CHAPTER 5 This was Qin Yan, who once annihilated his entire clan.

Madam Shangguan knitted her brows at Qin Yan’s question. “I don’t know who they are and I have never seen the person who gave our forefather the technique. I only know that he had an extremely high cultivation level and that our forefather feared him. I have, however, seen that woman. She wore purple robes. I have no impression of what she looked like, but she held a child in her arms and her voice made her appear to be very old, more than fifty years old.”

“An old woman?”

“Nay.” Madam Shangguan shook her head. “Here lies the strangest part because from her looks, she looked very young, only a little over twenty.”

Fu Changling found this very strange. Qin Yan instinctively eyed him and saw Fu Changling’s puzzled expression, he turned his head over and asked, “What else?”

“That is all.”

Madam Shangguan felt tired after leading them through the long corridor. “I was on my way back to the manor when I saw her. She persuaded me that a heavy rain was coming, and let me return to the manor to take a rest. I listened to her, and so she left on her own. After I returned to the manor, the Shangguan family was in chaos. Only through hearing descriptions from others that I knew it was this woman.”

“Were you the people behind those missing person cases in White Water Town?” Qin Yan changed his direction of asking, since there was nothing more she could offer.

“That’s right.” Madam Shangguan’s voice trembled. “It’s us. I tried to persuade my husband but he refused to listen. He said that since we’ve even stake our own daughter on it, so why not these people? The forefather is almost at his nascent soul stage. Once he achieved that stage, the heavenly tribulation would remould his spiritual root, then it’s no longer necessary for us to commit these crimes.”

“Since this is the case,” Qin Yan looked at Madam Shangguan with curiosity in his tone. “What made you regret?”

“I’ve seen Yuehua.” Madam Shangguan's voice turned urgent. “Two years ago, I saw her in my dreams. She had asked me why I hadn’t come to her rescue. My husband told me that this was only a dream. Yuehua is long dead, and that she had already reincarnated.”

“After that, people began dying in the villa. At first, I thought that those people were being offered to the forefather, until last night…”

Madam Shangguan’s voice shivered. “Last night, Yuemin too, had died.”

“You knew from the beginning that it wasn’t Young Master Fu who killed her?”

“I knew.” Madam Shuangguan’s emotions swelled. “Last night, Yue Mingsi came looking for my husband. I overheard their conversation. They said that since Yuemin died, Yue Mingsi wanted to frame Young Master Fu with this incident. After the matter is done, the Yue Clan will give us ten thousand spiritual stones as well as introduce three disciples who were above their qi refining stage into the daoist sect. This way, a bright future awaited the Shangguan Clan.”

“They even said that it might have been Yuehua who killed Yuemin.”

Her tears had begun to slowly fall from her eyes.

“They said that Yuehua hadn’t died. Her body was still in the array. The forefather was waiting for her soul to return to the array but her soul had run rampant. She murdered Yuemin, and after that, she would be murdering everyone in the Shangguan Clan including my children, her brothers.”

“She hadn’t reincarnated...To use a person and turn them into an array. How could a person’s life simply end with death after they’ve been used as the core of an array? She would be waiting in the array for all eternity. How could she ever reincarnate?!”

Madam Shangguan clutched the lantern tightly. Her voice had begun to rise. “They traded the life of one of my daughters for the glory of their sect, then traded my other daughter’s life for ten thousand spiritual stones and a bright future. Why… Why?!”

Black mist had begun oozing out of Madam Shangguan’s body. The black mist outside of the energy barrier appeared to have been summoned and hence it began violently banging itself against the energy barrier with the intention to shatter it. Shangguan Yuan didn’t stop screaming in muffled voices. Fu Changling ungagged Shangguan Yuan and then he loudly shouted, “Run towards the rockery in front! Quickly!”

The energy barrier shattered at the same time he finished speaking. Black mist filled the skies as it surged towards them. Qin Yan’s long sword shot out and hammered itself against the rockery, clearing up a path for Fu Changling and Shangguan Yuan. At the same time, Fu Changling ruthlessly gave a toss and threw Shangguan Yuan over before he hurriedly rushed towards the rockery at breakneck speed.

Qin Yan gave Madam Shangguan, who was standing at the long corridor, a look only to see that her eyes had turned blood-red. Her entire body was enveloped in black mist and as she held the lantern, standing in the corridor, her body became one with the black mist.

Qin Yan no longer stalled for time. At the quick leap of his toes, he hurried over into Fu Changling’s direction.

