Chapter 16#
If You See SnowCh16 - Slant Eyes, Scarface, and Pockmark Head#
Who knew how many belonged to the Underworld among these one hundred and thirty people? The villains of the Underworld were bloodthirsty like beasts, the monks of the Great Compassion Temple even enjoyed eating human flesh, and the people of the Paradise Pavilion can’t be trusted either. To be safe, Su Ruhui decided to fight alone. Before anyone could react, he had already left the battlefield. Sure enough, not long after, he heard screams coming from the direction of the Yamen. The slaughter had begun, and Su Ruhui plunged into the white birch forest.
The horse carriage would leave tracks and was a large target that would easily expose him, so Su Ruhui reluctantly abandoned it and ran on foot. He planned to find a secluded and warm place, sleep for two days, and then climb the mountain on the third day. With all the back and forth killing going on, it was uncertain whether even fifty people would be left alive in the end, so there would most likely be more than enough spots available. Su Ruhui intended to be one of the ones to snatch an opening.
He ran a li into the woods in a single breath. Just as he was about to rest, he heard footsteps behind him. Had someone followed him? Su Ruhui frowned, turned his head, and saw three figures emerge from behind a birch tree. It was those three thugs from the Paradise Pavilion.
“A-Qi, why didn’t you wait for us?” Scarface laughed, “Luckily we kept an eye on you, or else we would have lost you. How would we explain it to House Head later?”
Slant Eyes and Pockmark Head approached from either side, forming a triangular formation and surrounding Su Ruhui. Su Ruhui sighed inwardly, these people definitely had ill intentions.
“These three dage, I haven’t offended you before, have I?” Su Ruhui asked.
“No,” Slant Eyes said while chewing on a mint leaf, “We didn’t know you before you went to the money house.”
Since their first meeting was at Hengtai Money House, Su Ruhui understood, “Oh, you’ve got your eyes on my gold and talismans?”
Scarface nodded approvingly, “Smart, no wonder House Head sent you to infiltrate the Jiang family. Since you already understand, don’t be foolish. Two of us three are secret arts users. You are an ordinary person, you can’t beat us.”
“But I have talismans,” Su Ruhui said, “Five whole talismans!”
“We already saw your talismans the day you came to the money house. You have three shadow walking talismans and two true speech talismans. What use are true speech talismans in a fight to the death? The shadow walking talismans could save your life, but unfortunately,” Scarface slowly smiled, “my secret arts is ‘Prison Cage.’ Once it is activated, you can only move around within a fifty-foot radius. You won’t be able to use the shadow walking talismans to escape. If you’re foolish enough to have a go at us a few times, we’re happy to oblige.”
“Looks like this other dage’s secret arts is quite powerful,” Su Ruhui chuckled lazily.
Pockmark Head activated his secret arts, and a bluish-gray color slowly spread across his entire body.
“‘Tempered Steel,’ impervious to swords and spears, even firearms are useless.” Pockmarked face said with a sinister look in his eyes, “Surrender and hand over the gold and talismans. We won’t take your life and will even guarantee your entry into Kunlun.”
Slant Eyes pulled out a dagger hidden in his robe, and a lewd glint appeared in his eyes as he looked at Su Ruhui. He chuckled, “We both grew up in the Underworld, so how did you end up looking so good? Since Sang Chiyu has already used you, it wouldn’t hurt for us to have a turn, would it? You spend three days and two nights with us brothers, and we’ll give you a gold bar.”
“You’re going too far,” Su Ruhui’s head hurt, “I can understand wanting talismans and gold bricks, but I’ll turn against you if you demand my chastity, especially since two of you three can’t even get it up.”
Pockmark Head became furious, “What bullshit are you spouting?”
“You little piece of trash, what gives you the right to turn against me?” Slant Eyes sneered, “Hurry up and…”
Before he could finish speaking, a thunderous bang exploded, and a dark, gaping bullet hole appeared in the middle of his forehead. Slant Eyes fell straight to the ground with a malicious smile still on his face. Su Ruhui held his right hand level, and hot smoke curled from the pistol concealed in his sleeve.
“He has a firearm!” Scarface roared, instantly activating “Prison Cage.”
Su Ruhui vanished in an instant. In the next breath, he reappeared behind Scarface, his concealed pistol aimed at the man’s back. A bullet shot out, accompanied by a blinding flash of fire, and struck him! However, Scarface remained standing, turning around with a dark expression. He removed his outer robe, revealing a chainmail vest forged from refined steel. The pistol’s caliber was too small and didn’t have enough firepower. It only left a shallow dent in his chainmail.
He miscalculated.
A strong gust of wind swept from behind, carrying with it a cold killing intent as heavy as a mountain. Su Ruhui dodged while simultaneously reloading his pistol with a backhanded flick. He fired a few shots, his entire body moving like a precisely engineered machine and completing these actions all within three breaths. A thug’s fist grazed his cheek, missing by only a tcun. At the same time, the pistol concealed in his sleeve fired, striking the thug in the groin.
“Bang—”
With another loud bang, Pockmark Head stumbled back two or three steps. But he was still completely unharmed.
Su Ruhui said with a hint of disappointment: “Even that place has become tempered steel.”
Pockmark Head flew into rage, “You’re looking for death!”
Su Ruhui’s swift movements startled Scarface. He narrowed his eyes and asked, “A martial artist? What school do you practice?”
“No school,” Su Ruhui said with a lazy smile. He had already retreated to Slant Eyes’s corpse, bending down to pick up the dagger from the ground. “Just used to practice a bit of Bajiquan and Bengyun saber, common martial arts that you can buy manuals for at street stalls. You’ve all probably learned them.”
