Chapter Seventy-Five: Total Annihilation

Xiao Ding and Yue Yurou hid inside the mountain cave, able only to hear the voices of those outside, unable to see who they were. After a few mutual accusations, the two sides began to fight, clashing noisily. In less time than it takes for a stick of incense to burn, the battle ended and silence fell.

Xiao Ding wondered if they regarded the century-old ginseng as some divine item. Yet, it was worth only two hundred taels of silver—was it truly worth killing and dying over? From their words, it seemed several sects were already involved in the matter of the ginseng.

He had no idea what kinds of sects they were referring to. As the sound of footsteps faded away, the surroundings fell into silence.

But the silence lasted only for about half an hour, before the sounds of wild beasts fighting over food echoed from the platform outside.

Xiao Ding thought to himself that now, at least, the beasts would have a feast.

Yue Yurou, hearing the beasts, quietly grabbed Xiao Ding’s hand, and then hugged his arm, leaning against him. She recalled the scene they had encountered at the foot of the mountain earlier that day, and felt a wave of nausea.

Xiao Ding gently stroked her hair and whispered, “It’s alright now. Let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow we still have to climb the mountain and search for your master.”

Yue Yurou nodded softly and closed her eyes.

Amid the growls and snorts of the beasts, the two slept, though their rest was uneasy.

Early the next morning, Xiao Ding listened at the cave entrance for a long while before pushing aside the large stone and crawling out. He walked over to the platform and saw bloodstains everywhere, only some scattered limbs and corpses remaining, along with abandoned weapons.

A few small beasts were gnawing at the bodies. When they saw Xiao Ding approach, they bared their teeth at him in warning.

Xiao Ding picked up an iron sword and swung it through the air a few times, frightening a cat-like creature into leaping back several times.

Just like the previous crime scenes they had encountered, any valuables had already been stripped from the bodies, leaving only miscellaneous items behind. Yet this time, there were noticeably more leftovers than before—most of the weapons, for example, had been left behind.

Xiao Ding thought, perhaps this group was not the same as the previous bandits.

Yue Yurou did not leave the cave to check, fearing she would again be nauseated by the grisly sight.

Xiao Ding used stones to bring down two small birds, gathered branches, started a fire, and roasted the birds to bring back to the cave.

After breakfast and tidying up, the two continued toward the mountain’s summit.

Along the way, they witnessed several more skirmishes—all for the sake of century-old ginseng, ancient lingzhi, aged polygonum, rare jade, or uncommon meteoric iron. Each side believed the other had found the legendary divine item rumored to appear on Sunset Mountain, and so fought desperately. After each battle, the ground was left littered with corpses.

These martial wanderers shared one trait: the victors would always loot valuables from the bodies of the defeated.

Xiao Ding and Yue Yurou spent the journey hiding and sneaking about, peeking at the fights from cover, and only emerging to continue forward once the combatants had left. The higher they climbed, the colder it became. Their constant concealment cost much time, and soon they were encountering only the aftermath of battles—each scene much the same, except the number of corpses grew greater the higher they went.

By afternoon, they had passed above the snow line. The mountains were blanketed in white, vegetation sparse, and wherever trees grew, they were mostly pines or hardy deciduous varieties.

Now the mountain air was as chilly as winter. Both wore only thin clothing and had to channel their energy to ward off the cold.

When they next came upon a field of corpses, Xiao Ding selected some robes with little blood on them and tore them from the bodies, distributing them between himself and Yue Yurou.

Yue Yurou initially balked at the thought, but seeing Xiao Ding wrap up warmly, she soon followed his example, bundling herself in robes until she was swaddled, only her little head poking out above the layers. She grinned at Xiao Ding, looking impossibly cute.

With warm clothing, they could conserve much of their energy. Following the messy footprints through the snow, they trudged onward, slipping and sliding with each step.

By dusk, they were near the summit. Faintly, the sounds of fighting could be heard above.

Cautiously, they advanced, stopping every few steps to find cover and conceal themselves, afraid the combatants might spot them.

As they drew closer, the sounds of battle grew clearer. Cries of pain echoed from above, reverberating through the valleys.

It took them a long time to reach the summit, where they hid behind a large rock and peered out onto an open space. The scene was unimaginably gruesome.

More than a hundred corpses lay sprawled across the ground; it was impossible to guess how many battles had occurred here, or how many days and nights the fighting had lasted.

At this moment, only four still fought. Three men in black robes were besieging a disheveled Daoist nun.

At the sight of the battered nun, Yue Yurou could not help but cry out, “Master!” and rushed forward.

Xiao Ding stamped his foot in frustration, thinking, “What a hopeless companion!”

He recalled the old saying, “It’s not the godlike foes you need fear, but pig-like teammates”—how true it was. With Yue Yurou’s shout, any hope of hiding was gone.

But the battle suddenly changed course.

Master Yuxiazi, leader of Jade Purity Sect and locked in combat with the three black-robed men, was startled to hear someone call out “Master.” In that moment of distraction, a black-robed man struck her squarely in the chest with his palm. She spat blood and fell backward. Another, wielding a longsword, followed and stabbed her in the abdomen.

Yet, even as she was struck, Yuxiazi managed to plunge her own sword into the chest of another black-robed attacker.

Yue Yurou was frozen in terror by the sight.

Xiao Ding hurried to stand in front of her, blocking the two black-robed men who were now turning toward them.

“Go check your master’s wounds,” Xiao Ding whispered in Yue Yurou’s ear.

Yue Yurou snapped out of her stupor and rushed to Yuxiazi.

One of the black-robed men said, “You’ve got guts, coming up here,” and raised his sword, charging at Xiao Ding. The other followed.

“Wait, hold on a moment—” Xiao Ding tried his old trick to stall them.

But the two paid him no heed, each thrusting their sword at him.

“Hey, Master Jade, if you stab them in the back now, they won’t survive,” Xiao Ding said as he retreated quickly, watching their backs.

Startled, the two abruptly halted their attacks and spun around, slashing at their own backs—

But—

There was nothing behind them. Yuxiazi lay in Yue Yurou’s arms, whispering her last words.

Too late—they realized the deception. Suddenly, they felt several small pricks, a numbness, then lost consciousness and collapsed.

Xiao Ding shook the bamboo tube in his hand, thinking, “That was close! If they hadn’t believed my nonsense, I’d already have two holes in me—wait, no, judging from their skill, probably four holes—pierced right through…”

He put away the bamboo tube and finally noticed that among the pile of bodies, more than ten wore the robes of Jade Purity Sect disciples. It seemed the sect had been utterly annihilated this time.