97 The watchtower

The watchtower was locked from the inside, reinforced with an evil devilish power that threatened to strike at them if they got too close. It surrounded the building like a thin, black membrane and vibrated as though alive.

If that wasn't a glaring red flag of invitation, Liu Sumeng didn't know what else was. This was either a trap or their foe was none too intelligent. The barrier was thickest at the gate but it enveloped the entirety of the tower and radiated a nauseating aura.

Liu Sumeng was not intent on meeting the barrier head on. He could, but he'd rather save his spiritual energy if possible. Li Zheng could only wait for the Ivory Sword Saint's decision, as his abilities were not enough to disrupt such a barrier. His eyes were full of anxiety, flitting between Liu Sumeng and the watchtower.

The Ivory Sword Saint swept his eyes over the structure and decided to approach it from the top instead. "Come," he said, before hopping onto his flying sword.

The top of the watchtower at tall open windows and the barrier was much thinner there. Whoever set this defensive array up obviously was not being extremely cautious or was just extremely dumb. Liu Sumeng could not imagine Hui Ziwang being behind such a sloppy setup.

With a few hand seals and quick spells that barraged the barrier, it only took a single slash from Mingshui to carve out an entrance.

Sunlight didn't make it far past the shadowy barrier and once they were on the other side, it was as if day had turned into night. Liu Sumeng could already feel something festering from below the floor and was quick to run inside the watchtower.

Low groaning sounds welcomed them. Even down here there were undead waiting to strike. From their clothes, Liu Sumeng could tell that some had once been Wayward Sect disciples…but there were others as well. Older corpses wearing the colors of the Hidden Mist, and even random peasants were mixed in.

"E-even here!" Li Zheng exclaimed, "Is this some sort of trap?"

"..." A lousy barrier and few low-leveled ghouls? It seemed like a strange and pathetic trap. Liu Sumeng still wasn't so convinced. "Follow closely."

Li Zheng wasn't about to argue and stuck close to the Ivory Sword Saint's heel. Darkness was thick with the stuffy smell of mold. They summoned spirit lights to help with the poor visibility and sliced through the corpses that wandered too close.

There honestly weren't too many and Liu Sumeng was alert to anything else that might strike at them from the shadows.

It really felt all too simple.

But as they descended into the belly of the watchtower, Liu Sumeng suddenly felt a spike in resentful energy.

He stopped right at the bottom of the stone-paved stairs and held out an arm, "Stay." The word barely had the chance to leave Liu Sumeng's lips before a fist came flying from the side. He leaned back and Cao Hong missed him, punching a giant hole into the wall.

"Shit!" Li Zheng exclaimed as he tried to point his sword at the savage corpse.

But she was already far beyond his level.

Stronger than the time she first crawled out of her grave, Cao Hong leveled her gaze on the Ivory Sword Saint with glowing red eyes. Luckily for the Wayward Wind disciple, the undead woman had no interest in him and was focusing all her strengths on the Ivory Sword Saint.

"Go," Liu Sumeng commanded, "See what else is here." The two wrestled for dominance. The corpse had frightening power but Liu Sumeng knew how to get the best point of leverage and was able to deflect her power. Her speed was matched by his instincts and they were locked in a stalemate.

Li Zheng took the chance to duck past the fray and continue on his own, knowing that he had to do his search thoroughly and quickly just in case. If the Ivory Sword Saint's foe was too great in power they would have to make a swift escape.

So he surveyed the main room and then the next. But aside from a few wandering undead, Li Zheng didn't find anything of interest.

Was this just a strange trap after all…? But that couldn't be! Zhao-ge was the one that sent them here so there had to be a good reason!

Out of desperation, he looked around some more, studying cracks in walls and divots in floors. Maybe Li Zheng was the one going insane after all…

And he heard a knock.

Startled, the young man jumped and looked around.

But there was nothing else in the old humid room, not even a sauntering, groaning corpse.

His imagination was surely running wild from the miasma of resentful energy.

But the knock came again! Li Zheng let out an embarrassing squeak, and then realized it was coming from underneath his feet!

On the other side of the wall, a heated battle unraveled between a sword prodigy and a savage corpse.

At a glance, it was difficult to discern who was winning, for the savage corpse could cross the bounds of the room in half the time it took to blink and carved craters in stone with her feet and fists.

