752 The Book Chamber (2/2)

Deng Yuanlei rejoiced. He started shuffling towards the door and on his way he said,” Dragon King, didn't you claim that you could defeat the Qingcheng Sect in a face-to-face fight? Why don't you dare to show yourself? Stop hiding and sneaking around if you're truly a hero.”

It was probably because he thought that these words would be helpful in provoking the Dragon King that Lü Mian didn't stop him. Deng Yuanlei, who was now certain that his Sect Leader's swordsmanship was more powerful than that of the Dragon King's, became much more self-complacent. ”Oh, I forgot that the Dragon King used to be a killer, who likes to perform sneak attack in the darkness – like a rat.”

Gu Shenwei remained calm, but Old Man Mu, who was on the innermost side of the book chamber, became angry. He randomly grabbed some books, then threw them towards the oil lamps on the left side and started turning them back aroundone by one, ”What's wrong with sneak attack in the darkness? No one can see so it's just as fair. The nine major sects of the Central Plains have won their authority by sheer weight of numbers, and of course you want to talk about rules and ethics. So we all have to obey the rules even if we have no power, no background? Fight face to face even if we know we don't stand a chance? No way! Dragon King, be sure to give them some stabs in their backs.”

Before long, Old Man Mu had turned over most of the oil lamps, in the process of which he had accidentally lit one of the books, causing a fire which he then had to subsequently stamp and put out. There were only two lamps left, and they were near the door where he didn't dare to get close to because Deng Yuanlei was watching him with a heavy hostility in his eyes. And if it weren't for the fact that Deng Yuanlei had been told to guard the door, he would have stabbed Old Man Mu to death by now.

Both Gu Shenwei and LüMian remained silent as if they had disappeared. But in reality, they had merely lost sight of each other.

Lü Mian had only made one sword strike, but it had pressured Gu Shenwei like no other.

The sword strike of the Sect Leader of Qingcheng Sect was distinctive. The most formidable part was neither the fast speed or the strength, but rather the unpredictability. Lü Mian seemed to anticipate the Dragon King's every move, which was why he could evade hostile moves and plan his own moves in advance.

Gu Shenwei wondered whether his sabersmanship had suffered a decline like Chu Nanping's. In some cases, this kind of decline was difficult for oneself to detect, and it was only when they fought their enemies in a serious duel that they realized that the weapons in their hands could no longer be wielded as freely as they previously had been.

Suspicion was in of itself a weakening of a certain kind. Gu Shenwei remained crouched on top of a bookshelf for quite a while.

Deng Yuanlei became fairly anxious as the wait dragged on. ”Sect Leader, shall I light the lamps?”

Lü Mian remained silent, which was interpret as a ”no” by Deng Yuanlei, so he stayed where he was and continued to guard the door. He believed that his kung fu was no worse than the Dragon King's and that there were just too many wounds on him, which conveniently made for a perfect excuse.

Gu Shenwei couldn't help but wonder whether he would have suffered a great loss if Lü Mian had launched his attack the moment they fell into the underground chamber. He moved slightly to get a better angle to hear any nearby sounds, and he accidentally brushed against the book at his chest. Then he suddenly understood that his hesitation had nothing to do with Lü Mian, and that it had everything to do with that Daoless Scroll.

Old Man Mu's previous claims that all the secret kung fu manuals here were counterfeit was rather too dramatic. There were many kung fu experts in the Norland and they no doubt had their own distinguishing capabilities, so it was highly unlikely that the kung fu manuals they had collected were all counterfeit without exception. It was especially so for this volume of the Daoless Scroll; it looked rather ancient and didn't resemble a modern forgery.

But the contents of the book were very bizzare - not just the methods of cultivating internal energy but also the long passages of profound discussion, which Gu Shenwei hadn't finished yet, and few of which he couldn't understand. Yet a metaphor from the book had made a deep impression upon him.

It was a typical Dao Sect's manual, yet it had quoted a Buddhist story that went along the following lines: a Buddhist monk, after many year of extremely hard cultivation, was still unable to receive spiritual enlightenment, so he began to reproach himself and felt that his body was nothing but a useless burden. He took a sharp stone and killed himself by stabbing his neck. And it was at that very moment of his death that he achieved enlightenment. His body turned into flame and he ascended to the heaven and became a Buddha.

Unshakable belief and sacrificing one's own body to access enlightenment – these were the tenets of this story, and they also seemed to be what this volume of Daoless Scroll was trying to express.

The Death Scripture, Daoless Scroll, and Sumeru Mustard technique were like three severe teachers, each one of which demanded in an indisputable tone that their student trust what they were teaching, yet Gu Shenwei felt lost. Just like what Old Man Mu had said, this might be a well-packaged joke. ”Sacrificing one's own body” was easy, but ”gaining enlightenment” was difficult. Maybe it wasn't the genuine Daoless Scroll after all.

As he thought about these, Gu Shenwei didn't even remember whether this old book against his chest had the words Daoless Scroll on its cover page or not. After all, it had merely been placed beneath the other two transcripts.

He had stayed in one place for too long and Lü Mian's sword moved towards him soundlessly. The vigilant instincts which Gu Shenwei had honed through years of practice took action and pulled him out of the inappropriate contemplation.

Gu Shenwei jumped off of the bookshelf. He could almost feel the gentle caress of the sword blade on his arm.

Before he could land, a soundless palm attack came towards him next. The distance between the sources of the sword attack and the palm attack was so dramatic that it seemed as though they had been launched by two separate people.

Gu Shenwei had no choice but to parry it with a palm attack of his own.

Lü Mian's internal energy was also different from that of others. It didn't emit in a continuous manner, but rather pounced right on the eyes of its target like a chunk of hard black iron.

Gu Shenwei was hit and flew like a dead leaf, knocking down rows of books on his flight path.

”Sect Leader, you got him?” Deng Yuanlei asked worriedly. The answer to this question would determine what he would do next.

”It turns out that Dragon King knows what he's doing,” Lü Mian replied flatly.

Deng Yuanlei was relieved. On an impulse, he intended to run over and check, but he had barely a single step when he was stopped abruptly by Lü Mian. ”Don't move. Just guard the door.”

”Yes, Sect Leader,” Deng Yuanlei responded with a deep respect. He was becoming more and more confident in Lü Mian, and also more and more positive about his own choice. But there was one particular issue that concerned him – the Sect Leader had once given him a chance to defeat the Dragon King, but he had failed.

”It was impressive that you broke one of my legs. I'll give you that.” Lü Mian kept moving in the direction that the Dragon King had been thrown. ”And the frosty Qi deserves its reputation. But your sabersmanship slightly disappointed me. Is that all a Western Region killer can do? If so, then the Golden Roc Castle's reputation is not well-earned.”

Gu Shenwei felt that a giant rock was crushing his heart. Even as he faced imminent danger, he couldn't get the words ”sacrifice the body to achieve enlightenment” out of his mind no matter how hard he tried.