Volume 3 Chapter 73

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Volume 3 Chapter 73: Awakening (Part 3)

If discovering that Number 4 was actually Wang Qingjun only made Jin Qinghan and the others feel shock and disbelief, then seeing that Number Seven was Bai Qingfu made them feel as if they were in a surreal dream.

Wang Qingjun always gave off an enigmatic aura, making it hard for people to gauge his true thoughts. He rarely spoke to others, and his often gloomy expression matched that of a legendary villain. Therefore, when it was said he was planted in Jiuhua as an undercover agent by Zhang Xusheng, Jin Qinghan and the others could accept it.

But Bai Qingfu was different from Wang Qingjun; he was cheerful and sociable, with many friends on Jiuhua Mountain and far more popular than Wang Qingjun. Especially among Jin Qinghan and the other four, who had been helped by him in various ways. Although he sometimes seemed a bit mysterious, his harmless smile made it impossible for anyone to doubt him.

But now, following Wang Qingjun, they discovered that Bai Qingfu was also an undercover agent planted by Zhang Xusheng in Jiuhua Mountain. The shock was indescribable, leaving everyone with a dreamlike sense of unreality.

"Uncle Bai, are you also an undercover agent for Zhang Xusheng?"

Finally, Li Yuhan was the first to react. After studying Bai Qingfu for a long time, he asked incredulously.

Bai Qingfu’s smile grew more bitter. He opened his mouth as if to explain something, but in the end, he said, "Since your ancestral master, Jiuhua Gate’s Supreme Protector Zhou Huahai, can cooperate with Zhang Xusheng, why can’t I become an undercover agent for Jiuhua?"

Hearing Bai Qingfu’s words, Li Yuhan was slightly taken aback, not knowing how to refute him for a moment.

However, Sheng Yushan snorted coldly, "The ancestral master was merely used by Zhang Xusheng for a while, and even when cooperating with Zhang Xusheng, I believe the ancestral master was always on guard against him. Unlike you, who, despite being a Jiuhua disciple, wholeheartedly follows Zhang Xusheng with the intention of destroying Jiuhua."

After the conversation, Bai Qingfu seemed to have regained his composure and said calmly, "Betrayal is just betrayal, whether it’s Zhou Huahai or me. There isn’t such a thing as good betrayal or bad betrayal."

Lv Qingshang snorted coldly, "Bai Qingfu, have you not only betrayed Jiuhua Mountain but also turned your back on your own master? Protector Zhou is your master no matter what, how can you address him by name?"

A hint of mockery flashed in Bai Qingfu’s eyes as he said, "Master? Zhou Huahai never really took any true disciples in his life. For example, I may seem like Zhou Huahai’s disciple openly, but in reality, after my master and Zhou Huahai collaborated eighty years ago, I was secretly placed by my master by Zhou Huahai’s side as a pawn."

At this point, Bai Qingfu paused slightly, then continued, "So, do you understand now? I’m different from all of you who grew up at Jiuhua Mountain. From the moment I came to Jiuhua, my role was that of a chess piece. A piece that could be discarded at any time, but at the crucial moment could deliver a fatal blow to Jiuhua Mountain. So everything I’ve done cannot be considered a betrayal of Jiuhua; it’s simply a matter of allegiance."

After hearing Bai Qingfu’s words, Li Yuhan gave Bai Qingfu a deep look, sighed softly, and slowly said, "In my heart, you have always been the Martial Uncle who joked around with us. I never imagined that we would come to a day of rupture. But you’re right, we serve our own masters. We grew up on Jiuhua Mountain and spent most of our lives there. Just as you are fiercely loyal to your master, we will never allow you to harm Jiuhua Mountain."

Seeing the determination on Li Yuhan’s face, a hint of pity flashed across Bai Qingfu’s face. He seemed to want to say something but held back. Instead, he simply said, "What a shame. This time, it’s a direct order from my master, so I must kill you. If I don’t succeed, we’ll all be in trouble. Didn’t you just say you had some questions for Number Seven? You’d better ask them now. For the sake of our past friendship, I won’t let you die without understanding."

Jin Qinghan snorted, clearly unimpressed by Bai Qingfu’s arrogance. But he still coldly asked, "What was Wang Qingjun’s true purpose in accompanying us to Huandao Island for the Newcomer Competition? And wasn’t he supposed to have been killed in an explosion? How is he here now? Or was the one who died on Huandao Island just a body double?"

