[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-cursed-blade-s-walk":3,"chapter-the-cursed-blade-s-walk-the-cursed-blade-s-walk-chapter-55":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Cursed Blade's Walk",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2262360,4415,"Chapter 55: The Truth Behind the Massacre","the-cursed-blade-s-walk-chapter-55",55,"\u003Cp>\"The stench of corpses... is it a jiangshi?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Li Yan speak, Wang Daoxuan immediately grew alert.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiangshi are no easy foe, especially here in these deep mountains—after absorbing lunar essence and yin poison for long enough, they become impervious to blades and bullets; even decapitation won’t stop them from lunging, unless you scatter their malevolent soul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan shook his head. \"No, it’s just a corpse.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Stay here. I’ll go take a closer look.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saying this, he crouched low and slipped into the thick undergrowth, vanishing from sight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Goo-goo!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not long after, a birdcall echoed from afar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was their prearranged signal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two calls meant safe; three meant danger—hide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Daoxuan and the others hurried after him, guided by Zhao Lizi, and soon found Li Yan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There, Li Yan stood beneath an ancient tree, bending over to examine a corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The corpse was severely decomposed—blackened muscle mixed with mud, shrunken and dried, revealing a pale, bony jawline, its appearance grotesque.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sha Lifei glanced at the wooden rack hidden in the tree and said, \"It’s a bandit outpost. Why hasn’t anyone buried the body?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saying this, he moved to turn it over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don’t touch it!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan’s face darkened as he stopped him, then gestured to the surroundings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Around the corpse lay numerous insect and ant husks, and even a few dead rats scattered farther away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What a potent poison!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sha Lifei sucked in a sharp breath. \"No wonder no beasts dragged it off.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan stood up, sniffed the air a few more times, then said grimly, \"This bandit stronghold was likely wiped out long ago.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let’s go see what happened.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one objected. Under cover of night, they moved toward the bandit stronghold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Investigating wasn’t meddling—it was necessity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yan Laojiu’s bandits had survived repeated military crackdowns for years; they weren’t easy prey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet now, they’d died silently, without a sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Figuring out why—if something sinister was at work—they could prepare before heading to Leopard Gully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Zhao Lizi and Li Yan guiding them, the pitch-black forest posed no obstacle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along the way, they encountered several more corpses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some, like the first, had died of severe poison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Others had been torn apart by beasts—clearly not poisoned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, the bandit stronghold appeared before them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a fort built on a cliffside, its walls made of rammed earth, with crude wooden watchtowers—utterly rough and crude.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire compound reeked of thick corpse stench.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gate stood wide open; inside lay chaos, corpses everywhere—roughly forty to fifty, all clutching weapons, lying sprawled on the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Shh!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sha Lifei suddenly signaled silence, pointing to the large house on the right side of the stronghold and whispering, \"Listen—what’s that sound?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The night was silent, the moonlight casting a frosty sheen over the entire compound. Though the room was pitch-black, a wet, slurping noise came from within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like someone chewing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, the sound stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a creak, the wooden door slowly opened, and a thing crawled out—wild hair obscuring its face, dragging itself forward on its hands alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And it had only half a body!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the moonlight, it was horrifying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sha Lifei broke into a cold sweat, leaping behind Wang Daoxuan, stammering: \"W-what the hell is that?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Relax—if it were qingfeng, you wouldn’t see it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan’s face remained grim as he shook his head. \"It’s a person.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A person?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing it was human, Sha Lifei snapped back to himself, furious. \"What’s wrong with you? Playing qingfeng to scare people in the middle of the night!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lunged forward and grabbed the creature’s head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath the matted hair, the eyes were nothing but black hollows; the face was withered, reduced to skin stretched over bone—barely distinguishable from a demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Sha Lifei froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Zhao Tongling!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only living soul in the stronghold was Zhao Cheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This senior disciple of the Zhao Family Fist, former head of the Lu household guards, had had his eyes gouged out and both legs severed—he now wandered the stronghold like a demon. Wang Daoxuan and Li Yan exchanged glances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wasn’t this Zhao Tongling the traitor who’d seduced the red-clad concubine, stolen money, and fled?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then why was he here?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Cui Lan and I were forced!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once Zhao Cheng learned who Li Yan and the others were, he was first stunned they’d survived, then rasped out his story in fury.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The real traitor was the white-clad concubine!