Chapter 8 Lian Quesheng, how did you hurt your hand?
Xi Chuang was relieved. His master was always high-profile, and this sparrow hairpin was his trademark, so it was normal for everyone to know about it.
He's probably overthinking it.
"Why don't we call your master over and ask him for help?" Jiang Yu sincerely suggested. Although Lian Quesheng was greedy and unreliable, he would be the most suitable person to help with this matter.
"My master is very busy and should be at some shop doing accounts. I am unable to contact him," Xichuang said frankly.
"So be it. Even if there are no living souls, there are still people."
"Little friend, what sounds did you hear this morning?" Xi Chuang didn't answer, but turned to ask the child with red and swollen eyes.
The boy shook his head. "I only get up when the rooster crows. Usually, my parents are already in the fields by this time, so I heat up some food for myself."
Will they be back at noon?
"No, they didn't get home until sunset. The older brother next door is away studying, so my parents helped them with the farming." The boy's stomach rumbled; he hadn't eaten all day, and he looked pleadingly out the west window.
However, none of these disciples from the immortal sects knew how to cook, leaving Xi Chuang and his fellow disciples helpless and at a loss.
"Amu," an old woman, trembling, groped her way in and tapped the ground, "Grandma made you a meal, come and eat."
The boy rushed over and helped the person up.
"Don't you think the scholar looks a lot like her?" Jiang Yu whispered. Could she really be the scholar's mother?
"The lower half of their faces are similar; you can tell just by asking."
"Why were you so impulsive? If you had just asked her if she was Fang Xiyan's mother, wouldn't we have been exposed? In short, we need to hide our identities for now and make our move when the time is right."
Jiang Yu was just curious. After giving Shen Jiuxu a long lecture, he completely dispelled Shen Jiuxu's idea and began to hide at the back of the group, sneaking into the neighboring courtyard.
"Auntie, did you hear anything this morning?" Xi Chuang asked as the old woman brought out a plate of vegetable dumplings from inside the house. "Try them. Your voices sound about the same age as my child. He loves these, so I made extra so he can eat them as soon as he comes back from his exams."
"Thank you, ma'am." Xi Chuang politely accepted the money and passed it to his junior brother behind him, then secretly took out a bag of silver from his pocket and slipped it onto the windowsill.
Jiang Yu saw this and couldn't help but sigh. How could Lian Quesheng, who was so stingy and even managed to steal money from him and Shen Jiuxu, have taught such a well-mannered disciple? Could it be that he has recently turned over a new leaf?
"My old lady is deaf and can't hear anything. What happened?" The old woman's face was deeply wrinkled, and a few strands of silver hair fluttered by her ears. Xi Chuang didn't dare to ask any more questions, so he just said a few words to brush it off. He turned to the group of people and said, "Tonight we'll keep watch here. If we can catch something, that would be great. If not, we'll see if anything else happens tomorrow morning."
"Young Master Jiang, you and your servant should also stay here—"
“Alright, then we’ll stay here and prove our innocence. If anything happens, we’ll still have you guys. The disciples of Star Palace are all highly skilled, so they definitely won’t put us old, weak, sick, and disabled people in danger, right?” Jiang Yu said sincerely.
"The elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled?"
Jiang Yu nodded confidently, pointed to the elderly and weak who were still eating over there, and then pointed to Shen Jiuxu, "Illness, there's something wrong with his brain."
"Disabled, myself."
"Where are you crippled? Is your hand or your foot broken? You're spouting nonsense." Ye Zishan spoke bluntly, his voice filled with displeasure.
"My hand is broken, you can see for yourself."
Jiang Yu, with his wrist hanging down, suddenly cried out. Ye Zishan looked over and saw that the hand was waving incessantly, even making a "V" sign at him. Seeing that he had been tricked, the proud young man was naturally furious and immediately drew his sword.
"Hahahahaha." Jiang Yu laughed, and Ye Zishan, his face flushed, cursed, "You're shameless, a liar, and utterly shameless."
"Thank you for the compliment."
No one took this scene to heart, after all, Jiang Yu, whom they had only met once, seemed quite cheerful to them.