But the Ivory Sword Saint was skilled with instincts honed from countless duels. Her movements to him were like that of a child's, clumsy, and predictable. He did not let her land her kicks nor her punches and each blow she attempted to make on him, he would cut into her flesh as punishment.

However, these injuries were not bothersome to something that wasn't alive anymore.

And Liu Sumeng's strengths were finite.

Mingshui was a good sword, but it wasn't quite like his God Slaying Sword that he had in his previous life.

"..." Liu Sumeng carefully observed his foe and noticed the stitching on her arm. Wasn't that the arm he sliced off her body last time?

The next time she lunged, he angled his sword ever so slightly. Unfortunately, he had to enter into her range in order to level Mingshui exactly along the lines of where the stitches sat and pull off a clean cut, which would cause him to suffer an elbow in the gut.

All of Peng Jipei's hard work was undone in an instant and that arm rolled free on the ground. But Liu Sumeng had to pay for his brazen maneuver. He had cast a minor barrier around his abdomen before getting hit but he could feel how his ribs and muscles strained with each breath.

It wasn't the worst. Liu Sumeng ignored the pain and steadied his stance once more.

In the room over, Li Zheng ignored the thudding on the other side of the wall and knelt down to grope around the floor. The knock came again and he was able to pinpoint the sound where the floor felt a little different, hollow.

After what felt like an eternity later, he finally found a little crack between the stones. When he reached his fingers inside a mechanism clicked. A piece of the floor came loose and when he moved it aside, a surprised familiar face met him on the other side.

It was a Shijie of his! "S-Shijie!! What are you doing here!?"

Her eyes were wide and teary and shoulders were trembling. But she shook herself out of her shock and said, "We need to get out of here!! W-where is that corpse? The one with…"

Li Zheng knew what she was talking about and cut her off, "The Ivory Sword Saint is holding her off. We'll get out of here as quickly."

She seemed surprised at the mention of the Ivory Sword Saint but nodded. When she climbed out of that small space under the floor, she reached her hand back down into the darkness to pull someone else out.

Li Zheng was frozen when he saw Zhao Weiwei poke her head out from the darkness. "Wei'er!" He exclaimed, discarding any elegance or manners, and took her by the shoulder, "You're alive!"

Zhao Weiwei looked at him with wide teary eyes. She smiled and then nodded vigorously but did not say any words. Li Zheng was confused at first, no understanding why the talkative little girl had nothing to say upon their reunion. But then his gaze turned lower and he saw the ugly gash across her throat.

His face turned pale.

"I did everything I could," his Shijie explained in a sad whisper, "Though her life is spared, Wei'er's voice is no longer…"

Li Zheng was trembling as anger and sadness bubbled in his heart, "Just who could do such a thing…!"

Zhao Weiwei shook her and took a fist hold of Li Zheng and her Shijie's sleeves. It was her only way to reassure them, to tell them that it was okay even when it wasn't.

A boom next door distracted their reunion and all three leaped to their feet. "Let's get out of here." Li Zheng said, taking both their arms into his.

They left the room and were careful when rounding the corner of the place where the duel was still taking place. "Ivory Sword Saint!" Li Zheng yelled.

He didn't expect to catch the attention of the savage corpse.

Cao Hong reared up in rage and rushed toward them. Liu Sumeng was behind and couldn't catch up. He threw Mingshui as a last-ditch attempt to stop her but she twitched to the side and a sword was embedded in her neck instead.

Li Zheng's Shijie pushed him out of the way at the very last second and took rotting teeth in the base of her jugular.

She screamed and stared at them with wild eyes, "Hurry, go!"

It was the last thing she said before Cao Hong tore a huge chunk from her neck.

The Ivory Sword Saint tried to control his sword to slice off her head, but Cao Hong had enough intelligence to grab Mingshui and yank it out of her neck.

There was a gaping hole in her flesh, and unlike the Wayward Wind Disciple that now lay dead on the floor, Cao Hong didn't even seem affected.

Liu Sumeng really disliked this despicable corpse but remained calm, reminding himself that Cao Hong wasn't nearly as terrifying as the fiend he faced in his previous life. So long as he focused, they should be able to escape and no more lives would be lost.

Not under his watch.

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