Chapter 615 - 265: Celestial Listening, Dragon Court

Chapter 615: Chapter 265: Celestial Listening, Dragon Court

"Given my current situation in the East Sea, even a discerning person would turn a blind eye if they figured it out."

Fang Shuwen waved his hand.

"Let’s put that aside for now. If I may ask, sir, you came to the East Sea from the Central Domain. For what reason?"

The old man looked at Fang Shuwen, and after a long silence, he slowly uttered two words:

"Fleeing death."

"Twenty years ago, the [Clouded Leopard Book], the Twelve Hour Guards?"

Fang Shuwen spoke softly, but the old man’s expression changed drastically.

Seeing this, Fang Shuwen continued:

"The Twelve Hour Guards were involved in a major incident twenty years ago..."

He had just gotten to this point when the old man couldn’t help but cut in:

"How do you know about the Twelve Hour Guards?"

Fang Shuwen waved his hand.

"Don’t be alarmed. I am not a member of Dragon Abyss.

"I just happen to know a few things...

"Twenty years ago, because of a major incident, several members of the Twelve Hour Guards went missing.

"As far as I know, the Ox, Rabbit, Snake, Dog, and Rooster Guards all disappeared. But if I’m not mistaken, you must have been the Chenlong Guard back then.

"You didn’t go missing at the time... but I wonder if your subsequent escape was also related to this matter?"

The old man’s eyes were filled with shock and suspicion as he looked at Fang Shuwen.

To him, the young man seemed increasingly mysterious and unfathomable.

After staring for a long moment, he slowly let out a breath and said:

"You’re right...

"Twenty years ago, the Lord of Time received some earth-shattering news and plotted a major undertaking.

"The five guards you mentioned were the ones sent to carry it out.

"Along with three of the best experts found in the Five Domains Martial World, a total of eight people were assembled...

"Unfortunately, they failed."

Fang Shuwen’s expression remained unchanged, but inside, a monstrous wave of shock crashed through him.

’I thought I wouldn’t make any more progress on this matter until I returned to the Eastern Domain, or perhaps even the Central Domain. But now, by a stroke of luck, I’ve run into the Elder Chenlong Guard from twenty years ago right here in the East Sea.’

’He doesn’t know my true identity, which is the only reason he’s speaking so openly.’

A thousand thoughts raced through Fang Shuwen’s mind in an instant.

’My first impulse is to capture this Elder Chenlong Guard and use ’A Line’ to torture the information out of him.’

’With how complete ’A Line’ is now, I wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally killing him, even if it took ten days or half a month. Sooner or later, he’d tell me everything I want to know.’

’But that method is a bit risky.’

’This Elder Chenlong Guard’s [Clouded Leopard Book] is something else. The fact that he’s survived this long might mean he has some unknown escape techniques. If I try to be clever and it backfires, I’ll lose this golden opportunity.’

So, after a moment’s hesitation, Fang Shuwen decided to see if he could coax some information out of him with words first.

Fang Shuwen nodded lightly.

"They failed, so they ’disappeared’. But the Lord of Time didn’t die—he was just replaced.

"And on the surface, you seemed to have nothing to do with it...

"But you were still implicated nonetheless.

"But why only you?"

When the old man heard this, his face grew solemn.

"Who in the world are you?"

Fang Shuwen knew his next words would probably be crucial.

Whether they could continue this conversation or would come to blows depended on this single sentence.

Thinking of this, Fang Shuwen sighed.

"Of the five who ’disappeared’ back then, not all of them died.

"One of them... survived."

"Who?"

"The Rooster Guard of old," Fang Shuwen said softly.

"Are you... his disciple!?"

A look of excitement appeared on the old man’s face.

Fang Shuwen raised an eyebrow. ’Him? Worthy?’ he thought.

But he couldn’t just deny it at this point, so he only said:

"He never admitted to it.

"But he did teach me the Inner Strength from the [Morning Book]."

"You even know of the [Morning Book]!"

The old man’s voice grew even more excited.

"That’s right. Dragon Abyss has always acted in secret. If you weren’t his disciple, if you didn’t understand the [Morning Book], how could you have tracked me here based on the [Clouded Leopard Book]?

"But if you knew Liu Chuanzong possessed the [Clouded Leopard Book], why were you so ruthless with him!?"

Fang Shuwen’s expression was unchanged as he replied coolly:

"I thought... he was the current Chenlong Guard."

As soon as he said this, most of the doubt vanished from the old man’s face.

’If he is the successor of the old Rooster Guard, he must know what happened to the Lord of Time back then. And the Rooster Guard, despite being alive, never returned to Dragon Abyss, choosing instead to secretly train a disciple... Their stance is self-evident.’

’We are the same. Because of that incident, I fled to the East Sea, harboring an endless dissatisfaction with the current Twelve Hour Guards, hoping to one day return to Dragon Abyss and rescue the Old Lord of Time. Otherwise, why would I have hidden for so long, just scraping by in the East Sea?’

’I always thought I was fighting this battle alone. I never expected that today I would meet an ally—and the disciple of an old comrade, no less.’

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but ask another question:

"Why didn’t he teach you the other Martial Arts from the [Morning Book]?"

Fang Shuwen said, as if it were obvious:

"He was worried that if I used ultimate techniques like [One Cry to Whiten the World], I would be discovered by people from Dragon Abyss.

"That’s why he only taught me the Inner Strength and didn’t dare teach me any other Martial Arts.

"My own skills are a hodgepodge from many sources. By now, even the Inner Strength from the [Morning Book] has become a distorted version of the original."

Hearing this, the old man sighed internally.

"Is he... doing well now?"

"He has already passed away," Fang Shuwen said.