Chapter 15: Owner of The Castle
Translator: Christina Editor: Rundi
“It seems like they can’t see it?” Jiang Zhiwei whispered to Meng Qi while her left hand pointed to the masters who could also see the stone wall yet had no reaction to the mission notification.
Meng Qi nodded. Zhang Yuanshan laughed bitterly and said in a low voice, “so there’s a notification when you complete a quest…”
Presumably, when they rescued Tan We Bo, Zhang Yuanshan and the others thought that they had already accomplished a side quest. If they knew earlier that there would be a notification, Qing Jing wouldn’t have lost his life.
“If we don’t kill them, the only way for us to complete the side quests might be to find the antidote for the Mind-reaving Pill.” Meng Qi guessed.
Qi Xia sighed. “I hope there won’t be any more accident.”
She teared down a piece of her clothes and bandaged up her left shoulder with the help of Jiang Zhiwei.
Ge Chongshan and the others mourned for a while, and then quickly restrained their emotions. Following the path that they had previously explored, they rushed towards the central hall.
Except for the flaming torches, nothing else could be found in the tunnel. Ge Chongshan, Qi Zheng Yan, Qi Xia, and the others all knew Qing gong, so they made little noise when they ran. Consequently, Meng Qi’s heavy and echoing steps grabbed everyone’s attention.
“Little monk, all of them are looking at you suspiciously.” Suddenly, Jiang Zhiwei laughed and said in a low voice.
Meng Qi replied with a shrug, “I’d also be suspicious if I were them.”
How would it be possible for a “teacher” to bring a weak little monk like him, who was probably even weaker than an ordinary member at Ge Chongshan’s place, to fight with an extremely strong master like the owner of the Yin Huang Castle?
This was not a place for fun!
Except if these people were hiding something!
Facing the front, Jiang Zhiwei said, “After killing the owner of Yin Huang Castle, their next target might be us. We must be careful.”
“No worries. After we finish the mission, the ‘Owner of Samsara’ will probably teleport us right away.” Meng Qi referred to his “past experiences”.
“I hope so.” Jiang Zhiwei’s voice became much more serious. “Little monk, when we fight the owner, are you willing to trust me no matter what happens?”
Meng Qi answered with surprise, “I thought I have always trusted you! If you tell me to move left two steps, I would immediately follow that order.”
He thought Jiang Zhiwei was referring to the quality of their cooperation, and thus felt somewhat wronged. He never questioned her and always acted quickly!
Jiang Zhiwei continued in a low voice. “That’s not what I mean. I mean, if there is a cliff or a mountain of swords in front of you, and I tell you to jump towards them, will you still be willing to trust me, overcome your fear, and jump forward with all the strength you have?”
Meng Qi hesitated. If it was in the past and he was talking to his girlfriend, he would take an oath and say, “you jump, I jump”. However Jiang Zhiwei was obviously talking about the battle that they would fight very soon. It was not just an assumption and thus he could not answer irresponsibly, as an irresponsible answer could easily hinder the battle.
Jiang Zhiwei didn’t prompt for an answer and quietly waited for him.
Meng Qi’s expressions changed dramatically and many times. With a distorted face, he eventually thought about if Jiang Zhiwei failed, he would die as well. Even in the worst case, since he would be carrying Jiang Zhiwei on his back, Jiang Zhiwei wouldn’t tell him to commit suicide.
He gritted his teeth and answered, “Ms. Jiang, I trust you!”
“We are two grasshoppers tied onto the same string anyways!”
“Remember what you said.” Jiang Zhiwei said solemnly, “since you have never learned Qing Gong, your movement won’t be able to keep up with my sword. Therefore, I will mainly focus on defense. However this is not what I’m good at, so I might choose to take some risks when it is necessary.”
After this, she smiled. “You don’t need to worry too much. Maybe the owner will die for some random reasons.”
But Meng Qi couldn’t smile at all. “I hope so.”
On their way, they didn’t encounter any more enemies before they reached the central hall.
The central hall looked like that of a royal palace, and was connected to eight paths that led to other areas in the castle.
Suddenly, the gate of the hall became wide opened. Several bright yellow flowers bloomed in front of the hall. A few dozens of men in black kneeled inside the hall, and a man who wore a bright yellow imperial robe sat on the throne. The man, who was middle-aged and very thin, and had a beautiful beard, sat majestically and said in a clear and loud voice,
“I have been waiting for you since a long time ago!”
