Chapter 20
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Chapter 20: Nickname
Seeing Shi Xuan looking at her, He Yuqing nervously stammered, "I just wanted to help you, sir…"
Shi Xuan sighed helplessly. He had no choice but to use a soul-binding talisman from his hidden pocket. He walked around Liang Shenglou, chanting a spell and activating the talisman hidden in his sleeve. Shi Xuan felt a slight weight and knew he had successfully captured Liang Shenglou’s soul.
He Dahai and He Yuqing watched Shi Xuan walk around Liang Shenglou in a strange manner, muttering to himself. They found it odd but didn’t pay too much attention. After all, the dim light of the talisman was blocked by Shi Xuan’s sleeve, and strange behavior was normal for a mysterious and powerful senior like him.
Back at the fire, Shi Xuan looked at the "Long Life Treasure Book" he had thrown on the ground. Thinking about Liang Shenglou’s crazy look just now and all the betrayals, murders, and scheming for this treasure book in the past, he remembered a joke he had heard before and made a decision.
Picking up the "Long Life Treasure Book," Shi Xuan opened it and silently used his body’s energy to perform a simple technique called imprinting. This technique was basic and did not require soul power or chanting, mainly used by practitioners to imprint scriptures.
Concentrating, Shi Xuan imprinted eight words on the first blank page in order, "To master divine skills, one must sacrifice worldly desires." Since the book was already difficult to understand, he figured that sacrificing desires might actually work. Whoever found this book in the future would have to rely on themselves to find good fortune.
After imprinting, Shi Xuan closed the treasure book and threw it over twenty feet away into the fire. Seeing He Dahai and He Yuqing looking puzzled, he explained calmly, "This manual is not useful to me. I was only observing the different martial paths of predecessors to verify my own learning. Now that I have finished reading it, I naturally discarded it."
Hearing this, not only He Dahai and He Yuqing, but also the rest of the people from the escort agency who had been paying attention, were shocked. They then showed a fanatical expression, staring intensely at the "Long Life Treasure Book" on the ground. If it weren’t for Shi Xuan’s presence and other arrangements, they might have started fighting for it.
Seeing their expressions, Shi Xuan shook his head, smiling, and warned, "Think carefully. If you really obtain this manual, you may no longer enjoy the current peaceful life. You will be hunted, unable to eat, sleep, or drink in peace. Wherever you hide, you will be found. Your family will be threatened. Are you sure you can evade all of that? Even if you manage to survive, you might not succeed in mastering it. So, do you really want this manual?"
Shi Xuan’s words cooled the desire in the crowd’s minds. However, staring at the treasure book on the ground, they felt unwilling to give up. In a moment of hesitation, Du Yuhan, who had been hiding in the corner, suddenly rushed forward, grabbed the "Long Life Treasure Book," and dashed towards the door.
The crowd watched in anger as Du Yuhan, with his exceptional agility and martial arts skills, quickly left through the door and into the pouring rain.
Unable to catch up, He Yuqing turned to Shi Xuan sitting calmly and complained softly, "Senior, look, the manual was snatched from us!"
Shi Xuan laughed and said, "If he got it, then it’s meant to be his. Haha!" As he thought more about it, he found it even funnier, and his previous gloomy mood turned into a great one.
Not sure what Shi Xuan was laughing about, everyone from the escort agency felt both disappointed and regretful. Tonight’s experience felt like a strange dream, starting with fear, then surprise and relief, followed by joy, and ending with disappointment and regret. In the midst of all this, nobody noticed Chengying, the young servant, sneaking out through the window. Shi Xuan noticed but didn’t bother.
When the people from the escort agency finally realized, they couldn’t see anyone around, and they returned to the bonfire dejectedly. In the following hours, He Yuqing thought about approaching Shi Xuan several times, but seeing Shi Xuan resting with his eyes closed and ignoring everyone, she couldn’t muster the courage.
Unknowingly, the sky started to lighten up.
Seeing that the rain had stopped outside, Shi Xuan waved to put out the bonfire, stood up, nodded slightly at the people from the escort agency, and said, "Farewell, everyone."
Suddenly, He Dahai had a bright idea and knelt in front of Shi Xuan, repeatedly bowing and saying, "Please let me be your apprentice. Please let me be your apprentice." Holding onto He Yuqing’s clothes, He Yuqing also knelt down after realizing what was happening, saying, "Please let me be your apprentice."
Shi Xuan was surprised by the sudden request to take on apprentices, as he was focused on his own quest for enlightenment and felt that he didn’t have enough time to take on a student. Additionally, he didn’t like He Yuqing’s personality and didn’t plan to pass down the "True Returning Book" to her. After some thought, he raised his hand slightly to stop He Dahai and He Yuqing from bowing and said, "I prefer solitude and have important matters to attend to, so I can’t take on apprentices. However, I have some secret manuscripts from yesterday; Miss He can choose one to study."
