15: Chapter 15: Call everyone up to bury them.

Before the Red Saber could strike down, Sect Master Di Kun tipped over to the side, chair and all.

The Sect Master's seat was cleaved in two by the saber light; the splintered armrest flew into the corner, and wood chips embedded themselves into the corridor pillar. Sect Master Di Kun's shoulder and back struck the ground, reopening the wound on his chest slightly. Leveraging the momentum of his fall, he rolled into the Inner Courtyard corridor. His old sword unsheathed in one fluid motion, its tip dragging a trail of sparks across the stone floor.

The Red Snake Sect Deacon pursued for half a step, then stopped.

He did not rush into the corridor, but instead backhanded his saber, slicing toward the crossbeam above. His Saber Qi grazed the bottom of the beam, tearing open a corner of the lime bag hidden in the beam's crevice, causing white powder to cascade down.

"Mere parlor tricks," he said coldly.

The Tower Defense Youth, crouching on the back of the roof ridge, heard this and brought his wooden mallet down: "Then let us provide the full set!"

The three hidden wooden beams above the corridor released simultaneously.

The first beam slammed horizontally into the tail of the Red Snake Sect group, forcing two Cultivators to retreat; the second swept through the middle, bringing down a cloud of lime; the third, the shortest, smashed into the base of the corridor pillar, snapping it and causing half the tiled roof to tilt downwards.

White dust exploded outward.

The vision of the five Red Snake Sect members was swallowed up, and saber light flashed erratically within the dust. Some covered their faces with their sleeves, while others kicked at the fallen beams to shatter them. Their formation was cut in two; the Deacon and one guard were close to Sect Master Di Kun, while the three in the back were blocked at the entrance to the Outer Courtyard by the collapsed beams and tiles.

"Two steps to the left, the doorframe will catch his shoulder!"

The Speedrun Youth's voice erupted from behind the side wall.

The Dark Souls Youth rolled along the ground into the gray fog. His movements were slow, yet stranger than the predictions of the Red Snake Sect's rear guard. He did not swing his sword, but instead snatched up a piece of broken tile and hurled it at the opponent's knee. The Cultivator pressed his saber blade down, shattering the tile. Just as his vision shifted, an old crossbow bolt shot in from the side, grazing the doorframe.

The crossbow bolt pierced his calf.

The Cultivator let out a muffled grunt, his leg buckling.

"Do not get bogged down, split them up!" Sect Master Di Kun called out from the end of the corridor, his voice muffled by the dust.

The Chuunibyou Youth poked half his body out from behind the side courtyard wall, holding a kerosene bag in his left hand and smoke grass in his right, shouting as if performing a sacrificial ritual: "Nine Heavens Burning Snake Technique!"

The kerosene bag smashed onto the ground, splashing oil everywhere. The smoke grass was ignited by a spark, and thick, grayish-green smoke rolled along the low ground into the corridor, choking the Red Snake Sect Cultivators and forcing them to retreat repeatedly.

One Red Snake Sect Cultivator cursed, tapped his toes against the ground, and attempted to leap onto the roof on the wind to escape the narrow corridor. Just as he stepped onto the eaves, the tiles slid, and his sole smeared against a layer of beast oil. Broken nails emerged from the oil, piercing the soles of his boots.

His balance faltered.

The eaves could not bear the force, and the entire section of old tiles collapsed. He slid, along with the tiles, into a shallow pit in the courtyard. The bottom of the pit was originally filled with Yao Beast blood and mud, and broken crossbow mechanisms were buried beneath. The Tower Defense Youth pulled a rope, and three short crossbow bolts sprang from the edge of the pit, skimming through the muddy water and piercing the man's leg and shoulder socket.

The Cultivator braced himself with his saber, his teeth grinding audibly, and raised his hand to throw a fire talisman. The fire talisman exploded at the edge of the pit, forcing back two errand boys and causing a section of the pit's edge to collapse, sending mud and gravel surging to his waist. As he tried to crawl, the Life-Skill Player threw a bag of ground poisonous herb powder from the side. The powder mixed into the bloody mud and stuck to his wrist.

