Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way - Chapter 128

Squeeaaak…

The pillar suddenly started giving off a very soft squeaking noise. But before the cultivators engaged in battle noticed it, the demonic beasts on the pillar let out a loud roar as 18 beams of light shot straight into the slightly damaged warring puppets.

The sound did not stop as the pillars suddenly shot several gold chains toward each other, trapping everyone in the middle of the pillars. The gleam of weapons filled the air next.

There were arrows, spears, needles, and poisoned darts among the variety of weapons that had been hiding inside the pillars all this time. At the same time, the floor became a trap as well. Round holes would appear from time to time, and three-meter-long spears would rise from the holes. The cultivators trapped in this circle howled in pain and cursed loudly as they slowly breathed their last.

The warring puppets looked upwards and let out a long howl as the bloodied runes on their weapons shone with a reddish glow. Their sharp blades shot qi out each time they brandished their weapons, massacring the frenzied cultivators who could barely cope with staying alive.

“Filling those puppets with the souls of the beasts and the numerous traps was such a good idea,” said Gu Suihan who was content to remain hidden in the shadows to the side, his gaze flickering as he watched the chaos within the pillars. The burning gleam in his eyes appeared for a second before fading again.

He could see it now. The look of the warring puppets and their weapons bore a resemblance to the weapons used during the Warring States Period or the pre-Qin dynasty era.

“I’ve seen these things before,” murmured Gu Suihan to himself. He drew his sword and hacked his way through, kicking the warring puppets aside and leaving a trail of sparks as he dashed toward the end of the hall without stopping.

Was that compass the key to breaking this formation? Gu Suihan had no idea, but he couldn’t give up on the small chance that his guess was right just because he wasn’t sure. “Slash my way through, destroy these pillars and get that compass.”

“Split Shadow Yin Yang Sword – Life and Death Are a Blur!” Li Xiaoyao finally pulled his trump card out. A massive wave of sword qi burst out from his body and everyone felt a threat coming their way even as their hearts were filled with confusion.

“Now!” yelled Li Xiaoyao. His meter-long sword was like a mountain that was able to flatten anything in its way. It broke through everything in its way, crashing against a pillar with a loud blast, causing the beautifully carved ferocious beast around it to be cut right in half before collapsing.

“Roar!” They could hear an otherworldly howl that seemed to come from an ancient era. There was some relief in that howl as if it had been set free.

Bam! The eyes of one of the warring puppets gleamed bright red, then it gave one last sad roar before it exploded and died.

“The pillars are the key to getting out of this place! Destroy them!” yelled Wan Xin. The illusion of a phoenix appeared next to her again, screeching as it set everything around it on fire, including the souls of others. Wan Xin ignored the collateral damage around her as she made it crash head-on into the nearest giant pillar.

“Seven Moves of Warring Days – Suppress the Demons, Slaughter the supreme-rulers!” roared Zou Kai. His already muscular body suddenly expanded like crazy to become a three-meter tall giant and his shredded clothing revealed the countless tattoos he had on his body. He roared loudly and his eyes turned red, as though he were possessed by an evil spirit. He took one step forward and gave the pillar nearest to him a mighty punch.

Crack! A crisp sound resounded from his fists as more cracks quickly covered the surface of the rest of the pillar like a spiderweb. It only took a few moments for the pillar to crash.

It felt as though the sky had collapsed. The tiny metal parts inside the pillar were mixed in with rocks as the pillar came crashing down.

“Run for it!” The golden chains connecting the pillars began to darken, so Li Xiaoyao was the first one to slash his way through them and run toward where Gu Suihan was.

There was no way of flying and the hidden weapons disregarded the protective qi forcefields the cultivators always relied on so much. The entire place was filled with casualties.

“Take out your secret keys. There are slots on that compass.” Gu Suihan instantly spotted the empty slots that were around the size of a palm beneath the shiny surface of the compass.

Swoosh! All of them hurriedly took their secret keys out and sent them flying into the correct slot.

The compass seemed to have come to life as the needle started to spin slowly even as the hall threatened to crumble.

“There are only nine protruding spots on the rock platform and each protrusion has the image of one secret key on it. It looks like only nine people will be able to survive,” said Gu Suihan after thinking for some time.

“WHAT?! Only nine people will survive?”

“Those secret keys don’t know one person from another, right? If we get hold of one, we’ll get the chance to live.”

“You are right. In that case, for my sake, I think it’s best that you just die here, senior brother.”

“Junior sister, I’ve always been so kind to you, so this time, do you think you could…ARGH! You little bitch!”

Everyone was desperate to survive, so even though they were once disciples of the same sect, siblings, lovers, or best friends, none of that mattered now. Anybody who stood in the way between them and getting out of this accursed place alive had to die, regardless of whether they were senior and junior or bosom buddies.

“How vicious!” Wan Xin gritted her teeth so hard, they almost broke. The hatred in her eyes was so much that not even a river could wash it out.

Li Xiaoyao carried Shuang’er with no expression on his face, but his veins from the back of his hand all the way up to his neck were about to pop as he gripped his sword tightly. His long sword rang loudly, as though it felt an urge to kill the person in front of him.

Zou Kai had a nasty look on his face, but he didn’t seem to care that his fellow disciples were now trying to kill each other. However, he did have a slightly wary look in his eye as he glanced at Gu Suihan.

