CLX Book 4 Chapter 17 – Part 1

Chapter 17 – Hell on Earth[1]

Not even a blade of grass grows [idiom: barren]. _{Translated by foxs}

The rocks were deadly gray, cold, hard, and sinister.

The raging waves beat against the coast, like a thousand troops roaring and ten thousand horses stampeding.

The reefs were scattered all around the island, there were ships that run aground in almost every direction, looking like little rabbits bitten by the huge teeth of the evil beasts.

No matter how nimble, how strong the ship, they could forget about casting anchor on the shore.

Heaven and earth dreary and deathly.

Lifting his collar to guard against the wind, Hu Tiehua stood on a black rock by the shore. Looking around, he could not help heaving a deep, deep sigh. Emotionally moved, he said, “What a sinister place!”

Smiling wryly, Zhang San said, “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, even if you killed me, I would have not believed that unexpectedly such a place exists in the world, unexpectedly there are people who can survive in such a place!”

Hu Tiehua also said, “Maybe they are not humans at all, but ghosts, because this place is practically like a tomb, I cannot see even one living thing.”

Zhang San said, “So much so that there is not even a single boat that is intact. It seems that no matter who gets here, they could forget about ever leaving.”

Hu Tiehua turned to Jin Lingzhi and asked, “Have you really been here once?”

Jin Lingzhi said, “Mm hmm.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Hu Tiehua asked, “How did you leave that time?”

Jin Lingzhi said, “Bianfu Gongzi [young master bat] ordered his men to take me away.”

Hu Tiehua said, “What happen if he did not send you off?”

Hanging her head down, Jin Lingzhi spoke word by word, “If he did not send me off, I could only die here!”

As soon as she set foot on the island, she became so nervous that even her tongue seemed to become stiff, every word she said seemed to require a lot of effort.

Finished speaking these two sentences, cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

After listening to these two sentences, Hu Tiehua’s body seemed to feel the chill, the palm of his hands also felt a bit clammy. _{Translated by foxs}

Only now was he convinced that this place was indeed much more terrifying than Shi Guanyin’s Mi Hun Ku [Bewitched/Lost Soul Cave] and Shuimu’s [Water Matriarch] Shenshui Gong [Divine Water Palace], because in those places, there was, after all, still a way to survive.

But here, it was a dead place with no way out!

Muttering to himself irresolutely, Chu Liuxiang suddenly said, “That Bianfu Gongzi you were talking about, is he the Daozhu [Island Master] here?”

Jin Lingzhi said, “Mm hmm.”

Chu Liuxiang asked, “Do you know what his surname is? His given name?”

Jin Lingzhi said, “I don’t know – no one knows.”

Chu Liuxiang asked, “No one has ever seen him either?”

Jin Lingzhi said, “No – I already said, anybody coming here will become blind.”

Chu Liuxiang laughed indifferently, he said, “In that case, this time Yuan Gongzi occupies the advantageous position.”

Hu Tiehua said, “Occupying the advantageous position? Why?” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Chu Liuxiang said, “Because he is already blind.”

Suddenly Jin Lingzhi looked up, she said, “Xiang Shuai … Let’s leave this place at once, maybe there is still time …”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Leave this place? Where are we going?”

Jin Lingzhi said, “I don’t care where, it will be much better than here.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “But isn’t this place without a retreat route?”

Jin Lingzhi said, “We can find a broken-down ship, hide inside and wait until another boat comes …”

Hu Tiehua interrupted her, he said, “Perhaps I would be willing to accompany you waiting, but you don’t know this old stinky bug’s temper.”

Jin Lingzhi said, “But … Xiang Shuai, this place is really too dangerous, could it be that you don’t want to go back alive?”

Hu Tiehua sighed, “The more you say that, the less he is willing to listen to you.”

Jin Lingzhi asked, “Why?” _{Translated by foxs}

Hu Tiehua said, “Because the more dangerous the matter, the more he felt it is interesting. In all his life, he, this person, likes to take chances, likes excitement. As for whether he can go back alive, that’s another matter.”

Hanging down her head, Jin Lingzhi spoke slowly, “I know you guys must think that I am afraid of death — actually, what I am afraid of is not death.”

Chu Liuxiang spoke softly, “I understand. There are indeed some things on earth that are much more terrifying than death, therefore, … if Jin Guniang wants to stay, we definitely won’t force you.”

Hu Tiehua said, “You can also tell Zhang San to stay to accompany you, he should have done that anyway.”

Zhang San gritted his teeth, glared at him, and said, “As long as Jin Guniang is willing, of course I can stay to accompany her, but I’m afraid she doesn’t want me to accompany her, but she wants you …”

Jin Lingzhi suddenly raised her head again. Fixing her gaze at Hu Tiehua, she said, “Would you be willing to accompany me?”

Wiping off his sweat, Hu Tiehua said, “Of course I would, but …”

Jin Lingzhi said, “But what?”

