stealing the heavens
Book 1, Chapter 1 – Punishment Court
June, some island in Indonesia, the sun was shining brightly.
An antique Chinese designed building hidden among the green woods. Copper colored pillars, natural green with a hint of brown colored roof tiles and roof corners pointing upwards like an eave. There was a Divine Beast statue made from tri-colored pottery on top of the roof. Everything about this building was mysterious and solemn. (1)
This was Underhand Sect’s headquarter.
In the last building in this courtyard stood a small black building made of stone. On top of the door leading into the building was a blood red signboard with two words, ‘Punishment Court’ was neatly curved on it.
The Punishment Court in the Underhand Sect is responsible for punishment and sentences, all the disciples of the sect would tremble with fear upon hearing its name.
Within the main hall of the Punishment Court, there lay an altar in the middle of the hall. Spirit tablets of the Underhand Sect Grandmaster and the patriarchs of the different generations were placed and worshipped on it. Underneath these spirit tables, four big chairs lined up in a straight line. The underhand sect’s Punisher, Commander, Instructor and Guardian were sitting on the 4 chairs.
On both left and right side of the hall, nearly a hundred disciples of the Underhand Sect were standing formally. Some were tall, some were short. Some were fat, some were skinny. Some were good looking, some were ugly. All kinds of appearances were here. Some of them wore suits, some were shirtless. Some wore long gowns, while some wore street jackets. Some of them looked no different than a gangster on the streets, and their appearances were weird as well.
All disciples were focusing on themselves. They remained silent and dared not show any disrespect, they even tried breathing as softly as they could, afraid they would disturb the hall’s stern atmosphere and get scolded by the Punisher.
Wu Wang wore a long green shirt, he cupped his fists and bowed politely towards the four elders who held the power of this sect.
“Elders, Shangguan Ye who violated the rules of the sect and behaved outrageously has been caught alive! I request Elder Punisher to punish him according to the rules of the sect!”
All four elders of the Underhand Sect had gloomy expressions. Elder Punisher gazed at Wu Wang and waved his hand slightly, he cleared his throat and said, “Substitute Elder, where is Shangguan Ye?”
Wu Wang showed a watery smile as he turned his head around and beckoned. Wu Qi and a few other men looking as strong as wolves came in carrying a middle aged man who was tied by a rope like a dumpling. The middle aged man’s mouth was filled with two walnuts, he stared angrily at Wu Wang as he kept making a ‘wu wu’ sound, but he was unable to say a single word.
After throwing Shangguan Ye onto the floor, Wu Qi squeezed his mouth a few times with a smile, then he took out the walnuts in his mouth.
Although Shangguan Ye was tied like a dumpling, he was still flexible like a money. Just right after Wu Qi took the walnuts out of his mouth, he twisted his body and jumped up. He casually stood up in the middle of the Punishment Court.
Staring angrily at Wu Wang, Shangguan Ye roared out crazily, “Wu Wang! How dare you ask someone to catch me?!”
Wu Wang showed a sneer smile. Wu Qi kicked Shangguan Ye’s foot, forcing him to kneel down.
With one hand pressing down on Shangguan Ye’s shoulder, Wu Qi smiled gently and said, “Uncle Shangguan, my master is the Substitute Elder.”
Shangguan Ye struggled violently, he roared out like an animal, “Fucking Substitute Elder! Bullshit Substitute Elder! Wu Wang, I won’t submit to you! I will not submit to you! My dad was the previous Sect Elder, the Sect Elder position should be mine! It is mine!”
Wu Wang smiled as he took a few steps back.
Elder Punisher gazed at Wu Wang whose face had a big smile, he suddenly stomped hard on the ground and shouted, “Ridiculous! Shangguan Ye, look carefully, where are you right now?!”
Shangguan Ye’s body trembled, he rolled his eyes as he looked at Elder Punisher who had a stern face and said with a cold smile, “Where am I now? This is the Punishment Court! What mistake have I, Shangguan Ye, done to make the Punishment Court want to punish me? Elders, look at how honorable I, Shangguan Ye am, do I really deserve this?”
All four elders furrowed their brows. They peeked at the man who stood behind Wu Wang, Le Xiaobai who had long hair and a skinny body like a wandering soul.
Taking a long sigh, Elder Punisher shouted with a deep voice, “Shangguan Ye, three months ago, did you strike continuously? Did you bring out disciples to steal from 17 families?”
