Chapter 5: Asking questions in one's heart

Li Xiu was somewhat stunned, was death really that easy?

To be honest, Li Xiu couldn't hear the whole conversation clearly from a hundred steps away, but by piecing together a few important words, he understood the general situation.

In short, the two had agreed to exchange martial arts techniques, but both of them had dirty thoughts of killing the other and monopolising the two secret books.

This treachery and intrigue between them, the splashing of blood, and the bizarre changes in the situation all made Li Xiu feel a slight chill in his heart, while at the same time feeling a strange excitement and trembling!

It is strange and unfamiliar to Li Xiu, and he is now somewhat unsure of what kind of person he is.

After seeing the bloody horror in the corner of the martial arts world, his first thought was not how to get away from the danger, but he naturally put himself in it.

If it were him, how would he protect himself from the other party, and what kind of method would he use to kill the other party safely and efficiently? Although it was only a fleeting thought, it made Li Xiu reconsider his own thoughts.

In the past, he liked to read some ancient history, and the most memorable sentence for Li Xiu was "The times make heroes". Li Xiu deeply believed that whether they were heroes, villains or even bear dogs, they were all like that.

If the times did not force them into this position, they would not show their own characteristics and might not have any ambitions or thoughts.

If someone had given Zhu Yuanzhang, who was not yet known as Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, a few sacks of rough rice when he was still Zhu Ba Ba, it would have been easy for him to kneel down and call himself a servant. However, once Zhu Ba Ba became Zhu Yuanzhang and had his own followers and army, it would be a lofty wish to have even his whole body left when he asked for something containing a hundred jin of fine flour. Li Xiu does not mean that he is like Zhu Yuanzhang or Liu Bang and so on.

But now Li Xiu has also experienced something that rarely happens in a lifetime!

He has also been placed in a wonderful situation, and his mentality seems to have undergone some incomprehensible changes.

A few thoughts, a little ambition, not much, but it has taken root in Li Xiu's heart and begun.

The rising of the sky wind begins at the end of the green rushes, and the drowning of the river waves is born between the ripples. Who knows what will happen in the future!

Right now, Li Xiu's thoughts are quite simple: first, hide and blend into this world without attracting too much attention!

Just now, Li Xiu jumped out and kicked the dying Zhang Fengshan.

There are only two sets of clothes in total, and one is already stained with blood and worn out, so it would be too obvious to wear it out. The other body cannot have any more problems, and it is not good to use force on the neck.

Li Xiu picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground again, and this was the first time he had encountered such a truly cold weapon.

The overall weight is not too heavy, the hilt is worn, and the body of the sword has not reached the level of shining on people, but there are many small scratches.

However, it can be confirmed that this sword must have drunk a lot of people's blood, and it can still kill a person very quickly.

Li Xiu thought for a moment, but in reality, it had only been a few breaths since Zhang Fengshan had taken his last breath.

However, he began to move faster. He wanted to finish and leave this place as soon as possible to avoid any unexpected developments.

Li Xiu first used the sword to stab Zhang Fengshan a few times, both to check for any deception and to conduct an experiment.

There were no unexpected developments and the experiment went as expected. Li Xiu then walked over to Wu Wei, who was still alive and well, with the sword in his hand.

From the look on the helpless man's face, Li Xiu could tell that he was confused about how things had turned out.

The anger and desire to kill in his eyes were well hidden, and all Li Xiu could see was pleading, pain, confusion and bewilderment.

Wu Wei was desperate and had no choice but to hope that the young man in front of him had some compassion.

Li Xiu turned Wu Wei's body around and used his toes to straighten Wu Wei's head. He raised his sword with both hands!

It was very similar to what Zhang Fengshan had just done, but the target was slightly different.

The sword was aimed directly at his own face. This was the second time in one day that Wu Wei had come so close to death, but he still felt a strong sense of terror, as if fear was surrounding him like a tidal wave. Wu Wei could no longer maintain his disguise, and his eyes were filled with pure fear.

"You may not understand, but I would rather take the clothes off a corpse than a living man."

Li Xiu sighed and muttered to himself, showing that he was still somewhat uncomfortable with killing for the first time. Li Xiu turned his head and looked around again, not noticing any possible changes. He continued to speak to the man under the sword in broken English.

"To be honest, I'm not really from this time and place. I don't even know how I got here. Chosen by a deity? Who knows! I understand that my mentality and thoughts have undergone some strange changes, but I'm not sure if it's the dark side of my subconscious breaking free or some mysterious power doing something to me. But I feel like this state is pretty good! Maybe it's because I'm in this mountain. I don't know. But one thing I can be sure of is that it seems easier for me to survive in this world like this!"

"Plop!"

Suddenly! The sword goes straight through the eye socket and into the brain!

There is little resistance and not much blood spurting as the sword passes through the fragile tissue.

As if passing through some kind of threshold, Li Xiu's face remains calm as he begins to strip Wu Wei's body for his outer garments.

