13: Chapter 13 The Deadly Corridor

The lingering flames on the stone steps bowed under the roar, then snapped back violently as Sect Master Di Kun brushed past, sparks and dust lashing at his hem.

He stepped out of the tunnel entrance, meeting a foul wind reeking of tar, beast blood, and wood splinters.

The first layer of barricades before the mountain gate had been largely smashed by the Split-Back Demon Mastiff; broken wooden stakes jutted into the mud, and several low-level Yao Beast corpses had been trampled into pulp, black-red blood flowing down the crevices of the stone steps.

The Sect Protection Elder stood sideways, blocking the center of the mountain path; he had swapped his half-shovel for an old iron sword, his webbed thumb torn and wrapped in grass cloth that had already soaked through with red.

Hearing footsteps, he turned to see Sect Master Di Kun, the fire in his eyes not yet extinguished.

"Sect Master, how is the Spirit Pool?"

Sect Master Di Kun swept his gaze over the giant beast outside the mountain gate.

The Split-Back Demon Mastiff did not charge immediately. It crouched below the gravel slope, nostrils quivering, its crimson beast pupils shifting across both sides of the mountain path, the split bone spurs on its back standing upright like a row of black blades driven into flesh.

It smelled the scent of a trap, and it also smelled the weakness on the side of the Taichu Sect.

"We cannot hold for a second time," Sect Master Di Kun said.

The Sect Protection Elder's fingers tightened, and his old iron sword sank slightly.

Sect Master Di Kun raised his hand, pointing to the stone path on the right side of the main peak, which had been trampled into chaos by the Yao Beasts: "Retreat the entire line."

The Tower Defense Youth poked his head out from behind a pile of charred wooden beams, his face covered in soot, but his eyes bright with ferocity: "Retreat to where?"

"Retreat into a single path." Sect Master Di Kun's fingertip traced the contours of the mountain, "Don't block it; show it the easiest gap to charge up."

The Tower Defense Youth stared at the stone path for two breaths, then suddenly slapped his thigh, sending dust flying: "Got it! A fake gate! A one-way welcome corridor!"

He turned and roared: "Pile the kerosene against the right stone wall! Don't lay the logs horizontally, wedge them vertically! Move the old crossbows to the end of the corridor, don't pull the stone ropes on both sides tight, wait for my command to cut them all at once!"

Several servants rushed over carrying oil jars; one stepped on a Yao Beast's intestine, slipped, but scrambled back up. When someone moved a rolling log, their arms trembled, the wood bruising their shoulders, but they gritted their teeth and didn't let go.

The Speedrun Youth slid down from a tree, the charcoal pencil in his hand worn down to a stump. He ran to the stone path, crouched, and measured the distance by pressing against the claw prints on the ground.

"It will start at full speed from here, the first pounce will land on this bluestone, its tail sweep will graze the left wall, and it must correct itself on the third pounce." He tapped the stone seven times with the charcoal pencil, "Move this stone half a foot, cut the wooden stake by three inches—no more, if you cut too much, it can jump straight over."

"How much is half a foot?" a servant asked anxiously.

The Speedrun Youth held out his palm to show him: "My hand plus two fingers; one finger less won't do."

The Chuunibyou Youth walked over clutching a broken wooden sword, cloth strips wrapped around his wrists, his face pale, but he forced his voice to rise: "Mortals, follow me to set up the Nine Nether Heaven-Splitting Formation! Shout on the left, smash on the right, don't let that dog thing see that we are panicked!"

A servant was stunned: "Aren't we very panicked?"

The Chuunibyou Youth waved his broken wooden sword: "Even if we panic, we must panic in formation!"

The corners of Sect Master Di Kun's mouth twitched, but he didn't smile. He walked to the end of the "path of survival," the bluestone beneath his feet brittle from fire, and behind him was the narrow gate leading to the main peak. Three more steps back, and he would be in the outer courtyard of the Taichu Sect.

The Sect Protection Elder caught up: "What are you doing standing here?"

"It wants the most conspicuous prey." Sect Master Di Kun took a short blade that the Tower Defense Youth had pre-inserted into a broken stake nearby, testing the edge with a backhand grip, "I am conspicuous enough."

"Sect Master!"

