Underworld Crossing, Wipe Out the Hall

The moon was dark, the wind high, and the sound of shovels never ceased. Li Yan and Sha Lifei dug with all their might while Wu Laosi sat in meditation nearby. His way of meditating was somewhat strange. He lay on his back, face turned to the sky, his knees bent and the soles of his feet facing each other. It was somewhat like huanyang wo, except his palms were crossed and his hands formed a strange seal. After a moment, he suddenly opened his eyes and sprang up with a carp's flip. His expression had changed completely, and his eyes now shone with spirit. “Done!” He glanced at the deep pit in the ground and said gravely, “Three feet above the ground, there are spirits; three feet below, the underworld can be reached. This distance is enough. Raise the coffin!” Li Yan and Sha Lifei threw down their shovels at once. First they scattered five-colored earth, then poured out a bottle of yellow wine, and only then lifted the thin-skinned coffin beside them and slowly lowered it into the pit. And what was a thin-skinned coffin? There were rules to coffins. Usually they were seven feet three, hence the saying, “The world's coffins are seven feet three—enough to bury every man under heaven.” But that was only among the common folk; imperial nobles had different customs. Of course, even among commoners there were distinctions. Wealthy families used fine sandalwood, nanmu, and other materials that would not rot for years. The poor, however, could not afford good materials. Their coffin boards were less than three inches thick, and such coffins were called thin-skinned coffins. Because such coffins buried underground were often dug up by wild dogs, who would butt their heads against the boards until they broke and eat the corpse, they were also called “dog-bump-heads.” Wu Laosi was not being buried, so a dog-bump-head coffin was enough. After the coffin was placed, Wu Laosi picked up several handfuls of spirit money. While forming hand seals, he chanted scriptures whose gist was to keep lonely ghosts and wild spirits from disturbing the ritual. Li Yan could smell several strands of earth-yin sha qi being drawn upward, circling the coffin in the shape of the Southern Dipper's six stars. After finishing these preparations, he took off his shoes and placed them in the coffin, one reversed and one upright. Then he slowly lay down in the coffin, holding the nether warrant in his hand. “Remember!” Wu Laosi's expression was grave. “When the rooster crows and day breaks, if the bell rings, break the soil and open the coffin at once. If the bell does not ring, burn the coffin directly. Under no circumstances open the coffin!” “Burn it?!” Sha Lifei was shocked. “Then, Senior, you...” Wu Laosi shook his head. “Don't worry about me. If you don't want to die, just burn it. Because if the bell does not ring...” “What comes out definitely won't be me!” With that, he slowly closed his eyes. Li Yan and Sha Lifei exchanged a look, both somewhat helpless. It was their first time seeing a true underworld crossing ritual, and they did not understand the workings, so they could only follow orders. The two slowly closed the coffin lid without driving in coffin nails. There was also a hole in the coffin. Li Yan first stuffed the hemp rope tied to the copper bell into the hole. After seeing Wu Laosi inside tug the rope tight, he and Sha Lifei shoveled soil to bury the coffin. Then, according to the positions Wu Laosi had set beforehand—the positions of the Southern Dipper's six stars—they lit six oil lamps and tied the copper bell to a tree. Only then was everything done. Cluck! On a nearby tree, a large rooster was tied and scratching the soil for worms. Sha Lifei shook his head. “This method looks strange and sinister. Who knows if it will work?” “Just do as Senior says.” Li Yan said gravely, “Uncle Sha, remember: if a yin wind rises later, scatter spirit money so that Senior's body won't be coveted.” Sha Lifei swallowed. “What if those things don't play along?” Li Yan slowly fastened the sword tassel of the Three Powers Demon-Suppressing Coins and said calmly, “If courtesy doesn't work, then force.” ... Meanwhile, Xianyang was no more peaceful. “Bang—bang-bang!” “The zi hour has arrived! The weather is dry—be careful with fire!” The old night watchman walked slowly through Old Street. As he passed a dark alley, the old man suddenly felt a chill. He tightened his clothes and hurried away. Years of night watch had trained his ears well. In the deep silence, he could hear many people breathing in the nearby dark alleys. Of course, the old man would not meddle. This place was not far from Changping Granary, where the yamen had garrison troops. If anything happened, it was not his turn to step in. The large smithy across the alley was also the Iron Saber Gang's base in the city. Those people bullied their way through the city, and he had suffered from them often, so he was even less inclined to meddle. Through decades of ups and downs, he had seen too many things. In his youth, the Wang family had been a grand household with experts as numerous as clouds. They even had some relatives in the palace and could be called the Xianyang King. But a single imperial edict had reduced the entire family to smoke. By middle age, the Gao family produced several dan jin masters, renowned across the Guanzhong road. Even big gangs from other provinces had to pay their respects first. But because they offended a mysterious force, they were wiped out overnight. Compared with these, the Iron Saber Gang was nothing but a fart. In this jianghu, there is always someone with a bigger fist than yours... ... The old man had just left when two figures emerged from the dark alley. One wore a sheepskin jacket—the man who had stood guard outside Wendao Hall's alley that night and dealt with the man who came to launch a sneak attack on a beggar. The other was Luo Shihai. The man bowed with cupped hands and said respectfully, “Senior Luo, you need only stay at home. We can easily