CHAPTER 4 Who taught you this technique?

A flying ship could hold two hundred people at most. If they wanted to escort all of the people in the Shangguan Manor away, they would have to at least make two trips. Even then, Qin Yan didn't have two sets of sword seals to use.

Qin Yan sank into deep silence. Fu Changling gave the spot next to him a sweep, and then he made the decision to go separate ways with Qin Yan. Quickly, he said, “Let us first escort a group of people away, then stabilize the energy barrier to protect the others. Then, we will lure the wraith away and decide on our next moves.”

The wraith’s main goals were to kill all its enemies as well as reclaim its corpse. If they could be put to rest, then this would have been the best. An alternative was to lure its enemies away and await its pursuit, so the rest of the people would have a chance of escaping.

And so, Qin Yan nodded his head, and told Yun Yu, “Bring these two hundred people away first.”

Yun Yu nodded and then announced to everyone, “Everyone, separate yourselves into two groups of two hundred.”

After he finished speaking, no one dared to move. Yun Yu was taken aback. With a look as if he was begging, he looked at Qin Yan from over his shoulders. Qin Yan furrowed his eyebrows. Shangguan Yuan, who was standing at the side, immediately stepped out and laughed. “How about this. Let us separate according to bloodline. The distant relatives of the Shangguan Clan, step out, and take the first trip onto the ship!”

“Lord Shangguan,” Qin Yan expressionlessly spoke, and everyone looked at him. With an unwavering gaze, he spoke, “I came here to save people, not to save only those from the Shangguan Clan.”

Shangguan Yuan’s expression froze where he stood. Qin Yan took a step forward as he looked towards everyone, “Those who had never practiced cultivation, elders above ages of fifty, children below ages of fifteen; the old, the young, the sick, defective, as well as those who are pregnant shall queue in the front. Women next, and after that, ages in ascending order. The first two hundred will take the first board of the ship.”

“Also,” Fu Changling waited as time ticked to the right hour, then he stood out and looked at Madam Shangguan. Smiling, he wrote some words in the air, “The wraith will follow the person it wants to kill the most. For safety’s sake, everyone related to the wraith cannot board the ship. May I ask my Lady about who is allowed, and who isn’t?”

“Madam!” Panic seized Shangguan Yuan the moment Fu Changling asked that question. He turned his head towards Qin Yan and urgently said, “Master Immortal Qin, we are all innocent. Everyone should depart together. You cannot leave behind the others!”

“Madam.” Fu Changling fixed his gaze onto Madam Shangguan as he raised his hand to add another row of characters, “You have three children and Young Mistress Yuemin has already been taken by the wraith. If the wraith is not appeased, the Young Mistress cannot reincarnate.”

“Master Immortal, that object outside is a sinister entity. I don’t know who its enemies are. But since it’s a sinister entity, all you need to do is suppress it and expel it from the place. Why serve us such wrongful deaths?”

“Madam,” Fu Changling continued asking. “Who cannot leave?”

Madam Shangguan remained silent. She looked at those floating golden letters in a daze and stopped where the words “Reincarnation” was written.

After a long time, with quivering lips, she named two people.

Yun Yu discovered that Madam Shangguan was speaking, and so he immediately leaned forwards. “Madam, who did you say?”

“Me…”

“Xue Mei!” Shangguan Yuan shouted upon hearing her words, quickly turning around, “Don’t dare you speak out of bounds!”

“Me, and my husband…” Shivering, Madam Shangguan appeared to have used a huge amount of strength.

“Xue Mei!” Angrily, Shangguan Yuan rushed up towards her with the intention to hit her.

Yun Yu took a step forward and stopped Shangguan Yuan with a gesture, “Lord Shangguan! Calm down!”

“These are all our sins…”

Madam Shangguan raised her head with a blank expression as she looked at the black mist outside.

A blurry face appeared to be looking at them quietly amidst the black mist.

Madam Shangguan’s tears began to fall. She closed her eyes and quickly parted her lips to speak, “We will return our lives that are owed, please let them rest in peace!”

“Xue Mei!”

As he listened to this, Shangguan Yuan descended into a fury. He lunged himself at Xue Mei. Qin Yan looked into their direction, and Yun Yu immediately threw Shangguan Yun onto the ground. An Immortal-Bounding Rope appeared from his sleeves and tied itself tightly around Shangguan Yuan.

“Shixiong,” Yun Yu called out as he pressed Shangguan Yuan onto the ground, raising his head at Qin Yan. “What should we do next?”

Qin Yan ordered, “Let them board the ship.” Then he headed towards Madam Shangguan.

Fu Changling stood not far off from Madam Shangguan. Watching as Qin Yan approached, he instinctively took two steps backwards. Qin Yan eyed him, said nothing, and looked at Madam Shangguan. “Madam.”

Madam Shangguan withdrew her gaze from the courtyard and wiped some of her tears. She dared not look at Shangguan Yuan, and hoarsely said, “Master Immortal.”

“Could I ask you about the origins of this wraith?”

