Sealing Sword Chapter 7

Chapter 7: A Beast in a Cage

 

Xie Li felt that he must have offended Tai Sui* this year. If he managed to leave this place alive, he swore he’d douse himself with a bucket of black dog blood for good luck.*

 

Just moments ago, he had been thrown into this stone chamber, dazed and confused. He had taken off his scabbard and boots, banging on the door for a while, but there was no response. His heart was filled with anxiety, and he was at a complete loss.

 

Ye Fusheng had thought things through carefully. In the darkness, his hearing was sharp, and he heard the echo from behind the door, guessing it was a quiet room. Seeing enemies around, he had shoved Xie Li out of the fight to prevent him from getting involved, planning to come back for him after dealing with the trouble. Unfortunately, the world was not only filled with well-behaved kids, but also mischievous ones.

 

Xie Li, though young, had a knack for courting death even if he hadn’t done anything overly reckless.

 

Seeing that banging on the door was futile, Xie Li turned to find another way out. He had no knowledge of the room’s structure, and without a fire source to light the way, he wandered blindly in the dark. Fortunately, he was both bold and cautious, feeling his way along the cracks between the bricks. His luck paid off—after tapping on seven hollow bricks, Xie Li mentally connected their positions and decisively struck a particular spot heavily.

 

The hollow brick caved in with a loud crash, and he quickly dodged to the side. Half of the wall collapsed, and a gust of cold wind rushed in, stinging his face.

 

A faint light came through the hole. His eyes, having gradually adjusted to the darkness, stung from the sudden brightness. He picked up a stone and threw it into the gap, hearing a series of collisions before it rolled away.

 

There were obstacles inside.

 

A wise person would hesitate, but Xie Li wasn’t that type.

 

He was ten years old this year. He had started learning martial arts at three and wielded a blade by four. His father didn’t care about him, and his mother had died early. Any childish behaviors like causing trouble or crying for help in tough situations had long been buried in innocent dreams.

 

Duanshui manor, the Duanshui Blade, and Xie Wuyi… These were responsibilities he had witnessed and ingrained in his mind from a young age. For the past three years, he had practiced martial arts day and night, without taking a break even through the seasons. Having seen scheming and betrayal, and having heard the stories of fleeting glory, a desire to stand tall and shoulder responsibilities had sprouted in his yet immature heart. Though his body was still frail, he desperately wanted to support the crumbling beams, never understanding the concept of retreat in the face of difficulty.

 

Xie Li took a deep breath and held the Duanshui Blade in his hands. The blade was nearly as tall as he was, making him look somewhat comical.

 

Without further hesitation, he darted into the room. Before he could even steady himself, he heard the sound of wind above him. Instinctively, he ducked, and his tightly tied hair loosened, with the lapis lazuli hair ring breaking into two pieces.

 

At that very moment, Xie Li caught a glimpse of the surroundings. It was another stone chamber, much larger than the previous one, similarly arranged. There were three ever-burning lamps on the walls, and in the center stood a circular stone platform surrounded by water. At each corner of the room stood a life-sized figure.

 

The figures were all made to resemble men, their features carved in remarkable detail, making them appear like four identical brothers. Each held a different weapon—knife, spear, sword, and halberd—resembling the Four Heavenly Kings, guardians of the realm.

 

The sword-wielding figure was the closest to him. When its first strike missed, it thrust its iron sword again, its movements quick and ruthless. In an instant, the sword tip collided with Xie Li’s scabbard, stopping just inches from his throat.

 

The impact sent Xie Li staggering three steps back. Suddenly, he heard a whistling sound from behind. Without thinking, he swung his blade backward, blocking a halberd strike. The force was so strong that it drove him to one knee, and his palm split open from the shock.

 

He hadn’t even caught his breath when his face changed drastically. He immediately retracted his blade and rolled on the ground, just in time to avoid eight consecutive strikes that left the ground riddled with holes.

 

The third figure, wielding a spear, charged at him. The ninth strike met with the Duanshui Blade’s scabbard. The impact churned his insides, and he swallowed a mouthful of blood. At that moment, the fourth figure’s blade came crashing down.

 

With a resounding clang, the Duanshui blade flashed out from its scabbard. Xie Li, who had been holding back all this time, finally drew his blade and fiercely clashed with the figure’s weapon, sparks flying.

 

With one strike, his attack was far from over. The Duanshui blade followed through, splitting the figure’s sword in two. But instead of retreating, the figure dropped its weapon, its fingers cracking as it formed fists, aiming straight for Xie Li.

 

The four figures surrounded him, one strike after another, forcing Xie Li into a desperate situation. His gaze darted around, noticing that the stone platform surrounded by water remained undisturbed. The figures never once shifted the fight in that direction.

