Chapter 7: Lotus Blade

“Impressive skills, Young Master.” The middle aged scholar stood up, nodded his head.

Xiao Se waved his hand, “No at all not at all, it was just a tiny magic trick. I don’t know any martial arts.”

“You don’t know martial arts?” The middle aged scholar laughed. “The journey ahead is fraught with danger. If young master really doesn’t know any martial arts, my advice is to avoid stepping in these muddled waters.”

“Why?” Xiao Se’s eyebrows jumped. “Are you trying to go back on your word?”

The middle aged scholar shook his head, “I won’t renege on our agreement for certain. Just because I said that I won’t make a move, it doesn’t mean my companions won’t make a move. They aren’t the most patient of people… In fact, they may already have made their move.”

“Oh?” Xiao Se snickered, “Well, we have another friend here with us. Even though his brain isn’t the most developed, his martial arts are the exact opposite. Your companions might not be able to take care of him so easily.”

“If you knew who we are, you definitely won’t be saying that.” The middle aged scholar declared proudly.

Xiao Se shoved both his hands in his sleeves and droned, “White Haired Immortal of the Outheaven faction. If this was twelve years ago, that would undoubtedly be a name to capture the attention.”

The middle aged scholar was stunned for a moment then a cold light flashed through his eyes. His usually calm voice held a trace of agitation as he exclaimed, “Who are you exactly?! How do you know of me?! How do you know of the Outheaven?!”

Xiao Se shrugged his shoulders and said, “Was that such a feat? Even though there are very little people in the world who know about you now, there will still be those who do…”

Xiao Se wasn’t able to complete his sentence as the middle aged scholar had already charged towards him. Curling the fingers of his left hand, the scholar lunged at Xiao Se.

Tang Lian hurriedly extended his hand out to intercept the scholar’s attack but he was pushed back by the jade sword in the scholar’s right hand. In that instant, the scholar grabbed Xiao Se’s collar and shouted, “You’re coming with us!”

Xiao Se innocently cried out, “But I won…”

The middle aged scholar coldly laughed, “Since you already know about the Outheaven faction, you should know how we act.” Having said that, he pulled Xiao Se up with a single hand and proceeded out of the hall. Tang Lian chased after him but the attendants behind the middle aged scholar quickly raised their swords to force him back.

Yet Xiao Se merely shouted at the Nether Duke and Lunar Maiden who had been watching at the sidelines all along with a cold gaze, “Thirteen years ago, there was a case known as the Red Clothed Murder in the Seekers Cloth Pavilion. The murderer is…”

“What?!” The Lunar Maiden instantly leaped down from her seat.

The Nether Duke reacted as well, turning around ferociously as he tightened the grip on his giant blade.

At this time, Xiao Se had already been taken away by the middle aged scholar.

With no time to hesitate, the two killers chased after the distancing pair. Several of the scholar’s servants tried to stop them, but with a silvery glimmer of the Lunar Maiden’s Corset Sword and a roaring swing of the Nether Duke’s blade, these servants either had their throats punctured or their bodies cut in half.

“Such bloodthirstiness!” The Heavenly Maiden Rui couldn’t help but remark.

Tang Lian frowned, “I’ve crossed hands with them twice now. However, this is the first time I’ve seen such towering killing intent from them. What exactly lies behind the words that Xiao Se said just now?”

Heavenly Maiden Rui shook her head, “The Red Clothed Murder of Seekers Cloth Pavilion was an unsolved case which took place thirteen years ago. I have no idea why your friend suddenly brought it up but what do we do now? Do we give chase?”

Tang Lian thought about it and said, “No, the Red Clothed Murder should have something to do with the Lunar Maiden and the Nether Duke. Xiao Se wanted the White Hair Immortal to snatch him away, just like how he lured away the two of them just moments later. We’ll go and look for Lei Wujie right now!”

“Who is this Lei Wujie? Where is he?”

“He’s in the backyard! He’s guarding the object in question and if that white haired man spoke the truth, I’m afraid he’s already…”

“Boom!” A loud explosion suddenly ripped across the sky. Everyone present instinctively raised their hand to cover their ears.

“I’m Lei Wujie from the Jiangnan Incendiary Hall’s Lei Clan! If there is still anyone not afraid of death after hearing that, come at me!!” Lei Wujie roared as he stood on the golden coffin, multiple Lightning Bullets in his hands and eyes raring to go.

