Chapter 10: Fighting the Monster
A deafening, muffled roar echoed from inside the cave. Outside, Zhao Linxu frowned slightly, and the members of the Arrogant Dragon Gang in front of him also paused in their attacks.
“Stop fighting!” Zhao Linxu was the first to retract his whip. “Something might have happened inside! Let’s go see first.”
The Arrogant Dragon Gang was a major sect in the jianghu, and they were naturally reasonable.
Several people entered the cavern and found a scene of utter devastation.
Rubble was scattered everywhere. The female disciples of the Hundred Flowers Sect were all injured, lying haphazardly by the lake. Tattered silks were strewn across the ground. Although the monster was now nowhere to be seen, just looking at the claw marks on the stone walls and the remnants of the scene, one could imagine what a ferocious beast it had been.
The leader of the Arrogant Dragon Gang and Hua Huanxi had met before at the Wulin Assembly and were considered acquaintances. At this moment, the gang members were getting information from the disciples of the Hundred Flowers Sect.
“Young Master… Shuo Lin has failed in his duty. Please punish me, Young Master.”
Shuo Lin, the leader of the shadow guards, came forward and knelt before Zhao Linxu with his head lowered.
“Is Li Jianyu dead?” Zhao Linxu looked at Shuo Lin with a blank expression.
“This subordinate does not know.”
Shuo Lin noticed Zhao Linxu’s tightly clenched fists, and his head drooped even lower.
“It’s my fault.” Hua Huanxi had a serious injury on her side and was currently meditating against a rock while two disciples bandaged her and applied medicine to stop the bleeding.
“That monster was originally attacking me. Unfortunately, City Lord Li was close to me and got implicated…”
Hua Huanxi, who was usually so dashing and tough, now had a pale face and sat there in a daze.
Seeing this, one of her disciples immediately continued, “Sect Master and City Lord Li were swept into the lake by the monster’s giant tail. We used our silks to coordinate with the Sect Master and pulled her back, but the City Lord…”
Zhao Linxu continued to stare at Hua Huanxi with no expression.
“You’re City Lord Li’s friend, right… I’m sorry.” Hua Huanxi felt a sense of unease under his gaze and came back to her senses, her eyes filled with remorse and guilt. “It was the City Lord who pushed me. That’s how I was able to get back, but he…”
Zhao Linxu thought for a moment. “Didn’t you go look for him?”
The female disciple replied, “The lake water is poisonous, just like the gas the monster sprayed. It will cause the skin to fester upon contact. It’s also surrounded by a thick fog, making it impossible to see the surroundings, which is extremely dangerous. Moreover, after fighting for a while, the monster suddenly jumped into the lake and disappeared. We didn’t dare to go forward rashly, for fear of luring it out again.”
Zhao Linxu turned to look at the calm lake.
The female disciple said in a low voice, “Falling into the lake, I’m afraid… I’m afraid he’s most likely met with misfortune…”
Zhao Linxu ignored what the female disciple said, stood up on his own, and slowly walked towards the lake.
“This matter is not Sect Master Hua’s fault.” The leader of the Arrogant Dragon Gang, a burly, middle-aged man, saw Hua Huanxi’s eyes redden and shook his head comfortingly. “The monster was ferocious. You all did your best.”
“But City Lord Li…” Hua Huanxi bit her lip.
That person, that person was different to her…
How could she, how could she have made such an irreversible mistake…
“The person you were talking to just now…” The leader of the Arrogant Dragon Gang, unable to do anything else, changed the subject and pointed at Zhao Linxu. “Is he a friend of City Lord Li? Do you know where he’s from, or which sect he belongs to?”
“Why do you ask?”
“That person’s martial arts are extremely high. Perhaps even I am no match for him. However, if he has such skill, it’s impossible for there to be no rumors of him in the jianghu, which is why I’m curious.”
Hua Huanxi was stunned.
As the leader of the number one sect in the jianghu, the man’s martial arts were at their peak. He had easily placed in the top three in the sword-fighting competition at the Wulin Assembly. If even he said so, then…
“I don’t know either.”
