Ming Yi's voice came from behind them, "What are you grumbling about all by yourself?"
Shi Qingxuan's body stiffened, "I... I... I..."
Xie Lian wanted to help him respond but the tongue was refusing control. It couldn't be
helped; his most trusted, beloved friend turned out to be the one he feared the most,
hiding next to him by his side. Now that there was no one around, who knows what he
was going to do; who wouldn't be scared?
Suddenly, Ming Yi's fingers dug in, pain flared in Shi Qingxuan's shoulder, and he was
pushed downward.
A pale white hand suddenly lunged out from out of the creek and grabbed for Shi
Qingxuan's neck.
A water ghoul!
With Ming Yi's push, that hand missed. Then, he blasted it with his palm, and screams
came from the waters. That creature was probably obliterated by the blast. Shi
Qingxuan sat on the ground, having fallen over, and Ming Yi pulled him up, "Do you
have something wrong with your brain, washing your face with just any water from the
Black Water Demon Lair?"
"..."
Shi Qingxuan used the creek water that had been soaking the corpses of water ghouls
just now to calm down and should be feeling disgusted, yet he had no mind to notice
those details. His face and hair were still dripping, drenched like a drowned dog, lost
and forlorn, and he dazedly let 'Ming Yi' pull him up, and dazedly followed after him.
Truthfully, when thinking about it closely, everything relating to this 'Ming-xiong' had
always reeked of dubiousness.
He was the Earth Master. Therefore, very matter of factly, every Distance Shortening
array on the road was drawn by him. That should've been his specialty technique, yet it
had frequent issues.
Leaving Puqi Shrine, the four of them were sent to the town of Fu Gu for some unknown
reason, and problems also occurred when both the Wind and Water Masters were being
transported out of the Black Water Island. Was it the transportation chamber that had
been wasted through the years in need of repairs? Was it something else causing
troubles? Was the culprit behind the scenes too omnipotent?
Why think so much? The simplest answer was it was Ming Yi who had meddled in
everything!
The first time the Wind Master was taken away by the 'Reverend of Empty Words' it
was 'Ming Yi' who lost sight of him; the Wind Master who lost his spiritual powers was
also first discovered by him; the one who stayed by Shi Qingxuan's side and knew
inside and out of his fears and actions was him; the one who knew the Wind Master's
verbal password and could command the 'Reverend of Empty Words' to threaten Shi
Qingxuan to open the doors to that protection array at the Terrace of Cascading Wine
was also him.
At that time, he cracked the establishment plaque to the Temple of Wind and Water with
his own hands without feeling, and maybe it was done out of necessity, or, maybe he
was doing it on purpose in the first place.
Under the guise of an excuse to openly dismantle the establishment plaque of his
enemy and his enemy had to be grateful too, what daring arrogance.
With little odd actions such as these, it wasn't like Xie Lian was never suspicious, and
he had tried to probe, asking those three questions. Yet he had never thought that
something this inconceivable, this audacious, could happen: that a ghost had
impersonated a heavenly official and had always been hiding amongst them!
The Ship-Sinking Black Water had always been low-key?
To exist under a different identity for years, of course he's low-key.
'Ming-Yi's' response at the time really didn't have any flaws. He had devoured the
Reverend of Empty Words and possessed its powers, able to command it like a minion.
A Supreme Ghost King could naturally override its might, unfettered by the restrictions
of its unique trait. If he wanted to speak the truth then he could speak the truth, if he
wished to deceive he could speak lies.
That set of skeletons had dexterous hands and feet, corresponding with the identity of
the Earth Master. Why worship it in the Nether Water Manor? It had to be done. That
was the remains of a heavenly official after all; if it wasn't treated with solemn respect
and carelessly buried, it wouldn't rest in peace and the coffin would not hold. Thus, he
could only regard it with grand formalities and worship it within his own halls.
However, what made Xie Lian guess his identity wasn't just this, but that lunge.
The Water Master asked why the skeleton would experience terminal lucidity? Ming Yi
answered in a rush to say it was "As long as that thing won't stand in my way, it doesn't
matter who he is", but in actuality, what really provoked the real Ming Yi wasn't that, but
the words after – "Lord Earth Master"! Because, he was the real Earth Master!
