"It was a dark and stormy night. I was out playing on the back mountain..."
Yang Zhen's words were filled with endless nostalgia, his voice deep, now slow, now quick. Even he thought he had the makings of a radio announcer, but what he said left everyone dumbfounded.
Out playing alone on the back mountain on a dark and stormy night? Who was he trying to fool?
If Yang Zhen hadn't told the story so earnestly, making them feel as though they were there, Duan Langcai and Wan Quan would probably have cursed him out long ago.
"Suddenly!"
Yang Zhen abruptly raised his voice, startling everyone. Liu Ruoning let out a little "Ah!" and covered her cherry-red lips, then shot Yang Zhen a look, torn between laughter and tears, both annoyed and embarrassed.
Oblivious to the strange atmosphere in the air, Yang Zhen had thrown himself into his story. He continued with feeling, "Suddenly, an old man fell from the sky and landed unconscious in front of me. I spent nine times nine, sixty-four days feeding him eight times eight, seventy-two kinds of traditional medicinal herbs before I barely managed to save his life. Guess what the old man said?"
"Wh-what did he say?" Duan Langcai asked instinctively.
"Good question!" Yang Zhen clapped his hands and continued, "The old man said, 'In all my five thousand years roaming the world, I have never suffered a single defeat. Yet a four-legged worm with hair and scales slapped me out of the sky. I have no face to cling to life in this world, but there is no one to inherit my supreme arts...'"
Yang Zhen gave a chuckle and pointed at himself. "He insisted on taking me as his disciple!"
Duan Langcai jumped in fright and muttered to himself, "Hair and scales, a four-legged worm... a dragon!"
"That's right, a dragon!" Yang Zhen's expression grew a little strange. Duan Langcai was getting far too caught up in the story. He was nothing like Wan Quan, whose face had turned so black as he listened that he was starting to look like the black-faced Lord Bao.
Hearing Yang Zhen's words, Duan Langcai flushed and accused him with a show of bravado, "What does any of this have to do with the Ghost Shadow Sword?"
Yang Zhen laughed. "Everything! The old man wanted to take me as his disciple, but in life I belong to the Shangyuan Sect, and in death I'll be a ghost of the Shangyuan Sect. How could I betray my sect and break faith like that?"
The corner of Lu Chenghui's eye twitched. "In life he belongs to the Shangyuan Sect, and in death he'll be a ghost of the Shangyuan Sect..." he murmured.
Watching Yang Zhen continue to spout nonsense, Lu Chenghui grew more pleased with this disciple the longer he looked, and liked him more and more.
Even though he knew perfectly well that Yang Zhen was talking nonsense, who could be certain the story was false? Perhaps Yang Zhen really had saved some master's life. Otherwise, how could the Wind and Thunder Sword have become the Great Evolution Wind and Thunder Sword, and the Ghost Shadow Sword a heaven-grade martial skill?
At that thought, even Lu Chenghui began to believe it a little, and for a moment his expression was extremely strange.
Everyone had heard Yang Zhen say, "In life I belong to the Shangyuan Sect, and in death I'll be a ghost of the Shangyuan Sect." They all looked at him with admiration.
"The old man was won over by my great spirit of selflessly serving others and decided not to take me as his disciple. So he taught me this Three Origins Ghost Shadow Sword!"
"Three Origins Ghost Shadow Sword?"
Wan Quan suddenly trembled all over. He stared at Yang Zhen in shock and asked, one word at a time, "Are you certain the senior taught you the Three Origins Ghost Shadow Sword?"
Yang Zhen was taken aback. After its upgrade, the Ghost Shadow Sword really was called the Three Origins Ghost Shadow Sword. But like the Great Evolution Wind and Thunder Sword, it was stuck at heaven grade and couldn't break through, which left him somewhat regretful.
When Yang Zhen nodded, Wan Quan drew a breath, gave him a long look, and cupped his fists to Lu Chenghui. "Sect Master Lu, since it is the Three Origins Ghost Shadow Sword, this old man has misunderstood young friend Yang. The Shangyuan Sect has a fine disciple."
With everyone staring in astonishment, Wan Quan turned to his disciples and said, "We're leaving!"
"Leaving?" Duan Langcai was stunned. He looked unwillingly at Liu Ruoning and Yang Zhen. They had come to the Shangyuan Sect, failed to obtain the Spirit-Cleansing Marrow or take Liu Ruoning home as his bride, and Yang Zhen had even made a monkey out of him. Were they just going to leave like this?
