Eternal Night - Chapter 5
He touched it all, but it was still just a diagram. Xinghun's curiosity was piqued again. He had seen similar diagrams in his previous life; they were just ordinary human anatomy diagrams, connecting acupoints and meridians throughout the body. But the fact that Shadow called it the Heavenly Meridian Inner Classic still made him want to laugh. In the West, anatomy was initially considered a crime punishable by burning at the stake. In China, anyone who dared to touch a dead person would be fought to the death. It was just a diagram of human meridians; no wonder they couldn't see it.
He recognized the characters on the silk scroll as he ran his fingers over it; he had to thank his father for this, who ran a small seal-carving shop. From a young age, his father had forced him to learn the trade, believing it would ensure his livelihood. This also paved the way for his future success in forging official seals and creating fake authentications.
Xinghun rolled over and lay on the bed, carefully feeling the words embroidered on the silk. He realized he had misjudged the shadow; if it really were a book, he would be completely helpless.
However, he didn't know that what he touched was completely different from what the shadow wanted him to see. Even the shadow didn't know that only a star spirit, with focused caress in the darkness, could uncover the true secrets recorded on the silk by touching the strange embroidery technique.
That night, Xinghun fell asleep with a sly smile on his face.
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During the day, the man in blue entered the underground chamber. Xinghun stood quietly before him, which pleased the man in blue immensely.
Three days later, he stopped using the oil lamp.
Xinghun spent three days familiarizing himself with the environment, making sure he wouldn't bump his nose while walking. However, he was still very curious about how the man in blue could move so freely in the dark, including how he could urinate so accurately into the bucket, leaving him in awe.
He pinched his nose and moved the toilet, but the man in blue still found a spot. He then tiptoed toward the stone chamber door and bumped right into the man in blue's chest.
Taking the fragrant flatbread, Xinghun finally couldn't help but ask him, "How did you know where my hands were?"
You'll find out in three years.
Xinghun humbly asked, "How can I learn kung fu if I can't see your footwork?"
"Feel the ground; there are footprints. Now it's a straight line, each step is five inches apart, forty-nine steps in total." The voice of the man in blue echoed softly in the stone chamber. "The ultimate level of lightness skill is actually the perception of the outside world. Every part of a person's organs has potential you can't imagine. When you're blind, you'll naturally activate your ears and your senses. Everything around you isn't completely still. When you walk, you create the sound of wind and stir up the air. There was originally nothing in the stone chamber, but if you put something in, the atmosphere there will change."
Xinghun sighed: "He's clearly human, yet he insists on acting like a bat. How can a human easily detect sound waves?"
The man in blue was a little curious about the explanation of sound waves. After thinking for a moment, he nodded in agreement: "If it's like water ripples, then the surge of breath is like that."
Xinghun said nothing more, reaching out to touch the footprints beneath his feet. He stepped on one, then moved to the next. He walked slowly, his eyes open or closed, simply continuing on this path for forty-nine steps before returning. "How long will this take?"
"Walk until you can dodge my hidden weapon!"
"Master, this is a straight line, I can't avoid it! You're not trying to kill me, are you?" Xinghun felt that once he was familiar with someone's trajectory, throwing his flying knife at him would have a 100% hit rate.
"Just practice the breathing method I taught you," the man in blue said before disappearing.
In the darkness, Xinghun couldn't see him, yet he truly felt that there was no one around. He was quite impressed by the man in blue's agility. He thought helplessly, "I'll practice!"
He walked for three months. With his excellent assassin skills from his previous life, he lived a carefree life in the shadows. Xinghun strolled leisurely along his straight path, from one end to the other, pondering his future again and again, repeatedly telling himself that he was no longer Li Lin.
He recalled the feeling of scaling windows and entering houses in his past life, and tried to do a somersault without falling outside the footprints. This gave him a small sense of accomplishment. A faint joy welled up inside him, a little more fun than simply walking straight ahead with his head down.
Just as he was happily tumbling around, Xinghun sensed a change in the surrounding atmosphere; something was flying towards him. He reflexively twisted his waist. The flow of energy within his body immediately ceased, and he fell flat on his back, wincing in pain and complaining, "Master, you didn't shoot a throwing knife, did you?"
"It's an arrow!" The man in blue was very satisfied with Xinghun's reaction; his patience and quick reflexes were worthy of the name Xinghun.
Xinghun stared in disbelief: "What if it hits me?"
"Without arrowheads, at most they'll suffer minor injuries."
The man in blue answered calmly. Then, Xinghun was shot with an arrow whose tip had been removed, screaming in agony and trembling all over. He lay on the ground, refusing to move.
“I will only shoot a hundred arrows a day. If you don’t get up, I will still shoot at you. Being a dead target will hurt more.”
"If I had internal energy, I could fly by simply using it!"
"I won't."
Xinghun stared at the man in blue as if he were a monster, though he couldn't see anything in the pitch black. "You mean when you carried me up the mountain like a pigeon, you didn't use any internal energy?"
"I only know the art of breathing."
He was completely dizzy, taking deep and shallow breaths. Could he possibly turn into a cloud with just one breath? A thought suddenly struck him, and he remembered the Nourishing Heaven Vein Inner Scripture.
However, he had no time to think further. A sudden gust of wind arose, and Xinghun dodged, running forward along the footprints. He took only one step before retreating, dodging the incoming arrows. Whether he moved forward or backward, the blue-robed man's arrows clung to him like maggots. After twenty arrows had been fired, Xinghun collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
"Whoosh!" An arrow flew over and struck him in the back, nearly knocking him unconscious. Enraged, he pointed at the man in blue and yelled, "Didn't we agree on twenty arrows?"
"Those who use hidden weapons always have an unexpected move, a move that can be fatal!" the man in blue said confidently before disappearing like the wind.
Xinghun agreed with Master Qingyi. In his past life, he had acted with the same righteous indignation when resorting to underhanded tactics. He rubbed his aching limbs as he returned to his room, smiling as he traced the meridian diagrams on the silk. He had already discovered the secret of the Heavenly Meridian Inner Scripture. In the future, he too would master the secrets of this body.
The order of the killers
His master in green robes was a busy little bee. Her hands were never idle; whenever she had a spare moment, she'd be constantly switching between various hidden weapons to shoot at him. Arrows, throwing knives, steel darts, needles—she used them all. Regardless of whether Xinghun was ready to start running in a straight line or relaxed, chin in hand, listening to his story.
When others tell a story, they begin with: Once upon a time...
The story of a master in green robes often begins with a small throwing knife.
Xinghun always smiled and dodged, letting Master Qingyi continue.
The man in blue was puzzled as to why Xinghun had dodged so easily. Xinghun respectfully replied, "Master's teachings are excellent." This pleased the man in blue greatly.
For two years, Xinghun tirelessly walked along the straight line beneath his feet in the darkness. Finally, one day, he grew tired of walking and roared, "Is this ever going to end?"
The man in blue was taken aback for a moment and said, "The poisonous sand hasn't been used yet."
Xinghun felt a surge of grief and indignation, and smiled as he reminded him, "Why doesn't Master use water to splash it?"
"Yes, that makes sense!"
Sure enough, a large basin of water was splashed over their heads. The sound of water filled the stone chamber.
The man in blue was silent for a moment before asking, "How did you manage to float up to the roof?"