I am a swordsman in a strange city

Chapter 114 Five Immortals Cave, the Secluded Cave of the Huang Family
Pei Ju didn't know what had happened, but he could tell from the sounds coming from behind that door that it was definitely not a good thing.

He looked at the woman with long, black hair sitting at the middle table, but she only glanced at the door and didn't say anything else. By listening to her heartbeat, Pei Ju felt that her heartbeat had become much calmer.

“Ah, ah, ah…”

Pei Ju looked at that door; it was black.

Everything here is dark. A lantern hangs above the door, but it is not lit.

"No, no, don't eat me! I, I... I'm so happy!"

It started as a man's voice, but suddenly changed to an androgynous voice at the end, with a strange, unfamiliar yet joyful tone, as if it had been reborn.

"Is anyone in here?" Pei Ju asked.

The woman with long, black hair and fine white down on her face stiffened noticeably again.

She said, "That sound is coming from somewhere else. We don't need to pay attention to it. If we open the door and respond, we'll only attract the monsters in the darkness to us."

Pei Ju was taken aback. He hadn't expected this reason, but after hearing it, he had no doubts whatsoever.

Suddenly, a knocking sound rang out from the door where the crying and shouting had just come from: "Knock knock knock!"

The sound wasn't loud, and it seemed very polite; the knocking was soft and gentle.

The woman with long, flowing hair and downy facial hair showed a hint of nervousness in her eyes. She quickly turned around and held up a finger to her lips.

Pei Ju remained silent, and the once quiet basement became even more tense and oppressive.

Only the knocking continued.

"Knock...knock...knock, hello, is anyone there?"

"Knock knock knock, is anyone there?"

……

The knocking gradually became more urgent, and the person asking the question went from being polite to becoming anxious and then irritable.

Pei Ju wasn't just staring at that one door; he looked at other places as well. He discovered that there were many doors in this well-like basement, about ten in total. Each door was numbered and had a lamp hanging on it, but all the lamps were off.

"Bang bang bang!"

The person knocking on the door went from tapping with their fingers to banging with their fists, from being polite to becoming irritable, and now to being angry.

"Open the door, open the door! If you don't open the door, I'll eat you all up when I get in! Hurry up, open the door, open the door!"

"Bang bang bang!"

After a series of vicious curses, the knocking finally stopped. After a while, the woman with long black hair and downy hair on her face spoke up: "He is cunning. As long as he knows there is someone behind the door, he will keep coming and trying to open this door so that he can come out from behind it."

Pei Ju didn't know much about the Dark Realm, so he didn't know what to say for a moment.

In an instant, the place was plunged into darkness again.

Fortunately, more people came down not long after.

The man who came down was an elderly man with a thick beard, wearing a heavy black robe, the kind that was long and padded. This reminded Pei Ju of his teacher, Han Yitong, who had also worn a similar old black robe back then, except that she had made her own modifications to the robe.

The old man had no clothes; he just had a stuffy, old-fashioned feel to him.

White beard, white hair.

As he descended the spiral staircase, his eyes immediately fixed on Pei Ju, his gaze sharp.

The woman with long, black hair and downy facial hair glanced up briefly before continuing to paint.

Pei Ju looked at him too, and he could see the scrutiny and dislike in the other man's gaze.

"Are you Pei Ju?"

"Yes." Pei Ju remained seated without standing up.

"You're not a polite child," the other person said coldly as they stepped down the last step.

“Yes.” Pei Ju did not deny it.

Pei Ju's answer surprised the other party.

"You can't be blamed for this. After all, your parents were gone when you were young, and your grandfather himself wasn't a very polite person," the old man said calmly.

The woman with long, black hair and downy hair on her face turned around in surprise to look at Pei Ju, then at the old man.

“My grandfather said that a cultured old man doesn’t deliberately ask others to do anything,” Pei Ju said.

“That’s true, but I’m not a cultured old man.” The old man walked to a cabinet not far from Pei Ju, took out a bottle of wine, then took out a glass, poured half a glass, tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.

