Chapter 23
“… What do you mean ‘Who should I arrest’? Here I am eating my pork shoulders at home – even put the lid back on the pot – and, suddenly, I’m the one who attracted those freaks? Why don’t you blame me for the changes in the tides, too, while you’re at it? What am I? A plague? Is logic something that doesn’t apply at Liu Shan Men?!”
“Mm.” The man heaved another big breath.
“… Hey, say something. You’re not seriously going to apprehend me, are you? I’ll have you know that I’m not defenceless. If you really try to arrest me, I’ll knock your socks off. I-I-I’m scared of even myself when I’m angry.”
“Mm.” The man crossed his arms. “… Hahaha.”
“…”
The man sat up, arms around his aching belly. “D-don’t look at me like that. I’m serious. We concluded that you’re one of the uncontrolled factors. That being said, I don’t plan to take you into custody.”
Ming Feizhen looked up to the ceiling, fighting an urge to spit.
“Come on. I’m sorry. I wasn’t done talking, hehe. Even if you attracted them, it only means that they’re trying to approach you, so it’s not your fault. You know you have… get where I’m going with this?”
Ming Feizhen wasn’t certain, but he had a suspicion. “They’re after me? Now that I think about it, based off what Master Le said, it really did feel as though he came just to see me. For a master of League of Assassins to speak to some goons of Miguo Branch is more than just deigning.”
“When I spoke about it with your shifu, he said, ‘What will be will be. If someone wants to start a fight, start it first.’ I can’t argue with his reasoning.”
“… Just you wait, Shifu. I’ll sell you someday.”
“Hahaha. I came here just to meet you and relay this information so that you’re prepared. The unorthodox sects’ target may be you, got it?”
“Loud and clear.”
“Any progress with Hua Feihua’s case?”
Ming Feizhen scratched his head. “My gut tells me Zhuo Fengru is involved in some capacity. Unfortunately, the sly bugger hasn’t left any noticeable leads for me. As for Xu Family’s extermination, it was because they possessed a valuable item.”
Ming Feizhen recounted what he heard from Hua Qing in addition to providing his own speculations.
“I’m certain the discipline that the monk, who killed Master Xu, used is Vajra Realm. I’m still not sure how word that their family was in possession of the item leaked. Zhuo Fengru may know about it, but there’s no reason for him to suck up to a faction in the Western Regions when he is equipped with both skill and money.”
“Hmm… I have to follow the regulations of the imperial court, so I can’t call all the shots. I’m here to investigate Demon Sect’s activities. To be honest, I shouldn’t have met up with you. Additionally, I don’t have the authority to handle Hua Feihua’s case.” The man then performed a hush hand gesture.
Ming Feizhen: Is he a kid or something? With a troll and kid leading Liu Shan Men, do they have any hope?
“I can’t say I have figured out the entire case, but I do have something to say about them targeting you. From what I know, you lost to Zhuo Fengru in one exchange, correct?”
“Yeah, I didn’t even see how he beat me.”
Although it was true that Ming Feizhen’s mind was divided in the match due to him trying to keep the Fengpeng’s energy in check, it didn’t change the fact that he lost. Also, he still didn’t have the foggiest idea how he lost.
“Owing to Liu Shan Men’s regulations, I can’t share the outcome of investigations with outsiders. As such, I can only tell you a story. Over a millennium ago, there were some exceptional martial art-”
“Stop.” Ming Feizhen held a hand out. “You’re not going to tell me one of those oudated Mystical Era stories, are you?”
“Oh? You know about the Mystical Era? You must like listening to stories, huh? You’re just like my daughter.”
“As if. My bloody shifu always tells a story, only to demand I run errands for him if I want to know the endings.”
The man: You just admitted you have a fondness for stories.
“If we were to juxtapose those warriors to our current generation, they would be at our peak. In order to fight a common enemy, they spent decades creating a massive martial arts manual.”
“Jin Yong’s condor trilogy?” Ming Feizhen asked.
“What’s that?”
“Beats me. I saw it in my dreams.”
“Well, no. The manual is called Repository Theory.”
The six adepts each wrote a “Repository Theory” manual, which swordsmen and swordswomen called “Repository Swordplay Theory”. On the day they completed the final product, they noticed that all of them relied on and valued different things. At the end of the day, the six individuals weren’t copies of each other. Different training systems, different experiences and different views lead to different interpretations. Accordingly, using Repository Theory as the foundation, the six of them created six branches from the foundation, namely, Mountains (Divination Branch), God-Shocking (Smithing Branch), Abyss (Intelligence Branch), Seven Emotions (Medical Branch), Fleeting (Scholastic Branch) and Millennium (Reclusive).
As standalone manuals, they could all be called “Repository Theory” despite the significant difference between them.
The “Smithing Branch” entrusted with God-Shocking Theory opened a small smithing workshop by the bank of Tiahu, living in seclusion until a Luo Clan disciple decided to run off with it and start Luo Sword Manor.
Although “Intelligence Branch” used Abyss Theory to invent “Aerial Flower Divine Seal”, the basis of their teachings remained as Abyss Theory’s teachings. When they decided to retire from martial arts two hundred years ago, the discipline went extinct. Over a year ago, their clan, Xu Clan, went extinct.
“… What you’re saying is, the sword seal thingy is a discipline from the Mystical Era? How did you find that out?”
“I didn’t find it out.” The man smiled. “Shen Clan inherited and has continued to pass down ‘Fleeting Theory’ until today. Why would I not know?”
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