"If the two village chiefs are troubled by this, Xiao Mou can guard the manuals here to atone for my sins." A voice suddenly came from the courtyard gate. Qiao Feng had returned.
But he now called himself Xiao Mou, which clearly meant he had become Xiao Feng. Xiao Yuanshan, however, hadn't come back with him. Who knew where he had gone?
"Everyone, my father and I agreed to meet at Shaolin in ten days and settle the grudges from thirty years ago. After that, I'll remain at Juxian Village to guard the manuals and atone for my father. Any scoundrel thinking of making a move had better not blame Xiao Mou for showing no mercy!"
Xiao Feng had finally made up his mind. So what if he was a Khitan? In all those years as the Beggar Clan leader, he had foiled many of Great Liao's schemes and killed quite a few of its masters.
Great Liao was like a wolf that could never be sated. One day, it would invade south, leaving the people displaced and destitute.
"Ten days." Hearing Xiao Feng's words, Chen Feng realized the Shaolin gathering might be brought forward as well. But that had nothing to do with him. He would return in a week, and whatever happened after that would no longer concern him. Seven days was plenty of time for his reputation as Xiaoyao to spread far and wide.
As it happened, the very next afternoon, someone brought back a murderer. It was none other than Sima Minghui, chief constable of the Imperial City Department, known as the Divine Eye.
He brought a burly man who had been tortured beyond recognition to Juxian Village, asking in exchange for a chance to study the manuals for one day.
"Is this Blood Skeleton?" Chen Feng had heard earlier that someone called Blood Skeleton had been captured by the Imperial City Department, so he asked.
"That's right. But he's a tough one. He endured every torture the Imperial City Department had to offer without saying a word. He kept insisting that he'd tell us everything in six days." Sima Minghui had his men throw Blood Skeleton down in front of Chen Feng.
Six days later—so he really was a Reincarnator. Once the time was up, he'd be transported back to the Reincarnation Sacred Hall. If his points weren't in the negative, the Hall would heal his injuries and save his life.
"Since the Divine Eye himself has come, I'll take your word for it. There's no use keeping this scum alive. Kill him." Chen Feng glanced at Blood Skeleton, who was barely conscious, and ordered his men to cut off the man's head and hang it on the post they had set up outside Juxian Village. Scum like him didn't deserve to live.
A day later, Sima Minghui emerged from the room, looking dazed. When he finally came to, he said, "To have seen such a martial arts manual in this life, I can die without regrets."
He then led his men back to Bianjing City. He knew this was something that could change all of Great Song, and he had to get his hands on it first.
Hunting down the murderer behind the bloodshed might prove difficult, but there were countless Liao soldiers raiding the northern frontier. He planned to hunt them himself.
Sima Minghui's words spread throughout the Central Plains martial world in just three days, stirring everyone into a frenzy. After the Nth person who'd come scheming to seize the manuals by force was thrown out of Juxian Village by Xiao Feng, they all turned their attention beyond Yanmen Pass.
On the evening of the seventh day, there were only three days left until Qiao Feng and his father went to Shaolin, and Chen Feng was about to return.
Inside a room at Juxian Village, the Hangu Eight Friends were all worked up and restless. Xue Muhua even had a huge blister on his lip.
"What are you all fretting about? Didn't I already put you back in the sect?" Chen Feng said, amused by their hesitant expressions.
"But Martial Uncle, this is the secret, never-taught art of our Xiaoyao Sect..." Senior Disciple Brother Kang Guangling said with a mournful look.
"You really think Xiaoyao Yufeng is so easy to understand? Before Master Wu Yazi died, he told me he'd studied it for decades and understood barely one or two parts out of ten. Besides, our Xiaoyao Sect always took in exceptionally gifted disciples. Do you think people like that grow on trees?" Chen Feng said disdainfully.
Even so, it was the Xiaoyao Sect's most prized treasure, and the Hangu Eight Friends were naturally reluctant to part with it.
But Chen Feng didn't mind selling off his father's land. The right move was to get the greatest possible benefit out of it. If he got an SSS rating, he wouldn't be able to enter a Normal Grade Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils instance again.
Besides, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils had never appeared in the Elite Grade. Clearly, Normal Grade was the limit, so Chen Feng wasn't worried at all.
"Something's wrong, Martial Uncle! A group of people just showed up outside. They don't want to see the manuals—they insist on becoming your disciples and learning immortal arts!" Just then, Wu Lingjun burst into the room, shouting breathlessly.
"What? What's going on?" Wu Lingjun's words left Chen Feng bewildered. Becoming his disciple was one thing, but what was all this about learning immortal arts?
"Someone saw you yesterday morning outside Luoyang, killing Ding Chunqiu. They said you ignored his poison arts and killed him even as he pressed you hard."
"But everyone at Juxian Village knows you never left the grounds. And that witness is a well-known figure in the martial world, so there's no way he'd lie. Some people are saying that you cultivated immortal arts from the manuals and became an immortal, appearing a thousand li away in an instant to kill our sect's traitor, Ding Chunqiu."
Hearing Wu Lingjun's words, Chen Feng immediately understood what had happened. That guy Ding Chunqiu had run into Duan Yu.
The next day, Chen Feng had put a bounty on Ding Chunqiu, declaring him a traitor to the Xiaoyao Sect. Whoever brought back his head would get to study the manuals for a month. So the moment Ding Chunqiu left Xingxiu Sea, people had started watching him.
Ding Chunqiu had left Xingxiu Sea because his spies in the Central Plains had told him about Chen Feng. Chen Feng's face was identical to Duan Yu's, and Duan Yu knew Lingbo Weibu, so Ding Chunqiu had attacked him as soon as they met.
But Duan Yu was immune to poison, and his Six Meridian Divine Sword worked only intermittently. Even so, he managed to kill Ding Chunqiu, who had been bearing down on him.
Thinking of this, Chen Feng marveled at how strange coincidences could be. He'd chosen this face partly because he was short on time, and partly because if he couldn't obtain the Xiaoyao Sect's inheritance in time, he could try to pass himself off as Duan Zhengchun's or Duan Yanqing's son.
When Duan Zhengchun heard about Sun Erniang, he'd even privately wondered if it was some sin he'd committed in the past. How could he not have doubts when he saw a face identical to Duan Yu's?
Duan Yu was actually Duan Yanqing's son. Seeing two identical faces, Duan Yanqing would probably wonder if "Goddess Guanyin" had given birth to twins back then. Maybe Chen Feng could even get his hands on One Yang Finger that way.
But none of those little tricks mattered now, because the system prompt rang in Chen Feng's ears: "Mission time is up. Calculating all Reincarnators' reputations."
"Reincarnator, Reincarnation Master, your reputation is Good Reputation: Famous Throughout the World (Great Song); Bad Reputation: infamous (Great Liao). Choose your faction."
"Good Reputation." There was no need to think about it. Chen Feng immediately chose Good Reputation.
"Selection successful. Congratulations, Reincarnator, Reincarnation Master. Your Good Reputation faction has won this confrontation."
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