Chapter 17#

If You See SnowCh17 - Better to Humble Yourself and Marry Down#

Traveling north, Su Ruhui encountered many corpses. The trees bore traces of sword and saber fights, as well as signs of secret arts. Su Ruhui counted them. Including the ones he had killed, there were fifteen that had died. The trial had only just begun an hour ago, and there were already so many casualties. Su Ruhui quietly clicked his tongue in surprise. He stuck to his original plan, concealing his tracks as he went, and found a cave on a mountainside to hide in. This place was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and provided a good vantage point for observation. From this high position, he could see everything below, and could easily spot anyone approaching.

Su Ruhui used the clothes he had stripped from the corpses as firewood, keeping a padded robe to use as bedding. He sorted through the collected bundles, finding two packages of cold steamed buns and three secret arts talismans. The talismans were all in the archer’s bag. Su Ruhui had never seen these kinds of talisman symbols before, but they were all the same, likely some secret arts capable of dissolving swords and iron weapons. This archer was quite wealthy. His single-shot crossbow was an excellent piece of equipment, and he still had five short arrows left. As for Slant Eyes and the rest, they were even poorer than Su Ruhui, their bundles containing only dry rations.

That fight earlier consumed too many talismans, Su Ruhui sighed. Just dealing with these few minor enemies had used up most of the talismans those strange people had given him. Only one “Shadow Walking” talisman was left, and the “Divine Concealment” talismans were all used up. He decided to be frugal and stay in the cave until the last day. He cut a bunch of branches and piled them at the entrance of the cave, blocking the opening and leaving only a few small holes to observe the outside. From the outside, it would be difficult to spot the cave. After everything was arranged, he settled down for a good sleep.

Kunlun Secret Sect, Beichen Palace

In the center of the palace,, a dazzling golden star array built of pure black marble silently rotated in a pool of water. Three star officials of Zigong, Taiwei, and Beidou sat around the pool. The Taiwei star official, Motuoyanna, was a blind monk clad in a black robe with silver threads. He placed his hand beneath the water’s surface, and the star array projected what his “Heaven’s Eye” perceived onto a water screen. The water screen displayed the scenes of the trial on the Kunlun mountains: fights and clashes, figures wielding blades, and blood splattering three chi high. People employed secret arts, stirring up swirling currents of energy.

Motuoyanna sighed, “Many secret arts users have infiltrated among the ordinary people. They must all be from the Underworld. If the Underworld really thinks they can infiltrate the Secret Sect like this then they’re looking down on us.”

“A rabble.” Kun Wu, the Beidou star official, remarked with disdain.

In front of the three officials, a man in black sat kneeling on a raised platform with his eyes closed. His long, silver hair cascaded down his shoulders, reaching the ground. Sunlight slanting in from the skylight above fell upon it, causing it to shimmer and dance. As a secret arts cultivator of the Chaoshen level, his lifespan was already far beyond that of ordinary people. Although he was over a hundred years old, his appearance remained that of a man in his thirties. He possessed a handsome face, exuding the authority and aloofness of a superior being, solitary and lofty like the moon on a mountaintop, allowing people to only admire from afar.

The grandmaster spent most of his time in seclusion in the Beichen Palace. Even the various departments and guards of the Secret Sect rarely get to see him. Few people have actually seen his real face. Therefore his appearance remained unknown, which is why the statue of him in Yunzhou’s city center didn’t look like him at all.

Motuoyanna gently moved his fingers, stirring the water’s surface: “They are people from the Underworld. Is Chiyu now associating with them?”

“Why mention that coward again?” asked Kun Wu.

“He is a child personally raised by the Grandmaster,” Motuoyanna sighed, shaking his head. “He was stripped of his secret arts, his kneecaps shattered, and the Jiang family used their youngest son to fulfill his marriage contract. With all these humiliations, it’s no wonder he fled to the Underworld. I’ve heard that those who drink the secret drug become madmen. The Secret Sect’s Infernal Prison holds countless monsters who have lost their minds because of this drug. Are we truly leaving Chiyu to his own fate?”

Dantai Jing opened his eyes. His pale, almost colorless eyes were devoid of emotion.

The silent grandmaster finally opened his mouth: “If he descends into madness, I shall slay him with my own hands.”

Such cold-heartedness was unmatched in this world. Sang Chiyu spent his days in the presence of such a person, which is why he grew up to be exactly like him. The Zigong star official, Lang Yaguang, opportunely stepped forward to change the subject, bowing to the grandmaster on the raised platform: “The conscription notices have been posted in all the provinces and counties. Twenty-seven cultivators of secret arts and two hundred ordinary people have enlisted. Ten of those possessing the ‘Divine Eye’ secret arts are commoners with no noble background. The third group of people has already reached the snowline. Please give your instructions, Grandmaster.”

Dantai Jing said: “Su Gou, take them to report in.”

A smiling man emerged from the shadows. His face was like white porcelain, clean and fair, almost exquisite to the point of excession. Upon closer inspection, there was a creepy, inhuman quality about him. His eyebrows and eyes curved in perfect arcs. If Su Ruhui were here, he would be very surprised. Because this was the first Class A puppet he had created in the Paradise Pavilion, named Su Goudan, who handled all sorts of miscellaneous tasks for him in the Paradise Pavilion, and even served him tea, brought him water, and massaged his back and legs.

He didn’t know that Su Goudan had already been captured by the Secret Sect and his brain’s insight star array modified. He now pledged allegiance to the Secret Sect, managing its internal affairs. Furthermore, Dantai Jing found his name distasteful and renamed him to Su Gou.

