Killing

At noon that day, Duàn Yì obtained a letter from Bái Xī Wén and left the Golden Cauldron Sect on Shalu Mountain. Using the lightness skill of King Yue's Divine Arrow, he hurried toward Daming County at the foot of the mountain.

When he had first traveled from the county town to Shalu Mountain, Duàn Yì had gone on foot. He had set out before dawn and only reached the mountain after noon. Yet now, covering the same distance took him less than an hour. His legwork had clearly improved greatly.

After entering the city, Duàn Yì went straight to the Daming County yamen. Presenting Bái Xī Wén's handwritten letter, he was soon led by the guards into the rear hall, where he met two middle-aged men dressed in plain clothes amid wafting sandalwood incense.

The two seemed to have been drinking tea and chatting in the rear hall. One was somewhat older, with an elegant and scholarly bearing. His gentle yet spirited eyes and refined demeanor marked him as Magistrate Hu of Daming County.

Duàn Yì had heard Bái Xī Wén say that this man was wise and capable, impartial in his judgments, and beloved by the people of the county.

The somewhat younger man attending Magistrate Hu was his secretary. After the introductions, Duàn Yì learned that his surname was Li and addressed him as Secretary Li.

The Golden Cauldron Sect held enormous influence in Wei Prefecture and had connections in both the black and white paths. Moreover, Bái Xī Wén was a figure of great prestige within the sect. Thus, carrying his letter, Duàn Yì received lavish hospitality from Magistrate Hu and Secretary Li. Neither showed the slightest disdain or neglect because of his youth.

They also readily agreed to Bái Xī Wén's request. Secretary Li waved his paper fan and said,

"This truly is the perfect time for Young Hero Duàn to arrive.

"The Great Xia has roughly two kinds of execution dates.

"One is immediate execution. Such villains have committed crimes towering to the heavens and stirred up immense public outrage. They are generally escorted to the execution platform at the eastern end of the marketplace and beheaded to soothe the people's fury.

"The other is execution after autumn. In other words, they must wait until after the autumnal equinox before being put to death, for spring brings life and autumn brings death, in accordance with the principles of Heaven's Way.

"Fortunately, Daming County has just sentenced a death-row prisoner, though the execution has not yet been carried out. Otherwise, this matter would have been difficult to arrange."

Duàn Yì was exceedingly polite before the two scholars. He spoke softly, sat upright, and carried himself with considerable integrity. These were habits Father Duàn had instilled in him from childhood, and they won him the favor of both Magistrate Hu and Secretary Li.

He was rather curious about this death-row prisoner, and he also wanted to steel the Killing Intent in his heart. Thus, he asked about the man's circumstances. Only after Magistrate Hu and Secretary Li explained did he learn the full story.

The man had originally been an ordinary resident of Daming County, but he was addicted to gambling. His family had once been well-off, yet he had squandered it all, enough to make one wring one's hands in regret.

Whenever he lost money, he would go drinking. After returning home, he would beat his wife and child to vent his frustration. At last, unable to bear the humiliation any longer, his wife divorced him and took their son back to her parents' home.

Even after this, the man refused to repent. Three nights ago, after drinking himself senseless, he followed behind a respectable woman and violated her. Fearing that she might recognize him afterward, he strangled her alive as well. Having committed this monstrous crime, he admitted to murder after his arrest and was sentenced to beheading.

Everything was perfectly clear. According to Great Xia law, the man deserved death a hundred times over.

Originally, he was to be taken to the execution platform in the county marketplace tomorrow and beheaded. But since Duàn Yì had come today, Magistrate Hu was willing to give Bái Xī Wén some face and let Duàn Yì execute him instead. They could proceed at any time; it merely meant simplifying a few procedures, nothing more.

Upon hearing this, Duàn Yì did not wish to waste any time. He cupped his hands in thanks to the two men and proposed that they begin at once.

His battle with Lin Bohui was imminent. The situation was grim, and his opponent placed tremendous pressure upon him. Not a single second could be wasted.

Besides, he had other matters to attend to.

The two men were equally decisive. They issued an order, affixed their seals, and sent men to bring the death-row prisoner out of the jail and into the marketplace for execution. As for the executioner, the usual headsman would be replaced by Duàn Yì.

Duàn Yì thanked them once more, then followed a guard to change his clothes.

A red kerchief was tied around his head. He wore a short, sleeveless shirt over his upper body and tight trousers below, carrying a touch of modern fashion.

When he arrived at the execution platform on the eastern side of the marketplace, several dozen scattered townspeople had already gathered around it. Most were young and middle-aged men, with few women or children among them. They pointed at the death-row prisoner kneeling against the beheading post atop the platform, their faces filled with scorn and revulsion.

