Chapter 102 Heading Straight to the Lair (Part 5)
On his way to find A-Yun and his mother, Chu Jianshan suddenly heard a commotion. He noticed that flames were shooting into the sky from the west wing, and most of the servants were rushing there to put out the fire.
This familiar scene made his hands and feet go numb. It had happened before. The guards had all gone to the west wing to put out the fire, leaving his mother and A-Yun alone in the master bedroom. Then they were taken hostage and slaughtered by a group of thieves.
"Mother...!"
Even though he knew it was fake, Chu Jianshan still couldn't suppress the fear in his heart, and began to tremble, his steps becoming faster and faster.
"Master!" Cheng Yuan grabbed him: "Don't be afraid, we're here this time, nothing will happen."
"Okay..." Chu Jianshan agreed with trembling hands, but he still couldn't suppress the panic in his heart.
The fire grew larger and larger, and the mansion became increasingly chaotic.
Suddenly, someone shouted, "Bandits!! Bandits! Run!"
Countless men in black surged in, each wielding a large knife. They acted haphazardly, hacking at anyone who tried to stop them, scaring away most of the incompetent guards.
"Quickly, get the lady and young lady out!"
The butler stood in front of the hall, but before he could finish speaking, he was stabbed in the throat and fell to the ground lifeless.
Madam Chu led little A-Yun out of the bedroom, placed her in a wooden tub in a small corner, covered her mouth with trembling hands, and told her, "Be good, don't shout."
Although Ayun was young, she understood what had happened. Tears streamed down her cheeks and onto Madam Chu's hand, but she listened to her and didn't cry out.
"You stay here, no matter what happens, don't come out! Listen to your mother!"
Madam Chu held down A-Yun, who was about to get up, and kissed his forehead, saying, "Just stay here and wait for your brother and sister to come back. They will come back."
Madam Chu stood up, picked up the sword from the ground, and walked towards the ancestral hall.
Through the layers of people, Chu Jianshan saw the tall, upright figure standing in the firelight.
Her slender body strained against her thin, plain clothes, the skirt slightly lifted by the heat of the flames. As her clothes fluttered, a resolute determination remained between her brows and eyes, refusing to yield an inch.
The bandit leader understood when he saw her like this: if she refused to retreat, she would only die.
"Mother—!"
Chu Jianshan tried to rush over like a madman, but was stopped by the people guarding the perimeter.
"Get out of the way! All of you, get out of the way—!"
He threw the attack with all his might, but found no reaction; his spiritual power had completely vanished!
Just like I was back then, I had no power to stop you.
Seeing this, Cheng Yuan also tried to gather his spiritual power, and sure enough, he was no different from Chu Jianshan.
How could this be? How could an ordinary illusion possibly seal off spiritual energy?
Before she could think further, the men in black had already rushed towards Madam Chu.
Chu Jianshan tried to stop them, but because swords and blades have no eyes and he was out of his mind, he was injured in his left arm.
"Master!"
Cheng Yuan ran over and blocked several blows for him. Looking at Chu Jianshan's almost bloodshot eyes, he roared, "This is all fake! Don't be impulsive!"
Is it fake? Chu Jianshan slowly turned his head to look. It was exactly the same as the one in his memory. How could it be fake?
Madam Chu looked delicate and frail, but who would have thought she knew some martial arts moves? Her swordsmanship was ruthless, and she repelled a group of bandits.
Blood dripped from the tip of the sword, but she forced herself to stand upright and shouted loudly to the crowd in front of her.
"I, Ning Wenxu, have lived up to the expectations of Heaven and Earth, and I have lived up to the expectations of the people! During the famine years, I opened the granaries several times to distribute grain, and I have always acted with a clear conscience!"
"You..." She pointed her sword at the group, "You call yourselves Robin Hoods, philanthropists! But all you do are heinous crimes! Aren't you afraid of retribution?!"
The leader of the men in black remained unfazed; he had seen many such death struggles before, and was unmoved by them.
