Bu Wei

“That great demon wasn’t really dead?” Feng Zizhang responded. “Have you searched under the dark realm too?”

“We searched, but couldn’t find any trace of him,” Chu Xin shook his head and said, “However, during the vine demon’s rampage earlier, we discovered the soul-devouring array created by the great demon Ning.”

Jiang Yizheng recalled her near-death experience in the illusion array of Linjiang City and drew in a sharp breath. She said fearfully, “I heard that those who enter the soul-devouring array would have their souls scattered, never to be reincarnated. We actually managed to escape from right under Ning Buwei’s nose.”

The great demon himself, who was staring at them expressionlessly: “…”

“That’s not all. They say he also has the Hundred Bones Thousand Ghosts Array, and the Suzaku Knife that summons fierce ghosts. Countless skeletons crawl out from the ground, leaving no living beings or even a blade of grass wherever they go!” Chu Xin, who often helped serve tea in the main hall and overheard his masters discussing Ning Buwei’s techniques and weaknesses, knew much more than Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng.

“Wow, that’s terrifying,” Jiang Yizheng hugged her sword tightly. “I hope I never encounter the great demon in my lifetime.”

Jiang Yizheng suddenly felt a chill down her spine and inconspicuously inched closer to Ning Buwei.

Feng Zizhang’s expression turned somewhat unpleasant as he recalled something, but Chu Xin and Jiang Yizheng were too busy talking to notice. He carefully looked up at Ning Buwei and met his meaningful gaze.

Ning Buwei curved his lips into a meaningful smile.

Feng Zizhang: “!!!”

“Starting tomorrow, the sect’s grand selection will be suspended for three days. A ceremony will be held on the main peak to celebrate Venerable Jinghe’s emergence from seclusion,” Chu Xin said excitedly. “Apart from the disciples of the Wushi Sect, the other seven major sects and ten great families will all attend. It will be quite lively. Do you want to come and watch?”

“Can we go?” Although Jiang Yizheng didn’t know who this Venerable Jinghe was, it sounded impressive.

“Of course you can!” Chu Xin enthusiastically invited them. “Senior, you and Zizhang should come too. I’ll save you good seats.”

To his surprise, both of them looked pale.

Feng Zizhang was frightened by Ning Buwei earlier, while Ning Buwei was… choked by the name Venerable Jinghe.

“My master is calling me,” Chu Xin looked at the jade tablet on his waist and saw an urgent summons. He quickly stood up and said to Ning Buwei and the others, “I have to go now! I’ll come to pick you up tomorrow morning for the ceremony!”

Before Ning Buwei could refuse, Chu Xin hurriedly jumped on his flying sword and disappeared into the clouds.

Jiang Yizheng still wanted to see what the first sect’s ancestor’s emergence ceremony looked like. He turned to ask Ning Buwei, “Senior, shall we go?”

“No,” Ning Buwei ruthlessly refused her. “Go by yourself if you want.”

Jiang Yizheng lowered her head, “Then I won’t go either.”

Feng Zizhang’s calves were instinctively trembling due to his earlier suspicion. He was startled when he suddenly heard someone calling his name, “Ah!?”

Seeing his confused expression, Jiang Yizheng repeated, “Senior went inside. Are you still going to sunbathe here?”

Feng Zizhang wouldn’t dare to go inside even if it killed him. He stammered, “Y-yes, I’m sunbathing here.”

“Feng Zizhang, come in,” Ning Buwei’s voice came from inside the cave.

Feng Zizhang grabbed Jiang Yizheng’s arm.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jiang Yizheng asked.

“My legs are a bit weak,” Feng Zizhang said tearfully. “Xiao Jiang, I’m very happy to have met you.”

Jiang Yizheng was puzzled, “I’m… happy to have met you too?”

Feng Zizhang took a deep breath, “Help me inside, please.”

His tone sounded like he was going to his death. Jiang Yizheng didn’t understand but still half-supported, half-dragged him inside.

Ning Buwei was sitting in a chair playing with a knife. The faceless shell was sitting beside him, patiently brewing tea and thoughtfully bringing the teacup to his hand, indicating he should drink.

In less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Ning Buwei had already been force-fed a belly full of tea. He pretended not to see and quietly moved his hand away from the teacup.

The faceless shell: “…”

Feng Zizhang felt he should at least make a statement in terms of demeanor. He let go of Jiang Yizheng’s arm, intending to straighten his back, but his legs gave way and he fell straight to his knees. His kneecaps hit the ground with a crisp “thud,” startling Jiang Yizheng.

The faceless shell tilted its head in confusion.

