Chapter 315: That's Your Own Wild Guess

"Someone else gave it to you?" Linghu Qiu looked completely unconvinced.

What he truly wanted to ask was whether Dong Guo Haoran had said anything to Niu Youdao before dying, or left him anything. But Linghu Qiu knew Niu Youdao was no fool. He did not dare ask the question directly for fear of arousing suspicion, so he could only probe indirectly.

"Who gave it to you?"

Holding his teacup, Niu Youdao slowly shook his head. "I don't know."

Linghu Qiu rolled his eyes repeatedly. "Nonsense. Someone gave you a cultivation art and you don't even know who he was?"

Niu Youdao shrugged. "I knew you wouldn't believe me if I told you. Even I'm confused about it. Someone suddenly appeared, transmitted a cultivation art to me without saying who he was, and then left. I asked who he was, but he wouldn't tell me. He just left like that. I'd like to know who he was too."

Linghu Qiu asked suspiciously, "Where did you meet him?"

"At Shangqing Sect, not long after I was confined there."

"Shangqing Sect?" Linghu Qiu was surprised. "You didn't recognize someone from Shangqing Sect?"

Niu Youdao put on a thoughtful expression. "I don't think he was from Shangqing Sect. His appearance was fairly distinctive. If I'd seen him around the sect before, I definitely would have recognized him."

"At the time, I was under house arrest at Dong Guo Haoran's former place of secluded cultivation, Peach Blossom Spring. The man appeared at night. He suddenly showed up inside Peach Blossom Spring and told me not to make a sound."

Linghu Qiu immediately perked up. He already believed most of the story.

"If his features were distinctive, describe him. I've met quite a few people in the cultivation world. Tell me what you remember. I may have seen him before and might even be able to solve the mystery for you."

Niu Youdao looked him up and down with an expression that plainly asked, Why should I tell you?

Linghu Qiu immediately said, "Don't you want to know who he was?"

At that, Niu Youdao cradled the teacup in both hands and seemed to sink into memory.

"It was night and very dark. Truthfully, I couldn't make out his face. I could only see a rough outline in the moonlight from outside."

"A man. A slovenly man. His beard and hair were both a tangled mess."

"He suddenly appeared in front of me and gave me quite a fright. The first thing he did was tell me to keep quiet."

"If you want to know exactly what he looked like, that's all I could see at the time."

Linghu Qiu's brows knitted tightly.

"A slovenly man... beard and hair all tangled..."

Niu Youdao occasionally glanced sideways to watch his reaction while leisurely sipping his tea. Naturally, the man he was describing did not exist.

There was no possibility he would casually tell an outsider about the item Dong Guo Haoran had entrusted to him on his deathbed.

Dong Guo Haoran had entrusted it to him with his life and specifically ordered that it be handed only to Sect Leader Tang Mu. It was obviously no ordinary object. Niu Youdao had not even told Shangqing Sect about it. Why would he tell Linghu Qiu?

As for the man he had invented, Niu Youdao had heard that Zhao Xiongge was roughly this sort of unkempt figure. Presumably Zhao Xiongge was capable of carrying the blame. After thinking for a while, Linghu Qiu looked up again.

"You've given me too few clues. Do you remember the outline of his face?"

Niu Youdao shook his head. "It was too dark. I couldn't see clearly."

"What did he say to you?"

"Not much. He only asked whether I was Dong Guo Haoran's disciple, then said he meant me no harm and told me not to be afraid."

"After that, he went to Dong Guo Haoran's spirit tablet and offered several sticks of incense."

"Then he transmitted the cultivation art to me and told me to cultivate diligently. He said Dong Guo Haoran had only one disciple left, so I shouldn't disappoint Dong Guo Haoran's spirit in Heaven..."

"Oh, and before he left, he went through some of Dong Guo Haoran's belongings and took a few things with him."

"That's all. You tell me how I'm supposed to know who he was."

"He took some of Dong Guo Haoran's belongings?" Suspicion immediately flashed through Linghu Qiu's eyes.

He stroked his chin and pondered for a long while before suddenly asking, "What was the cultivation art he taught you called? If you give me the name and its origin, I may be able to identify him."

