‘How much longer do we have to keep doing this?’
Sharv thought to himself silently.
For the past five or six minutes, everyone had been lying flat on the ground, bowing before the statue.
No one dared lift their head; all stayed frozen, as if they were lifeless statues themselves.
“You may all rise now.”
The voice of the Death Hall Master echoed. Everyone raised their heads and stood up. The Master was already standing before them.
No one noticed when he had stood up, his speed was far too fast for the eye to follow.
“Now, your first trial begins. Do you see this? This is a seed. Look at it carefully.”
He raised his hand. Everyone’s gaze turned toward the seed in his fingers. It was slightly larger than an ordinary seed and brown in color.
“You have until this incense stick burns out. Seeds that look exactly like this one are kept behind that statue. Bring one back, after the incense stick burns out. Whoever fails to do so will die.”
He lit the incense.
“What are you waiting for? Go now!”
He shouted, and everyone dashed behind the statue.
“But... isn’t this trial a bit too easy? Even the tests from the first part were harder than this!”
“I used to face tougher challenges even during regular clan training. Tch! I shouldn’t have come here!”
Some of the participants murmured, finding this test almost laughably simple.
Everyone’s mind was busy underestimating the task everyone except Sharv, whose thoughts drifted elsewhere.
‘Tch! Tch! How many times do I have to tell you? You have to place your tongue upwards, focus on the lowest vital pressure point, and think before you speak.’
- L-Like...t-this...?
- Agh! No! Like this! With rhythm—think and speak as one!
Sharv’s master was teaching him voice transmission. Since they couldn’t talk openly among so many people, this was the best way.
But this was Sharv’s first time learning it, and it was taking him a while to get used to it. Every time he tried, his voice would cut off halfway.
‘It’s not really his fault... How could a human converse with a spirit through voice transmission anyway?’
Vijay said.
‘Shut up you lowly spirit! You know nothing. In my era, we could use this technique to talk not just with humans but even with animals, and mythical beasts! Spirits are no different!’
The woman; Sharv’s master snapped at Vijay. He wanted to retort but stayed silent.
Vijay wasn’t entirely wrong, though. If Sharv were communicating with another human, voice transmission might have worked smoothly.
But since both his master and Vijay were spirits, it was naturally difficult.
‘Tch! Kids these days are so weak.’
The woman muttered.
- I think I did it!
Sharv’s transmitted voice finally reached them clearly, to which the woman said proudly.
‘See! I told you, humans can speak with spirits through this technique!’
Meanwhile, the rest of the participants had reached behind the statue only to find nothing.
No seeds anywhere.
“Oh! So he hid them somewhere, huh?”
“Well, at least that makes it a little interesting now.“
Those who had grown bored of the seemingly easy task suddenly regained their energy and excitement.
They began searching everywhere. But Sharv stayed back, staring at the ground.
Vijay asked,
‘Why aren’t you moving?’
- Something feels... strange.
‘Strange? What do you mean?’
- This soil... It’s not normal. I've seen it before... somewhere.
Sharv had spent years in the mountains, after escaping from Five Lotus Sword Manor. He knew the soil and terrain like the back of his hand.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
All the participants moved forward, looks around them to find the seeds. The area was clean, with only a dense forest which was little away from them.
“Maybe the seeds are buried underground?“
“That’ll make things difficult now...”
“Ah, what’s the big deal? The incense won’t burn out for another 30 or 40 minutes. I’ll find one by then.”
Everyone spread out, searching near and around the statue but none found anything.
Then suddenly...
‘?!’
“What—what’s happening?”
“My legs!”
“I can’t move!”
“Shit! It’s a fucking swamp!”
The area behind the statue was actually a large swamp.
Their legs began sinking into the ground. By the time they realized it was quicksand, it was already too late.
Some screamed; others tried to struggle free, those who were at the edges were able to get out, while those in the mid had to struggle.
“Let go of my leg!”
A girl’s voice cried out.
She stood at the edge of the swamp, her long dark hair flowing behind her. A boy, already half-submerged, had grabbed her leg in desperation.
“Please! Help me!”
Her leg was his last hope, but she kicked him in the face, breaking his grip.
"Humph! Weaklings. Can’t even handle a simple swamp."
Her tone was cold.
She was one of the six wildcard participants. Sharv, that girl, the other four wildcards, and a few more children stood safely at the edge of the swamp.
‘I knew it.’
Sharv thought. He had sensed something was wrong.
Thankfully, he hadn’t rushed ahead like the others... otherwise, he’d be trapped too.
The trapped children screamed; a few who knew how to get out from it, finally managed to escape after several tries.
“Haa! Haa!”
One of the boy who escaped from the swamp, layed on the soil. He was breathing heavily.
‘?!’
‘What’s this...?’
That boy, noticed something stuck inside his shoe. He took it off and looked...
‘Huh?! How…?’
Inside the shoe lay the same seed that the Death Hall Master had shown them earlier.
He took it out and examined it, there was no doubt, it was identical.
“Wahaha! I found it first! I’m done!”
He laughed loudly. Seeing him, others grew excited too.
