Xiaoguan
This had been the happiest, most relaxed period of Zhang Qiling's life. For the first time, he felt contentment well up in his heart.
The voice urging him onward in the depths of his heart had grown less insistent, too. Perhaps it was just as the man had written: he had been rescued fifteen years early. Those fifteen years were stolen time, brought to him by that man. And now the man had brought him something else-how to put it? It would be no exaggeration to call it an immortal art!
He remembered his mission, his responsibility as the Zhang Family's last Qiling.
He had to guard the Ultimate, endure the Heavenly Bestowal caused by the high purity of his bloodline, and search for his memories in ancient tombs, over and over again, like animals migrating.
Like wild geese flying south, like salmon spawning, he had no choice but to throw himself into it.
It all came from the control of his genes, something he could not escape. But now he seemed to see hope, and he could feel companionship, too.
Would he have a family member in this world who would live and die with him from now on? Yes, family! He would not forget that man. Even if he did forget, he would remember again.
In the blink of an eye, Zhang Qiling had reached the qi cultivation first layer. With the added strength of spiritual power, his combat ability soared.
He had already been exceptionally skilled, nimble and agile, with tremendous strength and astonishing jumping ability.
Now he could run across rooftops and up walls, twisting and dodging with ease. His Faqiu Finger could even punch straight through a steel plate, leaving Yu Zhi dumbstruck. Though he could do it too, he needed spiritual power. Zhang Qiling had done it with his bare fingers. What a ruthless man.
During this time, Yu Zhi had learned many fighting techniques while being beaten on the defensive, but his dodging had improved even more. Sometimes even Zhang Qiling could not hold him down. As long as he did not let anyone get close, he would be absolutely fine.
It was time to go out and look around. After a discussion, the two decided to make a trip to Guangxi. The Hundred Thousand Mountains were there, and they could see what spiritual treasures they might find. The Zhang Family Ancient Tower was there too; they could go in and take some things. If Yu Zhi remembered correctly, Zhang Qiling's Black Gold Ancient Saber was in the tower, and Hei Xiazi later brought it out. Guangxi was also where, before the story began, Zhang Qiling was captured by Vietnamese men and put in an ancient tomb to bait a corpse. That should have been around the year 2000. The story would begin soon after that, so for now, Yu Zhi would start changing things bit by bit, beginning with the small ones.
They would go more than twenty years early, take out some treasures to exchange for money, bring out the Black Gold Ancient Saber, and deal with those Vietnamese men while they were at it. The people who tortured Zhang Qiling more than twenty years later might not be the same group, but they were bound to have some connection. Tomb raiding was a family business, with everyone related somehow. Every grievance had its source and every debt its debtor; if the son committed a crime, there was nothing wrong with going after his father! If he got the wrong people, he could only say it was their bad luck.
When Zhang Qiling heard they were going to Guangxi, he knew what Yu Zhi had in mind and said nothing more.
Sometimes Yu Zhi looked at this man, whose every miserable experience had made him what he was now. He said nothing, felt no joy or grief, and bore no resentment toward the world. Like a porcelain doll, he always stood there silently, watching everything with a quiet gaze. Yet Yu Zhi knew that Zhang Qiling understood he cared, and cared about him too. A man like that needed only to stand there to give him an endless sense of security.
Zhang Qiling was actually very clever and resourceful. Despite all the torment he had suffered, he had neither blamed heaven and earth nor turned dark. He had integrity, a sense of responsibility, kindness, and perseverance in his heart. Yu Zhi had to admit that this Zhang Qiling really struck a chord with him. He himself had never been one to meddle. Perhaps it was an aftereffect of being cannon fodder too many times, but he preferred to stand by and watch everything happen, changing no one and nothing. He believed that the Heavenly Dao had its own order and every life its own fate. Those destined to die could not be saved, and those courting death could be left to it. In short: What the hell did it have to do with him?
