Nobody had expected the passageway to go on for this long. Judging by how far he had walked, Xia Fei was probably deep into the mountain.
The passageway was built long ago, and there were many places that had collapsed; there were also countless cracks and rocks that were about to fall everywhere.
Xia Fei could not help but slow down his steps, carefully traversing through the dark. He was quite worried by the condition of the passageway, but he did not consider retreating at all. One must take risks in order to get a reward, and Xia Fei subscribed to such a belief. In addition to that, he also had a strong desire to adventure and possessed nerves of steel, which propelled him onward.
Phantom had his eyebrows locked. It was not because he felt fear; he was already a spirit and could not die a second time even if he wanted to. It was just that he never liked adventuring, especially venturing where life-threatening dangers could appear any time.
After a few more twists and turns, the road ahead widened. It seemed like Xia Fei was now in a huge hall, though he could not make out how big it was in the darkness.
His sharp eyes noticed that there was a trigger on the wall, and Xia Fei explored the area around it using his fingers.
Xia Fei clicked the button and four large spotlights illuminated his surroundings.
These lights got their energy from high-efficiency energy storage vessels, which was why they were still working after many years. However, the lights were not all that bright, glowing a faint yellow.
Xia Fei looked around to discover that he was in a circular hall. The rock walls seemed to be far sturdier than before. There were also alloy structures supporting it; thus, there was no fear that it might suddenly collapse.
There was a statue in the middle of the hall, and it looked exactly like the one on the mural he found in the basement. They had the same facial features and even the same violent aura. There was nothing else in the room.
Xia Fei looked at the statue in confusion. No matter how he looked at it, the statue was not easy on the eyes. His gaze looked like everyone owed him money. There was also an obvious arrogance outside of the violent killing aura.
Xia Fei thought that something was wrong. The entrance to this place was incredibly secluded and led to such a long passageway. Was all that just for this weird statue of an old man?
Upon closer inspection, there were texts engraved at the bottom of the statue. Because of all the dust, Xia Fei could not quite make it out.
Xia Fei wiped off the dust and read what was written with interest.
According to the writing, the owner of the sculpture was the twenty-second sect master of the Assassins’ sect, Slaughtershadow. It was him who established the passageway and carved the sculpture of himself. From the tone of the writing, this person was wildly arrogant and murderous. The clan must have been extremely violent and bloody when he was the sect master.
However, the most infuriating part was the last line, for it claimed that anyone who saw his sculpture here must worship it, or else he would appear in person and cut them down even if he was dead.
Xia Fei was extremely pissed off when he read this line. He was already in a bad mood after having gone through the passageway just to find a sculpture, but this arrogant person actually wanted him to worship him. Xia Fei would not give in even if the one before him was the master of the universe, much less someone who was just the sect master of the Assassin Sect once.
Xia Fei then lifted his foot in the air and aimed it onto Slaughtershadow’s thigh. “Who do you think you are?!” Xia Fei said angrily.
Phantom quickly yelled, “Don’t! No matter what, he’s an ex-sect master. Show some respect!”
Unfortunately, Phantom was a bit slow with his words. Even if Xia Fei did hear him, he would still kick the statue without hesitation. This man was so arrogant that even his words after death were disgusting.
Xia Fei kicked with all his might, splitting the almost ten-meter statue in half from his thigh all the way up.
The statue tilted and fell toward Xia Fei. He dodged it in the flash and witnessed the massive sculpture disintegrate as it fell onto the ground.
There was already a lot of dust on the ground, and combined with the rubble from the fallen statue, a cloud of dust was whipped up in the hall, making it difficult to see.
“I’m sorry; you were a bit slow with your words,” Xia Fei told Phantom with a smile. He quickly apologized as he knew that Phantom obsessively followed his discipleship’s teachings and would never forgive him if he did anything to damage its reputation.
Phantom turned pale. The biggest mistake had been made. It was a matter of fact that it was Xia Fei who destroyed the statue, and he could not save it no matter what.
In truth, Phantom actually had something to say about this Slaughtershadow; the latter’s words were too arrogant, after all, and totally did not match the lowkey style of his discipleship, but since it was a former sect elder, he had to defend the person even if it was just a bit.
A few moments later, when the dust settled, Xia Fei furrowed his eyebrows.
Something was not quite right. In theory, that massive rock sculpture should be incredibly sturdy, but Xia Fei’s kick disintegrated it immediately. Moreover, it was just like a tempered glass—all the pieces were of similar sizes.
It was odd, incredibly odd.
Unless the person who made the sculpture added some sort of chemical, it would not be like this just from a kick.
What was even more intriguing was that the statue revealed another hole, resembling a well, on the base of it after it fell. It was pitch-black and had a metal staircase to help people get down.
