Heaven-Collapsing Start [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

“This is—”

Gu Yun might have failed to recognize the wooden sword in the box if he were anyone else, but he identified it at a single glance. It was because this very sword had once been held by a youth who had practiced with it, clunky yet diligent and hardworking.

Gu Yun forcefully averted his gaze from the wooden box. He turned his head toward the figure standing quietly by the window, opened his mouth, and finally said:

“I will rescue Ah Heng.”

In response, his gaze was equally resolute.

Ever since Gu Yun appeared in this manor, he never expected to hide anything from Ji Liang; his Eldest Brother had always been exceptionally intelligent.

Yet his Eldest Brother said nothing and asked nothing. He simply accepted this arrangement, one named “recuperation” but functioning as “bait” with tranquility.

Silence returned to the air. A breeze drifted in from the window, bringing a hint of chilliness.

Xiao Ba, standing outside the door, watched Alliance Leader Gu’s retreating figure disappear into the courtyard. After a moment’s hesitation, he stepped into the room.

The two had not shielded their conversation from Xiao Ba just now. To be precise, Alliance Leader Gu had been the one speaking the entire time, while Ji Liang stood by the window, eyes downcast as if staring blankly at a plant in a pot on the windowsill, never uttering a single word.

Thus, Xiao Ba learned that it was this man’s student who had been captured by the Demonic Sect. The fact that the sect appeared before him so blatantly was likely an attempt to use the boy as leverage.

That Demonic Sect truly is hateful to the extreme!

Without overthinking why Ji Liang, originally the Eldest Young Master of the Ji Family Villa, would even have a student, the indignant Xiao Ba suddenly remembered the rumors: Ji Liang was said to be in collusion with the Demonic Sect. If that were the case, would they even need to threaten him?

Xiao Ba was slightly dazed. His head throbbed trying to make sense of it, so he pushed the matter to the back of his mind and focused on the aftermath.

Unfortunately, the person who appeared that day was the Right Envoy of the Demonic Sect. His martial arts were superb, particularly his lightness skill (qinggong). He was the same person who had rescued the Demonic Sect Leader who had been struck by a fatal palm strike—from Gu Yun’s hands. That day, several great experts of the Martial Arts Alliance had pursued him simultaneously, yet he had craftily given them the slip.

However, since the remnants of the Demonic Sect dared to show themselves, it was only a matter of time before they exposed their tracks.

The young servant was still inexperienced and didn’t know how to hide his expressions; his thoughts were written all over his face amidst his furrowed brows.

Ji Liang glanced at him sideways. Suddenly, he stepped toward a desk, his fingers lightly picking up an ink stick to begin grinding ink.

Coming back to his senses, Xiao Ba stepped forward a few paces intending to take over the task, only to hear a voice as clear and light as flowing water drift into his ears. The content made him freeze instantly.

“I heard you have a mother who is gravely ill.”

Xiao Ba reacted: “How do you know?” For a moment, he even forgot his honorifics.

Ji Liang did not even raise his head, saying, “I can cure your mother’s illness.”

Xiao Ba immediately became wary. He seized Ji Liang up several times, his whole body on guard.

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

Lightly setting the brush down, Ji Liang acted as if he were entirely oblivious to the tension. He picked up the sheet of Xuan paper, the ink not yet dry and handed it to the wary Xiao Ba.

“I only need you to promise me one thing.”

Xiao Ba did not take the paper. He continued to watch him guardedly. Ji Liang continued, “Rest assured, it is something within your capabilities.”

“What thing?”

By asking this, Xiao Ba was clearly wavering.

However, Ji Liang shook his head and said, “I haven’t decided yet.”

Planting a hidden nail in advance was a habit of Ji Liang’s, regardless of whether it would eventually be used.

Xiao Ba was momentarily speechless, feeling as though his vigilance had been wasted. The man asked for a promise without even deciding what it was. However, Ji Liang said it would be within his capabilities, which allowed Xiao Ba to relax slightly. If it were something like murder or arson that went against his conscience, it would be out of the question.

Glancing at Ji Liang once more, Xiao Ba reached out and took the paper. The ink on it had dried, permeated with a lingering fragrance of ink.

Looking down, he was immediately drawn to the elegant and beautiful handwriting. When Xiao Ba snapped out of it, he realized that the contents were entirely the names of medicinal herbs.

“Go and fetch the medicine according to this prescription. Take it three times a day morning, noon, and night. After two days, you should see results.”

Xiao Ba’s face still carried suspicion; he clearly didn’t quite believe it yet. However, his hand gripping the prescription did not loosen.

Aside from this, Xiao Ba held back a thought: if this prescription were real, wasn’t Ji Liang afraid Xiao Ba would just snatch it away since he displayed it so openly? Moreover, even without snatching it, with the eyesight of a martial artist, one could memorize the contents with just a glance.