Right after he dropped these words, all the men in black suddenly stood up and turned around. All of them had distorted faces, red eyes, and swollen muscles which made their clothes extremely tight.
“Big brother!”
“Uncle!”
“Ming Kang!”
…
These calls were from the masters that came with Ge Chongshan. Clearly, some of the men in black were their old friends.
Hoy hoy… The men in black roared like beasts. Their eyes displayed no rationality whatsoever.
“Devil, what did you do to them?” One of the masters shouted with bitterness.
The owner of the castle rebuked angrily, “Do you have any regard for the superior? How dare you to roar at the sovereign!”
He gradually stood up and pointed at the men in black. “It is their will to turn into beasts and serve as my vanguards! After I wipe out all the rebels, I surely will take care of their descendants, and make sure that all of them live in prosperity and wealth!”
“Bastard!”
“You’re mad!”
Outrageous curses burst out one after another. Ge Chongshan managed to retain his calm and said, “If you hand us the Mind-reaving Pill and its antidote, we can still promise to spare your life!”
There were many punishments that could be worse than death!
“Hahahaha.” The owner used his fingers to form a finger sword and laughed loudly. “These godly pills are granted by heaven. Why would there be an antidote?”
“I am mandated by heaven to have the whole world under my will. Yet since you still choose to disobey me…you shall all die!”
“Granted by heaven…” Suddenly, an idea popped into Meng Qi’s mind.
All the men in black rushed out from the hall at once, and jumped at Ge Chongshan and the others. It could be told from their speed and moves that their Kungfu was not weak at all.
“They all possess the strength to achieve Enlightenment…” Jiang Zhiwei sighed. “If owner Ge and his friends didn’t join us, I don’t know how many of us would die before we can kill the owner of this castle.”
She still seemed to be very confident in her power.
Ge Chongshan and the others could not bear to see their old friends suffer under the influence of the Mind-reaving Pill. Thus they didn’t ask Jiang Zhiwei where her teacher was, and all dashed towards the men in black. Zhang Yuanshan joined them, too. Moving agilely and unpredictably, he magically bypassed the men in black and rushed into the grand hall!
“Zhen Wu Sect’s ‘Eight Diagram God-waking Steps’ are truly amazing.” Jiang Zhiwei complimented. “There is no poison mist here. Let’s sneak into the grand hall from the sides.”
She knew clearly that Meng Qi only knew little Kungfu, and therefore wouldn’t be able to break through the men in black. However, the men in black and the nearly a hundred masters led by Ge Chongshan were busy fighting each other. This created a chance for Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei to sneak in without being noticed.
Meng Qi also saw Qi Xia crossing through the battlefield. Knowing that she was planning on helping Zhang Yuanshan, Meng Qi didn’t say anything and ran wildly towards the edge of the square. On the other hand, Qi Zheng Yan was stopped by a man in black and couldn’t get away.
Bang!
Meng Qi had just arrived at the edge of the square when the stone gate dropped down and blocked up the path.
“None of you shall escape from me!” The hands of the owner were ghastly pale. He forcibly caught Zhang Yuanshan’s sword with his bare hands.
“There must be other paths since he is still here himself!” Ge Chongshan yelled aloud to encourage his fellow masters. He then waved his iron fan around, and after enduring two attacks, he broke through into the central hall as well.
Meng Qi dared not to waste more time and ran towards the entrance of the central hall. Under Jiang Zhiwei’s instructions, he successfully crossed through an area that was relatively less of turmoil.
Inside the hall, Ge Chongshan, Zhang Yuanshan, and Qi Xia were sieging the owner of the castle. However they could barely stood against the owner’s ferocious palm attacks. Fortunately, Zhang Yuanshan’s sword formed a Tai Ji and his defense was as steady as a great rock. If not so, Qi Xia, whose left shoulder had been severely wounded, would have been killed already.
Ge Chongshan’s Kungfu level was similar to Zhang Yuanshan’s, and much lower than the owner’s. He was frightened by the owner’s series of attacks, and lost the courage to fight back.
Although Zhang Yuanshan excelled in swordsmanship and used a variety of magical moves, yet the owner’s palms were truly fierce. Moreover, the owner was at a much higher Kungfu level than Zhang Yuanshan, and could use his strength to break through Zhang Yuanshan’s techniques. He therefore steadily prevailed the fight.
“Big brother Zhang is better at defense, and hasn’t finished learning the Zhen Wu Sword Arts. Otherwise, the owner wouldn’t be able to attack so impatiently.” As Meng Qi went closer, Jiang Zhiwei commented in a low voice. She then sent out her long sword, which caught the owner’s left palm.
