Thousands of miles of rolling clouds moved with the wind, and Heavenly Wind City , located on the side of Spring Snow Mountain , welcomed a rare sunny day.
In the high tower in the center of the city, a tall woman in a snow-white official robe sat in front of a desk, reading a file.
The woman's eyes were blazing and daunting. At first glance, she looked like a feminine man, but the embroidery on the chest of her robe, which was shaped by her body, clearly showed that she was a woman.
After reading the file, Xu Mulan frowned and turned her head to look at the girl dressed as a clerk beside her. "Four girls aged twelve or thirteen disappeared overnight in Wujia Town . The Snow Guards investigated for three days, but couldn't find any trace?"
"There was a heavy snowfall a few days ago. The tracks were covered up, and the perpetrators might have used some magic weapon to hide their aura... so..."
Xu Mulan frowned even deeper. It had been a few months since several villages and towns around Heavenly Wind City began to report the disappearance of teenage girls.
The Snow Guards had been investigating for several months, and except for a few people who were taken away by monsters in the mountains, there was still no clue about the others.
If this case was not solved, it would cause panic.
Xu Mulan pinched her nose, feeling somewhat at a loss as to where to begin.
The clerk girl next to her was silent for a while, then asked, "Commander Xu, do you want to bring your sister to stay here temporarily? This culprit only picks girls aged twelve or thirteen. I am worried..."
Xu Mulan glared at her. "I can't possibly bring all the twelve or thirteen-year-old girls within a hundred miles to the Commander's Mansion ."
"But... she's your sister, and you're the leader of the Snow Guard ..."
"Stop talking, or I'll punish you!"
"Ah... yes."
Xu Mulan let out a heavy sigh and continued to look at the file. At this time, there were two knocks on the door.
Knock knock---
"Come in."
A snow-white-clad guard pushed the door open and handed a jade slip to Xu Mulan with both hands, saying, "The Head of the Liu Clan seeks an audience with the Commander."
"Liu Clan?"
Slightly puzzled, Xu Mulan took the jade slip and scanned it with her spiritual sense.
Seeing Xu Mulan reading the jade slip, the Snow Guard who came in took a step back and lowered his head in obvious fear.
The letter began with a lot of flattering words, and then the real purpose was revealed. "...My son is already seventeen this year. I heard that Commander Xu has a sister in her prime, so I thought she might be a good match for my son. I hope Commander Xu will help me."
"..."
The next moment, Xu Mulan threw the jade slip in her hand to the ground with a "bang", smashing it into pieces that dissipated into spiritual light.
"Tell him the answer is no!"
"...Yes, Ma'am."
The Snow Guard bowed, shook his head helplessly, and left the room.
After he left, Xu Mulan pinched her nose again and sighed. "Ah... how many times this month?"
The clerk girl thought before replying, "Commander, this was the fifth time."
"Sigh..."
Xu Mulan shook her head.
Half a year ago, after her sister, Xu Xiyue, turned twelve, the cultivator families around Heavenly Wind City came to the Commander's Mansion one after another, bringing letters of invitation and proposing marriage.
Some of them were interested in her sister's looks, while others were interested in her identity as the "sister of the Snow Guard Commander " and wanted to curry favor with her.
There were indeed some good men without vices among them, and if Xu Xiyue married one of them, she would live a good life.
But!!!
Because her parents died after her sister was born, she raised her by herself. So, Xu Xiyue was everything to her.
Xu Mulan didn't want to see her precious treasure being snatched by a brat with just a bit of money!!
She frowned and looked at the clerk girl, frightening her so much that she instantly lowered her head with a pale face. "What... what's wrong? Commander Xu..."
"Help me draft a notice and post it on the bulletin board in the city."
"What notice?"
"Whoever wants to marry my sister has to beat me first!"
"Eh?"
The clerk girl was shocked. Those noble families basically proposed marriage to their young masters, who were only in the Qi Refining stage, or at most the Foundation Building stage.
In other words, if they wanted to marry Xu Xiyue, they would have to rely on their Qi Refining or Foundation Building stage to defeat Xu Mulan, a cultivator in the late Core Formation stage.
Unless Xu Mulan went easy on them, how could anyone beat her?
