Jianghu Qimen Lu

Chapter 34 The Four Fiends of the Underworld

"Give me three days to get out of jail. Within three days, I will bring the thief of the 'Complete Guide to the Martial World' to justice!" Bai Shandian said coldly. "And if you fail to bring him back? What kind of punishment will you receive?" Hong Yueliang's eyes burned fiercely: "I will voluntarily go to death row without batting an eye!" Bai Shandian suddenly slapped his thigh and said happily, "Alright, I promise you! With your father and mother by my side, I will take good care of them for you!" Hong Yueliang was as cold as ice, and her tone was chilling and terrifying: "If you dare to lay a finger on my parents, I will kill your entire family!" "You died a horrible death!" Bai Shandian sneered and scolded, "You little brat! I have no grudge against your parents, why would I harm them? I'm busy protecting them for you! How about this, let's make a bet, and I'll give you a prize: if you really bring the real culprit to justice within three days, I dare to release you on the spot so your family can be reunited!" Hong Yueliang smiled, regaining her original gentle and charming vitality, curtsied, and said solemnly, "A gentleman's word is as good as his bond! I hope we can both keep our promises and never go back on our word!" Bai Shandian said solemnly, "Never go back on our word!" He immediately ordered the two permanently closed gates of the Hangzhou prison to be opened, releasing Hong Yueliang from prison! In an instant, the prison guards lined up in two rows, and the warden, enduring the pain, also stood at attention in front of the ranks. Bai Shandian led a group of Eight Banner soldiers slowly out of the prison. Red Moon had changed into clean clothes and returned the Imperial Sword to White Lightning. She chatted and laughed with him as they walked side by side. To outsiders, they looked like a couple in love!

Warden Yue Zhongyun was accidentally injured by Bai Shandian, the culprit being Hong Yueliang. Instead of severely punishing Hong Yueliang, Bai Shandian brazenly released him! Where is the law? Bai Shandian is a first-rank official, a military commander and Grand Minister of the Imperial Guard, now an imperial envoy, but what makes you so arrogant? If the Emperor finds out, he'll make an example of you, convicting you of disrespecting the imperial family, being arrogant and overbearing, and threatening the Emperor's authority! Do you know you've committed a grave offense in officialdom? The idea of ​​impeaching Bai Shandian began to sprout in Yue Zhongyun's mind! For a lowly warden to seek trouble with the powerful Bai Shandian, second only to the Emperor, is like throwing an egg against a rock. But Yue Zhongyun is a petty man, a complete and utter petty man, and petty men often have many ways…

Gushan (Solitary Hill) is one of the Three Wonders of West Lake. Though not truly solitary, the Broken Bridge is not truly broken, and the Long Bridge is not truly long; it has always been a captivating scenic spot in Hangzhou's West Lake. In the deep cave of Gushan, Red Moon, torch in hand, arrived late at night for one purpose: to destroy the evidence—she didn't want the Four Fiends of the Underworld to know that she was the one who killed Black Sun. She knew that being targeted by the Four Fiends of the Underworld for revenge would be an extremely terrifying and troublesome matter! Therefore, she didn't want them to see Black Sun's body. The wounds on the corpse spoke volumes, not to mention the presence of her signature hidden weapon—a thin-bladed razor blade—in Black Sun's right eye! This was extremely compelling evidence!

When she found Black Sun's corpse, she breathed a long sigh of relief, thinking, "Finally, I've caught up with the Four Fiends of the Underworld!" She immediately pulled a delicate porcelain bottle from her pouch, opened the cap, and a pungent stench filled the air. She thought to herself, "No wonder the corpse-dissolving powder smells so bad. It seems the Medicine King was inspired by decaying corpses to create this powder. If I hadn't witnessed his ingenious methods of disposing of corpses at his mansion and secretly admired them, I wouldn't have been able to get a bottle of it tonight!" She then sprinkled a few drops on the corpse. A wisp of green smoke drifted by, and Black Sun's enormous body instantly vanished into nothingness!

