"What?" Pei Zi Yun cleared his throat before speaking, "Hurry, follow me!"
As he spoke, they rushed into the main hall and started killing their way through. A warrior stood up to block their way. Pei Zi Yun’s sword moved in a quick blur towards the warrior as he fell over. His intestines were spilling out of the slit in his abdomen.
"Die!" Song Zhi shouted as he too rushed towards them.
"Zhng zhng!" The traded several blows, and both of them fell backwards due to the ferocity of their strikes.
"Something’s not right. Don’t let him hide!" Shi Mu Zhong frowned, seeing a flaw in his plan. He then charged towards Pei Zi Yun as well.
Pei Zi Yun held on tightly to Ye Su’er as Shen Zhen and He Qing Qing crashed through the closed door leading to the west hall.
"Kill!" Shen Zhen’s knife moved like the wind, as he dashed towards the nearest two warriors who were fast catching up. He collided into them, charging hard with his shoulders before stabbing them hard and fast, as they bent over in pain.
On the table rested a mini figurine. Pei Zi Yun dashed forward towards the table and pulled the entire figurine down. Instantly, there was a loud rumble and the floor just further ahead from the table parted to reveal a secret basement.
"Hurry, get down!" Pei Zi Yun whispered urgently as the other three of them slipped within.
"Not good, there’s an underground basement!" Shi Mu Zhong forced his way through. At this moment a white blinding light from the reflection of the sword shone down upon the group of pursuers. Shi Mu Zhong reacted by stepping back in defense. A loud groan could be heard as one of the warriors in black stood still before trembling slightly. He then dropped his knife and clutched his abdomen where blood was dripping down. Although the wound wasn’t very wide, it was extremely deep. His bowels had been severed within. It was clear that he was a dead man walking.
Everyone was stumped by this, and were clearly taken aback.
Sensing the temporary confusion, Pei Zi Yun sprang out from from the corner and jumped into the secret basement.
Shi Mu Zhong looked down into the basement, and could see nothing. It was completely dark. He knew that he could not dispatch his men down since he was unsure of what lurked beneath, it could even be a trap. Just as several overly enthusiastic warriors were about to plunge in, he held a hand and shouted, "Wait. Do not go down yet."
He observed the latch and knocked at the walls surrounding the entrance before heaving a sigh of relief, "It’s a secret room, and doesn’t link outside. It’s probably used to hide someone from the intrusion of thieves or bandits."
"Since our poisonous incense is almost finished, we can use fire to smoke them to death from outside."
"Song Zhi, go outside and check where smoke is coming out from. That must be their ventilation gap. We can then focus the fire there to increase the speed." Shi Mu Zhong instructed.
"I am not your man to command. You cannot order me around." Song Zhi replied.
"You’ve just plotted to kill a True Element Sect Disciple, planned to kill your own fellow brother. If you do not kill them, can you escape the justice of your sect?" Shi Mu Zhong asked calmly.
"You!" Song Zhi’s face fell. He knew that he had been caught up in his ploy as well. At this point, he had already boarded a boat which had set sail, and thus had no other routes to take. He spun around and headed outside.
Before long, someone retrieved some wooden sticks and a torch.
"Toss the lighted sticks into the entrance of the secret basement." Shi Mu Zhong ordered as the men started lighting up the wooden sticks. Before long, the entire basement was covered with thick and dense smoke.
"Damn it, even using inner strength would not dispel the effects of the poison. It’s becoming more potent by the minute."
The entire area of the basement wasn’t very big. It was a small sized cellar with another room. This was used to hide away from bandits or insurgents. Pei Zi Yun had originally planned to create an entrance out of this cellar. However, the geology of this area could not support a long underground tunnel since it rained regularly. The rain water would inevitably cause the soil to be soft and will collapse the entire tunnel after just a few episodes of rain. Underground warfare was impossible in this region for that same reason.
Shen Zhen’s face was pale as he stood up. He had tried using his martial arts earlier to dispel the poison to no avail.
"Not good, these people wish to smoke us out." He Qing Qing started to panic. They looked up and could see people pouring oil onto the wooden sticks and lighting them up. These warriors managed to find several books which they drew down and burst into flames almost instantly. As fire started becoming bigger, the smoke became thicker, and everyone started coughing and choking.
"Hurry, block the hatch and try to prevent the smoke from entering."
Hearing the instructions, Shen Zhen, He Qing Qing and Ye Su’er started looking around for any object which might help them to block off the smoke entering through the hatch.
