Chen Ping and Liu Xue walked up to the towering stone gate.
Its surface was perfectly smooth, bearing neither runes nor words.
Chen Ping tried pushing it with all his strength, yet the gate refused to budge.
Liu Xue then placed her hand on it. The moment she touched the stone, the gate silently slid open on both sides.
Seeing this, Chen Ping was dumbfounded. Why could he not open it?
“Why is that?” he asked.
“Probably because I’m a woman,” Liu Xue said with a laugh.
Chen Ping was speechless. The two stepped through the gate, but the instant they entered, it slammed shut behind them, trapping them inside.
“Welcome, both of you…”
An aged voice rang out. An old man with white hair and a long white beard materialised before them.
“Young Master Chen, old sir…” Liu Xue began.
“Kill.”
The Dragon-Slaying Sword flashed in Chen Ping’s hand and slashed straight at the old man.
Sword light sliced through the elder’s body, cutting him cleanly in two.
The old man: “…”
Moments later, the two halves slowly merged back together.
“What are you doing? You attacked without a single word! Good thing I’m only a projection, otherwise you really would have killed me,” the old man said angrily.
“Is this not a trial? A trial to see if I’m some bleeding-heart saint? So the moment I see an old person or a child, I kill. Simple,” Chen Ping replied.
“It is a trial, yes, but I’m the examiner. You kill the examiner and still expect to enter the ruins?” the old man snapped.
Hearing this, Chen Ping hurriedly sheathed his sword and cupped his fists. “Senior, my apologies, it was a misunderstanding…”
“Enough talk. I’m going to ask you questions now,” the old man said slowly.
“Fine!” Chen Ping nodded, curious what the old man would ask.
“If your entire family were slaughtered, and one day you gained the power, would you wipe out the perpetrator’s whole family?” the old man asked.
“Yes!” Chen Ping answered without hesitation.
“And after you wiped out their family, if you discovered one small child of a few years old had survived?” the old man continued.
“I would tell the child to remember my face so he could seek revenge later. The second time we met, I would kill him, then turn and leave,” Chen Ping replied.
The old man was about to speak when Chen Ping went on, “After taking two steps, I would spin round again and tell the child this was the second meeting. He had his chance and failed to take it, so he has only himself to blame.
Then I would cut the child down with one stroke, leaving no future trouble.”
The old man’s smile froze on his face. “And after killing that child, you would leave?”
“Of course not. I would hide in the shadows and see if any other child was still alive,” Chen Ping said.
“If another child came running out, would you kill him with one slash?” the old man asked.
Chen Ping shook his head. “Not one slash. Four.”
“Four?” Liu Xue, standing beside him, was completely baffled.
“One thrust through the heart. Another into the right side of the chest, in case his heart grows on the wrong side.
A third into the throat, in case he’s so scared his heart leaps to his throat. The last one into the belly, in case he’s swallowed his heart in terror.”
Chen Ping explained calmly.
Liu Xue: “…”
“Now suppose yet another child runs out, hugs your leg, and begs for mercy. You have one sword and one sweet in your pocket. How do you decide whether this child should live or die?” the old man asked.
“Too easy,” Chen Ping said with a faint smile. “If the child takes the sword, it proves he harbours killing intent. Such a child must not be spared.”
