Chapter 75: A Corpse In The Snow!
“Hahaha…”
Ji Qing’s emotions surged, and he couldn’t help but let out a long howl.
The sound echoed through the mountains.
Saber Momentum Major Accomplishment—this was even more joyous than breaking through to First-Rank.
Many First-Rank Martial Artists hadn’t even condensed “momentum,” let alone reached Saber Momentum Major Accomplishment.
Ji Qing had traveled tens of thousands of li, spending nearly a year, and at the Snow Mountain Peak, his Saber Momentum finally reached Major Accomplishment!
In this moment and scene, Ji Qing naturally felt uncontainable joy in his heart.
Since his Saber Momentum had already reached Major Accomplishment and his Internal Energy had even reached Second-rate Peak, he no longer stayed at the Snow Mountain Peak.
Instead, like a great bird, he leaped down from the Snow Mountain Peak.
He used Lightness Skill, gliding through the void.
However, just as he glided halfway, Ji Qing faintly heard a “rumbling” sound.
He turned his head to look.
The thick snow on the snow mountain suddenly collapsed, rolling toward him.
It seemed as if the only sound left between Heaven and Earth was the rumbling.
“Avalanche!”
Ji Qing immediately understood.
This was the heavenly disaster for all living beings in the snow mountain.
Once an avalanche occurred, even the animals in the mountains could hardly survive.
Ji Qing never imagined that out of nowhere, an avalanche would happen.
Perhaps it was the rising sun melting the snow?
Or maybe there was too much snow, and it naturally triggered the avalanche?
It couldn’t be that his earlier long howl had shaken the snow, right?
But no matter what, the avalanche was coming, and the only thing Ji Qing could do was escape!
Ji Qing used Lightness Skill, borrowing force twice in the void, and actually glided forward another distance.
But no matter how fast his Lightness Skill was, it couldn’t outpace the avalanche.
When the sky-full of snow smashed onto Ji Qing, that terrifying power instantly smacked him down from the air.
This was the great power of Heaven and Earth.
In the face of such great power, let alone Ji Qing being merely a Second-rate Martial Artist—even a First-Rank Martial Artist or even a Grandmaster probably couldn’t escape.
“Bang.”
Ji Qing fell to the ground, smashing a big pit in the surface.
At the same time, the thick snow also fell down, quickly covering Ji Qing.
Ji Qing didn’t even have a chance to rush out of the snow.
Because the snow was too thick.
In an instant, it piled up like a mountain.
Ji Qing couldn’t break out at all.
In that flash, Ji Qing knew that relying solely on his power, he definitely couldn’t escape the avalanche.
Since that was the case, then wait!
Buried under the snow, enduring immense pressure and unable to breathe, no matter how high one’s Internal Energy, it couldn’t last long.
But Ji Qing knew a special Martial Art, the Turtle Breathing Technique.
He had seen this Martial Art back in the Hundred Battles Sect.
He just hadn’t practiced it.
This Turtle Breathing Technique was a well-known common Cultivation Technique in the Jianghu.
It didn’t have much use.
It could only hold one’s breath, circulate Internal Energy throughout the body, and maintain the body’s minimal functions.
Just like animals hibernating in winter.
Only in extremely special circumstances could the Turtle Breathing Technique be useful.
Although Ji Qing hadn’t practiced it, he remembered every word of the Turtle Breathing Technique.
Thus, Ji Qing began cultivating it while being covered by the snow.
With his attainment in Internal Energy, cultivating the Turtle Breathing Technique was very simple.
After a few breaths, Ji Qing’s body gradually cooled down.
Even his breathing gradually stopped.
After several hours, Ji Qing was frozen solid, his body completely still.
……
In Hunter Tiger Village, a group of hunters was searching for survivors in the mountains.
They had lived near the snow mountain for generations, making a living by hunting.
It was said that their ancestors had once hunted a fierce tiger, hence the name.
Of course, whether it was bragging, the hunters weren’t sure.
In any case, with their experience, hunting a fierce tiger would be suicidal.
Old Yang was the leader of the hunters in the village.
Two days ago, a team of hunters from the village had gone into the mountains to hunt.
Even in the harsh winter, there were actually prey in the mountain forest.
It was just that the prey that could forage in winter were all fierce wild beasts, extremely dangerous.
But life in the village was tough, so they had no choice but to go out hunting.
Unexpectedly, they encountered an avalanche.
It wasn’t until two days later, when the weather improved slightly, that Hunter Tiger Village organized people to search.
Hoping to find survivors.
However, they knew very well that the possibility was low.
Encountering an avalanche was basically certain death.