When Duàn Yì mounted the platform with a broad blade in hand, its edge dark red, his heart was nowhere near as calm as his appearance suggested. Indeed, stormy waves rose within him, and even his usually steady breathing grew somewhat hurried.

The prisoner before him had disheveled hair and wore white prison clothes. His hands were bound behind his back as he knelt there, a wooden placard bearing the character for execution stuck diagonally into the collar on his back. He muttered pleas for mercy, looking pitiful and helpless. Duàn Yì asked himself,

"This man bears me no grudge or grievance. He is a living human life. Can I truly bring myself to do it?"

In his previous life, Duàn Yì had been a shut-in writer. Forget killing a person—he had never even killed a chicken. His hands were soft, and so was his heart.

Perhaps training in martial arts in this life had strengthened his will and steadied his temperament, but he had not reached the point of treating life as worthless.

Especially as he looked at this man, Duàn Yì could not help thinking of the choice before him. Once he killed this man, he would truly step into the martial world, and from then on, he would face dangers of every kind.

For instance, Lin Bohui, whom he would soon duel. The seventy-two forms of Bixie Swordplay possessed matchless power. There might indeed be flaws and hidden dangers within it, but that did not mean Duàn Yì was certain to win.

Then there were experts even stronger than Lin Bohui, who might become his enemies in the future. Would he be able to handle them?

He even imagined himself beheading this man today, only for someone else to behead him someday. Unease inevitably filled his heart.

Countless stray thoughts surged up like a tide, tangling into a chaotic knot and leaving his head spinning.

However, as the guard beside him loudly read out the man's crimes, Duàn Yì's expression grew solemn. Listening to the death-row prisoner's deeds, he felt the hesitation and reluctance in his heart gradually peel away, while anger accumulated within him.

Brilliant light burst from his eyes. Though Ice True Qi flowed through his body, it could not extinguish the Killing Intent born from the blazing fury in his heart.

Once the guard finished reading, Duàn Yì held the execution blade in his right hand and strode behind the prisoner, his footsteps thudding as his manner turned sharp and fierce.

With his left hand, he removed the execution placard from the man's back and tossed it aside. Then he kicked out, pinning the man against the wooden post.

There was no preamble, nor did he raise the blade high as they did in dramas.

He merely flicked his wrist. A flash of blade-light passed, and a large head rolled spinning to the ground. Blood burst forth like a fountain, blooming into a crimson flower and startling many of the onlookers below into loud cries. They seemed thrilled beyond measure by the intensely stimulating sight.

Even many of the guards watching nearby were astonished. This young man was so young, yet his blade was incredibly swift and powerful. After the head was severed, the blood from the neck only sprayed out after the span of a breath, showing just how fast his strike had been.

Yet upon the platform, Duàn Yì, who had just beheaded the prisoner, stood in a daze. His handsome face was red and burning as he sensed an exceedingly subtle change rising within his heart.

His feelings were not as novels described them—nausea after killing, guilt, inner turmoil and agony, as though he had developed some psychological illness.

On the contrary, he felt remarkably relaxed and exhilarated. His blood even surged hotly, as if intoxicated, and he longed to kill another person, using blood to douse the Killing Intent at the bottom of his heart.

This discovery also made him understand that he truly was not quite normal. At the very least, compared to ordinary people, he seemed more able to accept bloodshed and killing.

After returning to the yamen, changing back into his clothes, and declining Magistrate Hu and Secretary Li's invitation to a banquet, Duàn Yì walked out through the yamen gates beneath the westering sun.

He walked to a deserted dead-end alley nearby. Only then did he draw the Ten Refinements Sword at his waist and swing it, sensing the minute changes within himself.

"Not bad. Bái Xī Wén was right—the feeling of holding a sword really is different now.

"My hand is stronger and steadier. When I strike with my sword, I believe I will also be more decisive and filled with greater Killing Intent. The power of my swordsmanship will rise another notch. This is transformation.

"A swordsman who has killed and one who has never killed are indeed two different kinds of swordsmen.

"Now, I have enough strength to contend with a swordsman like Huang Jing. As for fighting Lin Bohui, I should still be somewhat lacking."

Light flashed in Duàn Yì's eyes. His brows and features remained as before, yet there was now a sharp and fierce edge about him. He was like the Ten Refinements Sword in his hand, its blade imposing, its spirit soaring.

"The next step is to visit Fragrant Courtyard and listen."

Although Duàn Yì had now killed someone and gained Killing Intent, making his sword strikes more powerful, it was still not enough for him to defeat Lin Bohui. He needed to make one more preparation.