Raising his head straight, Shangguan Ye smiled coldly and said, “That’s right, but what’s wrong about that? We are the Underhand Sect, isn’t stealing what we are supposed to do?”
Wu Wang smiled slightly, he held his hands behind his back and said nothing.
Le Xiaobai waved his big folding fan and took a few steps forwards. With a cold smile he said, “Yes, we are the Underhand Sect, what we do here is a thief’s dirt work.”
Taking a long sigh, Le Xiaobai said with a compassionate voice, “But, there’s a saying that even thieves have their morals. The rules set by the founding Grandmaster is; even we in the Underhand Sect were about to die of poverty or hardship, we’ll never target innocent people!”
The folding fan knocked Shangguan Ye’s shoulder hardly. Le Xiaobai pointed at Shangguan Ye and scolded, “But Shangguan Ye, he continuously stole from 17 rich families, he even stole 6 family heirlooms. Those 6 families who had their heirlooms stolen are all good people who all do good deeds!”
Silence filled the Punishment Court, everyone looked at Le Xiaobai and Wu Wang.
Shangguan Ye twisted his body and tried jumping up, but Wu Qi pressed down on his shoulder, forcing him to stay where he was.
Suddenly, dozens of breaking noises sounded out. Shangguan Ye’s body twisted, and those ropes that were tightly tied around his body were all snapping. Both of Shangguan Ye’s arms were flexible like snakes. With some agile moments, the arms finally escaped, then they pressed towards Wu Qi’s stomach together with a cold wind.
Wu Qi laughed softly, both his palms moved so fast that only a shadow was visible. His shoulders twisted like there was no bones there, then he silently confronted Shangguan Ye.
A subtle impact sounded out, Wu Qi was still standing in his previous position, his feet hadn’t moved an inch, but Shangguan Ye was rolling around on the floor with blood dripping out of his mouth because of the impact.
Gazing at Wu Qi in shock, Shangguan Ye shouted fiercely, “Little bastard, you joined the sect not even three years ago, how come your palm’s strength is greater than mine?”
Wu Qi took two steps forwards and kicked Shangguan Ye’s chest, sending him flying up into the air. Wu Qi smiled and said, “Uncle Shangguan, as the son of the previous Sect Elder, not only did you violate the rules of this sect, you even attacked someone openly in the Punishment Court, your crime is now three times more severe! Are you going to commit to all the crimes you’ve committed?”
Wu Wang cleared his throat, Le Xiaobai turned back and fiercely gazed at all four elders.
All four elders squeezed their hands which were placed on the handle of their chairs, directly crushing it and turning it into ashes.
Elder Punisher took a long breath before he stood up and shouted angrily, “Men, Shangguan Ye first violated the rules of our sect, then he attacked someone openly in the Punishment Court! His crimes can’t be forgiven! Considering the fact that he is the previous Sect Elder’s only son, his sentence will be the disposal of all his skills and imprisonment underneath the ground of the Underhand Sect for the rest of his life!”
Le Xiaobai cupped his hands, shouting calmly in agreement.
All the disciples of the Underhand Sect in the Punishment Court clapped their hands together and said, “Elder Punisher is far with rewards and punishments! We, the disciples, are all convinced from deep within!”
Shangguan Ye stared at all the disciples with a startled look and shouted, “You guys… You guys!”
Elder Punisher stomped his feet and asked angrily, “Where’s the disciples of punishment?”
Wu Qi answered the call, he leapt towards Shangguan Ye, both palms moving like swallows flying through a forest. They hit every part of Shangguan Ye’s body.
Shangguan Ye barely managed to defend against Wu Qi’s first few attacks. Blood poured out of his mouth, then he finally lost all his energy. His Dantian was hit 18 times by Wu Qi. Wu Qi’s chilly palm forcefully penetrated Shangguan Ye’s Dantian and destroyed all the Inner Vital Energy that he had cultivated during the last 10 years.
After destroying all of Shangguan Ye’s skill by force, Wu Qi had a smile on his face that was not only gentle, but also friendly and affectionate.
“Uncle, it’s been a hard day for you, time for you to get some good rest.”
Without minding Shangguan Ye’s horrible scream, a thin black sharp blade appeared out from nowhere between Wu Qi’s fingers. The blade cut through the air faster than wind itself onto Shangguan Ye’s wrist, elbow, and all the joints. When the blade cut through the flesh, the razor sharp edge vibrated slightly, instantly cutting off a few important nerves in Shangguan Ye’s arm.