Madam Shangguan’s lips pursed upon hearing this, as if she was contemplating. Fu Changling went up to Madam Shangguan and wrote two words behind her “children”.

Madam Shangguan’s back was faced towards Fu Changling. When Qin Yan saw those two words, he discreetly withdrew his gaze. Fu Changling didn’t know if Qin Yan understood him, but just as he was about to ask, Qin Yan said, “If we know of its origins, we could find its corpse and avenge him. Your children would then be safe.”

When Madam Shangguan heard the word ‘children’, her eyes brimmed red. She inhaled and finally said, “Let me bring you people over.”

Shangguan Yuan’s eyes widened as he laid on the ground. He struggled with all his might, but after Yun Yu had stuffed his mouth, he only managed to make muffled noises that seemed to be warning Madam Shangguan.

Madam Shangguan turned her head over. She continued to walk forwards and took Shangguan Mingyan’s hand. With a few quick orders, she walked back and told Qin Yan, “Master Immortal Qin, let us go.”

Qin Yan nodded his head. At this moment, the people have begun boarding the flying ship. The hundred that were left behind looked worriedly at Qin Yan. Just as Qin Yan was hesitating, Fu Changling walked up to him with a smile and wrote with an expression full of justice, “With me here, Fellow Cultivator Qin may rest assured.”

When Fu Changling was saying these words, he straightened his back into a justified posture and made himself look like an extremely reliable partner. Yet, Qin Yan’s gaze barely looked at him before he said, “You won’t do.”

Fu Changling’s smile froze, then Qin Yan added, “Only a foundation establishing cultivator. You won’t do it.”

It hurt his pride.

When Fu Changling heard the words “You won’t do”, there was steam stuck in his chest. It’s been many years and never once had he heard anyone saying such things about him. He inhaled deeply and spread his hands in front of Qin Yan, using his fan to cut a line across his palm and allowed fresh blood to flow out of it.

He thrusted his palm forwards only to watch Qin Yan furrow his brows as he added, “There is no need for self-harm.”

Fu Changling, “...”

What’s with the talk of self-harm?! He wanted Qin Yan to see his true strength!

He inhaled deeply and quickly drew an incantation in midair.

The talismans that touched his blood flew to their sides and spun in the air. And then, a smaller energy barrier appeared within the current one they’re in.

The energy barrier could fit in a hundred people just right. It was no less strong than Qin Yan’s energy barrier; for after all, Qin Yan was a sword cultivator. Things such as energy barriers are more suited to being handled by spell cultivators like Fu Changling.

Fu Changling had made a safe zone. He raised his hand to his side and bowed, making a gesture that seemed to be “please look”. Qin Yan lifted his gaze and, after examining it fully, he nodded his head. “Everyone stay here. You, leave this place with me.”

Fu Changling, “???”

This wasn’t right! Should he be mulling about how strong he is at the moment and let him remain to help protect everyone?

He was stunned into a daze. Why was Qin Yan insisting on keeping him by his side?

When this thought was revealed, Fu Changling felt a sliver of fear. He finally realized that something had gone amiss. This person, Qin Yan; why didn’t he seem like he had come to annihilate an entire sect and instead, he seemed like he’d come for him, Fu Changling?

He dare not come to a conclusion. He resumed to observe. As Qin Yan watched everyone board the flying ship, he gave Yun Yu the sword seal and then said, “Let us head out.”

Yun Yu nodded his head, and then he took the sword seal and went on top of the ship, drove it and flew away. Everyone watched as they left the energy barrier, and upon their departure, the black mist frantically poured inside. Qin Yan’s sword flew out of his hand and stuck itself fast to the crack in the barrier. The glare it’d brought with it had sealed the energy barrier once more before returning to Qin Yan’s hand. At this moment, the black mist began to fly into the direction of the flying ship as if it wanted to envelop them in it. But at the moment it tried to envelop itself around them, an earth-shaking thunder struck from the sky. The sword enveloped in its light pierced through the black mist. The black mist let out a pained cry and the flying ship accelerated and disappeared into a stream of brilliant light.

Yun Yu had successfully made it out.

Fu Changling was finally at peace. He looked at Qin Yan; Qin Yan appeared to have let out a breath of relief. He turned his head and pointed at the energy barrier that Fu Changling had made, and tell the others, “All of you, go there.”

After they’d secured the normal people, it was almost the time when the rats are foraging[16]. Qin Yan turned around and looked at Shangguan Yuan who was on the ground. He furrowed his beautiful eyes.

Fu Changling understood with a single look: Qin Yan felt disgusted having to carry him.

Fu Changling couldn’t help sighing. He didn’t want to stall for time, so he walked forwards and carried Shangguan Yuan, who was tightly bound up. He then looked at Qin Yan and tipped his chin, implying that they could leave now.

Qin Yan nodded his head and turned to look at Madam Shangguan. The latter appeared to be a lot more at peace. With a lantern in her hand, she turned and walked towards the rear courtyard and told the both of them, “Let us go to the rear courtyard.”

