"Here is the rouge money, keep it safe."

Pang Long threw a brocade bag over.

"Pang..."

Li Xian wanted to inquire, but Pang Long sighed heavily and turned back, entering the manor.

Looking around, the world was pitch black.

Buying rouge, no different than a fool's dream, harder than ascending to heaven.

Yihetang Manor is over thirty miles away from Qingning County. Though not a mountain path, it is a road paved with small stones and gravel.

But with such heavy snow, the road had long been buried.

Unable to find the path, once ventured out, one would definitely lose direction.

Li Xian cleared his thoughts, gently exhaled.

Forced himself to calm down, considering his options.

"I'm still at the gate of the manor, there are reference points, I know the directions of east, south, west, and north. Once I step into the snowstorm, there will be no more reference points."

No matter what, first put on the beast fur cloak to keep warm.

"This brocade bag feels icy gentle to the touch, must be the lady's thing."

Opened the brocade bag, inside were three taels of silver.

Though the world is chaotic, rouge and powders are quite costly. These three to five taels can buy rouge, but not truly good rouge.

"It seems the intention is not in the wine."

Li Xian kept the brocade bag, seeing the manor gates closed tight, knowing staying any longer was useless. So, he took the oil lamp and walked along the courtyard wall.

After more than a mile, he reached the corner. Li Xian knew that walking along the courtyard wall would only make him circle the manor.

He would never reach Qingning County.

"How to break the situation?" Li Xian emptied his mind, flattened...

Suddenly he had an idea.

In this environment, eyes are useless.

The truly useful are the skin, the sensation.

"If I walk east, I can reach Qingning County. The difficulty lies in how to keep walking east without losing direction."

"Eyes are useless, ears are useless... the only useful things are 'memory' and 'sensation'!"

Li Xian stretched his hands flat, sensing the wind direction.

At this moment, he hadn't lost direction, knowing where east, west, south, and north were.

A faint resistance came from ahead, it was the east wind blowing, after a while, the wind turned coming from the south...

The wind direction was constantly changing.

"Fortunately, learned Four Directions Fist, applying its principles here could break the situation."

"I use myself as a flag, feeling the wind from four sides, picturing the wind as enemies from four directions."

"Remember the initial wind direction first, and based on the angle changes, infer what wind is blowing all the time, then use the wind as reference to determine east, south, west, north."

"Only by constantly determining the wind direction can one avoid getting lost in the snowstorm."

In short, it's a void of nothing, pitch black, only the wind as a reference.

But the wind changes constantly and entering the snowstorm makes directions indistinguishable, how to know what wind is blowing?

Moreover, the wind can skew one's footsteps, unknowingly turning.

Keeping walking eastward, immensely difficult.

Only by firmly remembering the initial wind direction, then using sensory feelings, infer the new direction in real-time.

From the vast snowstorm, find this "flowing," only referential reference.

Li Xian took a deep breath.

Smooth out his emotions, no longer thinking of anything else. Step forward, into the snowstorm.

The wind suddenly changed, blowing from the southwest.

"It's southwest wind!"

Using the wind as a guide, determined the eastern location, stepped eastward.

"Changed... now it's southeast wind..."

Again inferred direction.

The hardest part of this method lies in "memory" and "confidence."

Even if the method is feasible, walking alone in such an environment, it's hard to avoid doubt, mental drift.

Any mistake, lapse, or distraction midway can lead to a total error in judgment and unknowingly start circling, completely lost.

Li Xian closed his eyes, discarded hearing and sight, firmly focused his mind.

Turning the chaotic wind into a marker for locking direction instead.

Step after step, walked for an unknown time.

"This is..."

When he opened his eyes again, he saw the towering city gate of "Qingning County" standing in front.

"Succeeded!"

Li Xian was overjoyed, akin to escaping death. He leaned on the city wall, walking alongside, soon spotted a dog hole.

