A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 275: Turn the Tables

The reason why Qi Xuansu did not use his cutlasses and short sword was because these spiritual objects were of no use in this weird place. Qi Xuansu was unable to use his cultivation, so he could not wield these spiritual objects and his Divine Dragon Pistol.

Moreover, his short sword and cutlasses were too short against the ghosthead machete, which had a long blade. Instead, the long candlestick was more useful.

What Qi Xuansu did not expect was for the executioner’s ghosthead machete to turn from solid to imaginary, completely going through the candlestick like it was air. Once the machete passed the blockade, it struck Qi Xuansu.

Faced with this situation, Qi Xuansu let go of the candlestick and had no choice but to drop and roll away, narrowly avoiding the attack.

The executioner continued hacking Qi Xuansu with the ghosthead machete, each strike narrowly missing him. When the blade landed on the ground, no sparks were created from the friction. It did not leave any marks on the ground, nor did it make the slightest sound.

Qi Xuansu turned around and ran away. At the same time, he grabbed two servants and threw them toward the executioner, intending to use them to hinder the executioner’s pursuit.

However, the executioner did not even bother to look at the servants and merely chopped them with his ghosthead machete.

The bodies of the two servants were split into two parts, but that did not slow down the ghosthead machete. The ghosthead machete turned illusory again before becoming solid, with an exaggeratedly sharp blade.

Qi Xuansu’s challenges were unending, as he was not familiar with the terrain of this place. At some point, he ran into a dead end.

Since he only had the strength of an ordinary man without cultivation, there was no way he could break through the wall or jump through the roof. He could not retreat either because the executioner was blocking his path.

Seeing this, the executioner did not hesitate and slashed the ghosthead machete at Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu was trapped in a small space, so he barely had room to move around. Thus, he had no choice but to use his hands to block the attack.

The moment Qi Xuansu’s hands came into contact with the blade, he could feel severe pain in his palms. At the same time, a thin line of blood appeared on Qi Xuansu’s forehead, which extended down to his chest. It looked like the blade had fallen on Qi Xuansu’s body, about to split him in half from top to bottom.

The only good news was that Qi Xuansu’s palms successfully blocked the brunt of the ghosthead machete’s attack. Although the machete was still advancing slowly, it was not as lethal as it was on the execution platform.

It was not until this moment that Qi Xuansu finally saw the executioner’s face, which was not as rough as he imagined. There was a layer of white powder on the executioner’s face, like the white foundation used on corpses. His lips were a terrifying shade of bright red.

This ghosthead machete was indeed strange. However, Qi Xuansu thought that Zhang Yuelu had better knifemanship than this executioner. If Zhang Yuelu had been the one chasing him, Qi Xuansu would not have been so confident to block an attack with his bare hands.

However, this executioner had a strong killing aura, much more intense than Qi Xuansu’s, making Qi Xuansu wonder how many people this executioner had killed.

If it were not for the fact that Qi Xuansu also had some killing aura, he would have already submitted to the executioner in fear.

During this critical moment of life and death, Qi Xuansu calmed his nerves. His thoughts became clearer, and he could feel the strong murderous intent coming from the ghosthead machete.

Generally speaking, most swords and knives had sword qi upon their creation. The murderous intent only came after killing countless people, as the people’s emotions—mainly fear, resentment, and despair—would condense onto the blade as a divine will.

The owner of this ghosthead machete was an executioner. So when used as an execution knife, this machete had accumulated the divine will from the countless people it had slain.

Although this kind of divine will could not compare to divine power, it could be further condensed into divine power when it had concentrated to a certain extent.

Divine power could cause harm, similar to magic. Simply put, it would only work if one believed in it.

If Qi Xuansu believed from the bottom of his heart that this machete could not hurt him, then it would not be able to injure him. But if he believed that this machete could kill him, then he would not be able to resist it even if he fought for his life.

This was the reason why many ghosts could harm people. Ghosts stimulated fear. In the end, most people scared themselves to death.

