"Yuan Wuzong." He pointed at himself and said, "That's me."
Silence and I looked at him, with complex feelings intertwined in our hearts, and we were stunned for a moment not knowing what to do.
"Kneel down." The man still maintained his posture of sitting cross-legged, but his aura was completely different from before. His whole person exuded a strong awe, and the cold and solemn look between his brows and eyes was intimidating.
His voice was not loud, but when Shen Shen and I heard it, our hearts suddenly exploded, and we knelt down together involuntarily.
I thought the next step was to kowtow and become a disciple.
But the man said: "I, the Yuanwu Sect, accept disciples and don't need those red tapes. Now that you kneel to me, you are my only two disciples in this life. I will return to Guiyinmen Sect when I have time, and I will let you pay my respects." Ancestor of the sect.”
I saw him suddenly take off a strange-shaped ring from his left hand. I didn't see what technique he used, but he actually split the ring into two halves.
He held half of the ring in one hand and said to the two of us solemnly: "Take off your clothes."
Shen Shen and I were stunned when we heard it, and we didn't understand what we were doing by taking off our clothes.
But seeing his stern look in his eyes, we had no choice but to take off our shirts as instructed.
The cold wind blew bitingly on our thin bodies, and I couldn't help but shiver.
The man suddenly reached out and pressed the two halves of the ring on our chests.
As soon as the ring touched my chest, my skin immediately felt as if it had been burned by a soldering iron. The intense burning sensation made me scream in pain, and at the same time, I smelled the stench of burnt flesh in my nose.
The same goes for Silence, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead instantly. But he didn't cry out and kept gritting his teeth.
After a while, the man withdrew his hand, and we couldn't help but look down and found that half of the rings had been stamped on each of our chests.
The ring had just been taken off that person's hand, so how could such a high temperature leave a mark on our bodies?
My heart was shaken violently, and I thought he would use magic.
"This is the sect symbol passed down from generation to generation in our Guiyin lineage. It's called Guiyin's ring seal. Every disciple of Guiyin sect must leave a mark on his body. This is the rule of entry." The man suddenly opened the door. He took off his clothes and said, "I am no exception."
We looked up and faintly saw the same mark as ours on his still muscular chest.
He closed his lapel, stretched out the two halves of the ring in front of us again, and said, "Each of us should accept this half of the ring and keep it for safekeeping. Do not lose it, otherwise we will be punished for treason."
Ignoring the pain in our chests, Shen Sheng and I reached out to pick it up cautiously, thinking that the ring was still very hot. We didn't feel any burning sensation when we took it into our hands. Everything was normal. This made both of us even more surprised.
The master returned to his original calm demeanor. He had already seen through our surprise and said: "What I just used was not a magic spell, but a secret internal skill taught by Ghost. It is called Wuxiang Controlling the Void. The energy of heaven and earth is endless, Tolerating all things. Vast movement and stillness, formlessness and impermanence, and endless existence. Even if you hear it now, you still don’t understand. I will teach you slowly in the future." He took a sip of wine and continued: "Now you two have become my disciples. , Although I disdain those etiquette and customs, you two must have a sense of seniority."
I vaguely guessed what this meant. Shen Sheng and I had to distinguish who was the senior brother and who was the junior brother.
But I don’t know what method Master will use to differentiate.
The master pondered for a moment, and then said: "I ask a question, and you two must answer it immediately based on your true inner thoughts. You cannot think about it."
Silence and I only nodded.
"Then tell me, why didn't you choose to escape during the fire?" The master's tone was still calm.
"Shen Shen, you answer first." Master said to Shen Shen.
Silence did not hesitate and immediately replied: "I want revenge."
Master nodded slightly, turned to me, and asked, "What about you?"
The most secret answer in my heart jumped out instantly: "Because I want to live."
I know best in my heart that only by surviving can I achieve my goal of revenge.
Master's eyes were reserved and sharp. He stared at my face for a long time before slowly saying: "Very good, then from now on, you will be the silent senior brother."
I was confused when I heard this, and I didn't understand the reason for Master's decision.
I subconsciously looked at Silence's reaction and found that his expression did not seem to fluctuate significantly.
I wanted to ask why, but as soon as the words reached my throat, I hesitated.
Master looked at Shen Sheng and said, "Shen Shen, why don't you ask why you are not a senior brother?"
I thought, this is what I want to ask.
