7: Chapter 7 Evil at the Mountain Gate

The leading Cultivator's boot tip ground another half-inch forward, pressing a fine crack into the thin soil.

Sect Master Di Kun's fingertips rested on the top of the wooden stake; the poison juice stained his fingertip, carrying a bitter scent mixed with the smell of grassy rot and decaying leaves.

Inside the Sect gate, the Dark Souls Youth lay prone behind the anti-cavalry barrier, his wooden sword pressed against the mud; the Tower Defense Youth crouched beside the broken remnant of a crossbow, his palm already pressing down on the hemp rope hidden in a crevice.

"Helping the Taichu Sect watch the Sect gate?" Sect Master Di Kun raised his eyes, his gaze sliding over the Red Snake Sect Token. "Since when did the Red Snake Sect become so idle?"

The leading Cultivator smiled and tapped his palm with the token.

The red stone on the Red Snake Sect Token clicked softly, like two snake eyes blinking in the sunset light.

The two Cultivators behind him dismounted. One of them circled the valley entrance, his boots stepping over the newly sharpened wooden stakes, deliberately crushing one with his sole.

"Senior Brother, look at this thing." The man bent down, picked up the broken wooden stake, and waved it before his eyes. "Is this the extent of the tricks Mortal hunters use when they go into the mountains to catch wild boars?"

The other person looked up at the mountain wall, saw the old arrow tower half-covered by straw mats, and laughed even louder.

"The arrow tower is broken in half, yet you still trot it out to save face. No matter how poor the Taichu Sect is, you should at least keep some dignity. Is this a Sect, or a bandit's den?"

The Sect Protection Elder's hand tensed, the shovel handle creaking under his grip, the keys at his waist clattering. He stepped forward half a pace, but was held back by Sect Master Di Kun raising his hand.

Sect Master Di Kun did not look at him, only staring at the leading Cultivator's feet.

Half a pace. Another half pace forward, and the first layer of the pit trap would be triggered.

The leading Cultivator did not move; he held the Red Snake Sect Token in his palm and raised his voice slightly: "An oral decree from the Red Snake Sect Deacon: the Taichu Sect's grading is imminent. If the grading fails, the Sect gate, spiritual fields, herb gardens, and the back mountain's spiritual spring shall be temporarily taken over by the Red Snake Sect. Sect Master Di Kun, you are young; don't take a broken mountain too seriously."

Sect Master Di Kun tapped his fingertips on the wooden stake twice.

The Tower Defense Youth's eyelids twitched, his fingers tightening.

The leading Cultivator continued: "Be sensible and surrender the Sect. You can continue to hold the title of Sect Master; the Red Snake Sect won't begrudge you a meal. If you insist on being stubborn, once the Sect gate is sealed on the day of the grading, you won't even have a place to kneel and beg."

The wind blew in from the valley entrance, swirling up wood shavings from the ground and brushing against the robes of the three Red Snake Sect members.

Sect Master Di Kun's mouth twitched.

This oral decree sounded like charity, but in reality, every word was forcing him to bow his head. The Red Snake Sect wasn't here to negotiate; they were here to measure how much backbone the Taichu Sect had left.

"Are you finished?" Sect Master Di Kun asked.

The leading Cultivator narrowed his eyes: "What, you want to talk back?"

"The Sect gate may be broken, but the rules remain." Sect Master Di Kun wiped his poison-stained fingers clean on the wooden stake. "If the Red Snake Sect wants to watch the Sect gate, ask the Taichu Sect Disciples first if they agree."

The Dark Souls Youth walked out from behind the anti-cavalry barrier, dragging his wooden sword on the ground, the tip carving a shallow groove.

"Sect Master, I request a sparring match."

He said it very seriously, but his shoulders were hunched extremely low, his feet shifting left and right, as if he were about to roll onto the ground at any moment.

The Red Snake Sect Cultivator who had been holding the wooden stake looked him up and down, his laughter catching in his throat and turning into a sneer: "A menial laborer whose Qi hasn't even stabilized, you think you're worthy?"

The Dark Souls Youth raised his wooden sword and tapped his own chest with the tip.

"Hit me."

The Red Snake Sect Cultivator's face darkened, and he raised his hand to strike with a palm. The force of the palm wind scraped across the anti-cavalry barrier, slicing through two crossbeams, sending wood shavings exploding into the air. The Dark Souls Youth rolled forward to the side, his back almost grazing the mud as he slid past the edge of the palm strike.

