ade of dark color, and the muscle on his face twisted and twitched, making his face looking utterly strange and horrible.

“You have only yourself to blame for not initializing your inner strength properly!” Linghu Chong muttered.

He looked around him in all directions. It was indeed a very strange scene. There was not another person on the Five-Tyrant Ridge. The only sound was the chirping from the many birds on treetops, and the only things left were the many wine kettles, bowls, and dish plates, which scattered all over the place.

“Granny, how have you been these days?” after wiping the blood off his lips with his sleeves, he asked.

“Young Master, you are too fatigued right now. Please sit down and take a rest,” the granny replied.

Linghu Chong was truly exhausted by now. Hearing the granny’s words, he sat down to the ground. The zither music rose gently in the shack once again. It almost felt like a stream of clear spring, which had washed over his entire body, and then flew through him. Linghu Chong felt as though his body had become lighter and lighter, and had floated on top of the white clouds that felt like cotton wool. After a long time, the sound of the zither became lower and lower, until eventually it was so dim that it was barely audible.

Linghu Chong felt much rejuvenated. Getting back onto his feet, he bowed deeply.

“Many thanks, Granny. I have benefited a great deal from your kind music.”

“You risked your life to repel powerful enemies, saving me from being humiliated by rascals. It is I who feel thankful for you,” the granny replied.

“Don’t mention it. I was only doing the right thing.”

The granny fell silent, and a few tender sounds from the zither echoed, as though the granny was plucking the strings of the zither randomly while wavering upon something in her mind. After a while, she asked.

“Where…where are you going now?”

Feeling of desolation welled up in Linghu Chong’s heart, which almost choked him and made him cough uncontrollably for a good while. It just seemed that there was not a place between heaven and earth he could shelter himself.

“I…I have nowhere to go,” after finally catching his breath, Linghu Chong murmured.

“Aren’t you going to look for your Master and Master-Wife? How about your apprentice brothers and apprentice…sister?”

“Them…I don’t know where they went. With my injury, the chance of finding them is too slim. Besides, even if I do find them, alas!” Linghu Chong heaved a deep sigh, thinking, “Even if I do find them, so what? They don’t want me now.”

“You injury is very severe. Why don’t you visit some beautiful scenery to relieve boredom? Wouldn’t that be better than feeling miserable in vain?”

“Granny, you are right!” Linghu Chong let out a few laughs. “I never really cared much about life and death to begin with. Farewell for now! I guess I’ll be strolling about for some fun!”

After bowing toward the shack one more time, Linghu Chong turned around and walked away. But only after three steps, he heard the granny’s voice again.

“Are you…are you leaving already?”

“Yes.” Linghu Chong halted his steps.

“But you have severe injuries. If you travel by yourself, there will be no one to tend upon you along the trip. That won’t be appropriate.”

Sensing the caring and concern in the granny’s words, Linghu Chong felt another surge of warmth in his heart.

“Thank you, granny, for your kind concern. My injury is incurable. It’s really no difference whether I die earlier or later, here or there.”

“Hmm, I see. But…but…” the granny paused for quite a while before finishing her sentence, “what if those two rascals from the Shaolin School come back to cause more trouble? What should I do? And that Tan Diren from the Kunlun School is only unconscious temporarily. Once he wakes up, I am afraid he’ll trouble me more.”

“Granny, where are you going? Why don’t I escort you for a stage of the journey?” Linghu Chong suggested.

“That would have been great, except that there’s a big difficulty involved. I am afraid that it will trouble you a great deal,” the granny answered.

“Granny, you saved my life. It’s no trouble at all.”

The granny heaved a sigh and then said, “A very formidable enemy of mine came to the Bamboo-Green Alley to give me trouble, that’s why I have come here to hide. But I am sure he would trace me down in no time. Your injury has not recovered and won’t be able to fight him. I only want to find a secluded place to hide from him temporarily, so I can wait till all my helps arrive before settling accounts with him. If I ask you to escort me, then firstly, you are injured, and secondly, wouldn’t it bore you to death for such an active and lively young man to accompany such an old granny?”

Linghu Chong burst into loud laughter.

“Is that it? That’s a piece of cake. Where are you headed? I’ll go with you. Even if it’s the end of the earth, as long as I am not dead, I’ll accompany you there.”

“I’ll be troubling you then. Are you serious that even if it’s the end of the earth, you’ll still accompany me there?” the granny asked, her voice filled with joy.