He whispered to the person behind him, "Kill them."
"don't want--!"
Chu Jianshan reached out his hand, but he couldn't grab or take away the person in front of him.
Blood splattered on Chu Hongzhi's memorial tablet, and Ning Wenxu collapsed there.
Chu Jianshan had lost his mind, standing there dumbfounded, unable to even shed a tear.
Cheng Yuan dragged him along, increasingly sensing something was wrong. There were far too many men in black around them, far exceeding the number of a bandit hideout.
This place... is definitely not simple.
"Boss!" A man in black dragged Ah Yun up: "We found a girl in the bucket!"
Upon seeing Ayun, Chu Jianshan regained some of his senses and restrained his impulses.
I kept telling myself that these were all fake, all illusions.
The man threw A-Yun in front of Chu Jianshan with considerable force; A-Yun rolled twice on the ground.
It stopped then.
"What's your relationship with this girl?"
"I don't know him!!" Ayun suddenly shouted.
"Really?" The man held a knife to Xiao Ayun's neck and asked her, "Then how did he end up in your residence?"
Ayun burst into tears, her eyes still fixed on Chu Jianshan, and said, word by word, "I just don't recognize him..."
Chu Jianshan's fingernails scratched his palm. Even if they were fake, he couldn't bear to lose Ayun again.
Cheng Yuan pulled Chu Jianshan back a little, squeezed his wrist hard, and signaled him not to act impulsively.
He understood Chu Jianshan's desire to save these people, but a lie is a lie, and he was the only one who was clear-headed. He had to make the decision on Chu Jianshan's behalf.
The bandit leader grabbed A-Yun's chin, forcing him to look up at him: "You're such a pretty little girl, I didn't want to kill you, but it's a pity your mother is dead. Keeping you around will only bring trouble."
"I'll ask you one more time!" The man was agitated, and the knife had already made a cut on Ayun's slender neck.
Do you even know him?!
"Brother—!" A-Yun cried out as she crawled toward Chu Jianshan.
The man released her, letting Chu Jianshan hold her in his arms.
"Brother...Brother, I'm sorry, I'm scared!"
Chu Jianshan didn't speak, but his arm around Ayun tightened.
"I'm sorry..." A-Yun kept apologizing to him.
“I shouldn’t have brought you here. I know you’re not from here… I’m sorry…”
Chu Jianshan's eyes cleared for a moment, and he gripped her shoulders tightly, asking in a panic, "What do you mean... A-Yun, tell me what you mean, what do you know!"
Ayun was frightened by his appearance and burst into tears, sobbing, "I'm sorry, I just miss my brother so much, and my mother misses him too..."
Chu Jianshan was stunned. She and her mother had recognized him long ago, was that so?
The bandit leader twirled his knife twice: "Now that we've acknowledged our kinship, it's time to get going."
Chu Jianshan held A Yun tightly in his arms, the sharp glint of his blade reflected in Cheng Yuan's eyes.
At the critical moment, he pulled Chu Jianshan out, the blade just barely grazing him before piercing Ayun's small body.
"Ayun—!!"
Chu Jianshan wanted to go over, but Cheng Yuan held him back tightly.
"Chu Jianshan! Wake up!"
"There's no Ah Yun here, and no Chu family here! It's just the two of us!"
The moment he shouted those words, the Chu mansion, which had been engulfed in flames, suddenly vanished, turning back into a dark, gloomy tomb passage.
The men in black remained, as if they had suddenly lost their minds, frozen in place, before turning their necks and slowly looking at them.
Cheng Yuan slowly backed away, thinking to himself, "This is bad: it's a puppet."
But now... he looked at his palm and couldn't use a single bit of spiritual power.
This is neither the View Gate nor the Open Gate; all previous deductions were wrong.
They entered the gate of death.
After being yelled at by Cheng Yuan, Chu Jianshan gradually came to his senses, placed his hand on Mo Yang behind him, and prepared to attack.
