Xue Xianzi had been tied up thoroughly by Yu Qifeng, originally hidden in an iron cage, then later stuffed into a large celadon jar. With people coming and going at Wangting Manor, his exceptional hearing allowed him to listen clearly to everything, but unfortunately his internal energy cultivation was too advanced – others couldn’t detect his breathing. Thus when Shen Langhun searched Wangting Manor inside and out, he failed to discover Xue Xianzi.
He spent a total of five days in the celadon jar. His sealed acupoints had cleared by the second day, but escaping from the jar would inevitably require a hard battle, so he simply continued hiding in the celadon jar. From Wangting Manor being blown to rubble by gunpowder, to feeling himself and a pile of similar jars being loaded onto a large cart, jingling and jolting for four days, he arrived at an extremely hot place.
It was deep winter now. Wangting Manor was located in the southern hills – though it didn’t freeze, light snow still fell and the climate was bone-chillingly cold. But wherever the Wind and Moon Store’s cart was headed, it grew hotter as they traveled. Xue Xianzi, trapped in the celadon jar for five days, despite his profound internal energy, began experiencing breathing difficulties in such heat. Fortunately, just as he was about to suffocate, the jar was set down.
When set down, he again felt that extraordinary icy cold. Needless to say, that blue ice coffin was nearby. He didn’t know the outcome of the three-way battle between Yu Konghou, Zhu Yan, and Gui Mudan, but seeing the Wind and Moon Store’s orderly subsequent handling, they clearly hadn’t lost their leadership. Of Yu Konghou and Gui Mudan, at least one remained safe and sound.
But where exactly had he been transported to? After the jar was properly placed and all human voices disappeared, Xue Xianzi broke free of his bonds and gently pushed open the celadon jar’s lid, escaping through the opening. Looking up, this was a room built of yellow earth, excavated quite crudely. One corner of the room was piled with many huge celadon jars, while another corner quietly held that blue ice coffin. Xue Xianzi opened several large celadon jars – most contained severed hands and feet of women. He shook his head. Truly heartless, severing limbs and harming lives. If the owners of these hands and feet were alive, who knows how graceful and beautiful they might have been. Pitiful, pitiful.
He circled the room once, stroking his silvery-white long hair. This was a secluded corner with no guards. The room had a bronze door, but there was no one inside or outside. Such a place obviously couldn’t contain him. Xue Xianzi smoothed his forehead hair. Could it be – when they evacuated, they mixed up the celadon jars and transported him here thinking he was severed female limbs? Imagining Yu Qifeng now carefully guarding a jar without Xue Xianzi inside, his heart filled with great joy and his spirits lifted tremendously. He slipped to the door like smoke – the bronze door was locked, but Xue Xianzi applied his mystical energy and the lock opened with a response.
Outside was an enormous pit, approximately seventeen or eighteen zhang in circumference and over ten zhang deep, with roaring flames below, intensely hot. A chain bridge hung from the bronze doorway to a passage on the opposite shore. In the fierce flames, the chain bridge was heated to a bright red transparency. Xue Xianzi gasped – what kind of hellish place was this?
Looking to the side, there was another small door beside the flame pit, also made of bronze, with a leaf-shaped pattern cast on it. Xue Xianzi shook his head. Since the flaming iron chain bridge couldn’t be crossed, he had no choice but to venture through this door. He listened carefully at the bronze door – there were breathing sounds inside, fine, continuous, and very patient breathing. Xue Xianzi sighed and reached out to knock on the door.
The breathing sounds behind the bronze door suddenly stopped, quiet as if completely empty. Xue Xianzi waited for quite a while, but the person behind the door still made no sound. He shook his head again. “Since I’m knocking, it shows I’m open-hearted, and I know you’re behind the door. It’s too late for you to hide now – come out.”
