Daomu Biji: The Southern Archives

Ever since Zhang Haiyan became an adult, he didn’t know how long it had been since he’d met such an incredibly strong opponent.

He knew how to defeat those weaker than him, but when it came to those stronger than him, he instantly knew why he couldn’t defeat them. But despite the unfavorable circumstances, he would immediately start thinking of ways to try and win.

The problem with these so-called “incredibly strong” opponents was that he had no idea what happened.

In other words, no matter how many times he fought with them, he would never understand what transpired. It basically meant that the difference in strength between the two sides was too great.

Although it wasn’t that difficult to understand what was going on with this girl, he was almost unable to figure it out.

It wasn’t a matter of moves.

To be honest, this girl’s moves didn’t matter since she was so strong that she only needed to rely on her ligaments to deliver the blows. And not only was she strong, but she was fast, too.

Zhang Haiyan quickly tore off his other sleeve, knowing that he couldn’t underestimate his opponent. He shot the blades directly at the young girl’s throat at close range.

Twelve blades shot out in a row, covering almost every position the young girl might dodge to.

It was essentially impossible to dodge at such close range, so the girl didn’t even bother. Instead, she directly slapped Zhang Haiyan’s face.

Zhang Haiyan’s neck almost snapped from the force of it. All the blades hit the jars on one side, instantly breaking them.

But this brief moment gave Zhang Haiyan the chance to free one of his hands. He reached into the antiseptic liquid and directly flung it at her.

The young girl let go of his other hand so she could protect her eyes, enabling Zhang Haiyan to completely free himself from her grasp. After he rolled away, he didn't dare pause for a second and took more than a dozen steps back.

The young girl took the handkerchief that was sitting nearby and wiped the liquid off her body.

It was said that Mo Yungao had many ethnic minority masters around him. Based on what He Jianxi had said, this girl should be the twin sister of that girl on the ship whose surname was Bai.

This isn’t an ethnic minority master, but an ethnic minority goddess.

“What did you eat to grow up like this?” Zhang Haiyan held his wrist. One of his wrist bones was broken and his hand was already starting to swell.

“I eat people like you.” The young girl licked the liquid from her hand and Zhang Haiyan realized that it wasn’t antiseptic. It was alcohol.

What he had seen just now wasn’t liquid for preserving specimens, but medicated liquor? Were they drinking wine that had been infused with the flesh of people from the Zhang family?

Do people from the Zhang family have Tang Sanzang’s flesh? (1)

He was stunned for a moment, but the girl didn’t even give him a chance to catch his breath as she rushed at him again. The train shook, and Zhang Haiyan saw her stagger a little.

She has no basic skills. She’s just fast and strong.

Zhang Haiyan immediately decided to engage in psychological warfare. He retreated first and counted the distance, quickly reaching the wall by the next train car. “Miss Bai,” he said, “Bai Zhu was actually the one who asked me to come here.”

The young girl was visibly shocked, so Zhang Haiyan quickly added, “She said that she misses you very much and hopes to see you as soon as possible. If you kill me, you won’t get to see each other.”

The young girl approached him, looking at him coldly. As Zhang Haiyan watched her, he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door to the telegraph room. “Bai Yu, what’s the matter?”

“Something broke,” she immediately said. “I’m cleaning it up.”

Suddenly, the door to the telegraph room started opening. Bai Yu quickly came over to Zhang Haiyan’s side, took off his coat, and wrapped it around his hand.

A guard came in and looked between Bai Yu, the guard standing next to her, and the mess on the ground. “Are you two alright?”

Zhang Haiyan glanced at Bai Yu before handing the note to the guard. “Send a telegram to Zhang Qishan.”

The guard took the note and left. Zhang Haiyan looked at Bai Yu and was just about to speak, when she grabbed his other hand again. “Where’s my sister?”

