Eternal Night - Chapter 6
Xinghun floated down and answered arrogantly, "I just took a breath and floated up."
Unable to see his opponent in the darkness, Xinghun suddenly felt uneasy. Should he have revealed the skill he learned from the silk scroll? Had his master in green noticed?
"Your potential is excellent. My master once said that our sect's lightness technique relies on the wind, and I can only follow the wind and the wind. Yet you were able to float up in the sealed stone chamber by splashing water to stir your breath... Not bad!" The man in blue had been here for countless years, focusing solely on teaching in the valley. He was simple-minded and oblivious, completely unaware that Xinghun was secretly practicing the Heavenly Meridian Inner Scripture. Because both were methods of circulating Qi through the meridians, he only thought that Xinghun was quick-witted and a good candidate for martial arts.
Xinghun tentatively asked again, "Does our sect's lightness skill utilize the air?"
"Air?" The man in blue nodded again. He didn't know the word "air" at all, only that there was wind and aura. But after spending time with Xinghun, he had become accustomed to the words Xinghun occasionally uttered, such as the word "sound wave," which had benefited him greatly. "Yes, we can't grasp these invisible auras. They are empty, yet existent. They sometimes solidify and sometimes flow, like mountain streams, waterfalls, small rivers, and great rivers—all are ever-changing. The beauty of lightness skill lies in getting close to someone without them noticing, which requires becoming one with... the air. We've become accustomed to the existence of air, so we naturally don't feel multiple people. Assassins need this kind of silent lightness skill."
Another assassin! Xinghun sighed. For the past two years, he had been practicing the Heavenly Meridian Inner Scripture every night in bed. The internal energy within his body felt like a small snake, gliding merrily through his meridians.
Once he felt that power coursing through his body, reaching every part of it at will, Xinghun desperately wanted to test whether a single palm strike would have the power to shatter a rock. He thought of the Six Meridians Divine Sword, channeled his energy to make the snake shoot straight to his index finger, and casually tapped the wall.
With a sharp "hiss," the pain from his finger hitting the wall made him writhe on the bed, clutching his hand. The descriptions in the book were far too exaggerated. Xinghun began to hate the author of that book. But he still had to practice. Xinghun stubbornly fantasized that one day, when his internal energy was fully developed, he could easily wave his sleeve and the stone chamber that imprisoned him would vanish into nothingness. He would be surrounded only by a sky full of stars. Therefore, he patiently nurtured the little snake within his body, hoping that one day it would grow strong enough for him to protect him.
"Can't we try something different?" Xinghun asked, frustrated. After two years of following a straight path, his patience seemed to have reached its limit.
The man in blue also pondered for a long time before saying, "Alright, let's switch... let's switch and use the hidden weapons launched by the mechanism."
Xinghun rolled his eyes. It was the same old trick, just a change of name. He was about to criticize Master Qingyi for his old-fashioned ways when he was stunned by what Master Qingyi said next.
"You should know that the most powerful hidden weapons in the world are launched by mechanisms, beyond human capability. If you still try to dodge them with your lightness skill in a straight line, your agility will be unmatched! I'll fire ten crossbows at once!" The man in blue became more and more excited as he thought about it. No one had ever tried to dodge a weapon launched by a mechanism with lightness skill. If Xinghun could master it, that would be... incredibly exciting! He flashed out of the stone chamber.
"Do you think this is The Matrix?! It's an animation, it's fake!" Xinghun said helplessly.
What does it feel like to be hit by ten volleys of crossbows firing in quick succession? Xinghun recalled the swarms of arrows flying like locusts in movie special effects. How big is this place? There's only a straight line beneath his feet, a straight line of only forty-nine steps!
Xinghun was right; ten rows of repeating crossbows were placed on either side of the stone chamber. He tilted his head and asked the blue-robed master, "How powerful are these repeating crossbows?"
“Within a hundred feet, all wood and stone will be shattered! However, I have prepared a small crossbow, only seeking its speed, not its power!” the man in blue replied smoothly.
"It needs to be powerful. If it hits me with one shot, my intestines will be torn apart," Xinghun cursed inwardly. Then, with a sly grin, he asked, "Master, can you dodge it?"
"I haven't tried it," the man in blue said honestly. In the darkness, he couldn't see the smile on Xinghun's face.
The stone chamber fell silent after the first twang of the bowstring, followed by a deafening hum of arrows. Within ten seconds, the chamber was quiet again.
"Master?" Xinghun called softly. Seeing no response, he called again, "Are you alright, Master?"