Silent's expression was still very calm, and he replied softly: "Master makes the decision, and the disciple must obey it."
"I can see that although you don't care about this title, you still want to know the reason." The master looked at him and said slowly: "Your character is too direct. It is correct to have a clear purpose, but it is not suitable for everyone. Things are tough. You should try to learn how to do things in a roundabout way. This way you will avoid a lot of unnecessary harm."
I don’t know if Silence understands, but I know that I don’t understand.
Because how could a seven-year-old child fully understand these words?
"The answer to a question is often the most true one that does not require deliberate thinking. And these answers can often reflect the truest side of a person." Master turned his eyes to me and said: "Xiao Yi, your answer tells me I think you are very thoughtful and are good at disguising your true identity. In other words, when you grow up in the future, you may be more scheming. This is not a bad thing. The key lies in how you use it. You There is a bigger picture than silence, so I made you my senior brother. I hope that in the future, when you two get along, you can learn from each other’s character strengths to make up for your own shortcomings. You must also fulfill the responsibility of a senior brother, because in the future it will be very difficult. Over a long period of time, you will both witness each other's growth together."
It took me many years to understand that the reason why Master asked me to be his senior brother was actually because I had more direct desires than Silence, but I was better at concealing and planning than he did, and Master needed these things in me.
As for Silence, he yearns for himself more and doesn't like complexity. Sometimes I envy him because he lives a more pure life than me.
I remember that night was the seventeenth day of the winter lunar month. Our two children had an extra mark on their bodies and became the heirs of a little-known sect in the world.
I remember that Mo Shen finally asked Master a question.
"Master, since the Ghost Seal is half a person, why was it a complete one when it was in your hand just now?"
The master didn't speak for a long time after hearing this. He looked up at the door of the ruined temple with his hands clasped behind his hands, his eyes seemed to have a trace of imperceptible loss.
"Because only the true Lord of Onigakure, the Oni King, can possess the complete Onigakure Ring Seal." The master seemed to sigh softly. He looked down at the two children in front of him and said: "Among the two of you, from now on There will also be a person who becomes the Ghost King and inherits the centuries-old incense of the Onigakure lineage. At that time, the Onigakure Ring Seal will merge into one and become the symbol of a generation of Ghost King."
"But now you don't need to think so much. The first thing you have to do now is to learn how to survive in this world." Master said to us seriously: "You must remember that in this world, only Only those who are alive are qualified to speak.”
This sentence also became the sentence that Master said to us most.
"I can't guarantee who you will become in the end, but it will at least be fun for you to follow me now, and you can also learn how to live longer than others."
I saw Master walking to the door of the ruined temple. He looked up at the pre-dawn sky, his gray hair flying and his sleeves full of wind.
I didn’t know at the time that many years later, I would leave the Kiyin Sect and my junior brother because I didn’t want the Kiyin Seal to merge into one, and I didn’t know that I would become the notorious “Mate Master” in the world. ".
I chose to leave because I didn't want to, or even dared to face one person or one thing.
The person I don’t want to see again is Silence. As for that matter, I don’t want to mention it again.
There are many people who have such problems in their hearts. Some people don’t want to see each other again and don’t want to mention certain things again. Maybe it’s because they don’t have the courage to face it, or maybe it’s because once they look back, there is no way out, so I would rather choose to escape.
Starting from that ruined temple, Shen Sheng and I had a disciple and a master.
Later I found out that few people in the world knew about my sect, and I even suspected that no one had ever heard of the name "Guiyin".
I have always wondered why the Guiyin lineage is so thin. In Master's generation, there are only two disciples, Shen Mo and me. I once asked Master, but Master didn't seem to want to tell me the answer. He just sighed alone every time.
This issue seems to have become a thorn in Master's heart, and it will hurt once it is mentioned.
So I stopped asking. But I know there must be a reason for this.
It was only after I grew up that I gradually learned that Guiyinmen was only known to exist in the world of my generation. However, as early as more than a hundred years ago, the name Guiyin was not only famous throughout the world, but also brought great influence to the world. There was an unprecedented bloody storm, and countless people hated this name. The Guiyin lineage also paid a heavy price for this and had to withdraw from the world. And people no longer mention those bloody past events and that nightmare-like name.
Some pain can only be forgotten by forcing it.
And my master, the Ghost King Yuan Wuzong, never took the initiative to reveal his identity when traveling around the world.
