Death Sutra Chapter 158 - Splitting the Ground

Chapter 158: Splitting the Ground

Translator: Transn Editor: Transn

After more than two years as a professional killer, Gu Shenwei had developed a highly mistrusting heart. In particular, he did not believe that good things would be delivered on a golden plate, and thus did not think much of the slip of paper.

"This is a trap."

"Why don't we have a look? How if soone really wants to divulge the secret?"

"If so, he'll co to us."

Gu Shenwei recalled the ti when he accepted an invitation to a prostitute's house, only to discover a corpse when he got there.

"We'll just have a peek without showing our faces, and then act according to circumstances."

Shangguan Ru, who loved risky adventures, was intrigued by the mysterious slip of paper, and Gu Shenwei was forced to relent. Fortunately, Blacksmith Village was part of Kun Society's territory, and hence there were macheten stationed there who could offer assistance in case of an ergency.

Riceflour Alley was not far from Blacksmith Village, but between them was a desolate abandoned village which had beco the ho of many otherwise holess people and stray cats and dogs. Gu Shenwei maintained his vigilance while passing through it, and indeed, the trap which he had thought would be set within Blacksmith Village would actually take place here in the form of a surprise attack that ca from above a courtyard wall.

The wall was quite high, and his first impression told him that it belonged to the house of a rich and influential family.

The assailants fired three arrows at them, two of which were aid at Gu Shenwei and one at Shangguan Ru.

The latter two drew their sabers at the sa ti and deflected the arrows. Gu Shenwei predicted, from experience, that the enemies would shoot two or three rounds of arrows, but he was wrong this ti. The assailants on top of the wall shot only one round of arrows before leaping off the wall on the side away from the duo.

"Hold it there!", Shangguan Ru shouted and leaped off the ground. Her toes only needed to touch the wall once before she was already on top of the wall. Her Lightness Skill, which had all along been great, was even more outstanding at this ti.

"Don't give chase!" Gu Shenwei could not hold her back in ti nor dissuade her. He calculated that he would not be able to jump high enough to get on the wall, and thus could only run forward as fast as he possibly could in hopes that there would be a lower wall for him to jump across.

He found a break in the wall a few dozen steps ahead. Crossing through the break, he found nothing.

There was virtually nothing - no Shangguan Ru, no assailants, no trees, and no buildings.

The place, covered in a thick layer of snow, was apparently a garden which was abandoned during winter. A few dilapidated huts could be seen in the distance, and there was no sign of human life at all.

He wondered if Shangguan Ru had leaped on to the wall again and exited the place, but imdiately disproved this idea. Although the sky was dark, it was not yet completely black, and he had not run very far. If Shangguan Ru had changed her route, she would have called out and inford him.

The garden appeared to be rather well-frequented, judging from the footprints of differing depths that were nearly everywhere. He found, at the foot of the wall, two shallow footprints which appeared to be left behind by Shangguan Ru. She, or the rightful owner of these footprints, subsequently leaped forward and landed in another person's footprints, and thus could not be tracked any further.

There were, in actual fact, no swordsn nor traps in Blacksmith Village. This place was where the enemy had set up a nice trap.

Gu Shenwei was getting tricked by a simple gimmick. "If it wasn't for Tenth Young Master…", he began to think sowhat involuntarily, "No matter how strong Shang Guanru's kung fu or how forthright her personality is, she has experienced too few things and thus lacks a killer's instincts."

If the ambushers were from Horned Dragon Society, they would not dare to kill Shangguan Ru. But he would not be able to bear the responsibility if she was even slightly injured or went missing for one or two days.

Relying on the last ray of sunlight, he searched the snow carefully until he was brought into a jumbled maze by the ss of footprints and was forced to give up.

"She couldn't have disappeared into thin air," Gu Shenwei thought. "Either she has been abducted by a few quick hands… or she's hiding underground."

