His breastbone shattered,
his neck seared against burning charcoal,
and a long saber pierced his right palm. Blood gushed out.
Meng Yue had fought many battles and suffered his share of wounds, but now pain twisted his face into a knot. He opened his mouth to unleash a heartrending scream.
Thud!
A heavy foot came down on Meng Yue's chest. With a slight push, it trapped the scream in his throat.
Meng Yue's throat bobbed. His eyes were about to roll back.
Hong Yuan eased the pressure a little and said gently, "Junior Brother, you're a tough man. A little scratch like this? Drink some hot water and you'll be fine. No need to scream and shout. Don't make me look down on you."
Meng Yue's hair tangled with the red-hot charcoal, sizzling as wisps of white smoke rose. The flesh of his neck had even begun to give off the smell of roasting meat.
His face contorted, his whole body twitching from the agony. He clenched his teeth and stared at Hong Yuan with bloodshot eyes that held fear, hatred, and pleading.
Hong Yuan met his gaze for a while. When Meng Yue could bear it no longer and tried to scream, Hong Yuan stamped down again, crushing the breath out of him.
This time, though, Hong Yuan took a saber and flicked the brazier and charcoal away. Only then did he smile at Meng Yue's face, pale as paper.
"Junior Brother, tell me: why did you want to kill me? And..." Hong Yuan's gaze swept across the room, over the ruffians who lay dead or drunk or trembling. "Who are these people?"
"They're Yan San's men from the docks. I brought them here to deal with you. As for why I wanted to kill you—shouldn't I have?" Meng Yue's voice was dry and hoarse, barely stronger than a whisper, yet still thick with hatred. "I spent two years at the Martial Arts Hall, bowing and scraping to Yang Erhu, trying every way I could to please him. He wouldn't take me as a disciple, but he took in a brat like you who came out of nowhere? Why?"
Hong Yuan studied Meng Yue's face. With the keen perception granted by Clear Eyes Through the Nether, he could pick out subtle shifts in expression even beneath the blood and the savage grimace.
Hong Yuan closed his right hand around the hilt of the long saber that had pierced Meng Yue's palm and sunk three inches into the floor. With a sudden pull, he drew the Steel Saber into his hand, raised it, and brought it down.
The next instant.
Shhk. A line of blood cut across Meng Yue's wrist. His right hand had been severed with a single stroke.
"Aah!" Meng Yue's shriek sounded like an evil ghost's. This time, Hong Yuan did not stop him. Only after the scream died away did he say calmly, "Junior Brother, you're lying. Would you like to think it over and answer again? Try to fool me once more, and you'll lose the other hand too."
Meng Yue trembled, his face wretched. "What difference does it make whether I tell you? I'm dead either way. If you're any kind of man, stop torturing me and kill me!"
"As long as you tell the truth," Hong Yuan said mildly, "I might let you live."
Meng Yue's eyes brimmed with venom. A hissing sneer escaped his throat, as if Hong Yuan's promise could fool only a ghost.
"I, Hong Yuan, am true to my word." Hong Yuan's voice was calm and firm. "Besides, even if you say nothing, there are plenty of people still alive in this room. I can learn a great deal from them. It would only take a little more time."
"You'll keep your word? If I talk, you really won't kill me?" Meng Yue rasped.
At that faint glimmer of hope, expectation returned to Meng Yue's unfocused eyes. If he could live, of course he did not want to die.
"Fine, I'll tell you! I come from the Dragon-Subduing Sect. On the Divine Firmament Young Master's orders, I entered the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall, all for the sake of... Back then, Grandmaster Dragon-Tiger..."
Hong Yuan listened in silence. At the mention of Grandmaster Dragon-Tiger, his eyes flickered.
According to Meng Yue, his sect and the Tiger-Subduing Sect had deep ties. In years past, an expert known as Dragon Tiger had roamed the martial world. High Person Dragon-Tiger had taken two disciples, one surnamed Zhang and the other Li.
Zhang and Li had each inherited half of High Person Dragon-Tiger's teachings. He had hoped they would work together to carry on his legacy and bring it to greater heights.
But after Dragon Tiger died, the two had turned against each other for reasons unknown. Each founded his own sect. The Tiger-Subduing Sect, which Hong Yuan had joined, belonged to True Person Li's line.
Meng Yue came from True Person Zhang's Dragon-Subduing Sect. On orders from the Divine Firmament Young Master, he had hidden himself in the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall to obtain the Tiger-Subduing Secret Transmission and achieve the Momentum of Dragon and Tiger.
He had wanted Hong Yuan dead simply because Hong Yuan had become Yang Erhu's personal disciple and stood in his way.
"Senior Brother Hong... We don't have to fight to the death. The Dragon-Subduing and Tiger-Subduing Sects both honor Grandmaster Dragon-Tiger. We come from the same source. The Divine Firmament Young Master of my sect is a genius favored by heaven. Why not bring the Tiger-Subduing Secret Transmission and enter his service? With his breadth of mind, he would surely put your talents to use. Wouldn't that offer a better future than being stuck in a little Martial Arts Hall?" Meng Yue struggled to get the words out.
Shhk, shhk! The saber flashed, and two fingers flew from Meng Yue's left hand.
Perhaps pain had numbed him. Meng Yue only stared blankly as his bloodied fingers rolled across the floor. His mouth opened and closed, as though he lacked even the strength to scream.
"Junior Brother, is there anything else you'd like to add? I have a feeling you're still lying to me."
"I'm not..."
"Think again!"
Meng Yue was utterly exhausted. Weakness and agony gnawed at his will, yet Hong Yuan kept forcing him to recount the story over and over.
After a while, Hong Yuan smiled. Sure enough, he had learned a few unexpected things.
For instance, he learned that Meng Yue had a contact above him in Yangquan County named Mr. Cui, whose main role was to pass on the Divine Firmament Young Master's orders.
And on the night Meng Yue went to the docks to seek out Old Third Yan, there had been another sudden incident. A formidable fighter had attacked Old Third Yan's gambling den under cover of darkness, killing or injuring some twenty people before hidden arrows finally drove him back.
"Could the one who broke into Old Third Yan's lair have been my teacher?" Hong Yuan checked the timing carefully. It matched the night Yang Erhu had gone out, returned, and been injured. Suspicion took root in his mind.
"You can let me go now, right?" Meng Yue asked weakly.
"Of course." Hong Yuan nodded.
The next instant, the long saber turned in his hand. A flash of steel tore open Meng Yue's throat. Meng Yue's eyes bulged wide, their whites threaded with blood, as he spent his last breath glaring at Hong Yuan.
"Ah." Hong Yuan sighed. He slowly wiped the blood from the blade on Meng Yue's clothes and said with perfect composure, "Junior Brother, this is what comes of having no education. The Yuan in Hong Yuan is the same yuan as in Primordial Spirit! In your next life, try to learn from your senior brother and become a well-read man of letters."
Meng Yue opened his mouth, as though he wanted to curse him, but the light had already faded from his eyes.
Hong Yuan turned and walked out of the room, thick with the stench of wine and blood. The few ruffians still alive sat half drunk and half awake, trembling. Each felt as though he had survived a catastrophe.
"We're alive?"
Wild joy spread across their faces.
Then a head suddenly poked back through the doorway, a dazzling smile on its face. "Happy? Thought you'd saved your lives?"
Before you continue