"Yeah." Perfected Master Xuanqing sighed again. "I never expected that..."
"How did you know him?" I asked.
From Mo Wen's memories, the Ge family had captured him in ancient times and locked him inside a magical artifact.
Could Perfected Master Xuanqing really have lived that long?
I studied him.
"The lineage I inherited is a little unusual. Our founding patriarch was named Liu Che. According to the records, he raised a ghost called Mo Wen. Back then, the art of ghost-keeping didn't exist. All the ghost-keeping arts in this world originated from our sect," Perfected Master Xuanqing said.
I was taken aback.
Liu Che... Wasn't he the madman in Mo Wen's memories?
I hurriedly asked, "Did your founding patriarch ever say anything? Did he pass down anything special?"
Perfected Master Xuanqing narrowed his eyes at me. "Young friend Lin Qi, have you seen Mo Wen's past? Did you see the founding patriarch of my sect?"
I hesitated, then nodded. "Not exactly. I only heard his voice."
"Then you should have some idea by now." Perfected Master Xuanqing chuckled. "He may be called our founding patriarch, but in truth, he was much like those patriarchs people worship in folk tradition. There wasn't a genuine lineage passed down from one generation to the next, with Liu Che teaching a disciple, and that disciple passing something on to his own disciples and descendants. If you really think about it, quite a few sects in our circles ought to enshrine Liu Che as their founding patriarch. Perfected Master Tianyi, whom you encountered, also used a method Liu Che came up with to seize other people's bodies and live forever."
Perfected Master Xuanqing shook his head. "He was a genius, and a madman. My sect's assessment of him isn't bad, but the Ge family despises