Chapter 403: Having an Alternate Identity Is Also a Traditional Skill

Four Seasons Hotel in Tang City, Room 7017.

Fu Xinyi looked at the unconscious silver-haired girl lying on the bed, taking deep breaths to force herself to calm down.

She had thought that this senior, whose seniority was even higher than the Headmaster, hadn’t suffered any serious injuries. After all, how could someone badly hurt have the energy to keep spouting so much trash talk without repeating herself?

Maybe it’s just that people get more long-winded as they get older?

Just like Grandpa and Shifu, even the smallest matters can be repeated over and over again for half a day…

This senior was the Headmaster’s elder martial sister, so she must be at least as old as the Headmaster-she must have lived for over a hundred and twenty years, Fu Xinyi thought.

However, what she hadn’t expected was that as soon as she brought this great senior back to the hotel to hide her, she collapsed limply onto the bed.

And then…

With the last of her strength, Lu Yibei gave Fu Xinyi three instructions: “Help me stop the bleeding. After that, move me to a more hidden place. Don’t let my body be exposed to sunlight…”

She barely managed to finish the last word before, under the onslaught of pain that nearly shattered her mind, her body convulsed and curled up into a ball. Then everything went black, and she fainted.

Fu Xinyi could understand the first two instructions, but when she heard Lu Yibei say her body couldn’t be exposed to sunlight, she was full of confusion.

Although sunlight does have a certain suppressive effect on the psychic energy fluctuation of hauntings, from the psychic energy fluctuation, this senior was already a Class A Haunting. The suppressive effect should be negligible for her.

Why would she still fear sunlight?

Fu Xinyi wondered in confusion, but before she could sort out her thoughts, a strong smell of blood drifted into her nose, interrupting her train of thought.

That bloody scent was mixed with an inexplicable, sweet and rich fragrance, swirling in her nose, as if it had a magical power that made her head spin and her vision blur with strange halos.

The blood of a witch type haunting mixed with disaster water naturally tasted extraordinary. It was an experience Fu Xinyi had never had before-she almost fainted on the spot.

She knew that the blood of witch type hauntings always contained some disaster water with hallucinogenic effects, but she hadn’t expected the concentration in this senior’s body to be so high.

She forced herself to focus by channeling her psychic energy, and followed the scent of blood. She saw that beneath the girl on the bed, a crimson stain was spreading, blooming like a gorgeous flower, dyeing most of the sheet red.

With Lu Yibei losing consciousness, the wound on her back lost the suppression of psychic energy and immediately tore open.

The Moon Shadow Fire that Ms. Rabbit obtained from the power of the mythical type haunting She-Jia was no ordinary thing. Even though Lu Yibei, in her witch type haunting transformation state, had astonishing regenerative abilities and wouldn’t die even if stabbed through the heart, it was still just barely superior to the Moon Shadow Fire.

On top of that, the power of the Hundred-Armed Giant inside her was still rampaging through her body. Though the wound was slowly healing, without outside help, the bleeding wouldn’t stop anytime soon.

Stunned for a moment, Fu Xinyi snapped back to her senses and rushed to Lu Yibei’s side in a panic. With trembling hands, she carefully turned her over. When she saw the jagged wound edged with indigo on her back, she couldn’t help but take a deep breath, then began to chant a spell formation with quivering lips.

“Verdant mountain, veins through the stone, seek the marrow for spirit fat, find safflower to mend the bone, the king must not linger on his path. Medicine spell forty-six, Dragon Carp Draws Blood!”

As the incantation was chanted, a faint golden halo appeared at Fu Xinyi’s fingertips, gathering into a cloud. The moment the spell formation was completed, the cloud dispersed, turning into glowing motes of dust that fell and sank into Lu Yibei’s wound.

After casting the spell formation, she waited quietly for two seconds. The sleeping Lu Yibei’s breathing seemed to quicken, and in the next moment, there was a soft “puff!”-fresh blood spurted from the wound like a high-pressure water jet, shooting over three meters high, staining the ceiling red. Her aura instantly weakened even more.

Fu Xinyi: “…”

Uh… how did this happen? Did I mess up the spell formation?

Verdant mountain, veins through the stone… Wait! Oh no!

This isn’t the Six-Petal Bell for stopping bleeding-how did I accidentally use the spell for invigorating blood and energy!? Fu Xinyi thought in panic.

Luckily, Lu Yibei was incredibly resilient. If it had been an ordinary patient, her mistake would have caused the blood and energy to surge, pumping blood out of the body like a high-pressure pump-death from blood loss on the spot would have been inevitable.

But…

What was the incantation for Six-Petal Bell again? While hurriedly pressing a quilt to Lu Yibei’s wound, Fu Xinyi thought guiltily.

