Jiang Che sat on the bed, feeling the spiritual energy swirling in his dantian.
He had just accidentally revealed part of the secret he had been hiding deep in his heart.
The sky gradually darkened.
Xu Qianlan had returned as well.
She hadn’t expected that the first thing Jiang Che asked her to do was to inquire about a couple of dead bodies.
“I’m back.”
Jiang Che looked up with hopeful eyes.
“The two people who died in Shenxiao Town a few days ago—you wanted me to find out about them, right? I got the information.
One was a girl, the other a middle-aged man. Since no one in the town claimed the bodies, they’ll be buried in a remote place in a few days. For now, they’re kept in the town’s Yizhuang.
Disciples will be sent to handle it soon. Are these the people you were looking for?”
Jiang Che nodded.
At first, he had intended to return to Lingjian Peak to find his former attendant Yun Fan and ask him to help with the inquiries.
But somehow, the words slipped out.
“Then, do you want me to help you with anything else—”
Before Xu Qianlan could finish, Jiang Che interrupted.
“No need. This is enough. I want to go to Lingjian Peak.”
He suppressed the urge inside but didn’t want to trouble Xu Qianlan any further with this matter.
Xu Qianlan’s expression dimmed a little.
“All right, I’ll take you there—”
“Mm.”
Jiang Che didn’t refuse anymore.
……
Lingjian Peak, Martial Arts Arena.
The large bluestone arena, which should have been bustling with Lingjian Peak disciples practicing swordsmanship, was surprisingly empty and a little desolate.
Only one disciple in a plain black robe was swinging an ordinary sword here.
His robe was unremarkable, making him look like the most ordinary disciple.
This was Yun Fan, a miscellaneous disciple of Lingjian Peak, about twenty years old.
He had once been Jiang Che’s exclusive attendant.
Sheathing his sword, Yun Fan sighed.
“Sigh, I’m so stupid. Even after entering the sect for so long, I still can’t fully grasp these sword techniques. If only the Senior Brother were still here!
Senior Brother, can you see? Yun Fan can now practice the Basic Sword Formula of Shenxiao Sect, and my cultivation has reached the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.
Without you, Senior Brother, there wouldn’t be the Yun Fan I am today!”
He wanted to continue practicing but glanced at the sky—it was time to clean Senior Brother’s room.
Though he was the only one, Yun Fan had kept the routine all these years: practicing swordsmanship in the arena every morning, meditating, then practicing again.
Why so diligent? Because of the wise words Jiang Che once told him.
He still remembered those two sentences clearly.
“A day’s plan starts with the morning…”
“Time is precious, more valuable than gold…”
……
Yun Fan arrived at Jiang Che’s old residence and opened the door.
There was a bookshelf and some potted plants.
Jiang Che used to live here, and after he left, Lin Yin often came by, along with Yun Fan.
Thankfully, Lin Fairy had ordered that no one else was allowed to live in this room, preserving the only trace left by Senior Brother.
While cleaning, Yun Fan kept thinking of Jiang Che.
On the bookshelf sat a box.
Seeing it, Yun Fan recalled a joke Jiang Che once told him.
“If one day, Senior Brother is gone, there’s a secret compartment under the pillow with a stone inside. You must break it for me, but absolutely do not look!”
So, on the day Jiang Che had his accident, as a miscellaneous disciple who wasn’t allowed into the Disciplinary Hall, Yun Fan came here and smashed that stone.
Later, he found out it was a Shadowstone…
After tidying up, Yun Fan was about to head to Lin Yin’s residence to clean, as he had inherited Jiang Che’s habit of cleaning for her daily.
But halfway down the corridor, a shadow blocked his path.
Pitch black, the figure’s features were indistinct, but an intense chill shot straight to the crown of his head.
“Junior Brother… did you break the stone for Senior Brother…”
At that voice, Yun Fan jumped in fright.
A ghost?
A bit short though.
But who knows if ghosts come tall or short.
Yun Fan immediately fell to his knees with a “thud.”
“Senior Brother! Junior Brother obeyed! On the day of your accident, I smashed the stone without even peeking!”
“Really?”
“Absolutely!”
Jiang Che turned around. Since Xu Qianlan had sent him here, he told her to go back first; he wanted to be alone.
Xu Qianlan had been quite worried at first.
But Jiang Che insisted, so she said she would come back later to pick him up and then flew away on her sword.
Seeing his familiar Junior Brother warmed Jiang Che’s heart—his Junior Brother hadn’t changed a bit.
“Then get up.”
“No. I failed you back then. If I had the ability, you wouldn’t have been expelled from the sect. You’re such a gentle person! You remember almost every Junior and Junior Sister’s name. How could you have killed Yuyue and Yunjian, two Senior Brothers?”
Jiang Che sighed deeply. The events of that year…
“It’s alright, Junior Brother. I don’t blame you. Actually, I’m not really dead.”
Upon hearing this, Yun Fan looked up at Jiang Che, like a child, eyes still covered with a cloth…
Is this Senior Brother?
But he knew the words Senior Brother had told him—words no one else knew.
“What’s wrong? Don’t remember Senior Brother? Believe it or not, I’ll expose all your secret crushes on the Junior Sisters…”
“Senior Brother… Senior Brother!”
Trust was like this: a sentence only the other knew, a secret only the other held.
Even if appearances changed, they could still recognize each other.
“Senior Brother, why have you become like this?”
At this moment, the two sat by the corridor, gazing at the night sky.
A cold night breeze swept by, but Jiang Che’s face showed no trace of a smile, even in this reunion.
Seeing his Senior Brother like this, Yun Fan felt unbearably sad—how had his Senior Brother ended up like this?
And still blind.
“Well… it’s a long story. To put it simply, I don’t even know.”
Jiang Che sighed deeply.
“Also, Yun Fan, in the end, I’m no longer your Senior Brother, so you don’t have to…”
“No! Once Senior Brother, always Senior Brother!”
Jiang Che’s lips twitched.
“Cough, cough! Fine… as you wish.”
“Senior Brother, where have you been all these years? Why didn’t you come to find me?
After you left, Master changed completely, Grand Elder also died mysteriously, many disciples either disappeared or left…”
Yun Fan exhaled deeply, wanting to say so much but unable to finish.
Jiang Che was confused. What did he mean Grand Elder also died?
“You said Grand Elder died? What happened?”
“Ah? Um, I don’t really know. Anyway, the Grand Elder went missing somehow, and when they found him, he was hanging from a tree at the foot of the mountain. Blood completely drained.
But Master forbade anyone from spreading this.”
Jiang Che fell into thought. But what did it matter to him? He shook his head.
“Yun Fan, enough of this. Help me with something!”
“Senior Brother, just say it! If it’s for you, Yun Fan would go through fire and water without hesitation!”