SS CH7

Xie Li felt that his fate had offended Tai Sui this year. If he managed to make it out of here alive, he swore he would pour a basin of black dog’s blood right over his own head to ward off this foul luck.

Just moments ago, completely bewildered, he had been shoved into this stone chamber by a mechanism. He even took off his scabbard and boots to smash against the door for ages, but received absolutely no reaction. His heart was filled with panic and dread, leaving him entirely out of his wits.

Ye Fusheng’s intentions were quite good. With his sharp ears and clear sight in the dark, he heard the hollow echoes behind that door and guessed it was a quiet room. Seeing that there were enemies present, he simply shoved Xie Li out of the battle circle to spare him from being implicated, planning to find him after resolving the trouble. Unfortunately, in this world, aside from obedient children, there has never been a shortage of bratty ones.

Despite his young age, Xie Li had never done anything as mischievous as climbing roofs to pull off tiles, yet he genuinely possessed quite a talent for courting death.

Seeing that banging on the door was getting him nowhere, Xie Li simply turned around to find another way. He didn’t know the layout here, nor did he have any fire to light his way. Like a headless fly, he wandered aimlessly in the dark. Fortunately, he was both bold and meticulous. He felt his way along the crevices of the wall bricks one by one, and surprisingly, a blind cat actually managed to find a dead mouse—after consecutively knocking out seven hollow bricks, Xie Li roughly connected the positions of these seven bricks in his mind, and then cleanly and decisively struck a heavy palm strike right on the Tianshu (First Star of the Big Dipper) position.

The hollow brick was smashed completely inward by his strike. A deafening “Boom” rang out in the darkness. Xie Li hunched over and dodged to the side. Half of that wall collapsed, and a blast of gloomy, freezing wind swept in, slicing painfully against his face.

A faint light shone through from the other side of the broken hole, stinging eyes that had already gradually grown accustomed to the dark. Xie Li picked up a stone and tossed it over. Several consecutive clattering sounds echoed back as it rolled far into the distance.

There were obstacles inside.

A smart person would hesitate, but Xie Li was simply foolish.

He was ten years old this year. He started learning wugong (martial arts) at three and gripped a dao at four. His father didn’t love him, and his mother died early. All those matters of causing trouble and acting spoiled, or running to complain when facing hardships, had long since been buried in the dreams of innocent naivety.

Duanshui Manor, the Duanshui Dao, Xie Wuyi… these were the responsibilities he had seen with his own eyes and carved into his heart since childhood. For the past three years, he practiced wugong day and night, unceasing through all four seasons. Having witnessed deception and treachery, and heard tales of yesterday’s prosperity, a sprout that yearned to hold up heaven and earth had already taken root in his not-yet-fully-grown mind. Even though he barely had two ounces of meat on his bones, he desperately wanted to shoulder the crumbling main beam, never knowing how to retreat in the face of difficulty.

Xie Li took a deep breath and drew the Duanshui Dao strapped to his back into his hands. He was too small; this blade wasn’t much shorter than he was, making him look somewhat comical holding it.

Immediately after, he darted headfirst inside. Before he could even steady his footing, the humming sound of wind came from above. He instinctively ducked his head. His high-bound hair knot silently fell loose as the lapis lazuli hair ring was cleanly sliced in two!

Also in that split second, Xie Li cast a hurried glance and discovered that this was yet another stone chamber. The layout wasn’t much different from the previous ones, only much larger. There were three ever-burning lamps on the walls. In the exact center was a circular stone platform surrounded by water, and a humanoid puppet stood at each of its four corners.

All of them were crafted into the appearance of life-sized men, their facial features carved to look nearly identical. At a glance, they looked like four brothers born of the same mother. In their hands, they each held four different weapons: a dao (saber), a qiang (spear), a jian (straight sword), and a ji (halberd), looking exactly like the Four Heavenly Kings descending to subdue demons and exorcise devils.

The puppet holding the jian was closest to him. When its first strike failed, the iron sword in its hand thrust forward once more, nimble and vicious. In the blink of an eye, the tip of the sword clashed against the scabbard of the Duanshui Dao, hovering mere inches from Xie Li’s throat.

The iron sword trembled, and Xie Li stumbled three steps backward. Suddenly hearing the howling wind behind him, he backhanded his blade horizontally without a second thought, blocking a long ji. A massive surge of heavy force pressed down, forcing him straight down onto one knee, the web of his hand splitting open with a bloody gash.