Before he could finish speaking, he sensed the approaching aura. Xinghun dodged away, chuckling, "I knew I couldn't hurt Master!"
The man in blue snorted, "Cunning!" and leaned closer to grab him.
Xinghun heard no displeasure in the man in blue's tone and knew he wasn't angry with him. He laughed and ran around the room playing hide-and-seek with the man in blue.
He was only eight years old, and before long, the man in blue grabbed his legs and lifted him upside down. "Alas! Master's lightness skill is unparalleled; your disciple still needs to work harder! Master—"
This last sentence was already a coquettish tone. The man in green originally wanted to teach him a lesson, but his heart softened and he let him go: "It's not wrong that you used a trick, but you practiced a light-body technique to evade, which cannot be done by trickery. Practice again!"
He was a master of light-footed martial arts, and the moment the arrow suddenly changed direction and shot towards him, he understood: Xinghun had taken advantage of the sound of the first crossbow firing to move another crossbow away from him. Being able to adapt to changing circumstances was good, but it went against his training methods.
Xinghun had no choice but to accept his fate. He carefully dodged the attack, risking being ripped out of his stomach, but was still hit in the abdomen. He screamed and the match ended.
That arrow left him unable to straighten his back for three days. The man in blue sighed and said, "If it were a siege crossbow, you would have been dead long ago."
Xinghun was so angry he wanted to curse, but he took a deep breath and his stomach hurt, so he held back.
Seeing his stubbornness, the man in blue remembered that he was only eight years old, and his tone softened: "Next time I'll put armor on you, firstly to add some weight, and secondly to prevent injury."
"Why can't I block the hidden weapon?"
The man in blue thought for a moment and said, "That's the next step of the practice!"
Xinghun felt a little sorry for the man in blue. After two years of getting along, he had completely understood that the man in blue was the kind of person who would answer three if asked what one plus two equals, but would say that his question was wrong if asked what two plus one equals.
He grabbed the man in blue's hand, raised one of his weapons, and said, "Master, you're used to using your left hand to throw hidden weapons, right?"
The man in blue nodded.
He grabbed his right hand and said, "You're used to catching hidden weapons with your right hand, aren't you?"
The man in blue nodded again.
Xinghun sighed: "If your left hand is injured, you can't use your right hand to throw hidden weapons? Don't tell me you'll only use your lightness skill to escape and dodge in that situation!"
"After being injured, I naturally can't beat others, so it would be a waste to not run away and use my excellent lightness skill!" The man in blue understood this principle very well.
Xinghun smiled wryly. He didn't want to continue this game of arguing with Master Qingyi.
An assassin, of course, is all about killing with the smoothest, most efficient method. Give him a gun, and he'll immediately jump up and yell "One, two, three, start!" at the person wielding a barrage of needles or a powerful crossbow. That's the proper order! The assassin's order!
Happiness is so easy
When he wasn't practicing his martial arts, Xinghun loved listening to Master Qingyi tell stories. The stories were recollections of Master Qingyi before they entered the valley, which he had easily lured out.
The world described by the master in blue reminded him of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period, and the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
Over the past century, dynastic changes have been as frequent as a banquet, and the annexation and conquest between states have been as exhilarating as a game of Texas Hold'em. Today, the states of An, Qi, and Chen are the most powerful, with eight smaller states serving as buffers along their borders. With frequent warfare, martial artists are highly sought-after guests by kings and nobles. The strength of one's martial arts skills is naturally a bargaining chip for enjoying state-level treatment.
According to Master Qingyi, "All the assassins in the world come from this valley."
In other words, this place is a training ground for top-tier assassins from various countries. Only through shared interests can the valley find refuge in this chaotic world. Xinghun quickly realized that most of the more than a thousand children who had entered the valley with him were selected from various countries. Whether they could serve their nations in the future depended on their own fate.
He felt that the valley didn't rely solely on tuition fees for revenue. This was because Li Yannian, the steward in the valley, was clearly a nobleman from Anguo. And because the Li family was a prominent clan in Anguo.
A nobleman from Anguo, serving as the dean of students at a school detached from the war, can he truly remain detached from national affairs and remain aloof from worldly matters? And what are the true intentions of the person who built this assassin school? Furthermore, what about that brothel, Peony Courtyard? Could it be a multinational brothel group with branches in every country, specializing in intelligence work?
Two years passed, and Shadow truly did not appear. Xinghun missed him somewhat. Regardless of whether Shadow was genuinely kind to him or simply wanted to know the secrets of the Heavenly Vein Inner Scripture, he was the only one in this world who knew the secret of his identity.