Hell's Handbook

Su Jin and Kano Mai’s African holiday wasn’t over yet. The International Mercenary Exchange was supposed to take an entire month and they were finally coming toward the end of it. During this time, Yun Tianye and his disciples had truly made a name for themselves. Rumor had it that some of the mercenaries had already decided that the team from Stellar Skies was the champion in their hearts.

Su Jin and Kano Mai were also getting bored, so Su Jin thought of having a gathering in Hell’s Bar so that the members could have fun together and throw a welcome party for Chu Yi.

But Yun Han came looking for them first thing in the morning. When Su Jin opened the door for her, he noticed that she looked very anxious, as though something serious had happened.

“Yun Han? What’s wrong? Did something bad happen?” asked Su Jin.

Her eyes were red as she nodded. She tried to keep calm and held back her emotions as she said, “Senior Su, my father has been injured in a fight and he’s… he’s not going to make it.”

“What?!” Su Jin was shocked. Yun Tianye’s level of martial arts was pretty high and he would have made it through a standard Challenge if he were an owner. How could he have been injured so badly in a fight?

“Take me to see him,” said Su Jin. Thomas had come with Yun Han and was waiting in a car outside the bungalow. When he saw Su Jin, Yun Han, and Kano Mai emerge from the house, he quickly started the car again.

“Thomas, what happened?” asked Su Jin with a frown.

Thomas drove as he replied, “Mr. Su, to be honest, we’re really sure ourselves. The round scheduled this morning was between the Black Cross Mercenary Army and Mr. Yun, and in the end… Mr. Yun lost and was thrown off the arena.”

“Black Cross?” Su Jin paused to think. As the person in charge of the team for this event, he had done some basic research on the other participants.

This Black Cross Mercenary Army was based in Europe, and they were apparently very closely affiliated with some very large and influential financial organizations. They had been around for a long time now. And because they were fellow Europeans, they were able to get their hands on some of the best weapons through the organizations they were affiliated with, so they were also one of the best mercenary armies in the world.

“If he had been hurt by someone from Black Cross, my father would not complain, since that would be a fair fight. But… but Mr. Su, the person who injured my father is definitely not from Black Cross,” said Yun Han without hesitation.

“Oh? Why are you so sure?” Su Jin was puzzled now. Like she said, if Yun Tianye had been injured by someone from Black Cross, then there was nothing anybody could do, since that was just part and parcel of the competition they were in. If he tried to take revenge, Yun Tianye might even object violently, because to martial artists like himself, getting hurt by someone more highly skilled in a competition was to be expected. If one tried taking revenge for this, that would be going against the rules.

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But if the person who hurt Yun Tianye wasn’t from Black Cross but someone whom they had hired at the last minute, then that would change things. It wasn’t right for Su Jin to take revenge per se, but Su Jin could request to fight that person.

“Because I know that person and my father knows him too,” said Yun Han confidently. “That man was an expert in martial arts from the Wudang Sect, and his name is Liu Qiansheng!”

“Liu Qiansheng from the Wudang Sect?” Su Jin had no impression of this name at all. He didn’t know anything about martial arts, so he wouldn’t know even if the person was the best martial artist in the world.

“Is it possible that he’s now part of the Black Cross Mercenary Army?” asked Su Jin.

Yun Han shook her head resolutely and said, “That’s impossible, because… because Liu Qiansheng died ten years ago. My father even went to the funeral and witnessed his burial!”

“What?!” Everyone had strange looks on their faces upon hearing these words. The person who injured Yun Tianye was supposed to be dead? This sounded ridiculous.

After pausing to think, Kano Mai asked hesitantly, “Is it possible that… he faked his death back then? Or this man is closely related to Liu Qiansheng so they just look alike but aren’t the same person?”

“No. Perhaps you don’t understand, but Senior Su would know that the aura of a martial artist is as unique as one’s fingerprints. No two martial artists exude the same aura. My father is very certain that man was Liu Qiansheng. Besides, after Liu Qiansheng was buried, the ground was covered with a one-ton gravestone and the funeral went on for many days. Even if he were somehow still alive, he wouldn’t have survived being buried for so long. Most importantly, Liu Qiansheng was a very highly respected person in the martial arts world. He wouldn’t need to fake his death or do anything like that.”

“If you say he might have done it to get away from his enemies, that wouldn’t make sense either. He was at such a high level of martial arts that nobody could defeat him. He was also someone seen as an equal by world leaders, so nobody could use their status to pressure him either. It’s impossible that he would fake his death.”

Yun Han was very certain that this man was supposed to be dead. But sometimes one had to see it for themselves to be sure – no matter how confident Yun Han was, there were other possibilities. For example… Liu Qiansheng might have been pulled into the Handbook’s universe for some reason.

