Chapter 120: I Am Xiao Nanfeng
A golden glow appeared above Xiao Nanfeng, and countless arcane runes revolved within it.
A huge sword slash emanated from the golden glow, striking at Xiao Nanfeng. The ground quaked and the cottage collapsed as a plume of smoke rose into the air.
A number of figures jumped down into the cloud of dust.
"Find me Nanfeng's body!" a voice called out.
"It's not here, Sir!" one cultivator reported.
"Impossible. Immortal's Destruction boasts a strength equivalent to a Spiritsong blow. How could he have dodged that blow in such a short period of time? Keep searching. We must recover the Seal of Great Wei!" the ice-cold voice replied.
"Yessir!" everyone chorused.
"You want my seal?" Xiao Nanfeng's voice came from within the cloud of dust.
As a brisk wind blew by, a young man was revealed within the dust, his back dripping with blood—none other than Xiao Nanfeng.
He had dodged the lethal blow in the blink of an eye, but even so, the frightening burst of energy had scraped his skin. The power of a Spiritsong blow was immense, and even the glancing damage would have killed an ordinary Ascension-realm cultivator. It was only because Xiao Nanfeng possessed a powerful barrier of pure yang qi that he had survived.
"You aren't dead? That's impossible!" the enemy cultivators shouted.
"You really are lucky to be able to dodge even such an attack," the enemy leader remarked.
"It's you?" Xiao Nanfeng frowned.
He recognized the enemy leader immediately. He was the one who had commanded the red-armored cultivators outside the centipedes' lair, who had allied with Xiang Zhirou to deal with them together. When the centipedes attacked them en masse, he had eventually managed to escape.
"Lad, you dare come to my territory? After destroying my talisman of arcane yin last time, you won't be able to escape now!" The man leapt forward, his face fierce. He sent a sword slash arcing at Xiao Nanfeng.
"Overconfident, aren't you?" Xiao NAnfeng called out.
He shifted to the side and avoided the sword slash, then punched forward. Dozens of flaming fists appeared, all striking the man's body and sending him smashing into the ground.
A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out of his mouth. Fist indentations were visible all over his body, as though he had been dealt such serious blows that he was now immobile.
"Sir Luo!" his subordinates shouted.
"Impossible. It's only been a month. How could you have grown so much stronger?!" Sir Luo cried out.
"We'll charge at him together!" His subordinates rushed toward Xiao Nanfeng.
Xiao Nanfeng didn't turn around. He called out calmly, "Leave them alive."
The cultivators were at a loss as to whom Xiao Nanfeng was speaking to when a large group of white-mist specters suddenly rushed into their bodies. The cultivators stood stock-still, paralyzed, as a sword slashed at them from behind. They fell to the ground in pools of blood.
"How could this be? Who attacked us from the back?!"
A black figure walked up from behind them.
"Sir Xiao, the leader of these men is the head of the Luo clan, as well as the lord of this city. We must have made too large a commotion and lured them over," You Jiu reported.
"Clan Head Luo? I was about to find you, but it seems as though you've found me instead. Where are the Taiqing disciples?" Xiao Nanfeng interrogated.
Clan Head Luo had been responsible for seizing and transferring the Taiqing disciples that Xiang Zhirou had captured, and he surely knew everything.
"Do you really think I'd tell you? Dream on!" Lord Luo replied.
"The Hall of Specters has trained interrogators, doesn't it?" Xiao Nanfeng asked You Jiu.
"Of course, Sir Xiao. Hand him over to me. I'll make sure he speaks. We shouldn't stay long here, and the Hall of Specters has other properties within the city. Please follow me, Sir Xiao," You Jiu replied.
Xiao Nanfeng nodded. He was certain that the Hall of Specters was more adept at interrogation than he was.
You Jiu summoned a group of subordinates to clean up the mess. Xiao Nanfeng and You Jiu left the ruins of the cottage and headed to another one elsewhere within the city.
By the time he showered and had a change of clothes, most of Xiao Nanfeng's wounds had already been healed to a significant extent.
The next morning, You Jiu stopped by to report to Xiao Nanfeng.
"Sir Xiao, the interrogation is finished," he began.
"Oh?"
"Clan Head Luo was lavishly rewarded for bringing the Taiqing disciples he had captured to court as a gift to the royal family of Qi. As a result, he was rewarded by a talisman to manipulate the Immortal's Destruction. After hearing of the commotion we had caused yesterday within the city, he came over to inspect what was going on. Coincidentally, he saw you deal severe damage to You Yi with a fist. Although he didn't recognize You Yi, he was able to confirm that you were an Ascension-realm cultivator. Worried that you would manage to escape, he hurriedly used that talisman to stop you. He was hoping for a speedy battle that would allow him to claim the Seal of Great Wei that you possess," You Jiu explained.
"The talisman of Immortal's Destruction?" Xiao Nanfeng asked with interest.
"The Immortal's Destruction is a divine relic of the Qi kingdom, which was once a relic of Great Wei. It was once used to pass judgment on the unworthy, and even to kill rogue Immortals. It possesses immense strength. These talismans serve to designate a target within fifty kilometers of the relic; the resulting attack is near-instantaneous," You Jiu continued.
"Fifty kilometers!" Xiao Nanfeng was stunned.
"That's right. We're within range of the capital of Great Qi, so it was able to attack us directly. Allegedly, the Immortal's Destruction was even stronger in the past."
