Chapter Six: Only When the Path of Sound Opens Can He Hear

Lying on the ground, Xu Xing felt as though his head would split apart as the incantation resounded in his ears. Writhing in agony, he clutched his skull, his senses fading one by one—deafness stole his hearing, blindness his sight, and all five senses ebbed away. Terror welled up within him, mingled with a strange sense of awe.

Golden characters surged forth.

Hang Ri, in the full might of the Foundation Establishment stage, bore down on the two brothers with overwhelming force.

Xu Hai understood that Hang Ri’s Cross Sutra was only at its first level, containing but a single character. Even so, its power was not to be underestimated, though casting it devoured much spiritual energy.

The golden character formed a symbol: a swastika, which hurtled toward the brothers, searing the air and turning the room into a blazing furnace.

“Brother, go! Leave me! He won’t dare kill me—just go!” In the chaos, Xu Xing screamed hoarsely.

As the swastika was about to strike him, Xu Hai rose with resolute courage, leapt, and shielded his brother with his body.

With a heavy thud, Xu Hai crumpled to the ground, coughing up dark blood. The golden character had struck him down.

“Brother!”

Hang Ri’s cold snort broke the air.

For the first time, Xu Xing sensed the shadow of death looming over him, but he also felt his brother’s fierce devotion.

“Why? Why are you doing this?” Xu Xing roared in anger.

Hang Ri strode forward, seized Xu Xing by the throat, and laughed maniacally like a man possessed.

Choked, Xu Xing’s limbs weakened, and even breathing became a torment. Gazing at his brother sprawled in blood, he summoned the last vestige of his strength to feebly pound Hang Ri’s chest.

“Oh? I’m not going to kill you. Killing brings punishment. I just want to watch you suffer, to see you torn between life and death. I’ve waited too long for this day.”

With that, Hang Ri hurled Xu Xing to the ground, stomping hard on his ankle.

A searing pain tore through Xu Xing, but he ground his teeth, refusing to cry out.

Xiao Feng dug his nails into his thigh, drawing crimson blood, forcing himself to remember his own helplessness.

“Why?” Xu Xing’s voice trembled, frail.

“Because your Xu family encroached on my Hang family’s business, and there’s also the disgrace of Mo Xi! This is just a lesson—the true reckoning is yet to come. With a single word, I can have the magistrate throw you all in prison. How does that feel? Despair!”

Hang Ri’s arrogant laughter filled the small tavern. Xu Xing looked up at him and noticed a faint, gnawed mark at one of Hang Ri’s acupoints.

After tormenting Xu Xing, Hang Ri strutted out the door, still laughing.

At that moment, a familiar voice thundered from outside—it was Su Mei.

“You dare harm Su Hairou’s brother? Tired of living, are you? Get back in there and apologize!”

With a crash, Hang Ri, just having exited, was kicked back through the door, forced to one knee before the brothers. His eyes were vacant, and he nearly fainted from the blow. Gasps escaping, he muttered incoherently,

“Su Mei, mind your own business… I wield a mythic weapon… How could I kneel to them…”

Then he collapsed on the floor.

Su Mei rushed into the room, gazed at Xu Hai lying in Xu Xing’s arms, and sighed.

Still unsatisfied, she delivered another kick, sharp as a blade slicing the air, striking Hang Ri and sending him twitching against the wall.

An ancient lamp fell from the wall, spilling its glowing whale oil across the floor.

Her kick stirred a fragrant breeze.

“Sister Su Mei, please save my brother! He took the Cross Sutra’s blow for me!” Xu Xing cried, his voice hoarse.

Just then, Su Ya said something, but Xu Xing’s ears rang. He slapped his ear, but Su Mei’s words were lost entirely to him.

He felt something gnawing at his earlobe. Reaching up, he found a five- or six-centimeter-long razor clam biting into him. Gritting his teeth, he yanked it off.

It was a mutated razor clam, its tusks hideous and sharp!

Bits of flesh clung to its grotesque, circular fangs.