Hu Tiehua raised his head, his eyes met her fluid glance, finally he sighed softly and said, “Nothing, I will accompany you.”

Jin Lingzhi stared at him for a very long time before speaking softly, “As long as I can hear these words of yours, what am I afraid of …?” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Behind a piece of rock that looked like a screen, there was a steel cable suspended in the air, and a car was suspended on the cable.

The steel cable led to a dark cave.

Jin Lingzhi brought them here, Hu Tiehua could not help asking, “Is this the entrance?”

Jin Lingzhi said, “Last time I entered from here.”

Hu Tiehua said, “Why isn’t there even a guard?”

Jin Lingzhi sighed and said, “Some places, it is very easy to get in, but to get out ––it is as difficult as ascending to heaven!”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Where will this car end?”

Jin Lingzhi said, “That will be where they welcome the guests.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Will Bianfu Gongzi welcome the guests there?”

Jin Lingzhi said, “Sometimes Ding Feng is there.” _{Translated by foxs}

Chu Liuxiang said, “Who is Ding Feng to Bianfu Gongzi?”

Jin Lingzhi said, “He seems to be his disciple.”

Chu Liuxiang muttered to himself irresolutely for half a day, and then asked, “How far is it from here to that place?”

Jin Lingzhi said, “I don’t know how far, I only know that when I count to seventy-nine, the car stopped.”

Hu Tiehua laughed and said, “It seems that girls are indeed much more attentive than men. Even if I came over, I definitely would not think of counting.”

Zhang San said, “Even if you count, you won’t count correctly. You practically don’t know how to count, even how many cups of wine you drink you cannot count clearly — sometimes you clearly only drank twenty or thirty cups, yet you still insist that you have drunk more than eighty cups.”

Hu Tiehua said, “I know you can count, because the wine you drank was never more than three cups.”

Chu Liuxiang suddenly chuckled and said, “Can you count to fifty?”

Glowering at him, Hu Tiehua said, “Of course …”

Chu Liuxiang said, “All right, as soon as we get in the car, we will start counting, and when we count to fifty, we will jump up.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

By the time they counted to ‘ten’, the car already entered the darkness.

Without-edge, without-border, so deep one cannot see the bottom – darkness, there was not even a dot of light.

There was no sound either.

Everyone’s body was sliding down with the car, their hearts were also sinking down.

“The most terrifying thing on earth is indeed darkness, is indeed when one cannot see anything!”

After counting to ‘thirty’, even the light from the sky at the entrance could no longer be seen, everybody felt more and more stuffy, and hotter and hotter.

Could this be really the entrance to the underworld?

Hu Tiehua held Jin Lingzhi’s hand tightly, only when he counted to ‘forty-six’ that he let go and patted her shoulder lightly.

‘Forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty … jump!”

Zhang San only felt that his person was like a rock, it fell straight down.

What kind of place was down there? _{Translated by foxs}

Was it a mountain of blades? Was it a frying pan? Or perhaps a fire pit?

No matter what was below, he could only accept misfortunes as decreed by faith.

He practically could not stop!

It was so deep, it was not the bottom yet …

Zhang San simply closed his eyes. Right this moment, he suddenly felt the tip of his foot touched something.

He tried to hold his breath, but it was too late.

Even if there were nothing but rocks underneath, his legs would probably be broken from the fall by now.

Suddenly, a hand stretched out from the side and gently supported him – naturally he could not see whose hand it was, but if not Chu Liuxiang, then who else?

“Ay, with a friend like Chu Liuxiang by my side, I am really lucky!”

But just as this thought arose in his heart, this hand already sealed seven or eight acupoints on his body!

It was getting stuffier, getting hotter. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Zhang San was tossed to the ground like a dead fish.

He gritted his teeth but did not make any noise.

Unexpectedly the person did not ask anything either, only to hear his footsteps walking away unhurriedly.

Darkness, the kind of darkness where holding out a hand, one could not see the five fingers.

What exactly was this place? A prison?

What about Chu Liuxiang, Hu Tiehua and Jin Lingzhi?

Zhang San only hoped that their luck was better than his.

Just then, the sound of another person’s footsteps came in.

And then, someone was thrown to the ground, the fall was even harder.

Hu Tiehua’s luck was no better than Zhang San’s at all. When he was falling, he fell into a net.

A net that seemed to be made of iron wire.

The wire cut deep into his flesh that all the bones in his body were aching. This fall even nearly broke all his bones. _{Translated by foxs}

He could not help swearing and cursing, but no matter how he cursed, no one paid him any attention.

The sound of footsteps was going away.

‘Bang!’ the door closed. Listening to the sound, if it was not a stone door, then it must be an iron door.

Suddenly someone called softly, “Xiao Hu …”

Hu Tiehua was startled, “Is it Zhang San?” he called back.

Zhang San sighed and said, “It’s me, I never thought you’d come too.”