“It’s still far from New Year’s, no need for such a grand gesture,” Ning Buwei watched him with amusement.

Feng Zizhang’s cultivation was now close to the peak of Foundation Building, considerably higher than Jiang Yizheng’s. Staying with Ning Buwei every day, he naturally sensed the faint evil aura around him. Now that Ning Buwei had emerged from seclusion, the evil aura became more apparent.

Earlier, when Chu Xin mentioned the Soul-Devouring Array and the Hundred Bones Thousand Ghosts Array, Feng Zizhang recalled seeing Ning Buwei release black mist using the Suzaku Shattered Blade in the alley of Linjiang City. He had also witnessed countless white bone ghosts at Yunzhong Sect, and even had a close encounter with a giant skeleton… Before, he only vaguely sensed that the senior’s cultivation techniques might not be so “orthodox,” but he never associated the names “Li Chengfeng” and “Ning Buwei.”

In legends, the great demon Ning Buwei killed without blinking and ate people without salt, cruel and ruthless, leaving corpses and blood wherever he went. This was completely different from Li Chengfeng, who was always fretting over changing his son’s diapers.

Feng Zizhang’s face turned slightly pale. “Se-Senior, I—”

Ning Buwei picked up the teacup and took a sip, calmly saying, “Since you’ve figured it out, you’re free to stay or leave.”

Jiang Yizheng, listening beside them, was full of questions. “What? Figured out what? What do you mean by free to stay or leave?”

Ning Buwei: “…”

Feng Zizhang said tearfully, “Senior, you see, Xiao Jiang doesn’t know anything. Why don’t you let her go?”

Jiang Yizheng felt something was off about his words and asked confusedly, “Know what?”

“I am Ning Buwei,” the person sitting in the chair drinking tea said slowly.

“I know, Ning Buwei, that great demon—” Jiang Yizheng suddenly realized halfway through her sentence. Her knees went weak, and she fell to the ground with a thud, trembling beside Feng Zizhang, her expression terrified.

Ning Buwei unconsciously squeezed the teacup in his hand, lifted his eyelids to look at Feng Zizhang, and smiled slightly, “Now she knows too.”

Feng Zizhang’s face turned deathly pale.

The faceless shell, who was pouring tea, paused for a moment, then continued to act as if nothing had happened, blending into the background.

The cave fell silent except for the sound of tea being poured.

Ning Buwei’s expression was unclear in the steam. Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng knelt on the ground, shivering.

This annoying silence lasted for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick. Then the great demon snorted softly. “Why aren’t you running?”

Feng Zizhang swallowed hard, “We… we don’t dare.”

“Wuwu,” Jiang Yizheng’s voice took on a crying tone, “Senior, I still want to have a good rebirth in my next life. Can you not scatter my soul, considering our acquaintance?”

Feng Zizhang carefully looked up at him, “Senior, please, could you… could you make our death a little quicker?”

It was the first time Ning Buwei had heard someone beg while bargaining. He stood up and squatted in front of the two, smiling playfully, “What if I say no?”

Feng Zizhang’s expression was tense, but his eyes also reddened, “Wuwuwu.”

Tears fell from Jiang Yizheng’s eyes as she sobbed, “Then, Father Senior, please… please be quick. I’m afraid of pain.”

Ning Buwei said softly, “When did I say I was going to kill you?”

Jiang Yizheng and Feng Zizhang stared at him blankly.

“Tch, didn’t I just say you’re free to stay or leave?” Ning Buwei frowned impatiently.

“But what if we go out and tell others that you’re Ning Buwei?” Feng Zizhang sniffled.

Jiang Yizheng said with teary eyes, “Their Wushi Sect’s martial uncle is a powerful Hinayana Stage cultivator. You’ve just recovered from your injuries, don’t fight with others again. If you get severely injured and collapse by the roadside again… wuwu, what if no one picks you up?”

“You must conceal your evil aura well—” Feng Zizhang said worriedly, “If I could detect it, others would easily discover it too. Chu Xin just said the Chongzheng Alliance is still looking for you…”

Ning Buwei looked at them with a complicated expression, “Whose side are you on exactly?”

Jiang Yizheng wiped her face and said through gritted teeth, “If you hadn’t saved me in Linjiang City, I would have died long ago. I’ll consider this repaying the life-saving grace.”

Feng Zizhang nodded and closed his eyes, “Go ahead!”

Ning Buwei: “…Just get lost.”

But the two little fools eager to die remained kneeling on the ground, motionless.

Jiang Yizheng said tearfully, “My legs are weak. I can’t get up.”

Feng Zizhang secretly opened his eyes, his mind working a bit faster than Jiang Yizheng’s, and asked softly, “Senior, you said earlier we’re free to stay or leave… so can we, stay?”