"It didn't have a name. When he taught it to me, he never mentioned one. If I'd had a name to work with, I would've gone investigating it myself long ago. Why would I need you to guess?"

"You haven't been part of Shangqing Sect for many years, yet you've already reached this level of cultivation. The art you're practicing must be extraordinary."

Niu Youdao chuckled. "You're giving me far too much credit."

"He didn't only teach me the art. He also directly transferred some of his cultivation to me."

"Otherwise, how could I have reached my current level? I might not even have broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm by now."

"He directly transferred cultivation to you?" Linghu Qiu exclaimed.

He suddenly shot to his feet.

"The Demon Sect's Great Empowerment Art!"

Niu Youdao had only been making things up offhand. He had never expected such a dramatic reaction.

"What is the Demon Sect's Great Empowerment Art?"

"It's a method for directly transferring cultivation to another person. It allows the recipient to control the transferred cultivation while resolving the problems caused by foreign true qi."

"Apart from the Demon Sect's Great Empowerment Art, I can't think of anything else capable of that."

Linghu Qiu suddenly slapped his palms together in excitement.

"Little Brother, I think I know who taught you that art."

"Zhao Xiongge!"

Niu Youdao blinked. Earlier, he had deliberately described a figure resembling Zhao Xiongge, yet Linghu Qiu had not thought of him. Unexpectedly, one of Niu Youdao's completely fabricated details had now led Linghu Qiu straight to that conclusion. Niu Youdao had avoided describing Zhao Xiongge's appearance clearly for two reasons. First, he had no idea what Zhao Xiongge actually looked like. Second, he deliberately wanted to leave himself room to maneuver.

If he ever had to confront Zhao Xiongge face-to-face one day, he could still deny everything. Otherwise, he might talk himself into a corner with no way out.

"You mean Zhao Xiongge, the expelled disciple of Shangqing Sect who lives at Demon Ridge?" Niu Youdao asked tentatively.

Linghu Qiu patted his shoulder.

"Little Brother, think about it."

"Someone capable of entering Shangqing Sect, avoiding all their eyes and ears, and reaching Dong Guo Haoran's former place of secluded cultivation must either be deeply familiar with Shangqing Sect or have been deliberately allowed through."

"Why would Shangqing Sect deliberately allow someone in?"

"Because he had to be an old acquaintance!"

"Second, he taught you a cultivation art merely because you're Dong Guo Haoran's disciple, and he was even willing to transfer cultivation directly to you. Naturally, he must have had an unusually close relationship with Dong Guo Haoran."

"Remember, Zhao Xiongge and Dong Guo Haoran were fellow disciples under the same master."

"And according to what people say, Zhao Xiongge now happens to look exactly like the unkempt man you described."

"Most importantly, Zhao Xiongge is precisely someone who may know the Demon Sect's Great Empowerment Art."

"Put all those factors together, and there's an eighty or ninety percent chance the man was Zhao Xiongge of Demon Ridge!"

Niu Youdao looked surprised. "That can't be right. Zhao Xiongge was already expelled from Shangqing Sect."

Linghu Qiu said, "Haven't you heard about Liuxian Sect going to wipe out Shangqing Sect, only to be frightened into retreat by Zhao Xiongge?"

"You've seen the arm Wu Shaohuan lost."

"That alone shows Zhao Xiongge still has lingering feelings for Shangqing Sect. Going back to pay respects to his own senior brother would be entirely possible."

Niu Youdao said, "If Zhao Xiongge truly wanted to look after Shangqing Sect, how could the sect have been forced to abandon its ancestral grounds and flee to another land?"

"And I asked Liuxian Sect about that attempted extermination. Their people never actually saw Zhao Xiongge."

"Zhao Xiongge never appeared at all. They merely saw a Golden-Furred Hou and were frightened off."

Linghu Qiu waved a hand.

"That's where you're wrong."

"Who is Zhao Xiongge? One of the foremost experts beneath Heaven."

"For a mere Liuxian Sect, why would Zhao Xiongge need to appear personally? Sending his mount out to intimidate them was more than enough."

"And Zhao Xiongge was expelled from Shangqing Sect after all. It's understandable that he wouldn't show himself openly."