Hearing Jin Qinghan’s question, Bai Qingfu’s wry smile deepened. After a long pause, he slowly said, "The person who joined you on Huandao Island for the Newcomer Competition wasn’t Number 4; it was me."

"What?" Jin Qinghan and Lv Qingshang asked in disbelief after hearing Bai Qingfu’s words.

Lv Qingshang said decisively, "Impossible! The person who joined us on Huandao Island for the Newcomer Competition was clearly Wang Qingjun. If you were trying to disguise someone, it would be impossible to fool us for long."

Jin Qinghan was about to argue back but suddenly paused, as he realized that the Wang Qingjun on Huandao Island spoke and behaved so similarly to Bai Qingfu. On Huandao Island, he had felt something was off but didn’t have the chance to think it through. Now that he thinks about it, apart from the face and build, the Wang Qingjun on Huandao Island, who spoke less, felt incredibly similar to Bai Qingfu.

Seeing Lv Qingshang’s disbelief, Bai Qingfu explained, "My master’s understanding of the human body is unmatched. Changing a person’s appearance or build is effortless with many methods available. Although I’ve learned only a fraction of my master’s skills, altering my appearance is quite simple for me."

As he spoke, there was a strange and strong surge within Lv Qingshang’s body. Amidst the surging, his body began to grow thinner and his skin darkened. His facial features changed drastically, and before long, he looked exactly like Wang Qingjun.

"What!?"

Although the events of the day had been strange enough, seeing this scene still filled everyone with disbelief.

They looked incredulously at Wang Qingjun behind Bai Qingfu and compared the two closely. While at first glance they looked quite similar, a careful comparison revealed that the latter was bulkier, with a rougher face. Unless someone knew Wang Qingjun extremely well, it was hard to notice any differences if they weren’t seen together.

Wang Qingjun rarely interacted with others, so the other Jiuhua disciples paid little attention to him, let alone knew him well. Even Xu Qingfan and others were the same. As a result, during the three days on Huandao Island, no one noticed anything amiss.

The most surprising thing for Jin Qinghan and the others was that when Bai Qingfu made these changes, there wasn’t a trace of Spirit Qi fluctuation, as if changing his appearance was his unique ability.

"Don’t be surprised, in this world, there is more than just Daoist methods. As long as you can skillfully control your bones and muscles, you can change your appearance freely."

Seeing the astonishment in everyone’s eyes, Bai Qingfu explained gently.

"So you’re saying that it was really you who went with us to Huandao Island for the Newcomer Competition? What was your purpose in following us there? Didn’t that explosion kill you?" Jin Qinghan asked with a frown.

"The reason I went with you to Huandao Island was naturally to monitor you, to ensure your actions didn’t interfere with the master’s plans. And, if necessary, to protect you or make you disappear," Bai Qingfu explained slowly, "As for the explosion, it only destroyed one of my bodies. Ever since merging with Jiushen Snake, I’ve had a surplus of bodies."

Upon saying this, Bai Qingfu sighed sadly.

Lv Qingshang frowned and said, "If it’s just for this, why go to the trouble of having you pretend to be Wang Qingjun to watch over us? Wouldn’t it be easier for Wang Qingjun to be involved himself?"

A touch of self-mockery appeared on Bai Qingfu’s face, and he said, "Didn’t I say? Ever since merging with the Jiushen Snake, I haven’t needed a body. With extra bodies, I can not only communicate under your noses but also serve as a decoy when necessary. For instance, the remains you found after the explosion and the Wang Qingjun killed by White Lady Palace were both like that."

At this moment, Wang Qingjun suddenly frowned and called out, "Number Seven, stop talking to them. The master is watching above, and if you delay any longer, there will be trouble."

Hearing Wang Qingjun’s shout, Bai Qingfu’s body trembled slightly. With a soft sigh, he said woodenly to Jin Qinghan and the others in front of him, "I suppose you have no more questions now? Then I should make my move. This battle has already been delayed long enough."

As he spoke, green scales started to slowly grow on Bai Qingfu’s body again. His small, squinted eyes transformed into snake eyes, and his body became slender. By the end of his words, he had reverted to his original Sethrak form.

Seeing Bai Qingfu’s transformation, Jin Qinghan, Lv Qingshang, Li Yuhan, and Sheng Yushan became solemn and alert. Multicolored lights flickered on their bodies.

But as the atmosphere among the five became tense, Bai Qingfu seemed unaware, as if he were talking to himself, or perhaps confiding in the four in front of him. He lowered his head and spoke softly and slowly.