Pei Ju was also surprised that he would frankly admit that he was not a cultured person.

"Tell me, what do you know about darkness and caves?" the old man asked.

“I don’t know anything about the Dark Cave, and I came here to learn about it,” Pei Ju said.

"Intern? Apprentice?" The old man sneered and said, "There are enough apprentices who have died here, if not a whole cartload, then a whole bushel. If you die, the Pei family line will be cut off."

"Old sir, you seem to know a lot about our Pei family," Pei Ju retorted.

"The Pei family, heh heh, if you don't have any other skills, you'd better leave. Don't lose your life because of momentary curiosity. My father was haunted by strange creatures before he died. Don't repeat his mistakes," the old man said.

"What do you mean by that, sir?" Pei Ju asked, his brows furrowed slightly. He sensed a hidden meaning in the other man's words.

In his mind, his father lost a fight with Huang Di and then entered the temple. Because he wanted to explore the Sangun Temple, he was haunted by ghosts. It seemed that his grandfather was telling him the same thing.

My father's notes didn't mention anyone else, but my grandfather never said much about my father's death.

But now, judging from what this old man is saying, it seems there's something else going on.

"Grievances and grudges are like lamps going out when a person dies; let them return to darkness," the old man said.

Pei Ju did not ask any further questions.

He didn't like riddle solvers.

“I came here to understand the Darkness. Although I don’t know much about it, I think I can still offer some help,” Pei Ju said. “Oh, you don’t understand the Darkness, but you can offer help?” the old man said with a hint of mockery.

"Yes," Pei Ju said with certainty.

"Then tell me what kind of help you can provide?" the old man asked again.

"The swords of the Pei Clan's Demon-Slaying Sword Hall are naturally capable of slaying demons, cutting down all monsters that emerge from the darkness," Pei Ju said with certainty.

"You've got quite the nerve. That's how the Pei family always is. You'll die because of that mouth of yours sooner or later." The old man said with a hint of mockery and a sigh, as if he still had some sympathy for the Pei family.

Pei Ju heard the word "also" in his words.

But he didn't ask. He felt that if the old man had something to tell him, he would tell him; if he didn't want to tell him, the more he asked, the more the old man would try to control him.

The old man then sat down in a chair, looked Pei Ju up and down, and said, "What do you want to know?"

"Yesterday, I received a letter while I was sleeping. The letter was full of lines I couldn't understand. I had a dream when I received it. In the dream, I went to a place. After I woke up, I went there again and encountered a 'ghost' who tricked me. He wanted me to use that thing to perform a ritual, trying to lure me into the darkness. I want to know, what's in the space in the darkness?"

The old man's expression turned serious, and he said, "It seems you've been targeted by something. That family doesn't intend to let your Pei family go."

"Who?" Pei Ju asked.

“The Huang family,” the old man said.

"Is the Huang family closely connected with the Dark Realm?" Pei Ju asked rhetorically. He didn't mention the conflict between the Huang family and his own family. After all, even if his grandfather hadn't said anything very clear, the fact that Huang Di had come in with his grandfather and then suddenly died there made him feel that there was something strange about it.

Pei Ju had witnessed Huang Di's formidable abilities firsthand; even now, facing him, he didn't know if he could win.

Often, you only truly know a person after you've actually fought them.

"When the Huang family came to Luosha Sea City, they brought Huang Xian with them. Later, when Huang Xian was about to die of old age, the Huang family sent Huang Xian into the Nether Cave. Thus, the Huang family and the Nether Cave developed an inexplicable connection."

“The Huang family has a connection with Youdong.” Pei Ju said with some surprise. He originally thought that he had offended Youdong somewhere, or that his family members had been registered in Youdong because of his maternal grandfather.

And now we know that the Huang family and Youdong are actually related.

"The Huang family now has another name, which is the Youdong Huang family," the old man said.

"Sir, you know so much, but I haven't yet asked your name," Pei Ju inquired.

"My surname is Ming, and my name is Ming Zai Lou." As the old man said this, he glanced at Pei Ju.