Shangguan Ye was screaming pitifully. Great amounts of blood poured out from his arms.
His Inner Vital Energy was gone, the nerves on both his hands were all cut. Shangguan Ye was now a crippled man.
Wu Qi kept smiling and said, “You have violated the rules of this sect. But, I’m sure you didn’t do it on purpose. I guess it was nothing but an unintentional mistake. But no matter what, the rules of this sect are to be obeyed! We, the Underhand Sect, can only survive in this world for so long, the rules cannot be broken!”
Sighing softly, Wu Qi looked at Shangguan Ye and said with a serious tone, “Sir, you can just rest assured! All the spending and consuming for the rest of your life will be handed by your responsible disciple, me!”
Shangguan Ye started at Wu Qi and started laughing painfully, he nodded his head and said, “Fine, fine, you rascal who is only worth $100, very good of you!”
Spitting a mouthful of blood onto Wu Qi, Shangguan Ye turned around. He gazed at the four elders while trembling and laughing coldly. He cursed grimly, then he finally stared towards Wu Wang.
“Seven years ago, my dad used the last drop of the ‘Mending and Patching Ointment’ and made your destroyed nerves connect. Today, your disciples abolished all my skills! Wu Wang, I, Shangguan Ye, will fight you till the end of my life!”
Wu Wang bowed to Shangguan Ye with a serious expression and said, “Senior Disciple Shangguan Ye, you have violated the rules of this sect, this is the punishment you deserve! The grave of teacher towards Wu Wang, I will remember for sure! In the future, senior disciple should just enjoy his retirement underneath the grounds of the Underhand Sect peacefully. All your expenses will be paid by me, Wu Wang, alone!”
Looking at Wu Qi with a praising expression, Wu Wang waved his hand and said, “Wu Qi, you have expressed your filial respect, but senior disciple Shangguan is your elder in this sect, how could he spend his junior’s time? Senior Disciples Shangguan will enjoy his retirement within the vicinity of the sect in the future, we all have to take good care of him!”
Wu Qi hurriedly bowed down respectfully.
Gazing at the disciples within the Punishment Court sternly, Wu Wang shouted seriously, “Remember this all of you, for the disciples of the Underhand Sect, anyone who dares violate the rules of our sect, let Shangguan Ye be your example!”
Wu Qi kept the small sharp blade between his fingers. He signaled a few disciples of punishment to drag Shangguan Ye away from here.
Shangguan Ye struggled violently, he raised his head and laughed in a horrifying manner, “Wu Wang, Le Xiaobai, Wu Qi, I won’t let any of you go! Hahaha, you’re dead meat, you’re just seeking death! And you four old fools, I won’t let any of you go either! I, Shangguan Ye, will exterminate all your families!”
Shangguan Ye was dragged out of the Punishment Court by force while laughing like a maniac.
Shangguan Ye’s horrifying screams could still be heard from afar.
“All of you, just wait! I’ll find each and every one of you and get my revenge!”
From the sleeve of the crazily struggling Shangguan Ye, a paper crane made with yellow paper suddenly burned itself to ashes without any fire in an instant.
Wu Wang stuck out his chest and stared at all the disciples in the Punishment Court, he spoke faintly, “Disciples of the Win Court, please go and gather information about the whereabouts of all the stuff stolen by Shangguan Ye. Never mind the unimportant stuff, but the 6 family heirlooms must be returned to their owners!”
Gazing at the four elders, Wu Wang said faintly, “The Underhand Sect’s rules cannot be broken while in our hands!”
The four elders looked at each other and sighed at the same time.
The Guardian trembled as he took out a palm sized golden plated box from a secret pocket near his chest, he took it out in a serious manner.
“Substitute Elder, this is the token of the Sect Elder. Except for Shangguan Ye, no one here is against the decision of making you the Sect Elder!”
All four elders cupped their fists and bowed politely towards Wu Wang, “We invite Substitute Elder to officially take command of the Underhand Sect!”
Every single disciple in the Punishment Court kneeled down together.
“We invite the Substitute Elder to officially take over the command of the Underhand Sect!”
Without showing shyness, Wu Wang took the head and nodded his head firmly.
Le Xiaobai and Wu Qi looked at each other, a smile appeared on their faces at the same time.