Suicide

Jiang Zhiwei and Qi Xia's cries were still echoing when a figure suddenly scurried in from the stone wall above. Dressed in black, white hair hanging loose, he looked like a Fierce Ghost. His hands and feet gripped the cracks in the stone, nimble as an ape, and in two or three moves he reached directly above Qi Xia's head, striking down through the air in the posture of an eagle pouncing on a hare.

The direction from which this man entered was exactly opposite to the direction from which the head had flown in!

Qi Xia had undergone plenty of "practical training" in ambushes and assassinations within the Great River Gang, so she possessed a basic wariness toward such situations. She understood that if something unknown was thrown in, first, she had to hold her breath against poison; second, she had to keep her eyes in every direction and her ears tuned to every sound, guarding against a feint in the east and an attack in the west.

Therefore, although Qing Jing's death had shocked her for a moment, making her scream and miss the best moment to defend herself, she swiftly came back to her senses. She pushed off with her feet, her body swaying aside to evade the vital point atop her head.

Sizzle! A hand clad in an Iron Glove plunged deeply into her left shoulder. Then, before the Water Dividing Thorn shimmering with blue light could reach him, the White-Haired Fierce Ghost executed a kite flip, sending up a great spray of blood before landing on the other side.

As Qi Xia exchanged blows with the White-Haired Fierce Ghost, Jiang Zhiwei reacted as well and called softly, "Two steps left."

Meng Qi immediately took two steps to the left, then saw sword light spill like water toward the White-Haired Fierce Ghost.

In the blink of an eye, a gray shadow rushed in from the direction the head had flown from. The long saber in his hand reflected the wall torches, flowing with a dim, dusky gleam, its target pointed straight at the mobility-impaired Jiang Zhiwei.

It was a double feint in the east, strike in the west!

The saber descended, slashing toward Jiang Zhiwei's left shoulder—and Meng Qi's head.

The sword light "spilled" toward the White-Haired Fierce Ghost suddenly vanished. At some unknown moment, Jiang Zhiwei's longsword had already reversed direction. Without even looking back, she thrust diagonally upward behind herself, while that gray shadow seemed to be voluntarily throwing his body onto the sword tip.

She had actually been luring the enemy!

The gray shadow forcibly twisted halfway around and extended his left palm to block the sword tip.

With a puff, the longsword pierced through his palm, but he used the force of the blow to spring to the left, avoiding the sword.

"Two steps back," Jiang Zhiwei said into Meng Qi's ear. Though she spoke quickly, every word was clear as large and small pearls falling upon a jade platter.

Faced with combat at this level, Meng Qi's pitifully scant experience was utterly useless. He could only keep telling himself to trust the expert—trust Jiang Zhiwei.

After leaping back two steps, Meng Qi thankfully did not lose his balance due to his practice of Arhat Fist. After the Gray-Clothed Man landed, Jiang Zhiwei, now farther away, blocked the saber he swept horizontally at her. Saber and sword collided with a crisp clang.

By then, Ge Chongshan and the others, who had been scouting and searching nearby, had heard the commotion and hurried back.

Seeing this, the White-Haired Fierce Ghost and the Gray-Clothed Man suddenly intensified their assault. Though Jiang Zhiwei had Meng Qi carrying her, Meng Qi himself had only just completed Hundred Days Foundation Establishment and had never learned any Leaping Technique, making his footwork relatively slow. Coupled with the limits of verbal directions, which could not achieve complex coordination, Jiang Zhiwei could only focus on defense. Apart from necessary steps, she greatly reduced her movements. For a time, she and Qi Xia, whose left shoulder had suffered a severe wound, were both pressed into guarding their positions.

As Meng Qi moved according to Jiang Zhiwei's instructions, he felt the fierce momentum of the saber and grew cold inside, slightly afraid. He unconsciously thought, Compared to this Gray-Clothed Man's saber technique, my fight with Cheng Yong just now was like children brawling!

