Peril and Flight

In an instant, the air seemed to solidify, as though it had frozen into an iceberg.

Lian Youming lay on the bed, his eyes tightly shut and his breathing steady. A thick cotton quilt covered him, leaving only his head exposed.

His once somewhat boyish face had been hammered by frost and bitter winds day after day, growing increasingly resolute and rough. His reddish-brown cheeks looked coated in dust, dull and dark, and even his tightly pressed thin lips were riddled with cracks from the dry air.

His thoughts were strange just then: he feared Third Brother Xie would notice something amiss, yet he also hoped the man would.

Faced with this sort of bloody struggle in the martial world, Lian Youming felt an inexplicable impulse to experience it himself, to live through it firsthand, and even more, to cross blows with the man. Even though he had only just begun learning martial arts, even though his opponent was a martial expert who killed without blinking, the more this was so, the more Lian Youming looked forward to it.

But as an ordinary person facing mortal danger, he also felt somewhat apprehensive and resistant.

Caught in this conflicted, tangled state of mind, Lian Youming kept silently monitoring Third Brother Xie's breathing.

He discovered that the man's breaths were frighteningly long. A single inhalation and exhalation lasted as long as seven or eight breaths from an ordinary person, and they were faint, almost soundless.

Finally, several breaths later, Lian Youming heard the wooden door open and close again. Feeling the cold air squeeze into the dormitory, he silently breathed a sigh of relief, as though a great stone had been lifted from his chest.

Third Brother Xie let me off just like that?

Looks like he isn't completely deranged after all. Could trekking through the mountains together these past few days have built some affection, making him deliberately spare me?

Lian Youming thought to himself.

But when he opened his eyes again, a cold, hoarse laugh sounded beside his ear.

"Boy, you're still far too green."

Unlike his usual dull, taciturn manner, Third Brother Xie now radiated a vicious menace from within through his words and movements, though he still wore the same clothes.

The color instantly drained from Lian Youming's face. He stammered, "D-don't... don't kill me."

Third Brother Xie smiled. "Relax. I've taken a liking to you. You're sharp, boy, and full of schemes. A promising seedling. How about coming back to the White Lotus Sect with me?"

Lian Youming pulled a miserable face. "Can I not go?"

Third Brother Xie snorted coldly. "Sure. Then go keep Old Yang company on the road to the Yellow Springs... oh, and that girl, too."

Lian Youming shuddered, as though terrified beyond measure. "What's any of this got to do with me? I'm just a kid."

Third Brother Xie narrowed his eyes, mockery in his gaze. "Weren't you quite the talker before? Tomb raiders, grave robbing, hahaha."

As he walked toward the head of the heated brick bed, he gave a strange laugh. "Don't think I didn't know you were fishing for information. Trying to play games with me? Your grandfather was still wearing split-crotch pants when I first roamed the martial world. If you know what's good for you, come down the mountain with me quietly. Otherwise, I'll cut out that bullshit-spouting tongue of yours first."

As he spoke, Third Brother Xie reached out with his right hand to seize Lian Youming's ankle.

But Lian Youming suddenly sat up. "No, no, no, I'll go..."

Third Brother Xie narrowed his eyes and smiled, about to speak, but his pupils abruptly contracted and his expression shifted slightly.

Lian Youming's gaze turned savage in an instant as he spat out the rest of his words. "I'll go... fuck your mother!!!"

As the words left his mouth, a gunshot suddenly erupted beneath the quilt.

Bang!

Clumps of cotton stuffing flew up with the shot, revealing a Hanyang Arsenal Rifle held in Lian Youming's hands, hidden beneath the bedding.

Unfortunately, the shot only left a bullet hole in the wall. Third Brother Xie sprang sideways, swift as a rabbit breaking loose, a clearly visible bloody furrow now marking his gaunt, sallow cheek.

Lian Youming reacted quickly too. Seeing that his shot had failed, he flipped the quilt over his opponent with one hand. Taking advantage of the cotton stuffing filling the air and obscuring sight, he dove out the door and into the wind and snow.

Almost immediately afterward, a withered, skinny figure covered in cotton stuffing rushed out.

The cold wind struck Third Brother Xie's face, tossing his gray hair, his old eyes brimming with murderous intent like a hawk's.

Rather than flee toward the Mountain-Guarding Old Man, Lian Youming actually headed down the mountain, scrambling and tumbling into a snow-white gully.

Third Brother Xie meant to pursue him, but glanced toward the dining hall and withdrew the right foot he had already stepped halfway forward.

