The Life of a Necromancer as a Swashbuckler

Chapter 22: Exploring the Secret Passage

Hearing Lei Ming’s words, Nameless understood: if he and Shi Jingyu really ran away, the Iron Palm Sect would likely be slaughtered by the Tianmo Sect. He gave a wry smile. “Thank you, Brother Lei, for showing me the way, but Nameless cannot run.” “Why not?” Lei Ming was taken aback. “If you don’t run, aren’t you just staying here to die? Why won’t you run, Wuming?” Lei Ming was utterly astonished. “The Iron Palm Sect is made up of heroes and brave warriors; I, Nameless, cannot back down now. Rest assured, Brother Lei Ming, I have a brilliant plan to deal with the Tianmo Sect,” Nameless said with confidence. “Do you really have a brilliant plan to repel the enemy, Brother Nameless?” Lei Ming seemed to find a glimmer of hope amidst his despair. “Of course. Brother Lei, go back and get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, after I’ve discussed it with Sect Leader Shi, I’ll let you know.” Nameless looked completely confident. “All right. If you can truly repel the enemy, all of us in the Iron Palm Sect will be grateful to the Xiaoyao Hero.” Seeing how confident Nameless was, Lei Ming took his words at face value. So the two returned to their quarters together, and Lei Ming took his leave. Once Lei Ming had left, Nameless began to feel troubled. He didn’t have any ingenious plan to repel the enemy at all—he’d merely been trying to reassure Lei Ming. As for fear of death, Nameless feared it too, but to ask him to flee at this moment was something he simply could not bring himself to do, even if it meant his death. Deep in his memory, he felt he absolutely must not back down; if he did, he would never be able to forgive himself. That was why he’d claimed to have a brilliant plan to put Lei Ming’s mind at ease. What should he do next? Nameless was filled with anxiety. He was beginning to suspect that his fate was at odds with the year’s ruling zodiac sign. Ever since his soul had been transferred here, he hadn’t had a single moment of peace; his experiences had been far too intense. Moreover, it seemed as though trouble was actively seeking him out. Truly, once you’re in the martial arts world, you’re at the mercy of circumstances. The most pressing matter was to have a frank and open conversation with Shi Taifeng tomorrow to gauge the Iron Palm Sect’s stance. If the Iron Palm Sect truly decided to collaborate with the Demon Cult, he would be at their mercy—like a turtle in a trap, unable to escape even if he had wings. But if the Iron Palm Sect is made up of men like Lei Ming—determined to fight the Demon Cult to the bitter end—it would be like hitting a rock with an egg. Not only would the Demon Cult be nearly impossible to oppose, but it might also end up dragging the innocent members of the Iron Palm Sect into danger. As things stood, the only sensible course of action seemed to be to surrender himself. But would the Demon Cult truly honor its agreement and spare the Iron Palm Sect? Given that it was the Demon Cult, its actions were naturally unpredictable; it might not abide by the terms of the pact. Perhaps capturing him was merely a pretext. The more Nameless thought about it, the more confused he became, and the harder it was for him to sleep. At a loss, Nameless could only let his mind wander. Suddenly, he wondered: Had Shangguan Feihong, the founding patriarch of the Iron Palm Sect, truly not foreseen the great calamity that would befall the sect when he established it? If Shangguan Feihong had truly not anticipated such a catastrophe, he wouldn’t have left a secret passage behind. Since the passage existed, there might be something inside that could help fend off the enemy. With that in mind, Nameless decided he had to explore the secret passage to get to the bottom of things; perhaps a closer look would yield some results. So he stepped out of the room, found the small opening again by the moonlight, and crawled through it. This time, Lei Ming was not present. After crawling through, Nameless realized the cave was surprisingly spacious—large enough to accommodate four or five people. It remained pitch-black, making it impossible to see ahead, and gusts of cold wind blew directly at him. After waiting a while, his eyes gradually adjusted, and he could barely make out the path. Summoning his courage, Nameless followed the narrow path through the cave in the direction the cold wind was blowing. The deeper he went, the more Nameless sensed that the cave was sloping downward; in some places, it even seemed rather steep. The path grew increasingly rugged and difficult to navigate, and it kept narrowing. Eventually, he could no longer walk upright and had to crouch down to crawl forward slowly; if