Chapter 68: Broken Sword: Tetanus (Requesting Follow Reads)

At that moment, a message arrived on the token—it was from Master Mo Xingjian.

【Today’s events are suspicious, though it’s also possible this is a self-directed scheme to clear his name; for now, there’s no evidence proving he isn’t Gao Xian.】

【Of course, Master believes you truly heard something from that bloodstained stone, but your Headmaster, as the patriarch of this sect, cannot be so hasty—everything requires evidence, especially when the subject is a peak lord.】

Looking at his master’s message, Zhou Qing understood perfectly.

From start to finish, it rested solely on his word—its credibility was far too low.

Yet the Headmaster and others had to treat this with extreme caution; if it were a misunderstanding, fine—but if true, the consequences were unthinkable.

Gao Xian had been involved in nearly all of the sect’s secret affairs over the years; every plan, implemented or not, would have to be scrapped and rebuilt.

Not only that, they’d have to hunt down all his hidden arrangements and schemes targeting Taiqingmen—it was a nightmare.

After Zhou Qing sent a message reassuring his master, Mo Xingjian sent another.

【I have two things to tell you. First, Elder Duanmu Shu entered the Heavenly Cave to retrieve an item for judging Gao Xian, but failed—and suffered severe injuries.】

At this, Zhou Qing’s face turned pale with shock.

Even the Elder, the pinnacle of Taiqingmen’s combat strength, had been wounded inside?

This was only one day—by comparison, Second Uncle had been inside for countless years.

Before Zhou Qing could recover from his shock, Mo Xingjian’s second message followed immediately.

【The deputy director of the Spirit Field Office who attacked you today—before the Headmaster could even deliver him to the Discipline Hall for interrogation, he exploded and died outright.】

Zhou Qing’s face darkened instantly.

【In short, carry on as usual—eat, drink, act as if the danger has passed. Give the other hidden ones a chance, after all. Don’t worry, someone will be secretly protecting you.】

Zhou Qing smiled bitterly—he was being used as bait.

But it was still a valid strategy; better a short pain than a long one.

Rather than live in constant dread, better to lure out a few and make an example of them.

After this, anyone thinking of moving against him would hesitate—would they even survive if they struck?

“I understand, Master!” Zhou Qing sent the reply.

After a pause, Mo Xingjian transmitted a voice message: “You’ve worked hard.”

“Not at all, Master. I live for Taiqingmen, I die for Taiqingmen. Serving the sect is my duty—but could you spare a few high-grade spirit stones to calm my nerves?”

“Master, are you still listening? Medium-grade ones would do too.”

“Master? Old Mo?”

…………

The next morning, Zhou Qing was woken by a faint tapping sound. When he rubbed his eyes, yawning, and pushed open the window, he saw a pink paper crane repeatedly bumping against the barrier.

He rubbed his eyes, confirmed the crane posed no threat, then waved his hand gently to let it in.

As soon as it landed before the window, the crane began speaking.

“Senior Zhou, why haven’t you added me as a friend? Yaoyao just wanted to check on you—no other intentions. By the way, this is a voice crane; when its color turns blue, your words will be recorded, and when it flies back, I’ll hear them.”

Lu Yaoyao’s voice echoed from within.

Zhou Qing froze, studying the crane closely.

Hey, this was interesting—he’d been in the sect this long and had never seen anything so novel.

Sure enough, within seconds, the crane’s color shifted from pink to sky blue.

Zhou Qing thought for a moment, then grinned, picked up the old hen, placed her before the crane, and scattered a bit of spirit stone powder in front of her.

The hen immediately began pecking away—tap-tap-tap.

Within just a few breaths, the crane flapped its wings and flew off.

“No wonder the Headmaster’s precious disciple—everything’s top-notch. I’ll keep a low profile and avoid getting too entangled.”

Zhou Qing muttered to himself, then turned—and noticed, beside the coop, a new spirit egg had appeared.

He immediately hugged the hen and kissed her.

“Good girl, you’re amazing! Once I absorb this egg, I’ll return the shell to you—you eat it, and we’ll form a perfect cycle!”

Zhou Qing was thrilled. After multiple trials, he was nearly certain: after consuming a low-grade spirit stone, the hen laid a new spirit egg every seven or eight days—its purity was extraordinary.

But what if he fed it medium- or high-grade spirit stones? What unexpected effects might follow?

He hadn’t tried—and dared not. The risk was too great. Besides, all his good stuff had been traded for that broken sword.

Speaking of the broken sword, Zhou Qing quickly set the hen down, retrieved the blade, and activated today’s 【Daily Appraisal】.

As his gaze focused on the broken sword, feedback appeared.

【Broken Sword: This appears to be a filthy, rusted broken blade—so worthless it wouldn’t even be picked up off the ground. In truth, this is its original form—unbreakably resilient. More strangely, anyone wounded by it will bleed continuously; no healing pill can stop it—until only half their blood remains, then the bleeding slowly ceases.】

Reading this, Zhou Qing stared, dumbfounded.

Wait—so my guess was right? The “broken sword” was never broken—it was forged this way from the start.

It had merely rusted over countless ages—but that made it even more deceptive.

When he reached the final line, Zhou Qing burst into ecstatic joy.

It really was a bizarre “tetanus” sword—bleeding nonstop, only halting when half the blood was gone. The victim would be terrified to death!

“Great sword! Amazing sword!” Zhou Qing cried, gently caressing it.

Since it was always meant to be this way, from now on, I’ll call you “Tetanus.”

The ability to cause endless bleeding—surely some supreme master had cursed this blade.

Otherwise, how could it have been threaded into the Stone Mill, a tool he didn’t understand, part of the Void Ring’s discarded fragments, without a single scratch? Clearly, it was no ordinary weapon.

But then Zhou Qing realized something.

“It’s a great weapon, all right—but it’s too dull. Yesterday it couldn’t even cut the whetstone—it bounced right off. If I manage to get close to an enemy and swipe at them with this, I probably won’t even tear their clothes…”

Tick—

Suddenly, a drop of blood plopped to the ground. Zhou Qing’s heart lurched.

Slowly, stiffly, he turned his head to his right index finger—the pain had come from there.

“Gulps~”

Zhou Qing swallowed hard, feeling the world spin.

Wait—I just lightly brushed the blade’s edge! How did it suddenly cut me?

Is it that sensitive to flesh?

(End of Chapter)