Ambush (Part One)

1,247 words

“Wu Cheng! Again!”

Slap! “Jumping soldier!”

Slap! “Cannon eats horse!”

Slap! “Pawn advances!”

Clang! The blade of the Purple-Tasseled Sword collided heavily with an obsidian dagger. In a shower of sparks, the severed tip of the dagger spun through the air and buried itself in the blood-soaked ground.

Though his weapon was damaged, the Fa Sect Wu Minister gripping the dagger twisted his hand swiftly, disengaging from the sword's edge. He raised the broken blade and thrust it deep into Li Huowang's left chest.

It seemed he had the upper hand. But he had already, without realizing it, placed himself in mortal danger. The one thing he absolutely should not have done was get this close to Li Huowang.

In the next instant, he felt a sudden pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw a mass of writhing tentacles burst out from his opponent's chest and then bore straight into his own abdomen!

“No! No, no!” He clawed at the wound on his belly, frantically searching through his blood-smeared, mangled innards.

“Yuer…” The man struggled to finish the word, then his neck jerked upward on its own as his entire brain was churned to paste by the tentacles inside his skull.

The man was dead, but his body still stood. In the next moment, he charged—weapon raised—toward a Fa Sect believer trying to ambush Li Huowang from the side. His body had been completely taken over by Li Sui.

Gasping for air, Li Huowang stood his ground and surveyed the battle. He had dealt with the old lama, but it wasn't over yet. Next came these Fa Sect disciples.

With the aid of the Buddha-Jade Brazier and the Zhengde Temple abbot, Li Huowang wasn't too worried about losing this fight.

What worried him far more was Da Liang. This enemy proved that his worst fear had come true. The Fa Sect of Da Qi and the Fa Sect of Da Liang had merged—in such a short time, no less.

The local Fa Sect alone had already thrown Da Liang into chaos. Add the Da Qi branch on top of that, and the combined force of both sects—who knew what the consequences would be?

And while he watched others, others were watching him.

“Taishan! We need to pull out now! If we drag this out any longer, the Bing Jia will be here!” He Xinlai, his shoulder wrapped in black cloth, shouted to the Da Qi Wu Minister beside him.

“Mm.” With a low nod from Taishan Shi, the battered Fa Sect believers immediately took a round stone from their pouches, shoved it into their mouths, and swallowed. Their eyes glowing red, they charged forward without a trace of fear to cover the retreat.

“Trying to run? Li Sui, with me!”

Li Huowang pulled out two sheets of yellow talisman paper, quickly drew two charms with his own blood, and slapped them onto his legs. His body blurred and he shot after the two fleeing figures.

All the other enemies were trapped in combat, but the resistance against Li Huowang was oddly weak.

“He really chased us.”

“I know.” He Xinlai said, the corner of his mouth curling up.

Massive trees blurred past as two fled and one pursued.

Suddenly the view opened wide. Beyond the woods lay a field of dry rice straw stacked in piles, and a village in the distance sent up wisps of white smoke.

“Still running?” Without hesitation, Li Huowang sliced off a large piece of his own flesh and hurled it toward the pair.

The ragged chunk of flesh spun in the air, as if guided by its own will, and slammed onto Taishan Shi's back.

The moment Taishan Shi was pinned to the ground by the writhing piece of Li Huowang's flesh, Li Huowang kicked off the ground, leaped high, and drove the Purple-Tasseled Sword straight down into the squirming skin.

But as the sword entered, the flimsy resistance made him freeze. That wasn't the feeling of a blade cutting into flesh.

In the next heartbeat, a pair of calloused hands burst up from the earth, grabbed Li Huowang's ankles, and yanked him downward.

“This bastard can earthwalk?” The thought flashed through Li Huowang's mind an instant before his entire body, neck down, was buried in the soil.

And it didn't stop there. Sharp pain exploded across his chest and back. Something was burrowing into him from the earth—Li Sui's tentacles frantically fought to block them.

Li Huowang clenched his jaw and squeezed his single eye shut. “I'm in water! I'm in water!! I have to hold my breath!”

The instant he made that declaration, the crushing pressure of the soil vanished, replaced by the icy chill of lake water seeping through his exposed wounds, soaking him through.

He shuddered violently, then struggled to pull out the bone sword and slashed across his front and back.

Whatever was in there—the pain stopped.

Li Huowang paddled his arms, swimming upward. He couldn't fight this enemy in water; he had to get back to shore as fast as possible.

