Translator: Transn Editor: Transn

Since Meng Qi wasn’t in disguise, it wouldn’t be wise to expose his identity as a Nark. He reminded himself to maintain his image as a Young Master. Haggling over the price would just make him seem like a miser. After all, it was indeed dishonorable to destroy the livelihood of another person. With these thoughts crossing his mind, he took out the notes issued by the Ruan’s family bank in Langya and laughed heartily.

“Of course I should compensate!”

His cheerful laughter echoed as he turned around, holding his saber. Inside, his heart was dripping blood.

There was no shortage of spectators who wanted to befriend him and help him pay the compensation. But they were still recovering from their shock over the fluttering flames and purple lightning and were too late to say anything. They could only watch him walk down the street until the end.

When An You saw the denomination on the note, he immediately said, “Master Su, this is too much money. Once the repairs are done, where should I send the rest of the money?”

He expected Meng Qi to simply wave his hand in a wild, unrestrained manner and leisurely saying, “Don’t worry about it! Take the rest to calm your nerves.”

But just then, a faint voice appeared next to his ears.

“Send it to Nine-nos Doctor’s mansion…”

…

Late into the night, Meng Qi stayed in the guest house of Zhong Taiping’s mansion after reporting Duan Rui’s case to the Six Fan School.

In the courtyard, the withered leaves and dead branches of the sickly lotuses were drifting with the ripples, a sharp contrast with the unbowed pine. Autumn seemed to be nearing the end, while winter was only approaching.

Under the pitch-black sky where dark clouds concealed the moon, Meng Qi got seated crossed his legs to meditate. He was concentrating on acupore point connected to the Eight Acupores. He wanted to open it as soon as possible. That way, his Refining Energy into Qi skill would be above ordinary like that of a god or a devil.

He was certain that Duan Rui’s Nine Postures was something good but he didn’t dare to practice it at the moment out of fear of turning mad, deranged, and extreme. It would be better to give it Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms and have him authenticate it when the time came for the next Samsara task. Even if he found out that it was an art of Devil Path, he could at least exchange it for some Karma points.

Meng Qi exhaled. Whenever he thought about this case, he always got a strange and inexplicable feeling about it.

Who was that old monk? Did he really exist or did Duan Rui’s adopted father lie? Or had he lied under the evil spirit’s influence?

If the old monk truly existed, then what was the nine-page scroll fragments? Why did he tell Duan Rui’s adopted father the correct practicing sequence? Could it be that he wasn’t certain about them? Or could he be up to something else?

Considering that Duan Rui’s adopted father could sneak into the back mountain, he was most definitely a Giant Expert. To trick someone with his wisdom and experience wouldn’t be an easy thing for Duan Rui’s evil spirit.

The night gradually quieted but Meng Qi still couldn’t figure this out. He had to put this aside and sleep, allowing his exhausted spirit to recover.

Over at the back mountain of the Shaolin Temple, it was cold and gloomy inside the secret passage. It was dimly lit by fire.

He walked slowly, the sound of his footsteps echoing in the cramped passage despite how little strength he put into his steps.

The cliff became semi-arched at the end of the passage. There seemed to be an openable stone room behind it since it was inlaid with a stone door.

When he stretched his hand to touch it, he felt a bone-piercing cold. Terror struck his heart and he trembled as if he had fallen to a hell full of demons. Images of severed limbs, rotten corpses, evil ghosts, and Skyscraping Devils appeared in front of him.

He barely managed to turn his head away, where he saw a line of words next to the stone door.

‘He who is loyal and kind shouldn’t enter this door.’

‘He who is loyal and kind shouldn’t enter this door!’ Meng Qi suddenly woke up. His breathing was rapid and doubt was swimming in his eyes.

This was what he saw in the back mountain in the Duo Ercha’s world. Since both Shaolin mountains shared the same shape, setups, and even the same the secret passage location, he always felt like what he saw in that passage might exist in the back mountain of the main world as well. He just didn’t expect to dream about it tonight.

Was it a coincidence?

No!

Meng Qi’s breathing calmed and he looked deep in thought. The questions lingering on his mind had aroused the memories deeply ingrained in his consciousness.

“He who is loyal and kind shouldn’t enter this door…” Meng Qi mulled over these words and understanding gradually dawned on him.

Perhaps the nine-page scroll fragment was tightly linked to the stone door. Even if it was a Buddhism Divine Skill, he was afraid it would still be embedded with evil.