Suddenly, the loft above shook violently—as if something sealed away was awakening of its own accord.

Su Mei shouted, and from her palm blossomed a tiny sapling, radiating a green glow that enveloped them all.

It was a power belonging to the Foundation Establishment stage.

Su Mei’s mouth opened in a shout, but Xu Xing couldn’t hear her. Following her panicked gaze, he saw a torrent of razor clams surging down the stairs—dark red, as if reared on human flesh, savage and ferocious, devouring even each other.

Bracing his wounded ankle, Xu Xing stood with his brother in his arms, pain stabbing through his nerves, nearly tearing him apart. Su Mei was drenched in sweat.

Xu Xing, clear-headed despite the chaos, knew there must be more than just razor clams in the loft—some other demon lurked above. Using the last of his strength, he carried the unconscious Xu Hai out the door.

Once outside, he collapsed. Su Mei retreated step by step, and Xu Xing shouted,

“Where’s Hang Ri? Why aren’t you saving him? He’s still a human life! He’s wronged us, but we can’t just let him die!”

Standing outside, Su Mei shook her head, as if knowing Xu Xing was temporarily deaf.

Seeing her unmoved, Xu Xing limped back toward the loft. At the threshold, he was stunned by the sight—razor clams swarmed through the room, covering Hang Ri’s body, gnawing him bit by bit. Undeterred, Xu Xing hobbled inside; Su Mei grabbed his hand, shaking her head.

Even as she tried to stop him, Xu Xing pressed on.

Finally, he pulled free of her grip.

Though he couldn’t hear her words, he knew Su Mei was only trying to protect him from danger inside.

But Xu Xing could not let a life perish in vain, not even Hang Ri’s; his conscience would not allow it.

At the tavern door, he shouted,

“Sister Su Mei, I can’t hear you, but I cannot abandon him! My conscience forbids it!”

He limped inside. Instantly, razor clams fastened onto him, biting, racking him with pain; still, he gritted his teeth and dragged Hang Ri, covered in clams, inch by inch toward the door.

Those few meters weighed like mountains. As he pulled Hang Ri, the tavern floor was carved into a bloody trail, and more clams poured from the stairwell.

They tried to escape from every corner of the loft, but failing that, greedily devoured Xu Xing.

Outside, Su Mei shouted. The sapling’s glow slowly crept through the door, wrapping around Xu Xing and Hang Ri. The attached clams gradually fell away.

Then, a single green leaf slipped through the window screen and, wherever it passed, the clams perished instantly. Xu Xing didn’t notice, only feeling the pain lessen somewhat.

At last, Xu Xing dragged Hang Ri out of the tavern. Both were battered, not a patch of unbroken flesh left. He glanced at Su Mei, who had also collapsed, likely spent of spiritual energy, and thanked her silently.

Then, looking at his brother and Hang Ri lying on the ground, Xu Xing managed a contented smile.

Excessive blood loss made his vision swim.

A crowd of townsfolk was gathering. With his remaining strength, Xu Xing whispered, “Leave, all of you—leave! The razor clams have mutated here!”

With the final word, Xu Xing’s head hit the stone road with a heavy thud.

...

Half-conscious, Xu Xing was roused by the sound of Xu Hai and Su Mei talking.

“How’s my brother, Su Mei? Ah, my brother is still the same as ever—he can never harden his heart. If anything happens to him, I’ll bring down the Hang family, even at the cost of my own life.”

“Your brother is special. He hasn’t yet inscribed spirit marks within himself, yet he can resist the razor clams’ biting. His constitution is unique, unlike ours.”

Xu Hai’s voice grew tense.

“These parasites—who bred them? Why have they never appeared before, and why did they erupt just as we arrived?”

“These parasites are not ordinary! I don’t know exactly where they came from, but their appearance is a dire omen.”

“And my brother’s deafness—will it last long?”

“I’m not sure. As long as we open our sound channels when we speak, he can read our lips.”

“Sigh, only by opening the sound channel a little can Xu Xing hear us.”

“Doesn’t that sound a bit strange?”