SS CH76

When Gu Xiao woke up, there wasn’t a single place on his entire body that didn’t hurt.

Bursts of dull pain throbbed from his extraordinary meridians, eight vessels, four limbs, and hundreds of bones. It wasn’t excruciating, but it felt like a dull knife slowly slicing through his flesh, intermittently stopping and starting. Even breaking bones and tearing tendons would be no worse than this.

He lay prone on the freezing floor. He had no shackles or manacles on him, but it took a long time of supporting himself with his hands against the floor before he managed to prop his upper body up. His arms swayed, and he nearly planted his face back into the ground.

“You woke up faster than I estimated.”

A voice filled with laughter drifted from ahead. Helian Yu had changed into heavy, dark-patterned purple silk robes. His ink-black hair hung loose, and a silver mask adorned his face. Resting his chin on one hand, he leaned back in a chair with a white tiger pelt draped over his legs, looking languid and extravagantly wealthy.

The ancient sword previously strapped to his back was gone. His freed right hand now wore two sharp finger cots, playfully spinning a small ball made of strange wire.

A profound gaze peered out from the hollows of his mask, appearing even more abyssal in the dim firelight of the room. “However, if I were you, the very first thing I would do right now is look for a weapon and a place to hide, rather than staring directly at an enemy I know I cannot defeat.”

Startled, Gu Xiao finally realized that the “floor” beneath him was actually a three-foot-wide, freezing stone bridge. Above and around him hung a net of iron chains reminiscent of an inescapable heavenly trap. Below was a massive pool of water. Wind blew in from some unknown source, curling around the bizarre, bloody stench rising from the water and blowing it straight into his face.

Squinting through the torchlight on the walls, he saw that the water in the pool was actually a grotesque red. Numerous cages covered in iron thorns were suspended in it, each holding five or six people—men, women, old, and young. Some had already lost all signs of life, while others opened their mouths wide to scream for help. Yet, despite holding their mouths open for a long time, the only sounds that came out were muffled “ah, ah” noises.

It was so horrifying it could rival the legendary Purgatory of the Blood Sea passed down in folklore.

A smile curled the lips behind Helian Yu’s mask. “I love watching the process of a living person’s blood draining away, but I detest the annoying shrieks of pain. So, I had their tongues cut out. Otherwise, you definitely wouldn’t be able to hear me speaking right now.”

Youths are often driven by a strong sense of righteousness. Even though Gu Xiao had been raised freely since childhood and didn’t hold many sectarian prejudices or strict distinctions between orthodox and unorthodox paths—meaning he wouldn’t usually draw his saber and shout about “enforcing justice on behalf of heaven” every time he saw someone from a demonic sect—he was still a hot-blooded youth with his own bottom line and stance.

Seeing people bleeding to death and hearing their silent screams of agony was something even a heart of stone and iron couldn’t tolerate.

Gu Xiao stumbled twice as he stood up, his fingers slowly curling into tight fists. “Where is this? Who exactly are you?”

“This is the main peak of Mizong Ridge, my martial arts training chamber.” Pausing, Helian Yu cast him a glance, his tone playful. “As for me, what right do you have to ask my name? Simply addressing me respectfully as the Palace Master of the Burial Soul Palace is perfectly fine, isn’t it?”

Expressionless, Gu Xiao said, “I think ‘Demon Lord’ and ‘Beast’ suit you better. Which one do you prefer?”

“Haha, interesting.” Instead of getting angry, Helian Yu laughed, even clapping his hands lightly. “Gu Qifang cursed me just like that back in the day. If you didn’t look completely unlike either of them, I would have thought you were the bastard spawn they birthed themselves.”

“If I were their biological son, what would you do?” Gu Xiao asked.

“Naturally, I would slice you into a thousand pieces, pack you into a box, and send it over along with a stew made from your bones. Only then would I not fail the deep bond of flesh and blood.” Helian Yu’s laughter grew increasingly delighted, seemingly tinged with a bit of regret. “As for you, I’ll just keep your eyeballs to play with, and when they come knocking at my door, I’ll crush them under my heel just to hear them pop. Sounds fun, right?”

Although he spoke as if joking, the malice in his words was blatantly naked. Every word was like a poisoned thorn that had to be viciously stabbed into human flesh to satisfy him.