The next instant, the man in black appeared in front of them as if by teleportation, and countless swords and blades crashed down on them.
Chu Jianshan and Cheng Yuan have no spiritual power, so they can only overdraw their physical strength. However, they cannot get out of here and are afraid that they will be worn down to death.
What's even more terrifying is that it's so dark here that you can barely see your hand in front of your face, giving the group of men in black a natural barrier that keeps them constantly on the defensive.
"Cheng Yuan!" Chu Jianshan suddenly called out to him, "Hold him off for me!"
Cheng Yuan immediately replied, "Yes!"
He never disobeyed Chu Jianshan's orders.
Liu Yin unleashed a powerful burst of energy, shaking back a group of puppets that tried to approach.
Chu Jianshan stepped aside and took out a communication talisman. He had no spiritual power at the moment, so he could only drip blood onto the talisman, hoping for some reaction so that Bai Qianfan could discover their situation.
Unfortunately, there was no reaction at all.
Chu Jianshan closed his eyes tightly, not wanting them to die here like this. He should have known better than to let Cheng Yuan come along; at least one of them would have survived.
Outside the door, because time flows differently in the illusion, Bai Qianfan didn't actually wait long. He was idly counting how many talismans he had left.
Suddenly, he noticed a slight change in the sound transmission talisman on his side.
Whether it was his imagination or not, he picked up the talisman and watched it slowly emit a faint light. Then, a drop of blood-like substance was imprinted on it.
“Something’s not right…” he murmured.
"What's wrong?" Meng Yufeng jogged over and asked, "Did Immortal Venerable Chu and the others find the Gate of Life?"
Bai Qianfan shook his head: "I have a bad feeling about this."
Without hesitation, he cast a hand seal and transmitted his voice to the other side.
"Bai Qianfan!" Cheng Yuan's voice came first, sounding quite agitated.
"What's wrong?" Bai Qianfan sensed something was amiss and asked, "What happened over there?"
"We were all wrong, this is the gate to death!"
"There's not much time left, Chu Jianshan is about to collapse! Immediately find the Gate of Life and stop the formation!"
"What?!" Everyone stood up upon hearing this.
Bai Qianfan was almost stunned for a few seconds.
Their place was a death gate, which meant that Meng Yufeng had used most of his teleportation talismans to get through, but it turned out to be an auspicious gate!
Without a moment's hesitation, Bai Qianfan immediately led his men to run towards the other side of the Death Gate.
Sure enough, the road was clear; this was the gateway to life.
After rushing out, Bai Qianfan discovered that the opposite side was an endless expanse of yellow sand, and the Bagua formation stood there abruptly, as if it were there to suppress something.
Based on his experience, Bai Qianfan immediately found the location of the array's core. Fang Lan obeyed and went to the core, where she worked with Bai Qianfan to suppress it with spiritual power.
Unfortunately, their strength alone was far from enough, and Bai Qianfan had no choice but to shout, "Come on, a few people, help!"
Meng Yufeng volunteered: "I'll do it!"
Others also rushed over to help, but even with their combined spiritual power, they could only sustain the situation for a few breaths.
"Cheng Yuan!" Bai Qianfan gritted her teeth and shouted towards the communication talisman, "Get out of the house quickly!"
Three breaths later, everyone was thrown back by the powerful explosive force of the formation, and Fang Lan was also sent flying.
Fortunately, Chu Jianshan and Cheng Yuan escaped through the death gate at the last moment.
"Master!" Cheng Yuan rushed to help Chu Jianshan before he could even stand properly: "Are you alright?"
Chu Jianshan shook his head, feeling cold sweat pouring down his face, the scene from just moments ago still replaying in his mind.
They went outside and met Bai Qianfan and his group.
"Are you alright?" Bai Qianfan rushed over first, looking him up and down.
"Don't worry," Chu Jianshan forced a smile, "I'll be fine."
