Blade - Unbound

The fissure was enormous, clearly not something human hands could have created.

The moment Li Yan saw it, he understood. "So this is the tomb of the ancient Zhou ritualist."

The recent ritual duel, as well as the Du Family's current predicament, had all originated from this ancient tomb.

A band of tomb robbers had discovered the ancient Zhou figure's burial chamber. However, unable to overcome the deadly mechanisms inside, they had simply blasted it open with large quantities of explosives.

One glance at the pitch-black opening was enough to imagine how tremendous the explosion must have been.

Sha Lifei's eyes gleamed with interest as he chuckled. "So many people dug through it, and even Sister Hong's master died inside. There must've been some good stuff. How about we take a look after we're done here?"

Li Yan shook his head. "Forget it. After the incident, both the Military Surveillance Department and the Enforcement Hall came to investigate. Even if anything valuable had remained, it would've been taken long ago. Let's go. The real business comes first."

Casting one last glance at the cave entrance, Li Yan turned and walked away.

The Northern Emperor Scripture and the Luofeng Scripture that he possessed were already astonishing inheritances in themselves. The further one cultivated them, the more formidable they became, even offering a path toward ascension. Even if the tomb still contained some inheritance, it held no attraction for him whatsoever.

The three of them continued onward through the howling wind and snow as the terrain became much more complicated. Their torch had long since been extinguished by the gale and refused to relight. Darkness enveloped everything around them. Had Li Yan not activated his divine ability to guide the way, they would surely have become hopelessly lost.

Before long, they reached the base of a cliff, where the entrance to the Du Family's ancestral tomb lay. Many years ago, a large number of trees had been planted here, and had since grown into a dense forest that completely concealed the entrance. To outsiders, it looked no different from an abandoned forest.

Entering, they noticed freshly cut branches along the path, obvious traces left behind when Master Du had inspected the site not long ago. Following those signs to the foot of the cliff, they found that the wind and snow had weakened considerably. After relighting their torch, a narrow crack split into the mountainside appeared before them.

It was narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, forming the shape of the character of "human."

"The fengshui of the yin residence has already been broken. No wonder disaster struck." Wang Daoxuan shook his head before consulting the scroll in his hand. "Let's go. According to the records, this tomb wasn't built with any mechanisms."

"Wait." Li Yan raised a hand to stop them. Sniffing the air, he frowned. "Daoist, didn't you say that the demon was nurtured within the coffin? Why can't I smell its scent here?"

Wang Daoxuan pondered for a moment before he replied, "The Demonic Sheng is exceedingly rare. I've never even heard of a method to deliberately cultivate one. There may be something else at work here. We'll only know after we look."

"We should still be careful." Li Yan sighed before forming hand seals and chanted, "Nuogao! Supreme straw effigies, forge armor and soldiers, expel evil and uphold righteousness. Let yang harmony fill the body. By the decree of the Northern Yin Emperor, suppress blades and weapons! By my command!"

Rustle...

As soon as the incantation ended, a swarm of straw effigies flew out from the leather pouch at his waist. They slipped into the mountain fissure and vanished into the darkness.

A long while later, Li Yan slowly opened his eyes, a trace of confusion flickering across them.

Sha Lifei asked immediately, "What is it?"

"Nothing." Li Yan shook his head. "I didn't detect any danger inside. It's just... The tomb is built rather strangely. Come on. You'll understand as soon as you see it."

The mountain fissure was only wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways. The three of them quickly forced their way inside. Fortunately, the passage gradually widened. After advancing seven or eight meters, a cavernous burial chamber appeared before them.

Running a hand over the surrounding bricks, Wang Daoxuan remarked, "Most Zhou tombs were vertical earthen pit burials. This chamber was excavated later by the Du Family. Beyond it lies the abandoned Zhou tomb."

Sha Lifei peered ahead, puzzled. "I don't see anything unusual."

Ahead, the burial chamber was sealed by a stone wall carved with a decorative stone archway. Beneath it stood a stone door that already bore a wide crack.

Li Yan said simply, "It's inside.”

