At this, He Ping, wearing a paper lake ghost mask, couldn't help stirring.
The art of stealing yang life? I do have two evil arts for stealing yin life, the Five Sons Escape Technique and the Incense Burner Spirit Nourishing Method, but a method for stealing someone's yang life is quite rare...
He Ping knew that when a mortal cultivated and broke through into the Dao, comprehending the Heavenly Dao, they would truly enter the Dao. Anyone who reached that level would see a great increase in cultivation and a dramatic extension of their lifespan.
Even so, the lifespans of masters who had entered the Dao had their limits.
After entering the Dao, cultivators could live beyond a hundred years. Reaching two hundred wasn't impossible, but sooner or later their lifespans would run out, and they would fall.
Only by entering the Dao can one hope to extend one's yang life. Yang life is one's true lifespan, unlike yin life, which offers almost no benefit to oneself...
Yang life could nourish one's blood and vital essence.
The Blood Leakage Syndrome that left He Ping's blood and qi depleted could be alleviated to the greatest extent if he gained more yang life.
Unless I can enter the Dao in one fell swoop, it'll be difficult for me to extend my lifespan. This method for stealing yang life could be quite useful to me. If I can obtain that Bone Bowl and get my hands on the secret art for stealing yang life, perhaps I can change my constitution...
He Ping's gaze turned solemn, his heart surging with urgent longing.
"Alas!"
Cheng Zhi sighed and said, "I think that Life-Stealing Bone Bowl is what brought this calamity down upon the Cheng Family."
"You mean the Cheng Family Ranch was destroyed because someone had their eye on this Bone Bowl?"
He Ping continued questioning Cheng Zhi.
"That's right! Xie San of the Hu Ma Gang was the enemy who killed my parents... But Xie San was only a blade in the hands of Prefect Sheng Qingzhi of Suian City. Sheng Qingzhi was the real culprit behind it all. He ordered the Hu Ma Gang and the Long Wind Society to kill all forty members of my family and destroy the Cheng Family Ranch!!!"
Remembering the terrible tragedy at the Cheng Family Ranch, Cheng Zhi clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles whitened. His teeth ground together with the force of his hatred.
"My older sister and I hid inside a broken water vat and survived the fire. Later, we came across an extraordinary senior and managed to escape the pursuit of those men... But so many members of the Cheng Family died by Xie San's blade. That blood debt must be laid at the feet of that dog, Sheng Qingzhi."
"An extraordinary person?"
"He was a senior who taught us martial arts, including boxing and saber techniques, and taught my older sister several arts."
Cheng Zhi sighed softly.
"Unfortunately, I'm too untalented. I've made some progress in boxing and martial arts, but I can barely get started with the arts. By the way... Senior, when you rescued me, did you happen to see my older sister?"
At his question, He Ping raised one eyebrow.
This fellow... Does he really not know that Cheng Yujiao is dead?
His thoughts turned briefly, and then he answered unhurriedly, "Wandering Soul Ghost Village lies within a ghostly realm of yin and yang. I wandered into it by chance and happened to save you, but I never saw your older sister."
Cheng Zhi's face filled with regret. Then he murmured in a voice thick with remorse, "It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, how could anything have happened to my older sister?"
Seeing his expression, He Ping couldn't help wondering.
Was this Cheng fellow there at the time? Or had the shock been so great that he'd forgotten? Maybe there was some other reason he truly had no memory of it. Never mind...
Naturally, it was also possible that Cheng Zhi was deliberately playing dumb. But a minor character like him could gain nothing by playing tricks in front of He Ping. He could crush him without even lifting a finger.
"How did you learn that Prefect Sheng Qingzhi was the true culprit? And what did Sheng Qingzhi want the Bone Bowl for?"
He Ping asked another question.
Cheng Zhi's expression darkened, but he still answered honestly.
"At first, we didn't know that dog, Sheng, was involved. My older sister and I made inquiries in every direction before we uncovered the truth... That senior helped us a great deal, too. Thanks to him, we caught one of the criminals involved in the Cheng Family Ranch incident. We tortured him for answers, and that was how we learned Prefect Sheng Qingzhi had ordered them to act."
Hearing this, He Ping sensed something amiss. His instincts told him that this so-called senior was highly suspicious. The reason he'd chosen to help the Cheng siblings was probably that he wanted something in return.
