Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: Chapter 18: Besieged on All Sides (4)
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It wasn't his intention. He was in a position where he had no choice but to fight to the death, and that's exactly what he planned to do. He simply couldn't manage it. Swept away by the rapids, the battle hadn't unfolded as he'd envisioned.
Once he was caught in the current, he couldn't even breathe.
Now death was right in front of him. He'd crossed the line where willpower alone could save him.
Then, a fleeting thought crossed his mind: the Esteemed Breath Grand Technique.
The Esteemed Breath Grand Technique was meant to be performed on land. It was a supreme method that suppressed the body's functions to the brink of death, minimizing the activity of muscles, organs, and even thoughts. In thin air or the harshest natural conditions, it allowed one to cling to life.
It wasn't something you could use in a place completely cut off from air, like underwater.
But right now, there were no options left. Whatever he did, he'd die. Even if he did nothing, he'd die.
Four Thousand Four unleashed the Esteemed Breath Grand Technique.
There was no fear of death. He hated killing so much that he'd rather end his own life than take another's, and that's why he'd ended up in this place called the Nineteen Hells... For someone who feared life this much, death was almost a welcome relief.
He guided his qi to seal off every function of his body.
He closed his eyes, plugged his ears, sealed his nose... suppressed his lung function, and slowed his heart.
The Esteemed Breath Grand Technique left only a sliver of consciousness. It was a safeguard to awaken instantly if something went wrong with the body.
If danger arose nearby... even if no enemy approached, in cases of immediate threats like a wildfire or flood that demanded instant evasion, the technique had to release as quickly as possible.
Four Thousand Four let even that sliver of consciousness slip away.
His body died, while only his qi continued to circulate.
His pulse slowed to the point where even a physician couldn't detect it. His blood flow ground to a near halt.
Four Thousand Four was swept away by the current.
The Ten Directions Linkage was a heavenly net, an earthly web.
Centered on the target, it controlled an area ten li above and ten li below, a full twenty li in total.
The Ten Directions Linkage relied on human wave tactics.
It didn't just mobilize warriors from the Zhuge Clan—nearby villagers and every available hand the clan could muster were deployed. That made it a pursuit technique limited to use within Zhuge Clan territory.
Such a pursuit net couldn't be breached by one or two people letting their guard down.
It only broke if everyone in the region slacked off, thinking it had nothing to do with them.
It wasn't an individual surveillance network; it was regional.
He might be able to slip quietly onto land, but escaping the Ten Directions Linkage was impossible. Surfacing would get him caught by the assassin, and staying submerged meant the grim reaper would drag him down.
There was no hole for Four Thousand Four to slip through.
Yet nowhere could they find any sign of him.
"That bastard really is a ghost."
Zhuge Myeong let out a disbelieving chuckle.
Zhuge Soso said nothing. No words could explain Four Thousand Four's movements.
He had utterly defied her common sense.
"Should we look for a body?"
"He's not dead."
Zhuge Soso stated it flatly.
Zhuge Myeong glanced at her.
She was biting her lower lip hard.
"Heh heh heh!"
Zhuge Myeong smirked.
This expression on Zhuge Soso was familiar. She'd worn it since childhood whenever she faced an obstacle she had to overcome, a tough problem, or someone she refused to lose to.
Zhuge Soso concluded that Four Thousand Four had broken through the encirclement. And with that, she officially took note of him.
From now on, Four Thousand Four would never leave her mind for a moment. Anything involving him—even something as trivial as sipping a cup of tea in Dalu—would be reported to her.
He wouldn't be able to sleep with both legs stretched out anymore.
"You're right. He's not dead. If he were, we'd have found the body by now."
This was the part confusing Zhuge Myeong and Zhuge Soso.
Four Thousand Four hadn't shown himself. He'd gone into the water and never come out. By all human logic, he should be dead by now.
Would Four Thousand Four choose death without even fighting?
Not a chance! Even if he had to drown suffocating underwater, he'd at least clash swords once before dying.
He absolutely wouldn't just die like that.
Which meant he'd somehow slipped the noose... but that made no sense either. They'd checked repeatedly just in case, but the Ten Directions Linkage had no gaps.
Not this side, not that side. Nowhere.
They just stared at the river.
"What happened?"
Vanguard asked Fox for details.
Fox shook his head, as if he had no idea either.
They couldn't approach the riverbank.
Their killer instincts detected warriors thickly lining the shore nearby.
Two boats floated on the river.
One was empty, and the assassin sat in the other.
The empty one was probably the one Four Thousand Four had used.
They could guess why he'd taken the boat and gone to the river's center. He'd likely heard Fox and used the water to wash away his scent. To evade the Zhuge Clan's pursuit, he needed to reach a place their blades couldn't touch—hence the middle of the river.
That was as far as their guesses went.
Why had the assassin, who'd been in pursuit, now planted himself in the river's heart? Why were Zhuge Clan warriors lined up along the entire bank? None of the scene before them made sense.
But one thing was clear: Four Thousand Four had escaped.
How?
Looking at the net formation of Zhuge warriors along the bank... it evoked the Ten Directions Linkage, one of the Zhuge Clan's four great pursuit arts.
A heavenly net, an earthly web.
If they'd deployed that, there should have been no escape.