He motioned for Sha Lifei to help. In tombs like the one they had found, the stone doors were usually secured from within by massive locking stones that dropped into place when the tomb was sealed, making them almost impossible to open. Now, however, the inner chamber had collapsed, snapping those locking stones. With a combined effort, the two of them slowly pushed the door open.

Holding up his torch, Sha Lifei illuminated both sides of the entrance and asked, "Why's there another archway here? The imperial funerary record didn't mention this."

Even Wang Daoxuan looked puzzled and frowned. "What sort of burial design is this?"

Beyond the stone door stood another stone gateway. Its structure was simple, two upright pillars supporting a horizontal beam, with a thick braided rope hanging across it.

"That isn't an archway..." Li Yan frowned, his expression becoming rather strange. "That's called a torii. It's a structure built outside shrines in Yingzhou."

He had already sensed that something felt oddly familiar, but hadn't been able to place it. Now, examining it carefully by torchlight, distant memories surfaced, and he immediately recognized it.

"The land across the sea?" Sha Lifei blinked. "Where's that?"

Wang Daoxuan shook his head. "He means the land of the Wa people."

Realization dawned on Sha Lifei as he scratched his head. "Oh. That's strange. What's a bunch of Wa people doing here?"

"Let's keep going." Curiosity also filled Li Yan's eyes as he continued deeper into the tomb. "Perhaps the answer lies deeper inside."

The further they ventured, the stranger the interior became. The putrid stench of decay returned as well.

Li Yan eventually glanced back at the torii. That structure had likely been erected to prevent the scent of the Demonic Sheng from leaking outside. The burial passage followed the common architectural style of the central plains, but strange stone pillars had been added throughout, each adorned with braided ropes and white paper talismans.

Most of the ropes had already snapped, while the paper talismans had blackened and curled with age. The mixture of the two completely different styles looked profoundly out of place.

Sha Lifei stared curiously and asked, "What are these things? Wa talismans? Why are they white? That's bad luck."

At last, the three of them entered the central burial chamber. The room was not particularly large, but was octagonal in shape, corresponding to the Eight Trigrams and Nine Palaces. The coffin was carved from stone, its surface covered in intricate patterns. Suspended above it was an enormous bronze mirror.

The mirror had long since rusted. Something had corroded it, leaving countless black blotches across its surface, along with a massive crack.

More importantly, thick braided ropes had also been wrapped around the stone coffin. They had completely rotted away, merging with the white paper talismans attached to them, together giving off a nauseating stench of decay.

The smell was remarkably similar to what Li Yan had detected at the Du Family's estate.

He was now completely certain that people from Wa were involved. According to memories from his previous life, braided ropes and white talismans were precisely the methods the Japanese used for sealing things.

"Little Yan, look over here!" Having circled the stone coffin, Sha Lifei seemed to have discovered something and hurriedly called the others over.

Li Yan walked over as Sha Lifei raised the torch. Numerous grotesque monsters were carved into the coffin. Among them was one with a bird's head and a human body. It was identical to the Demonic Sheng they had seen at the Du estate.

Beside it were the characters: Yin demonic fiend

Li Yan frowned. "Daoist, didn't you mention before that the Demonic Sheng had two other names, Rakshasa Bird and the demonic fiend?"

"Yes." Wang Daoxuan's expression grew grave. "The demonic fiend is the Buddhist designation for it. So there really is something suspicious here. Someone spent twenty years laying such elaborate plans, all to cultivate this evil creature."

His gaze then shifted toward the countless monsters carved across the coffin, killing intent rising within his eyes. "What are all these?"

Wood Charm... Great Tengu... Mountain Child...

As one familiar name after another stirred memories from his previous life, Li Yan slowly shook his head. "I've heard of these before. The Wa people call this the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons."

Wang Daoxuan's face darkened. "Hmph! A land across the sea dares cast curses and harm people within the Great Xuan Dynasty? When we return, I'll report this to the Enforcement Hall. We'll destroy their mountain shrines and raze the demonic temples!"

The three of them pushed the lid off the stone coffin. Accompanied by a heavy grinding sound, the lid slowly slid aside. Inside rested another wooden coffin; however, a large hole had been smashed through the center of its lid.

Not only had the coffin itself rotted away, but its interior had been completely emptied. The burial goods had been ransacked and every valuable object was gone. Only shattered porcelain vessels and broken ceramic pillows remained.

