Xiangguo Temple (5)

Tan Yangzi froze, blurting out, "Why is it you?"

Yan Fei carefully closed the door behind him without making a single sound. He then walked up to Tan Yangzi, crouched down, and looked at him with a smile. "I waited outside the east wall for over two hours. When you didn't show up, I thought you stood me up, so I came in myself. See, it's a good thing I came, right?" A hint of smugness flashed in his pitch-black eyes. As he spoke, he sized Tan Yangzi up with a gaze of clicking-tongue amazement. "So you were this cute when you were a teenager. Master, what have you gone through all these years to become so fierce?"

Suppressing his anger, Tan Yangzi sternly said in a low voice, "Hurry up and untie my ropes!"

What should have been a very intimidating sentence, when spoken by a fifteen-year-old youth, only made him seem adorable.

Yan Fei smiled even more charmingly, placing a finger over his rosy lips and making a slow, deliberate shushing sound. "Keep your voice down, or you'll wake those people up. Of course I can untie you, but you have to promise me one condition."

Tan Yangzi gritted his teeth in anger, his eyes widening in disbelief. "You're negotiating terms with me now?!"

But Yan Fei merely tilted his head as if it were a matter of course. "Would you even pay attention to me if we discussed it any other time?"

Tan Yangzi was left speechless and could only sigh. "Fine, hurry up and say it!"

"From now on, whenever you catch ghosts, you have to let me tag along. You're not allowed to sneak off to the Human Realm without telling me," Yan Fei said.

Tan Yangzi said angrily, "What nonsense is this! You aren't Red Impermanence, how can you catch ghosts with me?!"

"Then I'm leaving." Yan Fei actually stood up as he spoke, acting as if it didn't matter. "Since I'm not Red Impermanence anyway, why should I save you."

"You!" Tan Yangzi figured he wouldn't dare go far, forcefully holding back and refusing to yield. But seeing Yan Fei actually walk to the door and pull it open, he hurriedly said, "Fine! I promise you!"

Yan Fei closed the door and walked back, his handsome and youthful face breaking into an even more brilliant smile. "Also, let me use this Calamity-Crossing Umbrella."

Since he had always let him play around with it when he wasn't in the Human Realm anyway, and having already agreed to such an outrageous condition earlier, adding this one was nothing. Tan Yangzi nodded and said coldly, "Anything else?"

Yan Fei shook his head, appearing extremely obedient. "No."

"If there's nothing else, hurry up and untie me!"

"Oh."

Yan Fei drew a silver dagger from his boot, slicing through all the restraints with swift and decisive motions. Tan Yangzi rolled his wrists, noticing that his dantian felt much fuller than before. Perhaps Yan Fei's appearance had more or less corroborated his memories as Green Impermanence, thus weakening the illusion's effect on him.

Sometimes, perhaps having Yan Fei tag along was indeed a good thing. After all, this child was highly talented in cultivating those spells for subduing demons and catching ghosts. Even though he was a human, he could use many spells meant for Underworld Emissaries like Impermanence, so he wouldn't be a burden.

Although Tan Yangzi had taken Yan Fei in as a disciple, he had never taught him any spells for subduing demons and catching ghosts. He only imparted some basic self-defense martial arts, inner cultivation techniques, and the Art of Longevity. He rarely even mentioned matters involving his other identity to Yan Fei.

But this couldn't stop Yan Fei's curiosity about catching ghosts and Impermanence. When Yan Fei was young, he once said his dream was to become Tan Yangzi's Red Impermanence. At the time, Tan Yangzi only took it as a child's joke; after all, when this kid was even younger and heard that most people got married when they grew up, he had even sprouted foolish words like wanting to marry his "Master". Yet he hadn't expected that over the years, this child truly seemed bent on becoming Red Impermanence. Not only did he start wearing red clothes, but he also secretly learned many spells specialized by Red Impermanence from the books written in Hell Script that he had left in the Human Realm. No matter how many times he repeated that only ghosts could become Underworld Emissaries, nothing seemed able to dampen Yan Fei's enthusiasm.

"What do we do next?" Yan Fei's tone carried unconcealable excitement, his deep and beautiful phoenix eyes sparkling with starlight.

Tan Yangzi rolled his wrists again. "How did you enter this illusion? When you came in, did you see anyone nearby?"

