Impact

Chu Xisheng was no longer the novice who had trembled even at killing a chicken when he first came to this world.

During his three months escorting shipments with the Sitong Escort Agency, he had been through several bloody battles and taken three lives with his saber.

Yet the sight of more than seventy corpses lined up ahead, all dead in gruesome ways, still made his stomach churn with nausea.

Chu Xisheng frowned, but stepped onto the street all the same.

That was how this world was: martial cultivators ran rampant, the strong reigned supreme, and those who used force to flout the law at will were everywhere.

If he could not take the initiative to adapt to this man-eating world and grasp the strength to secure his place in it, sooner or later this world would devour him too.

Enduring the bloody stench and foul odors assailing his nostrils, Chu Xisheng looked around in search of his destination.

Before long, he spotted a sign for "Li's Herbal Medicine Shop." His eyes immediately lit up, and he headed over with Lu Luanli.

This was Chu Xisheng's first visit to Firebone Cavern.

He knew no one here, but when Ye Zhiqiu learned that he needed to prepare a secret medicine, she had recommended Li's Herbal Medicine Shop.

It was an established shop with fifty years of history and a reasonably good reputation.

Ye Zhiqiu was also a regular customer. As long as he mentioned her name, the shop would not dare cheat him.

But when Chu Xisheng asked to buy Yangyang Grass, the shopkeeper looked troubled.

"Sir, if you had come four days earlier, I would still have had Yangyang Grass for sale, but now-"

The shopkeeper gave a bitter smile. "Now the only business in the entire market selling Yangyang Grass is the Long Household's trading house, and their price is outrageous: two hundred and twenty taels of demon silver per stalk."

Chu Xisheng could not help looking stunned. "Why is it so expensive?"

He had asked about the price of Yangyang Grass. It was usually around a hundred taels.

Over the course of the Library Tower incident, Chu Xisheng had received eighty taels of demon silver from Cao Qianhu, then extorted a little more money from Lu Luanli, just enough to buy one stalk of Yangyang Grass.

Yangyang Grass only grew in the deepest reaches of Firebone Cavern, and even the most experienced herb gatherers had to rely on luck to find it.

That was far beyond Chu Xisheng's capabilities.

His plan had therefore been to buy the Yangyang Grass with silver and gather the supplementary ingredients for the secret medicine himself.

"This is the work of the Long Household's eldest young master."

With a bitter smile, the shopkeeper pointed at the wooden stakes and corpses outside. "See those? More than sixty men of the Iron Banner Gang, along with over ten herb gatherers, all died at the Long Household's hands.

"That eldest young master killed so many people to monopolize several medicinal herbs found in Firebone Cavern. Now anyone who dares sell Yangyang Grass to another medicine shop can expect the Long Household to hang them from a stake."

He sighed softly, his expression grieving and angry. "Their high selling prices would be bad enough, but the real issue is that they pay only seventy percent of the old purchasing price. I've traded medicinal herbs in Firebone Cavern for twenty years and seen several formidable figures of Xiushui Commandery's martial world, but none were as overbearing and vicious as the Long Household's eldest young master, leaving no room for anyone."

The Long Household from the inner city?

Chu Xisheng's brow furrowed deeply. What rotten luck. How have I run into the Long Household again?

Just then, he grew wary and glanced at a nearby customer wearing a short gray tunic.

Judging by his clothes, the man looked like an herb gatherer.

Yet beneath his rolled-up sleeve, Chu Xisheng spotted a wolf tattoo. There was even a "Long" character on the wolf's head.

The man appeared to be browsing the medicinal herbs, but kept stealing glances at him.

After a moment's thought, Chu Xisheng grabbed Lu Luanli's arm and headed out.

"Not enough money?" Once outside the shop, Lu Luanli folded her arms and looked at him with a smile. "How much are you short? I can lend it to you, but the interest will be five hundred copper coins a day."

I'd have to be an idiot to buy Yangyang Grass for two hundred and twenty taels, Chu Xisheng thought.

If he had that kind of money, he might as well buy the finished secret medicine from the martial academy. It would be simple and save him trouble.

He turned and gave Lu Luanli a look. "Watch our surroundings. Someone's watching us."

Lu Luanli's expression froze. She glanced around and found that several people nearby were indeed sneaking furtive looks their way.

Chu Xisheng turned into a deserted alley and, with the speed of thunder leaving no time to cover one's ears, pulled on a rainproof cloak.

When he emerged from the alley, his appearance had changed.

He blended inconspicuously into the crowd. Firebone Cavern was a jumble of fish and dragons, and the streets were full of people concealing their identities. Wearing a cloak in the sweltering heat was nothing unusual.

Lu Luanli had not brought a change of clothes, but she took out a talisman and stuck it to her clothing, turning her purple gauze dress yellow.

The two headed toward the market town's exit, but when Chu Xisheng saw the situation at the end of the street, his brow furrowed deeply.

More than ten burly men were already stationed beside the road, all carrying sabers or swords and scrutinizing the passing pedestrians with sharp eyes.

After a brief moment's thought, Chu Xisheng turned to ask Lu Luanli, "My esteemed bodyguard, you're a bona fide seventh-rank expert. Dealing with these people should be easy, shouldn't it?"

Lu Luanli stared blankly for a moment before realizing that she was the "bodyguard" Chu Xisheng meant.

