CHAPTER ELEVEN

In the middle of the night, Wei Zixin woke up to the sound of people whispering in the cave. The lanterns were lit up providing a dim light.

"Are you sure about this? He is not ready"

It was Wangzi, he sounded agitated. But why?

Wei Zixin forced himself to creep to the edge of the door and listened intently, what were they talking about especially at this hour of the night?

"He is my disciple, i will decide what and what not to teach him okay?"

It was Huli, did she consider him as her disciple? But he didn't even agree to that!

"Big sister the boy doesn't even have enough Qi to make a foundation for his cultivation, he is almost a mere mortal" Hei Guafu says, his deep voice booming in the cave.

Wei Zixin frowned, where did they even get the chance to see the level of his Qi?

Deciding to not get his feeling hurt even more, he made his way to the haystack bed, he sighed when his mind takes him to Jiang Qiang.

"Is that potato even taking care of himself?"

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He couldn't sleep, the image of Zixin being taken inside that lake by the big snake embedded into his mind, he sat up and leaned against the cold wall.

"This whole thing doesn't make sense" he whispered.

Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he goes towards the lake, the murky water not even shining from the moonlight, it was like a dark void.

He unsheathed his sword, he dipped the tip inside and watched as the water paved way for the blade, he smirked.

"So it's just a cover up"

Before he could even react, the crackle of a whip echoed through the silent forest making him flinch.

"Chang Pei what the hell are you doing!" He hissed.

She scoffed.

"I should be asking you that, don't you know what time it is? It's the time of ghosts and demons to roam around and I'm sure they need a person like you to take advantage of"

He got to his feet sheathing his sword.

"I am not easily fooled by ghosts and demons" he says puffing out his chest.

Chang Pei rolled her eyes.

"If you say so. Now stop investigating, you might end up attracting more dangerous spirits around here, this place has a very negative energy around it" she says shuddering in discomfort.

"I just can't sleep knowing that Zixin is down there somewhere"

She sighed. It seems she'll have to do things her way.

Before Jiang Qiang could react, Chang Pei smacked him behind the ear rendering Him unconscious.

She pulled the unconscious man back to their sleeping area.

"You'll thank me for this"

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Before he knew it, Huli and her brothers had left the cave. He sighed feeling relaxed.

"I should snoop around to see if i can find a way out of here" he says getting up to his feet.

He walked around looking for anything that stood out to him. He frowned when he saw three weapons on the table.

"A sword, fan and staff" he says running his hands on the weapons. One caught his eye though.

He grabbed the fan and opened it. The handles were made of gold instead of bamboo and the paper was bright white with smears of blood on it.

"Did this belong to someone else?" He asks looking at the dried up blood.

He used the fan like the men he once saw at the imperial courts.

"Your highness, the ghosts are out of control" he says mimicking one of them.

He sat on the chair and flapped the fan open.

"I will kill them all!"

He giggled and closed it then placed in on the table. He looked at it again. Maybe he should keep it.

"I mean....they'll never notice right?" He says and stuffs it in his sleeve.

He continued his snooping and gasped when he saw a large pit that had been covered by a white cloth. He threw an onion he had found into the pit and leaned in. It took three minutes until he heard it thump on the ground.

"That's a long way down"

He covered it back with the white cloth and continued his snooping. Then he found a kitchen. It was clean and all the food items were arranged alphabetically. He chuckled.

"I bet this kitchen belongs to that grumpy man"

"I wouldn't say grumpy"

He yelped in surprise and turned around only to come face to face with Hei Guafu. He gulped.

"Ehm...big brother, i thought you left?"

Hei Guafu stepped forward making the Zixin to step back.

"Well i didn't, i was ordered to babysit some kid so here i am"

Zixin huffed. He was no kid!

"Then what were you doing here?" He asks.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? I mean i caught you snooping"

Zixin blushed in embarrassment. Did Hei Guafu see what he did back there? Hopefully not.

He gasped when his back hit the cave wall. Hei Guafu smirked and places his hand on the cold rock wall just near Wei Zixin's face.

"Tell me something, why did that snake snatch you into our cave?" He asks.

Zixin blinked in surprise. He had thought that the snake was controlled by the three of them.

"I don't know"

They looked into each other's eyes. Hei Guafu sighed and stood up straight. The kid was telling the truth.

"Fine, we'll see how you'll endure it"

"Endure what?" Zixin asks in confusion. Hei Guafu's smirk made him nervous.

"Your training of course"

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In the early morning Jian Ji woke up inside the temple. He was welcomed by a pleasant smell of freshly grounded ink.

"Chang Pei? Are you there?" He called out as he made his way out. He froze when he saw the scene before him.

The whole place was filled with people roaming around. He looked back where he was sitting and the place looked new and clean.

"Am I hallucinating?"

"You're not. This is a ghost town. No one is seen during the night but at day its like all is well around here" Chang Pei says walking towards him.

He frowned. Ghost town? Why was it never reported?

"What's the name of this town?" He asks.

Chang Pei pointed at the door of the temple. He gasped.

"Li Shizu sect temple"

He had been here all this time? Then the lake that snatched Zixin was Yucheng lake?

"I thought Yucheng lake was deep in the forest"

Chang Pei nodded.

"It is but the ZhangShi sect wanted to expand so they cleared the deep forest"

"Wait....so you're a Chang from ZhangShi sect?"

"Yeah....why?"

He bowed to her taking the maiden by surprise.

"My name is Jiang Qiang of the Xin Mo sect. I am on a night hunt to discover the events that took place eighteen years ago in Li shizu sect and Wangshi jiazu sect"

She nodded.

"Many people have come to try to solve this mystery and failed....but i hope you'll be able to solve it. Follow me"