下一章

“How the fuck did you get in here?!” Kǒudài Fāng Jīn’s sudden outburst made the other cultivator jump up in a fright.

Sean Wu quickly spun around and locked gazes with the sinister-looking man standing on the other side of the room. He remembered his elementary-school teacher’s words, ‘one should never judge others based on appearance alone’. This guy might look like a fucking devil, but what if he is a kindred soul? At the very least, he wasn’t wearing a black cloth or covering his head with some kind of hood, so he couldn’t have been from a devil sect. Was he perhaps a member of the previous expedition team that had somehow gotten lost and never made it out?

“What demonic art did you use to get past the boundary array?! Kǒudài Fāng Jīn snarled once more. “No one could have possibly happened upon this place by chance. To which affiliation do you belong?!”

[He’s asking for my affiliation? There is no need for that, since I am here on a scouting expedition as well.]

Sean walked up and put one hand on Kǒudài Fāng Jīn’s shoulder. “What do you mean? I was ordered to come here, same as you. We were both given the same mission, you should already know this.”

Kǒudài Fāng Jīn was taken aback. His astonishment was soon replaced with a feeling of intense fury. ‘So those old fogies in the tower never trusted me from the start.’

Eyes brimming with rage, Kǒudài Fāng Jīn could only reply through a pair of clenched teeth. “Very good! I am so happy that the esteemed elders have decided to send someone else as a backup in the event of my… failure. I am… ahem, elated to hear of this.”

“Now that we are on the same page, come over here and help me with this.” Sean directed the other cultivator towards a glass sarcophagus.

Kǒudài Fāng Jīn begrudgingly made his way over. He squinted his eyes and inspected the sarcophagus for any traps, however he could find none.

The devil sect cultivator glanced over at Sean Wu, ‘It seems in order to remove the lid off this sarcophagus, the life qi of two cultivators is required, else a calamity might occur. That one could easily perceive a hidden array on this sarcophagus where I could find none, he is indeed an expert, I should be wary of him.’

The two cultivators dug their fingers under the lid of the sarcophagus, and with a heave-ho, threw off the top with forceful vigor.

Inside the sarcophagus was a single glass icosahedron, wrapped in a silk blanket and adorned with wilted flowers.

“This is… our sect’s supreme treasure, the ‘hundred-epoch wooden block, 這是一塊普通的石頭’!” A bead of sweat rolled down Kǒudài Fāng Jīn’s forehead. “Three million years ago, the great progenitor used this very relic to lead a genocide against the vermillion-core asura race. It was well documented that with the wave of a hand, the eighteen lines* connecting to the life tian* would disconnect and reassemble into a perfect cube; no qi can escape a confined reconfiguration of the body’s internal reserves. The vermillion-core asura race lost their cultivations overnight, and were promptly eradicated. This is a terrifying and invincible treasure! If anyone were to get a hold of this, they would sweep the nine* heavens!”

“Woah.”

下一章

Shā Shǒu retracted his blade as another attacker fell before him. He grabbed the man’s weapon off his corpse and threw it at the back of another hooded figure facing off against Wú Yòng. Over on the side, an injured Huā Shēng sat on the ground with his back against the wall. A devil sect cultivator loomed over him with sword in hand.

The hooded man took one step forward, before falling to his knees and then onto the ground. A fresh pool of blood began to form underneath the fallen body. The invisible familiar latching onto the corpse’s shadow got up and dissipated into a thin smoke. Huā Shēng let down his hand and coughed up another mouthful of blood.

“Stand up, friend. It is not right for you to die in this place.” Wú Yòng helped Huā Shēng to his feet. “We must get leave before any more of them come.”

“…What about Shi Huáng Dì? Where did he disappear to?”

“I heard a sinister voice directing those devil sect cultivators at us. Shi Huáng Zì must have gone to fight with their leader.” Shā Shǒu replied.

“I am sure he is capable enough to find his way out. Let us wait for him outside.”

Wú Yòng put both hands on the ‘Reaching for Heaven’s Donger Rope’ wrapped around his waist. A previously invisible glowing rope suddenly appeared. This ethereal rope floated one foot above the ground, and trailed out of the room, presumably toward the exit above ground. The three men made way through an intricate maze of tunnels and spanning caverns. It was not long before the spiritual qi-rope led them back to the entrance, leading to the outside.

As they began to board the carriage in preparations to leave once the fourth and missing member returned, Huā Shēng suddenly spoke up. “I feel I must get something off my chest. I came on this expedition with an intent to kill you all. Although this is no longer the case, I feel I have wronged you all.”

“It is okay, dao friend.” Wú Yòng put one hand on Huā Shēng’s shoulder. “I also came on this expedition with an intent on killing you all and stealing your possessions. After this ordeal, I have decided that I will no longer pursue the life of a bandit.”

“I too, have deceived you all, bearing a false identity. My thirst for vengeance has clouded my judgement; my inner demons have led me astray. I had originally intended on silencing Shi Huáng Dì along with everyone else here, however that is no longer the case. I shed my past grievances against the enemies of my forefathers.” Shā Shǒu added his own thoughts.

“Then we no longer have a reason to fight. I can feel a kindred bond forming between the three of us; through life and death, we had each other’s backs.”

“I feel the same.”

“Of course.”

Wú Yòng smiled. “Then from this moment on, we three are brothers!”

“To fruitful encounters!”

The men sat down in the carriage and raised a cup in celebration. “Cheers!”

CLICK!

“What was that?”

…

Wú Yòng blinked.

“Oh shit! I forgot that I rigged this carriage with a bomb!”

“You fucker, I’ll kill y-!”

下一章

“Did you hear that?” Sean looked over his shoulder.

“What are you talking about?”

“I thought I heard something go off in the background, like an explosion.”

“It’s probably nothing.” Kǒudài Fāng Jīn replied. “Could just be a collapsed passageway, or some tiger moles tunneling about. You never know.”