But Zhang Qiling was different. Yu Zhi wanted to try. He wanted to try to save him from the sea of suffering.
"Then let's split up. I'll buy food and drinks, and you buy the equipment. I don't know anything about equipment," Yu Zhi said as he checked the items in his space.
"Okay." Zhang Qiling turned and went out. Watching the door close, Yu Zhi could not help marveling at how decisively and efficiently Zhang Qiling acted. As expected of the man burdened with the Ultimate's secret, his ability to act was second to none. What would happen if the Zhang Family ended up with a patriarch who procrastinated? At the thought, Yu Zhi laughed aloud. He could already picture it!
Clatter-clatter, clatter-clatter. The coach traveled along a potholed dirt road, the two of them swaying with it. Yu Zhi felt as though his brains had nearly been shaken smooth. Stick a straw in, and he could drink them.
"Hey, um, are you carsick?" Yu Zhi nudged the man beside him with his elbow. He did not want to call him Zhang Qiling in public; the name was too well known, and someone with an interest might notice and cause unnecessary trouble. Nor did he want to use the names from the book, like Mute Zhang, Menyouping, or Xiaoge.
"No." As always, Zhang Qiling's answer was short and to the point.
Yu Zhi was speechless. His ability to kill a conversation was remarkable in its own right, but Yu Zhi liked it!
"I don't want to use your full name when we're out. Do you have a nickname?" Yu Zhi spoke so quietly that, in the noisy coach, no one but the two of them could hear.
"I don't know. Probably not." Zhang Qiling did not know how to answer the question.
"Forget it. I'll call you Xiaoguan, then. Your mother called you that." Yu Zhi could not think of another name to use. To him, any other form of address was a stain on the person Zhang Qiling was. He was Zhang Qiling, and Zhang Qiling was him. (Author: I really do still think the name Zhang Qiling represents him!)
"Mm." Zhang Qiling answered very softly. He had no memory of his mother, but he had read in the notebook about everything she had done for him. He thought he wanted to go and see her. He wanted to save her. It was the first thing, apart from his responsibilities, that he had ever wanted to do.
Hearing the answer, Yu Zhi said no more. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth, the food would jump right out.
After swaying and jolting along, they finally arrived at a remote town and decided to rest for a while. Mainly, Yu Zhi wanted a break. Riding that coach had been worse than traveling on foot through the mountains before.
Before coming, they had bought a detailed map of the local province. Yu Zhi was unfamiliar with the area, but Zhang Qiling knew the way. This time, he planned to take Yu Zhi into the mountains to look for spiritual treasures first, then go to the ancient tower for the saber. As the patriarch, taking some gold and silver was understandable. Finally, they would visit the tomb on the border.
The two rested for the night and set out fully prepared at first light the next morning. Having a space was convenient; they did not have to carry heavy equipment in bags and bundles. Yu Zhi was empty-handed, and Zhang Qiling's backpack held only some emergency food and water. They really looked like two people on a sightseeing trip in the mountains.
The nearest mountain was close. After roughly ten-odd kilometers, they reached its foot and headed straight into the forest, bold because of their skill. In the nearby mountains, they could see traces of human activity; locals also came up to hunt and gather wild vegetables. As the two pressed on, the forest gradually showed no more signs of people. The shortest weeds were thigh-high, and the tallest reached over their heads. Rotting leaves covered the ground, and their feet sank deep with every step. Zhang Qiling cleared the way in front, while Yu Zhi followed in his footprints, one step deep and the next shallow.
As Yu Zhi grew accustomed to walking this way, he got the hang of it. Seeing him find his rhythm, Zhang Qiling picked up the pace. The two darted through the forest like a bolt of lightning, and before long they had crossed almost several mountains.
"Wait, Xiaoguan. I can sense very dense wood-element energy." Yu Zhi called Zhang Qiling to a halt.
As they followed the increasingly strong spiritual-power signal, Zhang Qiling suddenly stopped Yu Zhi and would not let him go forward.