Fu Changling was running at an inhuman speed. He almost managed to catch up with Shangguan Yuan, who was sailing across the air. With another kick, he’d sent Shangguan Yuan flying atop the rockery.

The rockery collapsed. Fu Changling picked up Shangguan Yuan. He no longer bothered himself about the Fu Clan’s rules, and urgently spoke using his mouth, “Where is the entrance?!”

Watching Shanggguan Yuan stunned, Fu Changling raised his hand and gave him two fitting slaps. “The entrance!”

Those slaps had woken up Shangguan Yuan. He urgently said, “On your left, buried under those stones.”

Even Qin Yan had arrived at this moment. He heard Shangguan Yuan’s words and out flew his sword to clear out the space on Fu Changling’s left. The black mist had regathered after it’d been briefly dispersed by Qin Yan. This time, it came at them with an even more malicious force. Fu Changling knew that he wasn’t its match, and so as Qin Yan was holding it back, he lunged himself forward, pulling the cover to reveal the path into the underground and leapt inside. He managed to close the cover up just seconds before the black mist managed to follow him in. Quickly following afterwards, the black mist kept making a constant “thud thud” sound against the cover, instilling chills into their hearts.

A talisman was stuck fast to the cover. When the black mist continued to bang against the cover, Fu Changling quickly pressed onto that talisman before writing more than a dozen and adding them on.

In this manner, the cover had been secured. The three of them finally had some time to breath. After they looked at one another for a while, Shangguan Yuan frantically took a few steps backwards as he glared at Fu Changling. Swallowing, he said, “Don’t kill me. I am only obeying orders.”

Watching his attitude, Fu Changling curled the corner of his lips and snorted in mockery. He ended up using his fan to cut Shangguan Yuan free. Then he stood and walked forwards, tapping his own shoulder with his fan as he said, “Alright, let us go.”

“You can speak.”

Qin Yan said as he stood behind him, his voice cold. Fu Changling turned around, finding the hand that held his fan a little unyielding. He looked at Qin Yan and wiggled his brow. “Why? Does that put me in your way?”

Qin Yan said nothing. He glared at him, and after a while, he curled the corner of his lips into a mocking smile. “Such excellent acting.”

These words scarred Fu Changling. Since when has Qin Yan turned into this manner of an individual? This person, Qin Yan, was always forthright with what he said. These words that sounded like something was implied between the lines made Fu Changling’s heart contract.

Just as he was about to explain himself, something hit the cover from the otherside. Shangguan Yuan was frightened into staggering forward by a few steps and said, panicked, “Let’s not squabble now and hurry on.”

“Where is this place?”

Shangguan Yuan managed to draw Fu Changling’s attention. He turned to look at Shangguan Yuan as he hurriedly moved forward. “This is the secret chambers of the forefather. The outside is linked with the inside. Let us go look for help… whether from the Fu Clan or the Heavenly Palace of Hongmeng… someone could definitely help us!”

Fu Changling and Qin Yan exchanged glances. Although the two of them haven’t said a word, they understood what the other meant. Both of them went forwards together as Shangguan Yuan led the way. Mechanisms riddled this secret chamber. Although mechanisms were not much of a big deal to Fu Changling and Qin Yan, Shangguan Yuan still deactivated all those mechanisms in front to avoid slowing them down.

With both arms crossed in front of his chest, Fu Changling used his fan to tap on his shoulder. After a while, he heard Qin Yan say, “Why did the wraith suddenly turn strong?”

According to their calculations, Qin Yan’s energy barrier would not have shattered so easily. Fu Changling couldn’t have expected Qin Yan to ask such a question befitting cultivators in the foundation establishment stage. After contemplating for a while, he finally said, “One possibility is that she ate Yue Mingsi.”

The wraith’s powers are certain to amplify if it ate a core formation cultivator. These were also quite nefarious methods.

However, if she could so quietly devoured a core formation cultivator without a commotion, then the capability of this wraith has surpassed their expectations.

Fu Changling’s heart sank. Qin Yan, who was standing next to him, appeared to not be very concerned, as if it didn’t matter to him how powerful this wraith was.

He spoke again, but this time, he asked a different question, “Why pretend to be mute?

Fu Changling eyes Qin Yan from the corner of his eyes. “Members of the Fu Clan below core formation levels are not permitted to speak. Isn’t this something all of Yunze knew?” he answered, but Qin Yan appeared not to be satisfied with his response.

