~~~

“Are you sure you will be okay, Grandpa?”

Old Jiang smiles a grandfatherly smile that does not fit his face in the least.

“Don’t worry, young one. Little Jin and I will just go buy some herbs in a nearby town. We’ll be traveling with some merchants, so there is no need for a young lass such as yourself to worry over this.”

Unsurprisingly, Su An does not look convinced. The girl bites her lower lip in worry. For someone as important as Liu Jin to travel outside the city without an official escort is doubtlessly strange.

“It is okay,” Liu Jin tells her. “Xiao Nan already knows.”

As always, mentioning Xiao Nan seems to do the trick. Apprehension slowly fades away from Su An’s face, leaving only some slight hesitation behind.

“Well, if Senior Brother Xiao Nan knows…”

“Of course, he knows, young lass,” Old Jiang says. “Do not trouble yourself over this. We are sure to be back soon.”

Twenty minutes later, when Old Jiang and Liu Jin are walking away from Eastern Port City, Liu Jin decides to voice an important question.

“Master, why do you act that way around her?”

Watching Su An interact with his Master is a bit like watching an oblivious mouse walk up to a tiger. Su An, of course, does not know how powerful Old Jiang is. No one has any intention of telling her, and his Master is simply too good at hiding his Qi for her to ever find out on her own.

It is natural for her to approach him without fear. To Su An, Master is just a regular old man.

What’s curious is how Old Jiang has chosen to deal with her. The grandfatherly facade is one Liu Jin has seen his Master put on a few times but rarely for this long. Around Su An, Old Jiang is very much the image of a doting grandfather.

He has even allowed Su An to refer to him as such. Liu Jin choked on his food the first time that happened.

“Oh, disciple,” Old Jiang says, sounding like his usual self once more. “When you are my age, there is only one reason to do anything.”

Liu Jin waits for his Master to speak. The wrinkled corners of Old Jiang’s mouth quirk up.

“Amusement, disciple. Amusement.”

Liu Jin cocks his head to the side.

“Amusement?”

Rather than amusement, all Liu Jin can feel when watching those two interact is worry.

“That is so,” Old Jiang confirms with a nod of his head. “It amuses me to act the way I do, so I do so. It may be that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, such a thing will no longer amuse me. When that happens, I will change the way I deal with your servant. For now, this Old Jiang is content with this.”

Liu Jin frowns. “She is not my servant.”

“Underling then.” Old Jiang waves his hand dismissively. “The difference is merely semantic. Rather than fight against it, you should just accept there are now people under you.”

People under him.

It is not something Liu Jin likes to think about, but it is true. Su An may be the one who is closest to him, but she’s not the only one. Over the past year, some people, mostly Outer Disciples, have chosen to throw their lot with him, something that had gotten even worse since the news of his duel with Xiao Fang got out somehow.

According to Su An, there have been quite a few arguments regarding whether he’ll be able to last three moves against Xiao Fang or not. Liu Jin has even managed to overhear a couple of them. According to Xiao Nan, people are making bets. No matter how it goes, his duel against Xiao Fang is something that has already drawn the attention of Inner and Outer Disciples.

“What do you suggest I do, Master?”

Old Jiang hums in thought while he strokes his long beard. Only the sound of their footsteps crushing the grass under their feet is heard for a while.

“It is not wrong for you to seek wisdom from your elders, yet on this matter, you should be asking your father instead of me.”

“My Father?”

“I was never one to gather people under me,” Old Jiang admits. “Taking care of people’s ailments is easy. Taking care of people is complicated. People are far too troublesome for their own good. Even at my height, solitude suited me best. I just went wherever I pleased and did whatever I wanted.”

Liu Jiu hums. Solitude sounds nice. His Master is, without a doubt, a wise person.

Wait! If Master wants him to ask his father about this…

“Does that mean Father has experience with such things?”

“Your father will not be happy I told you this, but he was indeed someone who had many people beneath him,” Old Jiangs replies. He waves a hand as if the matter is of no importance, yet Liu Jin’s attention has been caught.

“Do you wish to know more, disciple?”

He does.

From the bottom of his heart, Liu Jin wishes to know more about his father. He has only heard bits and pieces, an incomplete puzzle he cannot hope to finish on his own. To not know the truth is sometimes maddening, an itch he cannot scratch. It is always just there, lying mere inches beyond his reach.

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Yet, the one who must take that last step is not him.

“Of course, I do, Master. From the bottom of his heart, this Liu Jin wants to know more about his Father.” Liu Jin closes his eyes and sighs. “However, I cannot possibly hear what Father does not want me to hear.”

The one who must grant that knowledge to him is his father and no one else.

“I will wait until Father is ready to tell me. To hear from Master would be a betrayal.”

To deny the knowledge is painful, yet it must be done.

Old Jiang snorts.

“You and your father are entirely too alike.”

“Thank you.”

“It was not a compliment, disciple,” Old Jiang says, his gaze staring into the distance. “You are both too stubborn for your own good. To be unyielding is usually considered a good thing. Indeed, it is often an attractive trait. However, that which cannot yield often ends up broken. Make sure to remember that, oh foolish disciple of mine.”

Broken.

Does that have to do with why his father…? Liu Jin quickly shakes his head. No, it does not bear thinking about right now.

He will know when he is ready to know and no sooner.

“It does not matter now, I suppose. Look, we have arrived.”

The canyon stretches for miles ahead of them. It is covered by trees of varying shapes and sizes. Some of them are green, while others possess more exotic colors. A purple haze, which grows in density as one gets closer to the center, veils the entirety of the canyon. Even through the thick canopy of trees, Liu Jin can make out a few creatures moving around inside.

Once again, he is in Poison Fang Canyon.

“Are you ready, disciple?”

At last, three years have passed.

Liu Jin takes a deep breath as he looks into the canyon’s depths. There is only one answer for him. From that day, three years ago, there has only been one answer.

“Yes, Master.”