He's just an innocent and harmless young master who hasn't experienced the harsh realities of life. It's perfectly normal for him to like joking around. The greatest suffering he's ever endured in his life is probably from taking medicine.
At night, the elderly and weak who needed protection stayed in one room, the sick and disabled masters and servants stayed in another room, and the remaining disciples stayed in the kitchen and hall next door. The west window guarded the door, standing straight.
How did you hurt your hand?
Jiang Yu was lying in bed, drifting off to sleep, when he suddenly heard the person at the table ask him in a low voice, saying casually, "You were slashed by a sword, why are you asking this?"
He remained calm, like an outsider.
Shen Jiuxu noticed the two swords on the table and suddenly didn't know what to say. He could only pretend to be nonchalant and push open the window to look at the moon outside.
The bright moonlight illuminated the courtyard. The young disciples, perhaps unable to sleep in a new place, were huddled together in a circle, chattering away.
The sound reached Shen Jiuxu's ears. He turned around and saw the person on the bed with a slightly furrowed brow. He raised his hand to set up a barrier to block the sound from the outside, and then stepped out.
“Jiang Yu of Shen Wuke was so powerful back then, but now he’s just a cripple. I heard from my senior brother that the position of sect leader is probably going to be passed on to Lian Feng.”
"I don't think so. Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. Jiang Yu still has Sect Master Shen backing him up. Even if he's dead, his supporters are still there."
Shen Jiuxu quietly walked up behind them, about to say something, when a thunderclap and lightning struck. The disciples snapped out of their daze, drew their staffs, and pushed Shen Jiuxu back, setting up a barrier to prevent him from coming out. They roared, "What are you doing out here? Are you trying to get yourself killed? Go back and stay put!"
A strong wind knocked down the pear tree in the yard, and a thick cloud of black mist rose from the ground amidst the chaos. Large water droplets also rose up from below. Suddenly, the two corpses placed in the center of the yard stood up.
Without the cushioning of flesh and blood, the bones collided with each step, making a sound, and black blood slowly seeped from the originally pale skin.
West Window swung his baton at the back of the two corpses, turning their empty faces over. Several people were so frightened that their legs went weak. They stared at the two twisted heads, screams rising and falling.
With a loud "bang," Xi Chuang gripped both ends of the Star Staff tightly and slammed it down on the other man's head. The man's bones were as hard as iron, and he was thrown back.
"Ignite the Fire Technique." Xi Chuang sat upright on the ground, bit his finger, and quickly drew a talisman on the ground. Blood light shone brightly, his face grew paler and paler, and his body began to tremble involuntarily.
The flames roared and burned, and the two corpses, reduced to bones, still stood firmly on the ground, as if they were being held together by two threads.
The male corpse jumped up, and the strength from years of labor allowed him to snatch the jade stick from Xi Chuang's waist and smash it hard against Xi Chuang's head, blood flowing down from the finger-width wound.
As if unwilling to be outdone, the woman charged towards the group of young disciples who had gathered together. Ye Zishan was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, crying out, "Senior Brother Xichuang, save me!"
"You guys go in first, it's dangerous here."
Xi Chuang covered his head with one hand and reached into his sleeve with the other, pulling out a thick stack of talismans. He threw them out without a care in the world. Shen Jiuxu could hardly bear to watch. Like snowflakes falling, the talismans fluttered through the air, revealing a golden character "定" (ding, meaning "fixed").
The male corpse's waving arm froze in mid-air. Xi Chuang took out a rope and quickly wrapped it around the bones as it touched them, tightening it more and more.
The female corpse's hand bones pierced Ye Zishan's chest, his body twisting uncontrollably, his sweat being washed away by the rain. Xi Chuang was annoyed by his cries, his upper arm pulling his wrist loosened, his shoulders slumped, and he was freed from the male corpse's restraints, trapped inside himself. The corpse's fighting skills were negligible, but its strength was not to be underestimated.