“Oh! I found one too!”
Another girl shouted.
She had also fallen into the swamp but knew how to escape. When she got out, she found a seed stuck to her clothes.
Slip!
“Kya!”
But as she stood up, she slipped—and the seed flew from her hand back into the swamp.
“No!”
She screamed, but it was too late. The seed was gone. From that moment, everyone understood one thing:
‘The rest of the seeds are inside the swamp!’
Thump! Thump!
The first boy, clutching his seed, ran away gleefully. Seeing him, a few others chased after him, hoping to snatch it.
“Stop! How can you just take it for yourself?”
“Give me that seed!”
He looked behind, even though his face was covered, his eyes could be still seen which flowed with a mocking glint.
“Haha! You think I’ll hand it over that easily?”
He didn’t stop running. Soon, he reached the Death Hall Master and held the seed up.
“Look sir! I found the seed!”
“...”
The Master said nothing. The boy frowned and spoke again.
“See? This is the seed you showed us, right?”
The Death Hall Master pointed toward the burning incense and said coldly,
“I told you that, you must bring it after the incense burns out. Not before.”
“What?!”
The boy shouted.
His eyes widen in surprise.He got the seed by mistake, and was overjoyed but now...
He has to keep the seed until the incense burned out? That meant he had to guard it the entire time!
Death Hall Master continued,
“When the time ends, those who still possess a seed will pass. The rest will die.”
He turned away, leaving the boy standing there, stunned.
"Y-you can’t be serious! That’s insa..."
Swing!
Before he could finish, a small dagger flew straight into his chest piercing his heart.
Thud!
The boy’s body hit the ground. He was Dead.
“Here, the rules are stated only once.”
The Death Hall Master said coldly, taking the seed from the corpse’s hand.
“If you cannot follow them, then you are of no use to the Society.”
***
“Haa!”
Varsha exhaled deeply, letting out a long sigh from her mouth. She was bathing at that moment.
Her hair floated gently on the water’s surface; clean, soft, and beautifully radiant.
After her battle with the chief of the White Frost Bandits and narrowly escaping from him, Varsha had returned straight to the Society.
She had gone on a mission and had successfully completed it. But in between… those bandits had appeared.
“If I had known that the White Frost Bandits were working for the Crimson Heaven Society at that time, I wouldn’t have had to go through all that trouble. Tch!”
The White Frost Bandits had been tasked with retrieving “that thing” last year.
But since Varsha had been away on missions for the last two or three years, she had no idea about it.
And neither did the bandits know about Varsha. If they had known who she was, they probably would never have attacked her.
Many of Varsha's questions were answered now; What was White Frost Bandits doing so far away from their main area?
The weird trick that White Frost Bandits Cheif used in the end, by which his hands tired crimson red?
All those questions were now answered to her.
‘Speaking of the White Frost Bandits…’
The thought of Sharv resurfaced in her mind.
“If only he had internal energy, he could’ve become so much more capable.”
Sharv’s external energy and his fighting style had left a lasting impression on Varsha’s mind.
“He mentioned about his uncle… That bandit chief, Abhimanyu, also said his name, Harshvardhan… According to both of them, Sharv’s uncle was killed by the Black Spear King... Black Spear King…”
Varsha murmured to herself.
She, too, knew a little about the Black Spear King. That man was counted among the strongest martial artists alive.
No one knew his real name, but his reputation as an assassin was infamous.
He only appeared once or twice a year, and whenever he did, it was to assassinate someone powerful and influential.
“Was Sharv’s uncle an important person that the Black Spear King himself had to kill him?”
After thinking for a while, Varsha shook her head.
“Ah! Why am I thinking so much about this? Both Sharv and his uncle are dead now. What’s the point of dwelling on them… Oh, wait—there’s still Anvi, Sharv’s cousin sister.”
As far as Varsha could recall, Anvi had said she was going home.
“Hopefully that girl doesn’t get into any trouble. At least her behavior was a thousand times better than Sharv’s.”
If only Varsha knew that ’that girl’ was actually a boy in disguise, she will never have say such words!
“If Sharv were still alive, I would have definitely brought him here with me. He was a great fighter and, well… quite good-looking too.”
***
Meanwhile, on the other side, Surendranath stood in front of the underground prison chamber of the Death Hall, where he had last kept Sharv.
Grit!
He clenched his teeth tightly. In front of him, Sharv was nowhere to be found, only a scorched corpse, reduced to ashes, remained in his cell.
“That brat! If it weren’t for the Society Leader’s orders, I would’ve tortured him to death a hundred times over by now!”
Surendranath turned to leave. Outside, around ten to fifteen guards lay sprawled across the floor—all dead.
‘How the hell did he escape?’
The Death Hall wasn’t some ordinary place. Escaping from here was extremely difficult—for someone as strong as Sharv, even if he possessed Lunar Energy.
There was no way he could have gotten out so easily.
‘Something’s definitely wrong here.’
Surendranath’s suspicion turned toward only one person—Death Hall Master.
He was the only one here capable of pulling something like this off.
SOCIETY LEADER WAITING FOR SURENDRENATH:
