Chapter 103

One's natal Yuan Chen hides a person's life and death destiny.

If one were to ask who in this world has no natal Yuan Chen, there is only one type of person.

"A dead person!"

"How could this be?"

Wang Xuangang raised an eyebrow and looked at Zhang Fan in disbelief. He was standing right there, alive and well, but by law and by reason...

"You are already a dead person?"

At this moment, even Jiang Hu's expression turned strange.

"I am still alive..."

Zhang Fan's gaze dimmed slightly, and he couldn't help but ask: "Is there any Daoist technique in this world that can make a person's natal Yuan Chen disappear?"

"The Star-Worshipping lineage, observing celestial phenomena and watching life and death, is already an expert in this field... I have never heard of such a technique."

Wang Xuangang said in a deep voice: "Obscuring the heavenly secrets, even deceiving Heaven itself... perhaps such a Daoist technique exists in this world, but I do not know of it."

"You should also be clear about what kind of means this is: shifting stars, changing destinies, and reversing life and death..."

"And what kind of cultivation this requires."

"Zhang Fan... who exactly are you?"

Beside him, Jiang Hu finally couldn't help but ask the question in his heart.

Ever since Zhang Fan easily mastered the Northern Emperor technique, he had displayed all sorts of unusual traits, which even Jiang Hu, who came from the Maoshan Shangqing Sect, found inconceivable.

"Do not let a single word of this leak out."

Zhang Fan swept his gaze over their faces. Although he had full trust in Wang Xuangang and Jiang Hu, this matter concerned his secrets, so he naturally had to be extremely cautious.

"This matter naturally ends here," Wang Xuangang said in a deep voice.

"You yourself must also be careful; there is no eternal loyalty in this world."

Once these words were spoken, Jiang Hu couldn't help but show a strange expression; he naturally understood the subtext of Wang Xuangang's words.

Throughout history, loyalty has been most praised precisely because it is the rarest; even blood brothers will turn on each other, let alone outsiders!?

"Wang Xuanmiao is yours... your Wang family can deal with her yourselves," Zhang Fan nodded, unwilling to dwell on this topic, and changed the subject.

"Be careful... experts from the Wu Wei Sect may have their eyes on your Wang family's 【Big Dipper Spirit Refining】... stay vigilant."

At this moment, Zhang Fan was ninety percent sure that they were coming for the Star-Worshipping Sect's 【Big Dipper Spirit Refining】; perhaps they were trying to find a certain important person and spy on his secrets.

The importance of this person was enough to keep 【Rooster】, one of the thirteen zodiacs, from sleeping or eating in peace.

"I understand."

Wang Xuangang nodded, his cold gaze cast toward the unconscious Wang Xuanmiao.

Evening, Wang family.

In the basement, inside a cold room, the surrounding walls were all cast from iron, and the sound of heavy chains clashing could be heard constantly, accompanied by painful moans.

At this moment, Wang Xuanmiao had been reduced to a prisoner; her hair was disheveled, she was covered in blood, and she had long since lost her former elegance. Most cruelly, her shoulder blades had been hooked through by blades.

The so-called "shoulder blades" are the scapulae. In many movies and TV shows, when immortal beings with magical powers are captured, their shoulder blades are locked to prevent them from casting spells. In this way, even with world-shaking power, they are rendered helpless.

In Journey to the West, after Sun Wukong was captured by Erlang Shen, his shoulder blades were pierced before he was thrown into Taishang Laojun's alchemy furnace.

In reality, piercing the shoulder blades is not that magical. The reason it can trap a practitioner is that this method involves drilling holes into the scapulae, straight through the collarbone. As a result, the mobility of the upper limbs is severely restricted, almost to the point of being crippled.

However, when Daoist priests cast spells, they often need to coordinate hand seals, pace, and incantations. Therefore, once the shoulder blades are pierced, their abilities cannot be unleashed.

Of course, if one reached the level of manifesting spells with a single thought, one would likely not fall into such a state.

"Still refusing to say anything?"

At this moment, outside the iron door, Wang Zhenyu looked through the glass at Wang Xuanmiao inside, a flash of grim coldness in his eyes.

As the helmsman of the Wang family, it was one thing for clan disciples to collude with Wu Wei demons, but to be caught with evidence was a crime deserving death.

"I'm afraid we won't be able to ask anything out of her."

Just at this moment, Wang Wang Zhen Shi beside him spoke up.

"What is the background of those two young men from the daytime?" Wang Zhenyu paused slightly and asked casually.

"One is named Jiang Hu, originally a disciple of the Maoshan Shangqing Sect, now making a living in the Night-Not-Bright. The business with the Shen family a few days ago had to do with him," Wang Wang Zhen Shi had long since figured out the details and reported quickly.

"Jiang Hu... I see, it's that little fellow," Wang Zhenyu nodded, not taking it to heart.

"The other is named Zhang Fan, also currently in the Night-Not-Bright."

"Zhang Fan!? What is his background?" Wang Zhenyu pressed.

