The Spotted Snow Lion had stopped running and was now prowling toward them with slow, deadly footsteps. It knew they were trapped. Wu Jian had the feeling that it was savoring this moment—the moment before it pounced on them, tore them to shreds, and feasted on their corpses.

Fear raced through him. His body shook. He felt death pressing down on them. His vision blackened. He couldn’t breathe. He just barely managed to remain conscious.

I can’t pass out now. Mei will be alone if I do!

Thoughts of Wu Meiying alone were what kept him from losing his mind. He would have already succumbed if he were alone.

“What… what do we do now?” asked Wu Jian.

“Scream. Scream as loud as you can,” Wu Meiying said.

Wu Jian didn’t know why she wanted him to scream, but he had nothing to lose, and he was too frightened to argue.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

He screamed at the top of his lungs, and Wu Meiying screamed alongside him. Their screams echoed across the entire forest.

The Spotted Snow Lion flinched and jerked back at their simultaneous yells. It didn’t seem to like loud noises. It even hissed like an angry cat--a giant cat with claws that could rend their flesh and teeth that could tear through them with ease, but still a cat.

At first, Wu Jian thought that was why Wu Meiying had asked him to yell, but he soon learned there was another reason when a loud cracking sound echoed from above them.

“Jian… when I say run, we run,” Wu Meiying whispered.

“O-okay.”

“Get ready. On the count of three. Three. Two. One. Run!”

Wu Jian raced after Wu Meiying. The Spotted Snow Lion roared and tried to chase them, but at that moment, the ice attached to the cliff cracked and came crashing down on top of it. The lion’s surprised cry was lost to the roar of the heavens only knew how many tons of ice and snow.

Even though they had not been caught underneath the ice and snow, the force still generated air currents that pushed them back. They fell to the ground and rolled across the forest floor. Snow exploded around them as they tumbled like a doll after it was thrown away.

Now lying on his stomach, Wu Jian pushed himself up and looked at the pile of snow and ice, his blood freezing as he realized how close to death they had come. The mountain was so large that it would have killed them if they had been caught in it. They would have been crushed. He shivered, and it wasn’t from the cold. But he pushed the fear back to look at his companion.

“Mei… you okay?” he asked.

“Yes. I think so,” Wu Meiying said beside him, sitting up. Snow fell off her head and shoulders. She looked at the massive snow pile that had buried the lion, then smiled at him. “Well, that was an adventure.”

“Yeah. An adventure.”

He sat up as well, and they shared a smile. Fear gave way to something else as the realization that they had survived slowly set in. Wu Jian didn’t know why their near death experience made him feel this way, but he felt… exhilarated. Blood pumped quickly through his body. His heart hammered in his chest. He had never felt this excited or powerful before. He felt like he could take on the entire world.

Yet just as those feelings surged inside of him, the snow pile in front of them was blown away by a loud roar. He covered his face as snow and ice pelted him. A scream close by alerted him that Wu Meiying was also getting hit, and he moved to protect her from the blast. He flinched and gritted his teeth as ice pelted his back while he held Wu Meiying in his arms.

When the snow cleared, Wu Jian looked again, only to wish he hadn’t when he saw the Spotted Snow Lion glaring down at him. It looked angrier than it had before they had buried it under all that snow. Its eyes were practically glowing crimson. Wu Jian knew they had to run, but when he tried to get up, he realized that he couldn’t. He was confused at first. Until he looked down.

Ice had crept along his and Wu Meiying’s legs. It trapped them. He tried to pull his legs out of the ice, but it wouldn’t budge. This must have been one of the techniques that this magical beast could use. It was manipulating its chi to create ice that froze them in place.

With no way to escape, Wu Jian covered Wu Meiying with his own body, determined to protect her at all costs. It was the only thing on his mind. He didn’t want to die, but he would rather die than let her die.

The Spotted Snow Lion roared at them before leaping. It descended into the air and stretched out its front paws as though to tear into their flesh. Everything seemed to slow down for Wu Jian, who once more saw his life flashing before his eyes.

I don’t want to die.

This can’t be the end.

I still have to marry Mei and start a family!

Wu Jian cursed his weakness, cursed his powerlessness. If only he was stronger, he could protect the girl he loved. Why? Why, why, why, why?!

Why am I still so weak?

Wu Jian lamented. And that was when something powerful slammed into the Spotted Snow Lion, sending the creature flying backward with a startled cry. Wu Jian blinked. He hadn’t seen what had hit it. What was that? Some kind of rock? No, it had been glowing. Rocks didn’t glow, did they? Of course, they didn’t.

Three figures suddenly landed beside him and Wu Meying. He recognized them. These figures were his father, mother, and second mother.