Seeing this as an opportunity, Zhang Yuanshan pointed directly to the owner’s chest with his sword, which moved like a long snake coming out from a cave. This forced the owner to retrieve his palms and defend.
Since the battle started, it was the first time that the owner was forced to act so passively. Jiang Zhiwei’s sword became increasingly fast and agile, and her attacks were like a terrifying flood. With the help of Zhang Yuanshan, Ge Chongshan, and Qi Xia, she successfully suppressed the owner.
Suddenly, the owner gave a disdaining snort, and began to move.
Through the short battle that they just had, he had already detected Jiang Zhiwei’s weakness- Meng Qi’s speed.
As expected, as he continued to attack, Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei soon found themselves in a very disadvantageous position. Even though Jiang Zhiwei knew how to avoid the attacks, and Meng Qi always followed her instructions without hesitation, yet it cost some time for Jiang Zhiwei to speak, and thus they couldn’t perform anything that was relatively complicated.
As a result, Jiang Zhiwei was forced to focus on defense rather than attack, and warded off most of the owner’s attacks with the help of Zhang Yuanshan. On the other hand, Ge Chongshan and Qi Xia counter attacked the owner, and the two parties fought head to head in a deadlock.
Dang Dang Dang. The swords created crisp sounds as they hit the owner’s pale palms; it was as if they had collided with iron. Meng Qi listened to the sounds, and suddenly felt extremely agitated. His legs also became limp and sore.
“Poison!” The face of Zhang Yuanshan, who was the first one to fight the owner, had become grayish and pale. Ge Chongshan and Qi Xia also became slower.
Immediately, the owner prevailed in the battle. He laughed in triumph. “They have turned into poisonous monsters! In front of the hall there are also poisonous flowers, and the combination of the two is a perfect union made by heaven!”
“After killing you, nobody will ever resist me again in Jianghu!”
The masters who came with Ge Chongshan began to feel desperate as they watched the men in black became increasingly ferocious even if their skin was festering. They didn’t imagine that there could be such a stealthy way to install poison.
“You bastard! I will kill you even if it costs my own life!” Ge Chongshan shouted with grief and anger.
At this moment, Meng Qi, who was extremely angry and scared, suddenly heard Jiang Zhiwei say in a calm and peaceful voice,
“Jump forward.”
“Jump forward?” The owner’s iron palms were right in front of them, and could kill them right away!
But Meng Qi remembered the conversation he had earlier with Jiang Zhiwei. In his head, countless thoughts collided with one another, and within less than a second he thought of Yan Wujiang and Qing Jing’s death, and about how he would be easily killed after being taken over by the poisonous mist. He also thought back to the peaceful life he had once had, and thought about the unexplainable experiences he had in this universe…
All of these thoughts converged into a sturdy determination to give in all he had.
“Damn it, I am going for it!”
With the muscles on his face distorted, Meng Qi jumped at the owner of Yin Huang Castle with all the strength he had.
During the process, he had his eyes widely open, and glared at the owner’s palms. Even if what waiting for him was purely death, he must see with his own eyes how he would die!
Suddenly, a bright shine of a sword flashed by, and occupied Meng Qi’s entire sight. He could no longer see anything else.
“What a beautiful shine…” Meng Qi subconsciously thought.
The masters who had been fighting with the men in black abruptly felt that something subtle had changed around them. Raising their eyes, they saw a shine of a sword, which was like an agile eagle flying from outer sky that forced them to ignore everything other than the shine itself.
As the shine disappeared, Meng Qi saw a long sword stabbing directly into the owner’s forehead. The owner’s iron palms pressed on Meng Qi’s chest, yet Meng Qi didn’t feel any power at all.
Unable to stop his move, Meng Qi bumped the owner onto the floor. With Jiang Zhiwei on his back, he finally steadied himself after a few rolls.
Not until now did he realize that the owner of Yin Huang Castle was still smiling. The only thing that had changed was that his pupils contracted, and seemed as if they contained enormous panic and disbelief.
Meng Qi looked down at Jiang Zhiwei. Her right hand was trembling violently and not at all like a hand for holding a sword. Then, Meng Qi heard her breathing deeply.
“One of the nine fatal moves of Swordplay Sutra of Supremacy?”
“‘Sword from Anatta’, I can’t believe that she learned this move!”
Qi Xia and Zhang Yuanshan mumbled with extreme astonishment.