“Young Master, help!” Taohua’s clothes were a mess and her soft and supple skin was now covered in bloody wounds. Her hair was in disarray as she ran toward Gu Suihan. Her call to him was filled with so much hurt and anger from the past.

“Sure!” Gu Suihan smiled brightly at her as he took a step forward and pointed a finger at the area between her brows. She stared at him in utter disbelief as he sucked her soul out of her body and swallowed it whole. “I’ll help you get to hell.”

“He’s truly that same demon who decided to massacre his entire family after entering the sect. He actually killed a woman he slept with before so swiftly without even considering their past,” muttered Fang Suyu to himself as he noticed what Gu Suihan did while fighting the other cultivators. His heart shuddered. “He’s really a demon.”

The compass had turned into an eight-sided eight trigram compass. Eight of the secret keys took an equal portion of the compass, while the one belonging to Xi Ran that seemed like the proper key to this secret realm had its space in the middle of the compass.

The sounds of fighting grew even louder and there were fewer and fewer people standing in the hall. The number of people collapsing increased at an alarming rate.

Gu Suihan calmly sat down on the protrusion with the image of his key on it and just watched the others fight each other with a bored look on his face while also taking an occasional glance at the silent Li Xiaoyao as he continued to hang onto Shuang’er.

He started wondering if the rock platform would allow Li Xiaoyao to bring Shuang’er along with him.

CRAAAACK!

The rock platform resounded loudly as it slowly began to move downwards. A faint, milky white forcefield surrounded the rock platform and started expanding outwards. The giant pillars and their hidden weapons instantly turned to powder when they came into contact with the forcefield, which passed through everything without any resistance whatsoever.

The few who survived stared at the unbothered Gu Suihan seated on his little protrusion and gave him a scowl.

When they had flocked past the bronze door in hope of getting the promised legacy, those who died could not blame anyone for their deaths, since they had made that decision on their own.

But if Gu Suihan hadn’t used his sword to open up the ground and used the blood of a cultivator to draw out those dead things from beneath, they wouldn’t have suffered such severe casualties.

Also, if Gu Suihan hadn’t purposely said those things inside this hall, the hundred-odd remaining cultivators would not have ended up killing each other and leaving barely more than ten of them alive.

As they looked at Shuang’er lying in Li Xiaoyao’s arms, the ones who lay weakly on the rock platform after fighting a tough battle just now finally got it all worked out now. This rock platform did not actually have any real limit on the number of survivors. As long as you could get on it in time, you’d survive. The protrusions that the nine with the keys were sitting on were only a red herring, which was what made all of them try to kill each other.

The worst of all was Gu Suihan. He had clearly realized this, yet he still said those things and watched them kill each other. His wicked heart really made them feel nothing but hate for him.

“Such a wicked man is no different from those demons of old. Why don’t we join hands and kill him? We’d work together better without him around,” said Wang Mingzhi as he glowered venomously at Gu Suihan.

He had managed to survive, but he was in a terrible state. His face was deathly pale as he had lost an arm and his body was covered in deep wounds. If Xi Ran hadn’t pulled him onto the rock platform in time in the end, he would have perished with the rest below. He had barely escaped death and was missing an arm – it was little wonder he hated Gu Suihan so much.

Gu Suihan merely snorted nonchalantly. “What a useless bum. Well, I’m right here. Who dares to try and kill me?”

“Why, you!” Wang Mingzhi trembled all over as he used his remaining right hand to point a finger at Gu Suihan, his eyes bulging viciously and his face red with anger as he opened his mouth but couldn’t get any words out. He turned to look at Xi Ran in hope of getting some support, but Xi Ran stared at the floor and focused on recuperation, as though he hadn’t heard what Wang Mingzhi said at all.

Li Xiaoyao looked down at Shuang’er and he had already returned his sword to its sheath.

Wan Xin had a scowl on her face, but after hearing those words, she merely glanced at Wang Mingzhi as though he were an idiot.

Zou Kai didn’t even bother to look at Wang Mingzhi. Instead, he just sat down to munch on a nice piece of roast meat.

Fang Suyu, Wang Aolin, and some other Seven Kill Sect disciples who made it had nasty looks on their faces as they gathered together and whispered among themselves.

“You know, the dog that wants to bite wouldn’t make so much noise. But you? You’re an old dog who doesn’t even have the strength to bite anybody, yet you’re barking your head off here.”

Gu Suihan flipped his long robe aside to shoot a beam of sword qi at Wang Mingzhi. The older man howled as Gu Suihan sliced his remaining arm off, as well as his legs. He instantly turned into a human barrel.

As if that wasn’t enough, the sword qi split itself into tiny needles that pierced Wang Mingzhi’s eardrums and eyeballs. Once that was done, they flew up and down, sewing his mouth shut so that he couldn’t scream so loudly anymore.

“Why are you doing this? Isn’t it easier to just kill him? Why do you humiliate him so?” Xi Ran couldn’t help but speak up when he saw the state that Wang Mingzhi was in. They had known each other for many years after all.

“Are you certain that our road ahead is safe? I’m keeping him alive so that I can test the waters. Or would you rather be the bait instead?” said Gu Suihan with a disdainful sneer as he raised an eyebrow.