Sha Lifei exclaimed, "This is bad! The tomb robbers got here first!"

Even Wang Daoxuan felt a headache coming on.

Sha Lifei continued to yell, "What do we do now? Without the corpse, we can't perform the ritual to suppress the Demonic Sheng."

"It wasn't the tomb robbers." Li Yan shook his head as he surveyed the surroundings. "The record Master Du gave us never mentioned any of these arrangements. The Du Family's fate depended on this place. He would never have lied about it. He must have inspected it himself before sealing the tomb. All of this was added later."

With that, he formed the Yang Seal and inhaled deeply. Every scent within the tomb flooded into his nose.

Suddenly spinning around, Li Yan strode to the position of wood and wind of the Eight Trigrams. Channeling hidden force into his leg, he delivered a powerful kick.

Boom!

The stone wall exploded apart with a thunderous crash, revealing a pitch-black tunnel. It had been no more than a few inches thick.

Li Yan once again sent straw effigies ahead to scout. After confirming there were no traps, he took the lead into the passage, with Sha Lifei and Wang Daoxuan following closely behind.

The tunnel stretched on for quite some distance. Many footprints could still be seen in the earth beneath them. After walking several hundred meters, they reached the end of the tunnel, where a wooden plank blocked the exit.

Li Yan kicked it aside without hesitation.

Crash!

Snow and loose earth cascaded downward and an icy wind rushed in as they emerged into a ravine on the opposite side of the hill. Looking out, they saw nothing but endless darkness and a vast snow-covered wilderness.

Sha Lifei sighed helplessly. "The snow's too heavy. It covered all the tracks. Little Yan, can you still pick up a scent?"

As the blizzard howled around them, Li Yan slowly shook his head. "The wind's too strong. Even if any scent remained, it would've been blown away by now."

The three of them stood there for quite some time, unable to think of a solution.

At last, Wang Daoxuan sighed. "Let's head back first. We'll see if there's another way to temporarily suppress the bloodline curse.

"As it turns out, it really was the work of the Wa people. We should ask Master Du whether he's ever made enemies with any of them. Perhaps that'll help us find the missing corpse."

With no other options left, the three of them stopped wasting time. They returned to retrieve their horses and rode through the night toward Guodu Town.

***

By midnight, every member of the Du Family had already evacuated the estate. Holding torches, they stood at a distance, staring toward the darkened manor.

The winter night was bitterly cold, but the fear in their hearts chilled them even more.

Within the pitch-black courtyard, violent winds suddenly erupted around the main hall, accompanied by the sounds of tables and chairs splintering apart. The commotion lasted for a long time before finally subsiding.

The Du Family trembled with fear.

Meanwhile, Luo Faqing had already finished setting up his ritual altar, planting one ritual banner after another upside down into the ground. As he gazed into the surrounding darkness, faint killing intent flickered within his eyes.

His awakened divine ability was a spiritual divine ability, which excelled at communicating with ghosts and spirits. Many powerful shamans possessed the same gift. Its weakness, however, was its poor ability to investigate and search.

Even so, Luo Faqing remained supremely confident. He could command three yin deities and had already reached the third level of cultivation. Even among the disciples of the Shang Mountain lineage, he ranked among the very best, which was why he had been sent to Chang'an to assist Yue Fachong.

He might not excel at dispelling disasters and offering blessings, but when it came to killing, he had absolute confidence in his abilities.

Time quietly passed. At last, midnight came and went. Everyone was shivering uncontrollably from the cold, yet none dared return to the estate. Only after the hour of the rat passed did Luo Faqing finally permit everyone to go back.

Upon entering the main hall and lighting the candles, everyone stared in shock. Every paper figure there had become charred and rotten. Their heads, chests, and abdomens had all been ripped to shreds.

A chill crept into everyone's hearts.

Steward Wang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with trembling hands. Suddenly feeling a chill down his spine, he instinctively turned around and froze.

"Y-Young Master..."

Hearing his voice, everyone immediately looked over. Standing silently in the pitch-black courtyard was a child in tattered clothes. He wore no shoes and his skin had turned bluish-purple from the freezing cold. With his head lowered, he simply stood there in silence.