The only question was when they'd set it up. Zhuge Soso wasn't an idiot... they wouldn't have formed it after he'd slipped away.
Four Thousand Four had pierced a perfect encirclement and broken free.
"How the hell did he bust through that?"
Hanbi muttered.
They couldn't even get near the encirclement. Brushing against it would trigger instant pursuit.
Breaking through to the riverbank?
There was no reason to take the risk, and they lacked the wits or skill to dismantle the Ten Directions Linkage anyway.
"We gotta make a note of this."
Fox muttered.
"Why? Note what?"
Jaja asked, curious.
"I have no clue either. If I'd gotten caught in this, I'd be done for. We need to figure out how he broke through. Everything else can wait—this we have to know."
No one could respond.
Vanguard, Hanbi, and Jaja had thought from the start there was no way out. But Fox... the nine-tailed fox... maybe he had some trick up his sleeve.
Yet even Fox said it was impossible. He spoke with utter despair, like a man already caught.
There really was no answer.
How had Four Thousand Four slipped through a place like this?
Vanguard spoke up.
"Jaja, head to the Secret Three."
"You're... not coming?"
"I've got a meetup. Tell Fox the location and let him guide you. Get there safe. Now that we've shaken the Zhuge pursuit, don't get caught again."
He was going to meet his handler.
Since they hadn't killed Four Thousand Four, he needed new orders.
"I get what you're saying, but... Vanguard, I can guess what orders you'll get if you go now. Can't we just let Four Thousand Four go like this?"
"That's not like you..."
"I know. It's not like me. But for some reason, I don't hate the guy. Feels like he must have a reason every time he kills."
Jaja said something utterly uncharacteristic.
She was always cold and combative. She'd never pitied anyone before. Insisting 'we chase him down and kill him!' would have been more her style.
Vanguard looked at her and said,
"Heh heh heh! That's what Fox has always been saying."
"It's not like I got it from him."
"Not quite arguing it... what is it, sympathy? Not even that... how do I put it?"
Fox scratched his head, picking up from Jaja's words.
"Go wait at the Secret Three."
Vanguard patted Jaja's shoulder. Then he slipped away from the group, moving stealthily.
Fox looked at Jaja and said,
"Where's the Secret Three?"
Whoosh! Splash! Whoosh!
It sounded like a gale-force wind and rain.
'I'm alive.'
Four Thousand Four recalled the memory right before blacking out. No, even in his unconscious state, he hadn't let go of it.
As soon as he opened his eyes, it connected seamlessly.
Four Thousand Four slowly opened his eyes.
Splash! Crash! Whoosh! Splash!
The torrent surged fiercely, slamming into rocks.
Where was this? It had to be night, and a sudden downpour was dumping rain.
He couldn't make out his surroundings.
Four Thousand Four didn't move. First, he needed to figure out where he was and check his body's condition.
He released his qi to scan his meridians.
Qi circulation was fine. Qi rising from his dantian flowed unimpeded through his body.
Next, his physical state. But he couldn't assess that lying still. He'd have to get up and move to reveal any issues. Until then, there was no way to know.
Four Thousand Four raised his upper body to sit up. But then,
Slick!
As he pressed his hand to the ground, it sank right in. His body wobbled and plunged into the water.
"Hup!"
Four Thousand Four flailed urgently, grasping for anything nearby.
Luckily, something was within reach.
"Ngh!"
As his body stabilized, a groan escaped him.
Now he understood why all he could see was water, no matter where he looked.
He was smack in the middle of the river, where the current raged fastest. He'd been snagged on a jagged rock protruding from the surface. Without it, he'd have drowned long ago.
Heaven's providence. The skies had aided him.
'Even a life like mine, you save.'
He looked up at the rainy sky. A pitch-black heaven shrouded in murky darkness.
He carefully climbed onto the slippery rock.
It was just big enough for one hip. If the water rose, even this would submerge.
Sitting on the rock, he gazed at the vast river stretching like the sea.
No one was there. Just the river. Just water. The current churned wildly, ferociously.
Killing... he couldn't stop.
He had to kill with all his might until his last breath.
Be prudent. Prudent, and prudent again. Deliberate twice, three times... ten if needed, whether it's righteous killing. If you can't stand by it, don't kill.
The river roared harsh words.
The old man had spoken calmly, spouting nonsense about killing to a foolish youth.
The river spoke those words with savage fury.
It thundered them loud enough to rattle his eardrums.
Rumble!
The torrent seemed ready to swallow him on the rock at any moment.
Killing with one's all leaves no regret. But half-hearted killing leaves a stubborn scar.
An instant is long. Split that instant into ten... no, even that's too much. Split it into a hundred. Don't give consciousness time to interfere. Kill in the blink of an eye.
There is righteous killing and deviant killing.
All killings in the world are deviant. Whether the righteous slay fiends or fiends slay the righteous... even murder under the banner of justice is deviant.
Only killing executed according to the Killing Principles is righteous.
The old man's words bloomed fresh in his mind.
The Killing Principles etched deep into his bones swelled like thunderclouds.
There in the river's heart, atop a rock barely fitting his hips, facing the raging waters and storm, Four Thousand Four contemplated the Killing Principles. He reflected on the old man's words.
He wanted to forget, but the more he tried, the more vividly they resurfaced.
That damned curse demanding he kill!