Su Gou bowed respectfully, saying politely: “Yes, Grandmaster.”

The three star officials also took their leave. The grandmaster sat on the basalt platform, watching them depart from the Beichen Palace. A moment later, the grandmaster stood up, pinching a formless gate talisman in between his index and middle finger. A vortex of light and shadow opened before him. He stepped into it, entering the pitch black and sunless Infernal Prison. The narrow passageways, the cold stone walls—the architectural style of the Secret Sect was always so oppressive and inhuman. The screams of the madmen inside were incessant; even normal people would go insane after prolonged confinement here. The grandmaster kept his gaze straight ahead, descending the spiral stone staircase step by step until he reached the lowest level of the Infernal Prison.

This was a secret prison cell. All four walls were inscribed with star arrays, and the hard basalt was embedded with pure land talismans, suppressing the prisoners within with the most severe and powerful magic. Two faceless, steel-clad humanoid puppets stood outside the cage with swords at their sides. Anyone who entered or left the prison cell without permission would be mercilessly killed and beheaded by them.

The prisoner was a woman with flowing black hair and a fair complexion. She sat with her hands folded and eyes closed, bound by chains as thick as an arm. Those chains coiled around her limbs like pythons. Hearing Dantai Jing’s footsteps, she slowly opened her eyes. They were beautiful eyes, with slightly upturned corners, possessing a charming and gentle beauty. Yet few dared to look into those two eyes. Perhaps it was the lighting cast by the star arrays, but a fierce glare entered her eyes, the light inside her pupils as sharp as a knife.

Dantai Jing did not step forward, halting outside the prison cell. He spoke slowly, his voice deep and dignified: “The puppet’s secret key.”

“No idea.” Jiang Xueya answered bluntly.

“When Su Ruhui was imprisoned in the Immortal’s Cave, you visited him thrice, and smuggled out puppet blueprints thrice. We have already found the blueprints. You don’t need to lie anymore.”

Jiang Xueya sighed wistfully while holding her forehead, “Grandmaster, look at me. Do I look like someone who can understand those blueprints? If I were that intelligent, why would my father make me a military officer? Besides, since you’ve found those blueprints, you should be able to decipher them. Maybe the secret key is hidden within them.”

“It is not.” Dantai Jing responded.

“Oh…” Jiang Xueya thought for a moment, “How about this, Grandmaster, you keep me company and we can have a lil chat. If that chat puts me in a good mood after, I might be able to remember.”

Dantai Jing’s voice grew colder, “Jiang Xueya, it is useless to delay things.”

Jiang Xueya had been locked up for half a month, and Dantai Jing had not said anything to her outside of asking about the puppet’s secret key. Heaven knows she had only helped Su Ruhui smuggle blueprints a few times and run a few errands. Yet Dantai Jing was so suspicious he stubbornly refused to believe she didn’t know about the puppet’s secret key. Of course, it could also be that Jiang Xueya was too much of a bastard whose words held zero credibility.

Jiang Xueya saw him rooted at the prison door like a nail, and her smile grew increasingly mocking. “Why are you standing so far away? I won’t eat you, or are you afraid of me? You’re a secret arts cultivator of the Chaoshen level, the grandmaster of the Kunlun Secret Sect, why would you be afraid of a mere criminal like me? Lord Lang Yaguang’s secret arts is ‘Flowery Dream.’ If you want to know something, just have him cast a beautiful dream on me and you can see for yourself.”

As if anticipating the outrageous things she was about to say, Tantai Jing’s expression darkened. He said sharply: “Silence.”

Jiang Xueya showed no intention of stopping. Her smile was wicked and arrogant, “I get it. You’re afraid he’ll see what happened that night, afraid others will see me pinning you down on the bed. The esteemed grandmaster of the Secret Sect, being bullied by his own disciple’s fiancée. To cover up this incestuous affair, you banished Sang Chiyu, imprisoned your future daughter-in-law, and secretly changed the marriage contract in Yunzhou. What a clever way to deceive yourself, but Grandmaster, even if your disciple finds out, it won’t matter. You can just shift all the blame onto me, saying you were forced. Everyone knows he loves me to the bone, that he would even turn against Su Ruhui for me. He won’t blame me.”

Dantai Jing’s voice was strained with suppressed anger. “Dare speak such nonsense again, and you’ll face severe punishment.”

He raised his hand and turned the star array’s eight trigrams lock. The chains slowly tightened, and Jiang Xueya let out a low groan of pain.

Jiang Xueya licked her dry lips: “Grandmaster, since I was a child, my father didn’t care for me and my mother died early. When the family gathers for New Year’s Eve dinner, there’s no place set for me at the table. My brothers and sisters either wish I would die sooner or wish I would get married and leave, so there would be one less person to compete with them for land and military power. Su Ruhui is my shidi, and Zhou Xiaosu is my shimei. I consider them my own siblings. You imprisoned my shidi and plotted to steal his secret techniques, and you still expect me to betray him?”

Dantai Jing turned the eight trigrams lock again, and said in a chilling voice, “Things that are too rigid break easily; behave yourself.”

“No way, I’ve always valued loyalty above all else.” Jiang Xueya said with a suggestive chuckle, then shifted gears, “However… a brother can’t be compared to a wife. If the grandmaster is willing to humble himself and marry down to me, I will tell you everything I know about the puppet’s secret key, without reservation.”