Gu Xiao felt his hair stand on end.

He was, after all, only sixteen years old. Gu Qifang and Duanqing treated him like their own son, and he had never been mistreated growing up. Even though he had ventured into the Jianghu and been covered in dust, sweat, and blood, he hadn’t truly suffered much hardship, nor had he ever witnessed such bone-deep malice.

His hand resting behind his back clenched and relaxed. “The Palace Master of the Burial Soul Palace manages ten thousand affairs a day. Why go out of your way to cause trouble for a nameless nobody like me?”

“A nameless nobody stole my prey and killed quite a few of my subordinates. Although they were all useless sacks of wine and rice, you must still look at the master’s face before beating his dog. You made me unhappy, so I have no choice but to make you wish you were dead,” Helian Yu replied.

His extremely frank admission to intercepting and killing the royal descendants didn’t ease Gu Xiao’s heart at all. Anyone who dared to speak like that was either a fool with a heart larger than a dog hole, or someone utterly secure in the knowledge that they had nothing to fear.

Helian Yu was clearly not the former.

Worrying for Chu Yao and Chu Xun, as well as for Gu Qifang who was escorting them, Gu Xiao’s expression instantly worsened.

Secretly mobilizing his internal energy to check his condition, he feigned a look of resentful anger and said, “Since that is the case, why didn’t you just kill me directly?”

“To fish, one naturally needs to keep the bait.” Helian Yu looked at him. “Tell me, do you think Gu Qifang and Duanqing will come to save you?”

Without waiting for Gu Xiao to answer, he muttered to himself, “They will definitely come. That fool Duanqing would never give up on anyone, and Gu Qifang is even more unbelievably stupid.”

Quietly glancing beneath his feet, Gu Xiao said, “My Shifu once said that the reason so many people capsize their boats in the shallow gutters of the Jianghu is because they all fancy themselves clever schemers setting up the trap to catch the fish.”

Helian Yu asked with great interest, “Do you think I am one of them?”

“I only know… that you deserve to die!”

Before his voice faded, Gu Xiao leapt off the stone bridge. Tapping his toe against the water’s surface, he snatched an iron caltrop off one of the cages. Without even looking back, he threw his hand back to block, perfectly deflecting the serpentine silver hook that pierced through the wind toward him.

Trailing behind the silver hook was a long, thin wire capable of slicing through skin and bone, the other end of which remained in Helian Yu’s hand. Unbeknownst to Gu Xiao, Helian Yu had already moved onto the bridge, looking down at him from above.

His brow twitched. “Trying to run? Where to?”

As he spoke, the wire and silver hook spiraled back. Though lacking the sweeping force of a long whip, it excelled in nimble unpredictability. Gu Xiao saw a flash of silver, followed by a cold sensation on his neck—the wire had wrapped around his throat. The silver hook utilized the momentum to loop back, aiming to pierce straight through his windpipe. But if he twisted to dodge, the movement would cause the wire to slice his own head off!

However, this was exactly the moment Gu Xiao had been waiting for!

In the fraction of a second available, he jammed the iron caltrop in front of his throat, forcibly creating a tiny gap within the tightening wire. Seeing the silver hook swing back around, he used the iron caltrop to slice outward.

Channeling all his strength into his fingers, the iron caltrop dragged the wire into the path of the silver hook just as a shallow cut opened on the back of his neck. A thin line of blood bloomed as the wire was severed by the combined opposing forces of the caltrop and the hook!

Shifting his feet, Gu Xiao flipped backward and landed on top of an iron cage. The wire, abruptly losing its forward tension, snapped back with a sharp crack, leaving a bloody welt on the back of Helian Yu’s hand.

Helian Yu narrowed his eyes, flexing his fingers twice. “I certainly underestimated you. But do you really think you can escape the palm of my hand with just this little bit of skill?”

“I can’t do it, but that doesn’t mean no one else can,” Gu Xiao replied.

With that, he violently swung the bloody iron caltrop down. He used so much force that one could almost hear the sharp blade slicing through flesh and scraping against his finger bones.

The cage Gu Xiao had chosen to land on was selected during a fleeting glance. It held prime-aged men who, despite their lethargic state, possessed the physiques of martial artists.