"I heard this kid is very close to the Xiong family."

"The Xiong family!? Was it also him who took down Wang Xuanqing last time?" Wang Zhenyu frowned slightly.

"Correct, it is this person."

"How does Xuangang know him? They shouldn't have any intersection."

"This... I'm not sure... I sent people to check on the kid's background, but couldn't find anything."

"How is that possible?"

Wang Zhenyu's brows twitched, and a strange look flashed in his eyes.

On the ground of Yujing, as long as it's a living person... no, whether it's a living person or a dead one, there is no background their Wang family cannot uncover.

"I heard this kid is a disciple of Mount Zhenwu," Wang Wang Zhen Shi lowered his voice and said.

During the day, he also thought Zhang Fan was just a small character, relying only on the power of the Xiong family, but now it seemed that was not the case.

"Mount Zhenwu... that place hides a pillar that holds up the sky," Wang Zhenyu's eyes flashed with a look of wariness.

"Are you talking about the Transformer..."

"Get lost!" Wang Zhenyu squinted, showing annoyance: "Do you think you're very humorous?"

"I just think there's no need to be so jittery..."

Wang Wang Zhen Shi's face showed an awkward smile, subconsciously looking at Wang Xuanmiao inside the iron door.

"Patriarch, actually, everyone knows how severely the Wu Wei Sect has infiltrated over these years; which family is clean?"

Wang Wang Zhen Shi looked at Wang Zhenyu's expression and couldn't help but say: "It's not like before anymore..."

Although there have been nine purges of temples in history, to say it was a pure war between good and evil is nonsense. Tracing the cause, who can say it clearly!?

But now, even the number one enemy of the Wu Wei Sect from back then, the Long Hu Zhang family, is gone. If one were to say the Wu Wei Sect lineage is still full of monsters, I'm afraid the voices wouldn't be as unified as before.

"Foolish!"

Wang Zhenyu's expression darkened, and he shouted sternly: "No matter what the current environment is like, the slogans from above remain the same..."

"If you don't even do the superficial work, then you're not far from death."

"Actually... didn't our Wang family have this kind of incident before? Back then, Old Seven..."

At this point, Wang Wang Zhen Shi's voice came to an abrupt halt.

"Zhenhuang was outstanding among us back then, the only person who mastered the 【Big Dipper Spirit Refining】... He colluded with the Wu Wei Sect, and the reason he was able to survive was by paying a huge price," Wang Zhenyu said in a deep voice.

"Huge price?" Wang Wang Zhen Shi showed curiosity.

Rumors about Wang Zhenhuang had never ceased in the Wang family.

Some say that when he was young, like Xiong Sanqi of the Xiong family, he followed that man to far-off places, sweeping across the seven southeastern provinces, invincible and undefeated, his fierce reputation even alarming the Bai He Guan.

"He betrayed that man, which is why they were willing to spare his life. Even so... he is now neither human nor ghost," Wang Zhenyu couldn't help but sigh.

"That man..."

Wang Wang Zhen Shi remained silent. To this day, perhaps no one remembers that man's title, but in their era, his name was earth-shattering, spanning north and south.

"Great Lingzong Wang!"

At this moment, inside that sealed room.

Inside a huge glass container, emerald green liquid constantly bubbled, and a hideous and eerie remnant body was immersed within, rising and falling.

Thump... thump... thump...

Suddenly, a sound of light, slow footsteps echoed faintly in the room. The door did not open, yet the person arrived.

A figure draped in a cloak, as if hidden in shadows, appeared abruptly in front of the huge glass container. At the same time, inside the glass container, the remnant body slowly opened its only remaining eye.

"How truly sad... the 【Big Dipper Desolate Scholar】 who was once famous throughout the world has actually become like this... not even as good as a stray dog."

A mocking laugh echoed in the cold room.

"Entering the Wang family as if it were an empty house, you truly live up to your name..."

"Rooster!"

"The Immortal is supreme... back then I learned a few tricks from the 【Immortal】," the visitor said with a light laugh.

"Thirteen Zodiacs, with Man as the head..."

"The title of the Man Zodiac is called 【Immortal】..." Wang Zhenhuang's hideous, incomplete face showed a mocking expression: "And you dare to learn His Daoist techniques!?"

"Throughout history, of ten Daoist priests in the world, nine are surnamed Zhang, and one is surnamed Li..."

"The Li surname is the ancestor of ten thousand Daos... the 【Immortal】 is surnamed Li, so my learning His Daoist techniques can be considered returning to the source," the visitor said lightly.

"Why did you come here?" Wang Zhenhuang asked in a deep voice.

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"There are some old matters I want to ask about clearly."

"What?" Wang Zhenhuang pressed.

"Back then, you betrayed the Great Lingzong Wang, leaking the secret that he was about to enter the Fifth Eternal Night Tribulation, which was how we seized the opportunity to kill them, father and son, under Mount Long Hu..."