The black clothed men surrounding the carriage, seemingly taken aback by the sudden outburst, took a few steps back.

Lei Wujie finally managed to catch his breath. When he was hiding in the horse carriage, he suddenly felt as though there were dozens of sinister palm qi aimed at him. He hastily circulated his qi to defend himself but he realized that the several palm qi were extremely weird. The palm qi felt soft yet sinister. His qi was instantly neutralized the moment it came into contact with the palm qi. It felt like the weight of a mountain bore down him as the qi of those ten assailants rushed at him; it became impossible to even breathe.

Without any choice, he could only use up all his qi.  His eyes turned red in an instant and the pressure on his body was reduced by a large amount as he forced himself to stand up. With a roar, Lei Wujie finally managed to rebuff the incoming palm qi yet it was at that instant that the horse carriage instantly broke apart. Without even sparing that a single thought, however,  Lei Wujie threw out bunch of Lightning Bullets that finally managed to force the assailants to retreat.

It was at this point Lei Wujie finally had the opportunity to look at the people attacking him. They were clad fully in black and none of them held weapons but had a pair of deathly pale hands.

“Who are you people?” Lei Wujie asked.

No one replied him. The leader of the black clothed men waved his hand, the other eight black clothed men suddenly made their move. Leaping into the air, eight sinister ghost claws shot towards Lei Wujie. One aimed for his lower body, one aimed for his head. Another aimed at his back and the fourth claw went straight for his heart. As for the other four, they went for his limbs. If anyone were to end up caught in such a manner, they would be dead beyond a doubt. However, with just one pair of hands, how was he to defend against eight simultaneous attacks? Impossible, unless he had three heads and eight arms!

Yet in that instant, it was as though Lei Wujie became just such a person. Four Lei Wujies appeared in an instant and they kept their back to each other forming a perfect defense.

The leader of the black clothed men was shocked for a moment. “Such great speed!” He carefully looked at Lei Wujie and he realized that there was steam coming from his body. Lei Wujie’s pupils were fiery-red at the moment.

“Blazing Arts? No wonder…” The leader of the black clothed men lightly waved his hand.

At this moment, all eight of them had already been beaten back by Lei Wujie. However, in the next instant, they moved again. All eight of them attacked at the same time, aiming for the exact same spots. This time, Lei Wujie wasn’t quick enough to stop them. Yet it was also at that instant that a lotus flower flew out from behind him, a jet black lotus that was both dazzling and enchanting at the same time.

The lotus flower exploded in mid air and seven petals instantly shot towards seven of the assailants, each tearing through the air at a speed nigh uncatchable. There was no doubt in the minds of those seven black clothed men that the petals would be able to easily split their head apart. The reason they were so sure was because they heard of this very weapon in the past: the Lotus Blade! In history, some of the Tangmen’s scariest hidden weapons included the Thousand Petal Lotus, Heavy Lotus, Returning Lotus, and the Seven Petal Lotus. This was only the Seven Petal Lotus. If it was any other Lotus Blade, they wouldn’t even have the chance to dodge! Retreat was the only option so they quickly stepped back!

However, there was another black clothed man! He didn’t retreat at all as his right hand reached for Lei Wujie’s heart. As long as he was able to advance another inch, he would be able to take Lei Wujie’s life. However, that opportunity would never come. A shadow jumped into the air behind Lei Wujie and a flash appeared in the hand of the shadow. Like a beam of moonlight, it slashed at the black clothed man and directly chopped off his hand! As the shadow raised its right foot, the black clothed man was sent flying with a single kick. After settling all the black clothed men, the shadow landed on the coffin.

“Tang Lian.” The leader of the black clothed men frowned, “You were actually able to walk out of there alive…”

Tang Lian cocked his head and looked at Lei Wujie before asking, “How is it?”

Lei Wujie cleaned the sweat off his body, right now it felt like his entire body was on fire with how it kept emitting hot gas. Pupils crimson red, he took a long breath, “I recently learned this martial art so I’m not too proficient at it yet. There is no problem now though, I can even fight off dozens like you.”

“Such bluster.” The leader of the black clothed men coldly laughed, “Using the Burning Arts involves burning one’s inner fire to temporarily obtain overwhelming strength. However, how long can a little firewood like you burn?”

“Although I have no idea how long I can sustain it for, it’s definitely enough to defeat you bunch of wretches like you who are neither ghost nor human.” Lei Wujie took a step forward and said.