Therefore, the name Guiyin has not been mentioned in the world for almost a hundred years.
No one has mentioned it, but it does not mean that it did not exist. Even if people in the world deliberately do not record and remember it, it still cannot cover up the great reputation of Onigakure.
Later, I followed my master back to the place where the Guiyin Sect once was. It was a secret place far away from the Central Plains, a place hidden deep in the endless snow mountains. When I first stepped into that place, I thought Entered the land of dreams.
Because that place, in my opinion at the time, was simply an irrational existence. Outside there are endless snow-capped mountains, but between the criss-crossing valleys, there is a magical place with a warm spring and a hundred flowers blooming.
This place, which Master calls the "outside world", has sunshine, birds and animals, streams and flowers. No matter how the seasons change outside the mountains, it is always like spring. Although it is only separated by a mountain, it is like a world away. outside.
There is the sect's holy land of Guiginmen. I learned from later records that this place has a history of nearly 600 years. In this cave-like valley, there are countless gold and silver treasures, as well as magical weapons and secret books that people in the world covet. It is not an exaggeration to say that this place is a treasure house. These existences whose value cannot be estimated are Kiyakure's disciples spent hundreds of years collecting them.
I remember that was the first time that Shen Sheng and I came to the place where the master was, when we were seventeen years old.
The reason why we came to the outer realm of the world is because Master said it was time for us to pay homage to our ancestors and our former fellow disciples. Another reason is that Master said that he would give us something as a gift from Master.
Those are two weapons, one sword and one fan.
The knife was about two feet eight inches long. It was simple and slender in style, but it had a cold and murderous aura. It was named "Seven Kills".
The fan was dark red in color and was forged from thirteen extremely sharp fine iron fan bones. It was named "Half-foot Hongchen".
According to the master, these swords are not weapons from the Oniyin sect, but are gifts from a friend outside the martial arts world. The material of the sword is made of fine iron taken from the bottom of the iceberg in the far north. It is a peerless magic weapon that is rare in the world.
Master asked Shen Shen and I to choose one of the weapons.
The weapon that I value most is the ordinary knife that I used to carry out a bloody feud in the sea of fire that year. Unfortunately, it was already left in the fire scene, which has become a regret in my heart.
Although I was familiar with many weapons over the years and was extremely proficient in them, I had no special requirements for weapons at that time, and I was even not used to using a certain weapon. But since it is a gift from Master, I have no reason to refuse. It is said that elders cannot refuse a gift. So I immediately took a fancy to the fine iron folding fan. To a layman, it seemed like it was just a fan with a peculiar shape, but I knew that it was actually an extremely strange and powerful weapon from the Qimen. But as a senior brother, I must give up the right of priority to my junior brother.
Silence seemed to choose the knife without hesitation.
I know his choices were based on what his heart truly wanted. Because his character is like that knife, simple and direct with murderous intent, pure and sharp, the two complement each other.
So of course I became the master of that half-foot-long piece of red dust.
Many years later, the Seven Killing Sword and the man who matched it led to a legendary story in the world, and was known as the "Ghost-Eyed Demon Sword" by the world.
But I have never been able to understand why that folding fan is called "Half Foot of Red Dust"?
Half a foot away, what is the world of mortals?
That time we stayed in the outer world for about a year. During this time, I had the opportunity to learn more about the teacher’s past.
The tablets dedicated to the ancestors of Guiyin and the seniors of the same sect told me that Guiyin was once a sect where many masters gathered. I have read through the sect's classics and learned from the incomplete records that in Master Long Xiao's generation, Guiyin still had great power, and the disciples of the sect did not have a simple one-teacher-two-passage like me and Shen Mo. rules. In other words, the Guiyinmen's rule of only accepting two disciples only happened in Master Long Xiao's generation.
I haven't found any record of why such a change occurred.
There must be something inside that Master doesn't want us to know yet.
During the ten years before returning to the outer world for the first time, Master had been wandering around the rivers and lakes with me and Silence.
I remember what Master said when he took us out of the ruined temple for the first time. He said: "You follow me, but you must be prepared to endure hardship. The first thing you need to learn is how to survive."