After a few minutes, Li Xiu, dressed in grey clothes, buckles his waist belt and sets off.

He drags the two bodies he has already searched together and throws his previous clothes and shoes on top of them.

Then Li Xiu quickly returns to two places he does not quite understand.

First, he looks at the bushes where he almost lost his life earlier, and finds some wax and a wooden stick stuck in the ground, as well as a thin, broken hemp rope tied to most of the main body of the bushes.

Having understood the situation, Li Xiu dug out a long, hollow bamboo stick from under Wu Wei's previously motionless feet. The bamboo pipe was pressed against the root of another lush bamboo shoot. A thick thread of hemp ran straight through the bamboo, pulling a crossbow dyed the same colour as the bamboo branches and leaves.

After a quick glance, Li Xiu didn't have time to think about it. It was not safe to stay here for long. He buried the distinctive sword and tidied up all the details he could think of.

After a few attempts, Li Xiu blew on a fire stick and set fire to his own clothes and the two corpses he had brought with him.

Afraid that the fire would attract other people, Li Xiu hurriedly left before the fire was out, taking quick steps as he walked in the same direction. He walked non-stop for several minutes.

Li Xiu sighed as he realised that this forest was truly in the middle of nowhere, so far from civilisation and not a single person in sight. But it was also good, exactly what he had temporarily hoped for.

Having found a secluded spot, Li Xiu began to take things out of his bag. There were two bound books, one new and one old. Several small porcelain bottles, as well as two bags of broken silver coins and several silver notes, along with other miscellaneous items such as the fire splint.

These were the things that Li Xiu had searched for on Zhang Fengshan's and the other person's bodies, but he had been in a hurry before and hadn't had time to look through them in detail.

Li Xiu's eyes burned as he looked at the two martial arts books in front of him. He knew that these were the root of the mutual killing intentions between Zhang Fengshan and the other person.

To be honest, Li Xiu had no idea what level these two people's martial arts skills were at in the so-called martial arts world, or whether these two martial arts books were considered the best in the martial arts world.

After all, the two of them had barely exchanged a few moves during their fight, relying mainly on scheming and strategy.

However, Li Xiu was impressed by the quick reflexes that allowed one of them to block the sudden crossbow attack with his bare hands, the burst of speed that allowed them to cover a distance of seven or eight steps in an instant, and the terrifying sword strike that was executed with extreme speed and precision.

These two secret martial arts manuals opened a huge door for Li Xiu, a door that went beyond the ordinary. Li Xiu quickly picked up one of the books and began to leaf through it carefully. The first page... the second page...

Gradually, the sound of the pages being turned became faster and louder in the quiet bamboo forest. Sword techniques and energy path diagrams kept appearing in Li Xiu's eyes as he quickly reached the end of the book.

With a snap, Li Xiu closed the secret martial arts manual in his hand, exhaled a mouthful of cloudy air, and looked a little confused, but also as if he had understood something.

He didn't need to look at the two secret martial arts manuals for a short while. It wasn't because he happened to be a rare martial arts prodigy, or because he had some sort of photographic memory like a main character, but because he... couldn't read!

His thoughts and understanding couldn't change that quickly, and this wasn't the modern age.

He wasn't very familiar with the writing of the time. Of course, he wasn't completely unfamiliar with it either. Some characters had similar shapes and he could barely make them out. But it didn't matter much, because Li Xiu didn't dare to practice blindly without a thorough understanding.

After all, he had known living examples of martial arts masters since childhood.

For example, Mei Chaofeng and her husband, the direct disciples of the Master of Peach Blossom Island, were skilled in all fields, including music, chess, calligraphy, painting, astronomy and geography. They were able to transform the ''Nine Yin Divine Claw'', which could ''pierce through an enemy leader like rotten soil'', into the ''Nine Yin White Bone Claw'', which could be practised by piercing a skull with one's fingers.

But even that wasn't the most remarkable thing, because the power of the technique was still formidable and didn't cause much damage to one's own body.

As for the great Ming Lunwang, he was unable to grasp the principles of Buddhism and used the small samadhi power as the basis for practising the Seventy-two Supreme Skills of Shaolin. He probably would have lost his life if Duan Yu hadn't drained his internal energy.

These are just examples of high-level martial artists who already have a certain level of martial arts skills, not to mention Li Xiu, who was an absolute beginner and didn't even know the meridian points of the human body.

As for these examples, Li Xiu might have said that they were just fanciful thoughts before, but until recently, when he found another book from that man's embrace, he had to doubt whether they were real.

Unlike the unnamed sword technique, the cover of the thin book clearly had three ancient characters written on it - ''Seven Harms Fist''!

The Seven Harms Fist is real! Does this mean that the Kongtong Sect and the Six Major Sects are also real? And what about Zhang Sanfeng, Zhang Wuji...

Finally, is "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" real? If so, what about other imaginary worlds?