"Since this basement was built to prevent bandits from entering, it has been stocked up with supplies of rice and water. Pick up these bags of rice and place them in front to form a sort of wall, preventing as much smoke from coming in as possible. I shall find blankets and water, so that we can resist them for as long as possible." Pei Zi Yun spoke loudly before turning around to pick up some blankets. He then stuffed the blankets into a tank full of water, soaking the entire blanket. He then stuffed the wet blankets in between the gaps to the hatch. The thick smoke which had been flooding in started coming in small clouds instead.
"Damn it, the ventilation holes above had been blocked off." Pei Zi Yun’s face fell. This Shi Mu Zhong was worthy of his adviser title to Xie Cheng Dong, to be so cunning and precise with his plans.
"All of you should each prepare a wet blanket and try to hang on for some time more. However, we need to think of a way to leave this place. If not, we will die here in the basement." Pei Zi Yun frowned as he spoke.
"What a horrible way to die, by choking. Young Master Pei, are there any other exits to this basement? If not, we are stuck here." Shen Zhen asked.
"No, there aren’t any. In this area there’s no way to tunnel out due to the frequent rain and soft soil. The tunnels will collapse before long. Hence the only thing that could be built is a basement." Pei Zi Yun creased his eyebrows as he spoke.
"Young chieftain, this is all my fault for not selecting more able guards to defend the mansion. I’ve caused Miss Ye and everyone else to fall prey to such a predicament!" He Qing Qing told Pei Zi Yun, looking extremely reproachful.
"It’s not older sister’s fault. It’s all my fault. If I had not come to Snail Village, we would not have been attacked by Song Zhi, and would not have been in such a situation." Ye Su’er said sadly.
Pei Zi Yun took Ye Su’er in his arms and didn’t speak. He was deep in thought, thinking of a way to escape. Even if he was confident of killing his way across, he knew that he had been poisoned, and could not dispel it anytime soon.
"Song Zhi’s heart and mind has been long corrupted by vile thoughts. To have the audacity to plot with outsiders to kill me, and even wanted to besmirch the purity of Su’er. He must’ve planned this a long time ago. None of you are to be blamed." Pei Zi Yun said dejectedly.
'Right, and I have four pills left. These magical pills have extraordinary uses, and might even dispel the poison. The last time Shen Zhen was poisoned, this pill helped. What of a less potent poison?'
'Let’s try it out.' Pei Zi Yun thought to himself before retrieving the vial from his clothes. He then poured out a single red pill and swallowed it.
The familiar sensation of warmth filled his entire body. He could feel his inner strength fuse together to form an extremely strong sensation within his body. Even his spiritual energy took a slight boost. Soon after, all the inner strength and energy within his body depleted almost instantly once again. Pei Zi Yun’s face fell.
"Young Master Pei, even the magical pills are unable to dispel the effects of the poison?" Shen Zhen asked.
"It’s unable to." Pei Zi Yun said as a matter of fact.
Hearing his reply, Shen Zhen’s face turned pale too. He then looked up, "Young Master, cough cough. Let’s fight our way out. If not, we shall be burnt to death or die choking from smoke. At most, we can only stay here a little while longer before we have to fight out way out anyway."
"Is there any other way?" Pei Zi Yun thought to himself.
"I’ve already cultivated up to the tenth level, the full circle foundation. Since I’ve possess the memories of my senior granduncle, and the original owner, breaking through the gates of heaven should not be too difficult. Since I’ve just broken through to the tenth level recently, breaking through once again and opening the gates of heaven would mean my success rate would only be fifty percent." Pei Zi Yun hesitated. The blanket he was holding on had turned black with soot, as it absorbed most of the smoke that was within the chambers.
"Song Zhi, Shi Mu Zhong, you are all going to die." Pei Zi Yun resolved to kill them as he muttered under his breath.
"Shen Zhen, take the water from the tank and splash it over yourselves whenever it gets hot. Try and hold on for a little while longer. I’m already at the tenth level of cultivation, the full circle foundation. As long as I open the gates of heaven, I will become Yin Master. The poison would no longer affect me once I’m at the stage." Pei Zi Yun said coldly.
"What? You’re going to try and force through the gates of heaven?" Ye Su’er was taken aback by this revelation.
"Young Master Pei, with regards to the Dao, life and death hand on just a sliver. If you force your way through the gates of heaven, you might die should a mistake be made." Shen Zhen tried to dissuade him.
"I am fifty percent confident at this point. You do not need to convince me otherwise. There’s no other way. Besides, the longer we wait here, the lower our chance of survival. Before long we shall all die here." Pei Zi Yun replied.
"Just protect me to the best of your abilities. No matter what happens, don’t worry about me." Pei Zi Yun spoke solemnly. He had experienced opening the gates of heaven twice. At this crucial point of life and death, he would try the only way left.