Before he could even catch his breath, Xie Li’s expression drastically changed. He abruptly withdrew his blade and rolled on the ground. A continuous Duo-duo-duo sound of eight rapid strikes rang out, kicking up a cloud of dust. Eight new holes had already appeared on the ground where he was just standing!

The third puppet charged forward with its qiang. The ninth spear strike slammed into the scabbard of the Duanshui Dao. Under the contest of strength, Xie Li felt as if his internal organs were starting to tumble. He swallowed down a mouthful of bloody froth, and right at this very moment, the blade edge of the fourth puppet had already chopped down.

With a resonant clang, a blade edge like a pool of autumn water flashed out from its scabbard. Having endured for so long, it wasn’t until this very moment that Xie Li finally drew his blade and struck, fiercely clashing against the large dao in the puppet’s hands and sending sparks flying.

With one strike drawn and the move not yet exhausted, the edge of the Duanshui Dao followed the momentum and chopped down. The puppet’s dao was cleaved into two pieces by him. But surprisingly, this thing simply abandoned its weapon. Its ten fingers emitted a cracking sound as it balled them into a fist and smashed down toward him.

The four puppets trapped him in the center. As soon as one strike ended, another rose. They pressured Xie Li so hard he wished he could be reincarnated as a monkey. Sweeping a glance from the corner of his eye, he noticed the water-surrounded stone platform remained as quiet as ever. From beginning to end, the puppets never once dragged the battle over there.

Xie Li feinted a move. Just as the Duanshui Dao and the iron sword were about to clash, Xie Li secretly withdrew his force. He was instantly sent flying like a kite with a snapped string. His calculations were precise; he was just about to land perfectly on the stone platform. Unexpectedly, the puppet holding the qiang refused to let him off. The long spear in its hands suddenly shot out, hurtling straight toward his face. Being mid-air with nowhere to dodge and nowhere to borrow force from, Xie Li’s pupils shrank, but the spear tip merely grazed past his ear.

“This is the first time I’ve ever seen someone missing a heart and an eye (foolish) to this extent.”

An unfamiliar male voice sounded right beside his ear. The long qiang was lightly flicked by a pale finger, deviating from the trajectory that would have scored a perfect bullseye. A phantom-like dark figure appeared beside Xie Li, grabbed him by the collar with one hand, and tossed him onto the water-surrounded stone platform like picking up a little baby chick.

Sure enough, the four puppets did not pursue them; they merely stood at the edge of the water, gloomy and unmoving. Chu Xiwei unceremoniously let go of his hand, and the boy face-planted right onto the ground, eating a massive mouthful of dust.

Chu Xiwei closely examined their landing spot. This stone platform was about a zhang (ten feet) square, surrounded by a ring of eerie green water. Raising an eyebrow, he tossed a piece of silver into it, which instantly emitted a bizarre, sizzling fizz.

“This is the forbidden grounds of Duanshui Manor. You are the Young Manor Lord; have you ever been here before?”

Xie Li coughed a few times and spoke: “Young Manor Lord, not yet the Manor Lord.”

“Qi, what a deadweight dragging me down.” Chu Xiwei kicked him. “Stand up. It’s about to begin.”

What was about to begin?

Xie Li didn’t ask it out loud. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, gripped the Duanshui Dao, and stood up, gathering his strength and waiting to strike.

Facts proved that this rare moment of warning from the Sect Master of Hundred Ghosts Sect was not just an idle scare.

With a series of clattering metallic sounds, a dozen or so iron bars abruptly shot up around the edge of the stone platform, sinking deeply into the stone ceiling above, forming a massive iron cage. Chu Xiwei pressed down on Xie Li’s shoulder, carefully inspected every single iron bar, and then raised a palm to strike them. After a violent bout of shaking, this iron cage remained completely undamaged. Behind him, Xie Li looked up and cried out in shock, “The ceiling stone sank down three inches!”

Chu Xiwei frowned. Gathering six parts of his strength, he launched another palm strike. The iron bar in front of him was struck to the point of forming cracks, hovering right on the verge of snapping, yet the massive stone above them sank down by more than a chi (one foot)!