And the one impersonating him was standing right before him, nonchalantly and
intentionally leading them astray.
Sometimes, 'Ming Yi' would also do the opposite on purpose and pull them back on
track to escape suspicion. For example, he said to Hua Cheng "You really do have spies
in the heavens". Yet wasn't that spy himself? That was why Hua Cheng responded so
ironically, "Don't you already know that?" Implying, "Why play pretend?"
However, the word 'spy' was probably inaccurate. An agreement was more likely
between those two. Such as, an exchange of information.
The two Supreme Ghost Kings cooperated out of mutual benefit, so it was a win-win
situation. Black Water snuck into the Heavenly Court and grasped all movements of the
heavenly realm, big and small, and Hua Cheng on the other hand, took root in the
mortal realm, expanding the number of worshippers. Besides this, whether if they
cooperated in other matters, it wasn't known.
Jun Wu sending the 'Earth Master' to infiltrate Ghost City was no different than flooding
the Temple of the Dragon King*, sending thieves to a bandit's lair.
Up until now, there were probably only two accidents that arose while he was
undercover. The first one was that spell of Ascending Fire Dragon.
An impostor obviously wouldn't do something so pointless. Xie Lian was more inclined
to think that the one who casted that Ascending Fire Dragon spell was the real Ming Yi
who managed to escape.
In order to disguise oneself as someone completely different and sneak into the
Heavenly Court, one must be able to have a thorough understanding of that person.
Thus, the impersonated must be kept alive so small details such as experiences, skills,
spiritual device manipulation, etc., could be dug out little by little. The fake Ming Yi more
than likely kidnapped and imprisoned the real Ming Yi right after he passed his
Heavenly Calamity but not yet ascended. Otherwise if the real Ming Yi had already
made contact with other heavenly officials, it'd be easy for the imposter to be
discovered.
That was an accident, so when Hua Cheng received the news he had to back to help
his partner deal with the aftermath. Coincidentally, Xie Lian also received the mission
from Jun Wu: Ghost City rescue.
He didn't think so at the time, but thinking back now, he realized maybe that operation
went a little too smoothly? Xie Lian really did rescue the 'Earth Master' from the
dungeons of Paradise Manor, but how did he find the dungeon in the first place?
Wasn't it because he first saw the cursed shackle of Hua Cheng's subordinate, the one
who wore a demon mask, then saw him sneaking about Paradise Manor?
Something like a cursed shackle was a sign of humiliation, and normally when heavenly
officials were banished, they would hide it away. So why did that masked man wear it on
his wrist so openly? And why did he hide it afterwards? Besides 'carelessness', the
other explanation was it was done intentionally to grab Xie Lian's attention, so Xie Lian
could follow along and discover the 'imprisoned' fake Earth Master. The real Ming Yi
who had set off the distress signal was probably killed after this. Because his corpse
couldn't be destroyed but his flesh couldn't be kept to allow others to find clues of his
identity, he was dissolved to nothing but white bones.
The second accident was after Shi Qingxuan was spooked by the Reverend of Empty
Words, he sought Xie Lian for help.
It was obvious Hua Cheng didn't want Xie Lian to be pulled into this affair, which was
why at the time, Ming Yi declared "Coming here was not my intention". Afterwards when
they were at the Terrace of Cascading Wine, when Hua Cheng went away it was
probably to meet up with Ming Yi and question what was going on.
Xie Lian didn't have the chance to explain all of this to Shi Qingxuan in detail, but Shi
Qingxuan himself must've gradually thought each detail through too, the hands hiding
under his sleeves trembling.
The two walked side by side, and Xie Lian's mind was churning; just where had Shi
Wudu gone?
The first one to cross through that array to leave was Shi Wudu, and the last one was
'Ming Yi', so he shouldn't have been able to jump over Shi Qingxuan to do anything to
Shi Wudu, which meant there were three possibilities: first, Shi Wudu was sent
somewhere else; second, there's something else waiting where Shi Wudu was sent and
he had already fallen victim; third, Shi Wudu left on his own.