Bai Qianfan frowned slightly, looking at him, he didn't seem to be in any good condition.
Meng Yufeng curiously leaned closer, hesitant to speak: "What Senior Brother Bai said is true, Immortal Venerable Chu... is indeed not very lucky."
Chu Jianshan sighed, "You have to accept bad luck."
"By the way, Immortal Venerable! What's inside the Gate of Death?" Meng Yufeng asked.
Just as Chu Jianshan was about to speak, Cheng Yuan interrupted him.
"It's nothing, just some puppets."
"Puppets?" Bai Qianfan didn't think much of it and just said, "There are puppets even here. It seems that Zhao Yi left them here for protection."
The group walked forward. Chu Jianshan deliberately slowed his pace and walked beside Cheng Yuan. He sensed that Cheng Yuan was not in a good mood, so he tentatively reached out his hand.
She scratched at his palm with her finger, but Cheng Yuan grabbed her hand and she couldn't break free.
"I'm sorry," Chu Jianshan said softly.
Cheng Yuan didn't speak, but gently rubbed his thumb against the back of Cheng Yuan's hand, as if to soothe him.
In the illusion, he did act rashly, knowing it was an illusion but still acting impulsively. If it weren't for Cheng Yuan, he would probably have been trapped inside forever.
Cheng Yuan, who was standing next to him, seemed to say something, but Chu Jianshan didn't hear it clearly. He tilted his head and asked, "What?"
“I said,” Cheng Yuan looked down at him, his eyes filled with unclear emotions, “Master has me, that’s enough.”
"No matter how unforgettable the past may be, it is still the past. I swear I will walk with my master to the end, no matter what, I will be there for him."
Chu Jianshan's eyes welled up with tears, and he subconsciously wanted a lifelong guarantee, but then he swallowed it back and simply nodded and said, "Okay."
"Hey! You two!" Bai Qianfan finally noticed they had fallen behind and shouted, "What are you dawdling for! Hurry up and catch up!"
Chu Jianshan replied, "Understood!"
Just as he was pulling Cheng Yuan along, trying to catch up, he felt a chill down his spine.
Chu Jianshan stopped in his tracks and said coldly, "Cheng Yuan."
With a "ding," several plum blossom darts were blocked by Liu Yin.
Chu Jianshan slowly turned around and looked at the group of people opposite him with a meaningful expression.
"Steward Ji is in a bad mood. Why isn't he by Zhao Yi's side? Is there someone else by his side?"
Ji Ziyan has already appeared, so it seems Zhao Yi is not far behind.
Ji Ziyan, who was in a good mood, immediately turned fierce upon hearing his words and wanted to draw her sword and charge forward, but was stopped by the people around her.
"Sister! Don't be impulsive!"
“Ji Zihua,” Chu Jianshan called out another person’s name, “I thought you were a promising talent, but I never expected you to be so blind.”
Ji Ziyan was so angry she laughed. She crossed her arms and raised her chin to look at the person: "You say I have a bad temper? It seems Immortal Venerable Chu isn't much better!"
For some unknown reason, Ji Ziyan was still wearing mostly revealing clothes even in the dead of winter. Chu Jianshan couldn't bear to look at her and slightly shifted his gaze away, replying, "You went into the Death Gate for no reason. Would you be alright in that situation?"
"Oh?" Ji Ziyan became interested and asked him, "What kind of things are in the Death Gate that could make Immortal Venerable Chu so?"
Chu Jianshan countered, "What do you know?"
“The Lord has naturally told me a lot,” she raised her hand, glancing at her fiery red nails, “For example…”
She looked at Chu Jianshan: "Those are illusions formed by people's divine consciousness."
Chu Jianshan shouted sternly, "Explain yourself!"
Ji Ziyan said nonchalantly, "What I mean is that not all the people in the illusion are fake. They have their own consciousness, and they might even recognize you."
Chu Jianshan gripped Mo Yang tightly in his hand, recalling the words A Yun had said before she died. No wonder…
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