The Blessed Child had never received this much attention before and was afraid of everyone surrounding him. He was fearful and disgusted at Old Man Mu, who was standing on his shoulders. As for the Dragon King and his party, including Shangguan Ru, who had pleaded for leniency on his behalf, they were bloodthirsty and evil people from another world in his eyes.
“I, I…”
“You what? I want you to recite the eighth chapter of Wayless Qigong, is there ‘I’ in the passage?” asked Old Man Mu as he lifted his feet and stamped on the child’s shoulder, showing no mercy even to a child of about 12 years of age.
The Blessed Child could not bear the pain and shouted. Shangguan Ru took a step forward before managing to control her impulse with considerable effort, her hatred for Old Man Mu growing even deeper now.
“The, the path of emptiness…” recited the Blessed Child. He was not too proficient in Central Plains Chinese but he had memorized the chapter by heart, and once he started speaking, the words kept tumbling out of his mouth. As he spoke, the anxiety in his heart diminished a little.
The child managed to remember the word limit of 50 words and stopped in time. He was worried as he did not know if these bloodthirsty demons were satisfied or not.
Upon Old Man Mu’s kidnapping of the Blessed Child, Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus remained in close pursuit and they hid in close proximity to the kidnapper and his hostage after they had entered the Flower Soul Forest. As such, Old Man Mu had not got anything of substance from the child, but as the two women listened, they felt that the few words from the hostage seemed to link up well with what Shangguan Fei recited.
“How about that? Good grandchild, this is the supreme technique from your family, isn’t it? If the Supreme King should come to know that the eighth chapter would be hidden in such a remote corner of the world, he would be extremely furious, haha.”
Shangguan Ru gave a vague reply. She felt that the words were very similar to that of her brother’s, but she could not be entirely sure. She looked intently at the Dragon King, waiting for him to make his judgment.
Gu Shenwei lowered his head in thought before sheathing his Dragon Head Sword. “Let’s go, there’s no need for us to be wasting time here. Let’s leave the old man and his ‘grandchild’ to their business.”
The two women did not understand the Dragon King’s intentions but went along with him. They sheathed their weapons as well, preparing to retreat.
Shangguan Fei’s face grew extremely pale and Old Man Mu’s expression changed as well before he began laughing loudly. “Dragon King, do you think you can fool me with your little trick? Do you dare claim that this is not the eighth chapter?” he asked.
Gu Shenwei had already taken a few steps away before he turned back and replied coldly, “This is the eighth chapter, but the wrong one.”
Old Man Mu lowered his head to look at the Blessed Child. He then pointed at the Dragon King and laughed. “Look at you, as if you were speaking the truth. I was nearly fooled by you. There are four people who have practiced Wayless Qigong before, what makes you so special that you can tell the difference just by hearing a few words? Shangguan Fei, speak, is this true or false?”
Shangguan Fei’s entire body was trembling as he stammered, “It should, should be true.” He felt that he liked being called “good grandchild” better.
Old Man Mu was looking conceitedly at the Dragon King before he heard Shangguan Fei add-on, “But it could probably be fake as well.”
Old Man Mu lifted one leg up and swept it across the face of Shangguan Fei, barely missing it and thereby ensuring that his ‘business partner’ would continue to live. “Young fool, you dare to make sport of me? This is the supreme technique of your own family, is it so difficult to tell whether it is real?”
Shangguan Fei was ashen-faced and stuttered like the Blessed Child, “I, I…”
Gu Shenwei spoke up, rescuing Shangguan Fei, who was having difficulty expressing himself, in the nick of time. “Coincidentally, I practiced fake Wayless Qigong before and therefore am better suited to tell the real version from the fake one. This child has memorized it pretty well, but there are too many errors in his version. From the dozens of words he said, I can spot at least six mistakes. I believe that it has been passed on from generations to generations over the past century and the previous Chief Priests, not understanding the true meaning of the texts, could’ve made their own amendments or reductions to it. As such, the errors must have accumulated over the years.”
Gu Shenwei spread his palms open, signifying that the eighth chapter memorized by the Blessed Child was already meaningless. He then wanted to leave again.