While his father and Wu Taohua darted forward to attack the Spotted Snow Lion before it could attack them, his mother knelt beside them and gave a reassuring smile filled with relief.

“I’m glad we were able to find you! Are you two okay?” she asked.

“Mother… I…” Wu Jian muttered as tears stung his eyes. He couldn’t contain his relief at seeing everyone.

“Aunty…” Wu Meiying mumbled, though she did not seem as surprised as him. It was like she had known they would come.

“You two… I’m so glad you’re both okay. I was so worried when I realized neither of you were in your rooms.” His mother gathered them into her arms, and Wu Jian shuddered as the warmth of her embrace flooded him. Tears of relief but also shame streamed down his face. He was as embarrassed by this feeling as he was comforted.

While they were being hugged by his mother, the battle between his father, Wu Taohua, and the Spotted Snow Lion was heating up. Fire glowed along his father’s fist. He thrust it forward and sent a blast of chi that would have slammed into the Spotted Snow Lion’s flank if it hadn’t jumped out of the way. While it had been able to avoid his father’s attack, it could not avoid the daggers thrown by Wu Taohua. Sadly, the daggers did not penetrate its flesh and instead shattered against its fur, which it had covered with a layer of armor-like ice.

It tried to send a soundwave attack at Wu Taohua, but his father leapt into the air. Red chi gathered along his palm. He thrust out his hand. Chi shaped like a massive hand five times his father’s size slammed on top of the Spotted Snow Lion, crushing it into the ground.

That was when Wu Taohua ran forward. While it was busy struggling to stand, she swiped at it with a small dao. The ice armor shattered. She was forced to retreat when it fired a soundwave at her.

The Spotted Snow Lion roared in anger and pain. It finally shrugged off his father’s attack and several ice spikes shot from the ground, but his father and Wu Taohua dodged. His father landed on the ground and slammed his fist into the snow. A powerful eruption of chi exploded from his fist and traveled across the ground, splitting it apart and forcing the magical beast to move—right into Wu Taohua’s daggers. Blood soaked the powerful magical beast’s fur as the daggers finally sought their mark, sinking into its flesh.

“Uncle Yōushì and Aunt Taohua are so powerful,” Wu Meiying murmured. “They’re beating that Spotted Snow Lion even though it has the home field advantage.”

Not only were magical beasts of the same cultivation level more powerful than humans, but this was the Spotted Snow Lion’s home. It knew this terrain far better than they did. It also seemed to have a strong ice affinity, which gave it an even greater advantage in such cold climates. That was why Wu Meiying was so surprised.

“Yeah. They’re pretty good,” his mother said with a smile. “You know Taohua used to be an assassin. She was originally hired to kill Yōushì. Lots of people didn’t like that someone from a small clan like ours became close friends with the emperor. But she ended up falling in love with him after he defeated her in combat.”

“I didn’t know that,” Wu Jian said.

“Not many do. It’s a closely guarded secret since it could cause problems if others knew.” His mother shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “Anyway, Taohua is an expert at using poison techniques. She converts all of her chi into poison and infuses them into her weapons. That’s the reason they are doing so well.”

Even as she spoke, Wu Jian could see what his mother meant. The Spotted Snow Lion was getting slower and weaker as the battle progressed. At the beginning, it could dodge almost all of his father’s attacks, but now, more and more chi blasts were striking its body, each attack leaving blood and bruises in their wake.

The final attack came when the Spotted Snow Lion launched an all out assault that fired needles in every direction. Wu Jian and Wu Meiying screamed in surprise, but his mother formed a hand seal and a chi barrier appeared before them like a shimmering curtain. It was a translucent silver barrier and didn’t look very strong. However, when the needles struck it, they shattered without penetrating.

His father and Wu Taohua leapt over the attack, and then his father descended right toward the Spotted Snow Lion. He reared his chi covered fist back, thrust it forward, and Wu Jian watched in awe as a massive palm of flaming red chi slammed into the lion’s back from above. The magical beast roared in agony. It fell onto its stomach, then struggled to get back up, but its struggles grew weaker and weaker, until, at last, it stopped moving.

“Is it… dead?” asked Wu Jian.

“Seems like it,” his mother said.

Wu Jian was just about to breathe a sigh of relief, but then a feeling of dread washed over him. He didn’t know where it came from, not until he looked toward his father, who was stalking over to where they lay with an expression so furious his face had turned red.

I am in so much trouble…

Wu Jian had thought not long ago that the Spotted Snow Lion was scarier than his father, but now he knew the truth. He would have chosen to fight that lion any day over facing his father’s wrath.