Chapter 277: Senior Brother, Ye Tianchong
After all that fuss, the item in the bottle didn’t belong to this kid…
Liang Zhu instantly lost interest. He poured a cup of tea from the nearby teapot, shook it up, and said, “Not yours! What a shame…”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ye Anping furrowed his brow. “Does Brother Liang want me, the sixth brother, to have no descendants? Don’t you want to have nephews and nieces?”
“Forget love and pursue immortality. How many cultivators are trapped by love?” Liang Zhu retorted. “Cutting off descendants can benefit your path to immortality.”
Ye Anping rolled his eyes but then glanced at Liang Zhu’s crotch, pondering whether the item Liang brought to sell would lead to trouble if sold.
“Don’t bother. Mine isn’t valuable,” Liang Zhu waved off.
“Still there!” Ye Anping asked.
Liang Zhu flattened his mouth in annoyance, then glanced at the glass bottle sealed with oilcloth, pondering. Tiger and bull whips were tonic treasures among mortals and cultivators alike, but this person’s whips…
“Whose is this?” He asked.
Ye Anping glanced at Liang Zhu’s tea cup, then pulled out a small umbrella from his storage bag.
“Yun Tianchong’s,” He stated.
Yun Tianchong… Isn’t he the sentimental ancestor of the Moon Shadow Sword Sect?
Liang Zhu hesitated for a moment, then couldn’t hold back. The tea he had just sipped sprayed towards Ye Anping’s face, but it was blocked by Ye Anping’s paper fan.
He looked at Ye Anping in disbelief. If someone else had brought this thing, he would have treated it as a scam, but these words came from Ye Anping’s mouth.
“How did you manage to…” He trailed off.
“You’re not joking!” He asked.
“When did I ever joke?” Ye Anping shrugged. “Do you have a way to handle it?”
Liang Zhu was silent for a while, then asked, “What kind of miscellaneous stuff are you asking me to sell? Aren’t you afraid of him coming back for them?”
Ye Anping spread his hands. “It wasn’t me. Do you think I’m that ruthless?”
“Yes,” Liang Zhu replied.
Ye Anping furrowed his brow, a question mark appearing above his head.
“Then who did it?” He asked.
“His daughter,” Liang Zhu replied, transferring the question mark to his head.
He turned his head and glanced at Liang Ahting, who was hiding in the closet, feeling an inexplicable tightening in his pants and black lines appearing on his forehead. He stashed the glass bottle into his bag and said, “I’ll return and ask.”
“No rush, we can discuss the price later,” He added.
Before, when this bottle was in his bag, it caused quite a stir, but now he had finally handed it over.
Ye Anping seemed relieved and let out a sigh. “Last time I left, didn’t I ask you to find some capable people? Did you find any?”
“Not a one,” Liang Zhu said, crossing his arms. “I posted a recruitment notice on the black market, but the ones who came forward weren’t up to comparable, not even for you.”
“Not a single one?” Ye Anping raised an eyebrow.
“Not one, but I did compile a list for you,” Liang Zhu said, flicking his finger, sending a paper filled with nicknames flying out of his bag into Ye Anping’s hand.
Ye Anping looked at it, resembling a middle schooler’s notebook, filled with names like “The Sky-Severing Moon Sword – Xia Bai” and “Fengxing Yin Yang Eyes – Cao Zhizhi”… It gave him goosebumps.
However, there were names he recognized, “Daoist Yaotian—Lu Chengyun” and “Thief Immortal—?”
…
Daoist Yaotian, due to his poor spiritual aptitude, attempted to achieve immortality through the Jiawu Puppet Technique, nearly replacing half of his body with spiritual iron.
Ye Anping could accept this sort of mechanical ascension idea, even if it were considered taboo in immortality.
But he couldn’t accept that Yaotian was conducting live experiments on volunteers. Being a little crazy was okay, but going too far would only cause trouble and more losses than gains.
As for the Thief Immortal…
Ye Anping pondered momentarily and asked, “Have you ever talked to this Thief Immortal?”
Liang Zhu rolled his eyes and replied, “You think highly of me. Guess why there’s a question mark after him?”
“So… You didn’t even find out about her?”
“The Seven Killing Sect also wanted that person before, and the bounty was very high. But after decades of searching, I don’t even know whether he is a man or a woman, let alone their name or location…”
Ye Anping felt a bit stuck. He had considered Emperor Zong’s plan before coming back. He needed someone proficient in the art of thievery. Someone who could enter and exit Emperor Zong’s sealed vault like it was nothing, silently sneaking out a ten-thousand-pound gold statue. Though he could plan it himself, having a professional handle would be better.
In the game, the appearance of the Thief Immortal Girl coincided with the chapter involving the Emperor Sect of the Central Region. While the two forces were negotiating, she was causing trouble, stealing items occasionally, profiting from warfare, and stirring up chaos.
“Well…” Ye Anping stroked his chin and nodded. “Brother Liang, how about visiting the Central Territory Emperor Sect!”
Central Territory Emperor Sect… Liang Zhu frowned slightly upon hearing the term.
“Emperor Sect!”
“I have a favor to ask, Brother Liang. My junior sister and I will also go later, but I need you to go first and make preparations,” Ye Anping explained.
“What for?” Liang Zhu inquired.
“To infiltrate the Emperor Sect’s Xing Tian division. You’ll go as a disciple of the Hundred Lotus Sect and become a prison guard. Then, you’ll assist me, my junior sister, and others from the inside,” Ye Anping outlined his plan.