“Old Yang, we found Yang Shi Ba’s hunting bow…”
Soon, Old Yang walked over.
He found a hunting bow buried in the snow.
This was Yang Shi Ba’s hunting bow.
“Search, Yang Shi Ba and the others must be nearby, especially under the snow—dig deeper…”
So, everyone began digging downward.
After all, those caught in an avalanche were often buried under the snow.
“Found one, there’s a person buried here…”
Suddenly, a hunter shouted loudly.
Old Yang walked over.
He found it was a stranger.
His whole body curled up, his face extremely serene.
The entire person was frozen hard.
Old Yang reached out and checked the man’s breathing.
There was no breath.
He felt for a heartbeat, but couldn’t detect any.
Old Yang shook his head: “He’s dead. Looking at his ragged appearance, like a beggar, he’s probably a starving vagrant who came into the mountains looking for food and froze to death.”
Old Yang’s analysis made some sense.
“Huh? Why does this guy have a saber pinned to him? This saber looks pretty good…”
Someone wanted to take the saber.
They found the saber was frozen to the corpse and couldn’t be removed.
“Forget it, they’re all pitiful souls. Take him back and find a place to bury him.”
Old Yang had seen plenty of vagrants.
Wanting to enter the mountains to find food.
Ending up either eaten by wild beasts or poisoned by venomous insects, their corpses left in the wilds.
“Keep looking for Yang Shi Ba and the others.”
Old Yang continued searching.
However, finding people in an avalanche was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Even knowing it was in this area, if buried too deep, they couldn’t find them.
Fortunately, Old Yang and the others had good luck.
In the end, they found the corpses of Yang Shi Ba and the others.
Of the eight who entered the mountains, they only found five corpses.
The remaining three couldn’t be found.
“Enough, it’s getting late, let’s head down the mountain.”
So, Old Yang and the others carried a total of six corpses down the mountain back to Hunter Tiger Village.
Looking at the corpses of Yang Shi Ba and the others.
Wails of grief rose in Hunter Tiger Village.
The village had suddenly lost eight hunters, a huge blow to the entire Hunter Tiger Village.
This winter, the village would obviously be even harder.
“What about this outsider’s corpse?”
A villager asked.
“Bury him too.”
Old Yang thought for a moment.
However, many villagers had their eyes on the outsider’s saber.
A good saber was extremely important to hunters.
“Old Yang, give me this saber? Next time I hunt, I won’t take a share of the prey…”
A burly hunter spoke up.
He was a skilled hunter in the village and currently lacked a good saber.
“Alright, it’s yours.”
Old Yang nodded in agreement.
The burly hunter was thrilled and immediately used warm water to slowly melt the ice on the corpse, then took out the saber.
“How could a beggar have such a good saber?”
The hunter thought and carefully searched the corpse again.
“Huh? This is… silver?”
The hunter’s eyes widened.
A large ingot of silver, probably worth at least fifty taels?
And there was also a pile of silver shards.
But how could a ragged beggar have so much silver?
The villagers immediately grew restless.
Seeing this, Old Yang shouted: “Take the corpse to the Village Chief’s house! All the village hunters go to the Village Chief’s—all the things on this outsider’s corpse, no one touch them!”
Soon, the corpse was carried to the Village Chief’s house.
The Village Chief also learned of everyone’s purpose and immediately had people search everything on the corpse.
There was silver, three blackish tokens, and some bottles and jars.
Finally, several sheets of paper were found.
The Village Chief could read. He picked them up and looked, his eyes widening instantly, his body even trembling.
“Village Chief, what is this?”
Old Yang asked.
In the village, only a few people could read, and the Village Chief was one of them.
“This is… banknotes!”
“One banknote is a hundred taels, these few banknotes together are at least several hundred taels…”
“What, several hundred taels in banknotes?”
The hunters immediately erupted.
They often went out of the mountains to sell prey and mountain goods, so they naturally knew banknotes.
Several hundred taels of silver—that was how much wealth?
Enough to feed a village for several years…
“This guy is dressed in rags, but he has so much silver—he definitely isn’t a beggar. Who exactly is he?”
“No matter who he is, he’s dead now, the silver is ours.”
“With this silver, our village won’t have to worry for the next few years…”
Everyone was discussing the silver, but only the burly hunter kept staring at the saber beside the corpse.
“We agreed earlier, the saber is mine!”
The burly hunter stepped forward and directly grabbed the saber.
“Pa.”
Suddenly, another hand pressed down on the burly hunter’s hand like lightning.
No matter how the hunter struggled, that hand didn’t budge.
“You can take the silver, but not the saber!”
A strange voice rang out.
That corpse lying on the ground instantly opened its eyes!