Perhaps the old monk’s real purpose was opening this door…

But that didn’t seem right. Meng Qi put himself in the shoes of the old monk and thought that Duan Rui’s adopted father was a powerful Exterior expert who wasn’t so easy to deal with. He wasn’t an easy subject to control. Not to mention, Duan Rui’s adopted father had directly interacted with the old monk and knew the latter’s aura. He could even change his appearance! He must be eliminated this lurking evil…

But that didn’t seem right. Meng Qi put himself in the shoes of the old monk and thought that Duan Rui’s adopted father was a powerful Exterior expert who wasn’t so easy to deal with. He wasn’t an easy subject to control. Not to mention, Duan Rui’s adopted father had directly interacted with the old monk and knew the latter’s aura. He could even change his appearance! He must be eliminated this lurking evil…

So did he go mad?

Realization hit Meng Qi. It wouldn’t be simple for Duan Rui’s evil spirit to deceive his adopted father but it was a whole other story with a terrifying old man secretly helping him. Once Duan Rui’s adopted father became mad, a confession would be impossible. Wouldn’t Duan Rui, who had never met the old monk and practiced the demonic art, be a better candidate?

With these twists in the plot, the old monk could go even deeper into hiding.

Meng Qi got up from his bed and paced back and forth. He pondered for a while before becoming startled out of the sudden.

Since Duan Rui was such a perfect candidate, would the old monk allow them to cure him of his Soul-dissociating Syndrome and prevent him from practicing demonic arts?

When Duan Rui was imprisoned in the dungeon earlier, he had the ability to escape. That was why the old monk or the person he assigned to keep an eye on Duan Rui didn’t hastily make a move. But now Duan Rui was now in the Nine-nos Doctor’s mansion with all his acupoints sealed. Would he just sit and watch without doing anything?

Thinking of this, Meng Qi dashed out of the wing room. The noise woke Qi Zhengyan in the next room. Without questioning anything, he put on his clothes and tagged along to Zhong Taiping’s drugstore.

Zhong Taiping had devoted himself to curing Duan Rui and was struggling to choose the perfect match for medicine and acupuncture. He had moved into the study of his drugstore. When he sensed Meng Qi and Qi Zhengyan approaching, he opened the door and glared at them. “It’s so late at night! Why are you disturbing my peace?”

“Doctor Zhong, the source of Duan Rui’s demonic art is still a mystery. I’m worried something is wrong. I have to see him.” Meng Qi went straight to the point.

Zhong Taiping was exasperated. “I’m staying right here in this place! How can anything happen to him?”

He opened the door to the backyard as he nagged.

When he passed the courtyard, his expression changed instantly because he couldn’t sense the breath of any living being!

Duan Rui’s acupoints were sealed, but he definitely wasn’t dead. That included his two young assistants living in the backyard!

Zhong Taiping waved the sleeves of his tunic, arousing strong winds that forced the doors open with squeaking sounds.

Under the dim light, Meng Qi saw the inside of Duan Rui’s room. One of the assistants was lying quietly on the bed of the outer room, but he was no longer breathing.

Meng Qi entered the room with big steps and stepped past the screen, only to find a vacant bed. There was no trace of Duan Rui anywhere.

“Impossible! Impossible…” Zhong Taiping was initially furious but he was soon panicking. He might not be living in the backyard but he was nevertheless only a courtyard’s distance away. Being a Half-step Exterior Master, he should have noticed anything abnormal that was going on.

These questions boil down to one conclusion:

The perpetrator was frighteningly powerful!

Meng Qi returned to the outer room to try and determine the reason for the assistant’s death. The murderer had pierced the boy’s temples sharply and accurately, killing him in his sleep.

“The finger blast was well-controlled. There was just enough to kill this boy. I can’t tell how strong the murderer was.” Meng Qi exhaled, feeling guilty for involving the boy in this.

Zhong Taiping looked dark and gloomy as he said, “He seemed to have attacked from a distance…”

As for how far away the murderer had been when he attacked the boy, he couldn’t tell either.

“During our travel, that person had many opportunities to kidnap Duan Rui or help him cover his tracks. But he didn’t act until the last moment. He didn’t try and kill us who know of his existence either. That means he can’t attack us with ease. He must be facing a fair amount of restrictions,” Meng Qi said, analyzing the situation. “At the same time, this proves that what we know isn’t important enough for him to kill us.”

The incident in the Shaolin Temple was puzzling while the back mountain was an enigma. Meng Qi felt like he should inform his Master and Junior Brother.

Zhong Taiping paced back and forth with his teeth gnashed. In the end, he merely said, “Let’s report this to the Six Fan School.”

Meng Qi quietly added an additional request to that report: investigate the monks in the area…

…

As the season entered early October, the first snow should already be falling in the prairie, Yun Province, and other places. However, though the wind in the River East was cold, it was far from bone-piercing. There were no shortage of plants in the woods that retained their green color.

