Netherworld! Taking a Master

Tap. Tap.

Tap. Tap.

Before him was a pair of bright red embroidered shoes.

The tiny shoes struck the ground with the sound of ice being chipped, and with every tap, they cracked open the frozen surface, letting a biting chill creep toward him along the ground.

Zhang Lingshan could not help shivering. His mind became even clearer.

Now, Wang Datou and Li Xiaole's heads were gone from his sight. All he saw was a world of black and white, its only color the pair of embroidered shoes and their owner.

Walking toward him was an incomparably beautiful, slender woman in a crimson dress. Her pale, straight legs were exceptionally eye-catching in the deep autumn season.

Did she not know cold?

What felt even stranger to Zhang Lingshan was that the woman held a ghostly green oil-paper umbrella in her right hand. It glowed green beneath the moonlight, casting her in a light that made her both ravishing and eerie.

Who was this?

Or rather, was she not human?

Terror rose in Zhang Lingshan's heart.

He might still have had the courage to smash Li Xiaole and Wang Datou's heads, but this woman's arrival was like the icy cold of the nine netherworlds, freezing his entire body in an instant.

They were not on the same level at all.

This woman was undoubtedly the most terrifying person he had ever seen.

Not because she looked terrifying, nor because her methods were terrifying. Her mere existence was enough to inspire terror.

Zhang Lingshan felt as though he were about to freeze stiff.

Suddenly, a cold, clear voice drifted down from the air. "Netherworld conducts its business. All idlers, keep away."

Whoosh.

Those words were like sweet rain falling upon Zhang Lingshan, instantly restoring his ability to move. He scrambled up and ran, only daring to stop after turning onto Changning Street. He hid at the corner and looked back.

But no matter how he looked, that place was a pitch-black expanse, like a deep black well that swallowed every trace of light.

"Qinghe Road disappeared?"

Zhang Lingshan was shocked and confused. With his current understanding, he could not imagine the woman's methods at all, much less know what the "Netherworld" she mentioned represented.

He only knew that although he had made several trips through Ghost Gate Pass, he had at least returned safely.

"Mother, I'm back... Father was hired by the Lei Family for long-term labor. He won't be back for half a year... Mm-hm, nothing happened. I locked all the doors and windows. Xiao Yu should sleep too... Tomorrow, I'll go register at the Hong Clan Martial Hall to learn martial arts..."

Zhang Lingshan comforted his worried mother and younger sister, then returned to his own bedroom. Only then did he take out the Silver Notes from his bosom, spread them open, and count them.

The moment he counted them, terror jolted through him, and the hairs on his back stood on end.

There were two extra ten-tael notes!

What was going on?

If he had guessed correctly, these two ten-tael notes belonged to Wang Datou and Li Xiaole. Like the ten taels his father had given him, they were wages their fathers had earned working at Golden Light Temple.

But he had only been focused on escaping for his life. He had never had the chance to search their corpses. Even if he had the heart of a thief, he had not had the nerve. So how had these two notes ended up in his clothes?

Could the notes have grown Legs?

The more Zhang Lingshan thought about it, the more frightened he became. This was dead people's money! And those two had been killed by Evil Spirits, dying miserably, their heads hanging in the air and swaying.

Was their money really so easy to take?

Zhang Lingshan could not help feeling uneasy.

But then he remembered that he had just split their heads with an axe. What the hell was there to fear? If something truly happened, it was not something he could deal with anyway.

He had already been exhausted enough today. If another upheaval came, he would not be able to endure it. Rather than scaring himself senseless, he might as well get a good night's sleep.

Once he woke up tomorrow, he would go straight to the Hong Clan Martial Hall to take a master and learn martial arts. A bright future was waving at him. Hahaha.

With beautiful hopes in his heart, Zhang Lingshan lay on the bed and closed his eyes.

In a daze, he saw someone walk out of the darkness.

Arm after arm extended from the person's chest, each hand holding a ten-tael Silver Note and shaking them with a rustle. A smug, greedy smile covered his face.

Looking closely—

Whoosh!

Zhang Lingshan jolted awake. That person had a face exactly like his own.

"Huff, huff."

Panting heavily, Zhang Lingshan took a long while to calm down before realizing that dawn had already broken outside.

Fortunately, it had only been a dream.

Though he had slept uneasily that night, he had at least made it through.

He rolled out of bed.

Zhang Lingshan's brow creased slightly as he hissed in pain. His ribs, abdomen, and back all felt tightly constricted, and every movement hurt.

