Chapter 38 Part 1

Song Yuzhi joined the Qingque Sect at seven, and from the age of eight, Qi Yunke personally taught him martial arts.

Although Zeng Dalou and Dai Fengchi joined the sect earlier than him, the former had mediocre aptitude and had long given up cultivation to focus on miscellaneous affairs, while the latter grew up by Yin Sulian's side.

From childhood to adulthood, Song Yuzhi had witnessed almost the entire daily life of the couple, Qi Yunke and Yin Sulian.

It was different from what ordinary people might think. In fact, as long as it wasn't a major issue, Qi Yunke was very accommodating towards Yin Sulian. Whenever the couple argued over matters like Yin Sulian's unfairness or doting on their daughter, as long as Yin Sulian showed a bit of weakness, Qi Yunke was willing to gracefully reconcile with her—sometimes, even if he was cold to her face, he would make up with her later.

And then they would argue again the next time.

Although Song Yuzhi never said anything about this situation, he had disapproved of it since he was young. In his view, some of Yin Sulian's actions had already crossed the bottom line for a Sect Master.

He remembered that year when Qi Lingbo took a fancy to a newly-enrolled disciple's personal short blade. To be honest, the blade was merely exquisitely forged, but it was a memento from the disciple's parents.

Qi Lingbo had been spoiled since childhood and had to get her hands on anything she wanted. Song Yuzhi reported this matter to Qi Yunke several times. The master had scolded and persuaded, but Qi Lingbo would cry and play the victim to his face, only to turn around and, with Dai Fengchi's help, go trouble the disciple again.

In the end, the disciple tearfully 'gifted' the short blade to Qi Lingbo. Qi Yunke had intended to punish his daughter severely, but the matter was dropped due to Yin Sulian's unreasonable pestering. Instead, it was the twelve-year-old Song Yuzhi who was furious.

He became ruthless, said nothing, and beat the older Dai Fengchi half to death right in front of Qi Lingbo. No one could persuade him to stop, and Yin Sulian's tantrums were useless.

Qi Lingbo got scared and quickly handed over the short blade. From then on, she feared him more than her own father.

Later, when visiting his family at the Vast Heaven Sect, Song Yuzhi told Song Shijun about this. His father, who was usually unreliable with his words, for once said something reasonable.

Qi Yunke's family was poor when he was young, and his widowed mother had raised him with great difficulty. For an unofficial spot as an outer sect disciple, his mother worked day and night, begging everywhere, until she finally got a letter of recommendation from a reputable local hero and scraped together enough money for the journey.

Unfortunately, Qi Yunke made no progress for several years after joining the sect. His mother died of poverty and illness, full of regret.

Just two years later, Cai Pingshu accidentally discovered that Qi Yunke had the aptitude of a 'Sky Fire Dragon'. Spurred on by her encouragement, Qi Yunke finally broke through his bottleneck and soared to greatness.

Song Shijun told his son to put himself in another's shoes. A lowly, unofficial outer sect disciple, reduced to dust—how would he have imagined Sect Master Yin Dai and his daughter Yin Sulian during countless sleepless, desolate nights? He probably looked up to them as if they were a celestial lord and a fairy in the clouds.

Finally, Song Shijun told his son to understand Qi Yunke. The reason he had sent his young son to Jiuli Mountain was because he trusted Qi Yunke's character—he might be weak and pedantic, but he was absolutely loyal, kind, and benevolent, and would not hold back in his teachings.

The facts were indeed so. Qi Yunke treated Song Yuzhi with more care than his own flesh and blood, teaching him everything he knew without reservation.

However, this time was different.

Yin Sulian wanted to reconcile with her husband, but not only was Qi Yunke cold to her face, he also showed no intention of seeking her out afterward. Song Yuzhi waited patiently for several days—Yin Sulian later went to Twilight Palace twice more to deliver supplements, but was still turned away at the door.

He couldn't help but become suspicious.