**

Zhang Haiqi and Mo Yungao stood in the train car that had been converted into an office. Mo Yungao didn’t appear to be afraid of Zhang Haiqi at all.

“You locked the two of us in here. You do know I can kill you directly, right?” Zhang Haiqi asked him.

“Can you not kill me now?” Mo Yungao asked. “It may put everyone at risk.”

She saw snakes slithering out of every corner of Mo Yungao’s office.

They were all green and flicking their tongues out, and each one was about as thick as an arm.

“The owner of these snakes is next door. He has a way of controlling them to protect me,” Mo Yun Gao said. “I don’t understand these Southern Xinjiang tricks, but Chen Xifeng found them all for me. You should’ve already heard that there are many capable and extraordinary people around me. You know that I definitely wouldn’t dare find ordinary people to fight against you.”

Zhang Haiqi looked out of the corner of her eye at all the snakes in the room. They were everywhere, including all the most inconspicuous places. She hadn’t even noticed them until now.

“Snakes have a good sense of smell. It's useless to use masks around me.”

“So, you’ve known for quite a while that he isn’t your guard.”

“It’s said that this kind of snake is called a letter snake. It can alert you to other people’s presence, but I don't know if I remember that correctly.” Mo Yungao looked behind him. “Wait for my people. Tell your friend to come back and we’ll discuss what to do next.”

Don’t let me down, son, Zhang Haiqi thought to herself.

“Of course, if you can throw something over and hit my throat directly like your Zhang Haiyan….” Mo Yungao looked at Zhang Haiqi. “The snakes aren’t that fast. So—” He pulled a box out from under the sofa that was slowly emitting a gas.

“This is a kind of nerve gas. It was placed under your sofa cushion. When I sat down on the sofa, my weight pressed on the mechanism below, triggering the gas to start releasing. I had a cup of coffee with a neutralizing serum in it before coming here, but you’re in trouble. You may not even be able to raise your hand now.” Mo Yungao motioned for Zhang Haiqi to raise her hand. “Aren’t you a little unsteady?”

Zhang Haiqi moved her hands without any difficulty. She thought about it for a while and then said to him, “Too bad. My generation name is “hai” (2). One of our special skills is to take very small breaths. We can dive in water for a long time after taking a single breath. We usually don’t need to take deep breaths like ordinary people.”

With that said, Zhang Haiqi grabbed the sofa with one hand and pulled it to the side. It was fixed to the floor, but she pulled it so hard that all the nails were ripped out. Once the sofa was shoved aside, the hidden gas cylinder below was finally revealed.

Mo Yungao immediately ran away.

An image flashed through his mind of that young man jumping from the tree like an elf and falling onto the shadowy figure that was coming out of the pile of corpses.

Mo Yungao couldn’t see what it was. A bear? Or was it a zombie? But either way, it was too big. He was so frightened that he pissed his pants.

The young man landed on the black shadow’s neck and pressed both of his knees down. As soon as the black shadow knelt to the ground due to the pressure, the man twisted his waist.

The black shadow’s head twisted at an unnatural one-hundred-and-eighty-degree angle. Then, the young man drew the knife from his waist and pierced the black shadow’s throat. He moved it around the black shadow’s neck until he could pull the head off directly.

The young man gripped the head and looked at his twisted and bent knife. He threw the knife into the pile of corpses and then raised his head to look up at Mo Yungao.

Mo Yungao discovered that the insects in the air actually weren’t flies, and they were starting to approach him. These insects were actually flying from where the black shadow was.

The young man raised his hand and opened his palm. Fresh blood spilled from the open wound. All the flies and cicada-like insects on the pile of corpses frantically fled, making the entire area look as if it was being attacked by a storm.

Then, everything suddenly became quiet.

****

TN Notes:

(1) Remember, Tang Sanzang is a central character in “Journey to the West”. In the novel, it is said that people can be immortal once they eat his flesh, so all monsters crave it.

(2) “Hai” means “sea” in Chinese.