In terms of kung fu, the New Moon Hall was considered mid-level. Even after the transformation efforts of Old Man Mu and other top experts, it still barely entered the top ranks. However, generations of the New Moon Hall’s disciples had studied all kinds of occult sciences.
One of the most profound occult sciences of the New Moon Hall was the Divine Rotation. It was not used to improve the practitioner’s skills, nor were the moves particularly clever. It had only one effect on its practitioner — healing quickly, as long as the practitioner was holding a victim that had the Internal Strength.
Maid Lotus had used this skill on her way across the desert to the Stone Kingdom a year ago. Even the old monk, Fayan from the Four Truths Temple, was surprised by its effect.
Despite its miraculous effect of healing, the Divine Rotation had two big defects. Firstly, victims with stronger Internal Strength provided better healing effects to the practitioner, but it was very difficult for a wounded practitioner to such find a target. Secondly, it resulted in some irreversible damage to the practitioner’s mental state. Occasionally using it was barely harmful, however if frequently used, it could make the practitioner demented.
Maid Lotus did not yet feel the negative influence of the Divine Rotation, so she decided to use it for a second time.
Ha Chilie was a tribal warrior. His Internal Strength was of a medium level, so he was the perfect victim for Maid Lotus. She was too weak at that moment to fight high level masters like Shangguan Yun and the three Xia brothers, let alone control them by performing the Divine Rotation.
Ha Chilie felt that he was slowly losing his weak Internal Breath, but the truth was that a cold and icy Qi was gradually occupying all of his meridians.
He could not lift his head and could only maintain a kneeling position. After a moment of panic, he calmed down and said to Maid Lotus, “As soon as I shout out, people will rush in.”
Maid Lotus relaxed her palm a little, and Ha Chilie felt his Internal Strength drain more slowly. Maid Lotus asked him, “Why did you betray the Dragon King? I thought the men of the Wushan tribes were as uncompromising as the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain.”
“I’m not doing it for glory, wealth or the Wushan tribes. I am only doing it for you,” he replied.
Maid Lotus did not respond, but the force of her hand seemed to loosen a little. Ha Chilie felt some hope in his heart, even though he was well aware that she was not the kind of woman to be moved by sweet words.
“The first time we met, I… liked you. The Cloud King has lots of plans, and I don’t think the Dragon King will win. Even though I will follow the Dragon King until death, I can’t watch you die…. The truth is that I only agreed to join the Cloud King on the condition that you were to be kept alive…” said Ha Chilie.
If Ha Chilie had any knowledge of the Divine Rotation, he wouldn’t have been so calm. He knew nothing about the secret techniques of the New Moon Hall and was hoping to persuade Maid Lotus. Although the chill in his body continued to get worse, and his arms supporting his body were trembling, he kept talking in a hoarse voice.
“You really like me?” Maid Lotus asked, softening her voice, which was rare to hear.
“Yes, I would die a million times for you, without hesitation,” Ha Chilie answered ecstatically. His voice trembled a little from the chill.
“There is no need to die a million times. I just need you to make a little sacrifice,” Maid Lotus replied.
“I would love to,” answered Ha Chilie hopefully.
“I need your help to release the acupoint on my body, because I don’t like to negotiate with people while being bound by them. During the process, you will feel a little pain for a short time. Can you refrain from shouting?” she asked.
“I can,” Ha Chilie answered, not knowing what kind of pain he would have to endure.
All of a sudden, he felt like he was being stung by thousands of needles in his head. He had to clench his teeth to keep from making any noise. The pain became even worse. At the same time, the chill in his meridians suddenly intensified, and he felt as if his soul had left his body.
Ha Chilie could not hold on any longer. A cloud of foul air rushed into his throat from his abdomen so fiercely that no human force could resist it. He opened his mouth involuntarily, but did not make any noise.
Only one part of Maid Lotus’s promise was true — that the pain would last “for a short time”. The fact was that since Ha Chilie’s Internal Strength was not strong, he could only last for a short time.
Luckily, he had kept his head down during the whole process, so he could not see what Maid Lotus looked like when she practiced this skill. If he had, he would have screamed out.
During the whole exercise, the complexion of Maid Lotus’s face changed many times. Her eyes protruded violently, looking ferocious and frenzied, like those of a beast cornered by a hunter. Her body shook violently, hands firmly pressing on the victim’s head.
Ha Chilie passed away, his vow to “die without hesitation” realized.
At the moment of his death, Maid Lotus was struck by a powerful force and fell backwards.
Ha Chilie was still kneeling down, his body stiff. Only by breaking his bones could his posture be changed.
Maid Lotus laid on her back for a while and then sat up slowly. Her appearance was back to normal, but she was exhausted. Her whole body was drenched in sweat.
“Die a million times without hesitation? This is only the first time,” she murmured as she looked at the body coldly, without a trace of regret in her heart. Even if Ha Chilie were not a traitor, she would have still used him to perform the Divine Rotation in this emergency.
Maid Lotus did not want to wait until the evening. She suspected that Ha Chilie’s story of “trusted people to rescue” was just another trick to make her lose her trust.
She was counting the hours. At a certain time, one of the three Xia brothers would come in again to repeat the blocking of her acupoints. They were very cautious, because they were afraid that she would release the blockage on her own.
The shackles on her hands and feet were made of the finest steel of Wushan. Maid Lotus tried to break them, but was only able to deform them slightly and soon gave up the struggle. Although she had released the blockage of her acupoints, her skills had not fully recovered. She could not waste the little energy she had left unwisely.
Xia Shouxiong, who was not at all a small man, came in. He was strong, with a fierce look, despite the trace of desire in his eyes.
