Volume One: The Dragon Awakens in the Wild Chapter Ninety-Five: The Only Gamble

The night was already deep, and a crescent moon alone dangled at the edge of the sky.

Towering North Qiqi Mountain stood all the more lonely and chill beneath it.

At the foot of the mountain, amid a tangle of bodies strewn haphazardly across the ground, Yu Ye lay with his face hidden beneath a conical hat, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed to gaze in silence at the solitary moon above.

Since the eruption of the earthly fire beneath Cangling Mountain, the sun had scarcely been seen. Now, with the immortal sect’s grand ceremony at North Qiqi Mountain drawing near, the brooding haze over the heavens had suddenly dispersed. Whether this meant that Nan Shan and the others had succeeded in their scheme, or that Great Swamp would at last turn from misfortune to fortune and survive its ordeal, no one could tell.

How things would truly unfold remained unknown.

What was known was only this: since setting foot on this road, they had been wandering forever between life and death.

Yu Ye withdrew his gaze and glanced to either side. Zhong Jian and Yan Chi were also awake. Even after midnight, neither had slept. Their thoughts may have differed, yet both were caught in the same blend of excitement and unease.

Tian Bao and Ren Liang, however, slept soundly, their cheerful snores rising and falling in turn. After swallowing fasting pills, the brothers no longer felt hunger, their strength had returned, and they were gradually becoming themselves again. Anger brought curses, joy brought laughter, sleep brought slumber, and when the time came to fight, they dared draw steel. They asked nothing of a hundred years beyond the grave; they only cared to live fiercely and freely in the present.

Such was the joy of the martial world.

As for the Tao-feng and the others who had gone up the mountain early yesterday, no one knew what manner of hospitality they had received.

"The hour of Mao has arrived!"

Dawn had yet to break; the remnants of night still lingered.

A shout shattered the morning stillness. People stirred awake one after another, rubbing their eyes as they rose, though each looked weak and unsteady with hunger.

A streak of sword light descended from the sky, and a voice rang out again.

"The immortal sect’s restricted grounds forbid outsiders from carrying weapons up the mountain. All present, hand over your blades and they will be returned upon your departure."

It was the Foundation Establishment cultivator who had appeared the day before. No sooner had he spoken than the sword light flashed and shot toward the summit.

At the foot of the stone stairway leading uphill stood a Qi Refinement cultivator with a group of disciples. Elsewhere around the courtyard, two more men who looked like cultivators had appeared, their cold expressions enough to make one shudder.

"Up the mountain!"

The crowd moved in groups toward the stairs.

And every person who stepped onto the stone steps took out their swords or knives and threw them to the ground. Cultivators stood by watching; no one dared to deceive them.

Zhong Jian and the others, along with the Tian Bao brothers, exchanged glances.

Without a weapon for protection, one was like a beast stripped of claws and fangs; should disaster strike, the consequences were obvious.

Yan Chi looked around, then said softly, "Though those rough men of the martial world are only common folk, they have strength in numbers. If they were ever to rise in chaos, it would surely be impossible to contain. That is why the Qizhou cultivators on the mountain were already prepared. First they starve everyone until they are dizzy and weak, then they confiscate their weapons, and after that they can arrange matters however they please. Tsk. What a venomous scheme."

Yu Ye had no time for further thought. Through voice transmission he said, "Talk as we walk. Zhong Quan, Zhong Yi, and the others each keep one short blade..."

The martial men under Zhong Quan all carried two sabers, one long and one short, so he handed over the long saber for Yu Ye to secretly keep. Yu Ye then took Tian Bao’s short blade and tucked it at his waist as a personal weapon. Their movements were all exceedingly discreet, and they simply flowed with the crowd as they moved forward.

They reached the stone steps.

Zhong Jian, Yan Chi, Tian Bao, and the rest threw their weapons on the ground, then patted themselves down to show they had hidden nothing, and were allowed to pass in turn. Yu Ye did likewise, and then stepped onto the mountain stairs.

