“Master?” Chen Er lowered his voice, probing tentatively.
Seeing Jing Yuan’s serious posture as he listened to the surroundings, everyone in the hall also grew tense, gripping their knives tightly and warily looking around.
Who were they guarding against during their night patrols?
None other than the ruthless villain, Chai Xian.
When nothing unusual happened, they could joke and laugh. But at the slightest disturbance, these low-level patrolmen became half-scared in their hearts.
After all, Chai Xian was a top-tier figure in Xiangzhou, at the fifth rank Energy Condensation stage. It was said he could even control four iron corpses.
“In the river…” Jing Yuan opened his eyes and said in a deep voice.
The river? Chen Er’s heart tightened. The next moment, he heard a “splash” coming from outside the tavern, as if something had emerged from the water.
Everyone in the hall heard it too. A dozen gazes turned simultaneously towards the closed tavern door, on high alert.
The sound of water continued one after another, as more and more things emerged from the water.
Then, with a loud “bang”, the tavern door was violently forced open.
A figure rushed into the tavern. He wore tattered clothes and emitted a foul odor. His hair, like withered straw, was soaked by river water and clung to his bloodless face. His eyes were cloudy and lifeless.
Behind him were more “companions”, calmly and coldly gazing at the people in the tavern.
At a glance, there were at least forty of them.
This eerie and terrifying scene would probably scare ordinary people or lower-level jianghu folks from other countries to death.
Fortunately, people from Xiangzhou were familiar with walking corpses. Having been exposed to them, they didn’t have the kind of fear reserved for ghosts and spirits. To them, walking corpses were no different from wolf packs in the mountains.
“Brothers, prepare your weapons!” Chen Er shouted, grabbing a large net from the basket at his feet and throwing it forcefully to cover the walking corpses.
Then, taking two steps in three, he raised his knife and brought it down hard, aiming for the neck of the walking corpse that had burst open the tavern door.
Thud!
The blade got stuck in the neck, unable to sever the head.
Although the walking corpses weren’t as invulnerable as iron corpses, they had been strong martial artists in life. After being nourished with vital blood, their physical bodies were stronger than ordinary Body Refining realm practitioners.
The walking corpse opened its foul-smelling mouth, a mouthful of yellow teeth lunging for Chen Er’s neck.
“Its” striking speed was too fast, no slower than a Qi Condensation realm expert, leaving Chen Er unable to make any evasive moves. A feeling of despair welled up in his heart.
Master, save me… Chen Er cried out inwardly.
Then, in his field of vision, the walking corpse’s head spun off, its body suddenly froze, then fell straight to the ground.
Jing Yuan held his monk’s blade, shaking off the corpse water from the edge, and said calmly:
“Escape through the windows. These walking corpses are not something you can handle.”
With the corpse-controlling skills of the person behind this, dealing with these unranked low-level individuals would be effortless.
Chen Er breathed a sigh of relief, not trying to act tough. He warned, “Master, quickly use your prayer beads to notify the other allies.”
Jing Yuan didn’t respond, instead stepping forward to meet the oncoming group of walking corpses, his blade rising and falling, chopping off one head after another.
Seeing this, Chen Er and the others hesitated no longer, rushing towards the windows on both sides of the hall, smashing through them to escape.
No walking corpses pursued them; their target was Jing Yuan.
Thud, thud, thud…
One head after another flew off. The walking corpses were no match for the warrior monk Jing Yuan’s blade.
But he controlled his power well, maintaining the appearance of an early fifth-rank fighter.
After all, suddenly displaying the combat power of a peak fourth rank would only scare away the opponent.
“Clang!”
His blade struck the neck of one of the walking corpses, finally losing its unstoppable momentum. The corpse’s head didn’t fly off; instead, its neck erupted in a shower of dazzling sparks that quickly disappeared.
An iron corpse!
This was an iron corpse.
The iron corpse, unfazed by the decapitation attempt, spread its arms and hugged Jing Yuan, opening its foul mouth to bite his neck.
Crack!
Yellow teeth flew off as “it” seemed to bite into gold.
Jing Yuan’s entire body glowed golden, like a sculpture cast in gold. The moment the iron corpse hugged him, Jing Yuan activated his Vajra Divine Skill.
Before Jing Yuan could break free from the iron corpse’s embrace, three more walking corpses charged over, knocking aside their “comrades” in the way. One grasped the back of Jing Yuan’s neck, one hugged his legs, and one twisted his arms behind his back.