Duan Langcai was about to speak when Wan Quan slapped him on the back of the head. "Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough?"
The slap nearly sent Duan Langcai tumbling, and it thoroughly brought him to his senses despite his fury. His expression tightened, and he hurried after Wan Quan, looking back to shoot Yang Zhen a hard glare.
Yang Zhen waved to Wan Quan and the others. "I won't see you out! But Sect Master Wan, now that you know you misunderstood me, can't you even apologize?"
How shameless! Everyone was stunned by Yang Zhen's shamelessness. They looked at Wan Quan, wanting to laugh but not daring to, afraid of provoking the sect master of the Sword Attendant Sect.
Wan Quan trembled all over and staggered, nearly falling. His shoulders shook incessantly with anger.
"The green mountains and clear waters remain, boy. We'll meet again!"
Wan Quan spoke through nearly clenched teeth.
After leaving the Shangyuan Sect's grounds, Wan Quan stopped and cast a sinister glance back in its direction. He said to Duan Langcai, "Tell me, what change occurs when the Ghost Shadow Sword is cultivated to its peak?"
The question left Duan Langcai bewildered. It took him a long while to come to his senses, and he hurriedly replied, "Sect Master, Master, when the Ghost Shadow Sword is cultivated to its peak, the three origins gather overhead, and a hundred ghosts roam the night!"
Wan Quan took a deep breath. "Do you know that no one in our Sword Attendant Sect has managed to cultivate the Hundred Ghosts Three Origins in a hundred years?"
Duan Langcai's expression changed, and he lowered his head. "This disciple knows!"
Wan Quan suddenly burst out laughing, excitement on his face. He seemed to be speaking to Duan Langcai and yet also to himself. "I never expected it, never expected it! The Ghost Shadow Sword is actually a heaven-grade cultivation method. At first, I had some doubts that anyone could learn another person's martial skill after seeing it once. Now it seems I was a frog at the bottom of a well. If what that senior taught Yang Zhen really was the Ghost Shadow Sword, then it was the Three Origins Ghost Shadow Sword-a heaven-grade martial skill!"
"Wh-what?" Duan Langcai exclaimed. "Yang Zhen really cultivated a heaven-grade martial skill?"
"If you weren't mistaken!" Wan Quan sneered. "He's still too young. In the heat of the moment, he exposed his trump card. The Youzhou Grand Assembly begins in ten days. During the assembly's trials, you must get the complete Three Origins Ghost Shadow Sword from Yang Zhen, then kill him!"
A vicious look flashed across Duan Langcai's face. He nodded emphatically and said, "But... I can't beat him!"
Wan Quan slapped Duan Langcai flying and scolded him, "Useless thing! Come here!"
Duan Langcai wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and walked over. When he saw clearly what Wan Quan held in his hand, he was overjoyed. "A Blood Silkworm?"
A small insect lay in Wan Quan's palm, its blood-red color giving it an eerie appearance.
Wan Quan fixed his eyes on Duan Langcai. "The Blood Silkworm is extremely important to the Sword Attendant Sect. This is the only one left in the sect, and it is no less precious than a heaven-grade cultivation method. You'd better take good care of it."
Duan Langcai excitedly accepted the Blood Silkworm and promised, "Rest assured, Sect Master, Master. With the Blood Silkworm on me, I am absolutely certain I can capture Yang Zhen alive and force the Three Origins Ghost Shadow Sword's cultivation method out of him!"
Wan Quan nodded and walked on. After a while, he suddenly stopped and looked at Duan Langcai with a strange expression.
Duan Langcai found Wan Quan's look somewhat strange and asked in confusion, "What are your orders, Sect Master, Master?"
Without a word, Wan Quan turned and continued walking. His voice drifted back. "When you have nothing to do, go play on the back mountain more often!"
Duan Langcai and the others looked at one another, gnashing their teeth.
Yang Zhen!
He was too shameless. They had never seen anyone so brazen and shameless.
If there was any truth to Yang Zhen's nonsense, Wan Quan dared to swallow the Blood Silkworm in his hand and let it bite a few bloody holes in his internal organs.
But nonsense or not, the sect master, his master, had actually... believed it?
At the Shangyuan Sect, Lu Chenghui stared at Yang Zhen with a strange expression and asked, "Yang Zhen, was what you said about that senior true?"
(End of chapter)