Fu Changling carried Shangguan Yuan, walking shoulder-to-shoulder next to Qin Yan behind Madam Shangguan. Madam Shangguan’s lantern lightly wavered in the wind. Her voice had sounded hoarse as she said, “Her corpse is in the secret chamber. The enemy is there as well.”

“Who is the enemy?”

Qin Yan looked at Madam Shangguan’s rear and asked the question that Fu Changling wanted to ask the most. He looked like a labour worker as he bumped Shangguan Yuan on his shoulder as the latter let out muffled sounds.

Madam Shangguan turned around and eyed Shangguan Yuan. After a momentary pause of her gaze, she turned her head around and brought her gaze elsewhere. She continued, “It’s the forefather of the Shangguan clan, Shangguan Hong.”

Shangguan Hong…

Fu Changling mulled over it for a while as he slowly recalled this name. It should’ve been that cultivator in his core formation stage, the one from the Shangguan clan who’d injured his spiritual roots.

“Who is he?” asked Qin Yan. Everyone knew that the ‘he’ referred to the wraith outside the energy barrier.

Madam Shangguan said nothing. She walked towards the front with the lantern in her hand, her fragile figure looking extremely lonesome amid the cold winds. The other two thought that she would never speak again, but she suddenly said, “My daughter.”

“Your daughter?”

Qin Yan finally showed some emotions. Fu Changling too couldn’t help expressing surprise.

Back in that year, he knew that a sinister entity had come to the Shangguan Manor, but he didn’t know that that entity turned out to be the Young Mistress of the Shangguan family?

The main branch of the Shanggun Clan had five children in total. A pair of twin sisters, Shangguan Yuemin and Shangguan Yuehua, and the remaining three sons who had departed on the ship just now.

“She’s called Yuehua.”

There was guilt in her voice when she mentioned the name. Shangguan Yuan was previously still struggling, but after hearing his name, he stopped.

“She and Yuemin were identical twins. Yuemin was the elder, and she was the younger. They were born in the year of Yichou[17]. According to their birth, they were twins with water elemental spiritual roots born under an overcast moon and sun. Only Yuemin had both water and wood elemental spiritual roots, and Yuehua was only water elemental.”

“Both of them were my first children. I love them. But back in those years, the forefather’s golden core was injured. Handicapped, he could not protect the Shangguan Clan. The Shangguan Clan had to endure all manners of shame among the Immortal Sects. For the sake of the Shangguan Clan, the forefather must repair his golden core and once again rise to power. So, we went about looking for a way to mend his golden core for him. Finally, a day came when he found an array. Although that array could not mend his spiritual roots, it could replace it and deliver qi into his body after it’s purified.”

“Does such a thing exist?” Qin Yan furrowed his brows and asked.

As everyone knew, the main purpose of a spiritual root was to gather qi from the heavens and earth and purify them into energy that could be used by the body, then accumulate them into the golden core so that they could be used at whim. Presently, even an array could do such things?

“The Shangguan Clan expended a huge amount of spiritual stones to build this array. After it was built, the forefather told us that this array needed a human as its core, and that the array needed a girl of water elemental spiritual roots who was born under an overcast sun and moon.”

Upon reaching here, Fu Changling and Qin Yan both understood. Qin Yan pursed his lips. “To use a human as its core; how dare the daoist sects of the immortal world have such an array?”

“The daoist sects of the Immortal world is just a name.”

Madam Shangguan’s gaze turned cold. “Back in those years, Patriarch Lin refined humans and Yue Sinan used blood as sacrifices. Are they not all daoists of Immortal sects?”

Qin Yan said nothing. After a long time, he continued, “What happened after?”

“Yuehua was only four years old back then when we gave her to the forefather. After that, we never saw her again and the forefather once again regained the strength to protect the clan. After he took care of many people who came seeking trouble with the Shangguan Clan, those people knew that although the forefather’s spiritual roots were injured, the Shangguan Clan was far from falling. We had peaceful lives for many years.”

Madam Shangguan looked into the distance, guilt thick in her eyes. “I always thought that that child had died. After so many years, I have recited sutras for her and hoped that she could rest in peace. Until two years later…”

Qin Yan asked, “Two years later?”

Madam Shangguan’s lips pursed and she nodded. “Two years ago, a woman barged into the villas. Her cultivation was superb and she destroyed the forefather’s array before she left. The forefather could not use the array any longer, and he was unable to find a water elemental spiritual root who was born under an overcast sun and moon in a short amount of time to build another array. And so, the forefather went about looking for a new method. He found it. He met a person, and that person gave him a technique. From then on, the forefather kept asking us for sacrifices. We went about White Water Town looking for lone youths and filed them as missing persons.”

“Who is that woman?” Fu Changling felt something was wrong, and so he instinctively wrote the next row of characters, “And who was it that gave you people that technique?”

Author’s Notes:

70 thousand words… after 70 thousand words everything will be explained. I know that everyone is a little confused now.

The main point is that Fu Changling himself is also confused.