If he couldn’t cleave this iron cage open in a single strike, they would be pinned down and unable to move, perhaps even crushed into meat patties!

“Give me the dao.”

Xie Li hesitated for a moment before handing the Duanshui Dao over to him. Chu Xiwei drew up a breath of true qi. The moment his hand grasped the hilt of the blade, Xie Li only felt that before he could even see clearly, Duanshui had already left its sheath.

He still wanted to widen his eyes to clearly see the blade’s edge, but the sharp ringing of steel had already pierced his ears. Chu Xiwei’s daofa completely lacked any flashy or decorative movements; drawing the sheath was itself the strike. Xie Li merely blinked his eyes, and the man had already returned the blade to its scabbard.

The four iron bars in front of them had been carved into twelve segments. The top and bottom eight segments tottered on the verge of collapse, while the middle four segments completely burst apart.

At the exact same time, the massive stone overhead came crashing down, throwing up dust that blinded the eyes. In the span of a single breath, it was already pressing down upon these two bodies of flesh and blood!

Grabbing Xie Li with one hand, Chu Xiwei launched himself into the air like drifting duckweed, flying out of this confining cage. The massive stone nearly grazed the corners of their robes as it smashed onto the stone platform, the colossal impact sending water splashing violently in all directions.

Water splashed and scattered everywhere, yet Chu Xiwei, despite holding a half-grown child in his hand, didn’t let a single drop of water touch their bodies, forcefully dodging his way through this chaotic assault. Just as they were about to land, the sound of mechanisms clicking and turning suddenly rang out from all around them. The three walls flipped open simultaneously, revealing interlayers covered in holes. One after another, smoothly polished and razor-sharp stone needles exploded outward from within, dense and tightly packed, gleaming with chilling cold light.

They were mid-air, with nothing above or below to rely on. In front of them, four puppets wielding weapons blocked the way, and to their left, right, and back were stone needles. In just a brief moment, they were about to be shot into a hornet’s nest.

The fastest stone needle was already on the verge of piercing the back of Xie Li’s head.

Chu Xiwei shoved Xie Li forward, his body forcibly folding mid-air. The Duanshui Dao in his hand followed the momentum to sweep out a half-circle, like a fierce wind sweeping away fallen leaves. The stone needles closing in on his body were sucked in by the invisible daoqi, returning the strike along his blade’s edge. Every single one of them perfectly knocked down the second volley of stone needles.

With a spin of his body, he moved through this sky full of needle rain like a fish in water, forcefully carving out a three-foot sanctuary of absolute stillness around himself.

Unfortunately, no matter how good his qinggong was, it couldn’t allow him to stand suspended in the air forever.

Before Chu Xiwei could even plant one foot firmly on the ground, the puppet holding the ji moved. It closed in on him, thrusting and hooking, aiming straight for Chu Xiwei’s face. Without enough time for his blade to return in defense, Chu Xiwei raised his left hand, forming a palm-blade, and chopped diagonally upward, landing perfectly on the gap in the puppet’s wrist.

That incredibly lifelike hand was cleanly severed at the wrist, and the long ji clattered to the floor. However, a jet of yellow-green smoke suddenly sprayed out from the severed stump of the puppet’s wrist. Caught off guard, Chu Xiwei was sprayed right in the face. Although he held his breath in time, his eyes burned with agonizing pain.

The puppets seemed to understand the principle of ‘taking advantage of his sickness to take his life.’ All four puppets surrounded him at the same time. Xie Li cursed inwardly. Relying on his small size and agility, he squeezed in through the gaps and blocked in front of Chu Xiwei. Gathering his strength, he delivered a flying kick right into the knee of the puppet holding the jian. The rebounding force nearly made him lose his footing, while the puppet’s leg from the knee down was completely kicked flying by him!

Chu Xiwei closed his eyes, but his ears listened closely: “What’s going on?”

Xie Li froze for a moment, his eyes swiftly sweeping the area: “These puppets all have cracks on their bodies. They look very neat and clean, as if they were once severed by a sharp weapon.”

“The mechanisms here are primarily designed to trap, and secondarily to kill. The mechanisms are interlocked ring by ring; you must possess the strength to trigger the next ring of the mechanism. Clearly, this is a trapping array. I don’t know for which divine figure it was set up…” Chu Xiwei gave a low chuckle and leisurely sat down on the floor. “Little child, I can’t see right now. I’ll leave these four fellows to you. Do not let them hurt me.”