Just as the red moon was about to leave, a sudden gust of cold wind swept over her, sending a shiver down her spine and making her hair stand on end. The torch flickered and swayed, resembling a will-o'-the-wisp, adding to the eerie atmosphere! Tonight, the moon was dim, with only a waning moon and a lone star, plunging the earth into darkness. Suddenly, at the entrance of the cave, where a faint light shone, four white figures appeared, moving like zombies, hopping and skipping, their arms outstretched, hands outstretched, slowly approaching her!

"Who...who are you?!" Red Moon, who prided herself on her courage and had never been afraid of anyone, felt strangely chilled tonight, her voice trembling. The four white figures ignored her and hopped over. As they drew nearer, the torchlight illuminated them, revealing four monsters dressed in mourning attire, wearing mourning caps and high-soled boots with white linen sewn to the toes. Three men and one woman; the men were of varying builds, some thin, some fat, some tall, all with blue faces and fangs, their long tongues protruding like hanged ghosts, utterly ferocious and terrifying. The woman's hair was disheveled, obscuring her face, her malevolent eyes hidden behind it, flashing with a green light that made one afraid to look a second time! The four monsters approached, surrounding Red Moon and circling her. After a while, he suddenly quickened his pace, hopping and skipping as if his feet were on springs, leaping and bounding so fast that it became dizzying and his figure could no longer be seen!

Hong Yueliang suddenly felt dizzy and her chest felt like it was about to burst. She saw ghostly figures, both real and unreal, and felt an invisible, immense internal force attacking her from all directions. Only then did she realize with a start that these four monsters were probably the legendary Four Fiends of the Underworld! How could they be so well-informed, having targeted her so quickly! Judging from their actions, they were probably using some kind of unpredictable formation to trap her inside! When Hong Yueliang learned plum blossom stake techniques from her master Zou Hongyi, there were five types of stakes: the Big Dipper, the Three Stars, the myriad stars, the Heavenly Gang, and the Eight Trigrams, which implicitly represented the five elements: metal, water, wood, fire, and earth. As the saying goes, "Master one move, and you'll master a hundred." Her master had always explained countless ancient and modern formations and their solutions to her, drawing on classical texts and subtle hints, which she found incredibly helpful and insightful. Today, in the Hangzhou prison, she easily escaped despite being surrounded by numerous skilled soldiers, which suddenly reminded her of Zhuge Liang's Eight Trigrams Formation. Deeply inspired, she accurately deduced the solution. Now, seeing these four monsters silently set up their formation, she closed her eyes and pondered for a while. She realized that this formation resembled both the Four Gates Encirclement Formation, one of the ten great ancient Chinese formations, and the Heavenly Net Formation of the Tang Clan of Sichuan. Upon further reflection, she realized this was probably a strange formation created by an overseas Japanese expert, drawing on the essence of these two formations. But the principle remains the same. She decided to use the methods for breaking those two formations: remain still, observe the changes, and then strike swiftly when the opportunity arises to break this formation.

The four monsters leaped high and low, spinning rapidly. An ordinary person would have been dizzy and collapsed unconscious long ago. But seeing Red Moon unmoved and seemingly unaffected, they were secretly alarmed. They quickly drew their mourning flasks from their waists, wielding them with lightning speed, taking turns launching sneak attacks at Red Moon! She spotted an opening and unleashed her unparalleled lightness skill, moving with the agility of a whirlwind, also spinning in circles! She had found the key to breaking the formation: when the enemy moved, she moved; when the enemy stopped, she stopped; when the enemy attacked, she defended; when the enemy defended, she attacked! The four monsters secretly groaned. Although they were fast, they couldn't match Red Moon's agility. They abandoned their feigned magic and unleashed their own lightness skills, running like madmen! But Red Moon was known as the world's number one thief; who could catch her? The Phantom Plum Blossom Rain Lightness Skill of the Plum Blossom Fist School was not to be underestimated, and in an instant, she caught up with the leader of the Four Fiends of the Underworld! Red Moon shouted, "Stop right there!" She lunged forward, feinting with her torch in her left hand while her right hand moved with lightning speed, seizing the right wrist of a tall monster with a serpentine grip. With a sharp twist, a scream rang out as the monster's wrist was broken on the spot, his mourning staff flying out of his hand. He was pulled down to the ground by her! The other three monsters, who were following her lead and running at full speed, were suddenly tripped by her. How could they stop their momentum? They immediately fell together, forming a human pyramid, a chaotic mess.