Yu Zhi was puzzled. "What's wrong?"
"Something's wrong with the surroundings. It's too quiet here." Calm and composed, Zhang Qiling held an ordinary long saber across his chest.
Only when Zhang Qiling said it did Yu Zhi realize that, yes, it was too quiet. There were no insects chirping or birds calling.
At the qi refining second layer, Yu Zhi could not release much mental power to investigate. Its range was only about ten meters, but he could see that far with the naked eye, so there was not much point.
"Where are the spiritual-power fluctuations you sensed?"
Yu Zhi concentrated on the sensation and found that it seemed very close. But why could he not see what plant it was? He released the power of his soul and examined it carefully. Only then did he find what seemed to be a huge flower about eight or nine meters away. But it was invisible to the naked eye. Normally, someone at the qi refining stage could not project divine sense because the power of their soul was not strong enough, so Zhang Qiling had not noticed it either.
Yu Zhi described the shape of the enormous flower to Zhang Qiling. After all, he did not recognize it either. "It's a plant that looks like a flower. The huge bud is three meters across and ten meters tall, and the leaves look more than twenty meters long. Strange-why can't we see a plant this big with the naked eye? And the flower is trumpet-shaped, green on the outside and red on the inside. Its colors are bright, but it looks a lot like rotting flesh."
"Don't go any farther. That's Corpse-Scented Konjac. It can cause hallucinations, and it gives off the stench of rotting flesh. But right now we can neither see nor smell it, which means we've already fallen for it."
Zhang Qiling frowned. Something this big had never been discovered here; to have grown so large, it must have eaten many creatures.
"Let's take it on! We'll move back and attack from a distance. Hit it with the Fireball Technique I taught you."
Yu Zhi thought that with his strength at the qi refining second layer, he could give it a try. Zhang Qiling was also at the qi refining first layer, and combined with his original combat ability, he should be fine. Besides, plants were naturally afraid of fire.
"If you can't see where it is, watch where I attack first and concentrate your fire on it." This was also Zhang Qiling's first time using a ranged attack, and he found it very novel. Before this, he had always fought cautiously in close quarters.
Two fireballs struck, immediately enraging the Corpse-Scented Konjac. It furiously pulled dozens of dark red, arm-thick rhizomes from the ground. Covered in barbs, they lashed toward the two men. Zhang Qiling leaped into the air and charged at the Corpse-Scented Konjac, slashing with his saber backed by spiritual power. In an instant, the wildly flailing rhizomes were all severed. Yu Zhi continued attacking the Corpse-Scented Konjac's main body from the rear, indirectly showing Zhang Qiling where it was. Zhang Qiling raced toward it at lightning speed, the saber in his hand slashing without pause.
Struck in its main body, the Corpse-Scented Konjac went mad. Its leaves slapped at Zhang Qiling, and dozens of rhizomes surged toward him together, determined to strangle him there.
Yu Zhi gave no thought to anything else and flew forward. He shaped his spiritual power into an arrow and shot it at the center of the Corpse-Scented Konjac's flower, then detonated the power inside, blowing the flower's center to pieces. The rhizomes and leaves drooped as they lost control, but Zhang Qiling was also splattered all over with a liquid like rotting flesh.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine."
"You can't be so reckless next time. It's dangerous!"
Yu Zhi looked at the juice-covered Zhang Qiling but did not go over, because the smell was truly overpowering. Once the Corpse-Scented Konjac died, they could smell it, and it went straight to their heads.
"Let me see what it was that made the Corpse-Scented Konjac mutate." Yu Zhi rummaged around with one hand over his nose.
He found a spirit stone at the base of the Corpse-Scented Konjac and picked it up with a trembling hand. Why did it look so much like a low-grade spirit stone from the cultivation world? Paying no heed to the foul smell, he wiped it on his clothes. It really did seem to be a spirit stone.