The bronze door still didn’t open. Xue Xianzi muttered to himself, “Really stubborn. I hope there’s a beautiful woman with a melon-seed face and willow-leaf brows behind the door. Beautiful and stubborn is called steadfast; ugly and stubborn is called stupid…” Suddenly with a “creak,” the bronze door opened and two black short arrows shot out from within. Xue Xianzi turned aside, and the two black arrows missed and fell into the fire pit. He looked at the person hiding behind the door.
It was a black-clothed youth with wheat-colored skin, clear and serious eyes, holding a small black bow with black short arrows on his back and a long sword at his waist. Xue Xianzi exclaimed, “You are – Qu Zhiliang’s disciple.” The black-clothed youth was stunned, his expression quite puzzled, but he didn’t ask questions, still pointing the tip of his black arrow at Xue Xianzi.
Xue Xianzi laughed heartily. “Are you wondering why I recognized you as Qu Zhiliang’s disciple at first sight?” The black-clothed youth nodded, still concentrating on aiming his arrow tip at Xue Xianzi. Xue Xianzi smiled with dashing elegance. “When I first saw your master, he was just like you – black bow and long sword, young and reckless, silly and naive.” The black-clothed youth was obviously not convinced by the eight words “young and reckless, silly and naive,” but wasn’t angry either, just made another “mm” sound. Xue Xianzi walked around him with hands behind his back. Wherever he moved, the black-clothed youth’s arrow tip followed. After several circles, Xue Xianzi said, “It seems you’re very obedient.” The black-clothed youth made another “mm” sound, still focusing intently on his arrow.
“If you’re such a good child, how did you end up sitting in this hellish place watching this big fire pit?” Xue Xianzi circled him, sometimes left, sometimes right, with the black-clothed youth spinning left and right to follow. Xue Xianzi became interested, increased his pace, and deployed his lightness skill to spin around like wind and lightning. The black-clothed youth still followed his movements, but though his concentration was good, it couldn’t match Xue Xianzi’s decades of cultivation. Eventually he became dizzy and his steps slowed. Seeing his pace lag, Xue Xianzi spun around him even faster like lightning for seventeen or eighteen circles. The black-clothed youth saw stars and finally swayed and fell to the ground.
Xue Xianzi laughed loudly, quite satisfied that his spinning could make Qu Zhiliang’s disciple dizzy. As the black-clothed youth fell, he pulled him up and dusted off his clothes. “Boy, your spinning technique is quite poor.” The black-clothed youth nodded, also quite admiring Xue Xianzi’s concentration and cultivation, but said, “Give me another year of practice and I’ll definitely win.” Xue Xianzi pinched his cheeks. “At such a young age, don’t be too competitive. Your master was like that back then – wouldn’t listen to me, stubborn and self-righteous. I told him his archery was excellent and if he studied it deeply he could create a great precedent in the jianghu, but he just wouldn’t listen. He abandoned the bow to practice swordsmanship. The result – his sword wasn’t as he expected and couldn’t make him invincible in the world; while his bow – you’ve developed into another realm entirely. If your master knew from the grave, would he regret it?” The black-clothed youth shook his head. “Master wouldn’t regret it.”
Xue Xianzi asked curiously, “How do you know?” The black-clothed youth’s gaze was very steady – he wasn’t swayed by Xue Xianzi’s words. “Because master is already dead.” Xue Xianzi was speechless, patting his own head. He really didn’t know whether to call this youth clumsy, stubborn, or the type with a donkey’s temperament who would walk one path to the end, even crashing into walls rather than turning back, preferring to die from the impact. “Good child, tell this old senior – how did you end up here?”
“I’m standing guard.” The black-clothed youth seemed somewhat doubtful that this white-robed, silver-haired, dashingly elegant scholar called himself “old senior.” “Did you come across the flaming iron chain bridge?” Xue Xianzi coughed lightly, boldly defaulting to agreement and absolutely refusing to admit he had crawled out of a celadon jar in the adjacent room. “What are you guarding?”