"Ah!"
Hearing that heart-wrenching scream, Xie Laosan fought like a madman or demon. Hair disheveled, resembling a ferocious specter, his solitary hand darted left and right, clawing and striking at Lei Hu again and again, going for ears and eyes, targeting every vital spot.
Lei Hu's remaining eye widened. Maddened by excruciating pain, he sensed the fierce assault from above and simply abandoned Lian Youming before him. Swinging both fists in a frenzy, he smashed toward Xie Laosan's elusive, flickering claw shadows.
Lian Youming was not about to let such a prime opportunity slip by. Having just seen Xie Laosan's vicious tactic of striking low between the legs, and remembering that Lei Hu was impervious to ordinary punches and kicks, he seized the gap as the man withdrew his fists. Lian Youming feinted with his hands while gathering all his strength into his right foot. Tensing the instep, he hooked a vicious kick upward.
Blinded in one eye, Lei Hu was already in utter disarray. Now forced to parry the deadly attacks from above, his fists swung wildly. Just as Xie Laosan was struggling to hold out, on the verge of dying beneath his fists, a sudden chill struck Lei Hu between the legs, shocking him to his core.
The kick Lian Youming hooked upward wasn't just aiming for his groin—it was aiming for his life.
Yet he was, after all, a desperate outlaw who lived on the edge of a blade. Even in such dire straits, Lei Hu managed to react. Instead of retreating, he lunged forward, his legs like two strange pythons wrapping around Lian Youming's right foot, and threw his body sideways to the ground.
His right leg trapped and his movements pinned, Lian Youming felt a tearing pain through sinew and bone under Lei Hu's pulling force, as if his leg were about to snap. Uncontrollably, he too tumbled downward.
Still clutching Lei Hu's neck, Xie Laosan fell along with them.
The moment they fell, Lei Hu—fearing Lian Youming might strike—drove power from his waist and rolled with the two of them. Like gourds tumbling across the ground, the three flipped and rolled, crashing left and right through the mountain woods.
Under the violent, ferocious force and the battering against rocks, Xie Laosan felt as though every bone in his body was coming apart, his face pale as paper.
Trapped by the leg, Lian Youming could not break free for the moment either, forced to flip and twist with their momentum, battered until his head spun.
Seizing the opening, Lei Hu's remaining bloodshot eye flared. With one hand clamped tightly around Xie Laosan's left wrist, his other hand formed a tiger's claw and lunged upward like lightning, turning his wrist to latch onto Xie Laosan's waist and abdomen, driving his force deep into the bone.
"Ugh!"
His soft flank seized, intense agony wrung a stifled groan from Xie Laosan. With the breath in his dantian leaking away, eight or nine-tenths of his strength vanished, and his whole body went limp.
"Old bastard!"
Lei Hu gave a cruel grin. Veins bulged along his arms as they swelled with power, adopting a grotesque posture as though intent on tearing Xie Laosan to pieces on the spot.
The sound of tearing cloth rang out clearly, accompanied by Xie Laosan's shriek of agony.
In the midst of the grapple, Lei Hu had already kicked Lian Youming away.
"Die!"
With his legs freed, Lei Hu drew in a breath, steadied his stance, and held Xie Laosan high, slamming him violently down toward his raised right knee.
Facing certain doom, Xie Laosan's heart was filled with bitter reluctance, his aged eyes completely bloodshot.
Alas, his qi and blood were withered, and his body was maimed. Were it not for that, how could he have fallen so low?
"Alas!"
A soft sigh slipped out, leaking both spirit and strength.
As for Lian Youming, may fortune favor him.
On the verge of death, Xie Laosan still glanced instinctively toward the figure that had rolled away.
He must have been possessed to trust this kid. If he had known, he should have run as far away as possible.
At the very instant his eyes darted, Xie Laosan felt a sudden warmth against his cheek. In that moment, Lei Hu's other eye burst with a sharp pop! Blood splattered, and time seemed to freeze.
Several meters away, Lian Youming, filthy and dust-covered, rose halfway to his knees. Holding a slingshot in his hand, he was gasping for air.
Lei Hu's motion of slamming Xie Laosan down hitched abruptly. Before the giant could even scream, Xie Laosan seized the chance to slip from his grip. Falling from midair, his foot pivoted, circling behind Lei Hu. His left hand darted like lightning between the man's legs—a squeeze, and a release!
"Mmph..."
In an instant, Lei Hu's entire face flushed an engorged, visible red, the veins on his neck bulging violently. He shot upright like a spring, and amidst a muffled, agonizing groan that pierced to the bone, he swept a foot straight into Xie Laosan's chest.
Xie Laosan instantly spat blood and tumbled backward, his fate unknown.
Yet as Xie Laosan was thrown back, a stalwart figure strode forward.
Lian Youming clenched his right fist in midair, channeling his force as he drew his right arm back in an exaggerated arc, like a bow pulled taut, before driving it into Lei Hu's belly.
"Go down!"
Hit by the immense force, Lei Hu's limbs flailed wildly. His burly body flew two or three meters back, crashing hard into an old tree.
After a moment of rigid paralysis, he slid down against the tree onto his backside. Blood seeped from his nose and mouth, and bloody urine leaked from between his legs. His Adam's apple bobbed, and with a wet spray, he spat out a bloody mist. Then his head drooped, dead on the spot.
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Lian Youming's eyes glinted. He walked over to Lei Hu and delivered a brutal kick to the man's head. Only after confirming he was truly dead did Lian Youming step back a few paces, turning to look at Xie Laosan, who was struggling to get up from the ground.