"Little Brother, forget everything else. The key is the Demon Sect's Great Empowerment Art that was used to pass cultivation to you."

"Rumor has it that Zhao Xiongge once fell in love with the Demon Sect Saintess. Their relationship was rejected by both the orthodox and demonic paths."

"After the Demon Sect Saintess died, Zhao Xiongge's cultivation suddenly advanced by leaps and bounds."

"Single-handedly, he swept through more than a dozen sects to avenge her. Like a madman, he killed one expert after another and shook all beneath Heaven with his name!"

"Even back then, people suspected there was a reason Zhao Xiongge's cultivation had suddenly surged."

"Some believed the Demon Sect Saintess had used the Demon Sect's Great Empowerment Art to transfer her entire cultivation to him."

"Looking at things now, that was almost certainly what happened!"

"..."

Niu Youdao had nothing to say. He knew very little about Zhao Xiongge. He had read the Shangqing Record of Gleanings, which contained many stories concerning senior figures of Shangqing Sect. But it seemed every trace of Zhao Xiongge had deliberately been erased from the book. Not even a passing mention remained.

Among the disciples accepted by the sect leader two generations earlier, Zhao Xiongge's name did not appear at all.

And Zhao Xiongge's rise had been like a comet streaking across the night sky: dazzling beyond measure, then rapidly vanishing again.

After a string of great battles shook all beneath Heaven with his name, he quickly disappeared from public view. Rumor said he had secluded himself at Demon Ridge year after year. The cultivation world almost never saw another trace of him. Only a legend remained. As for what had truly caused that legend, perhaps only those directly involved back then knew.

Others who did know seemed unwilling to bring it up again, fearful of Zhao Xiongge's strength and unwilling to invite trouble.

"By the way, Little Brother, Zhao Xiongge had been expelled from Shangqing Sect for years. Why would he take Dong Guo Haoran's belongings?"

"How would I know?"

"Second Brother, you shouldn't talk recklessly. I never said that man was Zhao Xiongge. That's your own wild guess."

"Fine, fine. It's my wild guess. Let's say it wasn't him."

"But why would that person take the belongings?"

"Could there have been something important among them?"

"There was nothing important."

"How do you know?"

"I lived alone in Peach Blossom Spring. I went through everything Dong Guo Haoran left behind. There was nothing special."

"What belongings were there? Tell me. I can help you think it through."

A trace of eagerness appeared in Linghu Qiu's eyes. He was only one step from directly asking whether there had been a bronze mirror. But if he named it outright, Niu Youdao would inevitably become suspicious. So he could only circle around the subject. Linghu Qiu also suspected Niu Youdao might never have known the bronze mirror existed.

If Dong Guo Haoran truly possessed it, there was no possibility he would have passed it directly to Niu Youdao before dying. He would certainly have instructed Niu Youdao to hand it over to Shangqing Sect.

And if that bronze mirror had truly reached Shangqing Sect's hands, Shangqing Sect would never have allowed Niu Youdao to leave alive.

The most likely possibility was that neither Shangqing Sect nor Niu Youdao had known there was anything unusual among Dong Guo Haoran's belongings. Of course, another possibility remained.

Perhaps Dong Guo Haoran had never possessed the object in the first place, and Linghu Qiu had simply thought too much. That was why he needed to verify it.

If Zhao Xiongge truly had taken a bronze mirror from among Dong Guo Haoran's belongings, then the matter would become highly suspicious. Bronze mirrors were common beneath Heaven.

As far as Linghu Qiu knew, anyone unaware of the truth would see nothing unusual about that particular mirror. Why would Zhao Xiongge take an apparently ordinary bronze mirror? If such a thing had happened, there had to be a problem. Niu Youdao suddenly took a drink of tea and sighed.

"Whether there was anything important doesn't matter to me."

"None of it belonged to me anyway."

"And if there really was something important, and Zhao Xiongge truly took it, do I have the ability to get it back from his hands?"

"Why keep talking about him?"

"Let's drop it. Better not to invite trouble."

"Besides, Shangqing Sect is already such a broken-down sect. What important treasure could it possibly have?"

[End of Chapter 315]