Chapter 91

It had become a habit for Gui Bu Gui to exaggerate when he spoke, but it was enough for Wu Mian that he recognized the origin of this bronze sword. At that moment, Wu Mian handed the bronze sword backhanded to Gui Bu Gui. The old man hesitated for a moment, then let out a long breath before taking the bronze sword from Wu Mian. He touched the runes on the sword and said to Wu Mian, "Among the Fangshi, Xu Fu can give you anything, but he insisted on leaving this bronze sword for Guangren. What does he mean by this?"

At this point, Gui Bu Gui handed the bronze sword back to Wu Mian. After a pause, he continued, "Do you know about the sacred objects of the Great Fangshi? With this bronze sword, Guangren is the Great Fangshi. Now that this bronze sword is in your hands, if Guangren knows it's with you, there are only two ways to resolve this. One is to come back and kill you, take the bronze sword, and become the legitimate Great Fangshi. The other is to endure the pressure from my old man and Yan Aihou's influence. As long as he can control the people outside, he is still the Great Fangshi. Now do you understand what this means?"

"You said this sword is Duanzheng. But what does it mean for your Great Fangshi to leave this sword to me?" Although Gui Bu Gui never mentioned the name of the sword, Wu Mian couldn't help but say it out loud. The Duanzheng sword, which symbolizes the identity of the Great Fangshi, was something Wu Mian had heard about since childhood, but there were no detailed descriptions of its appearance. Wu Mian never dreamed that one day this legendary sacred object would be in his hands. He just couldn't understand why Xu Fu left this sword for him.

Wu Mian examined the bronze sword in his hands again, still not quite believing that this worn-out bronze sword could be the legendary Duanzheng. He then shifted his gaze to Gui Bu Gui and said, "You can't be mistaken, can you? This broken bronze sword is Duanzheng?"

"We'll know soon enough," Gui Bu Gui's eyes rolled in their sockets as he continued, "The person who named this bronze sword Duanzheng is right here. If you don't trust me, do you even trust your senior brother, the first Great Fangshi?"

If this Duanzheng is real, then today's matter is no small affair. Gui Bu Gui snatched the bronze sword from Wu Mian's hands and walked out along the same path, heading in the direction where Yan Aihou and Xiao Ren San had left. After a moment of hesitation, Wu Mian also followed out of the inner room.

Fortunately, the two of them had no intention of leaving by magic. The old man and the young man walked slowly, and it wasn't long before the two of them caught up. Yan Aihou glanced at the bronze sword in Gui Bu Gui's hand and nodded. "Yes, that's it. This was originally a gift from the Zhou emperor. I was only twelve years old then. The bronze sword was too big for me to lift, so they made this one for me. Later, when I became the Great Fangshi, a disciple asked me to prepare a symbol of the Great Fangshi, and I chose this Duanzheng. Do you see the notch on the blade? That's from when I was fighting the Zhao soldiers before I became the Great Fangshi."

After hearing Yan Aihou's words, Gui Bu Gui's eyes widened, and he took a deep breath, looking at the first Great Fangshi. "You knew Xu Fu brought Duanzheng? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"It's just a worn-out bronze sword. What's the big deal?" Yan Aihou snorted and continued, "I know what you're thinking. With Duanzheng, one is the Great Fangshi. Without Duanzheng, is Guangren not the Great Fangshi? Xu Fu went to great lengths this time. Leaving Duanzheng here isn't for you. Guangren's strength is among the weakest of all the Great Fangshi. How long can he rely on Duanzheng? He needs some pressure."

"I see why Guangren keeps talking about the lost treasure," Wu Mian walked over and glanced at the bronze sword still in Gui Bu Gui's hand. "So he must have known this bronze sword was with me. Is this Xu Fu's interest on the seed he gave me?"

"Don't think too much about it. When you see Guangren next, just give him this Duanzheng," Gui Bu Gui looked at the bronze sword in Wu Mian's hand and paused before continuing, "Who cares who becomes the Great Fangshi? It's better if they all fight. How about this: give Duanzheng to Guangyi, and we'll fan the flames from behind."

"Now I understand why Xu Fu didn't give you the position of Great Fangshi," Yan Aihou glanced at the somewhat self-satisfied Gui Bu Gui, shook his head helplessly, and said, "Your character is too poor."

As he said the last few words, a faint smile appeared on Yan Aihou's face. He raised his hand as if to brush off some dust. At that moment, the bronze sword in Gui Bu Gui's hand suddenly snapped in two. Seeing Duanzheng broken into two pieces, Gui Bu Gui's face instantly turned pale. He stared at Yan Aihou, his throat making a few sounds but unable to form a word.

At this moment, Xiao Ren San, who had been watching, clapped his hands. "Old man, guess what Guangren will do when he finds out Duanzheng broke in your hands? There will be a show! It's raining, it's thundering, the Great Fangshi is going to kill someone!"

At this point, Gui Bu Gui was too preoccupied to argue with the little guy. He wiped the cold sweat from his face, took a moment to recover, and finally said to the first Great Fangshi, "Do you have to play such a big game?"

"I don't understand what you're talking about," Yan Aihou made a face and continued, "You should think about how to explain this to the Fangshi of the world. Not everyone is as open-minded as I am."

Before Yan Aihou finished speaking, Wu Mian shrugged at the somewhat dazed Gui Bu Gui and said to the first Great Fangshi, "Senior brother, you can vouch for me. The breaking of Duanzheng has nothing to do with me."

Gui Bu Gui stood there, holding the two pieces of the bronze sword, his eyes rolling in their sockets. He was a sharp person, and after a moment, he came up with a solution. The old man picked up half of the sword from the ground, held the two pieces of the bronze sword in his hand, and ran towards the main hall, shouting, "Gui Bu Gui is here! You two, come out. I have a task for you. Send someone down the mountain to forge a bronze sword just like this one."

From that day on, Gui Bu Gui, along with his two disciples and the bandits on the mountain, melted some bronze weapons from the mountain and started forging an identical Duanzheng. Meanwhile, Wu Mian locked himself in the previous secret room and began to study the bamboo slips left by Xu Fu. Wu Mian was a genius in the study of Fangshi techniques, and even though the text on the bamboo slips was difficult to understand, he could grasp the content after reading it a few times.

Unconsciously, Wu Mian and Gui Bu Gui had been there for more than two months. During this time, no one from the Guang generation came back to seek revenge. Just as Wu Mian had completely mastered the techniques recorded on the bamboo slips, the fake Duanzheng sword was successfully forged. It looked exactly like the real Duanzheng, and outsiders would hardly be able to tell the difference.

At this point, Gui Bu Gui felt a great weight lifted off his chest. During this period, he also tried to ask Yan Aihou what he was guarding here, but the first Great Fangshi was more tight-lipped than the old man could imagine. No matter how he tried to coax him, Yan Aihou wouldn't speak.

Seeing that Wu Mian had fully mastered the content of the bamboo slips and there was no longer any reason to stay, the bandits on the mountain suddenly reported to the Gui brothers that a Fangshi-looking person had come down the mountain, saying he was looking for Wu Mian and Gui Bu Gui.