**Chapter 50: The Sect Wars and Old Wang's Oath!**
**Chapter 50: The Sect Wars and Old Wang's Oath!**
Xu Yang's eyes narrowed as he studied Old Wang. "Uncle Wang... are you part of the jianghu world too?"
There could be no other explanation. How else would this elderly coffin-maker recognize his cultivation progress?
Old Wang didn't immediately answer. Instead, he sighed heavily, smoke curling from his cigarette. "Your grandfather spent decades searching the Nine Great Ghost Markets for a way to awaken your spiritual roots. Yet now that he's gone, you've somehow stumbled into the Daoist path yourself."
He shook his head, ash fluttering like gray snow. "A blessing and a curse. Had you remained ordinary, the Lüshan Sect wouldn't dare touch you under your grandfather's protections. But now that you walk the cultivation road..."
The old man's hands trembled slightly. "I sense your aura mirrors your grandfather's. Did you find his relics? To reach the fifth layer of Qi Refinement in under two years through self-study... extraordinary!"
Xu Yang leaned forward. "Enough riddles. Did my grandfather truly die? Is he—"
"Dead?" Old Wang cut him off. "Yes. By his own hand."
The words hit like a thunderclap. Xu Yang's knuckles whitened on the chair arm. "Why? He wasn't ill! The remains we recovered weren't even his!"
"Calm yourself." Old Wang's voice softened. "His death was planned. At his cultivation level, physical demise means little—his soul descended to the underworld to fulfill a purpose. The details..." He tapped his temple. "...I swore to take to my grave."
As Xu Yang's breathing steadied, Old Wang unraveled the century-old feud between the Lüshan and Jingming Sects—both claiming lineage to the Divine Merit True Lord Xu Xun. Though sharing roots, their rivalry had turned bloody since the spiritual resurgence thirty years prior.
"Twenty years ago, at the Daoist Conclave..." Old Wang's voice dropped. "...the Xu clan was nearly wiped out. Your grandfather barely escaped, his golden core shattered. I helped him fake his death and hide here in Wucheng."
Xu Yang's fist slammed the table. "So Lüshan Sect killed him!"
"Indirectly." The old man grimaced. "Years of battling ghost kings eroded his body. His 'suicide' was merely discarding a failing vessel while his soul pursues..." He trailed off meaningfully.
Before Xu Yang could press, Old Wang rose abruptly. "Enough history. I need one of your grandfather's Evil-Warding Talismans."
As Xu Yang fetched the talisman, Liu Shishi's spectral whisper echoed in his mind: *"This old man reeks of buried power. He holds keys to the Ghost Markets."*
Returning downstairs, Xu Yang seized the moment. "Uncle Wang, how does one enter the Ghost Markets?"
The coffin-maker paused at the doorway. "Too dangerous for a fifth-layer novice. But come the new moon's eve... I'll guide you myself." His eyes hardened. "Alone, you'd be devoured."
As Old Wang turned to leave, Xu Yang called out: "Why borrow the talisman? Hunting ghosts?"
The old man stiffened. "I swore off ghost-hunting decades ago!" he snapped. "The music building at the vocational school... has disturbances. This talisman will suppress it without breaking my oath."
Xu Yang's grin turned wolfish. "If you can't act... let me handle it!"
Outside, moonlight painted the empty street silver. Old Wang's final words hung in the air like smoke:
"Beware the Lüshan. Now that you shine like a beacon... the hounds will come."
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**[System Notification]**
New Quest Unlocked: **Investigate the Haunted Music Building**
Reward: 500 Virtue Points + Clue to "Ghost Market Entry"
**[Current Cultivation]**
Qi Refinement: 5th Layer
Virtue Points: 1,208
**[Inventory]**
- Peachwood Sword (Soul-Bound)
- Evil-Warding Talisman x3
- Mysterious Gold Ingot (From Ghost Restaurant Incident)
The night hummed with promise. Somewhere beyond the city, a Lüshan elder's divination mirror cracked—revealing a glowing sigil over Wucheng.