So he went on asking, "What was his name?"
"That senior was called Chixinzi. He came from the Immortal Puppet Sect. May I ask, Senior, do you have some connection to Chixinzi?"
Chixinzi really was from the Immortal Puppet Sect!
He Ping's eyes gleamed faintly.
"Do you know where Chixinzi is now?"
Cheng Zhi hesitated.
"Well... Senior Chixinzi seems very interested in the Life-Stealing Bowl. After teaching my older sister and me martial arts and arts, he sent us to Suian City. We were to avenge ourselves on Sheng Qingzhi and, at the same time, find the Bone Bowl for him."
He continued, "That Bone Bowl is unusual. It was kept inside a pure-white jade box. Our ancestor, Cheng Tianyou, learned from that old beggar that the Bone Bowl was inauspicious and had to be hidden in a jade box to prevent trouble. He also passed down a special secret art that lets someone use Cheng Family blood to sense the box's location. Senior Chixinzi hoped we could help him find the Bone Bowl."
"I see."
He Ping nodded.
"You and your sister hid in Suian City because you planned to infiltrate the Sheng Family and retrieve the Bone Bowl, right?"
"Yes."
Cheng Zhi didn't deny it.
"By the way, Senior, you must be acquainted with Senior Chixinzi, right?"
Curiosity showed on his face.
"Of course."
He Ping replied coolly, "Chixinzi and I are fellow disciples. I haven't seen him in a long time, so I was surprised to hear that he'd taught you the arts of the Immortal Puppet Sect."
"So Senior really is a master of the Immortal Puppet Sect." Cheng Zhi's manner grew even more respectful.
He Ping's expression remained unchanged, but his thoughts churned like a tide.
It seems Chixinzi, like me, is suffering from a shortened lifespan. He's been directing the Cheng siblings from behind the scenes so they can uncover the whereabouts of the Bone Bowl that can steal lifespan.
But why would Chixinzi go to so much trouble? Sheng Qingzhi is only a minor prefect in North Prefecture. In Suian City, he might be powerful enough to turn the whole place upside down with a stomp, but to cultivators like us, he's nothing special. Unless there's far more to his identity than I imagined...
He Ping had dealt with Sheng Qingzhi and hadn't thought the prefect particularly capable. The man was an ordinary official, with no skill in martial arts, much less any knowledge of Daoist arts or incantations.
No, if Sheng Qingzhi really is just an ordinary official, what does he want the Life-Stealing Bowl for? Does he want to extend his life? But he doesn't seem to suffer from any chronic illness, or to have depleted his blood and qi by practicing arts as I have...
The more He Ping thought about it, the more he felt that the matter was not simple. What use could a prefect like Sheng Qingzhi have for the Life-Stealing Bowl?
The Great You Dynasty has always looked down on prophecies, secret divinations, fortune-telling, and all manner of sorcery and evil cult practices. In the past, it even went to great lengths to ban their spread among the people. If word got out that Sheng wanted to obtain the Life-Stealing Bowl, wouldn't someone impeach him and have him stripped of his post as prefect and reduced to a commoner?
"There's definitely something wrong here!"
A cold glint flashed in He Ping's eyes. But beneath his mask, his expression softened as he asked, "Do you have a way to contact Chixinzi? I need to meet with him."
"This..."
Cheng Zhi sighed, his face bitter. "My older sister and I don't know how to contact that senior. He only told us that he'd get in touch after we stole the Life-Stealing Bowl from the Sheng Family residence."
He Ping sneered inwardly. Did Cheng Zhi take him for a fool? His answer was full of omissions. It looked like he didn't want He Ping meeting Chixinzi at all.
Still, Cheng Zhi isn't stupid. He doesn't know who I am, and I've told him outright that I want to meet Chixinzi. Who knows whether there's some other scheme behind it? Especially since Chixinzi is the Cheng siblings' benefactor...
"So that's the catch. Very well, Cheng Zhi."
He Ping came up with an idea.
"Do you want revenge? I know Sheng Qingzhi has a son named Sheng Qinghong. If you want revenge, perhaps you can start with him..."
"Sheng Qinghong."
Cheng Zhi murmured the name.
In the end, he seemed to reach a decision and nodded resolutely.
"The Cheng Family's blood feud must be repaid. Senior, please lend me your aid."