His fingers twitched, and he lost his grip on his saber.

The Red Snake Sect Deacon's expression darkened completely.

Listening for sounds to locate his targets in the gray fog, he forced Sect Master Di Kun back with one saber strike, while his other hand flung out three snake-tooth-shaped hidden weapons. The weapons did not target Sect Master Di Kun, but instead struck the beams, side walls, and door bolts. Everywhere they passed, wood chips flew, forcefully tearing open a path for him to move laterally.

This man was not stupid.

Sect Master Di Kun's gaze swept over the impact points of the hidden weapons. The Red Snake Sect Deacon had already realized that the Taichu Sect intended to use the narrow terrain to divide them, and his first reaction was not to pursue, but to destroy the walls and doors that restricted him.

Sect Master Di Kun pressed his fingertips against his sword hilt and retreated half a foot.

The Red Snake Sect Deacon immediately closed in, striking three times with his red saber. The saber light unfolded in the narrow corridor. Sect Master Di Kun did not meet it head-on; he pressed his left shoulder against the wall to dodge the first strike, used the spine of his sword to pin the outer side of the second strike, and when the third strike came, he slammed directly into the corridor pillar, letting the blade graze past his back.

The pillar was slashed open, its wood grain splitting in two.

Sect Master Di Kun's shoulder went numb from the impact, and his old wounds burned with a tearing sensation. Taking advantage of the moment the pillar collapsed, he flicked his sword tip upward, forcing the Deacon to retract his wrist.

"That's his Red Snake saber's outer-gate style; after the third strike, his wrist must recover!" the Speedrun Youth shouted from behind the wall, "Don't look at the saber light, look at his feet; when his right foot twists, it's a horizontal slash!"

The Dark Souls Youth rolled along the doorframe, narrowly avoiding the horizontal slash of the rear-guard Cultivator. The errand boy following him was half a step too slow, so the Speedrun Youth yanked him behind a water vat. The saber light shaved off the edge of the vat, and half a vat of murky water poured out, washing the ground into a muddy, slippery mess.

"Accurate reporting," the Red Snake Sect Deacon's eyes filled with killing intent, "Kill the loudmouth first."

With a flick of his wrist, the light of the red saber passed over Sect Master Di Kun and slashed diagonally behind the wall.

Sect Master Di Kun countered with his old sword, the blade colliding with the red saber with a metallic clang that made one's eardrums ache. He blocked the strike, but the bandages on his chest suddenly soaked red with blood. The Red Snake Sect Deacon seized the opportunity to thrust his elbow forward, aiming the tip of his elbow at his throat.

Sect Master Di Kun tilted his head, the wind of the elbow grazing his jaw. He raised his knee to strike the Deacon's side, but was blocked by the opponent's knee, and he was forced back into the narrower Inner Courtyard doorway.

Hanging on both sides of the doorway were halves of old Formation Flags.

The Tower Defense Youth on the roof ridge pulled the last thin string: "Fragmented Formation Flags, activate!"

Both old Formation Flags lit up simultaneously.

The light was very weak, like a dying candle flickering in the wind. Yet, in that instant, the Spiritual Qi in the Inner Courtyard went into chaos, and all the talismans and Saber Qi in the corridor stalled briefly. The circulation of True Qi within the Red Snake Sect Deacon's body was jammed, and the blood-red hue on his red saber dimmed by half.

Sect Master Di Kun had been waiting exactly for this moment.

He did not touch the Deacon.

Shifting his body, he let go of his old sword, the hilt knocking aside the saber guard of the nearby Red Snake Sect guard. Sect Master Di Kun pulled a short blade, previously wrapped in grass cloth, from behind his waist with his left hand. The tip of the blade thrust out from under his ribs, sliding through a gap in the guard's armor and piercing his heart.

