Chapter 35 Just Friends
Yan Shuoyun's recent disappearance is largely due to him hiding from someone—a certain old geezer who is disrespectful and trying to forcibly take him as a disciple. However, on the territory of the Taichu Sect, the newcomer Yan Shuoyun obviously cannot escape Hong Xuzi, who knows every blade of grass and tree here so well that he could draw them with his eyes closed. Yan Shuoyun has lost count of how many times he has been ambushed.
Yan Shuoyun “…”
His face showed undisguised exhaustion, but he still managed to bow and say, "I know that I am not qualified enough to inherit your mantle."
Hong Xuzi scoffed and said nonchalantly, "Geniuses with my talent are rare and hard to come by. I think you're already quite good."
Yan Shuoyun's face twitched. When it came to shamelessness, he truly had to admit defeat to this senior.
Hong Xuzi was quite direct, saying, "Besides, I didn't take you as my disciple for any reason, such as wanting to inherit his mantle. Those are minor matters."
Yan Shuoyun “…”
Small matter? Then what is this so-called "big matter"?
Could it be that he's "taking on an apprentice to steal his nephew's girlfriend"?
Given Hong Xuzi's obsession with this matter, Yan Shuoyun felt he had good reason to suspect that the old master had lost his beloved to the Sword Venerable back then.
Although Yan Shuoyun still felt that the relationship between Ren Yi and the Sword Master was questionable, no matter what, he would not become someone else's cheap disciple because of this.
Fortunately, although Hong Xuzi displayed a worrying level of morality and an astonishingly low standard, he still had some bottom line when it came to accepting disciples. Specifically, although he relentlessly pestered people for several days and showed no restraint as a senior, he at least did not do anything as unethical as forcing someone to become his disciple.
Over the past few days, Yan Shuoyun was sincerely grateful to Hong Xuzi for this negligible bottom line.
After being cornered again that day, Yan Shuoyun had resigned himself to his fate. He was just about to finish listening to the old senior's usual speech, which began with "Back in my day," and end his "recruiting disciples and promoting" quota for the day when, unexpectedly, the old senior, who had been talking for two hours straight, suddenly stopped.
Yan Shuoyun was feeling puzzled when he saw Hong Xuzi look up in a certain direction, as if he had discovered something incredible. His expression was a mixture of doubt and surprise, which was extremely strange.
After a long pause, as if finally confirming something, he burst into laughter and spoke in the direction they were looking, "So you finally remembered your senior uncle?!"
The voice, imbued with spiritual energy, stirred up waves of air, causing the leaves to rustle.
Yan Shuoyun was taken aback upon hearing this. Although he had been forced to do so these past few days, he had indeed heard quite a bit about this senior's great achievements and had a fairly good understanding of the other party's seniority within the Taichu Sect. If he wasn't mistaken, there was only one person in the entire Taichu Sect who could address Hong Xuzi as "Senior Uncle"...
Yan Shuoyun even held his breath.
—The visitor was the "Sword Master".
Yan Shuoyun knew that time in this illusion was frozen in the heyday of the cultivation world, an era teeming with talent, and Sword Master was by no means the only prominent figure among them.
However, the latter is of a different weight.
Ten thousand years have passed, and even young children can tell the legend of "Sword Master Sealing the Demon Dragon." Children in the cultivation world grow up listening to the latter's story. Although the other party is also a cultivator, through generations of deification, in the eyes of many, Sword Master Qingran is already no different from an "immortal."
No, there's no need to "deify" him; he was always like that.
Yan Shuoyun lowered his eyes, correcting his initial thought.
That person gave up the easy opportunity to ascend to immortality and used his own body to suppress the demonic dragon.
During that great calamity in the cultivation world, he sacrificed the possibility of reincarnation to gain a sliver of life and protect the peace of the entire cultivation world for tens of thousands of years.
—He was originally a savior of the world.
The thought of meeting such a person filled Yan Shuoyun with a mix of anticipation and trepidation. He glanced at Hong Xuzi, who had long since shed his disheveled appearance. Although he seemed to be standing casually, every single hair on his head exuded the air of a senior master.