After a wave of ferocious attacks, the White-Haired Fierce Ghost and the Gray-Clothed Man abruptly leaped backward, withdrawing from the range of battle. Before Ge Chongshan and the others could arrive, they dashed wildly toward a temporarily empty passageway.

They were using offense to buy themselves a chance to escape!

Qi Xia and Jiang Zhiwei were being suppressed and defending with all their strength. They could not give chase in that brief instant and could only watch helplessly as the two figures darted toward the doorway.

Suddenly, a longsword thrust in from outside the passageway, agile as a snake, forcing the White-Haired Fierce Ghost and the Gray-Clothed Man to retreat and avoid its edge.

"Senior Brother Zhang!" Qi Xia saw that the swordsman was Zhang Yuanshan, his face filled with grief.

Without a moment's thought, Jiang Zhiwei said, "Forward five."

Meng Qi strode forward, cutting off the White-Haired Fierce Ghost and the Gray-Clothed Man's retreat. Jiang Zhiwei spread her longsword, enveloping the Gray-Clothed Man within her sword light.

Zhang Yuanshan did not lose his reason to grief and indignation. His longsword traced one circle after another, tightly binding the White-Haired Fierce Ghost. At times, his sword flashed like a nimble serpent, leaving the White-Haired Fierce Ghost flustered and unable to break free.

The Water Dividing Thorn, flowing with blue light, appeared as Qi Xia rushed over to aid Jiang Zhiwei, leaving the Gray-Clothed Man no chance to escape either.

"Brother Ma! Brother Tan!" Ge Chongshan entered the stone room and recognized the White-Haired Fierce Ghost and the Gray-Clothed Man at once. They were none other than the two Great Heroes previously trapped here: Ma Lianghan and Tan Wenbo.

Their faces bore a bluish cast, and green light gleamed in their eyes. Without speaking, they strained to find openings in Jiang Zhiwei, Zhang Yuanshan, and the others' defenses, attempting to flee.

"Alas." Ge Chongshan let out a long sigh and led the other experts into the battle.

Thus, the fight gradually became one-sided. Before ten breaths had passed, Tan Wenbo, in the guise of the White-Haired Fierce Ghost, was pierced through by several longswords and died on the spot. After Ma Lianghan was wounded by saber and sword, he suffered another strike from Ge Chongshan's Iron Fan, temporarily losing his ability to fight. Ge Chongshan then tapped several of his major acupoints and subdued him.

"These two are?" Ge Chongshan looked toward Zhang Yuanshan and Qi Zhengyan, who had joined the fight later.

Jiang Zhiwei sighed. "Both are junior fellow disciples of mine. So is the one on the ground."

Since she had already mentioned Su Wuming, there was no need to drag in anyone else's master and make Ge Chongshan suspicious. It was normal for others not to have heard of a reclusive expert; coincidences happened. But if no one had heard of several of them, that would be rather strange.

"Senior Brother Zhang, you..." Qi Xia's former and current forms of address dispelled Ge Chongshan's suspicion, which had arisen from the difference in their sword arts. Perhaps that Senior Su Wuming was an unparalleled Sword God, versed in many sword techniques and martial arts, teaching his disciples according to their talents.

With grief on his face, Zhang Yuanshan said, "Junior Brother Qing Jing, Junior Brother Zhengyan, and I were the first to rescue Great Hero Tan Wenbo. Everything was normal then. We immediately went to rescue Great Hero Ma Lianghan, but just as we opened the final stone door, Great Hero Tan Wenbo behind us suddenly ambushed us and murdered Junior Brother Qing Jing. Meanwhile, Great Hero Ma Lianghan rushed out from ahead and held me down, leaving me unable to turn back and help."

"Junior Brother Qing Jing launched a final counterattack before dying and wounded Great Hero Tan Wenbo as well. Together with Junior Brother Zhengyan fighting for his life, we managed to drive them back and pursue them. But who would have thought—who would have thought—they led us in circles, then looped back to the original Stone Chamber and cut off Junior Brother Qing Jing's head!"

Though he still called them Great Heroes, his tone was filled with immense grief and fury.