There couldn't be a Core Formation cultivator interested in her double-spiritual-root sister, could there?
"...Yes, I will write it in a moment."
The clerk girl cupped her hands and turned to the table next to her to draft the notice.
Xu Mulan let out a long sigh and resumed reading the files of the missing children in Wujia City .
After a while, another two knocks were heard on the door.
Knock knock---
"Come in."
Another Snow Guard opened the door and walked in front of Xu Mulan's long table, cupping his hands in salute. "Commander, a distinguished guest requests an audience."
"What distinguished guest?"
"The Dragon House Master."
"The Dragon House from the Western Region ?"
Xu Mulan frowned. She then stood up, went to the side to take the map of the Western Region from the bookshelf, and spread it on the table.
After searching for a long time on the map, she finally found the location of the Dragon House . She asked, frowning, "It can't be that they're also proposing marriage to my sister, right?"
?
The Snow Guard was hesitant to speak for a moment and finally continued, "Commander, I remember hearing a few years ago that the old master of the Dragon House had passed away. Currently, the Dragon House is ruled by his only daughter, who is around twenty years old."
"Twenty years, then her son is no more than five or six. Why does she want to arrange her son's marriage so early?"
The Snow Guard paused, and he just had to explain bluntly, "Commander... well... what I mean is that Miss Li doesn't have a son yet, and this journey of thousands of miles... there's really no need for this..."
"Hiss -- that's right." Xu Mulan nodded, realizing that she had been driven crazy by the marriage proposals in recent days. "Then, what is she here for?"
"Miss Li only said that she wanted to see you and had something very important to tell you."
"Very important... What important things does the Western Region Dragon House have to tell me? Why didn't she go to Cold Moon City but come to me?"
"I don't know about that..."
Xu Mulan frowned before standing up and taking a snow-white armor with feathers from the hanger beside her. She put it on and then hung her sword.
"Since she came all the way here, I can't be impolite. Where is she?"
"I invited her to wait in the guest hall."
...
In the guest hall of the Commander's Mansion .
Li Longling was wearing a fur robe, sitting quietly in the guest seat, gently stroking the steaming teacup. Ah Feng stood on her shoulder, looking at the guest hall with burning eyes as if saying: Humph! Not as luxurious as my master's palace!
Ye Anping, dressed up as a guard in white and carrying the wrapped-up Snow Jade Spirit Sword on his back, stood beside Li Longling, waiting for Xu Mulan's arrival.
Although he was dressed as a guard, these white clothes were specially ordered at a clothing store a few days ago. When he wore it, he looked like a sunny and upright young man from the Immortal Family.
Li Longling looked at him through the eyes of the Fire Phoenix and said, "Master Ye, wouldn't it be better to reveal your identity as the Young Master of the Hundred Lotus Sect? Isn't the leader of the Snow Guard Miss Xiyue's sister?"
"The Hundred Lotus Sect is a small sect that is not even known in the Western Region . It can't even compare to a small family in the Northern Region , so it's better this way."
"Then, shouldn't we have prepared some gifts to please Commander Xu?"
"...We are not here to propose marriage. We are here for the matter of the demonic cultivators."
"Won't you have to propose marriage sooner or later?"
"..."
Annoyed, Ye Anping raised his hand to knock on her head.
Then, he was glared at by the Fire Phoenix. You looking for death, kid! Try knocking her again?!
Li Longling covered her head, smiling helplessly. "Just kidding, I'm not that petty. I'm even more curious now, what does Miss Xiyue look like? Why do you care so much about her?"
"Didn't I tell you before? She's just an ordinary girl."
"A thousand words are not as good as one look."
"You'll see her later, and I have a feeling you'll be disappointed."
"If you think I'm going to be disappointed, then I certainly won't be." Li Longling smiled playfully. "Come to think of it, you started to check my meridians last time but suddenly stopped."
Ye Anping paused. He had already sent Xiao Tian to deliver his message again, so he said, "... Let's continue tonight."
"I'll keep it in mind."
As they were casually chatting, the sound of armor clattering suddenly came from outside the main door of the guest hall.
The Fire Phoenix turned its head to look, puffing out its chest and raising its head to show off its graceful poise.