“There is a curse.”

“That is correct.”

“Why don’t you have it?”

“I’ve lifted it.” Fu Changling spread his hands. “I am a prodigy who lifted the curse early in my life. Surprised?”

“You are only in your foundation establishing stage.”

Qin Yan reminded him. Fu Changling choked, and suddenly he found Yun Yu’s idea very convenient. So, he sighed, and flung a bunch of hair over his shoulders as he regrettably said, “Fellow Cultivator Qin, I’ve decided to be honest with you. Although I am only a foundation establishment cultivator, I am incredibly intelligent. Do you know that I have a special identity, and it’s that I’m a bastard? A bastard’s life is not easy to live. I have to be wary of my stepmother and my brother to avoid having them feeling envious of my talents. Fellow Cultivator Qin, people of your kind would certainly not understand such a complicated family relationship.”

Qin Yan remained silent for a very long time. After Fu Changling gave it some thought, he attacked by innuendo, “Speaking of which, you are the strange one. What relationship does the Fu Clan and the Heavenly Palace of Hongmeng share that you would so kindly come to my rescue?”

“I’m not here for you,” Qin Yan quietly replied. Fu Changling had not expected him to face this question so forthrightly. He immediately straightened his ears only to hear Qin Yan say, “Only for my peace of mind.”

“Peace of heart?” Fu Changling found it strange, “What peace of mind?”

Qin Yan stopped talking. Fu Changling knew that this person was an enigma. If he refused to speak, then no one could make him. Just like back in that year when the Immortal Alliance wanted him to spill some information, he would refuse. Even if they were to perform a soul reaver on him, he’d destroy his own spiritual mind.

Since Qin Yan refused to speak, Fu Changling didn’t say anything as well. In reality, he was a person of many words. Had it been someone else, he might have been speaking non-stop by now.

But this person was Qin Yan.

Qin Yan, who had one annihilated his entire clan.

As Fu Changling recalled the past, he studied that person from the corner of his eye.

Seventeen-year-old Qin Yan appeared to be a lot gentler than the one in his memory.

There was a heavy downpour that day. The winds were cold. Corpses of members of the Fu Clan were sprawled all around him. Qin Yan was slowly walking towards him. There was even dirt on his white robes, a sickly and ailing complexion on his face. He was quietly looking at him, a piercing cold that would reach into your bones radiating from his gaze all the way to his sword.

During that time, Fu Changling thought that Qin Yan had no warmth on him.

He couldn’t refrain himself from asking, “Qin Yan, can you ever face your shifu and your sect with pride after all the deeds you’ve done today?”

Qin Yan was silent. He looked at him quietly, his blood-red eyes showing no implication of sadness or happiness. He knelt and undid a piece of jade from his waist and placed it into his hand.

That was a very old piece of jade. It had been polished smooth over the years, but its colour had turned dull.

He had said, “Fu Changling, a person is like a jade; only when they have weathered through the hundred pains of life and death, could they acknowledge their truest strength.”

Fu Changling didn’t understand these words. He lowered his head to look and in his vision, that jade was sitting in his palms, stained with blood. It had no warmth to it.

It was at that moment, Qin Yan pierced his chest with his sword. The sword was cold and steady, just like its owner, appearing as if it had never felt any sort of emotions in all eternity.

He was ruthless when he killed him. He was also ruthless, later on, when he destroyed himself.

Fu Changling’s heart shivered. He daren’t think too deeply on this. So he curled his lips and lowered his gaze, hiding the corner of his lips behind his fan and hiding away that little bit of emotions that had shown.

It was not appropriate to feel any emotions at their present situation. It was enough to lose himself if he lost his mind.

Perhaps it might have nothing to do with other people, but Fu Changling clearly understood after decades of bloody battles. If a person lost his sense of direction, then it was nothing different from hanging their lives at the top of the cliffs: Whether they live or die would entirely depend on their luck.

Seventeen-year-old Fu Changling might have entrusted his lives into the hands of others.

But presently, he was no longer seventeen-years-old.

Author’s Notes:

Wait for me to write 70 thousand words. You must wait for me to write until 70 thousand words then the front part is done. The romance will begin!

[Little theatre]

Shangguan Yuan: Even though I’m a villain, you cannot kick me around like a ball.

Fu Changling: I can’t carry you so let’s deliver you back to your wife.

Shangguan Yuan: If I tied myself up more tightly would it be better for you?