 

Seizing a moment of opportunity, Xie Li feigned a move. The Duanshui blade and the iron sword were about to clash when he suddenly withdrew his strength. The next instant, he was sent flying like a kite with a broken string. His calculations were precise, and he was about to land on the stone platform when the spear-wielding figure refused to let him go. Its spear flew straight toward his face. In mid-air, with no place to dodge or leverage, Xie Li’s pupils contracted. However, the spear only grazed his ear as it shot past him.

 

“How stupid can one get? This is the first time I’ve seen someone this foolish.”

 

An unfamiliar male voice sounded by his ear. The spear was lightly deflected by a pale finger, veering off its original path. A ghostly figure appeared beside Xie Li, grabbed him by the collar, and lifted him onto the stone platform like a chick.

 

Sure enough, the four figures didn’t pursue, standing eerily still by the water’s edge. The man, Chu Xiwei, unceremoniously let go, causing the boy to fall face-first onto the ground, swallowing a mouthful of dust.

 

Chu Xiwei surveyed the platform. It was about a zhang (about 12 feets) wide, surrounded by a circle of eerie green water. He raised an eyebrow and tossed a coin into the water, which sizzled strangely.

 

“This is Duanshui manor’s forbidden ground. You’re the young master. Have you been here before?”

 

Xie Li coughed a few times and replied, “Young master, not manor master.”

 

“Tch, useless baggage.” Chu Xiwei kicked him lightly. “Get up. It’s about to begin.”

 

What was about to begin?

 

Xie Li did not voice his question. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, gripped his Duanshui blade, and stood up, ready for action.

 

It turned out that the rare warning from the leader of the Baigui Sect was not just a casual scare.

 

A few metallic sounds rang out, and iron bars rose uniformly along the edge of the stone platform, embedding themselves deep into the stone ceiling, forming a large iron cage. Chu Xiwei pressed a hand on Xie Li’s shoulder, carefully inspecting each iron bar. He raised his palm and struck it. After a violent tremor, the cage remained intact. Xie Li looked upward and exclaimed, “The ceiling stone has sunk by three inches!”

 

Chu Xiwei frowned, gathering 60% of his strength before striking again. This time, the iron bar in front of him showed cracks, as if it were about to break. However, the giant stone above had sunk by more than a foot!

 

If they couldn’t break through the iron cage in one strike, they would be trapped and unable to move, or even be crushed into pulp!

 

“Give me the blade.”

 

Xie Li hesitated for a moment before handing him the Duanshui blade. Chu Xiwei inhaled deeply, and the moment his hand grasped the hilt, Xie Li could barely see it before the blade was already unsheathed.

 

He wanted to take a closer look at the blade, but a piercing sound had already reached his ears. Chu Xiwei’s blade technique was simple—unsheathing the blade was equivalent to making a strike. Xie Li blinked, and Chu Xiwei had already returned the blade to its sheath.

 

Before them, four iron bars were cut into twelve segments, the upper and lower eight pieces swayed precariously, while the middle four crumbled.

 

At the same time, the giant stone above crashed down with a thunderous noise, dust and debris filling the air, hurtling toward their bodies in an instant!

 

Chu Xiwei grabbed Xie Li with one hand, and like a floating reed, they flew out of the trap just as the massive stone grazed their clothes, crashing onto the stone platform with a huge impact that sent water splashing everywhere.

 

Despite the splashing water, Chu Xiwei, holding a half-grown child in his hand, avoided every single drop from touching them. He dodged through the chaotic onslaught with ease. As they were about to land, the sound of mechanisms being triggered suddenly echoed from all around. The walls on three sides flipped open, revealing layers of compartments filled with holes. Sharpened stone needles shot out in a dense and icy barrage.

 

Suspended midair with no support, they faced four armed puppets blocking their path, while sharp stone needles shot at them from all directions. Within moments, they would be pierced through like a beehive.

 

The fastest stone needle was already about to pierce the back of Xie Li’s head.

 

Chu Xiwei pushed Xie Li forward and twisted his body midair. With a swift sweep of the Duanshui blade, like a gale scattering leaves, the stone needles closest to him were absorbed by the invisible blade aura and repelled back along the blade’s edge, knocking down the second wave of incoming needles.

 

With a spin of his body, Chu Xiwei moved gracefully within the rain of needles, creating an empty space within three feet of himself.

 

However, no matter how skilled, even the best martial artist couldn’t stay suspended in midair forever.

 

Before Chu Xiwei could stabilize his footing, the spear-wielding puppet moved. It lunged forward, thrusting directly at his face. With no time to defend, Chu Xiwei raised his left hand, forming a blade-hand, slashing diagonally at the puppet’s wrist joint.

 

The puppet’s lifelike hand was severed cleanly at the wrist, and the long spear clattered to the ground. However, from the severed wrist suddenly sprayed a yellow-green gas. Caught off guard, Chu Xiwei was hit squarely in the face. Although he quickly held his breath, his eyes burned painfully.