he wasn’t careful, he might even scrape his palms. Far from backing down, Nameless’s curiosity was piqued, and he pressed forward with even greater determination. As Nameless ventured deeper and deeper, he finally came to a wall that blocked his path. A narrow crack in the wall ahead looked just wide enough to squeeze through. The sound of rushing water drifted from the other side, and a cold breeze blew out from within the crack. Without hesitation, Nameless turned around and slowly squeezed through. Once Nameless had squeezed through the crack, he found that the path on this side was much easier to navigate and gradually widened. His vision seemed to clear, and fresh air flowed in—it looked as though he was about to emerge from the cave. Without delay, Nameless quickened his pace, heading toward the source of the rushing water and the cold wind. Finally, the sound of water grew louder, and ahead he could gradually make out a glistening white expanse. A wave of moisture drifted toward him—the cave’s entrance was right before his eyes. Nameless hurried to the opening and looked inside. There, a waterfall plunged straight down; it turned out the sound of water and the chill were both caused by the waterfall. Standing at the entrance, Nameless realized the cave he was in was located in the middle to lower section of the waterfall. Not far below was a pool into which the waterfall poured; on both sides of the pool, he could see green grass growing on the banks. The cave ended right there—it seemed this was indeed the path down the mountain that Lei Ming had mentioned. So Nameless searched around the cave entrance, looking for a way down from the cave to the shore. Sure enough, he found a narrow path on the right side of the cave. It was very steep, damp, and slippery, so he could only climb down slowly. Summoning his courage, Nameless made his way down the path, which led straight to the shore. Nameless climbed down the path to the shore and finally stood on solid ground, letting out a sigh of relief. The moon hung directly in the center of the sky, appearing pure and bright, illuminating the area even more clearly. It turned out that this valley was surrounded by mountains on three sides, with a waterfall on the fourth. The water cascading down from above gathered here to form a pool before rushing onward. Looking further into the valley, it was quiet and open, creating a pleasant environment—it seemed like a very inviting place. Nameless was surveying the valley when he suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from the grass on the bank. He hurriedly looked toward the source of the sound. Across the valley, four yellow lights appeared, flickering faintly in the shadows, as if staring at Nameless. Upon closer inspection, they were clearly two pairs of large eyes gazing at him with hostility. It turned out to be two leopards slowly making their way toward Nameless. This terrified Nameless, and he instinctively backed away toward the riverbank,But the two leopards continued to close in. When they were close enough, one of them suddenly lunged at Nameless. Startled, Nameless quickly twisted his body to dodge and instinctively raised his hand to block the attack. To his surprise, he unleashed the “Spirit-Synchronized Finger” technique he had just learned, which caught the leopard’s forepaw and allowed him to push it outward with the momentum. He heard a splash—the leopard had actually been pushed into the water by Nameless. The swift current swept the leopard downstream. “I can use martial arts now?” Nameless was overjoyed, but the other leopard, seeing its companion fall into the water, became even more ferocious and pounced on Nameless. With no time to dodge, Nameless flicked his right hand—and there was a loud “bang.” It turned out he had thrown his last Mingyu Pellet at the last moment, which exploded right in front of the leopard. The explosion charred the leopard’s exterior while leaving the inside raw, and it collapsed instantly, motionless. After a moment, no signs of life remained—it had actually been blown to bits. Nameless had narrowly escaped death, and he couldn’t help but let out a long sigh of relief. Thankfully, his quick reflexes—combined with the Mingyu pellet’s immense power—had saved him; otherwise, he would have met his end in the leopard’s belly. With the leopard out of the way, Nameless explored his surroundings with even greater caution. It was only then that he noticed a cave on the easternmost wall of the valley—one that appeared to have been deliberately excavated and once inhabited. It was hard to make out clearly in the darkness of night. Could there be some treasure hidden inside this cave? Nameless made his way toward the cave deep within the valley.