Hu Tiehua spoke hatefully, “This tumble and fall is really damned not worthwhile. I didn’t even see the person’s shadow, completely muddle-headed, I fell into his hands.”

All his life was brimming with dangers and thrills, God knows how many times he had to go through life and death, but every time he could at least fight back!

This time he did not even have the chance to fight back.

Zhang San heaved a sighed, he said, “I now understand why she is afraid, perhaps we should really listen to her.”

Gritting his teeth, Hu Tiehua said, “I now know that Bianfu Gongzi is not a human at all. If he is a human, he could not possibly come up with such a vicious idea.”

Zhang San asked, “How was Shi Guanyin compared to him?” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Hu Tiehua could not help heaving a sigh, he said, “Compared to him, Shi Guanyin was like a child who hasn’t been weaned yet.”

Smiling wryly, Zhang San said, “It seems that once we got here, they already knew … our each and every move, he knows it all, yet we cannot see him; now, that’s terrifying.”

He suddenly asked again, “Where is Jin Guniang?”

Hu Tiehua did not answer this question, but he asked instead, “Where’s the old stinky bug? Why hasn’t he come yet?”

Zhang San said, “You are hoping he would come?”

Hu Tiehua sighed and said, “Even if his ability is greater than ours, he is, after all, not an immortal. In this kind of ghost place, even if he has gargantuan ability, he still can’t use it.”

Zhang San was silent for half a day, then he spoke slowly, “Maybe his luck is better than ours, he …”

He had not finished this sentence, the door was opened again. _{Translated by foxs}

The sound of another person’s footsteps came in, and then someone fell heavily to the ground.

Both Hu Tiehua and Zhang San’s hearts sank.

The door closed again.

Hu Tiehua called out immediately, “Old stinky bug, is that you?”

No one answered.

Zhang San blurted out, “Could it be that his luck is worse than ours, that he has encountered poisonous hands?”

Hu Tiehua said, “Definitely not, they definitely will not lock up a dead person in here.”

Zhang San said, “Even if he is not dead, the injury he suffers must not be light, otherwise how could he not able to speak?”

Muttering to himself irresolutely, Hu Tiehua asked, “Can you still move? Go over and have a look at him!”

Zhang San sighed and said, “Right now I’m simply like a dead crab — what about you?” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Hu Tiehua sighed and said, “Practically worse than a dead crab!”

Zhang San said, “Perhaps … perhaps this person is not the old stinky bug, but Jin Guniang.”

As long as Chu Liuxiang was not dead, they still have hope.

Therefore, he hoped that this person was Jin Lingzhi.

Yet Hu Tiehua spoke confidently, “Definitely not.”

Zhang San asked, “Why?”

Hu Tiehua no longer talked.

Zhang San anxiously said, “You are humming and hawing, what exactly it is that you are unwilling to tell me?”

Hu Tiehua still did not say anything.

Zhang San was silent for a long time, then he said sadly, “If the old stinky bug also came here, we will definitely die.”

Suddenly they heard someone said, “I’m not Chu Liuxiang.” _{Translated by foxs}

This voice precisely came from the person just now.

Hearing the voice, unexpectedly it sounded very familiar.

Hu Tiehua and Zhang San blurted out at the same time, “Who are you?”

The man heaved a deep, deep sigh, he said, “I’m not a human being, but a beast — a beast that is unable to differentiate good from bad [idiom].”

Zhang San blurted out, “Gou Zichang, you are Gou Zichang.”

Hu Tiehua also recognize the voice, he also blurted out, “Why are you here?”

With a bitter smile, Gou Zichang said, “This is my divine retribution [Buddhism: karma].”

Zhang San said, “Could it be Ding Feng …”

Gou Zichang spoke hatefully, “He is not a human being even more, he is even worse than a beast.”

Hu Tiehua said, “Why did he treat you like this?”

Gou Zichang shut his mouth up.

But even if he did not say it, Hu Tiehua knew it in his heart.

‘To boil the hound once it caught the rabbit [idiom].’ _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

If someone betrays his friend, naturally other people might also betray him.

This is precisely the grief of all the lackeys [lit. hunting dogs] in the world.

Gou Zichang seemed to be groaning, obviously he also suffered injury.

Hu Tiehua originally wanted to mock him a bit, to curse him some, but now he felt somewhat could not bear to do it, he merely heaved a long, long sigh and said, “Luckily the old stinky bug has not come yet.”

Zhang San said, “I have known for a long time that no matter how dangerous the situation is, he has the ability …”

This sentence was not finished yet, the sound of door being opened rang out again, and another sound of footsteps came in.

This time unexpectedly it sounded like two persons …”

Hu Tiehua and Zhang San’s hearts immediately turned cold again.

‘After all, Chu Liuxiang was still a human, not an immortal. In this darkness, no matter how great a person’s ability is, he still can’t use it.’

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[1] Chapter title: hell on earth (idiom); suffering the torments of Buddhist hell while still alive / fig. having an uncomfortable time.

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