Pei Ju suddenly realized that since his surname was Ming, he understood why he spoke in such a tone. It was a kind of sarcasm, but also a pity for the Pei family. In that faint sarcasm, it seemed to be saying that it was because they stopped associating with the Ming family that they ended up like this.

He felt a pity for the Pei family's fate, as if he were seeing a stubborn relative who, after severing ties with the family, was bullied to the point of near extinction. He was both angry that the Pei family hadn't even considered seeking help from the Ming family in this state, and also felt pity and regret for their plight.

Pei Ju stood up, bowed to the other party, and said, "Pei Ju of the Pei family greets the old gentleman."

“According to seniority, I am of the same generation as your grandfather,” Ming Zailou said.

Pei Ju did not laugh, but said very seriously, "I once heard a Mr. Minghua talk about the relationship between the Pei family and the Ming family, but my grandfather never told me about the Ming family, so I apologize, Mr. Ming."

“Good, good. I could tell from the day Pei Jieyang left the Ming family that he was very tough, really tough. Even when he was haunted by ghosts and was trying to find ways to save his son, he didn’t ask the Ming family for help.”

"Hard bones have their consequences, because hard bones are easy to break." Ming Zai Lou said with a mixture of anger and sadness.

He recalled the years Pei Jieyang lived in the Ming family; he was indeed a tough nut to crack, which was why his leg was broken in the Ming family.

Pei Ju lowered his head and remained silent: "But he also thought of his grandfather's leg, which was broken when he was fourteen years old."

“It’s alright, we can each do our own thing. You can call me sir or team leader.” Ming Zai Lou said with a sigh. He got up and went to the cabinet to get more wine, this time in two glasses.

He poured himself a glass of wine, then poured another, and handed it to Pei Ju, saying, "Your grandfather started drinking when he was very young; he used to drink with me in secret."

Pei Ju remembered that his grandfather basically never drank alcohol.

"Come on, have a drink too, consider it a chance to get to know each other again," Ming Zailou said.

Pei Ju hesitated for a moment, then picked up the glass of wine and took a sip.

The wine was too strong; it wasn't the flavor Pei Ju liked.

“If someone is in a bad mood, they can drink a little. When they get drunk, they can recall many good things from the past.” Ming Zailou downed his glass of wine in one gulp.

Pei Ju only took a sip, and was about to ask him about his relationship with his grandfather when he heard him say, "Do you know that the darkness is divided into eighteen grotto-heavens?"

Pei Ju shook his head; he truly didn't know, and he always answered honestly when he didn't know something.

"In the darkness, there are eighteen grotto-heavens, one of which is the Five Immortals Cave. Huang Daxian of the Huang family was sent into the Five Immortals Cave," Ming Zailou said slowly.

"Do you know the Five Immortals?" Ming asked from the building.

"Fox, yellow, white, and gray?" Pei Ju replied.

"That's right, this Five Immortals Cave is also known as the Demon Cave. It's the Demon Cave that the people of the Underground Club can truly communicate with."

“The Huang family has always maintained tight control over the Five Immortals Cave. If any harm you suffered from the Nether Cave is actually from this Five Immortals Demon Cave,” Ming Zailou said.

This was the first time Pei Ju had ever heard of such a classification for the dark, secluded caves.

"Did you bring the letter you obtained?" Ming Zailou continued to ask.

"I brought it." Pei Ju took out a piece of paper from his pocket.

The woman with long, black hair and white downy hair on her face also peeked over to look.

Ming Zai Lou reached out and took the letter, looking at the messy lines on it, and said, "What you see in your dream is what is written on this. You won't recognize it when you wake up because they transmit information through thought."

He held the letter to his nose and smelled it, saying, "It smells like a weasel."

“Look, it was indeed the Huang family who sent Huang Xian to attack you last night,” Ming Zailou said.

He looked at Pei Ju's expression, but Pei Ju showed no anger or fear, only calmness.

However, Pei Ju's next words made him truly understand Pei Ju's personality.

"Is it okay to commit murder as long as you don't get caught with evidence?" Pei Ju asked.

(End of this chapter)