“What big words.” The leader of the black clothed men coldly laughed.

Tang Lian suddenly reached out and blocked Lei Wujie’s way. As Lei Wujie turned his head in confusion to look at Tang Lian, Tang Lian pointed at the night sky and said, “Look.”

Lei Wujie raised his head but was only able to spot a full moon hanging in the sky. He asked out of curiosity, “What is it?”

Tang Lian replied, “Do you feel anything different?”

Lei Wujie widened his eyes and examined the area Tang Lian pointed to and hesitated with his reply, “It looks the same to me…”

Tang Lian sighed. “It’s the twenty-second of the month today, there should be a crescent moon in the sky so why is there a full one instead?”

“Senior martial brother, you mean…”

“It’s the Space Severing technique! The Space Severing technique is an unorthodox array that inflicts a dreamlike state on those affected. No matter what happens next, you cannot believe everything you see! However, you cannot dismiss everything you see either!” Tang Lian said.

Lei Wujie laughed bitterly and said, “What in the world are you saying? Why can’t I understand any of it?”

“Be careful!” Tang Lian suddenly looked below Lei Wujie and cried out.

Lei Wujie jerked his head and looked below him to find countless deathly pale and withered hands reaching out towards his legs from inside the coffin. In his panic, Lei Wujie jumped into the air but in mid air, a ghost claw shot towards his heart. Punching out, Lei Wujie wanted to destroy the claw but his fist went through it instead. He hurriedly stabilized his qi and finally managed to balance himself, eventually landing on the ground with a swaying body. Even though he had been practicing martial arts since young and met many experts during that process, it was the first time he had experienced such a terrifying array. His back was covered in cold sweat and he turned around to look at Tang Lian, “Senior martial brother!”

Instead of receiving a reply, he only saw Tang Lian frowning with his eyes closed.

Lei Wujie cried out, “Senior Brother, you can’t just give up like this!”

Just as he was done screaming and shouting, Tang Lian waved his hand and a Phoenix Tail Dart flew out from his sleeve. It shot towards a ghost claw which appeared behind Lei Wujie’s body. A hole appeared in the claw in an instant followed by a miserable cry behind him. Turning around, the ghost claw had already disappeared. The only thing left behind was a pool of fresh blood. Lei Wujie was unable to control himself and he yelled, “Senior Martial Brother, how do you know it’s a real claw this time?”

Tang Lian had his eye closed still and he slightly frowned as though he was trying his hardest to listen to something. “In a Severed Space, not everything you see is real but the killing intent will never lie. When faced with a situation like this, you have to close your eyes and use your ears to feel.”

“Distinguishing the location of something from sound alone is something you have to learn in Snow Moon City. Today, I’ll have to teach you that first. To do so, the crux lies in the ‘wind’. As vast as the earth may be, there is nowhere that wind cannot be found. The biggest flaw of a Severed Space is that it isolates all the noise from the outside world. Because of that, as long as you listen carefully in a Severed Space, you will be able to pick up the slightest tear in the wind. That’s where the weapon of your enemy will be. That’s the instant he reveals his position!” The moment he said his last word, Tang Lian leaped into the air. He pulled a black clothed man out from the void and a flying dagger twirled around in his hand. He sliced through the neck of his opponent and kicked him to the ground casually.

At this moment, Lei Wujie’s hand wildly waved around and formed a beautiful arc in the air. He blocked all the ghost claws in the air no matter if they were real or fake. He then closed his eyes. Concentrating hard, he suddenly heard the wind wildly rampaging around his ears; that was the wind created by his wild flailing. Try as he might, all he could hear was the sound created by his waving. Everything else was peaceful and quiet. However, all of a sudden, something tore apart the peace of the wind. Lei Wujie’s reacted in an instant and he punched out towards the sound of the wind. The next thing he heard was a miserable cry at which point the figure of a black clothed man appeared, vomited a mouthful of blood and fell to the ground.

“Such preternatural talent.” Tang Lian praised.

Lei Wujie opened his eyes and laughed, “Well, I’ve been training since young so my sense of hearing has been honed well.” Just as he was getting full of himself, a hand suddenly reached out from the ground and grabbed at his ankle. Lei Wujie was shocked but before he could react, he saw a Phoenix Tail Dart shooting across the air and pierce into the ground, followed by the hand suddenly losing all strength.

“Too bad you’re still too naive.” Tang Lian sighed.