Chapter 50: Secret Gathering at Red Hill
Shi Hao followed Xu Xiaoyan to a place called the Wild Zen Forest.
Although it was daytime, the forest was shrouded in mist, and ghostly flames flickered among the trees, creating an eerie atmosphere.
Shi Hao even felt a strange, otherworldly chill, as if he had entered the realm of the dead.
Xu Xiaoyan walked ahead, her fallen horse bun swaying gently, her long braid swinging, “Just in time!”
Shi Hao chuckled, “So you were planning to come here all along, leading me on a wild goose chase through the nearby towns? But since you thought I was a demonic cultivator, you were considering abandoning me and coming here alone?”
Xu Xiaoyan glanced back at him, “I didn’t ‘lead you on’ anything. You’re the one who insisted on following me.”
Shi Hao said, “Yes, yes, I’m the one who insisted. Fine.” He wasn’t going to argue with her about this.
Several small foxes appeared, running ahead of them.
Xu Xiaoyan said, “Follow them!”
They followed the foxes deeper into the forest.
Reaching a dense grove, Shi Hao saw several masks and robes of different colors hanging from the trees.
The masks looked like ordinary festival masks, depicting figures from mythology and folklore.
The robes were all similar in style, simple and straight, but varied in color and size, clearly meant for people of different builds.
A pair of eyes appeared from behind a tree.
The eyes, floating in the mist without any visible body, were an unsettling sight.
The orange-yellow eyes stared at Shi Hao.
Xu Xiaoyan said, “I vouch for him.”
The eyes slowly sank back down and disappeared.
Xu Xiaoyan said, “Choose a mask and a robe.”
Shi Hao chose a white robe and a “Chiwen” mask.
The Chiwen was one of the nine sons of the dragon!
He put on the mask and looked at Xu Xiaoyan, who had donned a short pink robe and a snake demon mask.
Wearing the snake demon mask and the pink robe, she swayed her hips, her demeanor suddenly becoming more alluring.
Shi Hao discreetly used the Sacred Heart Clear Mirror Technique, his aura becoming sharp and imposing.
The snake demon girl looked at him, her eyes shining, “Your aura changed completely after putting on that mask. If I hadn’t seen you put it on myself, I wouldn’t believe it was the same person.”
Shi Hao’s voice was low and slightly teasing, “You’re even more impressive! I can’t tell if you’ve become a snake demon, or if the snake demon has become you.”
The snake demon girl chuckled, “Not just my aura, but my words have become sharper as well!” She turned and floated away, “Let’s go.”
Shi Hao followed her, thinking it was a pity there wasn’t a scorpion demon mask; it would have suited her better.
They continued following the foxes, the swirling mist disorienting them.
They arrived at a well. The snake demon girl jumped in, and Shi Hao followed.
He landed softly at the bottom and discovered an underground cavern.
A stone forest stretched before him, with stalactites hanging from the ceiling and stone pillars connecting the floor and ceiling.
He followed the snake demon girl through the stone forest, arriving at an underground garden.
Six people were already there, all wearing masks and robes of different colors.
They looked at Shi Hao and Xu Xiaoyan, seemingly assessing them.
The snake demon girl led him around the garden, whispering, “Everyone here is considered ‘unorthodox.’ We’re all being suppressed by the Chongxian Sect, and many are even wanted by the Six Gates.”
Shi Hao nodded slightly.
The Chongxian Sect, claiming to be the “righteous path,” controlled the ingredients for refining the Nine Ranks Immortal Formula. Some Daoist sects were forced to submit to them for survival.
Inevitably, some Daoist sects refused to compromise. These sects were suppressed by both the Chongxian Sect and the barbarian court, labeled as “heretical,” forced to hold even their gatherings in secret.
Another person arrived.
Including Shi Hao and Xu Xiaoyan, there were now nine people present.
An incense burner stood in a corner of the garden, red lanterns hanging on either side.
The lanterns illuminated a red veil, a shadowy figure moving behind it.
Knowing the appointed time had arrived and no one else would be coming, they gathered around the veil, some sitting, some standing, waiting for the figure behind it to speak.
“Nine of you have gathered here tonight,” a voice, old and raspy, came from behind the veil. It was clearly an old woman’s voice, but the figure was obscured, making it impossible to tell if the voice was real or disguised.
The voice continued, “According to our rules, everyone attending this Red Hill Gathering must bring either a piece of information unknown to the martial world or a proposition for a trade. If you have neither, please leave.”
Shi Hao glanced at the snake demon girl beside him… You didn’t mention this rule earlier.
The raspy voice asked, “Who will go first?”
A man in a black robe and a tiger mask, sitting on a stone bench, spoke in a hoarse voice, clearly disguised, “I have a trade to propose.”
He said nothing more.
A tall, thin man with a monkey mask, standing under another tree, said, “I have a business proposition.”
