People say a cunning rabbit has three burrows. Among Ye Qi’s seven or eight appellations, at least three included the word “little.”
However, in this world many called him “Young Marquis,” very few knew of “Young Master,” and only one person could call him “Little Ye” so casually.
Ye Qi now felt the “wild man” before him seemed somewhat familiar in build, but still said uncertainly: “Mas-Master?”
“Aiyou, I said so—where would such a handsome young fellow come from? Turns out it really is my disciple.”
This person was none other than Ye Qi’s master, Changling’s martial uncle, the eminent monk Jiagu from Tianzhu.
Ye Qi took two more steps closer, finding a trace of past memories in Jiagu’s eyes narrowed to slits, and said incredulously: “How could you be here?”
“Aiya, it’s a long story. But you—how did you end up here?” Jiagu was very excited at reuniting with his disciple, one hand continuously poking Ye Qi’s face. “Also, where did this young lady on your back come from? Is she my disciple’s wife?”
Meeting an old friend in a foreign land—no, it should be meeting a savior in a ghost land—Ye Qi was both shocked and delighted: “Indeed, she is your disciple’s wife. However, she’s also your martial niece.”
Jiagu was confused. “What’s all this? Do I know her?”
“Master,” Ye Qi said frankly: “She’s Changling.”
“Which-which Changling?” Jiagu’s drooping eyebrows twitched. Only then did he seriously lean over to look at Changling’s face, greatly startled. “It can’t be…”
“Who else could it be?” Without further explanation, Ye Qi carried Changling into the thatched cottage. “Master, Changling was bitten by those villagers and seems poisoned. Please quickly take a look.”
The cottage interior was chaotic. Ye Qi hurriedly placed Changling on the only bed, quickly making room for Jiagu. Jiagu sat down and checked her pulse for a while, frowning: “Nothing wrong.”
“Impossible. Earlier I saw the blood was still purple-black…” Ye Qi’s voice abruptly stopped. He pulled back Changling’s shoulder wound to look—the black blood had turned bright red.
Jiagu examined the several silver needles inserted around the wound’s edge. “Oh, you already gave her the Nanhua needle treatment. What’s there to worry about… This little bit of poison was cleared out long ago.”
Only then did Ye Qi breathe a sigh of relief: “She inserted those herself before fainting, not me.”
“My martial niece is still as fierce as ever,” Jiagu clicked his tongue twice, pulling out a palm-sized porcelain jar from a low cabinet. “This is herbal medicine for dissolving bruises and stopping bleeding…”
Ye Qi took it, applied the medicine to Changling’s wound, then covered her with the blanket. Seeing Jiagu sitting to the side gazing at Changling with deeply moved eyes, clearly somewhat entranced, he called: “Master?”
“It’s nothing, nothing. I didn’t expect she was still alive,” Jiagu’s eyes glistened with tears. He wiped them with his sleeve. “If I’d known she wasn’t dead, I wouldn’t have burned paper offerings for her every year…”
Ye Qi: “…”
“If Senior Brother knew she was still alive… he wouldn’t have to chant sutras and pray for her every day…”
Hearing him mention Jiaye, Ye Qi’s expression brightened: “Has Master found where Master Uncle is?”
Jiagu sighed and shook his head. “If I could find him, how would I have ended up in this godforsaken place…”
“Oh right, Master, I’ve been looking for you for two years. I thought you’d returned to Tianzhu. How did you end up in this Yanling Village?”
In fact, when Ye Qi had taken Jiagu as his master years ago, his original intention was to study the Shimo True Scripture to extend his life. However, over all these years, he’d basically been in a “learned but learned in vain” state. The root cause was that Jiagu himself hadn’t mastered this technique—these two master and disciple could be said to have a tacitly inherited playfulness and unfocused nature.
After teaching Ye Qi a pile of miscellaneous martial arts completely useless for extending life, Jiagu discovered this clever and adorable disciple was not long for this world. Unable to bear it, he said he would go find his senior brother to help, and with that one departure had been missing for two years.
“Speaking of which, it was all an accident. A year ago, I heard from disciples in the sect that someone had seen Senior Brother here, so I came to look. Later I heard from villagers outside Yanling Mountain that there were man-eating monsters in these mountains… You know your master—I have no other hobbies ordinarily, but I most enjoy playing at vanquishing demons and eliminating evil… So I came up the mountain to take a look. Who knew that with this one look…” Jiagu rubbed his nose. “I ended up living here.”
Ye Qi listened with wonder: “Did Master also break through that Twenty-Eight Constellations Formation?”
