Chapter 49: The Playful Antics in the Seclusion Chamber

No matter how long Chen Wenfa took to recover from his confusion, his master Liu Yingde’s words in this mountain manor were law, strict and swift, allowing for no disobedience.

Soon enough, Zhang Pu was escorted into Liu Yingde’s secluded chamber, the room reserved for practicing the sinister art known as “Ten Thousand Ghosts Returning to the Sect.”

Once the door to the chamber closed, and as Liu Yingde began his incantations with closed eyes, Zhang Pu’s eyes quietly opened.

The reason Zhang Pu opened his eyes at that moment was not because of Liu Yingde’s chanting—indeed, Liu Yingde had no inkling that Zhang Pu had already regained consciousness.

In truth, Zhang Pu had awakened much earlier.

He had been feigning unconsciousness all along.

After being knocked down unexpectedly by Chen Wenfa near Yueyao Mountain Manor, Zhang Pu had quickly regained consciousness during his faint. Yet, he continued to pretend, his mind set upon seeing where Chen Wenfa intended to take him.

His vigilance had been focused solely on threats like bullets and martial arts masters, as if he’d forgotten to guard against the crooked paths of sorcery and black magic. Yet these crooked arts, much like minor spells in the realm of cultivation, were no more than pale imitations—whether poison or curses, as practiced by Chen Wenfa.

Zhang Pu understood: should any significant magic from the cultivation world be unleashed, Chen Wenfa’s petty tricks would vanish without a trace.

Though Zhang Pu could not yet wield the greater spells, he was more than capable of employing minor ones to deal with Chen Wenfa.

Since pretending to faint, Zhang Pu had been quietly observing everything around him, and now he had gleaned many of the secrets harbored here.

The current practitioner, Liu Yingde, was not particularly adept in his arts. Now that Zhang Pu had fully recovered, he was confident he could subdue him with ease.

Earlier, Chen Wenfa had caught him off guard, but Zhang Pu had regained his wits and could have easily turned the tables on the road. Yet, a sudden curiosity compelled him to follow Chen Wenfa into their lair.

If this truly was a den of mischief, Zhang Pu felt it his duty to act and rid the people of harm. Perhaps, he mused, it would even earn him a handsome reward to buy herbs for refining pills—why not? He always needed to earn money, after all, and ill-gotten gains taken righteously were all the sweeter.

Moreover, from Liu Yingde, Zhang Pu had caught the scent of a larger prize—for he sensed that Liu Yingde and his ilk had amassed some wealth.

Though Liu Yingde enjoyed considerable fame in the surrounding villages, boasting martial prowess, and dabbling in feng shui, healing, and ghost-catching—typical of their sorcerer-ghost sect—his combined talents, to Zhang Pu, were nothing but worthless trinkets.

Zhang Pu reasoned: if he unleashed his full strength, bolstered by the minor spells he could command from the cultivation world, he would easily shatter Liu Yingde’s pitiful defenses.

Now was the moment! While the old priest prepared his ritual, Zhang Pu would make his move.

His mind made up.

Liu Yingde finished his incantation, rose to his feet, brandishing a peachwood sword and a bowl of talisman water, ready to cast it upon Zhang Pu.

It was no wonder Liu Yingde made such preparations, for his sect was entwined with ghosts.

Seeing his comical appearance, Zhang Pu could barely suppress a laugh.

“Go in peace, child. Once you reach the underworld, I’ll burn offerings for you every year…” Liu Yingde’s words, to the uninitiated, might have brought tears to their eyes, thinking him a kindly elder.

But Zhang Pu cursed him inwardly: “You damned old man, how dare you curse me!”

As Liu Yingde chanted, he suddenly flung the entire bowl of talisman water at Zhang Pu.

But in the next instant, Liu Yingde was dumbfounded—

The water, meant to be sprinkled slowly over Zhang Pu, inexplicably reversed course, spraying directly into Liu Yingde’s own face!

Caught unawares, Liu Yingde was drenched in talisman water.

He was terrified, but scarcely bothered to wipe his face, peering through the haze to see Zhang Pu still lying with eyes tightly shut.

Could it be that ghosts roam in broad daylight? He had spent years banishing spirits for the local villages—was a ghost now here to plague him, disrupting his practice of such a crucial art?

Liu Yingde truly began to doubt and fear, for the trick seemed impossible for the man lying motionless on the floor to have performed. He knew Zhang Pu only as someone his disciple Chen Wenfa had brought—not realizing this man was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

This fellow couldn’t even best his own disciple—surely he wouldn’t dare challenge him, the old master!

Liu Yingde began a solemn search for ghosts in his secluded chamber.

Watching his ridiculous antics, Zhang Pu, peeking through half-closed eyes, was secretly amused.

The earlier feat had indeed been Zhang Pu’s doing! He had used a minor spell from the cultivation world’s necromantic star domain: Reverse Blow.

The necromantic star domain held countless spells, the very ancestors of the highest arts of Liu Yingde’s ghost-sorcerer sect! Though Zhang Pu lacked the power to cast advanced spells, even a mid-level one would have stripped their sect bare.

Yet, with his current strength, approaching Foundation Establishment, Zhang Pu could easily wield suitable spells from the necromantic star domain to utterly counter Liu Yingde’s pathetic earthly arts.

At this moment, Liu Yingde was waving his peachwood sword, earnestly searching for something, when he was unexpectedly struck on the back of his head.

Zhang Pu, wanting to toy with the priest, refrained from knocking him out at once. He used the Shadowless Hand.

But Liu Yingde still did not suspect him—he blamed the mysterious force.

Now filled with apprehension, Liu Yingde wondered: what on earth was so powerful today, breaking into his chamber, rendering all his skills useless?

As he shuddered in secret, his suspicions grew—such things had never happened before, only since this man’s arrival…

After all, Liu Yingde was a seasoned fox of the martial world—he would not be so easily fooled by Zhang Pu.

He grew increasingly alert.

Although the Shadowless Hand, in earthly combat, seemed miraculous, a man like Liu Yingde, if attentive, could detect it.

“Ah—so it was you after all…”

As Liu Yingde suffered another blow, he finally realized Zhang Pu was the culprit behind it all. He berated himself for having been so superstitious and fearful.