These were unlike the narrow, precipitous steps of the winding mountain path. Here the stone treads were more than a zhang wide and a chi or more high, rising tier by tier. Traveling by such steps in the pale dawn gave one the illusion of climbing higher and higher, drifting away with the wind. Only the many martial men, weak from hunger, dragged their feet heavily and gasped for breath, which made the uncertain road ahead seem all the harsher.

Zhong Jian and the Tian Bao brothers, though their steps were light enough, dared not draw attention and merely acted as though the climb were arduous.

Yan Chi walked beside Yu Ye, whispering under his breath.

"This stairway is divided into three sections, each with nine hundred steps. There’s also a smaller mountain path. I’ve already told Senior Brother Zhong Jian. The Scripture Repository Cave is of utmost importance—the things inside it are the true priority..."

The first light of dawn had appeared, and the sky was growing bright.

At the end of one stretch of steps, a small terrace surrounded by trees came into view. Several immortal sect disciples stood there, looking down on the climbers from above.

"Help! Someone, save me!"

At that very moment, someone suddenly lost their footing and fell from the stairs, while the companions traveling with him shouted in alarm.

Several immortal sect disciples had not expected this and hurried over.

Yu Ye did not stop to watch. He led more than a dozen stalwart martial men onward. By the time he crossed the terrace and stepped onto the next stretch of stairs, Zhong Jian, Yan Chi, and the Tian Bao brothers who had been walking with him were nowhere to be seen. As if he had not noticed, he kept his head lowered and climbed step by step. After a while, Zhong Quan and Zhong Yi hurried up from behind.

He turned and looked into the distance, just as the red sun was rising. Morning clouds blazed in splendor, shining across ten thousand miles.

...

On a mountain path through the woods, four figures quietly emerged.

"Haha, nobody saw me!"

"Shut up!"

"Yan Chi, I don’t like you. Since there’s no one here, let’s have a little contest..."

"Tian Bao brothers, the important matter comes first!"

"Mm, I’ll listen to Big Brother Zhong Jian!"

It was Zhong Jian, Yan Chi, and the two Tian Bao brothers. Taking advantage of Zhong Quan’s fall and cry for help, they had used the confusion to evade the immortal sect disciples and make their way here. But they did not dare be careless. Each took out the concealed robes from within their garments and changed into them, then hung their identity plaques at their waists. After checking one another for any flaw, they turned and vanished into the dense mountain forest.

After a short while, the four of them each came to a halt.

Before them stood a thatched pavilion in the mountains, with two paths leading deeper into the gloom.

"I remember there wasn’t any thatched pavilion here more than ten years ago?"

"Senior Brother, no need to worry. I know this place better than anyone. This path leads to East Mountain; the other is a shortcut used by disciples gathering herbs on the mountain. Though steep and difficult, it goes straight to the summit."

"Time is urgent. We should take the shortcut!"

"Mm. Since things have come to this, we can only gamble on it. Whether we ultimately succeed or not, it all depends on Brother Yu’s skill!"

"Hah, my third brother’s methods are far from ordinary..."

"Enough talk. Hurry up..."

"Stop right there!"

At that moment, a harsh shout rang out.

Two burly men appeared on the path to the left, both clad in Taoist robes and carrying knives and swords. Clearly, they were martial disciples recruited by the immortal sect.

"Damn it..."

Tian Bao clenched his fists and was about to charge over, but Zhong Jian stopped him. Then Zhong Jian laughed aloud and said, "Heh heh, the four of us are here patrolling the mountain. What business do you two junior brothers have?"

The two burly men walked closer. Seeing that Zhong Jian and the others were dressed like fellow disciples, yet all of them looked furtive and ill-omened, they raised their blades and shouted, "This place is under our watch. We’ve never heard of any mountain patrol..."

Bang.

Before the speaker could finish, Zhong Jian’s fist had already crashed into his face. With a crisp crack, his neck snapped, and he fell stiffly to the ground. His companion was horrified beyond measure and turned to flee, only to be kicked in the back by Yan Chi. With a muffled cough of blood, he pitched forward and smashed into the ground.

Tian Bao stared blankly, stunned by how decisively and ruthlessly Yan Chi had killed, but then muttered in defiance, "I’m good at killing people too..."