“Twenty-Eight Constellations Formation?” Jiagu asked bewildered: “What’s that?”
“It’s… the necessary formation when crossing the mountain…” Ye Qi said puzzled: “If you didn’t pass through the formation, then how did you get in?”
Jiagu pointed behind himself. “Your master entered from the Yan River side. Didn’t see any constellation formation, but that forest was full of traps—took several days of effort… Originally thought some murderous demon lived in these mountains. Ha! Turned out I encountered a whole village of monsters. You have no idea—the very night I arrived at the village, I was nearly devoured alive by them…”
This experience was similar, no need to elaborate. Ye Qi asked: “And then?”
“As a monk, I’m compassionate. Seeing they were all living people, I couldn’t just casually kill them. If I couldn’t kill them, I could only flee.” Jiagu reminisced: “Later I fled all the way up this mountain. I was chased into a cemetery, truly surrounded with no way out. I was worried about being approached and infected by those strange people, so I had to borrow someone’s tombstone to block them…”
The villagers saw Jiagu barehanded pull out a tombstone embedded in the ground crevice, each one scared speechless with shock.
Ye Qi asked: “Master means to say… they were frightened by Master’s divine strength?”
“At first I thought so too, but later I discovered they weren’t afraid of me, but of that tombstone.” As Jiagu spoke, he pointed at a stone tablet placed on the windowsill. “That one…”
Ye Qi was so shocked his chair nearly toppled. “No, Master, how could you move someone’s grave into your house?”
“Not that extreme. I just borrowed a tombstone. Otherwise how could I live here?” Jiagu coughed. “Ever since I put this up, even when I occasionally encounter those villagers all turning into ghosts in the middle of the night, I still sleep as usual. Not only do they not dare disturb me, they have to treat me like their ancestor…”
Ye Qi was still puzzled: “You could have just not killed them and left the village. Why did you have to stay?”
“Wasn’t that still for you?” Jiagu glared at Ye Qi irritably. “Of course, even if not for your illness, I would have stayed to figure out that treasure manual… Also, for your sake, I had to try to see if there was any way to help these villagers detoxify, better than watching this village of old and young live generation after generation as neither human nor ghost…”
“What about my illness, what treasure sword?” Ye Qi was bewildered. “Also… why for my sake?”
Jiagu looked into his eyes. “Didn’t you just say these villagers hosted you? You couldn’t possibly not even know their surname, could you?”
“What does their surname have to do with me…” His voice paused. Ye Qi seemed to realize something, rose and walked out of the cottage, circling to the front of the tombstone. Under the moonlight, he saw carved characters: Tomb of He Yanzhen.
This name at first glance felt somewhat familiar. “My grandfather was also of the Yan generation… He Yanzhen…”
Jiagu also walked to the doorway. Ye Qi suddenly thought of something and looked up: “When I was little, I heard my father say that during the Former Liang period, though our He Family was a clan, our ancestors produced a generation of peerless masters. But they were unwilling to be entangled with the court, so had little contact with the clan. Later when they retired from jianghu, they disappeared without a trace… Could it be…”
“This Senior He Yanzhen was your grandfather’s elder brother. Over sixty years ago, there was a martial art in jianghu called ‘Brush Walking Dragon Snake,’ which was this He Family senior’s unique skill.” Jiagu smiled. “Together with ‘Iron Painting Silver Hook’ of the First Hero of Jiangdong, they were called the Two Unmatched Scholar-Heroes of Jianghu.”
“So this Yanling Village…” Ye Qi reacted. “Are the descendants of this Senior He’s branch?”
Jiagu hummed affirmatively. “Could be considered your relatives…”
Now Ye Qi was truly shocked. “No wonder the formation entering the mountain was the Twenty-Eight Constellations Formation… But how did they get trapped in these mountains? And why at night does the whole village seem possessed… tearing people apart on sight?”
“Don’t rush. Come inside, I’ll show you something.”
Jiagu retrieved from a hidden compartment under the cottage floor a finger-thick handwritten book, flicking dust off the cover to reveal four characters: “Yanzhen’s Notes.” Ye Qi took a look. “Senior He’s manuscript? Master… where did you get this?”
Jiagu’s footsteps imperceptibly moved two steps away, his eyes unnaturally glancing at the ceiling. “I’m telling you, you can’t be angry at your master. This manuscript… was cushioning Senior He’s tombstone. Hey, I didn’t do it on purpose—when I pulled out that tombstone, I accidentally brought it out. But his old bones are definitely still intact buried in the earth. I didn’t touch them, don’t worry.”