Although the Great Pure Palace, as a high-tier institution among psychics, required its disciples to master not only swordsmanship and spell formations, but also occultism such as mountain, medicine, fate, physiognomy, divination, mental methods, and haunting studies…

Fu Xinyi simply couldn’t.

To maintain her once-in-a-century genius persona, she had already exhausted herself perfecting swordsmanship and spell formations. She wasn’t familiar with the rest, and the elders of her sect had simply let her be when it came to other studies.

As for why she was left alone, it was probably all because of Huá Sāng…

–

A few years ago.

A senior sister from the Great Pure Palace was ordered to descend the mountain to hunt hauntings, but returned seriously injured. Everyone thought she was doomed and sighed for her.

At that time, Huá Sāng stepped forward, sneaking into the senior sister’s room for three nights in a row to treat her wounds. When the injuries miraculously healed, she left behind a bowl of hot porridge and a note.

On the note was written: [Senior Sister, your wounds are almost healed. When you wake up, have some hot porridge to warm your stomach. Left by Fu Xinyi.]

After the senior sister woke up and saw the note, word spread, and Fu Xinyi’s reputation as a genius was cemented even further. She was dragged by the elder in charge of medical affairs at Xiangfeng Hall to write a thirty-thousand-word reflection for other disciples to study.

That month, every night after sword practice, the exhausted Fu Xinyi sat at her desk in the dark with only a lamp, touching her empty head, staring at the empty new folder, and shedding tears of sadness and grievance.

A moment later.

In Room 7017, which looked like the scene of a gruesome murder, Lu Yibei lay quietly on the bed, sleeping peacefully.

Maybe Fu Xinyi had used the wrong spell formation and accidentally let out a wave of blood, which just happened to force out a lot of Moon Shadow Fire, but the bleeding from her wounds had eased considerably.

Fu Xinyi stood beside Lu Yibei with a basin of hot water and some bandages bought from the pharmacy downstairs. She put down her things and solemnly clasped her hands together.

“Senior, forgive me!”

Special circumstances call for special measures. It’s just a quick look-surely Senior won’t blame me, right?

After all, we’re both girls, aren’t we?

With so many handsome and talented senior brothers in the Great Pure Palace, and even a cute junior like Lu Yibei showing interest in me, why would I have any bad intentions toward an old lady? Fu Xinyi thought.

Thinking this, she leaned down and undressed Lu Yibei, preparing to treat her wounds in the most primitive yet effective way.

She gently undid the buttons and slipped off the elegant blue gauze dress. The skin, pale from blood loss, looked sickly white, and her graceful body was revealed inch by inch before her eyes.

Fu Xinyi’s gaze paused on Lu Yibei’s chest, and three words floated uncontrollably through her mind: big, big, big. She was momentarily dazed, her breathing growing a little rapid.

Maybe it was an illusion, but she felt she had never seen such a beautiful woman before. Her skin was as white as snow, her aura as cold as ice, and lying on a bed stained red, she looked like a dead muse-so beautiful it made one’s heart tremble.

I was wrong, I was really wrong.

I actually did have a bit of a wicked thought about Senior. I’m shameless, I’m lusting after the old lady’s body!

Fu Xinyi thought distractedly, then raised her hand and gave herself a hard slap.

“Pa-!”

With a crisp sound, a burning pain spread across her cheek, snapping her out of the charm that Lu Yibei unconsciously exuded. She silently recited the “Heart-Clearing Mantra” a few times to steady her mind, and finally began to treat Lu Yibei’s wounds.

–

While Fu Xinyi was busy tending to Lu Yibei’s wounds, under the thunderous, leaden clouds, on the dilapidated rooftop, Lu Yibei slowly opened her eyes.

She stared blankly for a few seconds, then saw Qing Ji’s figure in the distance and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Being able to enter the Dream and see the Ancestors meant there was no immediate danger to her life. It seemed Fu Xinyi had done a good job with the task she’d been given, Lu Yibei thought.

Thinking of Fu Xinyi, Lu Yibei couldn’t help but recall the scene of Fu Xinyi using the Taihe Gentleman Sword against Suolang Baima.

At that thought, she looked at Qing Ji, who was dozing off at the edge of the rooftop, and called out loudly, “Ancestor, who would’ve thought! You, with those thick eyebrows and big eyes, are actually fooling around outside?”

“If Great-Grandmother finds out about this, just wait and see how she deals with you!”

Half-asleep, Qing Ji shuddered at these words, suddenly waking up and stammering, “I’m not, I didn’t, don’t talk nonsense! I’m devoted to little Yanzhi!”