Two punches thrown, Inner Qi shook, dispersing the snow blocking the dog hole.

Passed through the hole, successfully entered the city.

"What's the purpose of the lady deliberately sending me to buy rouge?"

"Wanting to kill me to silence witnesses? Or some other purpose?"

Li Xian saw a horse stable, used the "Snow Stepping" technique, lightly flipped over the fence, resting well in the stable.

On such a snowy day, even Qingning County had shut doors.

"How about taking this opportunity to escape? From now on, be free, to another place, find another way out?"

Li Xian suddenly surged with intense thoughts.

Just then, he sensed something, as if a gaze was cast upon him.

He looked around, no sign of anyone.

"No..." Li Xian warned himself: "Letting me buy rouge in this snowy weather, there must be other intentions. If I flee now, perhaps... may truly invite mortal danger!"

Gathered his spirits.

Inner Qi circulated the whole body, restoring warmth to frozen stiff hands and feet.

"Without Inner Qi, I'd have frozen to death long ago."

Li Xian muttered, thinking that since he was here, he might as well take a walk through Leaking Bottle Lane.

Seeing the houses were dilapidated, the thatched roofs blown away by the strong wind. Luckily, the little brother had already left, no need to suffer cold here.

Neighbor Aunt Liu's family, their roof was reinforced, plastered with mud, and some wood covered atop.

Could barely withstand the strong wind.

The house was lit with fire, the family of three cuddled together at a heated bed.

Li Xian's mood improved a lot, left Leaking Bottle Lane, along the way felt his way along the houses.

"This oil lamp is quite miraculous, the strong wind couldn't blow it out."

Though it could light the surroundings, wasn't enough for warmth.

Plenty of houses in the county, many reference points, unlikely to get blown astray, Li Xian identified street names through a few tall pavilions.

"Shuisha Lane..."

"Here it is!"

If speaking of where rouge and powders are sold in Qingning County, it would be "Shuisha Lane" next to "Red Candle Lane."

Red Candle Lane is known for its nightly revelries, a place of indulgence and play. Shuisha Lane, on the other hand, sells silk and cloth, rouge and powders, ornamental curios.

Completely different from Leaking Bottle Lane.

Ground paved with blue bricks, lively when brightly lit, gourmet food in abundance, dumped directly on the ground.

Yet plainly denied to beggars.

Every pavilion recruited quite a number of security guards.

Whoever dared to pick up leftovers, got beaten. Simply wouldn't let them eat, what can one do?

But snow piled into a blanket, the blue bricks unseen.

"Dream Immortal Pavilion"

"Might as well buy here."

Li Xian knocked on the door, no response, immediately knocked heavily again.

Bang bang—

After a long while, a voice was heard responding.

"Scram, scram, freeze to death elsewhere, want me to collect your corpse? No way!"

The voice was rather harsh.

"Open the door, doing business here."

Li Xian summoned Inner Qi, shouted energetically.

After a long while, a gap opened in the door, an eye blocked the slit, "Sir, isn't this the wrong place on a winter day?"

The voice softened a lot.

Li Xian said solemnly, "This is the place, I want to buy rouge."

"Really buying rouge?" the woman asked.

"What else?" Li Xian brushed off the snow on himself.

"Alright, come in then." The woman opened a gap. Li Xian slipped in, then closed the door.

Inside was quite warm.

Several stoves burning, Li Xian removed the cloak, shook off snow from his hair, then began to look at the opponent.

It was a middle-aged woman of over forty, with somewhat stocky stature, holding a red-green handkerchief, exuding a strong perfume scent.

"Oh, oh, oh, a young gentleman indeed."

Seeing Li Xian in person, the middle-aged woman relaxed a lot.

A rookie indeed.

"What kinds of rouge powders do you have here, give me a brief introduction." Li Xian stretched out his hands, warming them by the stove.

"Rouge powders, quite a lot indeed." The woman chuckled, "Young sir, follow me then."

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