Nine Paths of Asura-Original Wuxia

Chapter 140-Confrontation

Lol woke up for work at 8, got back after 10pm...and I'm still nowhere near finished. End me.

 "I trod a path which is by nature, against that of this tablet. It's mysteries are useless to me."  Lineir said sadly as he gazed upon the beautiful and intricate tablet. The Estate Spirit dropped to the floor,

"Wait. Are you sure? Impossible, such talent, after I've waited so long, it can't be!!" The little baby wrapped its chubby arms around its head and moaned. Such a scene would be cute if the Estate Spirit wasn't actually many many millennia old. Instead Lineir found it more creepy, though still quite sad. 

"Look upon the tablet the way it was meant to be viewed."

 The voice in that moment spoke and Lineir felt his eyes itch as if the terrible Madness was begging to be let out. He resisted as he could feel the tablet calling to him, pleading to not pervert it with his gaze. However...in the end he could only agree and let the Madness bleed into his sight and the ruined world appear around him. He closed his eyes and when he reopened them they were clouded and he gazed upon what a wholly different tablet. Perhaps this tablet was more true, or perhaps this tablet was simply wrong, but whatever it was, its terrible power was something he could comprehend. 

Madness Eyes

"What have you done to the tablet?!!" The Estate Spirit cried as to him, the tablet appeared to shake and cry, gasping for help. The holy chant which had filled the hall seemed to have turned into an unholy cacophony of screams and unnatural desires. It was...defiled. The Estate Spirit could only look in horror as Lineir stared deep into the tablet and comprehended a new picture. It lasted for only  a moment, but in that moment Lineir was able to glean a fraction of the perverted picture's meaning. The picture he saw was not one of a simple palm print. It was a palm strike upon which the long and slender fingers of some devilish being clawed forward and reached out to seize the heart of its enemy! The claws would dig in and slash out all the flesh and rupture the organs until naught was left but a cloud of blood. This was the impression that Lineir got as his fierce expression was frozen upon his face in his study.

"The voice did not lie. I have looked upon the tablet as it was meant to be viewed, though I half wish I had not. From its fragments...I have claimed victory but at what cost?" Lineir muttered to himself as the Estate Spirit continued to bawl on the ground in shock. 

Sssssshhhhhhh shuaaa....

The once golden tablet bled out sand as one bleeds blood and crumbled down onto the altar. It was no more, for its purpose was served and its power spent. A mere replica, it was unable to contain the mysteries of when Madness was meshed with Buddhism. As such...it disintegrated.

"What have you done?!!" The blue baby cried. Lineir however, simply bowed deeply to the rapidly disintegrating pile of sand. When it was no more, he raised his head and said,

"I did what you asked. I have taken on the burden of destroying your sect's killers. From now on, you and I are connected by karma. For I have gained something here which I think will be very useful." His face grinned and a shifting shadow could be seen behind it. Whispers filled the air and the long hallway darkened as the many candles flickered. A smell of blood came as the dead interred below began to chant.

"Coming....Coming...Coming..."

They cried and Lineir left. It was time to take care of the Snow God. However as he walked out the Estate Spirit stopped him. 

"Wait! There's something you need to know before you face the man outside!" He said and for some time deep below the earth amongst the dead, Lineir and the spirit talked.

**************

Outside the Snow God waited far from the barrier. He meditated gently, restoring his strength and his mindset. When Lineir appeared he sat up in the air and revealed his white teeth,

"Have you decided to come out already? I would have thought you would try to train for a few decades at the very least before acknowledging the futility and meeting your death hehehe!" He said as Lineir walked up to the edge of the monastery grounds. The Estate Spirit floated next to him, still shocked, nervously eyeing Lineir.

"Are you sure you want to do this? There's no need to listen to his taunts, he cannot hurt you so long as you stay within the estate." The Estate Spirit said. Lineir hopped over the monastery wall and placed one leg outside of the invisible divide. The Snow God eyed him curiously, licking his lips. Was his prey really going to walk out to him just like that? 

"Does this boy have a death wish? Or is this some sort of trap to lure me into that damned Estate again." The Snow God said. Lineir said,

"I know your story old ghost. To think, you have the gall to steal everything from a junior. How does it feel to enter an unknown era where all you know is dead is gone!" Lineir shouted out with a smile. The Snow God hearing these strange words immediately frowned.

"So the Estate Spirit must have told you my story huh? I had no idea that old bastard was still around. But if you think you can taunt me you're sorely mistaken! I have survived the passing of generations, my lifespan far exceeds yours! You will have to come out sooner or later!" The Snow God said as his face suddenly bulged out. A hideous screaming revenant appeared to follow in the shadow of the once proud man. 

"So it's true. Tell me, what did you promise the Snow God for his body? Or did you forcibly possess his body with scheme." Lineir asked as he stood upon the monastery wall just outside the boundary. The hideous apparition tethered to the Snow God cackled and the middle aged man also cackled in a sad mockery. 

"Promise? Scheme? What are you talking about, I am the Snow God! I took care of that wretch Empress didn't I? Ahahaha Empress, someone with her cultivation boundary was nothing but a pauper in my time. It's fine though, her foundation is even now being refined into nourishment. How fitting that the wife's cultivation will become the paste to ensnare her own husband's soul!" The spirit continuously cackled and the Snow God's mouth wheezed out like a puppet. 

"Enough talk." The spirit suddenly merged back into the man as he pointed at Lineir. "Time to die child." An ice wall appeared behind Lineir as the ice Qi the Snow God had been slowly accumulating materialized. It cut him off from the boundary of the Estate. At the same time the Snow God shot forward with his right hand outstretched into an icy claw! He shot towards Lineir attempting to seize out his heart!