Coming to her senses and seeing Lu Yibei, chin slightly raised and eyes full of “the smug look of a petty person who’s succeeded,” Qing Ji’s face darkened. “You little brat, what nonsense are you spouting? Is that something you can joke about?”

“My love for little Yanzhi is so deep, so unforgettable, so everlasting, so unchanging even if the seas dry up and the rocks crumble-how could a kid like you understand? Since we got married, I haven’t even looked at another woman.”

“Is it that you don’t dare, or that you don’t want to?” Lu Yibei asked with a teasing smile.

“…” Qing Ji hesitated, fell silent for two seconds, then changed the subject. “By the way, why are you here at this hour today? Don’t you usually show up after midnight?”

“Oh, that’s mainly because today I caught evidence of Ancestor cheating, and I was so happy I couldn’t wait to come confront you!” Lu Yibei shamelessly dragged the topic back to Qing Ji’s supposed fooling around.

Seeing she couldn’t escape Lu Yibei’s questioning, Qing Ji tilted her head in confusion and said guiltily, “Confront? What does that mean?”

“Uh… it means to talk, just to talk, to greet you.” Lu Yibei explained.

But, the kind of greeting where you ask about someone’s family… Lu Yibei secretly added in her heart.

“You said you caught evidence-could it be…” Qing Ji mused for a while, “You saw a descendant of the Miao Gu Mistress? No, no, or maybe the Tianshan Fairy has reappeared in the world?”

“No, no, back then we’d only just pledged ourselves to each other, we weren’t married yet!”

“That’s it! It must be that little girl from the Liu landlord’s family, she’s the most likely!”

Lu Yibei, “…” So much for being devoted, huh?

You’re suddenly confessing so thoroughly, I don’t even know how to respond, you jerk!

After a couple of silent complaints, Lu Yibei looked at Qing Ji expressionlessly and said calmly, “Actually, I just saw a girl using the Taihe Gentleman Sword, and wanted to ask if you’d taught anyone outside the Lu Family. But you…”

“You little brat, trying to trick me!” Qing Ji interrupted angrily. “Is it so strange for someone else to use the Taihe Gentleman Sword? Remember that Zhang Huainan kid I told you about?”

Lu Yibei nodded.

“Good, you remember! When I was a guest elder at the Great Pure Palace, I taught him. My swordsmanship is way better than those amateurs at the Great Pure Palace. If Zhang Huainan learned it well, he’d definitely pass it on to their descendants.”

At this, Lu Yibei frowned and asked, “Weren’t you always at odds with the people from the Great Pure Palace? Why did you go be a guest elder there?”

“Well…” Qing Ji rubbed her forehead awkwardly. “You know, with money you can go anywhere, without it you can’t move an inch. Wandering the jianghu1, you need skills, but you also need money.”

“You robbed them?” Lu Yibei exclaimed.

“Nonsense! I call it taking from the rich and giving to the poor!” Qing Ji protested loudly.

Lu Yibei gave Qing Ji a sidelong glance and said quietly, “I’m afraid you’re the poor one, aren’t you?”

Qing Ji, “…”

That’s why, when it comes to finding a wife, someone like little Yanzhi is best. Fierce as she is, she’s still a hundred times better than a scheming girl like this!

Qing Ji had been traveling down the mountain for two years when a haunting struck, and a massive locust plague broke out in northern Jin.

The rich could still live in luxury, but the poor-there were the bones of the starved lying on the road, some eating dirt and gnawing on trees, some even resorting to cannibalism. No one could get enough to eat, and the way he used to earn travel money by doing odd jobs no longer worked. He could only resort to pretending to be a spirit, swindling and cheating, or even the work of a thief.

But doing such things was hardly honorable, so he didn’t dare use his own name and instead claimed to be the chief disciple of the Great Pure Palace.

Unexpectedly, as time went on, this title spread, and he became a renowned immortal bandit. Later, the story even reached the ears of the Headmaster of the Great Pure Palace at the time.

Bandit or not, the word “bandit” was still there, and it tarnished the reputation of the Great Pure Palace.

In a rage, the Headmaster led three elders and invited several of Qing Ji’s Shifu to go down the mountain together, and they caught him, tied up like a criminal, and brought him back.

However, after bringing Qing Ji back, the Headmaster, cherishing his talent and considering that his robbing the rich to help the poor could barely be called chivalrous, rejected the elders’ proposal to strip him of his powers. Instead, he invited him to become a guest elder and teach the disciples.

He stayed for three years. After three years, when Qing Ji descended the mountain for the second time, he met the woman destined for him and never returned.