Seeing Shi Xuan’s firm stance, He Dahai and He Yuqing didn’t dare to insist, knowing his superior martial skills. They didn’t want to anger him and put their lives in danger.
After standing up, He Yuqing walked respectfully to Shi Xuan’s side and then squatted down to search through the secret manuscripts. After some hesitation, she chose one and said to Shi Xuan, "Sir, I’ll choose this one."
Shi Xuan looked at the《Sun Watching Sword Technique》taken from Gao Wenqi, casually flipped through it, found it to be a good manual combining internal energy and sword techniques, then handed it back to He Yuqing and pointed out several key points in her martial arts. After listening to the guidance, He Yuqing felt grateful but also a little unwilling to accept.
Shi Xuan looked at the remaining four manuals on the ground, said to the group from the escort agency, "Why don’t Master He, Master He, and bodyguards choose one each, and the remaining one will be practiced together by all the bodyguards."
Everyone was overjoyed. He Dahai chose Peng Tianxiao’s knife technique manual, He Xiangshan and Xu Ying each took one of the manuals found on the black-clothed men. For them, it was exactly what they needed to improve their martial arts skills, so they were extremely thankful to Shi Xuan. The rest of the bodyguards and attendants were even more reverent towards Shi Xuan. They had never known if they would ever have the chance to obtain an internal energy manual in their lifetime, but now they had received an advanced manual that could lead them to the Small Body Circle realm where all meridians were connected. A turning point in their lives was right in front of them.
"You all took the manuals, so I’ll take the silver as my reward for helping." Shi Xuan bent down to put the silver into his bag, probably amounting to around one hundred taels. Maybe because they were out to hunt someone, they didn’t carry much silver, resulting in Shi Xuan’s modest gain.
Everyone thought the senior was letting them take the manuals guiltlessly, not realizing that Shi Xuan was actually short on money.
After collecting the silver, putting it back in his bag, Shi Xuan didn’t say goodbye and turned to leave the temple. The others only realized as the senior was about to reach the temple gates that they had forgotten to ask for his name. He Yuqing hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Senior, may I ask for your honorable name, so we can always remember you with gratitude."
Shi Xuan had no intention of revealing his name to them. Thinking back to his college days, when his dorm mates would jokingly call him "Evil King" after watching a certain TV show, he decided not to disclose his name.
The people from the escort agency watched as the senior left in an elegant manner, leaving behind lingering words.
"Just call me ‘Evil King’."
He Dahai regained consciousness and hesitantly said, "Are you a member of the Demon Sect, elder? No wonder we haven’t heard of such a figure in the martial world, after all, the Demon Sect has always been secretive."
He Yuqing reflected and said, "Regardless, the elder saved our lives. Today I realized the level of mastery one can achieve in martial arts. I was truly arrogant before."
"Yes, what Yuqing’s niece said is right, boss. Why worry about it," Xu Ying said happily, holding the manual.
"I was a bit scared. Fortunately, we stopped in time and didn’t bother the elder. Remember, people from the Demon Sect are unpredictable," He Dahai recalled the situation when he just became a disciple.
He Xiangshan, who had been silent, suddenly whispered, "Boss, should we?" His eyes pointed towards the excited bodyguards and followers next to him, who were even starting to memorize the manual.
He Dahai remained silent for a while before softly saying, "No, our manual is more precious. It’s not worth coveting theirs. After they practice that manual, they will be even less likely to reveal that we got the manual today. Moreover, what if the elder visits us someday?"
He Yuqing finally understood what they were talking about. She found it astonishing how complex human hearts could be. Her mind was in turmoil and she didn’t know what to say. Yet, she felt like she had grown a lot overnight.
He Xiangshan nodded and said, "You’re right, boss." Privately, he exchanged a glance with Xu Ying behind He Dahai’s back, and they both showed relieved and relaxed smiles.
After leaving the ruined temple, Shi Xuan ran quickly towards the forest until he found a dark and secluded place. There, he took out the talisman from a dark pouch, chanted a spell, then threw the talisman in front of him. Suddenly, a black smoke emerged, and within the smoke, Liang Shenglou’s figure appeared faintly.
Because of the Sealing Ghost Spell, Shi Xuan could see Liang Shenglou’s ghost without using Sky Eye. Liang Shenglou’s ghost looked confused, so Shi Xuan asked loudly, "Mr. Liang, can you tell me about Hermit Guangyang now?"