If it was the first or second possibility, then there was no reason for Ming Yi to keep
acting in front of Shi Qingxuan right now, searching for Shi Wudu. Having thought this
far, Xie Lian suddenly heard 'Ming Yi' ask, "Where's your golden locket?"
Shi Qingxuan was momentarily puzzled but Xie Lian was immediately filled with dread.
Ming Yi asked a couple times before Shi Qingxuan responded, "Huh?"
'Ming Yi' said gruffly, "Didn't you say those two golden longevity lockets were forged by
the golden cores of you and your brother, and if the master is hurt they would cry?"
"..."
Shi Qingxuan told Ming Yi everything, so naturally he also knew how that spiritual
device worked. Which meant, he was going to use the golden locket to find Shi Wudu!
"But... but, my scratches are healed!" Shi Qingxuan said.
"That's easy to solve." 'Ming Yi' said coldly. Then, he raised his arm slightly. Xie Lian
was alarmed, was he going to cut Lord Wind Master??? He tensed in defense, however,
Ming Yi squeezed the gash on his own arm instead.
The gash that had already ceased bleeding oozed again. "Give me the locket, I'll wear
it." He said.
"..."
Seeing this, Xie Lian couldn't help but be awed.
If this gesture wasn't comprised of hidden maliciousness and murderous intent, then
such a person truly was worthy to be befriended!
However, Shi Qingxuan was still rooted on the spot, hesitant to move. The moment he
gave the longevity locket, the two golden lockets would cry for each other. Should Shi
Wudu notice, he would for sure come find him directly. 'Ming Yi' furrowed his brows,
"Are you scared stupid?"
"...No!" Shi Qingxuan said, "Actually, this, this locket, didn't I tell you? It only works if I'm
the one who wears it."
'Ming Yi' looked doubtful, "Really?"
Shi Qingxuan gripped the longevity locket tightly and nodded his head firmly, "That's
right!"
'Ming Yi' stared at him for a moment but then seemed to abandon the idea. He looked at
the gash on his own arm but didn't say anything. Just then, that longevity locket around
Shi Qingxuan's neck suddenly started vibrating.
The colours of Shi Qingxuan's face instantly changed and 'Ming Yi' reacted immediately,
going in the direction the longevity locket was point without pause.
The golden lockets cry meant Shi Wudu was hurt. Yet when he entered the array earlier
he was perfectly fine, so what hurt him?
Xie Lian could sense that Shi Qingxuan was anxious to go but also not. They were
trapped in the illusion within the Black Water Lake, and there was no one else on the
island. Pei Ming was building a coffin boat outside the boundary waiting for their return.
Shi Qingxuan was mortal right now; if Shi Wudu was hurt, none in heaven or earth could
heed their call. If they were to give themselves up, how could they possibly escape?
After rushing for a while, Shi Qingxuan spoke up, "Ming... xiong, I think it's a trap. It's
probably best not to go!"
"What trap?" 'Ming Yi' asked.
Shi Qingxuan lied bold-facedly, "How can my brother possibly get hurt? It mustn't be
him over there."
However, 'Ming Yi' had more reasons and rationale than he did, "We're in the territory of
a Supreme Demon King. Lord Water Master might not have what it takes to protect
himself. No matter what it is, let's go take a look first."
Shi Qingxuan couldn't think of an excuse not to go, and Xie Lian couldn't come up with
anything either, so he watched silently instead, ready to act at a moment's notice.
Following the growing vibrations of the longevity locket, the two walked closer and
closer to the target, and soon they saw Shi Wudu lying on the ground, scruffily curled
up, holding his stomach, looking to be in immense pain. Shi Qingxuan was shocked and
shouted, "GE!" Then he rushed over with Ming Yi close behind. Yet, when they
approached Shi Wudu, he suddenly leapt to his feet and embraced him, bursting out in
crazed laughter. Fully enveloped in his arms, Shi Qingxuan was exceedingly bemused,
and only then did he realize that man bore a twisted face – it wasn't Shi Wudu! It was
only an insane maniac dressed in Shi Wudu's robes and wearing that golden locket!