Maid Lotus was the one who had caused Gu Shenwei to practice the wrong version of Wayless Qigong and nearly die from the resulting Qigong Deviation, but she remained expressionless. Shangguan Ru was a little surprised and quickly threw Maid Lotus a glance.
“Wait a moment,” said Old Man Mu, growing anxious. He lifted a leg up before continuing, “Since you’ve said that this child’s version is entirely wrong, what’s the point of keeping him? I’ll kill him.”
Gu Shenwei did not even bother turning his head back and continued walking out of the woods. Maid Lotus followed closely behind him, but Shangguan Ru was hesitant. She knew that the Dragon King was most likely playing a trick on Old Man Mu, but she also knew that he was ruthless – it was not impossible for him to sacrifice the young Blessed Child.
Shangguan Ru quickened her pace and caught up with the Dragon King. “The child might be of use…” she said extremely softly.
Gu Shenwei acted as if he had not heard her and continued walking forward. Old Man Mu’s eyesight was good and could make out Shangguan Ru muttering in the dark. “Nice girl, what sweet mutterings are you saying to the Dragon King? Are you telling him that he’s only slightly less good-looking than me, or that the child is reciting the real eighth chapter?”
Gu Shenwei increased his pace, and Shangguan Ru did not hesitate any longer. The three of them soon disappeared into the night.
Old Man Mu stood with his mouth agape and eyes blinking as he looked far away at the receding figures of the three intruders. A part of himself thought that his plan had failed, anther part assumed that the other party was up to something while the rest part of himself was shrouded in doubt.
Shangguan Fei, who was standing beside him, began feeling awkward all of a sudden and started shifting carefully backward.
Old Man Mu turned his head violently to face him, addressing him in a voice so sweet that it was nauseous, “Let’s talk, Ninth Young Master.”
“Yes,” replied Shangguan Fei, his legs so wobbly that he nearly sat down on the ground. “What does Mu, senior Mu want to talk about?”
“Now that my eighth chapter is gone, can you recite the other seven chapters to me?”
“Of course.”
“Of course what?”
“Of course I can recite them to you, it’s the honor of our Shangguan Family that you’re taking an interest in our secret techniques, senior. But, to be honest, Wayless Qigong is never passed on to an outsider. Er, that is if we exclude the Dragon King and Maid Lotus. They sneaked the texts away. So…”
Shangguan Fei was beating around the bush. Old Man Mu knew what he was getting at and interrupted his rambling speech, “You feel that I don’t have anything to exchange for your Wayless Qigong now, don’t you, Ninth Young Master?”
“No, no, your skills are otherworldly, senior. In fact, you don’t even need to learn the divine kung fu of our family.”
“What I need is my business, Ninth Young Master, but I won’t let you make a loss. Why don’t we do it this way? I’ve many different kung fu techniques, you just have to tell me what you wish to learn. If one technique is not enough, two or three are also fine. I’m sure you’re satisfied now.”
Shangguan Fei began thinking quickly. He felt that he would not be safe even if he managed to master an extremely difficult kung fu technique. He suddenly kneeled down and said, “Senior, I don’t wish to learn anything. I’ll give up my family’s divine kung fu willingly to you and only wish that you take me as your disciple. Allow me to remain by your side to serve you, senior.”
Old Man Mu frowned; he had never took any disciples before. Even Wildhorse, who had served him for many years, did not get to become his disciple. He had wished to take Shangguan Ru in previously, but it was not a sincere effort. As for Shangguan Fei, he was not to the old man’s liking. “Your ambition is pretty big, kid – you wish to learn all of my skills. Good grandchild, why don’t you recognize me as your granddad? You can serve me as my ‘grandchild’ anyway.”
Shangguan Fei did not seem to bother about status and replied, “Why don’t I recognize you as my master and granddad, what do you think about that?”
Old Man Mu had a natural liking for despicable people and therefore smiled. “Good grandchild,” he said.
“Granddad,” replied Shangguan Fei with unrivaled intimacy, as if Old Man Mu was even more dear to him than his real grandfather.
The Blessed Child got the chills as he heard their nauseating conversation and shivered even more.