Sect Master Di Kun's knuckles tapped the wooden stake. Once.

The Dark Souls Youth stood up and, instead of retreating, advanced. He feinted with the wooden sword, his heel brushing the edge of the pit trap, kicking loose a patch of thin soil.

The Red Snake Sect Cultivator gave chase. When his toe hit the ground, he sensed something wrong with the soil layer, so he nimbly twisted his body and stepped onto a nearby rock. His gaze toward the Dark Souls Youth grew colder.

"You think you can trap a Cultivator with a pit like this?"

Before his voice had even faded, the Tower Defense Youth yanked the hemp rope in the crevice.

A deep sound of wooden axles turning came from behind the mountain wall.

The first old crossbow bolt burst through the grass, flying past the Red Snake Sect Cultivator's shoulder and nailing into the dead tree behind him. The bolt lacked power, but it had a barb that tore off a large patch of bark. Immediately after, the rolling stones covered in dead leaves on the hillside were released, and three millstone-sized boulders crashed down along pre-dug channels.

"Scatter!"

The leading Cultivator waved his sleeve, and a crimson spiritual light swept toward the rolling stones. The first stone was shattered, sending debris flying and clattering against the outer wall of the Sect gate; the second stone veered off course and crashed into the anti-cavalry barrier, causing half of it to collapse and driving the sharpened wooden stakes into the mud; the third stone, however, followed the slope, bypassed his spiritual light, and smashed straight toward the knee of the other Red Snake Sect Disciple.

That person drew his sword to cleave the stone, the sword light splitting the boulder and covering his face in stone dust.

The Dark Souls Youth rolled back and tapped his wooden sword against that person's lower leg. It didn't injure the bone or tendon, but it was just enough to nudge his foot a step off course.

"Click!"

A noose sprang up from beneath the thin soil, snaring the Red Snake Sect Cultivator's ankle. The other end, looped around a buried wooden stake, tightened violently.

The Cultivator's body tilted, his sword tip stabbing into the ground, and the smile on his face vanished completely.

The Sect Protection Elder's hand, holding the shovel, froze in mid-air, the shovel head still caked with wet mud. He stared at the noose that had sprung from the ground, then looked at the old crossbow behind the mountain wall, his lips moving twice without making a sound.

Sect Master Di Kun took it all in. The first layer of pit traps lacked lethality but were effective as a warning; the old crossbow's angle was too high, but it was enough to intimidate; the rolling stone route could still be improved. Real combat provided more accurate feedback than drills, and these three from the Red Snake Sect had come at just the right time.

The leading Cultivator's expression darkened, and the Red Snake Sect Token stopped shaking in his palm.

"Sect Master Di Kun, you dare to set an ambush and attack the Red Snake Sect?"

"Sparring." Sect Master Di Kun raised his hand and pointed at the Cultivator trapped by the noose. "You struck first."

The trapped man roared, channeling spiritual power into his longsword, and the blade slashed toward the noose on his ankle. The outer layer of the noose snapped, but the fine inner wire sprang out, the barbs scraping across his boot and drawing a line of blood. He lifted his foot to retreat, but his heel stepped onto the second layer of buried wood.

The Tower Defense Youth's expression changed, and he shouted in a low voice: "Don't go near there!"

It was too late. A crossbeam swung out from the side of the mountain wall, with broken stones tied to its rough wooden body, and slammed hard into the man's ribs. The sound of cracking bone was muffled within his chest; he was sent flying sideways, smashing into the base of the broken arrow tower, covering himself in debris and mud.

The Life-Skill Player thrust the pottery jar in his arms forward.

The Chuunibyou Youth's cloth arm-wrap was pulled straight by the wind; he stepped onto a rock, pointed his wooden sword to the sky, and spoke in a voice so solemn it made one's scalp tingle.

"Seal Technique: Hundred Bindings!"

Two smoke bags flew from his and the Life-Skill Player's hands, smashing into the middle of the three Red Snake Sect members. The smoke, a mixture of poisonous herbs, lamp oil, and wet mud, exploded; the color was absurdly green, and the smell was so pungent it made one's nasal cavity ache. The smoke rolled out of the valley entrance with the wind, startling even the horses, which reared and neighed.

"What the hell is this!"

