. How did the entire bowl disappear in the blink of an eye?”

Only then did the young woman seem to notice that she had eaten every piece.

Embarrassment immediately appeared on her face.

Her cheeks reddened.

She pursed her oily lips.

“Those people made me so angry yesterday that I did not eat anything. I was a little hungry. Just make another bowl.”

Even she sounded guilty saying it.

“Forget it. If even Young Master says it did not taste good, I will not make it again.”

Lady Pei gathered the bowl and wine pot and walked away.

“Burp!”

Another belch escaped the young woman.

She stuck out a bright red tongue and licked one corner of her lips, then the other.

Afterward the agile little tongue traced all the way around her plump lips once, then again, lingering as though the flavor still would not leave her...

Early the next morning, the two groups had already agreed to depart together.

The moment they stepped from the relay station, Lady Pei and her companions all turned to look at Niu Youdao’s party.

Niu Youdao and the others had somehow obtained the relay attendants’ fur caps, specially made for this frozen region.

The ear flaps had been drawn across their faces, covering almost everything except their eyes. Small breathing holes had been left around the mouth and nose.

The cross-dressed young woman curled her lip in contempt.

Still, she seemed to be in a much better mood today and made none of the strange remarks she had been throwing out along the road.

The two parties set off together once more.

After leaving the relay station, they skimmed over the snowfields and flew between endless snow-covered mountain ridges.

The young woman’s cultivation was comparatively low.

Niu Youdao estimated that she was only in the Qi Refinement Realm.

Yet she was stubborn enough to refuse Lady Pei’s assistance, so everyone had no choice but to match her traveling speed.

Nearly two hours later, the group swept onto the summit of a mountain.

Below them roared a broad river.

In a place this bitterly cold, a river that did not freeze was already strange.

Stranger still was the enormous canyon stretching upstream.

No ice or snow touched it.

All around lay a boundless white world, yet within the canyon itself not a trace of accumulated snow could be seen. Figures moved faintly in the distance, and silhouettes occasionally flashed across the snowy ridges surrounding the valley.

At the far end of the canyon, lush greenery could just be made out.

An oasis in a world of ice and snow.

Above it, a rainbow arched across the sky.

Lady Pei pointed.

“Young Master, this is the Ice and Snow Pavilion.”

Then she indicated the green oasis at the canyon’s end.

“That oasis is the residence of Xue Luo’er, Master of the Ice and Snow Pavilion. I hear the jade halls and towers there are extraordinarily magnificent, though I have never seen them myself.”

The cross-dressed young woman’s eyes lit up.

“Very magnificent?”

“Since I have already come all this way, naturally I should go see it for myself and find out exactly how magnificent it is.”

Lady Pei’s expression immediately darkened.

“Young Master, do not speak recklessly.”

“That is not a place anyone may simply enter. You must not behave wildly either. If something happens there, no one will be able to save you.”

The young woman pursed her lips.

She had merely spoken impulsively out of excitement.

In truth, she understood.

This was the territory of one of the nine supreme experts beneath Heaven.

She could not afford to provoke such a person.

Neither could the power behind her.

From beside them, Niu Youdao spoke through the fur covering his face.

“If Young Master truly wants to go inside and have a look, I may be able to think of a way.”

The young woman snapped her head around.

“With you?”

Niu Youdao smiled.

“How about this? Let us make a wager.”

“One million gold coins.”

“Of course, if Young Master does not have enough money on hand, you may write an IOU.”

Lady Pei was rendered speechless.

He really did know exactly where the sore spot was.

Their young mistress had only just calmed down, and now he had to bring this up again?

The young woman flared instantly.

“You think I am afraid of a fellow like you who covers his head and hides his face because he does not dare show himself?”

“Fine. I will take your bet!”

This time Lady Pei did not stop her.

She exchanged glances with Liu Fenghai and Chai Fei.

All three looked doubtful.

If losing this wager really allowed their young mistress to visit those jade halls and towers, then one million gold coins would actually be worth it.

Even when they returned home, it would not be difficult to justify the expense.

Niu Youdao nodded.

“Good. It is a deal.”

Duan Hu and the others exchanged looks.

If everyone pooled the money they carried, they seemed to have roughly one million gold coins left.

Black Peony muttered inwardly.

Master Dao is not planning to draw another picture, is he?

With the wager settled, the group swept down from the mountain and headed straight toward the enormous canyon.

[End of Chapter 174]