Xia Fei investigated the hole with knitted eyebrows. He could only see how bottomless it was. There was also a rotten smell in the air, but it was still breathable.
“What’s going on?” Phantom asked with his eyes wide open.
Xia Fei shook his head. “It seems that the statue existed to be destroyed; there wouldn’t be a second entrance otherwise.”
“Why did you say that?” Phantom asked curiously.
Xia Fei pointed at the rubble on the ground. “Have you seen stone shatter into such even fine pieces before?”
Phantom shook his head.
Xia Fei then pointed at the hole. “Have you seen a statue that hid an entrance in its base?”
Phantom shook his head again. There needed not be any other questions as everything pointed to one fact: It was all planned. Xia Fei was just a butterfly, which started an effect with a gentle flap of its wings.
Xia Fei waited for a few minutes to allow the rotten smell to vent out before going down the staircase.
Only with his own eyes could he ascertain the truth, and Xia Fei, who was extremely curious, would not want to give up this opportunity.
Xia Fei reached the bottom after descending for a hundred or so meters. Just when Xia Fei touched the ground, the surroundings lit up, revealing an even bigger secret room with even more sculptures.
All sorts of sculptures.
All of that person called Slaughtershadow.
All sorts of positions, all sorts of looks. Some looked as if he was in combat, while some looked as if he was guiding the sect. They were all different, but there was one thing in common: the incredible arrogance.
Xia Fei let out a hearty laugh. “This guy is really out of his mind. As if one statue wasn’t enough, he erected so many here too; he’s really as arrogant as they come.”
Phantom sighed and said in a deep voice, “No matter what, he’s still once a sect master of the discipleship; can’t you give him a bit of respect?”
Xia Fei curled the corner of his mouth. “But I’m not one of your sect. Either way, this guy is completely arrogant.”
“How aren’t you one of us? Didn’t the sect master gloriously appoint you as an envoy?” Phantom retorted.
“Glorious?” Xia Fei muttered with a smile.
Just as they bickered, a projected screen suddenly turned on. There was a person on it, precisely that violent and arrogant Slaughtershadow.
Xia Fei was slightly shocked. He quickly observed his surroundings, and after ensuring that nothing out of ordinary was going on, he crossed his arms and looked at the person with a smile on his face.
This guy was born with a fierce look and a pair of cold eyes; the best part was his pose. He had one foot on a rock as he gazed into the horizon like the king of the world.
Suddenly, the person spoke.
“I’m a fucking brute; I don’t really know any great wisdom or anything. but I only know one thing: If I’ve got the strength, I must show it, I must be arrogant, and I must be f*ck*ng crazy.”
Xia Fei and Phantom were shocked. No matter what, this person was once a sect master of the sect, but his words sounded as if they came from a total lowlife—vulgar and completely arrogant.
Xia Fei could not contain his laughter, whereas Phantom was a bit embarrassed. He did not expect that the discipleship, which had always been lowkey, had someone like this in its history.
The fierce-looking Slaughtershadow continued speaking. “When I was young, my master didn’t take a liking to me, so I killed that old thing and became the sect master myself. The rules can stuff themselves. I just like to kill, and what is anyone going to do about it?
“But I f*ck*ng couldn’t manage to cultivate an eternal life; one day, I’ll go to hell and see those old b*st*rds. But what about all the secret techniques and weapons I’ve collected?
“Don’t tell me to pass them down to the others in the sect? Those idiots are all weak p*ss**s; they aren’t fit for my stuff.
“Other than someone who’s as arrogant as I am, nobody else can own my sh*t.
“So I thought, ‘I have to find a way to leave my stuff to someone who can actually use it—someone who’s also ruthless, arrogant, and scummy—and the person must be lucky, too, not like me who’s had terrible luck my entire life.
“F*ck! Everyone in the sect knows that the thing I hate most is thinking. I f*ck*ng thought for five whole years and finally came up with the ultimate plan.
Xia Fei could not help repress his laughter; judging from the person’s brutish looks, his brain cells were not his strong suit. He even described it as the ultimate plan; the brutish man really did not understand the meaning of being embarrassed.
“I’m talking about you.” Slaughtershadow suddenly pointed to the middle of the room where Xia Fei was standing. One might even think that he came back alive only to point at Xia Fei.
“You’re ruthless, even daring to kick my statue, and I just want to pass down my stuff to someone who isn’t afraid of anything. Whoever f*ck*ng dares to wreck me, I’ll f*ck*ng pass down my stuff to them.”
“Pass down stuff!” Xia Fei and Phantom were shocked. Turned out that this person did have something in him, managing to think of such a convoluted way to find his successor.
At this moment, Slaughtershadow looked at Xia Fei with an angry look on his face and asked loudly, “Ask yourself these: Do I fear death? Am I ruthless? Am I mad?”
