Chapter 888: [Three Conditions] (Upper)

Bu Wu was certain that Hu Xiaotian wanted to seize the opportunity to make demands, trying to extort something from him, and with his hands behind his back he paced back and forth in the cave a few steps: "In my life I have taken on two disciples, one I killed."

"And the other one?"

Bu Wu split his big mouth in a grin, looking especially ferocious: "I ate him!"

Hu Xiaotian stuck out his tongue, gave a dry cough, and said: "You old thing, pretend I didn't say that!"

Bu Wu said: "Your martial arts may not be the strongest under heaven, but they should still be among the few; possessing such powerful inner strength yet not using it is like a fool guarding a gold mountain and not spending money—utterly useless, useless to the extreme."

Hu Xiaotian said: "I'm not guarding a gold mountain; I'm carrying one. You yourself said I have at most a month to live—soon this gold mountain will crush me to death."

Bu Wu said: "You at least have some self-awareness."

Hu Xiaotian sighed and said: "My greatest wish in this life is to be a carefree, wanton prodigal, but thinking about it is really pathetic—I have the gold mountain but can't spend it; you say I feel stifled, don't I? Well then, since this inner power of mine is useless to me, I'll give it to you: I'll teach you the Void Great Law, and when I die you'll suck all my power away; with your martial arts plus my power, you'll surely be the number one expert under heaven, so don't waste effort looking for the Formless Divine Skill—you're already old; even if you found it, you might not have time to cultivate it. Better to help me squander this gold mountain now."

Bu Wu was obviously startled by Hu Xiaotian: "Aren't you afraid of death?"

"If I were afraid, could I avoid dying?"

Bu Wu let out a harsh, grating laugh, having to admit that this evil monk's laugh was truly unpleasant, like an owl's.

Bu Wu said: "All your inner strength comes from Yuan Kong; if I took you as my disciple, wouldn't that make that hypocritical, thieving baldy Yuan Kong my disciple? How wonderful! How wonderful!"

Hu Xiaotian said: "I mean you teach me a few killing moves. Nothing else."

Bu Wu coldly said: "You think I'd just casually hand over my martial arts to anyone? Hurry up and kneel to become my disciple!"

Hu Xiaotian thought: "Where is there any principle of forcing someone to become a disciple?"

Bu Wu said: "What? You're having second thoughts?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "I do have some regrets!"

"Huh?" A chilling killing intent instantly filled the entire cave.

Hu Xiaotian said: "I'm worried for you; knowing I'm so short-lived, if I become your disciple, wouldn't that make you an old man sending off a young one? One day as a teacher, a lifetime as a father—when the master sees his disciple die, it's like a father losing his son. How heartbroken you'll be."

Bu Wu burst out laughing, the chilling killing intent instantly vanishing: "Silver-tongued, obviously you regret it yet speak so righteously—truly shameless to the extreme, but I like it! If you become my disciple, I'll grant you six months of lifespan!"

Hu Xiaotian stared for a moment. Wasn't this offering to extend his life by six months? It seemed this evil monk really had a way to save him—indeed a great benefit. He must bow! He must bow! He immediately fell to his knees with a thud before Bu Wu: "Master above, please accept my disciple Xiaotian's bow!"

Bu Wu nodded. His ugly face actually showed a hint of pleasure, and he said softly: "Since you've entered my door, you must observe my sect's rules."

Hu Xiaotian secretly sighed—surely there were conditions; Bu Wu was no easy mark. Knowing there'd be no free lunch, he said: "Taking you as master still has conditions?"

Bu Wu said: "You've already knelt, so you're my disciple. This is merely a sect rule, not a condition. Remember, the first condition is: if you obtain the Formless Divine Skill, you must deliver it to my hands; even if I die, you must take the Formless Divine Skill to my grave and burn it. Can you do that?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "No problem!"

Bu Wu added: "The second condition: after you become my disciple, you may never take another master in this lifetime, even if I die."

Hu Xiaotian thought, "Do you think I'm addicted to kowtowing to people?" Possessing such immense inner strength from Yuan Kong, and after your guidance in martial arts, there are hardly anyone under heaven who could surpass you. Not bowing, then not bowing—he nodded and said: "I estimate I will never again encounter a hero more formidable and imposing than my master in this lifetime." This was both a statement and flattery; this fellow, having once been a eunuch, has praise rolling off his tongue.

Bu Wu knew he was just sucking up, but hearing it was still pleasant; he took a step forward and said: "The third condition: you must help me harm someone."

Hu Xiaotian asked: "What person?" His scalp instantly tightened; the first two conditions were easy to say, but this third one was obviously the trickiest—given Bu Wu's martial prowess, why would he need outsiders to do the killing? This person must be extremely hard to deal with—could it be someone from the Heavenly Dragon Temple?

Bu Wu said: "This person is Mu Yuming, my own blood brother!"

Hu Xiaotian said: "You want to kill your brother?"

Bu Wu slowly nodded and said: "If not for him, how would I have lost my eyes? If not for him, how would I have lost my family? If not for him, how would I have ended up in the Heavenly Dragon Temple, humiliated by these thieving baldies for thirty years?" His emotions surged, his chest heaving, his face grim as a ghost.

