Chapter 1-14

Just as Bai Shixuan had expected, Jiang Zhilong showed no reaction even when Bai Shixuan grabbed his hand with both arms. He probably thought it was merely the final struggle of a child in unbearable pain.

‘I have to cut the tendons.’

That was the only thing he could do. With Bai Shixuan’s childish strength, he would not be able to pierce all the way through Jiang Zhilong’s arm, much less cut it off. But no matter how powerful a martial artist Jiang Zhilong was, even his tendons could not be invulnerable. Bai Shixuan had to injure him somehow and escape this situation. After all, Jiang Zhilong was still a human made of flesh and bone. Making sure Jiang Zhilong did not notice, Bai Shixuan slowly pushed the dagger out, then slashed upward from below toward Jiang Zhilong’s wrist.

“Urgh!”

It worked. Jiang Zhilong had let his guard down, never imagining that an eight-year-old Bai Shixuan could do anything, and now stared at the dagger that had pierced through his wrist.

“Ghk, khk!”

As the strength in the hand around his throat weakened, Bai Shixuan gulped down all the air he had been unable to breathe. Just as he thought Jiang Zhilong’s hand was about to release his neck completely, he saw Cao Zhenshi’s corpse drop to the ground. A blue aura flickered around Jiang Zhilong’s left hand.

“Aaaah!”

Feeling his body fall toward the ground, Bai Shixuan gripped the dagger with both hands and slashed vertically. Jiang Zhilong quickly pulled his body backward, but because Bai Shixuan had used the force and speed of his fall, the attack was faster than Jiang Zhilong had expected.

“You, you…….”

His face burned. When Jiang Zhilong brought his left hand to his face, something warm immediately flowed down along it. Blood. A tremendous amount of blood streamed down Jiang Zhilong’s arm. He tried to open his eyes, but his right eye would not open.

“You little bastard…….”

He immediately reached out, intending to smash Bai Shixuan’s head apart, but his hand passed beside him. Because his right eye had been injured, he had failed to judge Bai Shixuan’s position properly. Realizing that Jiang Zhilong’s eye had been wounded, Bai Shixuan hurriedly moved to escape.

-Thud.

‘Tch, damn it.’

In his haste, he collided with Cao Zhenshi’s corpse and fell over. Just as Bai Shixuan was about to get back up, he spotted a book lying beside Cao Zhenshi’s sword.

‘A martial arts manual?’

Bai Shixuan hurriedly grabbed Cao Zhenshi’s sword and the manual, rose to his feet, and immediately began running.

“Aaaaaagh! You little bastard! I really am going to kill you!”

He heard Jiang Zhilong roar in fury behind him. But Bai Shixuan ran without looking back. He had to go anywhere, as long as it was away from there. Since he was running while carrying the bare sword without its scabbard, he could feel the blade nicking him here and there and blood beginning to trickle out, but Bai Shixuan refused to let go of it.

“Grrrr.”

As Bai Shixuan kept running while staring only ahead, the growl of a beast reached his ears. He glanced sideways and saw wolves growling as they watched him.

-Gulp.

Bai Shixuan swallowed and began looking around. It had definitely been somewhere around here. The small cave he had seen before descending the mountain. Perhaps wolves had dug it out, because it was so small that no adult could possibly enter it. After scanning the surroundings, Bai Shixuan finally spotted the cave he had seen earlier and slowly began walking toward it.

“Woof! Woof!”

The cave was close to the wolf pack. As Bai Shixuan approached, the wolves began barking. Should he go? He was afraid. But if he did not, Jiang Zhilong would kill him. Whether he died to wolves or to Jiang Zhilong made no difference. In that case, he might as well try. Bai Shixuan swallowed once more and slowly walked toward the cave. He did not look at the wolves and kept his eyes fixed solely on the cave. Fortunately, the wolves did not charge at him. Relieved that they had not attacked, Bai Shixuan dropped to his knees and crawled along the ground into the cave.

‘It’s wider than I expected.’

Had wolves once lived here? Animal bones were scattered here and there, but they looked extremely old. Perhaps the wolves had dug themselves a new den. Bai Shixuan moved as far toward the back of the cave as possible. Fortunately, it was fairly deep, so even if Jiang Zhilong’s subordinates reached inside, or even thrust their swords into it, they probably would not be able to reach him.

‘Hoo. If I can hold out here for a while, something should work out.’

When he lowered his body onto the rotting animal bones, they immediately crumbled beneath him. They had been decaying for so long that they could no longer support Bai Shixuan’s weight. He should have felt pain, yet a smile appeared on his face. The first reason was that being able to feel pain meant he had survived Jiang Zhilong. The second was that the bones being this old and rotten meant the cave had not been used for a long time.

“Did you find him?”

“We haven’t.”

Just as Bai Shixuan began smiling, Jiang Zhilong’s voice reached his ears. Was he already moving around again?

“Find him, quickly!”

“Young Master, you should return first and tend to yourself. You’ve lost too much blood.”

He heard someone trying to dissuade Jiang Zhilong. Perhaps because of the wolves, or because no one imagined that a child like Bai Shixuan would pass so close to them and hide inside this cave, the voices were not particularly close.

-Thud!

“I said find him!”

“Young Master, we’ll search for him. Please return first.”

While Bai Shixuan listened carefully outside the cave and tried to calm his pounding heart, Jiang Zhilong was striking the face of the subordinate who had tried to stop him. He wanted to find that brat immediately and tear him limb from limb. He had never imagined Bai Shixuan could injure him. The boy had said he was only eight years old. And yet he had done something like this in that instant?

‘I never expected it.’

He had let his guard down because the boy was so young. What an incredibly cunning brat. If he did not kill him immediately, Jiang Zhilong felt as though rage alone would kill him. Yet these idiots were in this state because they could not even catch one little child.

“Hurry and search! Check over there too!”

“But Young Master, because of the wolves, there’s no way a child that young would have gone……”

At his subordinate’s words, Jiang Zhilong nodded. No matter how cunning the brat was, he was still only eight years old. Surely such a child would not have gone past the wolves.

‘Could he have?’

For some reason, however, Jiang Zhilong’s gaze drifted toward the wolves. They were watching the men warily and growling. When Jiang Zhilong began walking toward them, the wolves moved and started barking.

“Woof! Woof!”

“Grrrr!”

Seeing the wolves blocking his path, pacing around, and barking viciously, Jiang Zhilong turned away again. With wolves like these, Bai Shixuan would probably have been eaten the moment he came near them. In any case, it seemed the brat had not gone this way. Then he could not have gotten very far.

“Search every inch of the mountain. I’ll head back first. Bring that brat before me no matter what.”

“Understood.”