The cold wind roused Duan Rui from his sleep. He looked around in astonishment as if he was still in a dream.

T-The evil spirit controlled him to flee again… He felt depressed and upset.

His expression abruptly became twisted and his eyes turned dark. “We both occupy the same body. To forcibly remove me will only turn you into a fool.”

Duan Rui roared with rage: “It’s better than this living hell right now!”

“Ha! How can a fool marry Miss Feng?” The evil spirit was also a part of him and it knew Duan Rui better than anyone.

Duan Rui instantly blushed. “S-Since when did I think about that? B-Besides, your existence will only bring her harm.”

“I like her as well. Why would I harm her? It’s just that you love and adore her, while I want to possess and enjoy her.” The evil spirit looked libidinous. “But you need to think about this clearly. Why should she marry you? We know our potential. If we don’t practice that nine postures, we’re nothing. With our inferior background and life experience, if we don’t have great strength or incredible potential, what right do we have to earn the favor of the Feng Family?”

“B-But…” Duan Rui couldn’t finish his sentence.

The evil spirit knew he had convinced Duan Rui, so he continued to whisper, “There’s no distinction between you and me. We can’t harm each other. Like Master Su said, it depends on whether you can control these dark thoughts. You have the initiative. If you retain your honesty, decency, and righteousness, then you will still be a man of honor even if you practice demonic art. You can suppress me. Therefore, don’t resist or reject me. We’ll continue to practice and slowly merge into one being. We can change our name and become the Master of this generation. Then we can propose marriage with dignity.”

Duan Rui’s expressions continued to change as he looking at the half-withered grass in silence.

“You already know the method of acupuncture and the formula of the med-stone. If anything goes wrong, you can use them to suppress me at any time.” The evil spirit gave him the clincher.

Duan Rui lightly nodded.

…

“None of the monks nearby can sneak into the drugstore without alerting Doctor Zhong. Most of them are Wild Fox Dhyanas and the rest have clear backgrounds. They’re not related to Shaolin or the evil spirit. It’s not likely that they’d do such things. Other Masters are local and they didn’t behave abnormally last night.” Since Duan Rui was merely an evil spirit of the enlightened level, the Six Fan School sent Governor Arrester An You to report their findings.

Meng Qi said thoughtfully, “What about Duan Rui’s whereabouts?”

“We found no traces at all. He seems to have vanished into thin air. Perhaps he was taken somewhere thousands of miles away. We can only wait for reports from the other Yamen if they find something.” An You smiled bitterly.

Without the support of the intelligence provided by the Six Fan School, there was no way for Meng Qi to trace Duan Rui over a long period of time. He nodded then fell into silence.

Meng Qi finally exhaled after seeing An You leave, seemingly having decided something.

“Senior Brother Qi, I intend to go back to Shaolin.”

He wanted to inform his Master and Junior Brother about this incident and remind them to be careful!

If he wrote letters, his Master might not receive them. If he requested the school to inform them, they would likely keep it confidential and make it a bargaining chip to restrain Shaolin. Having pondered over it, he decided to visit in person. After all, the school had meditated the previous conflict.

“The monk behind all this is extremely powerful. You’re risking your life.” Qi Zhengyan disagreed. He believed that it would be better if Meng Qi waited for Zhen Hui’s peregrination, since the spy had been there for so many years.

Meng Qi grinned. “After seeing what happened before, I realized that the monk is being restrained in many ways. He would’ve killed us otherwise. So even if it’s dangerous and he’s the perpetrator, he wouldn’t make a fuss. There’s still hope. I’m greatly indebted to my Master and I share a profound friendship with my Junior Brother. I won’t be at peace if I don’t tell them as soon as possible.”

“If they were murdered because of my delay, I’d never forgive myself.”

Qing Zhengyan took a deep breath. “I’ll go with you.”

“No. You should keep roaming the River East and get someone with a similar figure as mine to walk around with now and then. Hence, they would probably think that I’m still in River East, and make it easier for me to secretly go to Shaolin.” Meng Qi would be pleased if there was someone to help, but Ruan Yushu had returned home and couldn’t leave at the moment. It was almost impossible to ask Ruan Yaoguang for her help. Jiang Zhiwei had gone to Zhong prefecture and wouldn’t be back for some time. He needed Qi Zhengyan to help him obscure the situation.

Of course, he could still ask the Six Fan School for help.

Qi Zhengyan considered the necessity to obscure the situation and nodded. “Then be careful and try to hide your tracks as much as possible.”

Meng Qi nodded, his expression turning stern as he gripped the handle of the Heaven Inflicted Pain.

“Some perilous things have to be done as we go through life!”

It didn’t matter even if there would be millions of people standing in the way!