Hu Xiaotian worried his emotions might get out of control, and softly asked: "Do you know where he is?"

Bu Wu shook his head and said: "If I knew, I would certainly go find him even at the cost of my life, but I don't. I've searched for him for thirty-five years, exactly thirty-five years; he led me into a dead end, then schemed against me, luring me into the Sutra Pavilion so that these thieving baldies of the Heavenly Dragon Temple could deal with me."

Seeing Bu Wu's anguished expression, Hu Xiaotian finally realized Bu Wu also had such a tragic past; he couldn't help but feel some sympathy, thinking that if Bu Wu truly was harmed by his own blood brother, becoming this ferocious monster is understandable—if anyone experienced what he did, they might act even more crazily. Since his brother is so hateful, even killing him wouldn't be a loss. Hu Xiaotian nodded and said: "Good! I agree! But I also don't know what he looks like, and you don't know where he is; even if I met him face to face I wouldn't recognize him."

"Get up first!"

Hu Xiaotian stood up.

Bu Wu took out a painting from inside, slowly unfurled it; the portrait showed a handsome, graceful youth about twenty years old, elegant and extraordinarily handsome: "This is my brother!"

Hu Xiaotian saw the portrait and couldn't help but laugh helplessly; this painting is over thirty years old—even if it's lifelike, who knows how much he's changed in thirty years? One could say the portrait has no reference value whatsoever.

Bu Wu said: "This was painted when he was seventeen, thirty-five years ago; look closely at his appearance."

Hu Xiaotian told Bu Wu his concerns, and Bu Wu said: "He also has a distinguishing feature: three black moles on his chest."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Such an obvious feature he could just cut off."

Bu Wu said: "Right, he also has another trait: his private parts are very large."

Hu Xiaotian couldn't help laughing at this; did Bu Wu mean he should go around pulling down people's pants to look? These couldn't serve as reference, but on second thought, since Bu Wu said that, his blood brother's private parts must be unusually large, so he asked: "How big?"

Bu Wu said: "It's the largest I've ever seen." After saying that he sighed: "I also know that relying solely on these clues I might not find him; thirty years have passed, and I no longer know what he's become."

Hu Xiaotian secretly thought: if Bu Wu really spoke true, his blood brother wanting to stay hidden might well have castrated himself; a flash of insight struck him—could his blood brother have entered the palace as a eunuch?

Bu Wu said: "Back then, when I was besieged by the monks of the Heavenly Dragon Temple, he took advantage of the chaos and stole several secret manuals from the Sutra Pavilion; if we find out what books were lost from the Sutra Pavilion back then, we can infer what kind of martial arts he cultivated."

Only then did Hu Xiaotian understand Bu Wu's true motive for wanting to sneak into the Sutra Pavilion—it wasn't for the Formless Divine Skill, but for revenge. Still, Hu Xiaotian felt his chances of revenge were extremely slim; relying on these memories from over thirty years ago, plus any clues possibly gained from the Sutra Pavilion, he said: "What if he hasn't practiced martial arts at all these thirty years?"

Bu Wu shook his head: "Impossible; he's obsessed with martial arts and would never pass up a chance to get a secret manual. As long as we find out what secret manual the Heavenly Dragon Temple lost, we can follow that clue to locate him." He turned to Hu Xiaotian: "Will you help me or not?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "One day as teacher, a lifetime as father—your affairs are mine. I'll keep an eye out for this; if I can live a month, I'll investigate for a month; if I can live half a year, I'll investigate for half a year."

Bu Wu couldn't help but hear the boy reminding him of his promise to give him six months of lifespan; he took out a dark ceramic bottle from his bosom, tipped out a black pill that looked like a sheep dropping, handed it to Hu Xiaotian, spread his palm and said: "Take it!"

Hu Xiaotian said: "What is this?"

Bu Wu said: "It's the Heavenly Dragon Temple's specially made Muscle-Tendon Invigorating Blood Pill; Yuan Kong has survived to now solely by relying on this pill to suppress things, but as the absorbed inner strength increases, the pill's effect diminishes; for your first dose, it should have some effect."

Hu Xiaotian stared at the pill, swallowed his saliva, and having no choice but to try, he pinched the pill and put it in his mouth—though a bit bitter, it had no foul smell, certainly not a sheep dropping. The Muscle-Tendon Invigorating Blood Pill entered his belly without any special sensation; Hu Xiaotian smacked his lips, reached for the bottle in Bu Wu's hand, but Bu Wu noticed his motive, took the black ceramic bottle back into his bosom, and said softly: "I'm giving you the Art of Soaring not only to improve your lightness skills but also to practice controlling your inner breath. Starting tomorrow, at midnight each day, I'll come teach you martial arts."

Hu Xiaotian said: "But tomorrow I have to go back to report for duty."

Bu Wu laughed: "That's your own affair; if you can't spare a few extra days, don't bother mentioning martial arts study." (To be continued~^~)