The Buddha's disciple, his expression serene, spoke those words in the most matter-of-fact tone.
Yin Fan met his eyes. Only after a long while did he give a soft snort and say in a muffled voice, "I hope that one day, after you see the face beneath my mask, you can still say such things."
"Otherwise..."
"I'll imprison you in the Demon Venerable's great hall and take liberties with you as I please."
Author's note:
Thank you all so much for your support. I'll keep working hard!
Chapter 10: Obtaining the inheritance
With that, Yin Fan gave Wu Fei a long, penetrating look, and his figure vanished the next instant.
"Take liberties?"
Wu Fei stared at the black xiao hanging from his Buddhist prayer beads and chuckled softly, dark emotions churning in his eyes. If that time truly came, who would be taking liberties with whom was still uncertain...
The inheritance grounds covered a vast area, all of it shrouded in yellow sand. By the lights lit where cultivators had gathered, Wu Fei stopped near a strangely shaped boulder.
The boulder before him resembled a child climbing a tree, exactly as the book had described. After looking it over, Wu Fei stood directly in front of it.
"One hundred and twenty steps forward..."
After precisely one hundred and twenty steps, Wu Fei was only a single step away from the yellow sand filling the inheritance grounds.
Wu Fei scooped up a handful of yellow sand at his feet and covered it with both Divine Sense and spiritual power. After roughly half an incense stick's worth of time, pinpricks of extremely faint red light began to appear in the sand in his palm.
He casually scattered the sand. The instant it left his hand, the red light dissipated, and it became ordinary yellow sand.
It seems this is the place...
After parting with Wu Fei, Jing Fanyu deliberately wandered nearby for a while before returning. As he passed Wu Fei's wooden hut, he could not resist peering inside, only to discover that no one was there.
Wu Fei... hadn't returned?
His brow furrowed slightly, and he followed the demonic qi to its source. He happened to see the Buddha's disciple, clad in black Buddhist robes, step into the yellow sand. His pupils contracted, and he flashed over to grab Wu Fei.
"Junior Brother Jing?" Wu Fei followed the hand gripping him to its owner. The protagonist was looking at him with a somewhat grave expression.
Jing Fanyu was a little angry. "Senior Brother Wu Fei, do you know how many people this yellow sand has swallowed?"
At that, Wu Fei lowered his eyes with a slight smile, then raised his gaze to Jing Fanyu. "Junior Brother Jing, do you trust me?"
"Of course I do." Jing Fanyu was beginning to understand as well. Wu Fei was not a reckless person. Could he have discovered something...?
Wu Fei took out a voice transmission talisman and left a message for his fellow disciples, then held out his hand to Jing Fanyu. "The yellow sand is disorienting. You must stay close to me and not let go."
Jing Fanyu stared at the hand before him, pausing before slowly placing his own in it.
Their hands clasped tightly. Wu Fei's expression remained unchanged, but Jing Fanyu was somewhat at a loss, his gaze falling uncontrollably to their joined hands.
Since his parents had passed away, he had never shared such an intimate gesture with anyone.
Yet he also knew that Wu Fei was only doing this to keep them from getting separated. He could not help feeling as though a cat were scratching at his heart, leaving it itchy and faintly aching.
While Jing Fanyu was lost in thought, Wu Fei had already led him into the yellow sand.
Normally, the yellow sand would only disperse two days later, revealing the true inheritance grounds, but the book had mentioned a path through the sand that allowed entry ahead of time.
No one had discovered this path. Even the protagonist had only found it after obtaining the inheritance.
Originally, Wu Fei had intended to test it himself before taking Jing Fanyu inside early. He had not expected the protagonist to come looking for him. Since that was the case, he might as well... take him straight in.
"Close your eyes," Wu Fei reminded him. Jing Fanyu's eyes flickered, and he closed them, focusing all his attention on the hand Wu Fei held.
Wu Fei then closed his eyes as well, releasing only his Divine Sense as he steadily followed the pinpricks of red light in the yellow sand.
After an unknown amount of time, the pressure around them suddenly lifted, and Spiritual Qi richer than that outside swirled around them.
They opened their eyes. Behind them, yellow sand filled the sky, but before them stood solemn palaces, surrounded by all manner of rare ten-thousand-year-old trees. Heavenly materials and earthly treasures grew in profusion, and nourished by the rich Spiritual Qi, the spirit herbs and spirit medicines flourished far beyond those in the outside world.
"This is..." Jing Fanyu's eyes revealed his astonishment.
Wu Fei said, "The place where the inheritances lie."
The great inheritance tomb was not one person's tomb, nor did it hold just one person's inheritance. There were thirty-six palaces here, corresponding to thirty-six inheritances.
The largest palace among them was Jing Fanyu's fortuitous opportunity.
Before obtaining the inheritance, however, they had one more thing to do.
Wu Fei reached up and picked a translucent spirit fruit. "A thirty-thousand-year-old heart-cleansing fruit..."
He and Jing Fanyu exchanged a glance, then began moving in unison, gathering every kind of heavenly material and earthly treasure in the inheritance grounds into their storage rings.
Apart from a few enormous ten-thousand-year-old trees they could not take, the two plucked the place bare, gathering all the other heavenly materials and earthly treasures, branches, leaves, roots, stems, spirit fruits, and spirit flowers alike.
Finally, they stopped before the largest palace.
Wu Fei looked at Jing Fanyu, and Jing Fanyu looked at Wu Fei. At last, they could not help laughing. Jing Fanyu's eyes curved slightly as he laughed, lending his handsome features a more carefree air.
Wu Fei lowered his eyes with a faint smile, the laughter softening the desireless detachment on his face a little.
Only after a long while did they rein in their smiles and turn toward the palace before them. The palace was a dark blue-green, and a restriction emanating bone-piercing cold covered its dark doors. It seemed that merely approaching would leave one's skin cut by the chilling sword intent within the restriction.
Wu Fei said, "This is your fortuitous opportunity, Junior Brother Jing."
Hearing this, Jing Fanyu turned his head slightly to look at the serene Buddha's disciple. He wanted to ask how Wu Fei knew the way in, and why he was so certain this was his fortuitous opportunity...
But Jing Fanyu swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue and smiled slightly. "Then what about you, Senior Brother Wu Fei?"
Wu Fei smiled faintly. "There should be a fortuitous opportunity for me here as well."
Jing Fanyu nodded and walked toward the palace. Sensing his sword intent, the restriction on the doors flickered twice before settling back into stillness.
The inheritance would not necessarily go to whoever entered first. There were all manner of trials inside the hall as well, and later arrivals could also enter this palace as long as they were sword cultivators.