Plundering the Dao of the Immortal Journey - Chapter 155

Chapter 155

Shi Mu Zhong, Qin Gao and Song Zhi stood still and watched on, blocking the entrance out .

"What?" Pei Zi Yun cleared his throat before speaking, "Hurry, follow me!"

As he spoke, they rushed into the main hall and started killing their way through . A warrior stood up to block their way . Pei Zi Yun’s sword moved in a quick blur towards the warrior as he fell over . His intestines were spilling out of the slit in his abdomen .

"Die!" Song Zhi shouted as he too rushed towards them .

"Zhng zhng!" The traded several blows, and both of them fell backwards due to the ferocity of their strikes .

"Something’s not right . Don’t let him hide!" Shi Mu Zhong frowned, seeing a flaw in his plan . He then charged towards Pei Zi Yun as well .

Pei Zi Yun held on tightly to Ye Su’er as Shen Zhen and He Qing Qing crashed through the closed door leading to the west hall .

"Kill!" Shen Zhen’s knife moved like the wind, as he dashed towards the nearest two warriors who were fast catching up . He collided into them, charging hard with his shoulders before stabbing them hard and fast, as they bent over in pain .

On the table rested a mini figurine . Pei Zi Yun dashed forward towards the table and pulled the entire figurine down . Instantly, there was a loud rumble and the floor just further ahead from the table parted to reveal a secret basement .

"Hurry, get down!" Pei Zi Yun whispered urgently as the other three of them slipped within .

"Not good, there’s an underground basement!" Shi Mu Zhong forced his way through . At this moment a white blinding light from the reflection of the sword shone down upon the group of pursuers . Shi Mu Zhong reacted by stepping back in defense . A loud groan could be heard as one of the warriors in black stood still before trembling slightly . He then dropped his knife and clutched his abdomen where blood was dripping down . Although the wound wasn’t very wide, it was extremely deep . His bowels had been severed within . It was clear that he was a dead man walking .

Everyone was stumped by this, and were clearly taken aback .

Sensing the temporary confusion, Pei Zi Yun sprang out from from the corner and jumped into the secret basement .

Shi Mu Zhong looked down into the basement, and could see nothing . It was completely dark . He knew that he could not dispatch his men down since he was unsure of what lurked beneath, it could even be a trap . Just as several overly enthusiastic warriors were about to plunge in, he held a hand and shouted, "Wait . Do not go down yet . "

He observed the latch and knocked at the walls surrounding the entrance before heaving a sigh of relief, "It’s a secret room, and doesn’t link outside . It’s probably used to hide someone from the intrusion of thieves or bandits . "

"Since our poisonous incense is almost finished, we can use fire to smoke them to death from outside . "

"Song Zhi, go outside and check where smoke is coming out from . That must be their ventilation gap . We can then focus the fire there to increase the speed . " Shi Mu Zhong instructed .

"I am not your man to command . You cannot order me around . " Song Zhi replied .

"You’ve just plotted to kill a True Element Sect Disciple, planned to kill your own fellow brother . If you do not kill them, can you escape the justice of your sect?" Shi Mu Zhong asked calmly .

"You!" Song Zhi’s face fell . He knew that he had been caught up in his ploy as well . At this point, he had already boarded a boat which had set sail, and thus had no other routes to take . He spun around and headed outside .

Before long, someone retrieved some wooden sticks and a torch .

"Toss the lighted sticks into the entrance of the secret basement . " Shi Mu Zhong ordered as the men started lighting up the wooden sticks . Before long, the entire basement was covered with thick and dense smoke .

"Damn it, even using inner strength would not dispel the effects of the poison . It’s becoming more potent by the minute . "

The entire area of the basement wasn’t very big . It was a small sized cellar with another room . This was used to hide away from bandits or insurgents . Pei Zi Yun had originally planned to create an entrance out of this cellar . However, the geology of this area could not support a long underground tunnel since it rained regularly . The rain water would inevitably cause the soil to be soft and will collapse the entire tunnel after just a few episodes of rain . Underground warfare was impossible in this region for that same reason .

Shen Zhen’s face was pale as he stood up . He had tried using his martial arts earlier to dispel the poison to no avail .

"Not good, these people wish to smoke us out . " He Qing Qing started to panic . They looked up and could see people pouring oil onto the wooden sticks and lighting them up . These warriors managed to find several books which they drew down and burst into flames almost instantly . As fire started becoming bigger, the smoke became thicker, and everyone started coughing and choking .

"Hurry, block the hatch and try to prevent the smoke from entering . "

Hearing the instructions, Shen Zhen, He Qing Qing and Ye Su’er started looking around for any object which might help them to block off the smoke entering through the hatch .

