5: Chapter 5 The Knife Behind the Screen, Fire in a Desperate Situation

Black Fiend's voice was like a viper's tongue, slithering into his ears.

Behind the screen, Lin Ye pressed his back against the wall, his blood running cold, his palms slick with cold sweat.

He clutched the blood curse secret letter tightly in one hand, while his other hand felt for a hard object hidden inside his robe—a rusty but exceptionally sharp short blade he had secretly stashed away while pruning spiritual branches earlier that day.

At this moment, a colder, more ruthless resolve surged from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

The drive from his past life, when he was pushed to the brink and forced to pull all-nighters revising drafts, merged with the humiliation of being trampled underfoot in the Miscellaneous Chores Courtyard in this life, igniting into a fire.

Coming out meant death, and cowering meant death too.

Then he might as well take a gamble!

He took a sharp breath, not to respond to Black Fiend, but to use all his remaining strength to shout three words in the direction of the inner chamber's couch, his voice hoarse: "Senior Brother Zhao! Chen Mo—!"

He poured all his strength into these three words, his voice nearly cracking.

Outside the screen, Black Fiend's pupils suddenly constricted! Chen Mo? His backer! How did this kid know?!

It was just a moment of Divided Soul.

"Now!" Lin Ye roared, not at Black Fiend, but at the Sword Attendant who was equally stunned, "Restriction! Close the door!"

The Sword Attendant shuddered, almost instinctively forming hand seals and pressing hard against the lingering spiritual light of the Restriction at the doorway!

Hum—

The previously wide-open Restriction light barrier instantly closed. Although it was thin and unstable, it successfully sealed Black Fiend and Fatty Wang inside the room for the moment!

"You little brat, you're courting death!" Black Fiend was shocked and furious, waving his hand to unleash an even thicker stream of black Qi, striking directly at the Sword Attendant.

The Sword Attendant had low cultivation and closed his eyes in fear.

But Lin Ye moved! He rolled out from behind the screen, with no Magical Artifact in hand, only that rusty short blade.

He didn't try to block the black Qi—that would be pure suicide—instead, he threw the short blade with all his might toward an inconspicuous white jade incense burner in the corner of the room, which had a few sticks of leftover incense in it!

That was what he had caught a glimpse of when he first hid inside. The incense burner was archaic in style, its body carved with Cold Bamboo patterns, which felt out of place in this "Cold Bamboo Pavilion," and looked more like... the core hub of some kind of Formation?

He'd gamble on it!

The short blade spun, and with a crisp "clang," it struck the incense burner hard.

The incense burner didn't break, but its body shuddered violently! From inside came a soft "click" of a mechanism.

Boom!!!

With the incense burner as the center, dense blue patterns suddenly lit up on the ground!

Countless ice-blue rays of light, as thin as hair, shot out from the floor, walls, and ceiling, instantly weaving into a huge, chaotic web of light that enveloped the entire inner chamber!

This wasn't an offensive Formation, but... a Restriction of turbulent currents!

"What the hell is this?!" The black Qi Black Fiend had aimed at the Sword Attendant was deflected by several intersecting rays of light, slamming into the wall and blasting out a crater.

He himself was grazed by a few beams, his protective spiritual light flickering violently, and he let out a muffled grunt.

Fatty Wang fared worse; a ray of light swept across his thigh, immediately slicing a wound deep enough to reveal the bone, and he began to howl like a slaughtered pig.

The rays of light cut vertically and horizontally without any pattern, moving at extreme speed. Although a single ray wasn't powerful enough to instantly kill someone at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, their sheer quantity and density, combined with their bone-chilling cold, greatly restricted their movement space.

Lin Ye had gambled correctly! This incense burner was indeed the core of the Immortal Cave's self-defense Restriction left behind by Zhao Hansong just in case. It was usually dormant, but once triggered violently, it would indiscriminately attack all intruders who did not possess the owner's aura!

"You little bastard! What have you done?!" Black Fiend was both shocked and furious. He brandished a black short blade, desperately parrying the incoming rays of light, trying to close in on Lin Ye. But the rays were too dense, and he found it difficult to take a single step.

