Chapter 38: Chapter 38 Invitation Chapter 38: Chapter 38 Invitation Editor: Atlas Studios The sudden rainstorm of the summer night had just ceased. Within the yard of Yizhuang, flames soared to the sky. Instead of dispelling the gloom, the leaping sparks made the funeral parlor all the more bizarre and eccentric.
However, amidst this strangeness, a voice roared in anger.
“You broke your promise and set my corpse ablaze!!!”
The enraged voice resounded as the coffin lid, ablaze under the boost of Su Mo’s Inner Strength, suddenly shattered, and a fiery figure with a small stature burst forth.
Amidst its roars, it brandished its claws, desperately trying to extinguish the flames on its body.
“He… he’s not dead!!!”
Lou Jingjing was startled and instinctively hid behind her senior brother.
Cheng Feiyu was also greatly shocked.
He was clearly dead, so how did setting him on fire end up reviving him?
His first thought was to rush and save the person…
But then he thought, save what the hell!
This was the Yin Mountain Ghost Lord. He wanted to fake his death and escape, but he hadn’t expected Su Mo to actually light a fire.
It was also a stroke of luck from the heavens that the rain had stopped just in time. Otherwise, if the fire hadn’t started, wouldn’t he have been fooled and slipped away?
As this crossed his mind, Cheng Feiyu felt a cold sweat all over.
What kind of person was the Yin Mountain Ghost Lord?
If he escaped and they thought he was dead, completely unguarded, who knows how they would die upon his return.
Thinking of this, he felt some gratitude for Su Mo’s unintentional act…
However, upon glancing at Su Mo, he noticed a smile on Su Mo’s lips, showing no surprise at all.
Even Yang Xiaoyun didn’t seem too surprised, only shaking her head slightly:
“As expected, there was a contingency plan.”
“You actually knew?”
Cheng Feiyu couldn’t help but speak up.
“How could a person who cherishes brotherhood so dearly throw away his brother’s corpse at a critical moment, abandoning it as if it were an old shoe, just to save his own skin?”
Su Mo sighed, “It was Sister Xiao Yun who reminded me, or else I might not have thought of this possibility.”
“I was speaking without thinking, but it was your actions afterward that made me realize.”
Yang Xiaoyun smiled, “Jianghu is insidious and unpredictable; your quick wits are truly admirable.”
Su Mo did not speak, just watched as the Yin Mountain Ghost Lord’s struggles grew weaker.
He had been severely injured, or else he wouldn’t have needed to feign death to escape.
At this moment, although he had the strength to struggle out of the coffin, he no longer had the power to fight for his life.
He couldn’t even extinguish the flames on his body.
At this point, perhaps it was the Ghost Lord’s excessive shock and anger, or pain had clouded his mind because otherwise, with the yard full of mud and water, he might have managed to prolong his life for a short while.
But now, the sound of his struggles kept diminishing, until he was ultimately burned alive.
Su Mo and the others didn’t move until the Yin Mountain Ghost Lord turned into charred remains and the several corpses inside the coffin were all reduced to ashes. Only then did Su Mo step forward, carefully inspecting the charred skeleton, his brow slightly raising:
“The Heavenly Spirit… remains intact.”
His palm strike was absolutely certain to not go wrong, so the one that sprang up could not be the one he had killed with a single palm.
The more deeply one contemplated this incident, the more it could not help but evoke a sense of awe.
Yang Xiaoyun sighed, “Let’s leave it be for now, after it cools down we can bury it, so that they truly die together.”
Only then did several people return to the main hall of Yizhuang.
Cheng Feiyu, endlessly expressing gratitude with his junior sister by his side, eventually Lou Jingjing, still shaken, glanced at the charred corpse in the courtyard, “He… he’s not still alive, is he?”