“That’s right! Even if it’s the end of the earth, Linghu Chong will accompany Granny there,” Linghu Chong promised.

“But there’s another difficulty here,” the granny added.

“What is that?” Linghu Chong asked.

“My face is very ugly. Anyone seeing my face will be very much frightened. Therefore I do not wish anyone to see my face. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have objected those three men when they wanted to enter the shack to see me. You must promise me that under any circumstance, you will never cast a look at me. You can’t look at my face, my body, my hands, my feet, or even my clothes.”

“I am grateful that Granny cared for me and I respect Granny very much. What has Granny’s appearance has anything to do with it?” Linghu Chong replied.

“If you can’t promise that, please leave now.”

“Fine, fine! I promise. I promise that I’ll never cast a look at you under any circumstances,” Linghu Chong agreed hurriedly.

“You can’t even cast a look at my back,” the granny added.

“Could your back have been utterly ugly as well?” Linghu Chong thought to himself. “The ugliest back had to be from a midget, or a hunchback. But even those are no big deal. It’s not gonna be easy if I can’t even look at your back throughout such a long journey.”

“You can’t do it?” the granny asked, sensing Linghu Chong’s hesitation.

“I can. I can. If I cast even one look at Granny, I’ll cut my own eyes out,” Linghu Chong answered.

“You’d better remember that. You go first. I’ll follow behind you.”

“Sure!” Linghu Chong answered and then began taking the path down the ridge. Sounds of footsteps rose behind him. The granny followed.

After walking for a few dozen of feet, the granny handed Linghu Chong a branch from behind.

“You can use this branch as your crutch.”

“Okay,” Linghu Chong answered.

Using the branch as a crutch to support himself, he walked down the ridge slowly. After some more walking, he suddenly remembered something.

“Granny, you know that name of that Tan from the Kunlun School?” he asked.

“Oh, that Tan Diren is a good hand amount the second generation of apprentices in the Kunlun School. He mastered about sixty to seventy percent of his Master’s sword skills. But compared to his big apprentice brother and second apprentice brother, he is still far behind. That big fellow Xin Guoliang from the Shaolin School has better sword skills than him.”

“So that man with a loud voice is named Xin Guoliang. He seemed to be reasonable.”

“His junior apprentice brother’s name is Yi Guozi. That one was a total jerk. Those two thrusts of yours, one penetrating his palm, the other one injuring his left wrist, were quite handsome.”

“I had no choice. Alas, now I’ve started a feud with the Shaolin School. That can only bring endless of future trouble.”

“What about the Shaolin School? There’s a good chance we can beat them. I didn’t expect that Tan Diren would hit you with a palm strike, and I had no idea that you would spurt blood.”

“Granny, you saw everything? I wonder why that Tan Diren suddenly passed out cold.”

“Didn’t you know? Blue Phoenix and the four Miao Girls under her command gave you a lot of blood. They are around venomous pests days and nights, so naturally their blood contained poison. Besides, the Five-Sylph Wine is utmost toxic. When your poisonous blood splashed into his mouth, of course he could not stand it.”

“Oh!” Linghu Chong finally understood. “How could I stand it, then? How odd! I never had any grudges against that Chief Blue. I wonder why she would want to harm me.”

“Who said she wanted to harm you? She had all good intentions, humph, wishful thinking, wanting to cure your injury and all. To poison your blood yet preserve your life is the trick her Five-Sylph Sect is really good at.”

“I see. I thought that Chief Blue had no ill wills toward me. Doctor Ping One-Finger said that her medicinal wine was the utmost tonic.”

“Of course she had no ill wills toward you. She couldn’t have had more good wills,” the granny exclaimed, which was returned by a smile on Linghu Chong’s face.

“Do you think that Tan Diren will survive it?”

“That depends on his own internal strength and how much poisonous blood splashed into his mouth.”

Remembering the expression on Tan Diren’s face after he was poisoned, Linghu Chong couldn’t help but shiver. After walking another hundred of feet, he suddenly remembered another thing and shouted out immediately.

“Oops, Granny, will you please wait here for me? I need to get back onto the ridge.”

“Why?” the granny asked.

“The remains of Doctor Ping’s body is still on the ridge and have not been buries yet.”

“No need to go back. I’ve already handled his body.”

“Oh, so Granny has already given Doctor Ping a burial.”

“Nah, it wasn’t a burial. I dissolved his body using dissolvent powder. Did you expect me to stare at a dead corpse all night long? Ping One-Finger didn’t look that great when he was still alive. After he turned into a corpse, you can imagine how he looked.”