Lin Ye himself wasn't faring well either. His cultivation was the lowest, so he relied entirely on the reflexes honed in his past life and the agility he developed dodging whips while working as a menial laborer in this life. He rolled and dodged wretchedly through the gaps in the light, his clothes torn in several places, blood seeping out.

But his eyes were frighteningly bright. An opportunity!

"Sword Attendant! Go to your master's side and protect him!" Lin Ye roared, while simultaneously lunging in the other direction—near the door that had been blasted down by Black Fiend earlier, the floor had been shattered, revealing a deep, dark gap that led to who knew where!

That was his only path to survival! The Restriction's attack range seemed to be concentrated mainly in the inner chamber, and the light was sparse on the side of the crack!

The Sword Attendant scrambled and crawled to the couch, using his body to shield the unconscious Zhao Hansong, waving his long sword wildly, and surprisingly managed to deflect a few rays of light shooting toward the bed.

Black Fiend saw through Lin Ye's intention. With a ruthless look in his eyes, he ignored several beams of light piercing his shoulder blades and, with a grim laugh, violently threw the black short blade in his hand!

The short blade transformed into a streak of black light, tearing through the air and piercing straight toward Lin Ye's back! This was a rage-filled strike from a Level 6 Qi Refining cultivator, fast as lightning!

Lin Ye had no time to dodge! The shadow of death instantly enveloped him.

Just at this critical moment.

On the couch, Zhao Hansong, who had been unconscious all along, suddenly opened his eyes!

Those eyes lacked focus, yet they burned with a cold, almost insane fire. A rattling sound came from his throat, and the hand that had been tightly clutching the ice scale had, at some point, grasped the empty sword box by the pillow.

"Chen... Mo..."

The hoarse, broken syllables were spat out.

The empty sword box suddenly erupted with blinding ice-blue radiance! A vast, cold Sword Intent soared into the sky, not as an attack, but as... a pull!

All the chaotic, cutting ice-blue rays of light in the room seemed to be summoned; they instantly changed direction, converging into an immensely thick stream of azure light that roared as it collided with the black short blade!

Rumble—!!!

A piercing sound of metal clashing exploded. The black short blade was struck by the stream of light, let out a mournful whine, developed cracks on its body, and flew off at an angle, embedding itself deep into the wall.

Black Fiend suffered a backlash, spewing a mouthful of black blood with a "wah," his face filled with horror: "Sword... Sword Box Soul Remnant?!"

Zhao Hansong, who had unleashed this strike, saw the light in his eyes completely extinguish. His head tilted to the side, and his aura completely faded into deathly silence. The ice-blue sword box also gave a "crack" and shattered into pieces.

"Master!!" The Sword Attendant let out a heart-wrenching cry.

The Restriction rays, having been largely consumed by that strike, became sparse and dim.

Black Fiend was heavily injured, and Fatty Wang was scared out of his wits.

Lin Ye was only three steps away from that floor crack!

He turned back, took one last look at the lifeless Zhao Hansong on the couch, at the grief-stricken Sword Attendant, and at the shattered sword box. Then, without hesitation, he leaped into the dark gap!

Below was not solid ground, but a steep, damp, moss-covered slide!

A sense of weightlessness washed over him. Lin Ye's body slid rapidly downward uncontrollably. In the darkness, he could only hear his own heavy breathing and the rustling sound of his clothes rubbing against the stone walls.

He slid for who knows how long—perhaps a dozen breaths, perhaps longer.

Splash!

He fell heavily into a pool of cold, shallow water, choking on a few mouthfuls. He struggled to climb up, wiped the water from his face, and saw a dim underground space before him, where he could vaguely make out the faint sound of flowing water and a glimmer of light ahead.

Was it an underground river leading outside the mountain?

Before he could even catch his breath, from high above at the entrance of the slide, came Black Fiend's roar, filled with extreme malice, accompanied by the sound of something heavy sliding down:

"You little bastard... you can't run! I'm going to extract your soul and refine your spirit!!"

That madman had actually followed him!