He hadn't yet opened his mouth to speak when Ming Yi, who was next to him, suddenly
collapsed, a small ball-sized black hole appeared on his chest, spilling fresh blood. A
figure in white leapt off a tree, grabbed him and ran, shouting, "RUN!"
Xie Lian looked closely and saw, this was the real Shi Wudu!
"GE?!" Shi Qingxuan exclaimed.
Shi Wudu barked with a low voice, "Don't talk and come with me! He's no good!"
In a flash Xie Lian understood. Turns out, Shi Wudu wasn't one to be underestimated
either. The moment he walked out of the transportation array and saw he was still in the
Nether Water Manor, he had already known something was amiss. He didn't think things
as complicated as Xie Lian did, and he was much sharper. The first one he suspected
was Ming Yi, so he hid to make himself invisible, watching from the shadows just what
he was up to. He was probably sent to a different location than Shi Qingxuan, otherwise
he would've taken Shi Qingxuan along to hide with him. After finding Ming Yi and Shi
Qingxuan together, he dragged a maniac over, dressed it in his outer robes and put the
golden locket around its neck then smacked it with a blast, garnering Ming Yi's attention
first before ambushing. It was a rather ruthless move, since there wasn't any solid proof
that Ming Yi did anything, yet Shi Wudu was going straight for his life!
Shi Qingxuan couldn't help but look back, but when he did, he saw the 'Ming Yi' whose
heart was now blasted through, lie for a bit before sitting up, stoically lowered his head
to look at that bloody hole, before slowly rising to his feet. Xie Lian could feel Shi
Qingxuan's blood run cold all the way to his own heart. Even for heavenly officials, who
can move so easily after being struck like this? It had to be something inhuman!
The two brothers dashed for a while when suddenly, hairs on Xie Lian's back stood, and
he shouted, "WATCH OUT!" He pulled the Water Master, and a sharp whistling sound
shot through the air, chillingly flashing by. If it wasn't for Xie Lian's pull, the Water Master
would've lost his head already.
It was those invisible creatures from the water's reflection!
Shi Wudu cursed. He flipped out the Water Master fan and swung; several thin and long
water arrows jetted out through the waves on the surface of his fan, encircling their
bodies, forming a protective circle. Now those invisible creatures couldn't do anything to
them. The two continued to flee, and Shi Qingxuan couldn't help but looked back again.
This time, he could feel chills down his spine, "He... he's catching up!"
Sure enough, 'Ming Yi' was only about twenty feet behind them, walking forward slowly.
Although it looked like his steps were slow, yet with every step, the distance between
him and the two ahead would instantly pull significantly closer, looking like with several
more steps he could touch the hems of their robes.
Shi Wudu never looked back, but with one more swing of his fan, twenty to thirty more
razor-sharp dragon-like water arrows shot out from the surface of his fan. Even though
they were made of water, yet they ripped through the air like steel blades. With another
swing, their numbers doubled. Fanning a few times, hundreds of water arrows jetted
towards 'Ming Yi', attacking him from all around. With but one misstep, his body would
be pierced with holes through his body. Yet, 'Ming Yi' caught the first water arrow with
but his bare hands and yanked like it was a rope, and that Water Master fan was
yanked out of Shi Wudu's hand!
The moment the fan left his hand, the water dragon arrows that were dancing wildly in
the skies instantly dissolved into drizzles, falling from above. Shi Wudu abruptly stopped
in his step and looked at his hand in disbelief. For over hundreds of years, this was the
first time anyone was able to take the Water Master fan from his hand. He knew he
couldn't escape anymore and finally looked back. That 'Ming Yi' was walking towards
them with steady steps.
His entire person seemed to be going through an intricate transformation. With every
step a change happened. That already blanched face seemed to be even paler, the
same bloodless translucence like Hua Cheng, and his forehead becoming sharper, his
brows deeper, which, naturally, made him appear even more somber. On the hems of
his once plain black robes silently and inconspicuously grew patterns of waves weaved
by thin threads, shimmering a mysterious silver glow. Once he had come before the
Wind and Water Masters, his face was still about the same, but he was already a
completely different person.
The Earth Master wasn't a martial god so he was no good at martial arts, his spiritual
powers average. However, the one before them now, was obviously neither.