He began to stomp in circles around the spot where Shangguan Ru had left footprints to test if it was hollow beneath. However, the garden was simply too big. The sun had set, and his legs had turned numb. Though he was able to detect a small hollow space, he did not find any clues.

He ran into the small huts in the garden but found nothing except spider webs and cotton fragnts, proof that nobody had lived there for a long ti.

He thought about enlisting the help of a few macheten to investigate, but was afraid that if he left for a while and ca back, Shangguan Ru would have been brought far away by then.

There were infinite possibilities. Gu Shenwei could only wait while stomping aimlessly on the ground. What frightened him most was if Shangguan Ru was not actually underground or in so secret underground tunnel; perhaps she had already been brought out of the garden, and what he was currently doing was not only foolish but wasting precious ti which he could use to command his subordinates to seek out information in South City.

The sky beca ever blacker. Shangguan Ru had already been missing for two hours. Gu Shenwei jumped up and down like a madman before he finally stopped. Kneeling on one leg, he sheathed his dagger and pulled out his sword. He then closed his eyes to allow himself to enter combat mode.

He was trying to seek out whether there was "living energy" nearby.

Death Scripture was a type of kung fu which could not be practiced. Gu Shenwei had to imagine that there were enemies in front of him for it to work.

"There's a super-powerful enemy standing tall right in front of . It casts a long shadow and is holding a sword…"

After half an hour, Gu Shenwei could finally detect a vague bundle of scents. The scents were as weak as the twilight musk, probably because they had crossed through a thick barrier. They were transient and unclear in shape, and were coalesced into a ball such that they were impossible to differentiate.

Gu Shenwei was about to take an uncalculated risk, but having already entered a state of killing in which there was neither thought nor rcy, he had no secondary consideration. He caught hold of one of the scents and discovered its weak points. Subsequently, he focused his mind and energy entirely upon his sword, such that he did not even notice the barrier in between him and the source of the scent.

He thrust his sword forward to hit his target without any apprehension or hesitation.

Anyone watching from the side would have been astonished. The youth suddenly sprang high into the air, flipped his body upside down, then sank his sword with one hand into the snow. He was like a puppet tethered to his sword - as if the sword was initiating the movents while he had no choice but to follow.

Stab the target.

"Soone's attacking ." He jabbed his sword twice more without thinking and ended the battle. He then raised his head and peered out in bewildernt at the night sky.

He had, to his own surprise, punctured a half foot wide round hole in the snow several ters away from the spot where he knelt, and entered an underground cave. The ceiling of the cave was nearly a foot thick, and its floor was piled with a similar density of snow. Though he had mastered the sped-up Yin and Yang Strength, it was still impossible to perforate a hole like this under normal circumstances.

He used to think that the weakness of Death Scripture 's sword technique was that it could not pierce through neck armor. He only now realized that this was a completely unnecessary concern. The sword technique itself was all-powerful; the condition was that one had to have full faith in the sword one wielded and entrust oneself wholeheartedly to it. This was called the state of "self-deconstruction".

If Maid Lotus was by his side, he would have imdiately and excitedly explained to her that his interpretation of the scripture was the correct one.

Next to him lay three corpses which were carrying knives. Their necks had been slit by a sword and their eyes were wide open. Evidently, they had died unappeasedly. They were constantly guarding in the direction of the tunnel, and did not expect to be attacked from overhead. Nor was there any form of warning, and so they were killed in a single strike.

Beside the corpses, Shangguan Ru sat against the wall. She was in a comatose state with her head tilted to one side.

They were in a crypt that was several square ters big. Its height was slightly taller than an average adult male, while there was a narrow horizontal tunnel barely wide enough for one person. Shangguan Ru had fallen into a trap on the other side of the tunnel and was dragged over by the ambushers, thereby explaining the dirt all over her body.