"But over these years, the more I think about it, the more something feels wrong," the visitor whispered in a deep voice.

"I don't understand what you mean," the remnant body inside the glass container said in a deep voice.

"Great Lingzong Wang... what kind of person was he? Divine Demon Holy Fetus... what kind of technique was that?"

"I always feel... he hasn't died yet!?"

Glug, glug...

As soon as the words fell, a string of rapid bubbles suddenly erupted inside the huge glass container.

"Not dead? Having paid such a huge price back then, how could they possibly still be alive?"

"If he hadn't died, how could I still be lingering here?" Wang Zhenhuang's teeth were exposed outside his incomplete face, and he gritted them.

"Precisely because you are not dead, it shows he is still alive," the visitor sneered.

"To survive the tribulation, he deliberately let you leak the secret, leading us to set a death trap, and he used that to escape. Ten years... that's enough time to do a lot of things..."

The visitor's voice became grim and chilling.

"Wang Zhenhuang... who would have thought that a rebel like you would be the most loyal to him among that group..."

"Willing to be like this, neither human nor ghost... not even as good as a stray dog, yet still willing to enter the trap for him."

The visitor's voice grew colder and angrier, and faintly, a trace of trembling could be heard.

"Are you afraid?"

Inside the huge glass container, a mocking sound came from that incomplete body.

"What a pity... he still wasn't ruthless enough... originally he could have killed you..."

The visitor calmed down, and under the grim cloak, his cold gaze stared straight at the remnant body in the container.

"These are all your guesses... Rooster... you have lived in his shadow your whole life..."

"Even though he has been dead for ten years, he has almost become your inner demon..."

"You will never be able to walk out of this in your life."

As he spoke, the remnant body in the huge glass container let out an ear-piercing laugh, accompanied by violent coughing, and scarlet blood constantly seeped out from the crevices and wounds of the flesh.

"He is not an inner demon, he is a true demon..."

"The wounds he left on the Rat back then have not been fully cleared even after ten years..."

At this point, the visitor's voice paused slightly, as if suppressing the fear in his heart.

"You are truly scared to death."

Inside the huge glass container, Wang Zhenhuang laughed even more recklessly, even as his wounds burst open, the remnant body seeming as if it would split apart at any moment.

Ten years. He had been neither human nor ghost like this for a full ten years, yet he had never laughed as heartily as he did today.

"Afraid? How could I be afraid?"

Just at this moment, the visitor's voice became unusually steady, his words laced with a hint of mockery.

"The Man Zodiac has been dead for ten years, hasn't she... you probably don't know..."

"A new Man Zodiac has already been born!"

Glug, glug...

Strings of bubbles constantly rose from the liquid in the huge glass container.

"Now... you tell me, is he still not dead? Has he escaped the tribulation?"

The visitor whispered in a deep voice, his tone filled with a hint of longing.

"You can take a guess."

Wang Zhenhuang grinned, laughing madly.

Bang...

As soon as the words fell, an invisible wave surged, and inside the glass container, the remnant body suddenly exploded, turning into a blood mist that stained the emerald green liquid.

"Guess your mother!"

The visitor was cold, gave a gloomy look at the filthy container, and turned to leave.

The next day, early morning.

Taoyuan Plaza.

Zhang Fan was like nothing had happened, still following his three-point-one-line routine, arriving at work on time.

Just as he reached the entrance, he ran into Wen He.

"Sister Wen, good morning..."

"Fanfan, you look like you didn't sleep well," Wen He said with concern, like a thoughtful older sister next door.

"I haven't been sleeping well lately."

"If you have no spirit at work, your career will surely be hard to succeed. Fanfan, why don't you go buy some oranges?" Wen He suggested.

"Oranges also help with sleep?"

"No, but they help with your career," Wen He shook her head.

"Why?"

"Career has 'orange' (success)," Wen He smiled slightly.

"..."

"I was just about to buy some fruit... by the way, a fruit shop just opened downstairs, it's very cheap, want to go together?" Zhang Fan remembered.

Yesterday, those three catties of apples only cost ten yuan.

"Fanfan, go yourself, I still have a pile of things to do," Wen He gave a sweet smile and went straight into the elevator.

Zhang Fan went to the underground plaza alone. In a corner, an inconspicuous fruit shop had opened early, and an old man with gray hair, looking kind, was smiling as he moved the fruit out.

"Grandpa, give me two catties of oranges."

"Young man, you're back?" The old man seemed to remember Zhang Fan; after all, there weren't many young people who liked to pick and choose and haggle.

"Good eye, career has 'orange', Grandpa will pick... I'll pick the big ones for you."

"Give me a cheaper price next time," Zhang Fan said with a light laugh: "Grandpa, what should I call you? If it's cheap, I'll come often in the future."

"Good, good, good, it's still the young people who take care of Grandpa's business..." The old man bent down to pick the oranges, not even raising his head.

"My surname is Jin... my name is..."

"Jin Maori!!"

(End of Chapter)