After hearing Song Yuzhi's words, Cai Zhao let out a long sigh of relief. "Thank you, Third Senior Brother, for clearing up my confusion."

The doubt in Song Yuzhi's heart had lingered for several days, but he was considerate of Cai Zhao's difficult situation. He hesitated, "Junior Sister... what did you find out?" Before the girl could answer, he quickly added, "If it's inconvenient for you, Junior Sister, you don't have to say."

Looking at such an understanding senior brother, Cai Zhao nearly shed tears of old age. After spending so much time with that sarcastic and eccentric half-madman Chang Ning, she had almost forgotten that there were still reasonable people in the world.

She slapped Song Yuzhi on the arm and said magnanimously, "What are you saying, Third Senior Brother? You were just willing to share your doubts with me, so how could I keep secrets? But now is not the time, I'll come back later..."

"What are you two doing?!" Chang Ning's wide sleeves floated as he drifted over from afar like a dark cloud.

He had also removed his disguise.

Seeing that the newcomer was hostile, the guards of the Vast Heaven Sect immediately placed their hands on their sword hilts, ready for a confrontation.

When Song Yuzhi saw it was Chang Ning, he raised a hand to signal the guards to stand down.

Chang Ning's expression was extremely unpleasant, and even the poison sores on his face seemed to emit a dark aura, as if he had been poisoned again.

Cai Zhao was very happy to see that Chang Ning had escaped safely. "You got here so fast! I thought I'd have to wait another half an hour for you." Before the two of them snuck into that courtyard, they had agreed that if they got separated, they would meet at the teahouse on the street corner at the east end of town.

Chang Ning sneered. "I think it would have been better if I had come even later, so as not to interrupt you and Young Hero Song."

Song Yuzhi caught the sourness in his tone and frowned.

In most situations, Chang Ning's words could always infuriate people, but unfortunately for him, he had met Miss Cai.

Cai Zhao beamed. "No interruption, no interruption at all. Once we're back at the sect, Third Senior Brother and I will have plenty of time to talk. No one can interrupt us, so you don't need to worry."

Song Yuzhi couldn't hold it in and laughed out loud.

"You! How can you say such things to me?!" Chang Ning's chest heaved with anger. He had been prepared to risk his life to protect the girl, but the moment he turned his head, he saw such an outrageous scene!

"You..." He was just about to strongly accuse Miss Cai of her heartless behavior when a sudden loud roar came from the teahouse across the street.

Everyone instinctively turned to look.

"——You! How can you say such things to me?!"

In the teahouse, the big and burly owner, with tears in his tiger-like eyes, roared at his middle-aged but still attractive wife, "For this family, I work day and night, even risking my life. But I just went to light the stove in the back kitchen, and when I came out, I saw you carrying on with this pretty boy—you... how could you do this to me?!"

Chang Ning: ...

Cai Zhao: ...

Song Yuzhi: ...

The guards: 'This is too damn appropriate.'

So, playing their parts, they all turned their heads in unison, their gazes burning into Song Yuzhi's left arm, where Cai Zhao's small hand was still resting.

Chang Ning's eyes were practically shooting fire.

Cai Zhao hastily pulled her hand back—though she didn't quite understand why she should feel guilty.

"Alright, alright, I'm done talking with Third Senior Brother. Let's get going." She knew that nothing good would come from saying any more, so she cut her losses. "Third Senior Brother, please go about your business. We'll meet again—farewell!"

Then she grabbed Chang Ning's sleeve and was about to leave. Before she left, she turned back and hesitated, "Third Senior Brother, have you ever heard of the 'Thousand Faces Sect'?" Seeing Song Yuzhi's pupils tighten, she added, "I think your suspicions are not groundless."

With that, she bolted from the place before Chang Ning could erupt, as if she had run into a debt collector.

Song Yuzhi stood motionless on the spot.

A moment later, facing the direction where they had vanished, he still clasped his hands in a formal farewell.

...