I can't afford to divide my attention in this fight. I must finish off that old ghost...

Before he could fully settle on that thought, however, Third Brother Xie suddenly frowned. The boy fleeing downhill had actually drawn and held a breath, his heavy footsteps becoming noticeably lighter.

Then, hearing several toad croaks drift through the wind, the old man's face instantly darkened like water.

"Toad-Catching Force!"

Just then, Lian Youming's strained, bizarre shout also came through the howling wind.

"Third Brother Xie, fuck eight generations of your ancestors!"

"Kill!"

Without another word, Third Brother Xie lunged forward, let out a piercing howl, and hurled himself after the boy's retreating figure.

For an ordinary person, descending the mountain now would have been no different from seeking death. But Lian Youming had actually learned "Toad-Catching Force." Even as a beginner, he could still introduce unforeseen complications.

Once their identities leaked, they would face unimaginable mortal danger.

Leaving aside their grudges in the martial world, they would probably face pursuit and encirclement by dozens, even a hundred machine guns before they could leave Tahe. Then there truly would be no road to heaven and no gate into the earth.

Besides, they had lain low for so many years and were now on the verge of success. Having piled a mountain nine fathoms high, how could they let it all fail for want of the final basket of earth?

"You little brat, that rifle of yours only had one spare round. What else have you got to rely on? Submit to your death!"

Lian Youming's pace was not fast, but it was steady. During this time, he had learned almost all the terrain around the logging camp. Though heavy snow had sealed the mountain, his half-baked "Toad-Catching Force" now allowed him to fend off a little of the cold and made his running considerably lighter.

But when he glanced back at Third Brother Xie, he was badly startled.

The old man's legs drove hard like springs, bending and straightening, carrying him three or four meters with each stride. His feet never touched the snow; instead, he pushed off rocks and trees, nimble as a monkey.

The twenty or thirty meters originally separating them had shrunk to four or five in the blink of an eye.

That's way too fast.

As the man drew ever closer, Lian Youming grew anxious and hurriedly said, "Say, what exactly are you two old men guarding this lousy place for?"

Third Brother Xie did not answer. His face was livid, his eyes naked with murderous intent. He had clearly resolved to kill him.

But as the distance kept closing, Lian Youming suddenly twisted his upper body around and fired stones from the slingshot in his hands straight at the old man's eyes.

Third Brother Xie's face twitched, his eyes blazing. He snatched through the air with his large hand, catching both stones, then clenched and ground his fingers together. Two streams of stone powder immediately drifted from between his fingers and scattered in the wind.

Witnessing this, Lian Youming nearly dropped his jaw in shock.

Third Brother Xie's face was frosty as he barked, "You could talk the heavens apart today, and you still wouldn't escape death!"

But as he pursued, he saw Lian Youming suddenly slow his flight and reach into his clothes, as though concealing something there.

Deeply calculating, Third Brother Xie instinctively checked his own pace and planted his feet. Yet the moment he stepped onto the snow, a noose sprang up from the ground with a whoosh and cinched tightly around his ankle.

There was actually a trap.

The other end of the noose was tied to the tip of a bent tree. Once the trap triggered, the treetop instantly sprang back like a bent bow released, pulling the rope taut to hoist Third Brother Xie into the air.

But Third Brother Xie merely sneered. He sank his breath, drew in air, and planted both feet, rooting himself firmly to the ground. Though the rope stretched arrow-straight, he never moved an inch.

"You brat..."

Third Brother Xie was about to speak, but halfway through, he saw two pellets shooting straight toward him and immediately raised his hand to catch them. Yet the moment they touched his palm, before his fingers could close, the pellets split apart with a puff. Two clouds of lime powder scattered on the wind, heading squarely for his eyes.

"Wah!"

Third Brother Xie's eyes flew wide. Without dodging, he puffed his cheeks, mustered a full breath, and blew the two clouds of lime powder away with a roaring blast.

Then he stamped his foot, snapping the noose around his ankle with the force.

Watching Lian Youming's retreating figure disappear into the wind and snow, Third Brother Xie remained expressionless, but blew a sharp whistle.

"Wheeet!!!"

At the whistle, a swift yellow blur burst from the woods, bringing gusts of rank wind.

Lian Youming glanced back again, and his heart immediately lurched.

The yellow blur landed, revealing an enormous wildcat with fearsome claws and eyes full of savage light.

Lian Youming ran even faster.

"Third Brother Xie, you're calling for help against a kid? You really have no shame!"

(End of chapter)