“In the martial world of Jianghu, numerous martial arts flourish, each with its own mastery. Yet some martial arts, despite causing fatal injuries, do not necessarily lead to their practitioners’ deaths… I know of a martial art called ‘Yin Yang Immortal Order.’ This martial art requires two people to practice together, one cultivating Yin and the other cultivating Yang. It includes a key principle, known as ‘Yin does not depart from Yang, Yang does not depart from Yin.’ As long as Yin and Yang stay together, their vital energies connect and flow, initiating Yin Yang Conversion, thereby sustaining their lifeforce.
“The exaggeration lies here: with this uninterrupted vital energy, without separating Yin from Yang, even if one’s head is severed, they would not die immediately.
“Instead, they could pick up their head and flee, and given time, they could even reattach their severed head.”
Yang Xiaoyun spoke casually while looking at the fire.
“Is… is there really such a martial art? Wouldn’t that make them invincible?”
Lou Jingjing was speechless with shock.
“In this world, is there truly such a thing as invincible martial arts?”
Yang Xiaoyun sighed, “The ‘Yin Yang Immortal Order’ is indeed formidable, but there are two methods to kill such a person, and should either be employed, their death is certain. The first is to completely separate these two individuals… Since ‘Yin does not depart from Yang, Yang does not depart from Yin,’ their energy circulation also has a limit. Once out of this limit, the energies can no longer merge, and if you kill at this time, death is inevitable for them.
“Furthermore, if one of the practitioners of the ‘Yin Yang Immortal Order’ dies, the other would also instantly lose their cultivation and die.
“The other method is to use overwhelmingly powerful martial arts to sever the vital energy connection between the two, thus achieving the same effect as the method mentioned above.
“However, achieving either of these two points is extremely difficult, yet not impossible.
“The ‘Mystical Scripture’ may possess the ability to suspend animation like Turtle Breath, but it is certainly not an undefeatable demon or ghost. Burnt to such a state, it is impossible to survive.”
Lou Jingjing listened quietly, observing, her mind seemingly wandering or possibly considering something else, as she appeared a bit dazed.
Su Mo then asked Cheng Feiyu, “Brother Cheng, forgive my presumption in speaking so intently despite our superficial acquaintance.”
“Not at all,” replied Cheng Feiyu.
At this moment, why would Cheng Feiyu harbor any resentment towards Su Mo?
Saving a life is like being reborn.
Not only did he and his junior sister owe Su Mo a tremendous favor that night, but even the Luoxing Sect had to be grateful to him.
Cheng Feiyu immediately said, “If Brother Su has any instructions for me, please simply speak them.”
“You speak too formally.”
Su Mo shook his head, “Tonight’s event is somewhat peculiar, and whether the words of the Yin Mountain Ghost Lord can be trusted, even by a third, is uncertain. However… there is something I feel you both must consider carefully. The upcoming journey may not go smoothly; with the Yin Mountain Ghost Lord ahead, it is necessary to be vigilant and prepared.”
Since the Yin Mountain Ghost Lord has singled them out by name, even if his words contain a mix of truth and falsehood, the possibility of a threat still exists.
If treated entirely as a falsehood, who knows what might happen next?
For a moment, Cheng Feiyu also looked helpless, “This is something unexpected… My junior sister and I simply set out because we received an invitation. Originally, the invitation was sent to our master. However, our master has not involved himself in the affairs of Jianghu for a long time, too reluctant to travel through Jianghu. Since Jingjing and I have completed our training, we should naturally experience and be tested by Jianghu. That’s why we were sent on this trip.
“We did not expect to be targeted like this.”
“Invitation…”
Yang Xiaoyun glanced at Cheng Feiyu.
If the Yin Mountain Ghost Lord was waiting here, then he must know their itinerary, and since the Luoxing Sect rarely emerges in Jianghu, one would be curious as to how the Yin Mountain Ghost Lord possessed such divine skills to intercept these two siblings.
Unexpectedly, there was an invitation involved?
If the Yin Mountain Ghost Lord was aware of this invitation, then deducing their movements wouldn’t be anything extraordinary.