The Red Snake Sect Disciple covered his nose and mouth and retreated, stepping on a wooden stake; the sole of his boot was pierced, and the pain nearly made him scream. The other man dragged his rib-broken companion out, his robe catching on the anti-cavalry barrier and tearing a long gash.

The Chuunibyou Youth wanted to shout a second line, but Sect Master Di Kun raised his hand to stop him.

He stepped forward, his foot landing beside the wooden stake, his palm gathering a wisp of spiritual power that was not thick but extremely steady. The leading Cultivator rushed out of the smoke, his five fingers forming a claw, crimson spiritual light striking straight at Sect Master Di Kun's throat.

Sect Master Di Kun sidestepped, pressed his right hand on the top of the wooden stake, and used the leverage to turn, his left arm's blood-stained cloth brushing past the opponent's cuff. He did not meet the attack head-on; instead, just as the opponent's clawing momentum was about to end, he struck the Red Snake Sect Token with his palm.

"Slap!"

The Red Snake Sect Token was knocked aside, slamming into the leading Cultivator's waist, the red stone scraping against the mountain wall and striking two sparks.

The leading Cultivator's steps faltered.

Sect Master Di Kun raised his knee, striking half an inch below his abdomen, forcing him to retract his attack and retreat. No astonishing spiritual light exploded between them, but the thin soil on the ground was pressed into several deep imprints, and the poison-stained wooden stake was knocked askew.

"With only this level of cultivation, you dare to stop me?" The leading Cultivator wiped the soot from the corner of his mouth, gloom surging in the depths of his eyes.

Sect Master Di Kun did not pursue.

He stood in the center of the Sect gate, behind him the broken walls, discarded crossbows, remnants of arrays, and a group of newly entered Disciples. The setting sun sank completely behind the mountain ridge, the shadow of the Sect gate covering half his face, leaving only the pale silver mark on the back of his right hand flashing once and vanishing beneath his cuff.

"Before the grading, whoever dares to step into the Sect gate again," Sect Master Di Kun raised his eyes, "I will consider them to be courting death."

The smoke dispersed a little.

The Red Snake Sect Cultivator with the broken ribs was supported by his companion, cold sweat mixed with mud and dust streaming down his forehead. The man who had previously crushed the wooden stake had blood seeping from the sole of his foot, leaving a dark red footprint with every step. The leading Cultivator stared at Sect Master Di Kun, the Red Snake Sect Token clattering softly at his waist, the red stone snake eyes covered in dust from the mountain wall, no longer shining.

The Sect Protection Elder stood inside the Sect gate, the shovel head hanging down to the ground. He watched the three Red Snake Sect members retreat past the pit trap area, then looked at the ropes, wooden stakes, and rolling stone channels half-buried in the soil, his fingers tightening on the shovel handle bit by bit.

"Sect Master..." his voice was very low, "These things can actually suppress Cultivators."

Sect Master Di Kun turned his head to look at him: "Cultivators are also made of flesh and blood."

The Dark Souls Youth crouched down to inspect the anti-cavalry barrier that had been sliced by the palm wind; the Tower Defense Youth had already rushed to the side of the mountain wall, using charcoal to change the markings on the stone face. The Life-Skill Player picked up the pottery jar shards, sniffed the lingering smell of smoke, and leaned back with a grimace. The Chuunibyou Youth gripped his wooden sword, his cloth strip still fluttering in the wind, muttering the new name for "Hundred Bindings Form Two" under his breath.

Outside the Sect gate, the three Red Snake Sect Cultivators mounted their horses.

The leading Cultivator looked back at the dilapidated Sect gate; the sunset light was cut off by the mountain ridge, and the shadow of the old crossbow lay across the wall like a broken bone. Beneath his feet, the wooden stakes and residue from the smoke bags were mixed with blood, trailing all the way down the mountain.

"Go back and tell the Deacon." He pulled on the reins, his voice squeezed through his teeth, "The Taichu Sect is unwilling to surrender the Sect."

The Disciple beside him clutched his ribs and asked: "Senior Brother, then next time..."

The leading Cultivator spurred his horse, and the horse's hooves crushed an empty pottery jar by the side of the road.

"Next time, we won't be testing them."

The three horses charged down the mountain road, sending gravel rolling to the bottom of the slope. The lingering smell of smoke still hung at the valley entrance, and the reddish-brown robe corners fluttered in the darkness. As the last Cultivator rolled over a patch of wooden stake debris, he looked back; the Sect gate sank into the twilight, like a closed beast's maw.