This explained why the ghosthead machete appeared solid at times and illusory at others. It was not because the machete was constantly changing states, but because of the medium in which it landed on. Qi Xuansu and several servants believed that the ghosthead machete was real, so it could hurt them. However, inanimate objects such as the candlestick and the ground had no thoughts, so the machete seemed illusory upon touching them.

Thinking of this, Qi Xuansu became elated.

This was a golden opportunity for him. He was just worried about how he could harvest divine power for the Xuan Jade of Death. Previously, Wu Luo’s divine power in Yulan Temple had activated his Xuan Jade of Life. However, Wu Luo’s fierce and dangerous divine power came at a great cost, so he dared not search for it to activate the Xuan Jade of Death.

This moment enlightened Qi Xuansu. The reason why he had accidentally wandered into this Ghost Street was probably related to the Xuan Jade of Death. After all, according to Madam Qi, the Xuan Jade of Death could control the netherworld, and this place was most likely related to the netherworld.

After gaining some clarity, Qi Xuansu was emboldened. Although he could not dismiss this invincible ghosthead machete, he was no longer as helpless as before. He used his hands to force the ghosthead machete away from him and dodged the attack.

Immediately afterward, Qi Xuansu took out his Xuan Jade of Death and held it in his palm.

The executioner was getting a little irritated. He once again struck Qi Xuansu on the head.

This time, Qi Xuansu did not catch the blade with his hands or dodge it. Instead, he used the Xuan Jade of Death to block the machete.

Qi Xuansu figured that since the Xuan Jade of Life was able to protect him against Wu Luo’s terrifying divine power, this Xuan Jade of Death should be able to withstand this ghosthead machete, which could not compare to Wu Luo’s divine power.

Sure enough, the moment the ghosthead machete came into contact with the Xuan Jade in Qi Xuansu’s hand, it did not turn illusory as it did with the other objects previously. It remained motionless.

Logically speaking, the Xuan Jade was also an inanimate object, so the ghosthead machete should be illusory. Just as Qi Xuansu guessed, the Xuan Jade of Death could restrain these things.

The next moment, the executioner and his machete shrank rapidly until it was absorbed into the Xuan Jade of Death. The executioner was unable to resist at all.

Qi Xuansu raised the Xuan Jade of Death and examined it, noticing another shadow inside. Now, there were two shadows trapped in this stone. The blood streaks inside also became clearer and brighter.

As the saying goes, human greed knows no bounds.

Qi Xuansu had previously thought about how he should escape. However, he had completely ditched that idea after seeing the effects of the Xuan Jade. At this moment, he only viewed this place as a treasure chest. If he encountered a few more ghosts, would this mean that he could fully activate his Xuan Jade of Death?

If he missed this opportunity, he did not know where else he could search for divine power.

Thus, with this idea, Qi Xuansu strode outside holding the Xuan Jade of Death. He returned to the street and saw several ghost soldiers pulling the reins of his grade horse.

The horse struggled violently and kept rearing. When it saw Qi Xuansu coming out of the brothel, it neighed loudly to gain his attention.

Seeing this, Qi Xuansu pointed the Xuan Jade of Death in his hand at the ghost soldiers holding his horse. The jade instantly absorbed the ghost soldiers as it did with the executioner.

The originally lively street suddenly fell into a deadly silence. All the pedestrians stared at the Xuan Jade of Death in horror. Their expressions were no longer lifeless like before. Instead, they were filled with panic and fear.

Qi Xuansu really wanted to laugh out loud at this sight, for the tables had turned. It only took him an hour or so to figure out how he could gain the upper hand in this strange place.

He scanned the street, which was chaotic as everyone fled as fast as they could. Some tripped over and fell, while others shut their doors. After a while, the busy street became empty.

Qi Xuansu pondered for a while. He kept the Xuan Jade of Death in his sleeve pocket and got on his horse, planning to continue his journey.

If he remembered correctly, past the Farmer’s Market was the inner city, which was the gateway to the palace city. He wondered if this place was an imitation of the Imperial Capital in the netherworld.