“…”
To call his master a monk—no wonder others didn’t believe it. He was starting to suspect Master had long since returned to secular life.
Ye Qi hesitated, not immediately flipping through it—after all, it was an ancestor’s notes. What if it contained too many private matters he didn’t want descendants to know…
Jiagu saw his hesitation and reminded: “Look at the back cover.”
Ye Qi turned it over and froze. The back had a note in tiny script: May the fated one who reads this save my clansmen.
Without further hesitation, Ye Qi immediately sat down and seriously began reading. The first page briefly mentioned their reason for moving the entire family to Yanling Mountain: I feared the world’s covetousness and jianghu’s blood feuds, yet defied my master’s orders and rashly practiced the technique, unexpectedly suffering backlash…
“Defied master’s orders?” Reading this, Ye Qi paused, then continued: Later suffered treachery, was infected with corpse gu, afflicting family members. Those infected with the gu cannot see moonlight or hear sounds at night, otherwise they become like zombies, desiring to eliminate all living things—truly a calamity for humanity. My death matters little, but I cannot bear to see my clan extinguished. Thus I have no choice but to temporarily hide here, seeking an opportunity to find a cure.
These notes were roughly He Yanzhen’s recordings of researching different detoxification methods during different periods. Obviously, as time passed, not only did he fail to cure his relatives, but watched more relatives suffer this harm. Moreover, this corpse gu would pass from one generation to the next, the toxicity deeply rooted in the bloodline, beyond what medicine or stone could drive out. In the end, he had no choice but to give up, simply setting up layers of obstacles at both ends of Yanling Mountain, isolating themselves from the world, and establishing the “evil spirit” rumor that “cannot travel at night.”
Ye Qi flipped several more pages, truly finding it increasingly unbearable to read. “Never imagined Great-Uncle He and his family would suffer such horrific misfortune… Why didn’t he think to go out and seek help?”
“Once this corpse gu activates, one’s power becomes several times greater than normal. With Senior He’s cultivation, if he casually walked around outside, he might accidentally slaughter a village in his sleep…” Jiagu sighed deeply. “Though he wished to seek medical help, he dared not travel far.”
Ye Qi said: “Then why didn’t he send a message by carrier pigeon… If he’d asked my grandfather for help, perhaps our He Family would have sought famous physicians to come treat them?”
“He did try to find help, you look further back,” Jiagu waved his hand. “Just didn’t get a response.”
Ye Qi looked for a bit. “Really. But why?”
“Probably your grandfather was busy fighting wars with the Former Liang Emperor at the time and didn’t receive the letter… Originally Senior He had formed many good relationships in jianghu, so there weren’t necessarily no others he could ask. However, he seemed unwilling to let jianghu people know his whereabouts.” Jiagu, finding Ye Qi too slow, actively spoiled ahead: “Finally, with no choice, he had someone summon a friend he trusted.”
Ye Qi happened to reach this part too, his finger brushing over the name on the page, murmuring: “Monk Shenle?”
Jiagu chuckled softly: “Over the past century, speaking of the monk with the highest martial cultivation, your master currently can’t rank. But even my senior brother and Shaolin’s Master Kongjian could only rank in the top three, not daring to claim first. Do you know why?”
Ye Qi caught the implication: “Could it be… this Monk Shenle’s cultivation was even higher than Master Uncle Jiaye’s?”
“Mm, let me think, where to begin…” Jiagu stood up and walked forward two steps. “Patriarch Bodhidharma spread Chan Buddhism, called the First Patriarch of the Eastern Land. We all inherited his Buddhist teachings… Everyone knows that among Patriarch Bodhidharma’s martial classics, the Shimo True Scripture remained in Tianzhu, while the Marrow Cleansing Classic and Muscle-Tendon Transformation Classic remained at Shaolin in the Central Plains. In his later years, he met Chan Master Baozhi. The two were very compatible. Only after Chan Master Baozhi died in prison did Patriarch Bodhidharma cross the river on a reed, faced the wall for nine years, and finally transmitted his robe and bowl to Second Patriarch Huike.”
Ye Qi nodded. “Master told me these allusions before…”
Jiagu glanced at him sideways, like an old child, and humphed: “What’s wrong with letting me say it again?”
Ye Qi coughed lightly and coaxed: “Please continue, continue.”
“Monk Huike had many personal disciples, all of the Seng generation, but among them was one youngest disciple named Yongyin.” Jiagu said: “It’s said that Monk Huike extremely doted on this disciple, but didn’t teach him Shaolin’s Marrow Cleansing or Muscle-Tendon Transformation Classics, but instead gave him a scroll called the Ten Thousand Flowers Treasure Manual.”