Yan Shuoyun “…”
He thought to himself with mixed feelings that this senior figure really did have some elder's baggage.
However, neither of them expected that the person who came was not the Sword Master they had anticipated.
Upon seeing the familiar figure, Yan Shuoyun instinctively took a step forward to greet him, but then paused, remembering Hong Xuzi's earlier words. He hadn't expected Hong Xuzi to have mistaken him for someone else; he had only guessed that the Sword Master might have come with A Yi, which was why he hadn't gone directly to him.
But after waiting and waiting, the person he expected did not appear. He couldn't help but glance at Hong Xuzi, only to see the latter staring intently at Ren Yi with a serious expression that Yan Shuoyun had not seen in the past few days.
Given Hong Xuzi's enthusiasm for the "Sword Venerable Daoist Partner" some time ago, his current behavior is clearly not right.
Yan Shuoyun was unaware of what had happened, but he moved even faster, stepping forward to block between the two and naturally greeting, "Xiao Yi, you've come out of seclusion? How are your injuries?"
Meeting Ren Yi's unfamiliar gaze, Yan Shuoyun suddenly realized, "Yan Er told me that you don't remember what happened before, I am..."
Before Yan Shuoyun could finish speaking, Ren Yi nodded to him and addressed him as "Brother Yan".
Yan'er knew that Ren Yi was currently suffering from amnesia, and in the telepathic message she left behind, she explained the identities of Yan Shuoyun and Xiao Hanzhou in great detail. Ren Yi wasn't completely clueless when facing the two of them. Moreover, amnesia was one thing, but not another. Just as he had subconsciously taken care of Yan'er before, he now felt a sense of closeness towards Yan Shuoyun. Ren Yi felt that he truly considered the other person a friend.
This feeling led Ren Yi to eliminate Yan Shuoyun from the list of suspects for the Chosen One.
Although Ren Yi currently knows neither the plot nor the specific role of his alternate identity, there are only a few types of "tools," and most of the time, they have to be completely open and honest with the chosen one (sometimes even literally), only to end up with a bad ending. Those who undertake missions already know the final fate of their alternate identities when they enter the small world. Given this premise, they mostly treat the chosen one like a client or a big boss when doing missions; only a madman would try to genuinely befriend them.
Ren Yi's address of "Brother Yan" eased Yan Shuoyun's slightly tense expression. Ren Yi then took the opportunity to explain the matter that Yan Er had left behind. After a brief exchange of pleasantries with Yan Shuoyun, his gaze quickly fell on Hong Xuzi, who was standing to the side.
Hongxuzi was also looking at him, his expression extremely complicated.
Ren Yi still remembered that Hong Xuzi had mistaken him for a low-level Sword Master earlier, and the other party's expression at this moment was probably because of that.
Given the distance, Hong Xuzi couldn't possibly see him. If he could only perceive him through divine sense, then regardless of whether it was the larger or smaller version, it was all an alias worn by Ren Yi. Since their divine souls were of the same origin, it wouldn't be surprising if the other party mistook him for someone else.
Ren Yi could sense that even though he had set a seal on the main account, its soul aura should be different from the secondary account.
—Wait, myself?!
Ren Yi suddenly realized that the problem with his unconscious thought just now was that it was a seal he "himself" had set up?!
Ren Yi: "..."
He seemed to know what was going on.
Although this wasn't his area of expertise to begin with, Ren Yi still felt mocked by being brought up so unexpectedly.
Just as Ren Yi was filled with self-doubt and reflection, determined to go back and practice his skills properly, Hong Xuzi suddenly spoke up, "Do you know what you're doing?"
Ren Yi: "..."
He fell silent.
Although Ren Yi knew he had given himself away in front of Hong Xuzi just now, judging from the other party's reaction, he hadn't been completely exposed. Ren Yi also couldn't figure out how Hong Xuzi perceived his current situation.