I must ask Li Jianyu later, Hua Huanxi thought. Then she remembered that Li Jianyu’s life was now uncertain, and her heart was thrown into chaos, her mind filled with the image of that elegant, jade-tree-like figure.
XXXXXX
Li Jianyu had a dream.
In the dream, he returned to his past life, to the period he hated the most. At that time, he was betrayed by the person he trusted most and lost everything overnight. The lover who betrayed him, the status he had worked so hard to earn, the company he had built from scratch…
The company went bankrupt, and he was heavily in debt. He was cornered in a small alley and beaten by debt collectors. They raised their clubs and swung them at his temple. He subconsciously dodged, and the club landed on his eye.
“Hiss…”
Li Jianyu was woken by the pain. He subconsciously reached up and pressed on his eye, which he couldn’t open.
No wonder he had that dream. It was probably because his eye was injured now.
Li Jianyu’s vision was completely dark. He couldn’t see his surroundings and could only try to listen and feel.
Beneath him was a hard, flat surface. He could hear the faint sound of flowing water. His whole body was swaying, as if he were on a boat bobbing up and down.
Li Jianyu reached out and felt around.
Hiss!
Li Jianyu first touched the ground beneath him, then reached further out and touched water. But the water felt like some kind of acidic liquid. As soon as he touched it, it felt like being pricked by a needle, and he quickly pulled his hand back.
He could roughly imagine where he was.
When he first entered the cavern, he had noticed many strange little floating platforms on the surface of the lake. These platforms were like stones floating on the lake, but they were as flat as the ground and moved slowly.
He was lucky. When the monster threw him into the lake, he hadn’t fallen into the highly acidic water and died instantly. Instead, he had landed squarely on one of the floating platforms.
But this place was probably very far from the shore and surrounded by thick fog. He didn’t know if the others could find him…
“Huu…”
A low breathing sound rang out, accompanied by the sound of water rippling. Something was approaching him.
Li Jianyu felt the floating platform beneath him shaking violently, and he couldn’t help but hold his breath.
When that familiar roar sounded, Li Jianyu was so shaken that he covered his ears with his hands, his body stiff.
He was probably going to die here today.
Something soft rested on his chest. It was damp, with something sharp at the end.
Was it… the monster’s claw?
Li Jianyu swallowed, surprisingly calm. Perhaps because he had died once before, he didn’t scream in panic. But his body still trembled uncontrollably as he imagined the gruesome scene of the monster tearing him apart.
“Hah…”
The monster’s claw first rested on Li Jianyu’s chest, then slowly moved up, to his neck, his chin, his cheek…
Li Jianyu was stunned.
Was this monster touching his phoenix tattoo?
Because he was so nervous, Li Jianyu only now realized that the pain in his eye had caused the tattoo to appear on his left cheek, and it extended all the way down to his chest.
The monster seemed to be looking at the tattoos.
Li Jianyu felt a complete silence around him. After a while, the monster left.
…Huh?
Li Jianyu waited for a while, but there was no movement. He was puzzled.
Did the monster just let him go like that?
Li Jianyu reached up and covered the tattoo on his body.
Perhaps, these tattoos…
Li Jianyu shook his head. The most urgent thing now was to get out of this damn place.
He didn’t know if anyone would come looking for him.
Probably not.
Naturally, no one would risk their own life to search for him when his fate was unknown. If it were him, he wouldn’t do it either.
But now, because of his eyes, he had no way of getting out on his own… The floating platforms were in pieces. If he took one wrong step and fell into the lake, it would be no different from suicide.
Li Jianyu sat up on the floating platform, fumbled for the water flask at his waist, and poured it over his eyes, hoping it would help.
With a sigh, Li Jianyu lay down again.
The pain slowly subsided, and the tattoo gradually faded.
Li Jianyu lay on the floating platform with nothing to do, and so he thought of the dream he just had.
The dream wasn’t over. The rest of it was him going to find that person.
That person was dressed in a neat, clean suit, while he was in rags, covered in large and small wounds.
“You can only blame yourself for trusting the wrong person,” that person had said in a light, indifferent tone.
Thump—
Li Jianyu was startled and sat up.
“Beauty?”
What?
“Beauty, I’ve found you.”