"Since this basement was built to prevent bandits from entering, it has been stocked up with supplies of rice and water . Pick up these bags of rice and place them in front to form a sort of wall, preventing as much smoke from coming in as possible . I shall find blankets and water, so that we can resist them for as long as possible . " Pei Zi Yun spoke loudly before turning around to pick up some blankets . He then stuffed the blankets into a tank full of water, soaking the entire blanket . He then stuffed the wet blankets in between the gaps to the hatch . The thick smoke which had been flooding in started coming in small clouds instead .

"Damn it, the ventilation holes above had been blocked off . " Pei Zi Yun’s face fell . This Shi Mu Zhong was worthy of his adviser title to Xie Cheng Dong, to be so cunning and precise with his plans .

"All of you should each prepare a wet blanket and try to hang on for some time more . However, we need to think of a way to leave this place . If not, we will die here in the basement . " Pei Zi Yun frowned as he spoke .

"What a horrible way to die, by choking . Young Master Pei, are there any other exits to this basement? If not, we are stuck here . " Shen Zhen asked .

"No, there aren’t any . In this area there’s no way to tunnel out due to the frequent rain and soft soil . The tunnels will collapse before long . Hence the only thing that could be built is a basement . " Pei Zi Yun creased his eyebrows as he spoke .

"Young chieftain, this is all my fault for not selecting more able guards to defend the mansion . I’ve caused Miss Ye and everyone else to fall prey to such a predicament!" He Qing Qing told Pei Zi Yun, looking extremely reproachful .

"It’s not older sister’s fault . It’s all my fault . If I had not come to Snail Village, we would not have been attacked by Song Zhi, and would not have been in such a situation . " Ye Su’er said sadly .

Pei Zi Yun took Ye Su’er in his arms and didn’t speak . He was deep in thought, thinking of a way to escape . Even if he was confident of killing his way across, he knew that he had been poisoned, and could not dispel it anytime soon .

"Song Zhi’s heart and mind has been long corrupted by vile thoughts . To have the audacity to plot with outsiders to kill me, and even wanted to besmirch the purity of Su’er . He must’ve planned this a long time ago . None of you are to be blamed . " Pei Zi Yun said dejectedly .

'Right, and I have four pills left . These magical pills have extraordinary uses, and might even dispel the poison . The last time Shen Zhen was poisoned, this pill helped . What of a less potent poison?'

'Let’s try it out . ' Pei Zi Yun thought to himself before retrieving the vial from his clothes . He then poured out a single red pill and swallowed it .

The familiar sensation of warmth filled his entire body . He could feel his inner strength fuse together to form an extremely strong sensation within his body . Even his spiritual energy took a slight boost . Soon after, all the inner strength and energy within his body depleted almost instantly once again . Pei Zi Yun’s face fell .

"Young Master Pei, even the magical pills are unable to dispel the effects of the poison?" Shen Zhen asked .

"It’s unable to . " Pei Zi Yun said as a matter of fact .

Hearing his reply, Shen Zhen’s face turned pale too . He then looked up, "Young Master, cough cough . Let’s fight our way out . If not, we shall be burnt to death or die choking from smoke . At most, we can only stay here a little while longer before we have to fight out way out anyway . "

"Is there any other way?" Pei Zi Yun thought to himself .

"I’ve already cultivated up to the tenth level, the full circle foundation . Since I’ve possess the memories of my senior granduncle, and the original owner, breaking through the gates of heaven should not be too difficult . Since I’ve just broken through to the tenth level recently, breaking through once again and opening the gates of heaven would mean my success rate would only be fifty percent . " Pei Zi Yun hesitated . The blanket he was holding on had turned black with soot, as it absorbed most of the smoke that was within the chambers .

"Song Zhi, Shi Mu Zhong, you are all going to die . " Pei Zi Yun resolved to kill them as he muttered under his breath .

"Shen Zhen, take the water from the tank and splash it over yourselves whenever it gets hot . Try and hold on for a little while longer . I’m already at the tenth level of cultivation, the full circle foundation . As long as I open the gates of heaven, I will become Yin Master . The poison would no longer affect me once I’m at the stage . " Pei Zi Yun said coldly .

"What? You’re going to try and force through the gates of heaven?" Ye Su’er was taken aback by this revelation .

"Young Master Pei, with regards to the Dao, life and death hand on just a sliver . If you force your way through the gates of heaven, you might die should a mistake be made . " Shen Zhen tried to dissuade him .

"I am fifty percent confident at this point . You do not need to convince me otherwise . There’s no other way . Besides, the longer we wait here, the lower our chance of survival . Before long we shall all die here . " Pei Zi Yun replied .