The guard looked down, seeing the hilt of the blade pressed against his chest; his lips moved, but no sound came out.

Sect Master Di Kun withdrew the blade.

Blood sprayed onto the Inner Courtyard threshold.

The first Red Snake Sect Cultivator fell, his corpse crushing an old bamboo basket beside the threshold, from which several unsharpened wooden nails rolled out.

Over in the Outer Courtyard, the two rear-guard Red Snake Sect Cultivators had been separated into the side courtyard. The Dark Souls Youth hugged the doorframe; his broken wooden sword was pitifully short, and he would only poke once before rolling away. Just as the opponent's saber stance began, he would roll outside the door; as soon as the opponent pursued half a step, he would shrink back inside.

"If you have the guts, stand still!" the Cultivator roared.

The Dark Souls Youth's face was pale, his voice drifting: "Stand still so you can land a combo on me? Do you take me for a fool?"

The Cultivator slashed half the doorframe to pieces, and wood chips splattered across the Dark Souls Youth's face. The Dark Souls Youth was shaken, causing him to drop to one knee, and he was half a beat slow when his fingers braced against the ground. The Red Snake Sect Cultivator seized the opening, thrusting his blade directly at his chest.

The Speedrun Youth roared from behind the wall: "Roll right, not left!"

The Dark Souls Youth forced himself to change direction, rolling past the blade with his shoulder brushing against it. He backhanded his broken wooden sword, stabbing it into the root of the opponent's leg where it had been pierced by the crossbow bolt. The Cultivator's movements stalled, and the errand boy swung a wooden mallet from behind, striking him in the back of the head.

One blow was not enough.

The Dark Souls Youth rolled back inside the doorframe, driving the broken wooden sword into the same wound, churning the flesh. The Cultivator dragged his injured leg, trying to retreat, but his heel tripped on the threshold, and he was shoved back toward the edge of the shallow pit by the Dark Souls Youth's shoulder. The old crossbow mechanism sprang again, and a broken arrow pierced his waist and abdomen.

He died before he could even finish swinging his saber for a second combo.

The Red Snake Sect Deacon saw the third corpse fall, and the sense of control on his face was wiped clean by dust and blood. He retreated half a step, and a red communication talisman slid from his sleeve.

Sect Master Di Kun saw it, but did not pursue.

The Red Snake Sect Deacon glared at him and squeezed his fingertips with force.

The communication talisman exploded, and a red firelight shot into the sky, passing through the half-collapsed roof and flying toward the foot of the mountain. The firelight drew a thin line through the smoke and dust, and everyone in the Outer Courtyard looked up.

The Sect Protection Elder said urgently: "Sect Master, the reinforcements from the foot of the mountain are coming up!"

Sect Master Di Kun flicked the blood off his short blade; the tip hung down, and droplets of blood formed three dots on the ground.

"Perfect," he looked toward the Red Snake Sect Deacon, "Call your people up to be buried together."

The snake ring in the Red Snake Sect Deacon's hand fell to the ground; the red copper ring rolled twice and only stopped when it hit the corpse of his fellow sect member beside the threshold.

He finally retreated.

His path of retreat had been cut off by the collapsed beams, kerosene, corpses, and the shallow pit. The Tower Defense Youth poked his head out from the roof ridge, clutching the last oil jar; the Speedrun Youth crouched behind the side wall, a charcoal pencil pressed against the stone surface; the Dark Souls Youth stood up, supporting himself on the broken doorframe, the broken wooden sword still stuck in the dead man's leg, bringing out a spray of blood foam when he pulled it out.

Sect Master Di Kun stepped over the Inner Courtyard threshold, the grass cloth on his chest soaked through with blood, and picked up his old sword from the ground. The red communication firelight flew higher and higher, illuminating the residual dust of the Outer Courtyard in a red glow, while the sound of more boots stepping onto the stone stairs faintly drifted up from the foot of the mountain.