Zhong Jian and Yan Chi dragged the corpses into the grass, picked up a knife and a sword, and handed them to the Tian Bao brothers. Then they waved and disappeared one after another into the mountain forest.

...

They passed through another mountain terrace.

They crossed the final stretch of stone steps.

The surroundings suddenly opened wide.

At last they had reached the summit, but the many martial men were either staggering about from exhaustion, panting hard, or sprawled against the rocks, each one in a miserable state.

Yu Ye, together with Zhong Quan, Zhong Yi, and the others, paused to look around.

In the distance, mountains rolled away in an indistinct expanse; near at hand, strange peaks rose steeply. Just as the sun climbed in the east, the heavens and earth were filled with a vigorous, surging air.

There, amid the embrace of several hundred zhang of strange peaks, stood a pavilion.

It was a three-story structure built of black bricks and black tiles, with upturned eaves and a simple, archaic design. Beneath the eaves hung a plaque, and faintly visible upon it were three gold-lacquered characters. In front of the pavilion lay a mountain terrace several tens of zhang across, where the people who had arrived first from all directions had gathered.

The eastern side of the terrace leaned against a cliff of mountain rock, while the north and south sides fell away into sheer precipices. The western ridge connected with the summit here, and a ring of stone railings enclosed the whole place. More than a hundred immortal sect disciples stood guard at various points, serving as hosts, patrols, and sentries...

"All parties, this way please!"

Yu Ye followed the crowd onward.

On the long stone stairway still two or three hundred people labored upward, their figures stretching on without end, tiny, bewildered, and stubborn as ants.

The ridge was only a few zhang wide, with steep rock walls dropping a hundred zhang on either side into unfathomable depths.

The martial men were already utterly spent, and with hunger leaving them weak, each was drenched in cold sweat and trembling in the legs. They moved forward by inches, afraid that a single misstep would end in lifelong regret.

Yu Ye lowered the brim of his hat, folded his arms, and strolled ahead without haste.

Zhong Quan, Zhong Yi, and the others followed close behind, yet none asked where Zhong Jian and Yan Chi had gone. They simply regarded this young man as their leader, as a brother with whom they would live and die.

A short while later, the Dark Turtle Pavilion was before them.

On the terrace, cakes and vegetable soup had been prepared.

The crowd was already so hungry their eyes shone. They rushed forward and devoured everything in sight, and even when driven back, they still did not forget to stuff a few cakes into their robes.

Yu Ye gave a slight nod. Zhong Quan, Zhong Yi, and the others also rushed forward to seize food. He himself used the opportunity to examine the surrounding situation, and the corner of his eye could not help twitching faintly.

The stone railings around the terrace were connected by stone pillars and ropes, yet stone chips were scattered everywhere, clearly showing that they had only recently been built. The dozens of white stone pillars were all of equal size and thickness, and carved upon them were strange patterns. In the past, he would never have understood them, but now he was certain beyond doubt that those strange patterns were the symbols and diagrams of a formation, and he could clearly sense the spiritual power contained within them.

In addition, more than ten Qi Refinement cultivators had appeared on the cliff rocks, along the edge of the precipice, by the mountain path, and even among the crowd, already sealing off every route of retreat before and behind the Dark Turtle Pavilion. Yet the many martial men knew nothing of this. Some scrambled for cakes, some shoved and elbowed one another, and some collapsed on the ground, each in a different pitiful posture.

And on the steps before the Dark Turtle Pavilion stood another group of people. They were the disciples of the Great Swamp Dao Gate who had gone up the mountain last night. Each sat cross-legged in solemn posture, still lofty and detached, and they did indeed possess a certain measure of courage and bearing.

"The auspicious hour draws near. Please wait here, everyone!"

The immortal sect disciples serving as hosts were loudly urging them on, herding the crowd toward the terrace before the Dark Turtle Pavilion.

The moment Yu Ye stepped onto the terrace with the crowd, his heart tightened.

One more step forward, and he would be standing within the formation.

What came next, whether success or failure, life or death, would be a road of no return.