Chapter 8: Reunion
The threat in those words was already unmistakable.
But Song Yan’s confidence did not come solely from the Dongyuan Sect behind him.
Among these three, only Lu Xiaowei was at the third level of Qi Refining, while the other two were merely at the first level. He did not know where they found the courage to clamor here.
If it were not that Sheng Nian was unaware of the ways of cultivation, then with his years of martial arts training and faster movements, he could still manage to kill these two Qi Refining Stage first-level cultivators.
These mountain rogue cultivators were usually ones who lacked the aptitude to join any sect, or had been expelled for being too untalented.
Let alone combat techniques, their use of spiritual energy was rough and crude. Even if all three attacked together, they were no match for Song Yan at all.
Xu Darong and Sheng Yun supported Sheng Nian from either side. When they saw the face under the bamboo hat, they cried out in surprise and joy.
“Yesheng!”
“Brother Yesheng!”
Song Yan walked over slowly and placed the bamboo hat behind his back.
“Senior Brother Zhao, thank you for your trouble.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Zhao Fengcheng waved his hand.
He was considered a half-disciple of the Dongyuan Sect, having joined decades before Song Yan. It was not inappropriate to politely address him as senior brother.
In the sect’s outer division, there were many cultivators with extremely poor aptitude who made no progress in cultivation for decades. When they grew older, they either realized they could not ascend the path of immortality, or were simply expelled from the sect and driven down the mountain.
In any case, upon returning to the mortal world, the third level of Qi Refining could barely qualify one as a martial arts expert.
Among them, some were unwilling to accept their fate. If the sect approved, they would be sent down the mountain and placed in villages or prefectures within the sect’s sphere of influence as honorary elders.
If they discovered children with suitable aptitude for cultivation and reported to the sect, they would also receive rewards.
Usually, they would just guard the territory and maintain peace.
Zhao Fengcheng was such a person. He was the honorary elder of Shiliang Town. Song Yan had originally been chosen by him and sent to the Dongyuan Sect.
In a way, he was Song Yan’s guide.
“Fellow Daoist Lu, your protective jade talisman is already shattered. If you continue to entangle yourself, it will be truly dangerous.”
Song Yan walked up to Lu Xiaowei and patted his shoulder, leaving an imperceptible trace of energy on it.
“I also wish to return to the sect to report my mission as soon as possible… Why don’t you all take your leave earlier.”
He stared down at the three of them, his expression and tone both oozing with a deep sense of menace.
Song Yan finally truly understood what it felt like to become stronger!
The strengthening of his divine sense allowed him to cast those previously unfamiliar spells with greater fluidity, while the advancement of his spiritual energy level simply and brutally enhanced the spells’ effects.
Just now, the two spells—the Azure Vine Technique and the Fire Flame Technique—would have been difficult to manipulate without his current level of divine sense, let alone combine them.
Song Yan thought to himself that he needed to accelerate the cultivation of that nameless incantation.
The idea of launching seventeen divine thoughts simultaneously became more urgent.
Lu Xiaowei stared at him coldly, his eyes filled with resentment.
The protective jade talisman bestowed by his master!
That was a precious talisman capable of withstanding a full-force strike from the peak of Qi Refining!
Because of this person’s interference, it had been destroyed by a mortal’s single blade strike!
His heart was bleeding.
“Good, good, good… I, Lu, am inferior in skill. Let us go.”
Lu Xiaowei’s two junior brothers supported him and left.
Zhao Fengcheng was over forty years old but lacked courage and resolve. At this moment, he was still somewhat uneasy, his words hesitant: “Junior Brother Song… they…”
“It’s nothing. I will find them again.”
Song Yan’s tone was calm.
Zhao Fengcheng was startled: “Find them?”
“They came to our Shiliang Town searching for some ‘opportunity’… Senior Brother Zhao, in this remote backwater, you can’t even dig up two pounds of mud with a single hoe. Where would any opportunity come from…”
Having returned to his hometown, Song Yan’s speech became more casual again.
“They must have some other motive. Since they’re already here, we might as well find out what they’re really after.”
“Mm…”
Zhao Fengcheng nodded thoughtfully.
Song Yan walked over to the Sheng siblings. Spiritual energy glowed green in his hand as he pressed lightly on Sheng Nian’s shoulder.
“New injuries added to old ones. Do you still want this arm or not?”
“Cough… heh heh…”
Blood trickled from the corner of Sheng Nian’s mouth, yet he actually laughed: “Whether I want it or not… that’s Doctor Song’s call.” Sheng Yun quickly asked: “Brother Yesheng, how is my brother?”
“Hopeless.”
Song Yan shook his head, and everyone’s hearts sank.
“The injuries on his body are fine, but his foolishness is an inborn deficiency—a lack of wits. That cannot be cured.”
“Pah, you quack, I really want to tear that dog mouth of yours apart…”
Sheng Nian spat out a mouthful of stagnant blood to the side, feeling much relieved.
“Hahaha.”
Sheng Yun was amused by the banter between the two brothers.
Looking at the young girl before him, who was Sheng Nian’s sister, Song Yan pretended to measure her height with his hands in surprise.
“You’ve grown so tall!”
“Of course!”
At that moment, Uncle and Aunt Meng approached with their daughter.
“Yesheng, it’s all thanks to you coming… I… I…”
Meng Tongzhou was overcome with tears, filled with lingering fear.
“Don’t, Uncle Meng. Saying that would be too formal.”
“When Grandfather was still alive, he often took me to your house for meals.”
“Besides, Lulu grew up with me, didn’t she…”
The Meng daughter, Meng Lu, was fourteen this year. Quiet and introverted, she had just endured a harrowing ordeal and was still shaken.
However, she was quite different from the little girl in Song Yan’s memory.
“It’s been a year and a half. You’ve grown taller too.”
Song Yan looked at her and smiled casually: “When the time comes, I’ll have Senior Brother Zhao test your spiritual root. If you truly have the aptitude for cultivation, someone will come to take you up the mountain to join the sect.”
Meng Lu said nothing, only nodding firmly.
Seeing that Song Yan did not put on the airs of a lofty “immortal” and was still like he was in childhood, the surrounding villagers finally dared to come forward to greet him.
“Ah Sheng! It’s been over a year. You seem to have lost quite a bit of weight.”
“Old woman, what are you saying… When a person grows taller, they naturally become thinner.”
“That’s true.”
Familiar faces reflected in Song Yan’s eyes.
“Shopkeeper Liu.”
“Aunt Zhao…”
While exchanging pleasantries, Sheng Nian had already managed on his own to retrieve his saber, though he was still grimacing in pain: “Come, let’s go to my place for a meal.”
“Let’s go.”
…
Outside Shiliang Town, at Peach Blossom Pavilion.
“Senior Brother, how are you?”
“Cough… I’m fine. Fortunately, it was a mortal weapon. The wound isn’t deep.”
Lu Xiaowei sat cross-legged, slowly circulating spiritual qi.
“Senior Brother, the person Master asked us to find… could it be that Song fellow?”
“Unlikely…”
Lu Xiaowei’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper.
“The person Master asked us to find should be a mortal. If it were that Song fellow, with spiritual energy fluctuations far beyond the early stage of Qi Refining, how could the three of us possibly take him away?”
“That year, the martial artist named Tong Chuping, who carried the Shetang Sect disciple token and fled here, died in Shiliang Town…”
“Thinking it over, what Master spoke of…”
“It should be that Sheng constable.”
(End of Chapter)