 

Sensing an opportunity, the puppets closed in simultaneously. Xie Li knew the situation was dire. Taking advantage of his smaller size, he slipped through the gaps and stood in front of Chu Xiwei. Gathering his strength, he kicked the knee of the sword-wielding puppet, nearly losing his own balance from the recoil, but the puppet’s leg below the knee was kicked clean off!

 

Chu Xiwei, eyes closed, listened intently. “What’s happening?”

 

Xie Li hesitated for a moment before scanning the puppets quickly. “These puppets all have cracks on them. The cuts are clean, as if they were once sliced by a sharp weapon.”

 

“The mechanisms here are designed to trap first and kill second. Each stage leads to the next, triggered by strength. It seems like a deadly puzzle, but I wonder for whom it was set…” Chu Xiwei chuckled softly, then sat down calmly on the ground. “Kid, I can’t see right now. These four are all yours. Don’t let them hurt me.”

 

It was shameless for a grown man to say such a thing to a half-grown child, but the child didn’t seem to mind.

 

Xie Li only hesitated for a moment before taking back the Duanshui blade and confronting the four puppets.

 

Clashing metal echoed as he stood his ground in front of Chu Xiwei, not retreating an inch. The martial skills he had honed for seven years, day and night, finally came to the forefront. Though his internal strength was lacking, his agility allowed him to dodge attacks, and he used the puppets’ weaknesses to make them attack each other. Facing four at once, while not completely at ease, he maintained control.

 

The more he fought, the clearer and calmer his mind became.

 

If he had been born in an ordinary family, a ten-year-old boy would still be carefree and innocent. But his fate lay in the martial world, destined to face a lifetime of bloodshed and swordplay.

 

“The legacy of Duanshui Manor cannot fall in your hands. You are Xie Wuyi’s son, so you can never be just a child!”

 

Sweat dripped down his forehead, his disheveled hair a mess, and a sword cut ran along his cheek.

 

With the Duanshui blade horizontal above his head, he blocked the heavy sword strike from a puppet that came down like a mountain.

 

The iron sword pressed heavily down, nearly forcing Xie Li to his knees. He could retreat, or he could dodge.

 

But behind him was Chu Xiwei, blinded and vulnerable, and in his hand was the Duanshui blade.

 

Blood seeped from his knees as they struck the ground. Gritting his teeth, veins bulging, he forced himself to stand.

 

Behind him, Chu Xiwei raised his eyebrows, slowly extending his fingers as he prepared to unleash a strike.

 

“…Fei, Liu!”

 

A hoarse voice erupted from Xie Li’s young throat. The Duanshui blade rang out, cleaving the iron sword with a powerful strike, following the cracks along the puppet’s body, embedding itself deeply into its waist!

 

With this strike, the blade flowed like water piercing stone. Chu Xiwei no longer hesitated, pinpointing the sound and sending a palm strike just above Xie Li’s head, slamming into the puppet. The puppet, already deeply cut by the blade, was sent flying by the force!

 

Xie Li was stunned by the earth-shattering blow, but the remaining three puppets were not. They attacked in a formation, their strikes swift and heavy, arriving in the blink of an eye.

 

Xie Li’s vision blurred as Chu Xiwei heard the sound of fluttering clothes.

 

Ye Fusheng leapt through the broken doorway, as light as a swallow, seamlessly joining the fray. Without a word, he and Chu Xiwei moved in unison, striking simultaneously from the left and right. Xie Li’s disheveled hair flew wildly as he instinctively ducked between them. His hair, sliced by the force of their palm strikes, fell gently to the ground.

 

Along with it, a pile of shattered wood debris.

 

One palm strike, like a thunderbolt, left no chance for survival.

 

Seeing that the newcomer was Ye Fusheng, Xie Li exhaled a long sigh of relief. But when he turned, he noticed another figure standing at the entrance.

 

That person, silhouetted against the light, was thin, almost skeletal, with the vague outline of a woman. Xie Li squinted to get a better look, but a hand suddenly pressed down on the back of his neck.

 

Before he could even utter a sound, Xie Li collapsed limply to the ground.

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1. Tai Sui: Tai Sui is a central figure in the novel Tai Sui by Priest. In the novel, Tai Sui itself is more than just a mythological concept— it takes the form of a powerful, sentient entity that plays a key role in influencing the destiny of the protagonist and the world around him. This being is associated with death, chaos, and destruction but also offers a path to transcendence, making its relationship with the main character complex

2. Dousing oneself with a bucket of black dog blood for good luck: It is a reference to a superstitious practice in Chinese folklore. Black dog blood is believed to ward off evil spirits, ghosts, or malevolent influences.