For a grown man to say something like this to a half-grown child was truly somewhat shameless, but fortunately, that child didn’t take it to heart.

Xie Li only froze for a moment before taking the Duanshui Dao back from his hand and charging toward the four puppets.

Metal and stone clashed, ringing with resonant clangs. He continuously stood guard in front of Chu Xiwei, refusing to yield even a single inch. The foundation of wugong he had built up day and night over the past seven years was finally revealed at this moment. His neigong was insufficient, but he relied on his nimble footwork to dodge attacks and utilized the puppets’ weaknesses to constantly force them into attacking each other by mistake. Fighting one against four, although he didn’t maneuver with ease and ample room to spare, he was surprisingly orderly and unpanicked.

The more he fought, the clearer and calmer his mind became.

If he had been born into an ordinary family, a ten-year-old child should be at an age free of worries and ignorant of sorrow. Yet he was born into the Jianghu, destined for a lifetime of flashing blades and blood-drawn swords.

“The foundation of Duanshui Manor cannot be destroyed in your hands. You are Xie Wuyi’s son, so you can never just be a child!”

Sweat poured down his forehead, his loosened hair was an utter mess, and there was a cut from a sword tip on his cheek.

The Duanshui Dao was held horizontally above his head, blocking a sword strike from a puppet pressing down like Mount Tai.

The iron sword pressed down heavily. Xie Li was nearly forced to kneel on the ground without being able to rise. He could have withdrawn his blade; he could have dodged.

But behind him sat Chu Xiwei, whose eyes were injured, and in his hands, he held the Duanshui Dao.

The knee that had knocked against the floorboards was already seeping blood. Gritting his teeth, blue veins bulging, he poured every last ounce of breath in his chest into his legs and actually, slowly, stood up.

Behind him, Chu Xiwei raised an eyebrow. His fingers slowly uncurled, a burst of palm force ready to be unleashed.

“…Fei, Liu! (Flying Waterfall)”

A hoarse roar tore from his youthful throat. The edge of the Duanshui Dao let out a sharp ring, forcefully knocking the iron sword flying. Following the crack on the puppet’s body, the blade chopped down, embedding itself deeply into its waist!

This strike—flying waterfall piercing through stone! Chu Xiwei hesitated no longer. Listening to the sound to pinpoint the location, a palm strike flew right over Xie Li’s head, landing heavily on that puppet. Its body, which had already been deeply cut into by the blade, was instantly sent flying!

This earth-shattering palm strike stunned Xie Li, but it couldn’t scare off the remaining three puppets. They attacked in a triangular formation. The heavy strikes carried the sound of tearing wind, arriving almost instantaneously.

Xie Li only felt his vision blur, while Chu Xiwei heard the sound of fluttering robes.

Ye Fusheng swept in through the broken hole in the door. Like a flying swallow, he lightly and agilely inserted himself into the battle circle. Without needing any coordination, he and Chu Xiwei struck with their palms at the exact same time—one to the left, two to the right. Xie Li’s head full of messy hair flew up in the wind. He instinctively ducked between the two men, and the strands of his hair severed by the palm winds drifted to the floor.

Falling to the ground alongside his hair was a pile of thoroughly smashed, rotten wooden pieces.

A single palm strike holding the weight of a thunderbolt; once the palm is struck, there is no returning, and certainly no surviving.

Seeing that the newcomer was Ye Fusheng, Xie Li let out a long sigh of relief. Turning his head, however, he discovered that another person was standing at the broken doorway.

Standing against the light, that person’s face couldn’t be seen clearly. They were so emaciated they looked like nothing but skin and bones, though one could vaguely tell it was a woman. Xie Li widened his eyes, wanting to get a clearer look, when a hand suddenly fell upon the back of his neck and pressed down hard.

Before he could even let out a single grunt, Xie Li went limp and collapsed.

Note: “Black dog’s blood” (黑狗血) and offending “Tai Sui” (太歲) are drawn from traditional Chinese folk beliefs and Daoism. Tai Sui represents the God of the Year; offending him brings terrible luck. Black dog’s blood, considered rich in supreme Yang energy, is traditionally used by Daoist priests to ward off evil, break curses, and banish malicious spirits.