Immortal Asura: Crushing the Heavenly Dao

The Shadow in the Room

"You are already a corpse, Lin Feng, you just do not have the brains to fall over yet," the masked intruder hissed, his voice cutting through the damp air like a razor blade.

The cold steel of the blade flashed through the darkness of the small wooden shack, aimed straight for Lin Feng's unprotected windpipe. The distance was too short, and the speed was far too great for any ordinary outer disciple to react. The green poison coating the weapon left a faint, glowing trail in the dark room, missing his throat by a mere thread of cloth as Lin Feng operated his golden cosmic pathways.

"You move like a clumsy turtle," Lin Feng shouted, his body shifting sideways with a sudden fluid grace that defied gravity.

He slipped past the deadly edge at the very last millisecond, the wind of the blade brushing against his neck. The wooden wall behind him groaned as the assassin slammed his elbow into the timber, splintering the old boards into kindling.

"How did you dodge that strike?" the assassin growled, spinning on his heel to launch a sweeping kick aimed at Lin Feng's ribs. "You are supposed to be a broken cripple!"

"Your information is out of date," Lin Feng replied, dropping his weight to the floor to let the kick swing harmlessly over his head. "And your master sent the wrong man to finish his dirty work."

The cramped room became a chaotic blur of silent, brutal violence. There was no room for grand sword stances or flashing martial arts forms in the small shack. It was a savage contest of survival. The assassin thrust his dagger forward in a rapid succession of stabs, each one aimed at vital organs, while Lin Feng relied entirely on his raw reflexes to step around the danger. Pots smashed, the small wooden table split in half, and loose blankets flew into the air, creating a confusing cloud of dust and fabric.

"Stand still and accept your fate!" the attacker barked, his breathing growing slightly heavy as he realized his target was completely uninjured. "You cannot run forever in this tiny box!"

"I am not running, I am just finding the right angle to break you," Lin Feng said, his voice dropping into an icy tone.

The assassin lunged forward with a desperate overhand plunge, putting his entire weight behind the blade. Lin Feng did not step away this time. He drove his bare left hand straight into the path of the strike, his fingers coiling with dense black smoke. He slapped the flat side of the dagger, deflecting the poisoned tip into the floorboards where it stuck deep into the wood.

"My weapon!" the assassin yelled, trying to pull the hilt free.

"It belongs to the floor now," Lin Feng shouted, his right fist already moving forward like a battering ram.

He punched the intruder squarely in the center of his chest, unleashing a tiny fraction of the cosmic energy hidden inside his gold roots. The impact sounded like a heavy hammer hitting a leather sack. The assassin flew backward, crashing hard into the heavy wooden door, his mask tearing away from his face to reveal a pale, sweating man with a jagged scar across his chin.

Lin Feng leaped across the ruined room before the man could recover his footing, pinning him against the broken door by his throat. He lifted the attacker off his feet, his fingers digging into the man's neck just enough to restrict his air supply.

"Let me go!" the man choked out, his hands clawing uselessly at Lin Feng's wrist. "You do not know what kind of power you are messing with, boy!"

"I know exactly what I am messing with," Lin Feng said, his eyes glowing with an intense gold light in the dark room. "You are an elite shadow tracker from the inner peaks. You do not take orders from a low level manager like Elder Mo. Talk to me, or I will let this black smoke eat your meridians right now."

A thin wisp of dark smoke began to trickle from Lin Feng's palm, seeping into the skin of the assassin's neck. The man shivered violently, his eyes widening in pure horror as he felt his internal energy beginning to drain away into Lin Feng's body.

"Stop, please stop!" the attacker whimpered, his arrogance completely evaporating. "I am just a tool! I only do what I am told!"

"Then give me the name of the monster who holds your leash," Lin Feng demanded, tightening his grip on the throat. "Is it Elder Mo trying to save himself before our duel, or is it someone higher up the mountain?"

"Elder Mo does not have the authority to command the shadow guard," the man gasped out, his face turning a deep shade of purple. "He is just a pawn in this game, just like you were supposed to be."

"Then who gave the order to execute my family and hunt my bloodline?" Lin Feng roared, his patience running completely thin. "Speak the name!"

The assassin opened his mouth, his teeth chattering from a sudden, unnatural chill that had nothing to do with the night air. His veins suddenly turned black, visible through his skin like spiders.

"It was the sect leader," the assassin gasps out the name right before his head mysteriously explodes from a hidden curse.

A loud pop echoed through the room as a cloud of dark red mist and bone fragments splattered against the wooden door. Lin Feng dropped the headless corpse onto the floorboards, stepping backward into the center of the room to avoid the mess. His heart pounded wildly against his ribs as he stared at the bloody remains of the man who had just confirmed his worst fears.

"A soul restriction curse," the ancient voice explained from within his mind, its tone perfectly serious. "The master of this mountain leaves no loose ends. The moment his name was spoken by a traitor, the curse activated to protect the secret."

"He really did it," Lin Feng whispered, looking down at his own blood stained hands. "The Sect Leader killed them all."

"You need to move quickly now," the voice urged him. "The explosion will bring the patrols within minutes. Your quiet days of training are completely over."

"Let them come," Lin Feng said, grabbing his small leather pouch from the floor and stepping over the body. "I have a duel to win in two days, and then I am tearing this whole mountain down."