Cai Zhao dragged Chang Ning all the way to the restaurant from which she had stolen the teapot. She requested the private room on the top floor with windows on three sides and left the door open before they sat down.

Chang Ning demurely adjusted his sleeves. "You're quite clever, knowing to find a room like this where it's not easy for people to eavesdrop. A pity you ran off so quickly just now, otherwise you could have invited Young Hero Song to join us."

Cai Zhao paused in the middle of pouring him tea and glared. "My father is missing, and you're still bickering with me! It's not like I deliberately went to chat with Third Senior Brother while you were fighting for your life. I had something to ask him."

Heaven have mercy, Chang Ning hadn't paid attention to anyone's expression since he was five years old. Thanks to Heroine Cai, he had recently picked up this skill again. The girl's face clearly showed that her patience was about to run out, so he could only grunt lightly, indicating that the past was past.

Cai Zhao quickly recounted Song Yuzhi's suspicions.

Chang Ning's expression changed slightly. "So, Sect Master Qi has indeed been..." He saw three or four waiters swaying in with several large platters of food and immediately stopped talking.

Having received a generous tip, the waiters served all the dishes in one trip. Afterward, Cai Zhao instructed them not to return unless summoned.

Watching the waiters disappear down the stairs, Cai Zhao lowered her voice. "That's why I wanted to ask you, what's the deal with this... uh... 'Body Switching Grand Method'? Also, what kind of sect is the Thousand Faces Sect? I've never heard of it."

Chang Ning organized his thoughts and said, "Let alone you, if I hadn't chanced upon it in the Nine Provinces... chanced upon it while reading through some ancient texts, I wouldn't have known such a sect ever existed either."

Cai Zhao seemed not to notice his strange pause at all, listening with rapt attention.

Chang Ning was slightly relieved and continued, "In the texts, the earliest record of the Body Switching Grand Method was two hundred years ago. During the time of the Great War of Demons against Grandmaster Beichen, it was said there was a person with special abilities, possessing a heaven-defying skill that could alter a person's appearance and figure without a trace, completely flawlessly. After the Grandmaster fell, Beichen split into six branches, and this person went into seclusion. Their name was never heard in the Jianghu again. Because it was so long ago, later generations regarded these legends as fabrications. I was also startled when I saw Young Master Qian's skills just now. I didn't expect anyone from that sect was still alive."

Cai Zhao was engrossed. "It's that amazing? How come I've never heard my aunt mention it..."

Chang Ning: "About seventy or eighty years later, a descendant of this gifted individual, of an unknown generation, suddenly appeared in the Jianghu. He founded the Thousand Faces Sect, widely accepting disciples and recruiting followers. After that, the Thousand Faces Sect flourished in the Jianghu for a time. However, what flourishes must decline..."

Cai Zhao snorted in disdain. "The Thousand Faces Sect wouldn't have lasted long even without the 'flourish and decline' rule. This sect's specialty is becoming another person. To put it bluntly, it's 'deception'! How can you expect to reach the heavens by establishing yourself through deceit?! Even the Demonic Cult, they practice their skills diligently, rack their brains for conspiracies, and then conscientiously go on killing sprees and setting fires to expand their territory."

"Your words are crude but your reasoning is sound, Zhaozhao." Chang Ning picked up his chopsticks, adjusted his sleeves, and habitually piled food into Cai Zhao's bowl. "The Thousand Faces Sect stirred up trouble in the Jianghu for about twenty years. The last sect leader was nicknamed the 'Thousand Faces Demonic Butcher'. It's said that his family met with disaster when he was young, and all his relatives were brutally killed."

Cai Zhao's heart skipped a beat.

Chang Ning: "Logically speaking, the Thousand Faces Demonic Butcher's background was indeed pitiful. However, he went on a killing spree during his revenge, implicating many innocent people. Infants in swaddling clothes, toddlers learning to speak, even the servants who cooked and tended the fires were all slaughtered—how could the reputable and righteous sects stand by and do nothing? So, he had to take his entire sect and seek refuge with the Demonic Cult. At first, the Demonic Cult held the Thousand Faces Sect in high regard, but just as that hook-nosed man said today, the greater the skills of the Thousand Faces Sect, the less others could trust them, so..."