Meng Qi did not gloat over Qing Jing's death merely because Qing Jing had once tripped him to test Jiang Zhiwei's swordsmanship and had repeatedly targeted him. Instead, a sense of sorrow rose in him—the rabbit dead, the fox grieving. Qing Jing was dead. Who would be next? Him?

After seeing Zhang Yuanshan, who had always been as graceful as a jade tree in the wind, calm and steady, rarely display such unease, agitation, and sorrow, that feeling reached its peak. Before they had even met the Hidden Emperor Fortress Lord, two companions had already died. How brutal would the final battle be?

Ge Chongshan and the others listened quietly to Zhang Yuanshan's account. They too thought of their friends who had died at Ding Changsheng's hands, and identical grief appeared on every face.

"Young Friend Zhang, do not grieve too deeply. Young Friend Qing Jing died for the righteous path of the martial world. We shall remember him, and beneath this bright heaven and clear earth, justice will surely be served! Please gather your spirits, young friends, and proceed with us to the Central Hall to join your master and the others," Ge Chongshan said, his voice touched with sympathy.

"Mm. Time waits for no one. Seniors, let us depart at once." Zhang Yuanshan reined in his grief and became steady and resolute once more, as though he had matured considerably in a short time.

Ge Chongshan nodded. "Good. Brother Zhang, Brother Zhao, please remain here and keep watch over Brother Ma until we return with the antidote."

At a time like this, they could not bring Ma Lianghan along. If someone undid his acupoints later, they would gain another powerful enemy for no reason.

"Brother Ge, that great demon is plotting evil in the Central Hall. We can be of use as well; we absolutely cannot let down our guard now!" the expert surnamed Zhao said anxiously.

Ge Chongshan sighed. "I know, I know. One more hand means one more hope of success. But we cannot simply leave Brother Ma here, can we? Perhaps a Black Clothed Man will come rescue him."

After Ma Lianghan was injured, much of the bluish cast on his face faded. The drug's effects seemed to have eased somewhat, and he cried out in agony, "Chongshan, kill me! Kill me!"

Ge Chongshan had merely sealed his acupoints to restrain his Internal Energy; he had not rendered him unable to move or speak.

"He seems even less able to control himself than Great Hero Cheng Yong..." Jiang Zhiwei lay on Meng Qi's back and spoke softly to him.

"Perhaps the longer it goes on, the harder it is to resist the drug's effects," Meng Qi guessed.

Ge Chongshan's right hand, gripping the Iron Fan, trembled faintly. "How could I do that? How could I do that?"

If he killed him in battle, he would only feel guilty, not conflicted. But having already subdued him, to personally kill a close friend—this was torment of the soul.

Ma Lianghan drew a breath and struggled to say, "I—I can't go on! After eating that ghostly thing, I—I'm worse than dead! Chongshan, kill me! This is saving me!"

Suddenly, he seemed to gather a bit of strength. He sprang up violently and drove his throat into the longsword of a nearby expert.

Caught off guard, that expert thought he was being ambushed. Rather than withdrawing his longsword, he thrust it forward, piercing Ma Lianghan's throat.

Ma Lianghan slowly fell, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"Brother Ma!" Ge Chongshan cried out in shocked grief.

At that moment, Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei saw the firelight and shadows upon the opposite stone wall move like specters and ghosts, forming three rows of words.

Jiang Zhiwei, Zhang Yuanshan, Qi Xia, Qi Zhengyan, and Zhending rescued Tan Wenbo from the Sea of Suffering of Heart-Seizing Pill control, completing one side mission. Each is awarded ten Merit Points.

Jiang Zhiwei, Zhang Yuanshan, Qi Xia, Qi Zhengyan, and Zhending rescued Ma Lianghan from the Sea of Suffering of Heart-Seizing Pill control, completing one side mission. Each is awarded ten Merit Points.

All side missions completed.

Meng Qi and the others fell silent. Their moods did not improve in the slightest, even if Ma Lianghan's death had also been counted under their names.