When his upper body broke the surface of the water, he planted his hands on the earth and pulled himself out like a carrot.

Gasping for breath, Li Huowang opened his eyes to look around—

And was met with nothing but darkness.

Trembling, he reached a finger into his right eye socket. Three dirt spikes had pierced deep into it. He was blind.

He expected his enemy to press the advantage while he was blinded, but the surroundings remained still.

Standing several zhang away, He Xinlai, holding a wooden sword, walked over to Taishan Shi, who had just emerged from the earth. “So? The kid's blind. What are you going to do with him?”

But the cautious Taishan Shi showed no sign of relief. As a Wu Minister of Shidu, he had already picked up on something troubling.

“This boy isn't right. He probably still has a trump card he hasn't played. I need to make an inquiry to Shidu.” Taishan Shi pulled out two crescent-shaped bone pieces, knelt on the ground, shook them in his arms, and cast them onto the earth.

“What does Yuer Shen say?” He Xinlai asked, staring at the bones on the ground.

“Yin Bei Xiao! Kill. Kill the man, and take the sword!” Taishan Shi said, then his body swayed and sank completely into the earth.

Hearing this, He Xinlai's face went pale. As a Wu Minister, he had never expected Yuer Shen to give such an explicit oracle.

But no matter what, since the order was given, He Xinlai did not hesitate to obey.

He had to show his loyalty to Yuer Shen, who was about to descend into the world.

He Xinlai formed a hand seal with one hand, bit the pad of his finger, rubbed the blood onto the black cloth on his shoulder, and then used that black blood to rapidly draw talismans on his wooden sword. “If it's kill, then kill!”

As He Xinlai charged with his black sword toward Li Huowang, two hands once again burst from the ground, grabbing at Li Huowang's ankles.

But this time, something went wrong. Taishan Shi's hands passed straight through Li Huowang's ankles, grasping at nothing.

In the next instant, Li Huowang—still standing in place—drew his sword and stabbed sharply to the empty air on his left. He Xinlai felt a sharp pain bloom in his back.

—

Next chapter update at 23:32.

(Chapter End)

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Reading Guide Decoding

Mud, Blood, and Blindness: An Immersive Fight in the Dao-Twisted World

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

Fa Sect (法教) – A secret cult active in both Da Liang and Da Qi. In the world of Dao Gui Yi Xian, the Fa Sect is a ritualistic, sacrificial organization that worships the Child-God Yuer Shen. Their members wear white headbands as identifiers and practice bone divination and earth manipulation. They are not to be confused with any specific historical sect; rather, they are original creations that draw heavily on folk religious tropes of possession, oracle consultation, and ecstatic sacrifice.

Yuer Shen (于儿神) – The Child-God, a Siming or near-Siming entity worshipped by the Fa Sect. According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Yuer Shen is a serpentine, pale-faced deity with two heads. In this novel, it is a terrifying, high-dimensional entity that communicates through bone divination and demands absolute obedience. The fact that it issues a clear, direct command (“Kill the man, take the sword”) is extremely rare and suggests Li Huowang poses such a threat that the god itself is taking notice.

Bone Divination (骨卜) – An ancient Chinese method of divination using bones (often oracle bones) heated or cracked to interpret divine will. Here, Taishan Shi uses crescent-shaped bone pieces cast on the ground, interpreting the result as “Yin Bei Xiao” (阴杯笑)—a specific configuration indicating a positive, aggressive command from the deity. The ritual is performed kneeling, with the bones shaken in the arms before being thrown.

Earthwalking (土行) – A common supernatural technique in Chinese folklore and xianxia, often attributed to the “Earth Escape” (土遁) art. It allows the practitioner to move freely through soil as if swimming. Taishan Shi uses it offensively: he can pull enemies underground, expose them to crushing pressure, and use earth spikes as weapons. Li Huowang counters by using his Heart-Element trick of redefining the “reality” of his surroundings (changing “buried in earth” to “submerged in water”).

Yin Bei Xiao (阴杯笑) – A term from ritual divination. “Bei” refers to the two moon-shaped pieces of wood or bone used in prayer (moon blocks). “Yin Bei” is when both pieces land face-down (yin), usually interpreted as a negative or blocking answer. However, “Xiao” (笑) indicates a special configuration—often representing divine laughter or an extreme, unambiguous command. In the context of this chapter, it means the god is not just granting permission but actively demanding the kill.