However, there is one thing Ren Yi can confirm: he made a mistake earlier. If he said that he had no connection with the Sword Master, the other party probably wouldn't believe him.
To avoid saying anything wrong and causing the other person to make any unfounded assumptions, Ren Yi decided to listen to this person reveal more information. If the guess was correct, he would directly use this ready-made reason.
Sure enough, after a short while, Hongxuzi continued, "You should know that he did not reincarnate."
The tone was heavy and serious, carrying a subtle sense of admonition and dissuasion.
After Hong Xuzi finished speaking, he stared straight at Ren Yi, as if waiting for his response.
Ren Yi: "..."
He was bewildered by Hong Xuzi's words, which seemed to say something but clearly said nothing, and was even more confused when looked at in this way.
However, after playing the role of a mere tool for so many years, Ren Yi is confident in his acting skills. No matter how confused he is inside, he still doesn't show it on his face.
After a brief moment of consideration, he replied, "I know."
The "he" that Hongxuzi was referring to was of course the Sword Master's alternate account.
Yan'er had told Ren Yi many legends about the Sword Master before Ren Yi went into seclusion, and Ren Yi had also learned about the Sword Master's life from a different perspective. As for the fact that "the Sword Master did not reincarnate," Yan'er already knew about it. It's quite normal for someone like him, who clearly had a close relationship with the Sword Master, to know... right?
Ren Yi was thinking this when, unexpectedly, Hong Xuzi's aura became even more somber after hearing his reply. Ren Yi thought he was about to say something, but instead, the other party seemed exhausted and waved his hand wearily, signaling the two of them to leave.
Ren Yi?
What kind of riddle teller is this?
Hong Xuzi seemed to have no intention of paying attention to the two anymore, and Yan Shuoyun finally pulled Ren Yi away.
On the way, Yan Shuoyun inquired about Ren Yi's recovery from his injuries after his seclusion, as well as his current amnesia. Ren Yi originally thought that he would ask about his relationship with the Sword Master, but he did not expect that the other party would not speak until he was escorted to the foot of Hancang Peak.
Ren Yi sensed that the other party had probably noticed his predicament, which was why they didn't ask any further questions.
Contrary to his seemingly carefree appearance, he might actually be an exceptionally meticulous person.
Thinking of this, Ren Yi felt a warmth in his heart.
—They really are friends.
Yan Shuoyun did not inquire about the matter of the Sword Master from Ren Yi, but that did not mean he would simply ignore it.
Judging from Hong Xuzi's attitude just now, it was clearly not a trivial matter between the two of them. Ren Yi couldn't ask about it, but he could ask others.
Yan Shuoyun watched Ren Yi enter Hancang Peak, and once the figure completely disappeared from sight, he turned around and went back along the same path.
When he returned to the previous spot, Hong Xuzi was still there. However, the latter had long lost the otherworldly air of a hermit master. Just like Yan Shuoyun had seen him before, he found a low tree branch, lazily hung himself up, and took a jar of wine from somewhere, pouring it into his mouth without any regard for his image.
With his divine sense, he had naturally noticed Yan Shuoyun long ago, but only when Yan Shuoyun appeared in front of him did he glance at him lightly, and then quickly looked away as if he was not interested—showing no trace of the enthusiasm he had shown in the past few days for pestering people to take him as a disciple.
Yan Shuoyun had vaguely anticipated this situation, so he wasn't disappointed. In fact, this was the normal situation; the other party's insistence on taking him as a disciple was the strange thing.
With his mind at ease, Yan Shuoyun maintained the proper etiquette towards his senior, even appearing more sincere than before. He bowed respectfully and said, "I was too dull to understand what you said to me earlier, senior. Please enlighten me."
Hongxuzi continued drinking as if he hadn't heard a word he said.
Yan Shuoyun was not in a hurry. He remained motionless in his bowing posture, quietly waiting for the other party's reply.
After a long while, a nonchalant voice drifted on the wind, tinged with the smell of alcohol—
"A soul contract? You've heard of that, kid?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