Liang Zhu stared at him seriously, unable to respond for a while. He couldn’t help but speculate—did Ye Anping know about his background?
He had come out of the Xing Tian division and had thought that after all these years, his ties with it had been severed, yet now he was being asked to go back.
Seeing Liang Zhu’s prolonged silence, Ye Anping asked, “Brother Liang, are you originally from the Emperor Sect?”
Liang Zhu returned to attention and replied, “So what if I am?”
“Not much,” Ye Anping shrugged. “Regardless, you’re still our elder brother’s sibling, but I have some insight into Brother Liang’s past identity.”
“Heh…” Liang Zhu chuckled coldly. “Is that so? Then enlighten me…”
The Emperor Sect had a secret history, merely background lore in the game to enrich the worldview.
“When the Emperor Sect’s second princess was born, there was a sudden change in celestial phenomena, causing chaos and leading to the depletion of the spiritual energy in much of the Central Territory, turning it into a desert. To appease the heavens’ wrath, the Central Territory Emperor sacrificed the second princess to the local fairy beasts, thus calming the disturbance,” Ye Anping recounted.
“In reality, however, an unnamed guard who escorted the second princess swapped her with a decoy prince out of fervent loyalty. He rescued her, and they vanished without a trace,” Ye Anping continued.
After learning this, the Emperor of the Central Region kept the news under wraps and didn’t pursue it further, allowing the incident to fade from memory.
The timeline, Liang Zhu’s partnership with Uncle Ahting Loli, his cultivation level, and his reaction to the mention of the Central Territory all seemed to confirm this speculation.
While the game didn’t explore the aftermath of this event, Liang Zhu stumbled upon it inadvertently. If the Hundred Lotus Sect hadn’t been destroyed, the Gu Poison Sect wouldn’t have issued a wanted notice to the Seven Killing Sect, and Liang Zhu wouldn’t have been tasked with capturing Feng Yudie…
“It’s quite serendipitous,” Ye Anping remarked with a slight smile. “Like a young guard running away with the princess. Is Ahting the princess?”
Liang Zhu’s tense expression softened at Ye Anping’s jest.
“You certainly have a vivid imagination,” He replied.
“Never mind,” Ye Anping waved his hand, sighing. “Whatever Brother Liang was in the past doesn’t concern me. However, I do need to rely on you for matters concerning the Emperor Sect. I’ll prepare the necessary identity tags and ensure your safety. You just need to assist us from the inside and, if possible, capture that Thief Immortal Girl and bring her to our side.”
“Thief Immortal! A girl!”
“Yes, a lively little girl~”
Liang Zhu rolled his eyes at him and didn’t agree directly. He thought for a while,
“I’ll consider it.”
“My junior sister and I will stay for two days and then return to Xuanxing Sect. I just need Brother Liang to answer me before we leave.”
After saying that, Ye Anping stood up, turned around, and walked out. But when he reached the door of the bookstore, he stopped and asked again,
“How has Ahting been spending the past six months in the Hundred Lotus Sect?”
“…It’s okay, why are you asking?” Liang Zhu narrowed his eyes slightly, and his eyes suddenly became sharp. “Lao Liu, I have to say it first…”
Ye Anping twisted his eyebrows and rolled his eyes at him,
“What do you think I am?”
Your junior sister, the silver-haired girl of the Holy Emperor’s bloodline, the young master of Xuanxing Sect, the current master of Chilong Mansion…
The names of the four beautiful girls flashed through Liang Zhu’s mind. He pursed his lips, took out the glass bottle from his storage bag, flicked it twice with his fingers, and said,
“Ye Tianchong.”
?
Ye Anping blinked, took a deep breath, and replied with a smile,
“Brother Liang, do you want me to help Ahting introduce a foster mother?”
“Oh, don’t worry about it.”
After watching Ye Anping leave, Liang Zhu let out a long breath, turned his head to look at the bookcase beside him, and called out,
“Ahting, they’re gone, come out.”
The bookcase door opened slowly, Liang Ahting looked around, then cautiously moved out.
She had just finished eavesdropping on what Liang Zhu and Ye Anping were saying, and she immediately stepped forward to grab the glass bottle in Liang Zhu’s hand, but Liang Zhu had quick eyesight and quick hands and quickly returned Yun Tianchong’s balls to the storage bag.
“What?”
“What did uncle give you? Let me see…”
“Ahting, why are you, a kid, joining in the fun of this matter between adults?”
“Look at it!!” Liang Ahting leaned on Liang Zhu’s body, “Look at it!!!”
“Scream louder, and your aunt will be here soon…”
While Liang Zhu spoke, a white shadow flashed in from outside the book pavilion.
Pei Lianxue rushed in, took off Liang Ahting from Liang Zhu with one hand, and said,
“Ahting, my aunt has been looking for you for a long time.”
“Ah!” Liang Ahting’s head suddenly shrank, and he quickly reached out to Liang Zhu for help, “Father!!!”
“Brother Liang, you are busy first. I am taking Ahting to the martial arts field.”
“…”
Liang Zhu wanted to reach out to stop him, but Pei Lianxue was one step ahead of him and flew away with Liang Ahting with her sword.
After a while, she shook her head slightly and sighed,
“Hey – it’s very good. Hundred Lotus Sect is good.”
Then, he continued to deal with the trivial paperwork on the table.
…