Chapter 1047: Chapter 726: The World of Martial Arts is Profound, You are Too Young to Grasp It
Yang Xiao has been through storms and stress all the way, always taking things from others. When has he ever had his treasures stolen? Once, the Mirror Ghost emptied his house, and in the end, it got its head blown off.
But Tong Han was different; she was a good brother. To be honest, even if she took a few treasures, Yang Xiao wouldn’t pursue it. The problem was that she didn’t even know if she could handle these things, which was Yang Xiao’s biggest worry.
"After the sparring, did Tong Han show any signs of change?" Yang Xiao pursued further.
Upon hearing this, Ling Yanyu thought for a moment and replied, "Does a better appetite count?"
Yang Xiao: "..."
Considering his relationship with Tong Han, as long as her appetite didn’t grow to the point where she could eat a person, it was not a big deal.
"Where is Tong Han now?" Yang Xiao lightly pinched his temples, feeling a headache coming on; none of them made it easy for him.
"In your room."
"Hmm?" Yang Xiao was taken aback, "What is she doing in my room?"
"She’s been staying in your room for a while now, didn’t you know?" Ling Yanyu was also puzzled.
From Ling Yanyu’s explanation, Yang Xiao learned that on the night Tong Han went to Xiang Ma Town, when Ling Yanyu was introducing her to the accommodation, he told her that room was his own, and then Tong Han moved in.
Ling Yanyu seemed to realize he made a mistake. After being silent for a few seconds, he tentatively asked, "How about... I ask her to switch rooms?"
"Forget it, switch one for me instead." Yang Xiao didn’t want to waste time on such matters.
"Okay." Ling Yanyu readily agreed. He vaguely realized that the relationship between them was unusual. He would rather offend Yang Xiao than Tong Han, because if she truly got into power and caused trouble for him, even crying would be futile.
Moreover, having witnessed Tong Han’s methods, he dared not demand she switch rooms, which would only make things awkward for himself. Tong Han, with just a little pinky, could squash him.
Getting squashed would be bad enough, but being half-squashed, paralyzed beyond cure, that was terrifying to even think about.
His master was much more reasonable. Ling Yanyu knew Yang Xiao was a good person; despite his reputation as a cold-blooded slayer who would act without a word, he was genuinely good to his own people. Take, for instance, the Guardian Yun matter, if it were anyone from Xiang Ma Town, she would be dead.
"Master, I have to tell you something; in this period, Ms. Han has been checking our information stations, looking into a lot of information related to you, just so you’re aware..." Ling Yanyu thought it best to let Yang Xiao make the decision on such troublesome matters; he couldn’t keep it to himself.
"If it happens again, remind her yourself."
"Me?" Ling Yanyu immediately sensed something was off.
"Just say it’s from me, that’s it. In a few days, I’ll return." Yang Xiao hung up the phone.
Drained, Yang Xiao threw himself onto the folding bed in his office and fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, after freshening up, he went downstairs to have breakfast. During work hours, Director Nalan came to sit in Yang Xiao’s office for a while; he always had confidence in Yang Xiao.
During their chat, Nalan Shuo brought Yang Xiao a piece of news. Captain Zhou did not leave Rongcheng; instead, he went to the City Center Official Residence to see Huang Guozhao. What he went there for, Nalan Shuo wasn’t sure.
"Captain Zhou is a reliable person. We worked well together during missions," Yang Xiao said honestly.
"As long as you return safely, that’s all that matters. Take some time to rest; you’re exhausted." Nalan Shuo felt a bit sorry for the young man. Although he hadn’t been with the Patrol Defense Office for long, he’d gone through too much, some things even Nalan Shuo couldn’t involve himself in.
"By the way, Director, is there any update on Captain Wu Zhengwu’s matter?" Yang Xiao followed up, "What explanation did the Yi Sect give?"
"There aren’t any clues yet; this matter is too significant. I will inform you once there’s a resolution. Now, I’ve heard a bit of news, the higher-ups are planning to issue a new extermination order against the Yu Yuan Sect, not on the provincial level, but issued by the General Bureau. They’re in big trouble now."
Nalan Shuo snorted coldly, deeply loathing this group of beasts slaughtering lives, "A few years ago, they were mostly dealt with and had disappeared from the world of martial arts. Who would’ve thought a few remnants still wanted to cause trouble, utterly reckless."
Hearing that the General Bureau was already on it, Yang Xiao felt relieved. Although Wu Zhengwu’s death was directly caused by a woman from the Yi Sect, the mastermind was the Yu Yuan Sect, and this blood debt should naturally be recorded on Yu Yuan Sect’s account!
After a busy day, Yang Xiao returned to his villa, took a hot shower, tidied himself up, then ordered takeout, enjoying a rare moment of rest.
He slept uneasily, waking up startled midway. The sky outside was still pitch black. Glancing at the time, it was just past 1 AM. No longer sleepy, Yang Xiao pondered for a moment, considering retrieving the newly acquired Ghost Bell to inspect it.
But doing so here was not feasible. He planned to go to the Mirror World, so that even if something went wrong, it wouldn’t get out of hand.
Putting on the Drama Robe, he also grabbed the Soul-Capturing Mirror. As his ability activated, Yang Xiao, standing in front of the dressing mirror, returned to that mysterious world. After finding the hidden chamber, he pushed open the door, where the Little Mirror Ghost was staring wide-eyed at him.
At this moment, using Little Mirror Ghost to describe it is no longer appropriate. The Mirror Ghost has grown into the appearance of a 15 or 16-year-old teenager, with handsome eyebrows and eyes exactly like Yang Xiao, only if you look closely, compared to Yang Xiao, the feeling the Mirror Ghost gives is more indifferent and eerie.