"Do you know? From the day I can remember, I’ve lived in complete darkness. Every time I slept, it was dark, and when I awoke, the same darkness greeted me, with no one around. Although the darkness seemed monotonous, at the beginning of my memories, darkness was the only thing besides myself. Light was something I couldn’t even hope for. In fact, at that time, I didn’t even know that this world had such a thing as light."

"Sometimes when I wake up, I find my master and his assistants experimenting on me. The knives cut into my body, adding various things inside. Although the process is painful, I’m still happy because it’s the only time I realize there’s more to the world than just me and the darkness. And so, I remained motionless in that darkness for many years."

"Later, it seemed that the experiments finally succeeded, and I was able to move, able to walk freely within the limited dark space. Through my exploration, I discovered I was trapped in a dark place. Outside that darkness were countless similar caverns, each containing a creature like me, either transformed humans or demon beasts. Some were powerful enough to kill me in an instant, while others were weak enough for me to kill instantly. But regardless of the creature, they were all silent. No matter how I shouted to get them to talk to me, they remained indifferent and silent. This silence mirrored the darkness, making everything feel hopeless."

"Later, I discovered that in the caverns beside mine, there were two others with a similar aura to mine. I tried hard to talk to them but, just like before, my efforts were futile. Eventually, the three of us were taken to an even darker place, together with countless other transformed creatures. There, we learned magic, combat skills, and how to use the alien powers hidden within our bodies. It was also then that, after my continuous efforts or perhaps because of our similar aura, those two finally began talking to me."

"Time went by, and after an unknown period, the three of us finally mastered our powers and abilities. At that time, our master turned us into children and sent us to Jiuhua Mountain as his spies. We were to observe everything happening at Jiuhua Mountain for him."

"The moment I was thrown onto Jiuhua Mountain, I was stunned—that was the first time I ever saw sunlight. It was like a traveler in the desert finally finding water after three days. As soon as I saw the sunlight, I remember opening my body as wide as possible to soak in the sunshine I had never experienced before. At that moment, I felt sure that, compared to the endless darkness, I belonged to the world beneath the sun."

"I don’t know how the other two felt, but compared to the endless darkness, I much preferred Jiuhua Mountain. Here, the days were filled with endless sunlight, and even at night, there were the moon and stars, the sound of birds, the scent of flowers. Many people would chat with me. Everything felt so wonderful. If I could, I’d love to stay at Jiuhua Mountain forever."

Speaking to this point, Bai Qingfu suddenly fell silent. After a long pause, he finally raised his head, his gaze becoming cold as he looked at the four in front of him. His eyes flickered with a bloody light as he spoke in a softer voice, "Unfortunately, the master couldn’t wait any longer to make his move on Jiuhua. Under his will, nothing at Jiuhua will survive. I really liked you all; I enjoyed being with you. Especially the time on Huandao Island—that feeling of entrusting your back to a companion was something I had never experienced before. But I have no choice. From the moment I was successfully transformed in darkness, we were destined to be enemies. So when the master gives the order, I have to kill you myself—or else I’ll drag down not just myself, but Number 4 and Number 33 as well."

As he spoke, several bulges on Bai Qingfu’s body began to swell slowly, and before long, they were as large as Bai Qingfu himself. From afar, it looked as if several large bags had suddenly appeared all over his body, making the scene appear very strange.

Just as everyone at Jiuhua stood in shock, watching Bai Qingfu’s transformation, a series of explosions suddenly erupted. The bulges burst open, and the dense, bloody mist that followed enveloped Bai Qingfu, making it impossible to see what was happening inside.

After a long while, the blood mist finally cleared, revealing the scene that had been hidden in front of everyone’s eyes.

Jin Qinghan and the other three were shocked to discover that where Bai Qingfu had been standing, there were now seven identical Sethraks in a "Seven Stars" formation, coldly observing them.

"Accept your fate."

The voice seemed to carry a sigh.

All seven Sethraks spoke in unison, with the same voice, tone, and speed, creating a peculiarly eerie effect.

At the very moment the seven Sethraks’ voices fell silent, two blazing fires burst forth behind Jin Qinghan and the others, with the faint sound of a phoenix cry emerging from the flames.

Jin Qinghan and his companions shuddered and quickly turned to look, only to find Feng Qingtian and Xu Qingfan, one sitting and one lying down, where the flames had erupted.