"Just protect me to the best of your abilities . No matter what happens, don’t worry about me . " Pei Zi Yun spoke solemnly . He had experienced opening the gates of heaven twice . At this crucial point of life and death, he would try the only way left .

"Oh . " Ye Su’er acknowledged, her voice sounded coarse from all that smoke .

Shen Zhen and He Qing Qing looked at each other before sighing . They knew that this was their last lap . If Pei Zi Yun should fail, they were both ready to kill their way out, and take as many people as they could along with them in death .

Pei Zi Yun gently pried Ye Su’er away from his body . He then turned around and headed into the adjacent room . There was a praying mat within the room . Pei Zi Yun climbed on top of it, sat down and crossed his legs .

His heart fluttered and the information interface appeared before his eyes .

"Free Cloud Sect Manual: Level 10"

"Dao Techniques: 39 Variations, Advanced"

"Free Cloud Sect Sword Technique: Master (18 . 1% Completed)"

'Having acquired the Shen family’s Thirty Seven Techniques, my sword skills have improved considerably . Although it’s still some distance away from breaking through this level . Besides, if I were to improve further I would be untouchable, a deity among men in terms of sword fighting . '

Pei Zi Yun thought to himself . Regardless of Dao arts or martial arts, as long as he opened the gates of heaven, he would be able to exhibit the powers of a Yin Master and defeat these men easily .

'Although I have the memories of my senior granduncle and the original owner, opening the gates of heaven isn’t a small matter . Even with the knowledge and experience, the success rate was fifty percent . However at this point, I’m unable to tolerate the spread of the poison any longer . I have to hurry end this fight . '

Pei Zi Yun took in a deep breath, still seated cross legged . He closed his eyes, and everything within his mind was perfectly clear . Breaking the gates of heaven involved the coalescing of energy, blood and vitality within his body . He would use all these to nourish his consciousness and cause an expansion of the consciousness . When that happens, a person will become Yin Master .

Only when a person becomes Yin Master will he be able to open the gates of heaven . He would be able to fuse the internal and external aspects and gain control of the spiritual energy on heaven and earth . When a person was about to break through, he would prepare and consume pills to nourish his energy . However since he had just consumed a pill, there was no need to take another .

'In fact, that’s the experience of a normal person . There were some hidden details which had been forbidden to be passed on, and yet I’m aware of . '

Pei Zi Yun remained seated on the straw mat, crossed legged . Vitality and blood swirled around his body endlessly . Suddenly, his forehead turned a deep shade of red, while his face turned pale . His body had withered considerably .

Following Pei Zi Yun’s absorption of energy from his surroundings, everything started vibrating and shaking violently around him . It was almost as if the heavens had been stirred up and was agitated .

"What? The energy has been stirred up . Pei Zi Yun is trying to break through the gates of heaven . " Once everyone on top felt the tremors, Shi Mu Zhong who was calm and collected previously started to panic, "Song Zhi, you and I shall wield our powers together later on . Let’s extinguish this fire and charge in . "

At this point Song Zhi’s face turned pale as well . Pei Zi Yun had only been around for a short time and he had already managed to activate the energy from the heaven and earth in a bid to open the gates of heaven . Song Zhi found himself in such a difficult position . Once Pei Zi Yun succeeds, Song Zhi would find himself at the end of the road . He thus gritted his teeth, "Fine!"

The single syllable word escaped through his gritted teeth, killing aura radiating . The person who hated Pei Zi Yun most in this world, was Song Zhi .

"Hurry, retrieve all the burning wooden sticks . " The warriors in black robes started picking up the burning sticks without a care for the intense heat and chucked it aside to extinguish . Just now they were afraid that burning all these would not be enough . At this point they were afraid it wouldn’t extinguish quickly enough .

Qin Gao seemed rather calm and said, "Mister Shi, this person is only at the tenth level of cultivation at most . Opening the gates of heaven had only two outcomes, life or death . How can it be that easy for him?"

Hearing these words, Shi Mu Zhong’s face sank, "This person had been on the receiving end of the shift in fortunes . We cannot speak of him as we would, a normal person . At this point we should kill our way in and ensure that he doesn’t have enough space and time to succeed . "

"Pei Zi Yun’s innate talents are extremely strong . Only by killing him can we end this farce once and for all . Once he manages to open the gates of heaven, we shall all die under his sword . "

As he spoke, he realized that most of the huge chunks of burning wood had been removed . As for the rest of them, Shi Mu Zhong and Song Zhi were prepared . They pointed at the remaining fire as jets of water sprayed across, extinguishing it .

The both of them covered their mouths and nose before jumping into the secret basement . A shout could then be heard from above, "Damn it, they managed to build a makeshift wall . No wonder most of the smoke didn’t get through to them . "

"Kill! Kill your way through!"