Obtaining crucial information

It took a long while for the old woman to compose herself. She raised her sleeve to wipe her face, her voice hoarse, as though forced from the depths of her throat.

"Huai'er, he... he..." She paused and drew a deep breath. "Did he leave anything behind?"

The tall, thin young man exchanged a glance with the three people beside him.

He took a palm-sized jade box from his robes and held it out with both hands.

"Before Senior Brother Zhang entered seclusion, he gave me this Qi-Nourishing Pill. He said that if he didn't come back, I was to bring it to you." He paused. "Senior Brother Zhang said the Qi-Nourishing Pill can replenish Qi and nourish the body. If you take it, your health will improve greatly."

The old woman reached out with her thin, withered hands and accepted the jade box.

Her hands trembled so badly that the box shook in her palms.

She pressed it to her chest and lowered her head, tears falling once more.

"Silly child..." Her voice broke to pieces. "Silly child..."

The tall young man glanced at her and said softly, "Auntie Zhang, this pill isn't like silver. If it's kept too long, it'll lose its medicinal properties. Please take it now. Don't let Senior Brother Zhang's heartfelt intentions go to waste."

The old woman raised her tearful eyes to look at him, then lowered them to the jade box in her arms.

She hesitated for a moment.

Then she opened the box and put the pale yellow pill inside into her mouth.

As its medicinal power spread, a hint of color gradually rose in her sallow face.

Her once-cloudy eyes grew clearer, too, and she looked much more spirited.

The tall young man stood and cupped his fists in salute to her.

"Auntie Zhang, we still have matters to attend to, so we won't stay any longer. Please take care of yourself."

The old woman nodded and tried to get up to see them off, but they stopped her.

The four disciples left the thatched cottage and retraced their steps.

Lu Feng followed them without a sound.

On the dirt road outside the village, the four walked side by side, silent for a long while.

The young woman was the first to speak.

She wore a pale green dress with a wooden saber hanging at her waist. Her features were delicate, but her face was now full of unease.

"Senior Brother Li Ming, do you think... did Senior Brother Zhang Huai really die from qi deviation?"

The tall, thin young man called Li Ming halted.

The man beside him asked in puzzlement, "Junior Sister Liu Xiang, what do you mean? If Senior Brother Zhang Huai didn't suffer qi deviation, are you saying someone killed him?"

At that, Li Ming abruptly raised a hand, signaling for silence, and looked around nervously.

"That's not what I meant." Liu Xiang bit her lip and spoke softly,

"We all know how strong Senior Brother Zhang Huai was. He could have broken through five years ago, but he kept holding back so he could build a firmer foundation. If even his breakthrough failed, then what about us..."

Li Ming looked at them, his lips moving, but he stopped short of speaking.

After they had walked a long way, he suddenly stopped.

"We came from the same village," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I know a few things about Senior Brother Zhang Huai's situation."

All three turned their eyes on him at once.

"But you must swear to bury every word you hear today in your bellies."

The three nodded repeatedly, their expressions solemn.

Li Ming took a deep breath and spoke word by word.

"Senior Brother Zhang Huai had actually already broken through to Ming Jin."

"What?!"

Liu Xiang cried out, then clapped a hand over her mouth, her face deathly pale.

The other two also stared wide-eyed, their faces full of disbelief.

"How is that possible? How do you know?"

"Shh! Do you have a death wish?" Li Ming hastily snapped.

Only then did they realize how loud they had been. They quickly hunched their shoulders and lowered their voices again.

"Then Senior Brother Zhang Huai really was killed by someone?" Liu Xiang's voice trembled even more.

Li Ming nodded gravely.

"That's right. Senior Brother Zhang Huai had already broken through to Ming Jin before he entered seclusion."

"He told me the good news as soon as he broke through. He said he'd broken through by accident while he was out on a mission."

"Later, he also told me the key to breaking through to Ming Jin."

The three spoke almost at once. "What key?"

Li Ming lowered his voice even further, until it was scarcely more than a breath.

"Change cultivation arts. Use another Ming Jin art to break through. You can't keep cultivating the Fire Flame Art."

The three were stunned.

"Another art?" Liu Xiang gave a bitter laugh and shook her head. "Where would we find a Ming Jin art so easily? If we could find one, we wouldn't still be cultivating the flawed Fire Flame Art."

"We all know that art is flawed, but we have no choice."

A young man with a scar at the corner of his eye suddenly spoke up. "Did Senior Brother Zhang Huai leave the art behind?"

Li Ming shook his head.

"No. He'd planned to report it to the sect leader so all the disciples could use this method to break through to Ming Jin."

"Then... Senior Brother Zhang Huai, the sect leader..."

Liu Xiang didn't finish.

But everyone understood.

"Why would the sect leader do that?"

"How would our breaking through to Ming Jin harm the sect leader?"

"That doesn't make sense. We were just ordinary commoners. The sect leader took us in, taught us to cultivate, and made it possible for us to slay demonic beasts. If not for the sect leader, we might have starved to death long ago."

They all began talking at once, unable to keep their voices down again.

"I don't know either," Li Ming said heavily.

His voice was very, very low.

"All I know is that two days after Senior Brother Zhang Huai left my place, word spread through the sect that he'd entered seclusion to break through."

"I thought he would become the ninth inner disciple."

"I never expected that the news I'd get instead was that his breakthrough had failed and he'd died."

A bird called once in the woods, then suddenly fell silent.

"I have another question."

An unfamiliar voice came from behind the four of them.

Startled, all four drew their sabers and spun around, pointing their blades in the direction of the voice.

"Who?!"

In the sunlight, a figure stepped out from behind a tree.

He wore a fitted black outfit, and his steps were so light that he didn't stir a single fallen leaf.

The Demon-Slaying Bureau.

The expressions of all four changed in an instant.

Li Ming was the first to react. He sheathed his saber and cupped his fists, his voice tight. "Greetings, Lord Demon Slayer."

The other three hurriedly followed his lead and saluted, beads of cold sweat appearing on their foreheads.

If word of what they had just said got out...

Lu Feng held his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over their faces one by one.

"Don't worry." His voice was calm. "I won't repeat what you just said."

The four raised their heads, their eyes full of suspicion and uncertainty.

Lu Feng took a thin booklet from his robes. Three characters were written on the cover: "Iron Wire Fist."

It was a Ming Jin art he had copied from the Demon-Slaying Bureau's cultivation art pavilion. He had originally prepared it for Chen Hu, but Chen Hu had already broken through to late Ming Jin and no longer needed it.

"If you can answer a few questions, this Ming Jin art is yours."

The eyes of all four were instantly drawn to the booklet.

Iron Wire Fist. A Ming Jin art. Something they had never even dared to dream of.

Li Ming swallowed hard and exchanged a glance with his three companions.

"My lord... please ask."