"When I came in, the entire temple was dead silent. You were standing outside a meditation room. There was no one around, only a few trees. Several circles were drawn on the ground beneath your feet, filled with characters from Avici Hell. You didn't respond no matter how much I called you, and your sword had fallen to the ground, so I used the Soul-Guiding Bell to cast the Dream-Entering Technique and entered your dream."

Tan Yangzi was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected Yan Fei to have actually learned such an obscure and difficult Red Impermanence spell like the Dream-Entering Technique. Traditionally, the Red Impermanence among the Green and Red Impermanences specialized in capturing and guiding souls, using various illusion arts to either confuse malicious ghosts or guide possessed individuals to resist. Their spells were all extremely profound and complex; back in the day, his own Red Impermanence had also taken many years to master them.

Realizing he was thinking of that person, his heart skipped a beat, and he immediately reined in his thoughts. He absolutely could not let the Thorn-Heart Ghost seize any memories concerning Red Impermanence, or else he and Yan Fei would be in danger.

Tan Yangzi said, "In that case, in a little while, I'll find a way to draw out the Thorn-Heart Ghost's true body from among those people. While I keep it occupied, use the Dream-Entering Technique to enter Guan Yi's dream and pull him out."

As long as Guan Yi could wake up from the mental barrier the Thorn-Heart Ghost had set up in his mind, it would be much harder for the ghost to continue possessing him. Only then could he strike ruthlessly to capture the Thorn-Heart Ghost; otherwise, he would inevitably harm a mortal.

Yan Fei obediently nodded. "Okay."

Tan Yangzi closed his eyes, calming his mind and steadying his breath. He then crouched down and made a grabbing motion near the ground. On the floor, which had previously only held wheat stalks and dust, a bronze sword hilt suddenly appeared, grasped firmly in his hand. Following his motion of lifting the sword, a long bronze sword materialized out of thin air, and a faint aura of killing intent dispersed throughout the small woodshed.

The heavy, archaic Karma-Severing Sword looked somewhat disproportionate when gripped by a fifteen-year-old youth, but the youth also possessed an expression of mature, cold sternness, making Yan Fei gradually reveal an expression akin to intoxication as he watched.

'Master is really so cute when he's little...'

Tan Yangzi took two steps toward the door, realizing that Yan Fei hadn't followed. Turning his head to see his adopted son staring at him with a lovestruck look, his brow furrowed. "What are you spacing out for?! Get over here!"

"Oh!" Yan Fei smiled, catching up with brisk steps.

If Yan Fei had smelled the fragrance of the Corpse Candle in the real world, he would be able to see many dry, branch-like appendages protruding from a giant caterpillar-like monster—standing as tall as a three-story building in the distance—reaching into Tan Yangzi's brain through his ears. Generally speaking, this monster needed the host's consent to probe into a person's memories, but since Tan Yangzi was in Guan Yi's room at the time, and coupled with the fact that this ghost's divine abilities were unexpectedly powerful, it didn't need to ask for his consent to penetrate deep into his consciousness.

This illusion was derived from Tan Yangzi's memories, so his every move would be sensed by the people manifested by the Thorn-Heart Ghost. Sure enough, he had barely taken two steps before his Eldest Senior Brother discovered him. Immediately after, more fellow disciples poured out, tightly surrounding him and Yan Fei.

His Eldest Senior Brother said coldly, "Tan Yang, I don't want to hurt you. I advise you to surrender without a fight and not cause trouble! Otherwise, don't blame your senior brother for showing no mercy!"

Yan Fei looked at these people curiously and asked, "Master, who are they?"

When he asked this, the surrounding disciples all revealed expressions of disbelief, seemingly unable to understand why this youth in red—who was clearly older than most of them—would call Tan Yang his master. And Tan Yang also knew that the reactions of these disciples all originated from his own subconscious predictions of how they would react. In other words, the only one who might not act according to his subconscious was the Thorn-Heart Ghost.

So Tan Yangzi decided to change his strategy. He said to Yan Fei, "These are your Master's fellow disciples from when he was young."

An uproar broke out all around, and his Eldest Senior Brother shouted, "Tan Yang, who is this person?!"