"So the Demonic Cult wiped out the Thousand Faces Sect?!" Cai Zhao was tense.

Chang Ning smiled. "Wrong. It wasn't the Demonic Cult that acted. After all, they had recruited them, so it wasn't good to fall out for no reason—they just leaked the location of the Thousand Faces Sect's hideout and the surrounding traps and formations."

Cai Zhao was stunned. "...It was the reputable and righteous sects that did it?"

Chang Ning nodded. "On that day, under the pretext of celebration and rewards, the Demonic Cult invited all the disciples of the Thousand Faces Sect to gather at their hideout in advance. Then, the Six Sects of Beichen sent out all their experts, along with almost all the renowned heroes of that time... In short, blood flowed like a river, and not a single member of the Thousand Faces Sect survived."

Cai Zhao found this matter too tragic and gently shook her head. "Actually, it would have been enough to severely punish the wrongdoers. There was no need to slaughter them all..."

Chang Ning smiled with deep meaning. "Indeed, if it was just for punishment, there was no need to eliminate them all."

Cai Zhao froze. "...They, they wanted to completely eradicate this skill?"

"Correct." Chang Ning said, "As long as someone knew this skill, no one could sleep soundly."

—At its core, this was a sect-annihilating massacre that occurred with the silent, tacit understanding of both the righteous and demonic factions.

Cai Zhao was dazed for a long time, muttering to herself, "No wonder my family's ancestral records have no mention of this. I suppose other reputable and righteous sects wouldn't record such a thing either. Maybe even Aunt doesn't know."

Whether it was collaborating with the Demonic Cult or annihilating a sect out of fear, it was all too disgraceful.

Perhaps the Demonic Cult wasn't very willing to mention this matter either, so everyone worked together to completely erase all traces of this sect's existence, burying this chapter of history in the long river of time.

"After all that talk, how do you break this skill? Acupoint-sealing can be undone. How do you expose someone who has been body-swapped by the Thousand Faces Sect?" She finally remembered her ultimate goal.

Chang Ning spread his hands. "I don't know either."

He added, "Few people have even heard of this technique, so how would they know how to break it?"

Cai Zhao muttered to herself, "We really should have captured that Young Master Qian. We caused quite a commotion, and Senior Brother Zhuang found Senior Brother Fan who had been drugged. I guess they'll be searching the surrounding alleys soon. I wonder how those people will get away from the questioning?"

"How to get away? Easy." Chang Ning looked out the window, gazing towards the west of the town. "Just burn it all down."

Cai Zhao was greatly shocked and rushed to the window to look. Sure enough, that area at the west gate of the town was ablaze, with thick smoke rising straight into the sky. She exclaimed, "They actually set the houses on fire?"

"Only by burning it all down can they leave no trace. Once the heat is off, they can just find another residence to hide in." Chang Ning poured himself a drink. "I wonder where we should look for them next time."

"Are these people from the Demonic Cult?" Cai Zhao sat back down at the table. "How many people do you think they've replaced? Did they capture my father to replace him with a fake one for me?"

"In any case, your father should be safe for now." Chang Ning added another pile of food to the girl's bowl. "You heard what that Young Master Qian said. The last time he replaced someone was half a month ago, but your father only went missing yesterday."

He added, "Besides, do you know what the hardest thing to imitate about a person is?"

Cai Zhao guessed it was accent, handwriting, habits, and so on, but Chang Ning refuted them all. "It's martial arts. Especially for someone of your father's skill level, where would the Demonic Cult find a comparable expert to impersonate him? I... damn it all to hell!"

He suddenly stopped his chopsticks. "I know why they had to ambush Sect Master Qi! Only if Sect Master Qi is injured does the person impersonating him not have to display his skills!"

Upon hearing this, Cai Zhao had a sudden realization.