He was from the Qingcheng Sect of the Central Plains and had never cared about the kung fu masters of the Western Regions. Therefore, he felt humiliated after he had been stabbed by Maid Lotus, despite being warned by Shangguan Yun more than once that Maid Lotus was a first class master.
He wanted to retaliate. In his eyes, there was only one way to retaliate against a woman. When he found out that the person who really liked Maid Lotus was Ha Chilie, not Shugguan Yun, he felt that he could do whatever he wanted to her.
Shangguan Yun hoped that Ha Chilie could soften Maid Lotus a little, but Xia Shouxiong had a better idea. He came in shouting, “Little bitch, I will make you comfortable.”
Upon seeing Ha Chilie’s strange kneeling posture, he became startled and called out, “What are you doing? Vowing your eternal love?”
“Get out,” Maid Lotus ordered, her voice weak.
“Hey, what tricks are you two playing? Why are you sweating?” he asked, confused.
The sweat moistened Maid Lotus’s clothes, revealing the shape her body. Xia Shouxiong was attracted, and stared at her greedily, ignoring the stiff and motionless Ha Chilie.
“Let me wipe the sweat for you. The Qingcheng Sect has a unique skill to make you comfortable,” he said.
Xia Shouxiong decided to adopt the most extreme means — he decided to force himself upon her, no matter how mad the Cloud King would become. He told himself that Maid Lotus was just a stubborn woman with no real importance, and the worst outcome for him would be a reprimand from the Cloud King.
He also thought that if this woman knew the high status of the Qingcheng Sect in the Central Plains, she might come to him voluntarily. In any case, Xia Shouxiong felt no danger in his plan.
“You stabbed me with a sword. Now I will stab you, too,” he said to her.
Xia Shouxiong stood in front of Maid Lotus, and looked down at her. In his eyes, even the most powerful female kung fu master was still just a woman. She seemed to understand what she was facing and looked terrified. Her body was as soft as a pool of mud — even more of a temptation to Xia Shouxiong, as he felt that she was too weak to resist anything he did to her.
“Gee,” Xia Shouxiong said, not seeing that something was wrong. He only felt that this female kung fu master had suddenly changed into another person. Her killer temperament disappeared, leaving only pure flirtatiousness. “I will be very gentle,” he said. His voice became unconsciously softer.
To his disgust, Ha Chilie, who was kneeling on the ground, was blocking his way.
“Get out of my way,” Xia Shouxiong yelled to Ha Chilie, whom he had never taken seriously. When he kicked him out of the way, he discovered something strange: the part he kicked was as hard as stone.
Xia Shouxiong’s emotions were like a rollercoaster, going from up to down and back up again. Although he had a wide range of experiences in his life, it still took him quite a while to respond to the current situation.
Unfortunately, it was too late. Kung fu masters, regardless of whether they are men or women, are always full of surprises. Maid Lotus had been holding herself back to wait for this exact moment.
Although she did not know acupoint techniques, she had learned another trick.
It was the Heart Stopping Finger with Seven Circles and Seven Apertures, a finger technique that had been invented by Old Man Mu. This technique could make opponents lose their fighting abilities without hitting their acupoints. It worked best on the New Moon Hall disciples, but it also worked well on others.
Xia Shouxiong plopped down on his knees, right beside Ha Chilie. While he could still straighten his back and raise his head, he cried out, “Damn it!”
Maid Lotus grabbed Xia Shouxiong’s throat with her right hand to prevent him from shouting for help. Meanwhile, her handcuff chain was just long enough for her to raise her left hand and press her finger into one of his eyes. “The key,” she ordered.
Xia Shouxiong had never experienced this kind of weird kung fu that caused his powers to disappear instantly, without hitting any acupoints. He could feel himself becoming weaker, but he was not very worried, thinking he would recover shortly. He squeezed out the words, “Go to hell, you bitch…”
Maid Lotus squeezed her right hand tighter around his throat to stop Xia Shouxiong from shouting. Then she slowly pressed down with her left hand to gouge out his eye, making him suffer as much pain as possible.
Xia Shouxiong wanted to shout loudly to beg for mercy and hand over the key, but he could not say a word. He could only wave his hands wildly, trying to pull open Maid Lotus’s fingers in vain.
The New Moon Hall had been in seclusion for many years from the Central Plain and the Western Region, so the cruel methods of the women there had long been forgotten. At the Dragon King’s side, Maid Lotus rarely showed the influence of her sect. In this moment, however, her true self was revealed.
The pain of others was like a feast to her. Xia Shouxiong’s pain so far was not enough for her, so she gouged out his other eye more slowly.
Killers normally do not torture their targets unless they have to. However, the New Moon Hall was no longer a purely killer sect. All of the hardships they endured in the training process, they took out on their victims.
“You can go to hell now,” Maid Lotus whispered.
Then she removed her hand from Xia Shouxiong, and the body fell, still bleeding from the eye sockets.
She wiped the blood from her hands on his body and quickly found the key to the shackles to free herself.
Should she stay in the camp to kill and avenge herself, or should she go to the Dragon King immediately to save his weakening army?
Maid Lotus’s killing spree had only just begun, but she slowly calmed down at the thought of the Dragon King. Suddenly, she remembered Shangguan Ru’s words, as told to her by Shangguan Yun: they were both sacrifices of the DeathScripture . Only by helping each other could they survive.
“Part of what Shangguan Ru said was right,” Maid Lotus thought. However, she and the Dragon King had not “fallen” at all. They would rule together, and no one could stop them — not even the ghost of Slave Yao.