Tan Yangzi turned around, looking at the tall youth, and said, "Eldest Senior Brother, the person I hated the most back then was you. Because you were self-righteous yet stupid. You considered yourself the future sect leader and bossed the junior disciples around, executing whatever Master said with unwavering effort. Ridiculously, in the end, Master wanted to pass the mantle to Senior Brother Tan Zhen. Therefore, in this dreamscape, you are the one who comes to stop me first every single time. However, you are not the Thorn-Heart Ghost."

Upon hearing this, his Eldest Senior Brother revealed an expression that was a mix of shock, anger, and confusion.

Tan Yangzi's sharp eyes then swept over the crowd one by one. He hadn't had deep relationships with these disciples in the past; they were merely simple symbols residing in the depths of his memory. That was why they hadn't directly spoken to Tan Yangzi, nor had any special interactions with him. The probability of the Thorn-Heart Ghost hiding among them was low. If it wanted to use its favorite power of resentment and jealousy to trap him, it needed to trigger mental fluctuations within him. Thus, it had to disguise itself as someone important to him, someone towards whom he held resentment in his heart.

Since it wasn't Tan Zhen or his Eldest Senior Brother now, then...

"Tan Yang!" Following a stern reprimand, Jing Xu Zhenren descended from the sky, his white robes fluttering, his hair as white as snow. His eyes, which always carried a hint of detachment, looked at Tan Yang, his expression bearing a mixture of conflict and heartache. "Tan Yang, as your master, I will give you one last chance. Put down the sword, and Master will find a way to exorcise the evil entity in your body. If you remain obstinate, then as your master, I will have no choice but to disregard our past bond!"

Tan Yang looked at the master of his current life and let out a somewhat emotional sigh.

Before the age of eighteen, Jing Xu Zhenren had been a fatherly figure to him, but he also harbored resentment toward him in his heart. Since he was a child, he had always worked hard, trying to be a child who could satisfy his master. He always thought that after so many years, even if he wasn't his master's favorite disciple, he should be the most important one. However, towards the end of his seventeenth year, his master's Heavenly Tribulation arrived. His nemesis, the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon, came slaughtering its way up the mountain, not only defeating Jing Xu but also washing the entire Zishang Sect in blood. In the end, only he and Tan Zhen were left pinned under the fox demon's feet. The fox demon forced his master to choose between the two disciples, threatening to kill both if he didn't. His master chose Tan Zhen, but the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon went back on its word, killing Tan Zhen and instead sparing his life.

However, sparing Tan Yangzi's life was the fox demon's greatest mistake. Just as the fox demon was about to kill Jing Xu, a stimulated Tan Yangzi suddenly awakened his memories as Green Impermanence ahead of time. The Karma-Severing Sword slashed across the air, severely injuring the fox demon amidst a sudden burst of swirling death aura. The fox demon escaped, but Jing Xu was also heavily injured and didn't have long to live. Before his death, Jing Xu passed the incantations of the Art of Longevity to him, and then he passed away.

Tan Yangzi originally thought he didn't blame his master. After all, with so many memories as Green Impermanence flooding his mind, he had learned to let go of many things. But looking at it now, during that short hour between his master choosing Tan Zhen and his awakening as Green Impermanence, the pain he felt from being abandoned by his closest kin was still deeply etched into his soul.

When his master chose Tan Zhen, there wasn't a single trace of hesitation or doubt. It was as if there was absolutely no need to hesitate between Tan Zhen and him. In the end, even if he passed the Art of Longevity to him, it was only because he was the last person of the Zishang Sect, and he didn't want his life's work to end there.

Even for a soul that had lived for over a thousand years, it was still difficult to let go of such pain.

"Master, at such a moment, would indeed abandon me without hesitation. So your actions also match what I think in my heart." Ignoring his master's face, which had become somewhat blurry and twisted, Tan Yangzi finally rested his gaze on Tan Yu, who had been looking at him worriedly. His sharp, falcon-like eyes pierced straight into Tan Yu's soul. Holding the sword in one hand, he slowly walked towards Tan Yu.

"Only you, Tan Yu. Ever since I overheard you chatting with Eldest Senior Brother, heard the disgust in your words, and heard you say that the way I looked at you made you feel sick, I gave up holding any expectations for you. There is still a trace of warmth towards you in my memories, but that is merely because I miss how good you were to me when you were young. But the current you acts so worried about me, even wanting to feed me personally, and when I tried to kill you, Eldest Senior Brother immediately rushed over. It seems, this ghost, is indeed within you!"