Upon seeing the visitor was Yang Xiao, the Mirror Ghost visibly showed a hint of joy on its face, running up to him with a thud-thud-thud, and extended its hand, asking for something.
Yang Xiao also wore a benevolent smile, reached out, and ruffled the Mirror Ghost’s messy hair, which was only half a head shorter than himself. With a casual grab, a paper lantern emanating green light appeared in his hand.
After several encounters before, the Mirror Ghost gradually accepted Yang Xiao’s presence, and even eagerly anticipated Yang Xiao’s visits. Yang Xiao would accompany it to play for a while each time.
"Go play," Yang Xiao pinched the Mirror Ghost’s face, the latter had a very good skin texture—smooth and rounded, but it was filled with a chill that did not belong to the living.
The Mirror Ghost was very reluctant to part with the Ghost Lantern, so Yang Xiao stood silently at the side and watched. With his interactions with the Mirror Ghost these past days, he increasingly felt that the Mirror Ghost was a very special existence. It was a ghost, and a ghost replicated using himself as a template. There seemed to be an inexplicable and indescribable connection between it and himself.
Yang Xiao had a feeling that the Mirror Ghost seemed to share some kind of commonality with the innermost part of himself.
It was a very mystical feeling.
After watching the Mirror Ghost play for a while, Yang Xiao was about to step forward to put away the Ghost Lantern. He still needed it for self-defense to examine this Ghost Bell.
Yang Xiao did not plan to keep this thing, at least not for now. He had enough magic artifacts on him, even with the Opera Robe Ghost in town, he didn’t need everything. Magic artifacts are precious for their quality, not quantity.
If he couldn’t gauge its depth, he would take this thing to the Peace Hotel for identification and listen to the opinions of his uncle and two senior brothers.
As expected, it was still the same as before. The Mirror Ghost was happy when given the Ghost Lantern, but when it was about to be taken back, it pouted, slightly lowered its head, and cast a dissatisfied sidelong glance at Yang Xiao, clutching the lantern handle and refusing to let go.
Yang Xiao had a sudden inspiration and planned to use the Ghost Bell to tease it, to see how it reacted to the Ghost Bell.
Unexpectedly, after Yang Xiao opened the box storing the bell, the Mirror Ghost just glanced at it and didn’t care at all, gripping the handle of the Ghost Lantern firmly with its right hand, full of reluctance.
"Disdainful?" Yang Xiao could roughly determine at this point that this Ghost Bell was definitely not some particularly precious thing.
But thinking about it, he couldn’t randomly find something good in a casual quest. It turned out that the best few treasures on him were all obtained by the Opera Robe Ghost.
Good sister Yan Xuan’s selectivity was still improving, and not to mention the opera robe, even the immortal-like old dean of the Ru Lin Academy yearned for it.
And this Ghost Lantern turned out to be a remnant treasure. His uncle even bluntly said that if this treasure was pieced together completely, it could rank among the top three of all Netherworld-level magic artifacts he had ever seen in his life.
Suddenly, Yang Xiao keenly noticed the Mirror Ghost’s nose slightly twitched, and then quickly returned to normal. This all happened in a flash, completely unintentional behavior that was imperceptible without close observation, but it brought a storm of shock to Yang Xiao’s mind.
Because no one knew better than him, this micro-expression was his subconscious habit, his habit in thinking.
Yang Xiao immediately realized that the Mirror Ghost was plotting against him, and analyzing the current situation, Yang Xiao determined that the Mirror Ghost’s target must be the Ghost Bell. Its previous indifference and disinterest were all feigned.
Yang Xiao also planned to take advantage of this opportunity to teach his dear child a lesson.
Yang Xiao pretended to have noticed nothing, just waiting for the Mirror Ghost to make a move. As expected, after a stalemate with Yang Xiao for a while, when Yang Xiao relaxed his vigilance, the Mirror Ghost suddenly released its grip on the handle with its left hand. The right hand, already poised, flipped over sharply, grabbing towards the Ghost Bell in the box at lightning speed.
Everything was planned well, but Yang Xiao had long been prepared. As he retracted the Ghost Lantern back into the opera robe, he withdrew the box with his left hand and simultaneously retracted his right hand into his sleeve, covering the Ghost Bell through his sleeve, leaving the Mirror Ghost’s carefully crafted plan in vain.
"Hahaha—" Yang Xiao laughed heartily at the success of his plan, relentlessly mocking the dark-faced Mirror Ghost, "Son, the world of martial arts is deep, you’re too young to handle it!! Hahaha—"
But just as Yang Xiao was about to pick up the Ghost Bell with his hand through the opera robe, he was stunned. He fumbled several times but didn’t feel the Ghost Bell—this box... was empty!
This scared Yang Xiao badly. He immediately took the box to check, and, sure enough, the Ghost Bell had disappeared. The box was empty, yet... yet just a moment ago the bell was still inside!
Moreover, the Mirror Ghost hadn’t obtained it either, Yang Xiao was very sure.
Suddenly, Yang Xiao seemed to think of something. He slowly loosened the sleeve wrapped around his hand and trembled as he slowly turned it over.
The next moment, Yang Xiao gasped, as expected, the thing he least wanted to see had happened: a new embroidery appeared on his sleeve.
It was a bronze-colored bell, with a slight hint of rust and vivid detail in the pattern.
Seeing Yang Xiao only staring down in silence, neither laughing nor speaking, the Mirror Ghost stood on tiptoe, stretched its neck forward, and stared intently at the cuff area where Yang Xiao was gazing.
Before long, the Mirror Ghost seemed to understand. It withdrew its neck, tilted its head, and its eyes unconsciously narrowed, looking up at Yang Xiao with a rather playful expression.
"Heh—"