"A remarkable treasure, then."
"These treasures were the property of the Empire of Great Wei. In principle, the royal family of Qi and the various clans are all gravekeepers who were allowed to use these treasures but who do not own them. As the successor to Emperor Wei, Sir Xiao, these treasures ought to belong to you," You Jiu explained.
Xiao Nanfeng clearly seemed to be interested in the Immortal's Destruction.
"Has he offered all the Taiqing disciples he captured as tribute to the royal family of Qi?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
"No. He's retained an Ascension-realm Taiqing disciple, who is currently in his manor," You Jiu explained.
"Ye Sanshui?" Xiao Nanfeng was visibly surprised.
"I've already arranged for my subordinates to keep a careful eye on the Luo manor," You Jiu replied. "Should we attack, Sir Xiao?"
"Do so," Xiao Nanfeng commanded.
"Yessir!"
Four hours later, in the Luo manor, Xiao Nanfeng stepped over a pool of blood and through the entrance of one of the Luo clan's secret chambers.
You Jiu pushed open the door to the chamber, letting in a ray of sunlight. The chamber was filled with all sorts of torture implements. On a rack hung a man whose skin was more blood than not. His face had been branded so many times it no longer looked like that of a human.
The moment the door to the chamber creaked open, the man shuddered and revealed a fearful expression.
He trembled upon seeing the ray of sunlight, his eyes blinded to such an extent that he could barely open them. All he could see was someone walking into the chamber, shining in sudden radiance.
"Ye Sanshui? Are you alright?" Xiao Nanfeng asked, frowning.
The man shook. His eyes grew wet with tears. Despite his weakness, he was tense with excitement. "General Xiao, you've finally returned! I've finally been able to meet you."
Xiao Nanfeng raised an eyebrow. "What did you call me?"
"General Xiao, Xiao Hongye!" Ye Sanshui replied weakly. His eyes closed, and he spoke no more.
You Jiu stepped forward and examined Ye Sanshui's body. "Sir Xiao, he seems to have been in an extreme state of mind for a prolonged period of time. Now that he's finally relaxed, his mind's taking the opportunity to shut down and rest, causing him to faint. There should be no lasting damage given sufficient rest and recuperation."
Xiao Nanfeng nodded. "Bring him to my residence."
"Yessir!" You Jiu replied.
Xiao Nanfeng mulled over Ye Sanshui's words. Xiao Hongye was his father's name; Ye Sanshui had mistaken him for his father.
Three days later, Ye Sanshui slowly awoke.
He blinked blearily, almost jumping up and opening his eyes wide in preparation for self-defense. However, the aches all over his body caused him such pain that he fell back down into bed. Only then did he discover that he was no longer in the hellish torture chamber where he had been found, but rather an ordinary house. He crawled up arduously and saw a pond outside the window, with a person seated by its side enjoying the dawn breeze as he sipped tea. He held a jade tablet in his hand, as though studying a Taoist scripture.
Ye Sanshui's eyes lit up in delight. He vaguely remembered who had saved him.
He gingerly made his way down the bed and grabbed hold of the walking stick that had been placed by its side. He limped his way out of the house; then, upon seeing the figure by the pond, Ye Sanshui's eyes turned wet once more.
"General Xiao, is it really you?" Ye Sanshui's voice was thick as he choked back tears.
By the pond, hearing the commotion, Xiao Nanfeng turned around. He was somewhat surprised to see Ye Sanshui's agitated expression.
"Senior Brother Ye? Have you awoken?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
Ye Sanshui froze. His joy and excitement turned to disbelief.
"Nanfeng? What are you doing here? Where's General Xiao?" Ye Sanshui asked urgently.
"General Xiao? Who? I was the one who saved you," Xiao Nanfeng replied, shaking his head.
"Impossible. I was sure I saw General Xiao!" Ye Sanshui objected.
"You must have been too weak and drifting in and out of consciousness," Xiao Nanfeng replied. "I was the person you saw."
Ye Sanshui still found himself somewhat unable to believe this fact. He scrutinized Xiao Nanfeng carefully for quite some time, but the longer he looked, the more surprised he became.
"You've changed drastically. You look so much like General Xiao—not just your temperament, but even your face! You, you—" Ye Sanshui gave Xiao Nanfeng an astonished look.
It had only been two months since they had been separated, but the constant fighting and killing, along with the Plaza Stairway that Xiao Nanfeng had climbed, had transformed him dramatically.
"You must be mistaken," Xiao Nanfeng said again, smiling.
"No, I can't be. You look so much like General Xiao. You—could you be..." Ye Sanshui trailed off.
"Could I be what?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
"General Xiao's son was called Xiao Nanfeng, as are you! He should be seventeen this year, and you're seventeen too. You look so much like General Xiao, so—"
Xiao Nanfeng furrowed his brows. He had given his name as 'Nanfeng,' without the surname Xiao, in order to avoid any remnant trouble that the Chief Steward might cause, but he was now strong enough to protect himself. No longer did he have to go by a pseudonym. [1]
"That's right. I'm Xiao Nanfeng."
1. Xiao Nanfeng's name is 萧南风, and the pseudonym he used was 南风. This should be read as Nan Feng (surname Nan, first name Feng), but keeping track of this is confusing enough that I chose to stick with Nanfeng throughout. ?
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