The veins on Xi Chuang's neck were bulging, and the corner of his mouth was torn open from the force. Ye Zishan saw that he was also trapped and powerless to help, and he was disheartened. The woman's sharp teeth were tightly closed together, and she opened her blood-red maw at him like some kind of wild beast, biting his shoulder.
The torn flesh and blood were stuck between his teeth in strands. The scene was too horrifying. Ye Zishan could feel his life slowly slipping away.
The male corpse bound the west window like a dumpling, tossed it to the ground, and strode over to several trembling disciples nearby. The disciples formed a circle, their jade staffs held level in front of them, like startled hedgehogs brandishing their quills.
Just then, the boy who lived in the inner room ran out for some reason, and they could only stand in front of him, trying to use the formation to hold the man back.
"Did the barrier fail? How did he get out?!"
"I don't know, is it because you're not skilled enough, senior brother!"
The originally normal skeletons began to swell, and people picked them up one by one, slammed them together, and threw them onto the roof.
The jade staff changed from a warm, bluish-green color to a reddish tinge. The remaining three disciples rushed forward. The male corpse had turned pitch black and was emitting a burnt smell. A cloud of black smoke was rising from beneath the hollow skull, dripping an unknown, thick green liquid. When it touched a person's skin, it immediately turned into smoke and disappeared into the air.
Wen Ye's brand-new disciple robes were now tattered and worn. He and his fellow disciples had never experienced anything like this before. Their bodies were covered with burn holes, and they lay on the ground like corpses.
Xi Chuang's lips moved slightly, and the hairpin in his hair sliced through the rope in mid-air. He gripped the hairpin tightly and threw it forcefully. The bones on the male corpse began to scatter, instantly falling to the ground with a clatter. A hint of joy flashed in Ye Zishan's eyes. "Senior Brother Xi Chuang, come and save me! Senior Brother, Senior Brother, save me!"
Xi Chuang kicked the female corpse aside, pulled Ye Zishan out of her arms, and placed a hand on his shoulder, asking, "Did you bring the wound medicine?"
"Senior brother, I have one here." Wen Ye took out a small blue bottle from his pocket and was about to hand it over when he suddenly shouted, "Senior brother, he... he's standing up again."
The male corpse's bones were pieced back together. He twisted his wrist bones a few times and walked towards the boy at the front. He sneaked up to the steps when no one was paying attention. Even Ye Zishan didn't know how he broke free of the barrier and ran out, and he was already in front of everyone.
Xi Chuang tried to reach out and grab him, but the male corpse beat him to it, pulling him over his head. The boy whispered softly, "Father."
“He has lost his soul and remembers nothing. We must take Amu back.”
"Senior brother, what if we're all wrong? That male corpse seemed quite gentle towards him; maybe it was some kind of maternal love from beyond the grave?"
Ye Zishan hissed as he bared his teeth, turning his head away from the wound on his shoulder, but someone held him down, saying, "Shh, don't talk."
Several people looked up in unison, like a row of mushrooms sprouting after the rain. Shen Jiuxu put his index finger to his lips and shook his head. "This person is completely unconscious now and doesn't recognize anyone. However, the attack from the west window just now exhausted his vital energy. The child's vital energy is pure, and with the unbreakable blood ties, he is the best choice to replenish his vital energy."
"You guys go in first, I'll take care of things here."
Shen Jiuxu glanced around and saw that they were all injured in various ways. In the end, he softened and didn't care about revealing his identity. Ye Zishan wanted to say something, but Xi Chuang stopped him, "Zishan, go back first."
"Senior Brother Xichuang, do you really trust him? What if something happens? These are two lives at stake."
"I will stay here."
Ye Zishan and the others reluctantly took a few steps back. He stepped on something and was pushed aside. He thought some kind of monster or ghost had appeared again, but when he turned around, he saw that it was the young nobleman who claimed to be sickly.
The other person held a folding fan to half-cover their face, and a hint of coldness emanated from their eyes.
A note from the author:
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Disciples of Star Palace: [Crying uncontrollably][Crying uncontrollably][Crying uncontrollably]
Who would run into a big boss the moment they step out the door?! Please don't assign us such difficult tasks next time.
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