Desperate Predicament

Desperate Predicament

The mountain wasn't far.

So Ning Xuan was close to it.

He stood silently beneath an old tree for several breaths.

With every breath, he changed.

He cast away all hope, all emotion, all hesitation, all fear, every last thought. Only when his eyes held nothing but the cruelest, most merciless glint did he start toward the mountain.

Even he felt like a stranger to himself in that moment.

Nothing remained in his eyes but indifference. He was indifferent to other people's lives, and to his own.

He was still a long, long way from the mountain—or rather, he had only walked a few hundred zhang—when something unexpected happened.

His next step carried him abruptly across a boundary, and he was back where he'd started.

Above him spread the old tree's dense canopy, casting its shade. A few leaves hung downward, swaying on the verge of falling.

I've only walked this short a distance, and I've already hit the boundary?

Ning Xuan quickly tried walking in another direction.

After a few hundred zhang, he was back where he'd started again.

He kept testing it.

Before long, he confirmed one thing.

This nightmare was very, very small—no more than a circle a few hundred zhang across.

Other than a few scattered trees, there was nothing to hide behind in this circular area. The ground was flat, and the distant mountains—even Ice Mountain—stretched around it like a painted backdrop.

The moonlight was clear and bright, shining down on the rugged mountain peaks.

But he couldn't reach them.

Ning Xuan searched the area thoroughly once more.

Then he confirmed it completely: not only was the area tiny, with nowhere to hide, but there were no extra weapons or treasures, either.

All he had were the Beast Slaying Saber in his hand and the blue flying knife in his arms.

Once he'd confirmed that, Ning Xuan stopped wasting his energy. He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and rested, ready to face whatever demon came next in the best possible condition.

It wasn't long before day broke.

The pale sun cast its pale light.

An anxious buzzing voice came from not far away.

"Where's my weapon? What happened to my weapon?"

Ning Xuan sprang up and looked toward the sound.

A bear demon, about a zhang tall, stood in an open space in the distance.

What a fine bear demon. Its shape was like a towering pavilion of white jade, its bearing like a mountain surging up from the sea. Its fur was like snow-covered willow branches, its eyes clear, its fangs tucked away. Looking closely, it even seemed rather kind-faced.

When Ning Xuan looked at the White Bear Demon, it saw him, too.

The White Bear Demon suddenly asked, "Have you seen my weapon?"

Ning Xuan flexed his fingers. The blue flying knife slowly floated out from his arms.

"Is this it?" he asked.

"No," said the White Bear Demon.

"It's hard to see from far away. Come closer and have a look."

As he spoke, he willed the flying knife toward the White Bear Demon.

When it was close, the power of his flesh and blood erupted in an instant. The power of Swallow Union flowed over the knife, which suddenly accelerated at point-blank range. The air exploded with a boom.

Though he could no longer use Swallow Tide, at such close range, with such an explosive burst, even Stealing Incense Rat's Bodhisattva Golden Body couldn't withstand it.

A flash of blue light shot into the White Bear Demon's brow.

The next instant, a piercing shriek rang out where the knife struck its brow.

Ning Xuan's pupils contracted.

His flying knife hadn't pierced the White Bear Demon's head. It had been stopped.

The White Bear Demon narrowed its eyes. Two scales suddenly appeared between them, clamping down on the flying knife.

Just by narrowing its eyes, it had blocked Ning Xuan's full-strength strike at close range!

Then the White Bear Demon raised a paw and grabbed the knife.

A layer of scales covered its paw, too.

Holding the treasured flying knife, it squeezed and rubbed it with all its strength. A grating screech, enough to set one's teeth on edge, rang out.

The White Bear Demon furrowed its brow slightly, and scales appeared on its arm as well.

It rubbed the knife again.

The shrill sound of the blade scraping rapidly against metal rang out.

A few breaths later

The paw opened again, and tossed the knife aside.

Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter.

The flying knife had shattered completely, its fragments scattering across the ground.

After that, the White Bear Demon looked at Ning Xuan again. It rolled its neck and clenched its fists. The scale-like substance on its body began to appear once more, faster and faster.

Ning Xuan should have been afraid. He was afraid. But more than that, he had learned to observe in the most desperate, hopeless moments, to gather as much information as he could—and when there was nowhere left to run, to throw everything he had into facing a powerful enemy.