"Just who are you?" Shi Wudu demanded cautiously.
'Ming Yi' seemed to have found the question funny and squinted his eyes, "You're
standing in my territory and you need to ask who I am?"
"...Black Water Demon Xuan?" Shi Wudu ventured.
'Ming Yi' glanced at Shi Qingxuan but Shi Qingxuan didn't react. Shi Wudu continued,
"You've always been the Earth Master? Or..." He trailed off as he guessed too. "I see."
However, what he figured out was only that Demon Xuan had infiltrated the heavens.
Shi Wudu said, "You and I have always minded our own business; well waters don't
interfere with rivers, we've ruled over our own domains. Intruding in your territory wasn't
my intention, so why don't we both take a step back?"
"Water Tyrant," 'Ming Yi' said, "So there are also times when you don't dare to be
tyrannical?"
Shi Wudu was proud by nature, and hearing this, displeasure flashed across his face.
Though since they were under someone else's roof and his younger brother was by his
side, he had to lower his head. Still, he wasn't willing to back down, "If it wasn't the
wrong place and time, I wouldn't be afraid of you."
'Ming Yi' took another step forward and said chillingly, "Shi Wudu, look at my face. Do
you know who I am?"
Shi Wudu watched him with a frown. He had seen the face of the Earth Master a few
times so he didn't understand what he was trying to say. "You want me to tell you who
you are?" After a pause, he thought he was trying to imply his identity couldn't be
revealed, so he said, "It doesn't matter who you are. I swear on my Water Master name,
as long as you don't involve me or my brother, I won't care for anything you do..."
He hadn't finished his sentence before 'Ming Yi' cut him off icily, "Noble people really are
forgetful. Water Tyrant, how many mortal names and mortal births did you flip through
back then to so arduously find the one me? What, it hasn't even been a few hundred
years and you've already forgotten how I look like?"
Hearing this, Shi Wudu's face was starting to twitch little by little.
An expression like 'seen a ghost' that only mortals experienced was now showing on his
face for the first time. Shi Wudu's pupils shrank to the smallest they could and he
blurted, "You're still alive?!"
"I'm dead!" He Xuan said coldly.
Then, he suddenly raised a hand, pressed his fingers together swung his palm upwards.
Xie Lian felt a sudden pain lunging at his head, and it seemed Shi Qingxuan who was
affected by He Xuan's spiritual might and fainted.
An unknown amount of time went by before Xie Lian slowly came to along with Shi
Qingxuan's consciousness. Before his eyes were opened he could already feel
something rubbing against him back and forth.
As he sluggishly opened his eyes, he found they were several hairy and foul heads. A
band of those insane maniacs surrounded his person, watching his face with nutty
giggles and feeling him all over with their hands. Xie Lian was still fairly calm because
he immediately determined that this wasn't a life-threatening situation; those maniacs
were just a little filthy but not a threat. However, Shi Qingxuan was stunned and
instantly wanted to push them away. Yet, there came loud cling and clangs of iron
shackles, a coldness on his wrists and ankles, and he couldn't move a limb. He looked
up and turns out he was cuffed onto a wall by several iron chains thick as a wooden
club, his arms raised and suspended.
Seeing the floors and the ceiling, he was probably back at the Nether Water Manor. Xie
Lian could feel exactly what Shi Qingxuan was feeling and it was a deep searing pain in
his head. He was just about to say "Lord Wind Master, be calm, I'll teach you how to
break free from cuffs like these... " when suddenly he realized that he couldn't make a
single sound!
Perplexed, Xie Lian quickly diagnosed himself. A large part of his spiritual powers really
was lost, and although his spirit was still able to remain in Shi Qingxuan's body, he
could no longer manipulate his body, not even voice any warnings. Could the powers he
borrowed from Hua Cheng be all used up?
Impossible. He knew exactly how much spiritual powers it took to perform the Soul
Shifting Spell. The powers Hua Cheng lent him could only be more and never less. Yet,
he could sense his spiritual powers were rapidly slipping away, driving him nuts and
anxious. Just then, a raspy voice called out from across, "Qingxuan!"