Gu Shenwei did not understand how he was able to pass through the hole and land standing up. It now seed to him like sothing beyond comprehension. Not only was the hole too small for him to pass through, but the cave itself seed a little too short.

"This sword technique has a certain evil about it," Gu Shenwei thought from the perspective of a normal human. But he had no misgivings that he would be most willing should Death Scripture really want to transform him into a living dead or an evil demon.

He kept his sword and took out his dagger to deform the sword wounds on the corpses. He then did what he could to enlarge the hole in the ceiling. However, because the frozen soil was extrely rigid, he was only able to enlarge the hole by a few inches before his dagger broke.

He raised his head to take a look outside before he lifted Shangguan Ru and carefully pushed her up on to the ground above, making sure he did not hit her head on to anything during the process. When he was done, he climbed out through the hole himself.

Although she remained unconscious, her breathing was stable, and there was not much of an issue.

Back above ground, Gu Shenwei followed in the direction of the underground tunnel and searched carefully. Eventually, he found a chanism several ters ahead. It was a movable wooden door which was frozen in thick ice on both sides. It was concealed by snow and was parallel to the ground, and was thus imperceptible.

The trap was probably set up belatedly and hence a further tunnel for escaping could not be dug in ti. The designers likely counted on Gu Shenwei leaving the scene to seek reinforcents, thereby allowing the ambushers to bring their hostage away.

Gu Shenwei carried Shangguan Ru and hastily left the garden. It was highly probable that enemies remained in the vicinity - this was certainly not the ti to search for them.

Halfway on the road, Shangguan Ru woke up. She had been sedated by a common knockout powder which effectiveness subsided naturally, and thus no antidote was needed. She was, however, livid to say the least; the knockout powder was one of Golden Roc Fort's Ultimate Arts, and it was accordingly an embarrassnt to fall so easily to it.

She remained laid upon Slave Huan's back, disgruntedly vowing that she would take revenge on Horned Dragon Society and ng Mingshi. She was certain that the person who set the trap was the Fifth Young Master.

It was already 9:30 p.m. by the ti they returned to the residence in the Outer Hall of South City, where Shangguan Yushi had been waiting anxiously for a long ti. The instant she saw Tenth Young Master, covered in dirt, being carried by Slave Huan, she beca overexcited and wanted to take hold of her. However, Shangguan Ru got to her feet while stretching her legs, and proclaid that she was completely alright.

The attack was discussed by the family deep into the night. Everyone eventually agreed that it was a plot by Horned Dragon Society, and thereupon the discussion turned to how and against whom the revenge should be enacted.

The stickiest problem was that ng Mingshi holed himself up in North City. If not for everyone persuading her against it, Shangguan Ru would have made up her mind to bring the flas of war there.

Gu Shenwei spoke very little so as to quietly observe who could be a hidden traitor.

The trap was a very well thought out one. Its designer seed to know that Shangguan Ru's Lightness Skill was terrific whereas Slave Huan's was rely average. Had Gu Shenwei not persisted and remained in the area, the enemies' plans would have succeeded - Kun Society's leader would have beco their hostage.

This type of information was not what just any person could divulge.

Gu Shenwei had no clue who it could be but simply trusted nobody.

In the end, the discussion produced several sches for revenge. Each of them required a lot of ti and thus had to be delegated downwards to be carried out.

Gu Shenwei secretly ordered Tuo Nengya to step up guard, while he personally kept watch outside Shangguan Ru's room. He presud that he would escort her back to North City once day broke.

However, an unexpected guest showed up past midnight.

Xu Xiaoyi ca running while gasping his breath. He banged as loudly as he could on the door, not only alerting Brother Huan but also waking Tenth Young Master up.

He brought a piece of news which he personally felt was very important. "Shopkeeper Mi's about to escape! I knew this fella had a problem."

A big Protector, who had only recently taken over the job, was on the run the sa night that Tenth Young Master was attacked… anyone who heard the news would have quickly put two and two together.

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