Now he crouched slightly, taking the starting stance of the Swallow Return Step.

The air fell utterly silent.

Under the pale sunlight, a leaf drifted lazily down from the old tree.

Thud!!

The White Bear Demon took a step forward.

The earth shook as if a giant were pounding a drum.

The White Bear Demon appeared right in front of Ning Xuan.

Ning Xuan had only just begun to lean back when the White Bear Demon was already upon him.

The Beast Slaying Saber in Ning Xuan's hand was still sheathed. His plan was to do what he'd done the first time he dealt with the Mountain Crashing Bear Demon: use the saber as a pivot and dodge the bear demon's sweeping charge along a spiral path, avoiding its strength and striking at its weakness. After evading the first charge, he would immediately counterattack with all his might.

But the White Bear Demon was already in front of him.

He didn't have time to do anything else.

Man and bear faced each other.

Ning Xuan gritted his teeth and channeled his strength through both hands, gripping the Beast Slaying Saber. Sheathed and all, it swept up from below in a rising slash as Swallow Cry rang out. Its blade-light dragged a shrill note behind it, striking the White Bear Demon's belly and tearing upward.

Screee, screee, screee, screee.

Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak.

Where the saber passed, scales appeared rapidly across the White Bear Demon's skin.

But before the blade had gone halfway, the White Bear Demon bore down on him.

Boom!

Ning Xuan felt as if his whole body had been pulverized.

Still, he had enough strength left to kill himself. He hadn't forgotten the pain of being eaten piece by piece by a bear demon.

But just then, the White Bear Demon looked at him with fury in its eyes.

"Those who do evil descend into the cauldron's boiling waters; those who do good ascend to coolness. You have lied and taken life. You deserve to die!"

With that, the White Bear Demon raised its paw and struck down.

Ning Xuan's vision went black.

[9-2]

Beneath the old tree, Ning Xuan opened his eyes.

He was rather curious.

The White Bear Demon hadn't eaten him?

Had it killed him with one blow of its paw?

"Those who do evil descend into the cauldron's boiling waters; those who do good ascend to coolness?" Ning Xuan murmured the words the bear demon had spoken before attacking, then pondered. "Does it mean that I lied to it and ambushed it, so I did evil and deserved to die?"

A new path opened up before Ning Xuan.

At such close range, he'd seen clearly: the bear demon's scales weren't actually scales at all. They were something produced when its muscle power was compressed.

His full-strength strike hadn't even managed to break through the bear demon's defenses.

In other words, even if the bear demon had stood still and let him hack away, he wouldn't have been able to harm it in the slightest.

So he thought he ought to try another path.

Daylight

slowly arrived.

An anxious buzzing voice came from far away.

"Where's my weapon? What happened to my weapon?"

The White Bear Demon looked around. When it saw Ning Xuan, it asked again, "Have you seen my weapon?"

Ning Xuan flexed his fingers. The blue flying knife slowly floated out from his arms.

"Is this it?" he asked.

The White Bear Demon shook its head.

Ning Xuan took out the Beast Slaying Saber and asked, "Then is this it?"

The White Bear Demon shook its head again.

"I'll help you look for it," Ning Xuan said.

The White Bear Demon nodded, then grinned. "You're a pretty nice fellow, you know."

"When you're away from home, everyone runs into trouble now and then. If you can help, you should," Ning Xuan replied.

Then he and the White Bear Demon began searching for the "weapon" together.

He asked the White Bear Demon what kind of weapon it was, but the demon wouldn't say. It only told him, "You'll know it when you see it."

Man and demon searched and searched.

They kept looking until more than half the day had passed.

As the sun sank again and the black moon rose, the White Bear Demon suddenly asked, "Are you hungry?"

Ning Xuan nodded.

The moment he did, pain shot through his back.

Crack.

His spine broke.

He fell backward, but was caught firmly in midair.

The White Bear Demon gently set him on the ground, then sat cross-legged beside his feet. It muttered an indistinct scripture for a while, then said solemnly, "Those who do evil descend into the cauldron's boiling waters; those who do good ascend to coolness. Since you're a good person, I'll deliver you today and let you merge with me. Then you can recite scripture with me, bathe in incense, and ascend to the Western Paradise. Amitabha."

With that, the White Bear Demon grabbed Ning Xuan's foot and began to feast.