Linghu Chong answered with a snort, but he couldn’t help thinking that the granny’s behavior was beyond all expectations. He owed Ping One-Finger great favor, and after Ping One-Finger passed away, he should have given him a proper burial, but this Granny opted to dissolve the body using dissolvent powder. The more he thought about this, the more uneasy he became, but as to why it was wrong to dissolve the body using dissolvent powder, he could not say.

After the both of them traveled for over a mile, they had arrived at the plain at the foot of the ridge.

“Open your palm!” the granny demanded.

“Okay!” Linghu Chong answered, feeling surprised, wondering what kind of trick she was going to play this time. He opened his palm as directed, and then with a small pop, a small object was thrown from behind his back and fell right in the middle of his palm. It was a yellow pill about the size of one’s little finger.

“Swallow it and then take a rest under that big tree,” the granny directed.

“Sure!” Linghu Chong answered and then swallowed the pill down his throat.

“I gave you medicine to extend your life only because I rely on your brilliant sword skills for a safe journey, so you won’t suddenly die on me and make me lose my escort. It’s not because I have any good intentions for…for you, much less an attempt to save your life. You’d better remember that,” the granny exclaimed.

Linghu Chong acknowledged with a snort. Walking by the tree he sat down, leaning against the trunk of the tree, when a stream of warmth rose up from his lower abdomen and then flowed into the many passages and channels inside his body. It felt as though the stream of warmth also carried much energy and rejuvenated all his internal organs and arteries.

“This pill obviously is of great benefit for me, but the granny just wouldn’t admit that she cared for me, and kept saying that she was only taking advantage of me. There are only people who deny everything once they took advantage of others. Why does she speak the opposite?” Linghu Chong pondered. “And when she threw the pill into my palm, the pill did not even bounce. Apparently she threw it with a sinking force, which could only have been executed with very high-level inner energy. Her Kung Fu skills are much higher than mine. She doesn’t need me to protect her. Well, if this is what she wants, I’ll just comply.”

“Granny, are you tired? Let’s go now,” after a brief rest, Linghu Chong stood up and said.

“I am tired. I need a bit more rest,” the granny answered.

“Okay,” Linghu Chong replied as he thought to himself, “For elder people, despite how excellent their Kung Fu skills might be, they still lack the level of vigor a youth possesses. I really should have shown more solicitude for the granny instead of only thinking about myself.” At that thought, he sat back down.

“Let’s go,” the granny finally said after a long while.

Linghu Chong answered with a nod, and then walked at the front while the granny followed him behind. The pill certainly made a great difference. Linghu Chong found himself walking at a brisk pace. Following the granny’s instructions, he always picked desolated mountain trails. After a few miles of walking, the mountain trail gradually turned more and more rugged and rough, which made Linghu Chong breath more heavily.

“I am tired. I need to take a break,” the granny suddenly announced.

“Sure,” Linghu Chong responded and then sat down on the ground, thinking to himself, “Her breathing is still deep and calm. She can’t be tired at all. She obviously wants me to take a break, but would rather claim that she was the one tired.”

After resting for about ten minutes, the two set out walking again. After turning a mountain ridge, they suddenly heard a loud voice talking.

“Everybody hurry up with your meal. We need to get out of here as soon as possible. This place is apt to get into trouble,” the voice exclaimed, which was answered by dozens of people all together.

Linghu Chong paused his steps and glanced over, then saw dozens of men sitting in a circle eating their food on a stretch of meadow by the mountain stream. By then, these men had also spotted Linghu Chong and someone had already shouted out.

“It’s Young Master Linghu!”

Linghu Chong vaguely remembered seeing them on top of the Five-Tyrant Ridge the night before. Just when he was about to shout his greetings, suddenly, the dozens of men all froze and goggled toward the direction behind his back in dead silence, their faces looking totally awkward. Some looked terrified, while some others looked perplexed and alarmed, as though they had suddenly encountered something so inexpressibly peculiar, something they did not know how to deal with.

As soon as Linghu Chong saw the bizarre scene, he wanted to look back over his shoulder to find out what on earth had happened behind him that would have turned the dozens of people into clay idols and wooden dummies, but he suddenly realized: these people only reacted like this because they saw the Granny behind him, and he had promised the granny that he would never cast a look at her. At that thought, he hurriedly jerked his head to look forward again. The strength he put in was so overwhelming that his neck muscle ached because of it. But meanwhile, his curiosity soared.