Ultimately, Xiao Ba merely gave Ji Liang a look full of complex emotions, tucked the prescription into his robe, and spoke:

“Remember, I can only help you once, and it must be something within my capabilities.”

He emphasized the words “once” and “within my capabilities.”

Ji Liang tilted his head slightly and said, “Naturally.”

Afterward, Xiao Ba specifically sought out a familiar physician to examine the prescription. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Ji Liang, but his mother’s life was a grave matter that required extreme caution.

As a result, he was cornered by the physician who frantically demanded to know the source of the prescription. That crazed look truly left Xiao Ba with lingering fears. However, didn’t this also prove from another angle that the prescription was not only real but also quite extraordinary?

Xiao Ba shook his head, quickly grabbed the medicine packets, and left, ignoring the excited physician behind him. When he administered the medicine to his mother, the improvement was almost visible to the naked eye; she indeed took a turn for the better.

This made Xiao Ba happy, but it also made his perception of Ji Liang significantly more complicated.

**

There is very little information that the Hidden Pavilion (Yin Lou) finds difficult to investigate.

Thus, Xiao Ba would never know that, besides his mother’s affairs, even his ancestry for eighteen generations had already been laid bare before Ji Liang.

However, after this incident, the little servant who was supposed to serve and monitor Ji Liang step-by-step seemed to unconsciously let his guard down. He no longer treated Ji Liang with the formulaic respect a normal servant shows a master.

“And then? You really taught him martial arts?”

Inside the octagonal pavilion, Xiao Ba leaned on the stone table cracking melon seeds, his eyes full of curiosity as he looked at the tall, slender figure in green. Luckily, the butler wasn’t here, or he would have surely received a harsh scolding.

He was curious about the student of Ji Liang’s who had been captured by the Demonic Sect. As they chatted, he unknowingly listened more and more intently.

“Yes. Though he was a bit older, his talent was decent,” Ji Liang said flatly, scattering fish food into the pond.

“His talent was good? Was it better than mine? And, if he already knew martial arts, how could he lose to a few Demonic Sect remnants!”

Xiao Ba pumped his fist indignantly. But he failed to consider that compared to him—who had practiced martial arts since childhood, Ah Heng had only been learning for less than two months.

“His talent was not as good as yours.”

As soon as Ji Liang’s words fell, Xiao Ba’s indignant expression vanished, replaced by a wide grin. Such was the nature of a youth.

Ji Liang’s words weren’t a lie. Xiao Ba’s talent was indeed very good. At such a young age, his martial arts had already reached the peak of the second-rate; given more time, becoming a first-rate expert was only a matter of when.

Likely for this reason, the butler had arranged for him to be Ji Liang’s personal servant.

Only now, this little servant seemed to have a slight inclination toward “defection,” though perhaps he himself was unaware of it.

Xiao Ba had not participated in the battle between the Martial Arts Alliance and the Demonic Sect back then, so much of what he knew was hearsay. For instance, the traitor Ji Liang had supposedly colluded with the Demonic Sect in secret, revealing the Alliance’s internal information and causing many righteous comrades to be ambushed and killed.

If true, such a litany of crimes would indeed be heinous and deserving of death.

Of course, Xiao Ba had also heard that the traitor had already died, pierced through the heart by Alliance Leader Gu’s sword. The storyteller had looked immensely relieved when reaching that part of the tale.

Yet, after only two short months, news spread that Ji Liang, who was supposed to be dead, had not died or rather, had been resurrected. After all, many people had witnessed him being struck in a vital spot by Gu Yun’s sword.

So Xiao Ba, like many others, was now very confused. Just how did he survive? And how did he end up in his current state devoid of martial arts, weak, and powerless?

Xiao Ba did not doubt that even a slightly strong commoner could easily kill him.

But he couldn’t die yet, because the Martial Arts Alliance wanted to use him as bait to lure out the remnants of the Demonic Sect.

As he thought, Xiao Ba drifted off into a daze again until a shadow fell before him. He raised his head half a beat late to see the thin figure in green passing him, walking out of the octagonal pavilion.

Xiao Ba hurried to catch up and instinctively asked:

“So, after the Alliance Leader found you, did you come back with him?”

Xiao Ba was indeed too young. Having experienced too little, he had never felt the sting of being abandoned by everyone; how could he understand Ji Liang’s feelings at this moment?

In this story, what was being told was Ji Liang’s life as a teacher in Pangxi Village and his time teaching martial arts to the youth named Ah Heng, until that peaceful life was shattered.

Xiao Ba caught up to the figure in front. Unexpectedly, the man stopped, turned his head slightly, and his gaze was as always calm to the point of indifference.

“No.”

He spoke softly, his thin lips uttering only that one word. Xiao Ba waited for a long while, but the rest never came.

Before Xiao Ba could ask, the figure that had briefly paused resumed its pace, leaving him standing there, thoroughly perplexed.