“Ten Thousand Flowers Treasure Manual?” Ye Qi said thoughtfully: “I seem to have heard of it. It’s said to also be an extremely powerful martial classic… However, I really didn’t know this manual originated from Shaolin…”
Jiagu said: “Actually, this classic was created by Chan Master Baozhi. Monk Yongyin indeed studied under Shaolin, but was also Chan Master Baozhi’s grand-disciple… Therefore, among Chan Buddhist martial classics, the Ten Thousand Flowers Treasure Manual could be considered on par with the Shimo True Scripture. Unfortunately, though the Ten Thousand Flowers Treasure Manual is profound, it’s not something ordinary monks can easily master. Thus, over a hundred years, Monk Yongyin couldn’t carry this technique forward, and it was ultimately lost…”
Seeing Jiagu deliberately pause to create suspense, Ye Qi cooperated: “But…”
“But, several decades ago, a Monk Shenle appeared,” Jiagu said. “He obtained the true transmission of the Ten Thousand Flowers Treasure Manual.”
Ye Qi said softly in amazement: “Never imagined my Great-Uncle He actually knew such a remarkable figure as Monk Shenle…”
Jiagu raised an eyebrow. “Yes, Senior He not only knew Monk Shenle, in the end, he even invited him here and got him killed.”
Ye Qi exclaimed and lowered his head to flip through the manuscript again, reading that Monk Shenle arrived at Yanling Mountain as agreed. After diagnosing the villagers’ pulses, he gave He Yanzhen an eight-character conclusion: Ten Thousand Flowers Treasure Manual, can resolve it.
These eight characters were of great significance, giving the despairing He Yanzhen hope. But Shenle said that to neutralize the poison, one needed both yin and yang qi, jointly infusing the meridians, only then could it be gradually driven out.
In other words, Shenle alone couldn’t cure the whole village’s poison. Unless there was another person who could master this technique to施为 simultaneously. But everyone knew the Ten Thousand Flowers Treasure Manual was a Chan Buddhist secret manual. How could Shenle possibly transmit this divine technique to others?
However, everyone still underestimated Monk Shenle’s magnanimous spirit. Before leaving, he transmitted the Ten Thousand Flowers Treasure Manual’s mental cultivation method word for word to He Yanzhen, and promised that after he achieved great mastery, he would return to Yanling Village to jointly save the villagers with him.
Who knew fate wouldn’t comply. The very night before Monk Shenle was to leave, the Yanling Village villagers suddenly collectively fell ill, rising up to attack. He Yanzhen, originally no match, had greatly increased in power from cultivating the Ten Thousand Flowers Treasure Manual. Monk Shenle ultimately died at his hands.
After He Yanzhen awoke and learned he’d killed his close friend, he wished to die, deciding to atone with death. Before dying, he personally built a divine temple to commemorate Shenle, wrote all this into these notes, hoping later generations would take warning, then took his own life with his sword.
Reading to the end, besides sighing with regret, Ye Qi didn’t know what else to say.
He was still somewhat puzzled: “If this manuscript was written by Great-Uncle He for future descendants, why was it buried in his grave?”
“At first I also didn’t understand, until one day I figured out his intention…” Jiagu sat down. “This Ten Thousand Flowers Treasure Manual itself isn’t something ordinary people can cultivate. If everyone knew where this classic was located, the fighting over it goes without saying. If anyone casually practiced a move or two and went astray, how terrifying would the result be? Presumably, he instructed his descendants to hide this manuscript under the tombstone. If among future generations there was someone with exceptional martial talent or a trustworthy person who entered the mountain, they could bring out this manuscript again. Otherwise, let it be buried in the yellow earth rather than let it bring calamity to the world.”
Ye Qi finally understood everything. “No wonder Great-Uncle wrote ‘May the fated one who reads this save my clansmen’… Eh, Master, you just mentioned for my illness, figuring out that treasure manual… I thought you were talking about some sword. Could it be you meant…”
“Mm,” Jiagu nodded. “After I read this manuscript, I found the Ten Thousand Flowers Treasure Manual that Senior He left behind… However, some parts Senior He wrote aren’t very clear. Your master is still pondering. If I could find someone to study it with and comprehend all its essence, if you mastered this technique, your chronic illness could be saved.”
Before his words fell, the person on the bed who’d been motionless all along threw back the covers and sat up: “Martial Uncle, where is that manual now?”