"Oh." Ye Su’er acknowledged, her voice sounded coarse from all that smoke.
Shen Zhen and He Qing Qing looked at each other before sighing. They knew that this was their last lap. If Pei Zi Yun should fail, they were both ready to kill their way out, and take as many people as they could along with them in death.
Pei Zi Yun gently pried Ye Su’er away from his body. He then turned around and headed into the adjacent room. There was a praying mat within the room. Pei Zi Yun climbed on top of it, sat down and crossed his legs.
His heart fluttered and the information interface appeared before his eyes.
"Free Cloud Sect Manual: Level 10"
"Dao Techniques: 39 Variations, Advanced"
"Free Cloud Sect Sword Technique: Master (18.1% Completed)"
'Having acquired the Shen family’s Thirty Seven Techniques, my sword skills have improved considerably. Although it’s still some distance away from breaking through this level. Besides, if I were to improve further I would be untouchable, a deity among men in terms of sword fighting.'
Pei Zi Yun thought to himself. Regardless of Dao arts or martial arts, as long as he opened the gates of heaven, he would be able to exhibit the powers of a Yin Master and defeat these men easily.
'Although I have the memories of my senior granduncle and the original owner, opening the gates of heaven isn’t a small matter. Even with the knowledge and experience, the success rate was fifty percent. However at this point, I’m unable to tolerate the spread of the poison any longer. I have to hurry end this fight.'
Pei Zi Yun took in a deep breath, still seated cross legged. He closed his eyes, and everything within his mind was perfectly clear. Breaking the gates of heaven involved the coalescing of energy, blood and vitality within his body. He would use all these to nourish his consciousness and cause an expansion of the consciousness. When that happens, a person will become Yin Master.
Only when a person becomes Yin Master will he be able to open the gates of heaven. He would be able to fuse the internal and external aspects and gain control of the spiritual energy on heaven and earth. When a person was about to break through, he would prepare and consume pills to nourish his energy. However since he had just consumed a pill, there was no need to take another.
'In fact, that’s the experience of a normal person. There were some hidden details which had been forbidden to be passed on, and yet I’m aware of.'
Pei Zi Yun remained seated on the straw mat, crossed legged. Vitality and blood swirled around his body endlessly. Suddenly, his forehead turned a deep shade of red, while his face turned pale. His body had withered considerably.
Following Pei Zi Yun’s absorption of energy from his surroundings, everything started vibrating and shaking violently around him. It was almost as if the heavens had been stirred up and was agitated.
"What? The energy has been stirred up. Pei Zi Yun is trying to break through the gates of heaven." Once everyone on top felt the tremors, Shi Mu Zhong who was calm and collected previously started to panic, "Song Zhi, you and I shall wield our powers together later on. Let’s extinguish this fire and charge in."
At this point Song Zhi’s face turned pale as well. Pei Zi Yun had only been around for a short time and he had already managed to activate the energy from the heaven and earth in a bid to open the gates of heaven. Song Zhi found himself in such a difficult position. Once Pei Zi Yun succeeds, Song Zhi would find himself at the end of the road. He thus gritted his teeth, "Fine!"
The single syllable word escaped through his gritted teeth, killing aura radiating. The person who hated Pei Zi Yun most in this world, was Song Zhi.
"Hurry, retrieve all the burning wooden sticks." The warriors in black robes started picking up the burning sticks without a care for the intense heat and chucked it aside to extinguish. Just now they were afraid that burning all these would not be enough. At this point they were afraid it wouldn’t extinguish quickly enough.
Qin Gao seemed rather calm and said, "Mister Shi, this person is only at the tenth level of cultivation at most. Opening the gates of heaven had only two outcomes, life or death. How can it be that easy for him?"
Hearing these words, Shi Mu Zhong’s face sank, "This person had been on the receiving end of the shift in fortunes. We cannot speak of him as we would, a normal person. At this point we should kill our way in and ensure that he doesn’t have enough space and time to succeed."
"Pei Zi Yun’s innate talents are extremely strong. Only by killing him can we end this farce once and for all. Once he manages to open the gates of heaven, we shall all die under his sword."
As he spoke, he realized that most of the huge chunks of burning wood had been removed. As for the rest of them, Shi Mu Zhong and Song Zhi were prepared. They pointed at the remaining fire as jets of water sprayed across, extinguishing it.
The both of them covered their mouths and nose before jumping into the secret basement. A shout could then be heard from above, "Damn it, they managed to build a makeshift wall. No wonder most of the smoke didn’t get through to them."
"Kill! Kill your way through!"