"Elder, guard three zhang behind me." Sect Master Di Kun's gaze remained nailed to the Demon Mastiff, "If I fall, you fill in; if I don't fall, no one is to come up and steal its first bite."

Veins popped on the Sect Protection Elder's forehead, and his iron sword scraped a white mark on the stone surface. He finally retreated half a step, lowering his sword tip like an old iron hook driven into the ground.

Both sides of the mountain path suddenly became chaotic.

The Chuunibyou Youth led the servants in shouting on the left slope; some intentionally threw empty oil jars down the stone slope, the tin cans tumbling all the way down, clanging loudly. On the right, several servants dragged the wounded back, shouting "We can't hold it!" their voices rising wave after wave.

The Split-Back Demon Mastiff raised its head.

Its nostrils twitched, its beast pupils sweeping across both sides before landing on Sect Master Di Kun. Sect Master Di Kun stood before the narrow gate, his black and gold Sect Master robes plastered against his wounds by the wind, a layer of old blood dried on his chest, and new blood seeping out from the torn fabric. He did not raise his sword; the short blade hung at his side as if he no longer had the strength to lift it.

The Demon Mastiff pawed the ground with its front claws, gouging two trenches into the gravel.

The Speedrun Youth lowered his voice: "It's about to charge."

Sect Master Di Kun tapped the hilt of the blade lightly with his left hand.

The Split-Back Demon Mastiff charged out.

It trampled over broken wood, sent half a Yao Beast corpse flying, its massive body causing the ground to tremble. The first foot landed, the stone slab shattering, mud and water spraying onto the stone walls on both sides. As the second foot stepped into the corridor, the rolling logs were pushed aside by its chest, wood splinters scraping against its scales and sparking a string of fire.

"Left hind leg is shaking!" The Speedrun Youth roared, pressed against the stone wall, "It's forcing its speed!"

Sect Master Di Kun saw it.

That old injured leg would tremble briefly every time it landed, the black scales near the wound opening and closing, blood squeezed out by the force and flung onto the stone surface. The Demon Mastiff was still accelerating, its brute force pressing the entire corridor into a red line paved with beast blood.

The Dark Souls Youth stood up, leaning against a broken wall.

His eyes were not yet fully focused, his face still pale from the lingering cold mist of the Spirit Pool; his right hand gripped a freshly whittled broken wooden sword, his fingers closing slowly, then loosening by half.

The Life-Skill Player grabbed him: "Your reaction time hasn't returned, don't go!"

The Dark Souls Youth grinned, his lips lacking blood color: "I'm not going to fight, I'm going to graze some aggro."

"You call that grazing?"

He didn't answer, dragging his leg as he rushed out from the side, his pace half a beat slower than usual, but it was perfectly timed to catch the Demon Mastiff before its third step change. He poked the broken wooden sword under the Demon Mastiff's right eye; the tip didn't even pierce the scales, only producing a dull thud.

The Split-Back Demon Mastiff snapped its head around.

"Good dog, come bite me!"

The Demon Mastiff was enraged, its front claws pressing down, and the first pounce launched early. The Dark Souls Youth flipped to the side, his body clearly slower upon landing, his shoulder grazing the gravel and rolling out a trail of blood. The Demon Mastiff's tail swept across, the black spurs snapping two half-buried wooden stakes, wood splinters exploding like rain.

"Tail sweep shortened! The third pounce will press forward to the left!" The Speedrun Youth roared until his voice cracked, "Coordinate three! Cut the beam!"

The Tower Defense Youth yanked the stone ropes with both hands: "Release!"

The support wood on both sides was cut simultaneously.

The rolling stones pre-wedged on the left mountain wall lost their tension and plummeted with a roar; as the stone ropes snapped, they whipped against the wooden stakes, causing them to tilt in unison. Half the corridor collapsed, and gravel, rolling logs, and kerosene jars all slammed into the side of the Split-Back Demon Mastiff at once.

The third pounce landed.

The bluestone that the Demon Mastiff's left hind leg stepped on flipped downward, its old injured leg stepping into thin air, and its massive body tilted sharply to the side. It tried to brace itself with its front claws, but the rolling logs on the right happened to wedge into its shoulder bone, and the bone spurs on its back were caught by the stone ropes, the entire giant beast forcibly wedged into the narrow gap.

The window of opportunity was only one breath long.

Sect Master Di Kun moved.