"My son!"

Seeing the miserable state of their child, Du An and his wife instantly lost control. With anguished cries, they rushed forward.

Luo Faqing roared, stopping everyone. "Don't move! He's no longer human!"

At the same time, he formed hand seals, drew out a talisman, and hurled it forward.

To everyone else's eyes, the talisman ignited in midair. However, a blazing wave of astral qi had already surged outward.

Crack!

The child's head suddenly twisted at an unnatural angle. Then, he scuttled across the snowy ground like a spider, effortlessly avoiding Luo Faqing's attack.

Finally, everyone understood. Their young master was no longer a human being.

Du An and his wife collapsed to the ground. Their fear vanished, replaced only by unbearable grief as they burst into heartbroken sobs. Master Du clenched his fists tightly, tears filling his eyes. As long as the child had remained missing, there had still been a glimmer of hope.

But seeing him like this, everyone knew he was truly gone. He had been reduced to nothing more than a puppet controlled by an evil practitioner.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Moving on all fours with astonishing speed, the child darted around Luo Faqing while attempting to rush into the main hall and attack those inside. However, Luo Faqing had already reached the peak of the Dark Jin Realm and was highly accomplished in swordsmanship.

Maintaining his hand seals, he drew out the ritual seal hanging from his waist. He had already recognized that the child had become a walking corpse. Spirits were not the proper way to deal with such creatures, nor was there time to summon them.

Still, breaking through his defenses was impossible. Once again, he employed the same technique, striking the hilt of his wooden sword with his ritual seal. The walking corpse convulsed violently as though struck by lightning and was blasted several meters backward.

This technique was called the Commander of Soldiers Evil-Suppressing Sword, an ancient Qin palace art. Much like Li Yan's Three Talent Demon-Suppressing Coins, it used baleful astral qi to subdue evil beings.

Unable to withstand the blow, the small walking corpse immediately fled. Like a spider, it scrambled over the courtyard wall and disappeared into the dark, snowy night.

"Enough crying!" Hearing the sobs around him, Luo Faqing shouted angrily. "If you want to catch the real culprit, then everyone stay quiet!"

With that, he leapt into the courtyard and planted another ritual banner into the earth.

A gust of yin wind immediately rose into the night sky. Some time later, another gust returned and the ritual banners fluttered violently.

Luo Faqing retrieved the banner and looked toward the distance, deep in thought.

Master Du hurriedly asked, "Daoist Luo, did you find it?"

Luo Faqing shook his head. "Not yet, but I've already identified its location. But we mustn't fall for a tactic of luring the tiger away from the mountain. We'll wait until Daoist Wang and the others return."

***

"Daoist Wang has returned!"

Shortly after the hour of the snake arrived, Li Yan and the other two finally arrived after traveling through the entire night. All three of them were shivering from the cold.

Steward Wang immediately led the servants over to receive them. He called out, "Quick! Quick! Ginger soup!"

Only after downing two steaming bowls of ginger soup did the three finally regain some warmth.

Sha Lifei cursed loudly, "Damn it, the whole trip was for nothing. We rushed back overnight because we were afraid something would've happened."

Luo Faqing frowned. "You weren't able to resolve it?"

Wang Daoxuan nodded before turning toward Master Du. "Master Du, have you ever made enemies with the Wa people?"

"The Wa people?" Master Du looked even more astonished as he tried to think back on what had happened. "I've never known any Wa people. The man who taught me this formation back then was handsome and carried himself with the bearing of nobility. He couldn't possibly have been one of them."

Li Yan and the others were equally baffled. "Now that's strange..."

Luo Faqing slammed the table, undisguised killing intent flashing in his eyes. "Demonic cultivators from the land of Wa actually dared come to Great Xuan to commit such atrocities, they're courting death!"

However, he quickly continued, "But it doesn't matter. Whoever's behind this is irrelevant. Last night, I already tracked the demon and found its lair."

Li Yan's eyes lit up. "Oh? Where?"

Luo Faqing looked into the distance and spoke slowly. "In a valley near Xiangji Temple. You've surely heard of the place."

"South of Xiangji Temple? It's the site of that ancient battle..."