“Why are they so terrified at the sight of the granny? Could the granny have really been so gruesome looking that it makes her totally out of this world?” he couldn’t help but think.

Suddenly, a man raised the dagger he had been using to slice meat and stabbed toward his two eyes. Instantly, blood gushed out of his eye sockets.

“What are you doing?” astonished, Linghu Chong shouted out.

“I lost my eyes three days ago, and have not been able to see anything ever since,” the man exclaimed loudly.

Within seconds, another two men also drew their short knives and blinded themselves with a few quick stabs. “We’ve been blind for ages. We could not see a thing,” they also exclaimed.

Linghu Chong was dumbstruck. Seeing that the rest men in the group also each drew out their daggers and awls and were about to blind themselves just the same, he yelled out hastily.

“Hey! Hey! Hold it! Let’s talk it over. Don’t hurt yourselves. Why…why do you do that?”

“I was going to swear an oath that I’ll never dare talk about it, but I am afraid that it would not be convincing,” a man answered in a saddened voice.

“Granny, please do something. Ask them to stop blinding themselves, will you?” Linghu Chong shouted.

“Very well, I trust you. There’s an island called Twine-Dragon Island in the East Sea. Has any of you heard of it before?” the granny asked.

“There’s an island called Twine-Dragon Island about two hundred miles from the Quanzhou City in Fujian. I heard that it’s an untraversed and desolated island,” an old man answered.

“That’s the one. Why don’t you set out right away to have some fun on the Twine-Dragon Island? There’s no need for you to ever come back to the central region again,” the granny said.

“We’ll set out right away!” the dozens of men answered in unison, all looking very pleased.

“We’ll never speak to anybody else on our way there,” someone added.

“Whether you speak or not, what has that gotten anything to do with me?” the granny spoke in a chilling tone.

“Right! Right! I was just talking rubbish,” the man answered immediately, and raising his hands high, he began slapping his own face.

“Go now!” the granny ordered.

At the command, the dozens of men broke into a gallop. The tree blind fellows, helped by the arm by their fellow companions, also walked away in strides. Within moments, all of them had vanished from sight.

Linghu Chong gasped with astonishment. “Just a few words from the granny have banished all those people to a desolate island in the East Sea, with no hope of returning within this life, yet all these people appeared highly delighted at the punishment as though they have just received their pardoned. This is just so inconceivable.”

He walked on silently, many thoughts surging in his mind, thinking that the granny following behind him had to be the most eccentric oddball he had ever seen.

“I just hope we won’t walk into more friends from the Five-Tyrant Ridge along our way,” Linghu Chong thought to himself. “They all came warmheartedly for curing my injury. If by any chance they bump into the granny, then either they had to blind themselves, or be banished to some barren island in the sea. That would certainly not be worthwhile. It looks as if the reason why Chief Huang, Chieftain Sima, and Zu Qianqiu asked me to pretend that I had never met them, and the reason why the many people on the Five-Tyrant Ridge dispersed all of a sudden, were all because of this granny. They were scared of this granny. So what…what kind of horrible monster is she?” At that thought, he couldn’t help but shiver.

After they had walked another three or four miles, a voice suddenly shouted a distance away behind them, “That’s Linghu Chong over there.” The voice was extremely loud and thunderous. Linghu Chong didn’t even have to guess whose voice that had belonged to – Xin Guoliang from the Shaolin School.

“I don’t want to see him. You muddle with him,” the granny declared.

“All right,” Linghu Chong answered as the scrubs by his side rustled. The granny had hidden herself among the bushes.

“Uncle-Master, that Linghu Chong is wounded. He can’t walk very fast,” Xin Guoliang’s voice rose again.

There was actually still quite a distance between them, but because Xin Guoliang’s voice was simply too loud, even just a casual remark from him would make its way into Linghu Chong’s ears clearly.

“So he came with his Uncle-Master,” Linghu Chong thought. Since they’ve already seen him, he decided to just sit by the side of the path and wait for them.

After a short while, sounds of footsteps echoed as several men walked along the path in quick strides. Xin Guoliang and Yi Guozi were both among the group. There were also two monks and a middle-aged man. One of the monks was a very old man with many wrinkles across his face. The other monk was about thirty years of age and held a Buddhist’s Spade in his hand.

Linghu Chong stood up and then bowed down deeply.

“Linghu Chong, a junior of the Huashan School here shows his respects to the many senior masters of the Shaolin School. May I have the honor to hear senior masters’ names?” he greeted.