He stepped onto the broken rolling log, the log spinning under his feet, his soles torn by wood splinters. He vaulted using the momentum, flipping the short blade in his palm, and drove the tip straight into the root of the Demon Mastiff's left hind leg. The blade sank into the old wound, lodging in the bone gap, and he was flung sideways by the force of the Demon Mastiff's struggle, his left arm slamming into the stone wall, half his body going numb and stiff.

He did not let go.

His thumb pressed against the hilt, his wrist twisting downward.

The short blade tore along the old wound, and a deafening roar erupted from the Demon Mastiff's throat. It lowered its head to bite at Sect Master Di Kun, but he used the hilt to pull back, sliding underneath the Demon Mastiff's belly, his old sword drawing from its sheath simultaneously, the blade slashing diagonally across the paler soft scales under its throat.

The scales split, and hot blood sprayed all over his face.

The Sect Protection Elder arrived.

The old iron sword stabbed into the same gash, the blade bending as it was gripped by the Demon Mastiff's muscles. The Elder's feet sank into the mud, his shoulders pushing forward against the hilt, the grass cloth bursting open, blood flowing from his palms onto the hilt.

"Hold it down!"

The Dark Souls Youth pounced from the side, his entire body almost hanging by the Demon Mastiff's neck. He forced the broken wooden sword into the wound Sect Master Di Kun had opened, using his shoulder to brace the hilt and pry upward.

"Open! Open! Open up for me!"

The Demon Mastiff struggled, two bone spurs on its back snapping, the broken spurs flying out and piercing the wooden board next to a servant. Its tail slammed into the stone wall, the wall caving in, and flying debris bloodied everyone's heads and faces.

The Life-Skill Player rushed over, clutching the last bag of poisonous herb powder and half a jar of kerosene. He bit open the jar and poured both the powder and the oil into the gash under the Demon Mastiff's throat.

"Back!"

The Tower Defense Youth shot a fire arrow into the wound.

The flames burrowed into the flesh, exploding violently along the kerosene. A muffled blast erupted from within the Demon Mastiff, and what sprayed from its throat was no longer blood, but fire mixed with black smoke. Its massive body jerked, the rolling logs were crushed flat, and acrid white smoke billowed from the stone crevices.

Sect Master Di Kun was knocked back half a zhang, his knees slamming into the stone. He used his old sword to brace himself, the wound on his chest tearing open, blood dripping down along his belt.

The Split-Back Demon Mastiff was still moving.

Its front claws scraped the ground, the tips gouging four deep grooves into the bluestone, its beast pupils staring fixedly at Sect Master Di Kun, the fire in its throat flickering on and off. Sect Master Di Kun stood up, leaning on his sword, stepped onto its charred back, pulled out the short blade, and drove it back into the gash under its throat.

The Demon Mastiff twitched one last time, its tail smashing the remaining half of the stone railing at the end of the corridor. Dust rose, slicing the morning light into segments.

The area above and below the mountain gate was silent for half a breath.

The Chuunibyou Youth was the first to raise his broken wooden sword, his voice cracking severely: "Sect Master is awesome!"

The servants seemed awakened by these four words, shouts rolling down from the slopes on both sides. Some knelt in the mud laughing, some held their severed arms and wept; the Sect Protection Elder stood beside the Demon Mastiff's head, his iron sword thrust into the ground, his shoulders trembling slightly.

Sect Master Di Kun did not turn back.

He bent down, pressing against a protruding black scale below the Demon Mastiff's sternum. It wasn't the location of a Yao Beast core, but the texture was abnormally hard. The old sword pried open the charred flesh, revealing a black bone nail embedded in the seam of the sternum; the nail was slender, its surface carved with extremely faint patterns.

The patterns were too regular.

A Yao Beast could not grow such a thing.

Sect Master Di Kun reached out and pulled the bone nail out; black blood dripped from the tip, landing on the cracked bluestone and burning off a few wisps of faint smoke. He looked up toward the valley entrance, where the remaining low-level Yao Beasts had lost their leader and were beginning to collide with each other as they fled.

The wind rolled up from the foot of the mountain, blowing away the black smoke on the Demon Mastiff's back. Sect Master Di Kun stood between the charred bone spurs, his short blade still dripping blood, the black bone nail in his palm revealing a circle of cold, hard dark patterns in the morning light.