“You can recognize me as your master now. Kneel down and kowtow nine times to me, then stand up and say in a loud voice, “Heavens, sc*ew your entire family”. Then we’ll officially be master and disciple.”
It was an unusual and bizarre initiation ceremony for a disciple, but Shangguan Fei did not mind. After he had finished straining his voice to curse the heavens, he said, “Master Grandad, you don’t say. After shouting like this, I feel much more at ease.”
“Hehe, of course, you would. This is one of the secret techniques of our sect. Right, remember this well—my kung fu has some connection to that of the Yuqing Sect in the Central Plains, but personally, I do not. You’re entering the God Slaying Sect, and if you should have a chance to meet the disciples of the Yuqing Sect in the future, slay them.”
“I acknowledge the Master’s orders,” replied Shangguan Fei, but secretly he suspected that the so-called ‘God Slaying Sect’ was just a name made up by Old Man Mu.
“Good disciple and grandchild. You have to give your new Master a gift. Why don’t you recite the first seven chapters of Wayless Qigong to me, I don’t want anything else.”
Shangguan Fei glanced at the Blessed Child at the feet of Old Man Mu and remained silent, seemingly believing that the child was redundant now.
“Let’s keep him here for the time being. The Dragon King wishes to fool me, but I’m not falling for his trick,” said Old Man Mu before looking down at the Blessed Child and speaking to him. “Cover your ears, kid. I forbid you to listen to anything of we are about to say. I’ll devour your tongue directly from your mouth if you so much as hear a word of it.”
The Blessed Child was extremely quick to react after receiving so many threats. He hurriedly pressed both hands to his ears, being careful to avoid hitting the old demon’s legs in the process.
Shangguan Fei looked around and straightened out his clothes. He took a few deep breaths until he could see that Old Man Mu was visibly impatient. He then began reciting the manual to Wayless Qigong.
Old Man Mu was extremely knowledgeable about kung fu and knew Shangguan Fei was indeed reciting qigong instructions of the highest level. He knew that, however, it was lacking in the most important parts. “Good disciple and grandchild, what you’re reciting is…”
“The seventh chapter of Wayless Qigong.”
“I have to start learning Wayless Qigong from the first chapter, why are you reciting the manual from the back?”
Shangguan Fei kneeled down again and respectfully kowtowed another nine times before replying the bewildered Old Man Mu, “Master Granddad, your disciple can only remember the seventh chapter as of now.”
Old Man Mu flew into a rage. It turned out that his ‘good grandchild’ was not well behaved at all. Upon being taken in as his disciple, Shangguan Fei unexpectedly wanted to hold him hostage with his divine kung fu manual. He immediately changed tack and forcibly controlled his anger, switching to an amiable expression. “It’s my mistake. My good disciple has already given me something, but I have yet to express my gratitude. There are 23 secret techniques in our sect, which do you want to learn? Lightness Skills? Boxing skills? Machete techniques or swordcraft?” he asked.
Shangguan Fei repeatedly shook his head, uninterested in all of the mentioned techniques. “I only wish for you to help me with a task, Master Granddad,” he replied.
“Speak.”
“Er, it’s your disciple’s wishful thinking to become the king of the Land of Fragrance.”
This was no small task and it went beyond Old Man Mu’s expectations. “You want to be king of such a rotten country… hehe. Whatever pleases you, we shall go now and let all the citizens of this land, regardless of age or gender, acknowledge you as their king.”
Shangguan Fei kept shaking his head. “I don’t only wish to be king, I hope to restore the Land of Fragrance to its past glory – isolated from the world and with slaves completely loyal to their masters, not to mention nobles that have absolutely zero intention of rebelling.”
Old Man Mu looked in surprise at the Ninth Young Master of the Golden Roc Fort, who was reputed to be timid as a mouse. “You wish for me to kill everyone from the Great Snowmountain?”
Shangguan Fei nodded passionately. Only by killing those barbarians that would never accept the local culture could he ensure that the nation would revert to its past state. “If you fulfill this wish of mine, your humble disciple will recite the first six chapters of Wayless Qigong in one go,” he replied.
Old Man Mu’s expression soured immediately as he said harshly, “Foolish kid, you wish to draw me out of the All Annihilating Formation so that the Dragon King can kill me?”