"A piece of cake." She shook her head, reluctance in her eyes. "But making a move in public would expose my identity. It's not worth it."

Chu Xisheng clicked his tongue. Having this bodyguard is practically the same as having none.

He had no choice but to retrace his steps and try another route, but the other street exit was blocked as well.

Chu Xisheng made no further attempts. Instead, he headed toward the deepest part of the market town.

Along the way, he discovered three more people tailing them. Clearly, their change of appearance had stopped working, and they were being watched again.

A chill settled over Chu Xisheng's heart, while anger began to rise.

Once at the Library Tower wasn't enough, so now they're coming again? Will this inner-city Long Household only stop once they've utterly exterminated me?

Just then, Chu Xisheng's expression shifted slightly as he noticed something unusual about the illusory screen in his vision.

In his status field, "Yazi" had appeared after "Six Yin Soul-Returning Incantation."

As Chu Xisheng focused on those words, a passage of information appeared in his mind.

Even the kindness of a single meal must be repaid; even the grudge of a hostile glance must be avenged-you sensed your enemies' malice and were determined to retaliate, invoking Yazi saber intent. Your saber strikes can carry a mental impact.

A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye! The power of the mental impact depends on the number of enemies and the intensity of their malice. The more enemies there are and the greater their malice, the stronger your saber intent.

Chu Xisheng raised his eyebrows, surprise showing in his eyes.

Just then, Lu Luanli asked in some puzzlement, "Where are you going? We're almost at the cavern entrance."

At the very center of this market town lay the entrance to Firebone Cavern.

What gave her a headache was that more than twenty people had followed behind them.

Lu Luanli's expression turned miserable. Things had reached the point where she would have to act, whether she wanted to or not.

She could hardly watch the Long Household's people beat Chu Xisheng to death.

"We're going into Firebone Cavern."

Chu Xisheng spoke expressionlessly. "It's called doing the opposite. They won't let us out, so we'll go in. Once we're inside Firebone Cavern, you shouldn't have anything to worry about, right?"

Lu Luanli's eyes lit up. That really is a good idea.

The cavern was deep and dark, with poor visibility. As long as she was careful when she acted, no one would be able to tell what she had done.

Besides, Firebone Cavern had more than one entrance.

Humans and the giant gods shared a bloodline and belonged to the same kind. Humans had nine orifices, and so did the giant gods.

There were nine entrances in total. How many men would the Long Household need to block them all?

"You've got quite a clever head on your shoulders."

As she offered her praise, the two reached the enormous cavern entrance in the center of the market town.

Chu Xisheng paid particular attention to the terrain here and found that the entrance really did resemble a human mouth. Two rows of pointed stone pillars lined its top and bottom, like human teeth.

But if Firebone Cavern really had formed from the remains of a giant god, then the sheer size of its body was horrifying. It might well have been more than thirty li long, equivalent in area to a modern fourth-tier city.

-These were the ancient giant gods, the ancestors of this world's humans.

As the two headed deeper inside, Chu Xisheng saw five people wearing leather armor approaching from ahead.

Beneath their rolled-up sleeves, he saw wolf tattoos as well.

"Stop!"

Their leader was short and stocky, with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a vicious gaze. "Don't you know Firebone Cavern is exit-only these days? Where are you from? Pull back that cloak!"

Not only did Chu Xisheng leave his cloak in place, he quickened his pace.

In just two steps, he closed the distance to within six feet, and the Hundred-Forged Light Steel Saber at his waist rang free of its sheath.

"You're courting death!"

The stocky man's thick eyebrows knotted, his face twisting savagely.

He drew his saber almost simultaneously with Chu Xisheng, but surprise immediately appeared in his eyes.

Chu Xisheng's saber was far faster than he had imagined-at least faster than his own!

What shocked him even more was that as the opposing saber light slashed toward him, his mind felt as though it had been struck hard with a hammer, leaving his consciousness reeling.

The goose-feather saber in the stocky man's hand slowed a beat as a result.

The next instant, he felt pain in his throat. As blood gushed out, all the strength drained from his body.

After drawing the Hundred-Forged Light Steel Saber across the man's throat, Chu Xisheng made a clean, direct lunge forward, using his blade's superior reach to pierce another man's throat.

The stocky leader probably had ninth-rank lower cultivation, while the men behind him were much weaker, their strength only comparable to the Sitong Escort Agency's advance guards.

Chu Xisheng wielded his saber without the slightest dragging of mud or water, fierce and decisive, ruthless and merciless.

The twenty-odd Long Clan soldiers behind them were already charging over.

If he hesitated even slightly now, these men would trap him at the cavern entrance.

After killing two men in succession, he accelerated rather than slowing.

Chu Xisheng clearly saw the terror in the eyes of the three men ahead, but his face remained expressionless as his footwork carried him clear of a sword thrusting straight toward him, while his saber swept diagonally upward.

Just as he passed another man, the man gave a muffled grunt, blood spraying from his chest.

Chu Xisheng's slash had entered through his abdomen and driven straight into his heart.

After dealing with him, Chu Xisheng did not pause in the slightest, continuing his forward charge with unstoppable momentum.

The two men ahead of him, however, showed terror in their eyes and instinctively retreated two steps.

That retreat opened a path for the pair. Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanli sprinted into the depths of the cavern passage, one after the other.