pull the Zhou family's last tooth.” Luo Shihai grunted. “The Iron Saber Gang is hiding a Jiangzuo sorcerer who's coveting my treasure. We must not let that man escape!” “Of course. Rest assured, Senior.” The man in the sheepskin jacket nodded, then turned; his expression turned grim. “Move in!” At his order, a large group of black-clad men swarmed out. They wore black headcloths and carried short wooden sticks. The sticks were about the length of an arm plus a forearm, slightly thicker at one end and thinner at the other. This weapon was called bian gan, also known as the pack-mule whip. It was popular in Shaan-Gan-Ning and Jinzhou, an ancient weapon practiced by many martial artists. The most famous was the Xin Yi Liu He bian gan. But using it across the board was the mark of a livery service. They were from the Taixing Livery. As soon as they emerged from the alley, they quickened their pace and rushed toward the walls around the smithy. As the Iron Saber Gang's base, the smithy was naturally unusual: all nearby shops had been knocked through, and the surrounding walls were built more than two people high, like a small fortress. Yet it could not stop the livery's enforcers. They worked in teams of three. Two crossed their hands to form a step, and the third stepped on it and vaulted up. Then he turned and pulled the other two up, and all of them climbed the wall. Their movements were sharp; within a few breaths, they had all crossed the high wall. Crash! The sound of clay jars breaking rang out. It was the Iron Saber Gang's rowdies; they had placed many clay jars beneath the walls as a nighttime alarm. “Who's there?!” Some gang members were immediately awakened and came out carrying short knives. Normally, these rowdies wouldn't be so concentrated, especially at night. Visiting brothels, gambling, drinking... everyone had somewhere to go. But things had been unstable lately. Even the White Ape Gang had been wiped out by the authorities, so the gang leader ordered everyone to stay at the base and not stir up trouble. Seeing a group of black-clad men leap down, the Iron Saber Gang members were startled at first. But when they realized there were no more than thirty attackers, their courage surged. “Where did you bastards come from!” “Brothers, let's bleed them!” The Iron Saber Gang members shouted and clashed with the intruders. But the moment they engaged, they noticed something was wrong. The black-clad men were silent, and their bian gan carried tremendous force. Thrust, chop, lift, hook—every move was clean and sharp, easily breaking their wrists, causing their knives to fall. This was the bian gan. Though not an iron weapon, it was short, fierce, swift, and ever-changing. The bian gan flew, accompanied by thudding strikes, and screams followed one after another. These were a true jianghu gang! The Iron Saber Gang members were shocked. They were street loafers and petty thugs at heart. They had practiced some martial arts, but wine and women had long drained their bodies. They could only bully ordinary people. In the past, relying on the magistrate's rules, they could act like rogues and force down-and-out jianghu drifters to submit. Against these true toughs, they could only take a beating. Soon, a pile of people lay on the ground. The Taixing Coach House's men were ruthless too. They did not target fatal points like Baihui or the temples, but they broke the limbs of every rowdy. Even if they recovered, they would likely be left crippled. What was worse, the medical expenses for so many people, plus the need to assign caretakers, could directly drag the Iron Saber Gang to ruin. But if they ignored them, the entire gang would vanish. After crippling the gang members left behind, the black-clad men of the Taixing Livery still did not relent and searched the entire smithy. “Find Zheng Heibei quickly!” “And that sorcerer!” “Search around—see if there's a hidden passage!” The black-clad men searched room by room, but when passing a side room, everyone seemed to deliberately ignore it, running past without even a glance. Inside the side room, two yellow talismans were pasted on the wooden window. On a small altar table, the black wandering soul jar had already been opened, and a yin wind swirled incense ash around the room. Behind the altar, a man with disheveled hair had a taiji diagram drawn on his forehead with cinnabar. It was You Laosi, the Jiangzuo sorcerer harbored by Zheng Heibei. His hands formed seals, and he chanted, his forehead covered in cold sweat. Outside the courtyard, several shouts rose. “Reporting, Chief—we haven't found him!” “Senior Luo, what do you think...?” “Never mind. He's probably hiding with Old Monkey. Let's go.” “Retreat!” At the command, the livery men dispersed, leaving the Iron Saber Gang rowdies scattered on the ground, groaning in pain. The sorcerer You Laosi finally breathed a sigh of relief. He dismantled the altar, trembling all over. He only knew curses to harm people; he knew nothing of martial arts. If someone caught him, he would get a severe beating. How had Luo Shihai found out about his scheme? With the Zhou family losing power, he could not stay in the Iron Saber Gang either! You Laosi's eyes shifted darkly. At some thought, a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. Taking advantage of the fact that the gang members in the compound were all injured, he slipped toward the room of gang leader Zheng Heibei... ... At the same time the Iron Saber Gang was being raided, movement stirred in the woods by the river outside the city. Rustle! The zi hour had just arrived when a yin wind suddenly rose, startling the birds into flight. Li Yan formed the Yang hand seal and immediately smelled a cold, rotting stench with a sticky, greasy feel rising from the ground in the distance. “Uncle Sha, hurry!” At his warning, Sha Lifei quickly grabbed a handful of spirit money and scattered it into the air. “Friends passing by, mountains and rivers have their own ways; well water does not cross into river water...”