A forceful hold.
The next moment, Jing Yuan’s warrior instinct alerted him to danger.
From the rafters above, a black-clad, hooded figure leaped down, holding a steel awl in hand. The awl was wrapped in energy, aiming for Jing Yuan’s crown.
The person behind the scenes had appeared.
Jing Yuan’s expression remained unchanged. His clothes billowed as he no longer concealed his strength. A fierce energy burst from within his body like gunpowder.
“Boom!”
The four iron corpses instantly exploded into pieces.
Jing Yuan raised his hand and grabbed the wrist of the black-clad person, then executed a powerful shoulder throw, slamming him hard onto the ground.
With an earth-shattering crash, the packed ground cracked.
Jing Yuan clenched his fist and delivered a heavy punch to the black-clad person’s abdomen, directly breaking through their iron-like skin and bones.
At this moment, he frowned, his face slightly stiffening, because where he gripped the other’s wrist, there was no pulse.
Jing Yuan pulled off the hood, revealing a face mask underneath. But there was no need to remove the mask now. Jing Yuan saw the person’s eyes, cloudy and empty, completely lifeless.
“There’s energy, but no pulse or heartbeat… This is a puppet stronger than an iron corpse… We’ve fallen into a trap!”
Jing Yuan immediately realized.
The person behind the scenes hadn’t made a move. They had used this corpse king disguised as a “living person” to launch a sneak attack. If Jing Yuan had been injured in the previous attack, it would have confirmed he was at the fifth rank, and the mastermind would have immediately appeared to join the walking corpses in surrounding and killing him.
Conversely, it proved that Jing Yuan was concealing his strength.
“Unexpectedly cautious…”
Jing Yuan walked out of the tavern, looking towards the vast night sky.
He wasn’t worried at all, seemingly full of confidence.
…
Candlelight flickered in the warm bedroom. Li Lingsu, wearing a robe, sat at the table enjoying a post-exercise meal.
He had just satisfied his beautiful wife. While Chai Xing’er was still in the afterglow, Li Lingsu excused himself, saying he was hungry. He then went out to call a maid to help warm wine and heat food.
As is well known, after intense exercise, energy consumption is huge and accompanied by hunger, so Chai Xing’er didn’t suspect anything.
She curled up lazily in bed and fell into a deep sleep.
Li Lingsu drank a few sips of wine and ate a bit of food, pretending to be unable to hold his liquor. He rested his chin on one hand, appearing to doze off.
A Yin spirit quietly left, passing through the rafters and drifting gracefully to a certain courtyard.
This was the courtyard of Chai Jianyuan’s second son. Chai Jianyuan had three sons in total. The eldest died of illness in his youth, and the second had no talent for cultivation, so he helped manage the Chai family’s shops.
Chai Zhong, in a daze, heard someone calling him. He opened his eyes and saw a dark figure sitting at the table, with its back to him.
“Who’s there?” Chai Zhong called out.
“Zhong’er, it’s your father!” The figure turned around, revealing himself to be Chai Jianyuan.
“Father?!” Chai Zhong cried out in shock, seemingly frightened.
He forcefully shook the woman beside him and loudly called for guards, but received no response.
“This is your dream,” Chai Jianyuan explained.
“A dream?” Chai Zhong questioned half-believingly, raising his hand to slap himself. Indeed, it didn’t hurt, so he believed it was a dream.
His heart calmed a little, and he muttered to himself: Why does my father have to tell me this is my dream…
“Zhong’er, I’ve been extremely good to Chai Xian all these years. Have you resented me for favoring him?” “Chai Jianyuan” asked.
Chai Zhong smiled bitterly: “The Chai family’s foundation is in martial arts. I have no talent for cultivation, so I can only help manage the family’s shops and do business. It’s normal for you not to value me much.”
“Chai Jianyuan” nodded: “Then do you know why I valued Chai Xian so much?”
Chai Zhong said matter-of-factly: “Of course, it’s because Chai Xian has high talent and good potential. Everyone in the family used to say you had a discerning eye, bringing back a genius.”
After speaking, he showed a resentful expression: “Who would have thought we were inviting a wolf into our home, bringing back such a disaster.”
It seems he doesn’t know the truth about Chai Xian being Chai Jianyuan’s illegitimate son… “Chai Jianyuan” sighed, following this topic:
“I didn’t expect it to turn out like this either. If I had known, I wouldn’t have brought him back that day. It’s a pity that after so many years, no one saw that he was an ungrateful wretch?”