“Chap…” Yi Guozi yelled but interrupted by the old monk.

“Old monk’s Buddhist’s name is Fang-Sheng,” the old monk replied.

As soon as the old monk spoke out, Yi Guozi held his tongue, but the glooming expression on his face clearly showed that he was still infuriated about the setback he suffered moments back.

“I pay my respects to the Great Master!” Linghu Chong put his palms together and bowed.

“Young Hero, please don’t be over-courteous. How is your respectful master Mr. Yue?” Fang-Sheng nodded and then spoke with a kind and pleasant countenance.

At first, when Linghu Chong heard the group bearing down after him so menacingly, he was alarmed and on tenterhooks. After seeing Monk Fang-Sheng speaking and behaving with the demeanor of a sensible and accomplished monk, also knowing that monks of the “Fang” generation were the most senior ones in the Shaolin Temple as apprentice brothers of the temple abbot, Great Master Fang-Zheng, he reckoned that Monk Fang-Sheng was not someone who persisted unreasonably like that Yi Guozi and felt some relief at once.

“Thank you for asking, Great Master! My Master is well and sound,” he answered respectfully.

“These four are all my Nephew-Apprentices. This monk’s Buddhist’s name is Jue-Yue, this is Nephew-Apprentice Huang Guobo, this is Nephew-Apprentice Xin Guoliang, and that’s Nephew-Apprentice Yi Guozi. I believe you have met Xin and Yi before,” Fang-Sheng introduced.

“Ah, yes! Linghu Chong here shows his respects to four senior masters. I have severe wounds and cannot move about freely. If there’s any lack of manners on my side, I beg for senior masters’ pardon.” Linghu Chong cupped his hands.

“You have severe wounds?” Yi Guozi let out a disgruntled snort.

“Do you really have severe wounds? Guozi, was it you who wounded him?” Fang-Sheng asked.

“It was just a misunderstanding. There’s nothing to it. Senior master Yi threw me to the ground with a brush of his sleeve and then hit me with a palm strike also. But don’t worry. I can probably still hang on to my life for a short while. Great Master, you don’t need to reproach senior master Yi,” Linghu Chong said.

He intentionally mentioned about his severe wounds at the very beginning, and also blamed it all on Yi Guozi, thinking that Fang-Sheng, the capable and senior monk, would certainly not allow those four Nephew-Apprentices of his to make trouble for him again.

“Senior master Xin saw everything with his own eyes on top of the Five-Tyrant Ridge,” he continued. “But since Great Master has come yourself. That’s a great favor for a junior like me. I promise you that I’ll never mentioned this incident in front of my Master. You can rest assured, Great Master, that even though my wounds are incurable, this incident will not stir up any dispute between the Five Mountains Sword Alliance and the Shaolin School.”

With these words, it sounded as though it was all Yi Guozi’s fault that he had suffered severe and incurable injuries.

“That…that…that’s total nonsense! You were severely injured all along. What have I gotten anything to do with it?” Yi Guozi snarled.

“Well, senior master Yi, I don’t think it’s a good idea to mention that to anybody. If the story gets out, wouldn’t that have stained the clean fame of the Shaolin School?” Linghu Chong let out a gentle sigh and then said quietly.

Xin Guoliang, Huang Guobo, and Jue-Yue all nodded slightly, fully understanding what Linghu Chong had meant. The “Fang” generation monks of the Shaolin School had extreme seniority in the Martial World. Although the Shaolin School is a separate school from the Five Mountains Sword Alliance, when ranked by seniority, they would have equated to masters one generation above the Head Masters of each of the Five Mountains sword schools. Therefore, Xin Guoliang and Yi Guozi’s seniority would also be one generation above Linghu Chong. When Yi Guozi had fought Linghu Chong, one could have already called that a senior bullies a junior, not mentioning that the Shaolin School had two masters at the scene, and on top of that, Linghu Chong had already been severely injured before the fight. The Shaolin School had very strict school rules. If Yi Guozi had really slain a junior from the Huashan School, the punishment could have been as severe as the capital punishment to pay with his life. At least, he would have been stripped off all his Kung Fu skills and be expelled from the school. When Yi Guozi thought of the consequences, his face whitened from fear.

“Young hero, please come closer. Let me take a look at your wounds,” Fang-Sheng proposed.