–

“Shizu2, that’s not right!” Huá Sāng slapped his thigh when he heard this and said, “From what you’ve told us, that senior not only robbed the rich to help the poor, but later even saved people from disaster. He could barely be called a great hero! Why are you so afraid of someone like that?”

Hearing this, Zhang Huainan, behind the stone door, tossed out the chicken bone he’d finished gnawing, wiped his greasy mouth, rubbed his greasy hands on his robe, and said gloomily, “Don’t think I don’t know how you treat Fu Xinyi, that girl. I just don’t want to expose you.”

That’s exactly how he treated me back then, and even worse! Zhang Huainan shouted in his heart.

Not to mention, when I was a child, he tricked me into putting colorful scorpions in my pants, and as a teenager, he tricked me into plucking the tail hair of the guardian divine beast, tricked me into practicing the Taihe Gentleman Sword in reverse, tricked me into running our sect’s heart method according to the psychic energy flow of a haunting… Can I tell you about all these things?

If I told you, could I still be Headmaster? Zhang Huainan thought.

After hearing Zhang Huainan’s story, Huá Sāng was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses and smacked his lips.

So, this old man Zhang Huainan was just forced into being Headmaster?

How lame! Huá Sāng thought.

“Huá Sāng?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you badmouthing me in your heart?” Zhang Huainan said gloomily.

“I’m not!” Huá Sāng argued solemnly.

“I can sense it…”

“……”

Huá Sāng was silent for a few seconds, then shrugged. “Fine, I did think it. If you want to punish me, go ahead. Offending the Headmaster means a hundred strokes with the ferule. Here, take it.”

Seeing Zhang Huainan unmoved, Huá Sāng handed the ferule over again. “Come on, Headmaster, hit me hard, don’t hold back, don’t be polite.”

Zhang Huainan looked at the ferule in Huá Sāng’s hand. “……”

Hiss-!

Is there something wrong with my disciple’s disciple?

–

So having a secret identity is also an Old Lu family tradition? Lu Yibei thought to herself, when a low roar interrupted her thoughts.

“You’re acting strange, definitely strange! You’ve finished your questions, so why are you still hanging around?” Qing Ji growled at Lu Yibei.

Originally, in this ghostly place, Qing Ji had no one to talk to and was terribly lonely. Lu Yibei would come by from time to time to chat, which made him quite happy and comforted.

But today, Lu Yibei was coldly sarcastic and subtly mocking from the moment she appeared. After he told his side of the story and explained everything, she just sat silently nearby, watching him with a profound gaze that made his heart turn cold. It was torture-he wished she’d just leave.

Seeing Qing Ji’s expression grow darker, Lu Yibei knew the time had come. She glanced sideways at Qing Ji and said, “Ancestor, it’s not that I don’t want to leave, but you just revealed so many shameful secrets. I’m naturally clever and never forget what I hear, and I can’t control my mouth.”

“I’m worried that as soon as I go out, in a couple of days your secrets will be all over the place. What should we do about that?”

As she spoke, Lu Yibei’s eyes darted slyly, secretly delighted.

Today, after fighting Ms. Rabbit, she’d learned a lot about the psychic energy traits of the witch type. Since she was awake now, suffering from injuries and pain anyway, she might as well practice controlling the power of the Hundred-Armed Giant.

Besides, with this leverage, all those “crooked ways” like the Paper Cicada Immortal that Ancestor never wanted to teach me-today, you’ll have to spill them all.

Otherwise, when I get back to Hua City, I’ll go straight to the ancestral grave and burn incense and paper for Great-Grandma! Lu Yibei thought.

As if seeing through Lu Yibei’s thoughts, Qing Ji glanced at her and said gloomily, “You’re staying here to use those secrets to threaten me into teaching you crooked ways, aren’t you?”

“I’m telling you, no way! But lately I’ve gained some new insights into the way that power moves in your body, and that I can teach you well!”

Qing Ji said sinisterly. Seeing Lu Yibei’s face change and her turning to run, he immediately shouted, “Wretch, come here and die!”

With his shout, a light sphere as big as a basin, swirling with light and shadow, shot from his palm and blasted toward Lu Yibei’s fleeing back.

And so…

“Stop hitting me, stop! The child’s going to be beaten to death, waah waah waah!”

“Die!”

“Ancestor, I know I was wrong, I’ll never do it again, aaoo-!”

“Die!”

“Ancestor, look into my eyes, ah-!”

“……”

Heart-wrenching screams echoed over the entire Dream city.

Footnote:

1. Jianghu(江湖): In Chinese culture, “Jianghu” refers to a world full of adventure and freedom.
2. Shizu(师祖): “Shizu,” an honorific title for the supreme leader of the sect, here referring to Zhang Huainan.