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Her name was Yulian—but it’s certainly fake. Now I recall, all her tricks were clearly Yanmen’s ‘Yao Hei’!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan’s expression darkened with thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the Eight Secret Sects, Feng, Ma, Yan, Que were all swindlers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Feng\" referred to organized scam gangs; \"Ma\" to lone veteran con artists; \"Yan\" to those who used seduction; \"Que\" to professional criminal syndicates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng, Ma, and Yan mostly sought only money; but \"Que\" was ruthless and skilled—swindling for wealth and killing without hesitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Yanmen’s \"Yao Hei,\" it referred to young women.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had two methods:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, they used children aged four or five, pretending they were lost and crying. When someone took pity and brought them home, the woman would appear claiming to be the child’s mother, asking after the child’s whereabouts. After being led to the child, she’d thank them profusely, then return the next day with gifts—secretly observing valuables and entry points—then thieves would strike that very night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Second, they used beautiful young women pretending to have fled home due to abuse by in-laws or husbands, appearing pitiful to win favor with wealthy households. After staying as servants for days, they’d learn the household’s secrets and coordinate with outside accomplices to rob it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An elder of Liu Men, aware of these tricks but unwilling to expose them, invented legends of fox spirits and vengeful ghosts using \"painting-skins\" to disguise themselves as women and infiltrate homes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The so-called \"painting-skin\" meant a beautiful exterior hiding a demon’s heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was also a more extreme version: using beauty to marry into wealthy families, then summoning a host of Yanmen sisters to indulge in nightly debauchery—until the wealthy man died within weeks, and the woman seized his fortune outright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sha Lifei asked curiously, \"Yao Hei usually only steal money—why team up with bandits?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Cheng said bitterly, \"Cui Lan and I were lovers. She told me she’d drug the master, and we could escape under cover of night. We were grateful to her.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When the bandits broke in, they killed everyone and demanded the whereabouts of an ancient painting. Master Lu, terrified, led them to the treasure vault—but the painting had already been stolen by Yulian and vanished.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Our trip to report to the authorities and swindle money? We were forced. We’d been poisoned and watched constantly—we couldn’t move. Their goal was to lure Yulian out!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When it failed, Yan Laojiu took us up the mountain, cut off my legs, and skinned Cui Lan alive—he’s a beast!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, he burst into sobs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this once-proud man reduced to a creature neither human nor ghost, all present felt a deep sorrow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan steadied himself and looked around. \"What else happened here?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Cheng murmured, \"I don’t know.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They gouged out my eyes and tormented me daily—I’d rather be dead.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That night, the bandits suddenly panicked. Someone screamed, ‘Jiguan She!’ Then chaos erupted. Within half an hour, everyone was dead.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I heard a man approach, asked me what happened, and I told him everything. He said I betrayed my masters and deserved this fate, then said he’d make me taste the same, and left.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ve survived by eating the flesh of rats that feed on corpses. I’ve clung to life just to make sure someone reveals the truth of Guishui Village!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The attackers included several bandit gangs from Guanzhong, and horsemen from Qilu—I overheard they were ordered here by someone in the capital called ‘Luo Ye’!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saying this, he let out a hollow, bitter laugh. \"Master, your disciple has disappointed you!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No sooner had he finished than he gathered his last strength and slammed his head into a rock—his brains burst, and he died instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one moved to stop him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d lived like a demon—once his wish was fulfilled, he had no will left to live.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Jiguan She?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sha Lifei suddenly spoke. \"The one we saw on the road?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Lizi, clearly shaken by the horrific case, shook his head. \"Jiguan She usually dwell in ancient tombs. My father said some in the Bi Bao sect’s Xun You lineage inherited demonic arts from the Fangxian Dao, capable of commanding Jiguan She.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sha Lifei shuddered and cursed, \"Damn, that’s terrifying. What kind of ancient painting could cause all this? Must be priceless!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No matter how valuable, it’s a curse.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Daoxuan shook his head. \"Let’s go. This happened long ago—the man’s probably long gone. We shouldn’t stay here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan nodded, then formed the Yang Seal, gritted his teeth against the stench of corpses, took a deep breath, and pointed toward the bandit stronghold’s main hall:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Old Man Sha, there’s something good under the tree to the right of the hall!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sha Lifei knew Li Yan’s abilities, his eyes instantly lit up; he dropped his iron pickaxe from his back and rushed over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ding!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After frantically digging, a metallic clinking sound rang out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath the soil lay a small chest, barely half a foot long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sha Lifei had been slightly disappointed, but when he smashed open the iron lock and lifted the lid, his eyes widened and he muttered, “We’ve hit it…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the chest were neatly stacked gold ingots!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1590,"2026-06-19T18:28:32.159Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","dfaaa5d3138454061d9a0fa3eb907a9d153e94e28d7233a1ae88f60c323d18a9","the-cursed-blade-s-walk-chapter-56","the-cursed-blade-s-walk-chapter-54",801,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-cursed-blade-s-walk-cover.jpg"]