Thomas drove at top speed, and it didn’t take long for them to arrive back at the bungalow that was originally prepared for the team. A strong smell of blood instantly hit their noses as Su Jin and Kano Mai stepped into the house. Su Jin scanned the place with his psychokinesis and could sense that Yun Tianye’s energy levels were very weak and he was on the verge of death.

He was even more shocked when he saw the state that Yun Tianye was in. The section between his right arm and chest was one huge wound. It looked terrifying.

When Yun Tianye saw that Su Jin had come, he tried to move his body to greet Su Jin with a bow. Su Jin quickly held him down, then used a hand to retrieve one leaf from the Tree of Life from his Handbook when nobody else was looking. Thankfully, while Yun Tianye’s injuries looked scary, none of his vital organs had been hurt badly. Otherwise, not even this leaf could save him.

“Eat this.” Su Jin held the leaf in front of Yun Tianye.

Yun Tianye hesitated for a moment, not because he didn’t trust Su Jin but because he was confused as to why Su Jin was asking him to eat a leaf. But out of respect for Su Jin, he did not ask any questions and put the leaf into his mouth. He chewed it a few times, then swallowed it.

After he had consumed the leaf, Yun Tianye immediately felt the change within his body. The energy that was flowing out of him had returned. He could hardly believe what was happening. He knew best what had happened to him. The injuries he suffered hadn’t killed him immediately, but he had a lot of hidden injuries all over his body and medicine no longer had any effect, so he was just waiting to die.

Everyone was shocked to see the color return to Yun Tianye’s face, but their expressions soon turned to dismay. All martial artists knew that when a person was about to die, their energy levels would suddenly return for a short period of time. To them, this was a sign that Yun Tianye was really going to die very soon.

“Father!” Yun Han was Yun Tianye’s adopted daughter and was the first one to break down. Tears rolled down from her bloodshot eyes. The rest started sniffling as well. Only the most senior among them, Zhou Zhenghe, was clenching his teeth and trying his best to hold his tears back.

Su Jin stared at them in confusion and snapped, “Why are all of you crying? You should have been crying earlier on! Why are you crying now that he’s fine? Hey, this is not the way to pretend that you care about him, you know?”

Yun Tianye’s disciples were stunned when they heard what Su Jin said. Their teacher was fine? But how could that be?

Yun Tianye exhaled deeply at this point. The huge wound had closed up during this time and left a scar about the size of a fist. But such a scar was nothing to an old man like him.

“I, Yun Tianye, am eternally grateful to Senior Su for saving his life!” Yun Tianye got up and fell on one knee before Su Jin.

Su Jin grunted in response and did not refuse his gratitude. He had saved the old man’s life, so accepting this show of respect and gratitude was not considered a loss of pride to the old man. In fact, if he refused the old man’s gesture, that would make things difficult for Yun Tianye, since it was really hard to return such a favor.

“I’ve accepted your gesture, so that’s enough to return the favor. Now, tell me about this Liu Qiansheng. Yun Han tells me that he’s supposed to be dead. What’s this all about?” said Su Jin.

Yun Tianye didn’t dare to hold back any information. “Senior, I still don’t get what happened either. Ten years ago, Liu Qiansheng reached the furthest point of his cultivation in martial arts. He was indignant about this and tried to forcibly find a way to make a breakthrough, but he ended up getting consumed by it and died as a result. Many fellow martial artists were greatly saddened by this matter. Even Priest Qiu Chan went for his funeral. Priest Qiu Chan is also a great expert in our country and if even he could confirm that Liu Qiansheng was dead, then it’s impossible for Liu Qiansheng to still be alive right now. But… the person who injured me this morning… was definitely Liu Qiansheng.”

Yun Tianye looked terribly confused. He simply couldn’t wrap his head around what happened. Su Jin pursed his lips as he listened. He had seen Qiu Chan himself. That was Xu Ran’s shifu and was now dead, yet still alive at the same time.

“Dead but also alive…!” Su Jin’s eyes suddenly lit up. If Liu Qiansheng had died ten years ago and the man who injured Yun Tianye this morning was truly Liu Qiansheng, then the best explanation for this phenomenon would be that… this Liu Qiansheng was in the same state as Qiu Chan.

Qiu Chan was in this state because Xu Ran had inserted his powerful psychokinesis into the old man’s body and was able to control his actions as a result. So, it was more accurate to say that Qiu Chan was now a second Xu Ran rather than Qiu Chan himself. But what about this Liu Qiansheng?

“Could it be Tracy?” Su Jin was a little puzzled now. He didn’t think Tracy could do this even though she was also a psychokinesis owner. She was a very low level user and was nothing compared to himself or Xu Ran. Besides, she had definitely already left Africa by now. Could it be that this place had another psychokinesis owner and a very powerful one at that?

Su Jin couldn’t draw any conclusions, so he said, “Never mind that now. The Exchange continues tomorrow, right? I’ll go up and fight tomorrow and see what’s going on for myself!”