Song of Adolescence

Chapter 402 Climb Higher Again

A dashing and handsome young man, riding a white horse and raising a cup towards the sky.

Who wouldn’t want a suit of white robes, a folding fan, riding on a white horse to trample over injustices and take on the enmity of the world.

Xiao Se wanted all that once, and had really become such a young man once. But, times had changed. Now, he was no longer as aggressive, nor did he wear the flimsy and stylish white clothes of his youth. Instead, he wrapped himself in thick fox fur, looking far more languid and casual.

"Kill me, kill this young Xiao Se in your heart." The white-clothed Xiao Se declared arrogantly and opened his hands. "Come on."

Xiao Se's eyebrows twitched. The reason that this white-clothed Xiao Se appeared here proved that he never let go of the person he used to be.

But he still raised his Wuji staff.

"You don't seem to have any hesitation," the white-clothed Xiao Se said.

"I’ll kill you but not because I’m against you." Xiao Se said mildly. "Who I am now includes you."

"What do you mean?" The white-clothed Xiao Se asked.

"I mean, I have never changed." Xiao Se leaped into the air and raised his Wuji staff.

On the other side, Lei Mengchen raised a finger at Lei Wujie. "Do you remember this finger technique?"

"Break the soul, and extinguish longevity. The Fallen Trance Fingers of Lei Clan." Lei Wujie grinned. "It was the finger technique that shushu taught me back then. I recently used it to save my life."

"Everyone in the world knows about Pillar of State General Lei Mengsha, but nobody knows his younger brother, Lei Mengchen." Lei Mengchen shook his head with a bitter smile. "During those years, I was resentful and lost all hope. So, I practised this Fallen Trance Fingers. Perhaps its name suited me and I made some achievements practising it."

"I've seen shushu secretly practice this Fallen Trance Fingers at night. To be honest, I don’t think even Qianhu-shushu’s finger techniques were as good as yours." Lei Wujie tapped on the hilt of his sword. "You're a really strong opponent."

"I am formed from your thoughts. How strong you think I am is how strong I am," Lei Mengchen said.

"I know that there’s no such thing in the world as a dead person coming back to life. There are too many weird corners in this tower. I must have been trapped in some strange array or another." Lei Wujie put away his sword and looked at Lei Mengchen seriously. "I think I’m seeing shushu now because I miss shushu so much."

Lei Mengchen was stunned for a moment. "Why did you put away your sword?"

"I was still young at the time, and I didn't understand the depression shushu was feeling. I often sneaked out and left shushu alone at home." Lei Wujie sat down and put his sword down beside him. "I’ve always felt that I’ve let you down. That day, if I hadn’t gone out, shushu wouldn’t have died."

Lei Mengchen was puzzled. "You have to kill me to go up to the third floor."

"Shushu already died once because of me. How could I draw my sword against shushu again? Who cares about climbing the tower. Xiao Se can do that. I’m sure that fellow can climb to the third floor. Earlier, when we were downstairs, I had already benefited a lot from that sword mark and solved a personal dilemma that has been bothering me for a long time. I’m still young and have already entered the Unfettered Heavenly Realm so I’m pretty satisfied with myself. Shushu, let's just sit down and talk." Lei Wujie shrugged. "Who cares about climbing the tower or whatever?"

Li Fansong slowly drew his Azure Empyrean sword and bowed respectfully at Zhao Yuzhen. "Shifu."

Zhao Yuzhen smiled gently. "Are you still hesitating?"

"Actually, all these years, I've also imagined that I would be able to test my sword against shifu one day. Although… it’s just… I’m still a little scared." Li Fansong's hand holding the sword trembled slightly. "Shifu, can you go a little bit easy on me?"

"I'm already using this lousy sword of yours. Isn’t that easy enough?" Zhao Yuzhen retorted.

"Shifu, how about you don’t use Daoist arts? I don’t know Daoist arts." Li Fansong bargained.

Zhao Yuzhen put his left hand behind his waist, raised his sword and said, "How about I give you another handicap."

Li Fansong shook his head. "No need for that. We should still fight fairly. By the way, shifu, can you tell me in advance when you’re going to use a sword move?"

Zhao Yuzhen shook his head helplessly. "Why do you have so many rules for this fight."

"This is the first time I’m testing my sword against shifu so formally. I’m a little nervous, you know." Li Fansong scratched his head.

"Can I make my move now?" Zhao Yuzhen asked.

"Come then, shifu." Li Fansong became serious all of a sudden. "Show me, show me the sword of the Daoist Sword Immortal!"

Xiao Se lowered his Wuji staff and patted the white-clothed Xiao Se on the shoulder. "You will not die, because you are me. Don’t worry, I’ve not forgotten you. I remember the words I said back then, and I’ve never forgotten the vow I made. "

The white-clothed Xiao Se turned around and smiled brightly. "Okay, I trust you."

"Goodbye." Xiao Se swung his Wuji staff again and smashed it down violently. The white-clothed Xiao Se turned into a puff of blue smoke and vanished into thin air. In front of Xiao Se was still the portrait of the half-smiling ancestor founder. Xiao Se turned around and bowed respectfully. "Ancestor founder, what you wanted Xiao Se to remember, Xiao Se has noted it."

As soon as he spoke, a panel under Xiao Se’s feet suddenly dropped open. He fell through it and landed steadily in a new room. He looked around and saw a staircase in the corner leading upstairs.

"So, this is the true second floor. I guess this staircase will lead to the true third floor." Xiao Se walked forward. "I wonder if Lei Wujie and them have gotten past this floor."

Outside the First Tower Under Heaven.

Ming Hou and Wuchan were fighting with two Hidden River assassins, while Sikong Qianluo battled Xie Jiucheng on her own. None of them were able to gain the upper hand. Ming Hou and Wuchan were already sweating profusely, but their opponents didn’t seem to understand the concept of fatigue. They fought with one sword after another, their aim simply to injure or maim. They didn’t care if their moves were dangerous, nor did they care if they were injured themselves. They did not fear death at all.

"Ming Hou, are all you killer types so reckless?" Wuchan was gasping for breath.

The huge sabre that Ming Hou used required a lot of physical strength, and he was even more exhausted. He shook his head and replied, "Even killers must ensure their own survival. But the way these people are fighting, it’s like they are harbouring some deep vengeance against us."

"Such are the medicine men." Xie Xuan frowned. "They don't know pain and fear, only their base instincts to kill."

Sikong Qianluo, who was fighting Xie Jiucheng, was fairing even worse. In the first place, there was already a gap between her and Xie Jiucheng, and now that Xie Jiucheng had been turned into a medicine man, she was being pressured even more.

Ye Ruoyi whispered, "Should I make a trip to the Lanyue Marquis Residence and report this?"

"The person outside these walls is no less powerful than these people inside. You won’t be able to get out." Qi Tianchen turned to look at the First Tower Under Heaven. "We can only hope that they can hold on until they come out of the tower."

Ye Ruoyi sighed. "Too bad I didn’t learn more from the State Preceptor in the past. Now, I can’t even help a little."