Earthwalking

A supernatural technique allowing a cultivator to move through soil as if swimming. Used offensively to pull enemies underground.

Chapter Overview

Get ready, fellow Daoists—this chapter drops us right into the bloody, muddy aftermath of Li Huowang's victory over the old lama, only to throw him against an even more dangerous enemy: the combined Fa Sect forces of Da Qi and Da Liang. What starts as a chaotic brawl escalates into a terrifying game of cat and mouse, where Li Huowang loses an eye to a dirty trick underground, and his enemies receive a bone-chilling oracle from their god: kill the man, take the sword. The tension ratchets up as Li Huowang hunts the fleeing Wu Ministers, only to become the hunted himself. And in true Dao Gui Yi Xian fashion, the fight isn't just physical—it's a fight for reality itself, with cross-dimensional travel, parasitic limb control, and a god who speaks through cracked bones.

Key Plot Points

The chapter opens mid-combat: Li Huowang, assisted by Li Sui, has just killed a high-ranking Fa Sect member by sending tentacles through his own chest into the enemy's body. Li Sui promptly hijacks the corpse to attack other believers.
Li Huowang confirms his worst fear: the Fa Sect of Da Liang has merged with the Fa Sect of Da Qi in an alarmingly short time, creating a united threat.
The two Fa Sect leaders—He Xinlai and Taishan Shi—decide to retreat. Their surviving followers sacrifice themselves to cover the escape.
Li Huowang pursues them using a bloody talisman on his legs. He corners Taishan Shi with a piece of his own flesh, but when he stabs the squirming mass, it's a trap: Taishan Shi uses an earthwalking ability to pull Li Huowang underground.
While buried, Li Huowang uses the “I am in water” reality-shift trick to escape suffocation, but not before three soil spikes pierce his right eye, blinding him.
The Wu Ministers reconvene. He Xinlai is eager to kill the now-blind Li Huowang, but Taishan Shi hesitates, sensing a hidden trump card. He consults Yuer Shen through bone divination and receives a clear, explicit oracle: “Yin Bei Xiao! Kill the man, take the sword!”
Emboldened by the divine command, He Xinlai charges with a black wooden sword drawn with blood talismans. Taishan Shi attempts to grab Li Huowang's ankles again from underground—but his hands pass straight through empty air.
Li Huowang, blind but calculating, stabs his sword into the empty space to his left—and hits He Xinlai squarely in the back. The chapter ends on that cliffhanger.

Reading Guide

If you thought the old lama fight was intense, this chapter turns the dial up to eleven. The action is fast, brutal, and layered with strategy. Li Huowang is not a mindless brawler—he uses every trick in his bag, from Li Sui's parasitic possession to his own reality-shifting ability, but the enemy is just as crafty. The mud-burial and blinding sequence hits hard; you feel that lost eye. The bone divination scene is a masterstroke of atmosphere—the god's sudden, chillingly explicit command transforms the fight from a skirmish into a divine mandate. And the final stabbing, where Li Huowang's blind strike lands perfectly, shows that even without sight, his combat instincts are terrifying. Watch closely: the “empty space” he stabs is exactly where an air-walking (or air-disturbed) opponent would be. This is high-level, no-grace, all-grit combat. The transition between the chess opening and the fight is also clever—it's a callback to Li Huowang's fractured mind, but also a hint that he plans several moves ahead.

Translation Approach: Making Fight Scenes Immersive

How do you translate a fight like this so Western readers feel every bone crack? It's about rhythm, sensory specificity, and staying true to the novel's ethos: visceral, not elegant. First, sentence length matters. Short, staccato bursts for blows (“Slap!” “Clang!”) create impact. Then longer, descriptive sentences for the aftermath (“the severed tip of the dagger spun through the air and buried itself in the blood-soaked ground”). Second, keep the horror physical. Don't soften the body horror: “a mass of writhing tentacles burst out from his opponent's chest and then bore straight into his own abdomen” is direct, unflinching. Third, preserve the battlefield logic—every move has a consequence. Li Huowang's flesh casting, his talisman boost, his reality shift: these aren't just cool effects; they are tactical decisions with prices (he loses an eye, he cuts off his own flesh). Fourth, use cultural shorthand but translate the essence. Terms like “Yin Bei Xiao” are kept in pinyin because they carry ritual weight; but the meaning is immediately explained in context. Finally, trust the reader's intelligence—don't over-explain action. The power of this chapter comes from its raw, unpolished brutality, translated one-to-one in pacing and imagery.