Linghu Chong stepped closer. Fang-Sheng reached out with his right hand and then gripped Linghu Chong’s wrist. As soon as he placed his fingers on the “Da-Yuan” and the “Jing-Qu” acupoints on Linghu Chong’s wrist, he felt a stream of peculiar inner energy inside Linghu Chong’s body, which gave his fingers a violent jolt and made them slip off the acupoints. Fang-Sheng felt a shock in his heart. He was one of the few top fighters among the highest generation of Shaolin monks. It was simply unimaginably queer that the inner energy inside the young man was powerful enough to jolt away his fingers. How could he have known that there were inner energy streams from the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies and Monk No Commandment inside Linghu Chong’s body? Although he had top notch Kung Fu, himself, when caught off guard, he still could not stand the combined force from those seven elite fighters. He couldn’t help but utter a light cry of surprise. Fixed his stare on Linghu Chong’s eyes, he spoke slowly.

“Young hero, you are not from the Huashan School.”

“I am really an apprentice of the Huashan School. I was the first apprentice my master Mr. Yue ever took in,” Linghu Chong replied.

“Then why did you learn the heretical Kung Fu from heterodoxy people afterwards?” Fang-Sheng requested.

“Uncle-Master, this chap is without a doubt using heterodoxy Kung Fu. There’s no point denying it. Didn’t we see a woman follow behind him just now? Where is she hiding now? I bet she is no good egg, acting so clandestine and all!” Yi Guozi cut in.

“You are a member of a renowned school. How can you be so out of manners?” hearing Yi Guozi insulting the granny, Linghu Chong yelled angrily. “Granny just doesn’t want to see you so as not to get angry over you.”

“You tell her to come out. Whether she is good or evil, my Uncle-Master can tell with his sharp eyes,” Yi Guozi dared him.

“Our dispute started because you were disrespectful to my granny. Haven’t you spoken enough nonsense?” Linghu Chong rebuffed.

“Young hero Linghu,” Jue-Yue joined in, “earlier when I looked by the hill, I could see that the woman following behind you walked in very nimble steps, and didn’t seem to be an aged woman.”

“Granny is a member of the Martial World. It’s only natural that she had nimble steps. What’s so odd about that?” Linghu Chong disagreed.

“Jue-Yue, we are members of the Buddha’s order. How can we insist on seeing the elder, female member of other people?” Fang-Sheng reproved. Turning toward Linghu Chong, he said, “Young hero Linghu, there are many doubtful points in this matter that I could not figure out. You are indeed severely wounded. But your internal wounds are completely out of the ordinary. It could not have been my Nephew-Apprentice Yi who had caused the injuries. It is fate that has brought us here together today. I wish you a speedy recovery. Farewell for now. Your internal injury is very serious. I have two pills here that you can take. But I am afraid they won’t cure….” Fang-Sheng reached into his chest pocket.

Linghu Chong felt his admiration soar in his heart. “An accomplished monk from Shaolin shows extraordinary bearings indeed,” he thought to himself. Bowing toward Fang-Sheng, he said, “It is so fortunate that I can meet Great Master….”

Before he had a chance to finish his words, suddenly a loud ring echoed and Yi Guozi had unsheathed his sword.

“Here she is!” Yi shouted excitedly and then dived into the bush where the granny had been hiding, sword first.

“Nephew-Apprentice Yi, don’t be rude!” Fang-Sheng shouted.

With a loud whoosh, Yi Guozi had flown back out from the bush and after gliding tens of feet in the air. Smack, he dropped to the ground like a log, facing upwards. His arms and legs twitched a few times and then he became still.

Fang-Sheng and the rest of the people were astounded. A hole had appeared on Yi’s forehead, from which blood gushed out. He still held a tight grip of the long sword in his hand, but he had already stopped breathing.

Xin Guoliang, Huang Guobo, and Jue-Yue roared in unison. Each gripping his weapon tightly they made at the bush in fury. Fang-Sheng extended his arms to his sides, and as the loose sleeves of the monk’s robe spread open, a powerful yet soft stream of energy force blocked the three men like an invisible wall.

“May I ask which friend from the Dark-Wood Cliff has come here?” turning toward the bush Fang-Sheng asked gravely, his voice loud and clear. But only silence followed, complete silence, which swept all over the hundreds of shrubs and bushes.

“Our school never had any imbroglio with the Dark-Wood Cliff. Why have you slain Nephew-Apprentice Yi with such murderous scheme?” he asked again, but still, no one responded from within the bushes.

“The Dark-Wood Cliff? The Dark-Wood Cliff is where the Demon’s Cult is headquartered. Could…could this