Chai Zhong snorted: “Chai Xian has an extreme personality. He likes Xiao Lan, but you didn’t agree to their marriage.”
After asking a few more questions, Li Lingsu left Chai Zhong’s dream and drifted gracefully to the courtyard of the Chai family’s third master, Chai Kai.
The night had deepened, but Chai Kai’s courtyard was still brightly lit. He was playing drinking games with his concubines. These concubines were charming and alluring, wearing light gauze in the warm room, their inner charms faintly visible.
Chai Kai was a young master with quite good looks, at the Qi Condensation realm. Thanks to Chai Jianyuan’s strict upbringing in his youth, he had passed through the “most difficult” period for a martial artist.
He successfully refined his body.
But afterward, he gradually degenerated, indulging in women.
“Not sleeping in the middle of the night…”
Li Lingsu cursed silently, waiting patiently outside.
Finally, he saw Chai Kai, with two beautiful concubines on each side and two more following behind, a total of five people, lifting the curtains and entering the large bed.
Soon, from behind the lowered curtains came the enchanting moans of women.
This multi-person exercise lasted for half an hour before subsiding. Li Lingsu was incredibly envious.
“Mere Qi Condensation realm, and indulging in sensual pleasures, yet able to handle so many women… Sometimes the martial arts system is enviable…”
After waiting a bit longer to ensure Chai Kai was asleep, he wasted no more time and quickly entered the dream.
…
In his hazy state, Chai Kai heard someone calling him. He opened his eyes to find it was his deceased father, Chai Jianyuan.
“Father, aren’t you dead?” Chai Kai slapped himself, finding it didn’t hurt. He suddenly realized he was dreaming.
“You unfilial son!” Chai Jianyuan cursed loudly: “All you know is wining and dining! If you had half the success of Chai Xian, I could rest in peace.”
Chai Kai, who had initially been happy to dream of his father, immediately soured. He sneered:
“As successful as him, and then kill you?”
“Chai Jianyuan” was taken aback for a moment. His expression softened as he said in a deep voice:
“I also regret bringing Chai Xian back then. But do you know why I brought him back?”
Hearing this, Chai Kai looked puzzled.
“Chai Jianyuan” asked again: “Do you know if Chai Xian has any peculiarities, like six toes?”
Chai Kai was stunned and shook his head: “He has six toes?”
Chai Xian was very self-conscious about his toe deformity, and even his childhood “companions” didn’t know. Well, there’s a reason why these two weren’t close… Li Lingsu then asked if he knew whether “father” had six toes.
He received another negative answer.
However, regarding Chai Xian, Chai Kai was full of resentment. He said Chai Xian, an outsider’s bastard, had stolen Chai Jianyuan’s love from him, stolen the limelight from him and his second brother, and when they fought as children, Chai Xian had nearly choked him to death, among other things.
“I just cursed his mother as a brothel woman and called him a bastard, and he nearly choked me to death,” Chai Kai said.
Just as Xu Qian said, Chai Xian’s personality is a bit extreme… Li Lingsu found no significant clues and ended the operation.
…
In the forest behind Sanshui Town, a figure was moving through the night, sometimes leaping, sprinting.
He wore black clothes and a cloak. As he jumped over a mountain stream, he stopped.
In the weak, cold moonlight, on a large rock by the stream stood a young monk wearing cyan robes with a pouch at his waist.
With palms together and a calm gaze, he looked at the black-clad figure and said in a gentle tone: “Amitabha, the sea of suffering is boundless, turn back to the shore.”
“A monk from the Western Regions?” The cloaked figure removed his hood, revealing his true face. He had handsome features and a gentle, reserved demeanor, but his brow was furrowed with unresolved troubles.
As this person revealed his face, a Buddhist light faintly shone from Jing Xin’s pouch.
Jing Xin opened the pouch and took out a golden bowl. The bowl was scalding hot, emitting a clear Buddhist light.
He aimed the bowl at the black-clad person. From the mouth of the bowl shot a clear, pure, but not dazzling golden light, illuminating Chai Xian.
In the golden light, Jing Xin saw that within Chai Xian’s body, there was a faint, thick dragon shadow entangled.
A dragon qi host… Jing Xin put away the golden bowl and looked deeply at the black-clad person, saying:
“May I ask the benefactor’s surname and given name?”
The black-clad man frowned slightly, his tone steady: “Chai Xian.”