A man with a two-horned demon mask, sitting cross-legged on the grass, looking dejected, said, “I have something to sell.”
A woman in red with a human mask said softly, “I also have something to sell.”
Another woman, also with a human mask but dressed in blue, said she also had something to sell.
A figure, seemingly a young man, with a fanged demon mask, whispered, “I’m looking to buy a certain immortal ingredient.”
The others looked at the young man. The raspy voice from behind the veil said slowly, “Offering something for sale counts, but wanting to buy something doesn’t. You can exchange a piece of information unknown to the martial world for the right to stay and see if anyone has what you need.”
The young man shifted uneasily, hesitated, and then said, “I know the truth about what happened on Civilian Martial Ridge during the last full moon…”
The snake demon girl suddenly raised her hand, “I know that too!”
The figure behind the veil sighed, “If you had said that two nights ago, it would have been valuable information. But now, it’s no longer a secret.”
The young man fell silent.
The raspy voice said, “If you don’t have any new information, we’ll have to ask you to leave. You can come back next time when you’re prepared.”
The young man gritted his teeth and suddenly said, “I know who slaughtered Zong Youbi, the ‘Confucian Hero of Xun River,’ and his entire family, and even… violated his daughter.”
A heavy silence fell over the underground garden.
Everyone stared at the young man. After a while, the man with the two-horned demon mask, who had been sitting dejectedly on the grass, looked up, his eyes glinting from behind the mask, “Go on.”
The young man said loudly, “In exchange, I want a Daoist internal energy cultivation technique suitable for an eighth-rank martial artist, and the corresponding Immortal Formula.”
The raspy voice said, “One piece of information only earns you the right to stay. You can try to trade for what you want after that.”
The young man turned to leave.
The man with the two-horned demon mask said solemnly, “Wait.”
The young man stopped.
The man with the two-horned demon mask said, “You claim to know the killer, but how do I know you’re telling the truth? That night, the entire Zong family was slaughtered. There were no survivors.”
The young man gritted his teeth, “There… there was one survivor.”
The man with the two-horned demon mask, still sitting on the grass, his gaze sharp, looked at the young man and suddenly said, “I can give you an eighth-rank Daoist internal energy cultivation technique and the corresponding Immortal Formula for advancing to the seventh rank. Now tell me, who slaughtered the Zong family?”
The young man turned around, looked at the assembled crowd, and shouted, “Lu Jin, the ‘Azure Dragon Immortal Warrior,’ one of the Eight Immortal Warriors of the Chongxian Sect!”
Silence descended upon the underground garden. The dim, ethereal glow of the Cave Meditating Grass illuminated the space, a cold breeze from an unknown source sending shivers down their spines.
The man with the two-horned demon mask whispered, “Azure Dragon Immortal Warrior… Azure Dragon Immortal Warrior…” His eyes widened, “You must swear you’re not lying. How can I trust you?”
The young man ripped off his mask, “Because I am the only survivor. I was visiting my uncle’s family that night, but Lu Jin didn’t know. Before she died, my cousin, fearing I would be implicated, hid me in the rock garden with a magical weapon. I saw that villain… I saw him…”
Tears streamed down his face.
The man with the two-horned demon mask looked at the young man’s tear-streaked face, “You’re Zong Youbi’s nephew? Your father is Zong Youliang? The one who spent his entire fortune to help the victims of the Nie River flood, offending the corrupt officials and merchants who were profiting from the disaster, and was then framed by the Six Gates and died unjustly in prison?”
The young man straightened his back and said loudly, “Yes!”
The man with the two-horned mask continued, “You seek martial arts manuals and internal energy cultivation techniques to avenge your family?”
The young man wiped away his tears and said resolutely, “Yes!”
The man with the two-horned demon mask sneered, “But with your meager skills, even after twenty years of training, you’ll be no match for Lu Jin, the Azure Dragon Immortal Warrior. You might never reach his level, even after a lifetime of cultivation. And he has the entire Chongxian Sect behind him!”
The young man gritted his teeth, “Even so…”
The man with the two-horned demon mask interrupted, “Become my disciple! I will avenge your family… I will kill Lu Jin for you!”
Everyone stared at him. The young man stammered, “You… you are…?”
The man raised his hand and slowly removed his mask. He had a broad face and a low forehead, a deep scar running across his left cheek.
In that instant, Shi Hao felt a ripple of shock pass through the crowd… They clearly recognized this man!
The young man’s voice trembled, “You… you’re Hero Zhao?”
The man said calmly, “I’m no hero. I’m just a swordsman. Seven years ago, I met your uncle by chance in Lingnan. He treated me to a meal, and I never had the chance to repay his kindness.
“I owe him a meal… Now I can repay my debt.”
Beside Shi Hao, the snake demon girl whispered, “That’s Zhao Xian, the ‘Peerless Sword’… Number nineteen on the Blacklist!”
Leave a Reply