~~~

Liu Jin leaps over the charging Spirit Beast, its enormous body strikes the tree behind him instead, breaking the trunk without trouble. Its oversized mandibles click and clack as its sinuous shape turns towards Liu Jin once more.

Twenty steps.

That is how long it took for a Spirit Beast to attack them after entering Poison Fang Canyon. It is entirely unlike the last time. Of course, the last time they were here, his Master flared his Qi a little to scare away the weaker creatures of Poison Fang Canyon.

No such thing happened this time.

“You will, of course, deal with any Spirit Beasts that attack us while we are in the outer areas of the canyon. Surely you can handle that much.”

Those were his Master’s words seconds before being attacked.

The enemy is a Red-Scaled Centipede. As far as appearance goes, it is no different from a common centipede. Just redder.

And bigger.

The Spirit Beast is easily thirty feet long. In spite of its name, it does not possess scales. Its body is instead protected by a ruby-red exoskeleton that, so far, has proven impervious to Liu Jin’s hits. Its large mandibles click ominously with its every move.

By Liu Jin’s estimate, it is in the Ninth Level of the Inner Realm.

In other words, the only reason Liu Jin has been able to survive against it is due to the creature’s lack of intelligence and its limited angles of attack. No matter how strong or fast it is, the Red-Scaled Centipede can only rush at him in a straight line. Its body can make turns much faster than its size suggests, yet that is meaningless against Liu Jin.

As long as he keeps enough distance between him and the beast, he can keep dodging.

He mentally thanks Su An for teaching him Ground Contraction as he uses the move to instantly appear over the Red-Scaled Centipede with his leg raised high. He brings it down with force, yet it does nothing. If anything, it is his leg that ends up numb from the hit.

Liu Jin sighs. It seems he has no choice.

Even in the dark of the forest, the knife glints as Liu Jin takes it out of its holster. It’s a small, elegant thing.

He brings it down.

The Red-Scaled Centipede screeches as Liu Jin’s knife tears through its tough carapace like it is not even there. Crouching low, Liu Jin drags the knife along the beast’s length. One use of Ground Contraction later, Liu Jin is below it, cutting its legs with ease. Ground Contraction. Slice. Ground Contraction. Slice. The process repeats itself again and again as the world blurs around Liu Jin.

Three breaths later, the beast is dead.

Liu Jin breathes heavily as he looks at the knife gifted to him by Meng Yue with new eyes. He might not like the woman all that much, but her gift is certainly not lacking in any way. Even when wielded by someone of his strength, the knife is capable of doing much damage.

As expected of one of the Five Fairies of the Divine Frozen Palace.

“Ho, not bad. It is only to be expected from something made out of the fangs of a Ravenous Silver Wolf. Still, I wonder what will you do about the rest?”

The rest?

Liu Jin’s face pales as he looks at the forest in front of him. All the fighting has called the attention of the other creatures. There are dozens of Red-Scaled Centipedes and other Spirit Beasts whose name he does not know. It is impossible for him to defeat them all. This is something Liu Jin understands in an instant.

Unless...

Liu Jin looks at Old Jiang. His Master does not look like he’s going to intervene in his favor anytime soon.

So that is what this is about…

Liu Jin clicks his tongue as he yanks the pendant around his neck loose.

In an instant, the poison that was being held back by it begins to spread. Even the poisonous foliage of Poison Fang Canyon is no match for Nine-Headed Snake God’s poison. The Spirit Beasts near Liu Jin are no different.

All die before Nine-Headed Snake God’s poison.

“Oho, you certainly took your time.”

Liu Jin does not glare at his Master because such a thing would be rude. Unlike everything else around them, his Master is unaffected. It is only natural considering Liu Jin learned how to deal with poisons from him.

“Master, this disciple is having a hard time grasping the lesson he’s supposed to learn from this exercise.”

“The lesson, oh foolish disciple of mine, is to learn how to use all you can towards ensuring your survival, no matter how much you may dislike it. You are free to use my teachings however you want to. I only ask that you do not die easily. It would be a shame if you met your end because you did not consider all your options.” Old Jiang taps Liu Jin’s head once. “Throughout the past three years, you have been among the most dangerous people of this city, yet you have acted as if you were ignorant of this. Be more conscientious of what you are.”

To that, Liu Jin has nothing to say. He just wordlessly follows his Master deeper into the canyon.

The poison keeps all Spirit Beasts away from them, cutting a path of decay even through the high-toxicity areas of Poison Fang Canyon. Master and Disciple walk all the way to the center of the canyon. All the way to the almost hidden entrance.

Liu Jin stares at the dark cave.

Three years ago, he stepped inside that place, not knowing what lay there.

That is no longer the case.

Liu Jin steels himself and takes a step forward. The world around him changes as he is taken to a different realm, a place where there is only black as far as the eyes can see.

At least, that is what he had thought back then.

He knows better now.

Liu Jin lifts his eyes even as the rest of his body bows. Eyes like suns stare back at him.

“Interesting. It seems congratulations are in order.”

He now knows he is in the presence of Nine-Headed Snake God.

~~~