Xu Mulan walked in, accompanied by three late-stage Foundation Building Snow Guards . Her heroic light red eyes swept a glance at Ye Anping and Li Longling as she walked to the main seat and sat down, spreading her hands. "I am the Commander of the Snow Guards of Heavenly Wind City , Xu Mulan."
Li Longling quickly stood up and cupped her hands in salute. "Li Longling, head of the Dragon House . Thank you, Commander Xu, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet me."
On the way here, a few Snow Guards who knew about the situation in the Western Region briefly introduced the Dragon House to Xu Mulan, and she also found out that Li Longling was born blind.
But now that she saw her, she felt quite surprised.
She had seen many blind people, and those people would be more or less timid to talk to others, yet Li Longling looked no different from normal people.
After a pause, Xu Mulan spread her hands. "I don't like small talk. Miss Li, please speak directly."
"Very well. I wanted to tell you that on the way here, we met a lot of demonic cultivators traveling in groups. I wonder if Commander Xu knows about this?"
"You met... demonic cultivators?" Xu Mulan's eyes widened, and she asked, "Where?"
Li Longling turned to Ye Anping and nodded.
Ye Anping took a step forward and took out several storage bags that he had taken from the Foundation Building demonic cultivators. He said, "Commander Xu, these storage bags were taken from the demonic cultivators. There is also a map with the places where we encountered them. We believe that they may have infiltrated the Northern Region , and not in a small number."
Xu Mulan casually picked up a storage bag and checked it. Then, she looked up at Ye Anping, her eyes landing on the sword on his back.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Ye Anping, Miss Li's bodyguard."
"I got it. I will send someone to investigate. Regarding the matter of the demonic cultivators infiltrating the Northern Region , I will not comment until there is tangible evidence. The Snow Guards of the Eastern Border of the Northern Region built a defense line with their bodies. If the demonic cultivators really came in, it was impossible not to have received the news by now."
The fact was that some of the Snow Guards in the Eastern Border had been already bribed by the demonic cultivators.
Of course, Ye Anping couldn't say this out loud, otherwise it would only arouse Xu Mulan's suspicion towards them.
As the saying goes, a frog should be boiled slowly.
The main purpose of his and Li Longling's coming here today was to leave a good first impression on Xu Mulan. After meeting a few more times and doing her a few small favors, they could gain her trust.
Ye Anping smiled. "In short, we came here to inform Commander Xu of this matter, and since we have accomplished our goal, we will take our leave now."
"Commander Xu, goodbye."
Li Longling also stood up and cupped her hands, then picked up the Fire Phoenix and left with Ye Anping without looking back.
From the main seat, Xu Mulan watched the two of them leave with a small frown, then looked at the three Snow Guards accompanying her. "What do you guys think?"
"Miss Li looks young and capable and acts calmly. Although she is blind, you can't tell. As for that guard... so handsome, wow."
Another Snow Guard also nodded in agreement. "Yes, what a handsome young man. Men in the Western Region all have smooth faces, unlike these old men here, whose skin is as dry as the desert."
"Yes, yes, I think the same, he looks good."
Xu Mulan looked at the three infatuated people with a frown and scolded them. "I was asking what you guys think about the demonic cultivator thing."
The three immediately lowered their heads. "Ah... Excuse me, Commander... Well... I think it should be true."
"Not a single bit of news from the Eastern Border has come through." Xu Mulan picked up the map Ye Anping had given her, glancing at it. "Yet, those two said they ran into demonic cultivators in the west and south of the Northern Region ..."
"Could it be true that a demonic cultivator has sneaked into the Northern Region ? Do you want to send a ' Snow Letter ' to report it directly to the Empress?"
"How could the ' Snow Letter ' be used just like that?"
Xu Mulan frowned and exclaimed. "I can't send a message to the Empress before there is evidence to prove this. Let's have people check the places marked on the map one by one!"
"...Yes, Ma'am!"
Receiving their order, the three of them cupped their hands and walked out of the hall one after the other.
After they left, Xu Mulan looked down at the map again, feeling as if something serious was going to happen. Feeling uneasy, she muttered to herself. "Well... he is indeed handsome, but only a little."