The iron caltrop was barely three inches long—a thin, flimsy piece of metal. If thrown at Helian Yu, it wouldn’t even get close before being knocked down by his palm wind. Therefore, he chose to strike the heavy lock on top of the iron cage.

The large lock was cast from solid bronze and incredibly sturdy. Yet, by channeling more than half his remaining internal energy into a desperate, all-or-nothing strike, Gu Xiao actually sliced it clean in two!

Helian Yu frowned. Flying downward, he thrust a palm straight for Gu Xiao’s crown. The strike covered his entire skull; if it hit, his head would undoubtedly burst like a melon.

With the iron caltrop destroyed alongside the heavy lock, Gu Xiao didn’t dare block the strike head-on. Sweeping backward as fast as the wind, he narrowly dodged the palm strike and grabbed onto a thick iron chain dangling mid-air with one hand.

Seeing Helian Yu land on top of the iron cage, Gu Xiao wiped the bloody froth from the corner of his mouth with his bloody left hand and laughed, “Demon Lord, is it truly so easy to stand upon the heads of others?”

The moment the last word left his mouth, the iron cage beneath Helian Yu’s feet abruptly burst open. The martial artists trapped inside had no way to speak, and their bodies were weak from confinement and bloodletting. But finally freed and staring straight at their mortal enemy, how could their eyes not turn red with fury?

They all knew they wouldn’t escape alive, so they embraced certain death with the sole intent of tearing a chunk of flesh off Helian Yu before they went down. At least then, they wouldn’t die in vain.

Suspended mid-air with nowhere to leverage his footing, Helian Yu had no choice but to reach out and grab an iron chain. However, there were those among them who knew qinggong. With so many hands and feet flailing in chaotic desperation, they managed to entangle him for a crucial moment!

Right at that moment, Gu Xiao flew forward, grabbed a torch, and narrowed his eyes toward the left wall.

This hidden chamber was massive, yet there were very few torches. The left wall, in particular, lacked a single one. Either it was rigged with traps, or… this wall was afraid of fire.

Smashing the torch against the wall, a massive fire instantly roared to life, accompanied by a blinding white light that stung the eyes!

The wall was actually sealed with oil wax covering a layer of white phosphorus. If anyone touched it, they would inevitably set themselves on fire.

“Damn it!” Helian Yu finally lost his temper. Flattening his palm into a blade, he thrust it straight through the heart of the man blocking his path. Yet, even in death, the man gripped his arm with a death hold, refusing to let him give chase.

Fortunately, white phosphorus burns incredibly fast. A corner of stone brick was exposed behind the flames, and wind flowed through the cracks. Caring for nothing else, Gu Xiao grabbed the iron chain, swung forcefully toward it, raised his leg, and kicked the stone brick with all his remaining strength!

The rebounding force left his leg numb, but thankfully the stone brick wasn’t overly thick and had been weakened by the residual heat of the fire. His desperate kick shattered it, opening a large hole.

But before Gu Xiao could use it to escape, an arrow tore through the air from outside the hole with earth-shattering force, piercing straight through his left shoulder with inescapable precision. It must have been drawn to the full by someone with Herculean strength, for the arrow passed entirely through his shoulder and embedded itself into the wall behind him, the shaft still vibrating violently!

Gu Xiao was already running on fumes. Clashing with Helian Yu up to this point had exhausted all his mental and physical strength. Just as he thought he could escape alive, he took this arrow and instantly collapsed to the floor, unable to even crawl.

Blood continuously dripped from his shoulder and the corner of his mouth. Yet he remained obstinate, gritting his teeth to prevent showing any weakness in front of Helian Yu, only turning his head back for a single glance.

With that glance, he saw that the six men who had blocked the path were all dead. Helian Yu stood somewhat wretchedly in the pool, his upper body sporting a few new cuts and his lower body submerged in the bloody water, a trickle of crimson dripping from his lowered hands.

Gu Xiao’s gaze swept past his face and finally landed on the arrow slowly ceasing its vibration in the wall. The arrowhead was buried deep into the brick and stone, leaving only the fletching exposed.

Seeing this, his pupils shrank, and the blood in his entire body ran icy cold—

It was a Peacock Feather Arrow, exclusively used by the private guards of the Great Chu imperial family. Why was it here?!