The master did not teach him the almost miraculous martial arts in our opinion at the beginning. The first thing he taught us was how to use all means to survive. During those long years, Shen Shen and I worked as beggars, worked as coolies, and stole things. We had learned and practiced all the most difficult ways of survival, and Master actually accompanied us to do those things. This surprised me. In my opinion, Master himself is already a treasure-like existence. There are too many things about him that we don’t understand. He has magical abilities that we cannot understand. If he wants to let himself live Being comfortable is the easiest thing to do.
What makes me most incomprehensible is that Master has such unpredictable abilities, but every day he makes himself look like the least noticeable wanderer. In some of the most difficult times, he Just like an old beggar with two young beggars.
And this desolate middle-aged man, who claimed to be almost 130 years old, once used a bamboo pole to raise a boat that was about to sink into the water on Taihu Lake. He also once killed a bandit with one finger in the air in the middle of the night at the foot of Mount Huashan. More than twenty people. There were countless things like this in those ten years, but he always said that he was neither a good person nor a bad person, and these things were not worth mentioning at all. And the world has no basis for his existence. We are like shadowless ghosts wandering in the rivers and lakes.
The master seemed to be deliberately hiding himself. Many years later, I seemed to understand that at that time, I thought the downtrodden life of wandering around the world was a kind of hardship, but in his eyes, it was just a leisure time playing in the mortal world.
During those ten years, Master took us to almost every place in the Central Plains. During those years, Master did not have a clear goal direction and just moved forward in the direction in front of him. He taught us how to survive, and also taught us the skills to survive in the world.
Whether in the arena or in the martial arts world, the most basic survival skill is martial arts.
The way he taught us martial arts was also very special. He does not just teach a certain kind of martial arts alone. In the eyes of the master, there is no concept of orthodoxy or heresy. As long as it is useful, he will teach various hidden weapons, light kung fu, and fist and palm plus healing techniques. There are even ways to use poison and sneak attacks. Among these various types of martial arts, there is naturally the inner strength and mental method of "Controlling the Void without Phase" taught secretly by Gui Yin. Master has said that all advanced martial arts moves in the world must be stimulated by deep internal energy to achieve their maximum effect. The power of Wuxiang Yuxu is the most profound martial arts in the world.
Master once inadvertently revealed that a large part of the reason why he has been able to live for so long is because he has practiced controlling the void without phase.
And his mind seems to be an inexhaustible treasure house of martial arts secrets. As long as he uses any martial arts he has seen and heard, he can achieve whatever he wants.
Among such various types of martial arts, one will naturally have his own favorite one. What I like most is not martial arts, but a method of disguise. It is a magical technique that can change one's own shape and appearance at will. I am very obsessed with it, so I spend a lot of time and energy studying hard.
Later, I accidentally learned that the fan had other changes and uses.
That fan is not just a fan. Through the complicated and strange structure of the fan itself, thirteen fine iron fan bones can be split and connected using a special method, and transformed into a long sword!
I felt extremely excited. Out of curiosity about this strange weapon, I secretly began to practice swordsmanship. And because of the special nature of weapons, the swordsmanship I practice is unique and very different.
But what Shen Mo likes and is best at is practicing swordsmanship. I once asked him why he only prefers knives, and he just answered calmly and simply, because knives are the most direct.
I have been with Shen Mo day and night for many years, and I have also secretly competed with him. In my opinion, a senior martial brother must be better than his junior brother in martial arts to be worthy of his status. But I found that my junior brother was not very interested in such competition. He is very focused, but he doesn't seem to care much about anything. After many years of getting along with him, I know that he is a person who attaches great importance to friendship, but he is not good at scheming.
He has a strong adaptability and can make himself feel comfortable in any environment. This should be due to the fact that he does not have too many desires in his heart. I still remember something he said to me, which gave me a new understanding of his personality.
He said: "Why can't people live a happier life every day? Life is short. If you trap yourself in a box every day, wouldn't it be a waste of this rare life? Don't look at Master, who is more than a hundred years old. But I can see that he’s not that comfortable, which is really sad.”
He also said to me: "Brother, you should relax and smile more, otherwise your face will turn into stone in the future."
After hearing this, I was speechless.
He is an optimistic person and is not used to keeping his worries in his heart.
This kind of personality is very inconsistent with me. I'm not saying that I don't care about emotions, I just can control the emotions in my heart very well, because I know that in the world of martial arts, emotions without substance are often the most dangerous existence.
Every year on the seventeenth day of the winter lunar month, the usually optimistic silence becomes very silent. I know what this day means to him and me. That bloody night has never faded away in our hearts.