Examining himself, he found one red welt after another across his body. They hurt at the slightest touch.

What's going on? Did I strain something in yesterday's fight? Or was I whipped by Wang Datou and Li Xiaole on Qinghe Road, or frostbitten by that woman?

Zhang Lingshan was startled and deeply uneasy.

He hurriedly got dressed, left home, and headed for the Hong Clan Martial Hall.

No matter what, taking a master and learning martial arts was the proper path. As long as his Panel recorded martial arts and he accumulated enough energy, he could defy fate and change his destiny.

Soon, he reached the intersection of Changning Street and Qinghe Road.

Then he heard someone shout, "People are dead! Dozens from the Zhao Family are all dead!"

"How did they die? Did they run into bandits?"

"No idea. It seems an Evil Spirit was involved. Aside from two people, everyone else was scared to death. There isn't the slightest wound on them."

"Why have Evil Spirits appeared again? There haven't been any for years."

"The Zhao Family must have done something outrageously wicked and brought someone's resentment upon themselves."

"That's true. There wasn't a single good person in the Zhao Family. Good riddance. They deserved it!"

"Shh... Say less. Be careful they set their sights on you. Evil Spirits don't care whether you're from the Zhao Family. If you're unlucky enough to encounter one, you're finished too."

"Yes, yes, I won't talk nonsense. I only hope the Yamen handles this quickly. Otherwise, it won't stop at these few dozen lives."

"The Yamen is here!"

As the crowd talked, they shoved and pushed one another, carrying Zhang Lingshan along with them to the Zhao Family's entrance to watch the commotion.

Zhang Lingshan was astonished. Was the Yamen really so formidable that it could even deal with Weird Evil Spirits?

It seemed that during the half year he had been here, his knowledge and experiences had been far too shallow. At present, he only knew that practicing martial arts could make one stronger; he knew nothing of the other paths.

When he had the opportunity in the future, he had to see them for himself. Perhaps the Panel could record those as well.

"Look! Those two had their heads smashed apart. Their deaths are different from everyone else's."

Someone suddenly cried out.

An autumn gust had swept through, lifting the white cloths covering the corpses and revealing their true faces.

Zhang Lingshan instinctively looked over, his heart tightening.

Who else could the two who had died differently be but Wang Datou and Li Xiaole?

And the one who had smashed their heads was none other than himself.

But unlike yesterday, he found that although their heads had been crushed, they rested securely on their necks. They were not the floating heads he had seen yesterday.

Had some Weird force clouded his vision yesterday, causing him to beat two living people to death?

Zhang Lingshan did not dare think about it.

At that moment, another autumn gust blew past and lifted the white cloth over a corpse on the other side.

It revealed a face with bulging eyes and a dark purplish complexion. It was hard to imagine what the dead person had seen before dying, or what fright they had suffered.

Buzz!

Zhang Lingshan suddenly felt a chill rush to the top of his head, and his mind trembled violently.

Because he discovered that the face belonged to none other than the woman from last night.

When he had seen this woman then, he had only felt that she was a peerless powerhouse from another dimension, an exalted existence who could only be looked up to.

Yet after a single night, such a powerful person had died so easily?

"Netherworld conducts its business. All idlers, keep away..." Was this how the Netherworld conducted its business? A suicide squad?

Zhang Lingshan was speechless for a moment, feeling that the future had become distant and uncertain once more.

In a world like this, could learning martial arts truly allow him to take control of his own fate?

At last, dragging heavy steps, he passed through the crowd and made his way to Hongwu Street.

This was where the Hong Clan Martial Hall stood. This entire street was under the Hong Clan Martial Hall's protection, and all those living here were from the Hong Clan Martial Hall as well.

"Well, if it isn't Zhang Lingshan. Why are you back? Still want to take a master? Don't tell me you stole money from home again. We wouldn't dare accept someone like you. What if your father comes here, smashes his head against the wall, and fights us to the death like you did? Go home."

"Hahaha!"

At the entrance of the Hong Clan Martial Hall, groups of men laughed.

After what had happened half a year ago, Zhang Lingshan had become a joke people discussed over tea and meals. Seeing him today, they naturally could not resist mocking him.

Ignoring their laughter, Zhang Lingshan clasped his hands and bowed. With a solemn expression, he said, "I am Zhang Lingshan. I have come to the Hong Clan Martial Hall to take a master and learn martial arts. I have brought the money, and it was not stolen. I ask you Senior Brothers to lead me into the hall so that I may take a master."