Su Ruhui assumed a starting stance, concealing his blade behind his elbow. It was indeed a very common move, one that both Scarface and Pockmark Head had seen before.
But at that moment, a bitingly cold aura swept over, turning Scarface’s heart cold.
Scarface was very protective of his own life. He unwrapped a bundle and put on a helmet, “Erge (second brother), this kid’s not normal. Be careful.”
Su Ruhui advanced, swinging his dagger. The blade flashed out from behind his sleeve, grazing the Pockmark Head’s waist, sending a shower of sparks flying. The skin was too hard and the blade was indeed useless. Su Ruhui turned, pressed against his back, and fired his pistol again, but after the loud bang, the man remained unharmed. Pockmark Head man angrily swung his fist, but Su Ruhui, like a nimble fish, climbed onto his back. He gripped his head tightly with his legs, and twisted with force in mid-air.
His skin was tough, but his bones could be broken. Breaking his neck would make him done for. However, the thug rotated his body with the momentum, and both people fell to the ground. This thug was quite clever. Su Ruhui quickly dodged back, retreating three feet away.
Pockmark Head snarled: “Brat, I told you, my ‘Tempered Steel’ is bulletproof. I’ve trained in martial arts too. Your little tricks won’t work on me. Save your breath. Beg for mercy, and I might spare your life.”
Su Ruhui calculated the time, then grinned mischievously, “This is boring, I’m not playing anymore.”
Secret Arts Talisman: Divine Concealment.
Su Ruhui’s figure evaporated like water vapor, vanishing on the spot.
Pockmark Head startled, “Where did he go?”
The area within a fifty-foot radius was completely empty, not even a shadow to be seen. Scarface belatedly realized, “He has other talismans!” He then calmly said, “No matter, it must be a ‘Divine Concealment’ talisman. The talisman’s effect is limited. He can only maintain it for half an incense stick’s time at most before he reappears. Let’s just wait.”
Scarface sneered, “A-Qi, living a moment longer and dying a moment sooner, is there a difference?”
“Of course,” Su Ruhui’s voice sounded lowly behind him, “The difference is that you’re dead.”
As Su Ruhui spoke, a black short arrow bearing a yellow paper talisman whistled into the “Prison Cage” domain. The arrow shot the talisman directly onto the face of Pockmark Head. The moment the talisman touched his skin, it began to rot and dissolve. Pockmark Head screamed in agony. His skin melted away to reveal bone, then bone gave way to his internal organs, quickly turning into a pool of bright red blood.
Scarface froze in place. A-Qi’s voice clearly came from behind, yet the arrow had struck from the front. A-Qi had backup!?
He fled in panic, pursued relentlessly by the black arrow bearing the talisman. One shot struck true, and in the blink of an eye, another man was reduced to a pool of blood.
The “Divine Concealment” lasted shorter than he had expected. Su Ruhui suddenly reappeared. A whistling sound filled his ears, and a black arrow flew towards his forehead. Su Ruhui could almost see the cold glint of the arrowhead. The trial required everyone to kill each other; Su Ruhui had deliberately fired his pistol three times. The sounds revealed the locations of Scarface and Pockmark Head, and someone would surely come to ambush them from the shadows. Su Ruhui used “divine concealment” to hide himself, leaving only Scarface and Pockmark Head as targets. As expected, the two were killed.
While the method of borrowing another’s knife to kill was ingenious, it was also dangerous. The divine concealment talisman’s effect lasted too short. Su Ruhui became visible before “Prison Cage” wore off and he escaped, making himself the next target.
Using “Shadow Walking”, Su Ruhui disappeared again, evading the deadly black arrow and reappearing ten paces away. The black arrow pursued him relentlessly. Su Ruhui activated the talisman once more, causing the arrow to miss and embed itself in a birch tree behind him. The arrow was about half an arm’s length long. The crossbow that fired such a short arrow shouldn’t be very large, likely a one-handed single-shot crossbow. The single-shot crossbow had a range of about one hundred paces, and the arrow came from the southwest. Shadow walking had a maximum teleportation distance of thirty paces. Su Ruhui quickly pinpointed the enemy’s location and used shadow walking four times in quick succession. After four flashes, Su Ruhui appeared behind the archer.
He hid behind a tree, his eyes fixed intently in front of him, searching for Su Ruhui.
Su Ruhui stroked his chin and asked: “Your talismans are not bad. Do you have any more?”
The archer froze in terror, a chill like an icy snake slithering down his spine. He spun around swiftly, but Su Ruhui was faster. With a dagger in hand, he plunged it into the archer’s back.
“Sorry bro.”
Warm, sticky blood soaked through Su Ruhui’s leather gloves. Su Ruhui gave the archer a shove and he fell down, eyes wide open. Su Ruhui was a responsible man; he always took care of both the killing and the burial. But this was no place to linger. Others would surely come running after all the noise they’d made. This time, he had to make an exception.
However, valuables, talismans, and weapons must still be taken.
Su Ruhui stripped the bodies of Slant Eyes and the archer as fast as he could before making a hasty exit.
Half an incense stick’s time later, Sang Chiyu arrived only to find two naked corpses lying on the ground. Not only were their belongings gone, but even their clothes had been stripped clean off, leaving only the leather boots still on their feet.
Sang Chiyu: “…”
He could tell that this was the work of Su Ruhui at a glance. That firearm he’d heard earlier was also him.
He knew it, Su Ruhui was afraid of the cold.