Lei Hu was dead, and it looked as though this old man would not survive either.
Lian Youming's gaze swept over him. At a glance, he saw that Xie Laosan was not only lame in the leg, but had also lost an arm; his chest was sunken, blood gushed from his mouth with every cough, and his face was ashen like dirt—a lamp burning out of oil.
Their eyes met. Xie Laosan struggled into a sitting position, bracing himself on the ground with his single hand, and said in a voice faint with exhaustion, "Kid, if you want to kill me, do it now. Once I get my strength back, you won't have another chance."
Lian Youming looked at him with conflicted eyes. To call this man evil, he nevertheless had lines he would not cross and adhered to a sense of Jianghu honor; but to call him good, he was steeped in slaughter and had formed a bitter feud with Lian Youming.
"Save your breath. In your state, taking a few more breaths is better than anything."
Recalling how they had just fought side by side, and how Xie Laosan had traded an arm to take out Lei Hu's eye, the hatred in Lian Youming's heart softened considerably, replaced even by a fleeting urge to save him.
Lian Youming grinned cheekily just as he had in the past, teasing, "How about you surrender without a fight?"
Xie Laosan stared straight at the youth before him and bantered back, "One roll of your eyes and I know what you're thinking. You're after that map to the Kwantung Army underground fortress, aren't you?"
Lian Youming made no effort to hide it. "Of course. Who wouldn't covet good things?"
"Heh-heh... cough, cough..."
Xie Laosan chuckled at that, but after two cough-choked laughs he began hacking up blood without end, looking utterly miserable.
Watching him, Lian Youming fell silent. After a moment's thought, he walked over, helped the old man sit properly, and produced a slice of Solomon's seal from his pocket. With an aching heart, he said, "I only have a few pieces of this left. Usually I slice it thin to eat."
Xie Laosan bit into it without the slightest hesitation, then curled his lip. "Stingy brat."
Even as he chewed the Solomon's seal, his remaining hand groped around his waist as if searching for something.
Glancing over, Lian Youming saw the old ghost was feeling for his pipe. He picked it up for him, drew some tobacco from the pouch, and stuffed it into the bowl.
The old man took it with a squinting smile. Clamping the stem between his teeth, he picked up a half-burnt ember from the ground, brought it to the bowl, and took a long, deep draw.
Lian Youming seemed thoroughly exhausted as well; channeling internal force took an immense toll on one's vital energy. He slumped down beside Xie Laosan.
"By the way, why did you come back? Weren't you supposed to flee abroad?"
Xie Laosan blew out a puff of smoke and was silent for a long while. "I spent half my life right here and never left. Where could I run to? Besides, the White Lotus Sect is hunting me across the world. When the end comes, I can't very well die in a foreign land. I used to sneer at the saying about fallen leaves returning to their roots, but now that death is at my door, I find myself longing for a resting place."
Lian Youming raised an eyebrow. "Because you botched their business?"
Xie Laosan shook his head. "Because of the map in my hands. It's no ordinary thing. It hides a shocking secret, something I stumbled upon by chance."
Seeing Lian Youming covered in grime and dirt, Xie Laosan couldn't help but smile. "How does the Jianghu taste to you?"
Lian Youming grunted. "Not bad. Quite fresh!"
Hearing this, Xie Laosan was filled with emotion. "From the moment you beat around the bush to test me up on the mountain, I knew you had the makings of someone who belongs in the Jianghu... I just didn't expect it to happen so fast."
As he spoke, his chest and belly heaved violently. His breathing was ragged and heavy, rattling like a leaky bellows.
"I can give you the map, and beneath that old tree over there is a seven-leaf old wild ginseng. I'll give that to you as well. But you must promise me one thing."
Xie Laosan panted as he spoke, his breath coming with frightening urgency.
Lian Youming nodded. "Name it."
Xie Laosan sighed. "I've committed many wrongs in my life, my hands stained with blood. I prepared for death long ago and have never felt regret. But there is one regret that has haunted me all these years. I have a granddaughter in Cangzhou, Hebei..."
Lian Youming frowned. "You don't want me to protect her, do you?"
"No," Xie Laosan shook his head, his gaze drifting as he stared straight up into the night sky. "She was born deaf and mute. Don't disturb her life. If you have some spare time, just check in on her from a distance for me. If there are gold and silver treasures in that underground fortress, don't be stingy, kid. Not too much—just enough for her to live out her days in peace will do... When I went to see her back then, she was only six or seven. By now she must be in her early twenties, grown into a graceful young woman... In here are her photograph and address..."
As he spoke, the old man pressed an object into his hands—smooth and cool, like a jade box.
Listening to him, Lian Youming felt a surge of mixed emotions.
Speaking rapidly, Xie Laosan warned, "You must be careful. Most of those White Lotus Sect experts are adept at bone-shrinking, shapeshifting, and altering their faces. They have already infiltrated everywhere. If you sense anything amiss, be sure to strike first... You're prime material for martial arts, kid. Don't just practice 'neutralizing force.' Overt, hidden, and neutralizing are merely training methods. Beyond them lies a whole new realm, and it also ties into the secret the Old Man Who Guards the Mountain protects..."
His voice grew fainter and fainter as he spoke, until it was nearly a whisper, the rise and fall of his chest slowing steadily.
"Once in the Jianghu, one always returns empty-handed. Burn me in a great fire; don't ever hand me over to anyone else. I don't want to be disgraced in death... Just want... just want a clean end..."
Lian Youming also raised his eyes to the sky and let out a soft sigh. Beside him, the old man gradually fell still.
Chapter 31