Ning Buwei looked at him curiously, “You still dare to stay?”

They must be scared silly.

“I… I had nowhere else to go anyway,” Feng Zizhang lowered his head and said slowly, “They all say you’re bloodthirsty and unpredictable, never leaving survivors… but whether in Linjiang City or at Yunzhong Sect, you saved us, several times. At the Shangong Department, if it wasn’t for you, Xiao Jiang and I would have died long ago. You even repaired the crystal ball my master gave me… If you really wanted to kill us, you would have done it long ago.”

“Zizhang is right,” Jiang Yizheng said tearfully, “Mother told me, a child doesn’t dislike their mother for being ugly, a dog doesn’t dislike its home for being poor. One should be grateful and repay kindness… You’ve never despised me for being useless, so I… I can’t despise you either.”

“I kowtowed to you and served you tea, and you didn’t object. So you’re my father. If you’re a great demon, then I’m a little demon,” she said firmly, “If you don’t kill me, I’ll follow you.”

Ning Buwei frowned, “Aren’t you afraid of me?”

“…Afraid,” Feng Zizhang sneaked a glance at him, “But not that afraid.”

When they first heard he was Ning Buwei, they were naturally terrified. “Ning Buwei” and “Great Demon” seemed like someone from another world. They instinctively feared the name “Ning Buwei,” but seeing the real person squatting in front of them trying to drive them away, they subconsciously treated him as Li Chengfeng.

They had experienced so much together on their journey, and had instinctively come to rely on and trust him. They even dared to bargain with the great demon himself, subconsciously feeling that he wouldn’t really scatter their souls.

They couldn’t explain the exact reason, but it was an instinctive feeling.

Someone who would be irritable yet still grudgingly take care of a helpless infant, who would silently allow them to follow along when they had nowhere else to go, who would secretly slip Jade Spirit Pills into their storage rings, who would tacitly tolerate their mistakes, who would be so careful as to pick up and repair scattered crystal pieces when saving people… Such a person.

He even deliberately tried to scare them away just now.

Feng Zizhang knew he wasn’t smart, but he had his own judgment.

“Mother told me that what you see with your own eyes is more important than hearsay,” Jiang Yizheng looked at Ning Buwei, “Whether you’re Li Chengfeng or Ning Buwei, you’re still my father.”

Feng Zizhang didn’t dare to be as bold as Jiang Yizheng and call him father directly, but he still nodded in agreement.

Ning Buwei: “…Do as you please.”

Kids these days were hard to understand and unpredictable.

Then, with a wooden expression, he tugged at both his sleeves. “Let go.”

Only then did Jiang Yizheng and Feng Zizhang release the sleeves they were clutching.

Ning Buwei stood up, feeling his legs were a bit numb, and walked a few steps to sit back in the chair.

The white-robed shell was about to hand over the teacup, but was intercepted halfway.

Feng Zizhang took the tea and offered it to Ning Buwei.

Ning Buwei had drunk too much tea earlier and was now somewhat tea-thirsty, so he took it and had a sip. “Have you thought it through?”

Feng Zizhang nodded, “I have.”

Then he kowtowed to him three times solidly, saying in a loud voice. “Father!”

Ning Buwei spat out a mouthful of tea, glaring at him, “What are you doing?”

“Recognizing you as my father,” Feng Zizhang wiped the tea off his face. “Didn’t you just ask if I had thought it through? I said I had.”

Ning Buwei said through gritted teeth. “I was asking if you had thought through staying here.”

Feng Zizhang was stunned for a moment, “Wasn’t it about whether I wanted to recognize you as my father?”

Jiang Yizheng, who had finally managed to get up from the ground and sit on a chair, said softly. “Father, you swallowed the first mouthful of tea, what you spat was the second mouthful.”

Ning Buwei: “……”

Very well, she wasn’t even saying “Senior” or “You” anymore.

The great demon, who had originally intended to scare them away with his infamous reputation, not only failed to achieve his goal but was now being taken advantage of.

He numbly stood up and silently walked into his cave.

Feng Zizhang stood up, wincing as he rubbed his knees, only to be “glared” at by the white-robed shell, which then followed Ning Buwei into the cave.

Feng Zizhang said in surprise. “Did he just glare at me?”

Jiang Yizheng, thirsty, drank a cup of tea, “He doesn’t even have a face or eyes, how could he glare at you with his divine consciousness?”

“That’s true…”

“Why did you suddenly decide to recognize him as your father?” Jiang Yizheng asked him quietly.

“…I’ve long thought of him as my father, I just didn’t dare say it,” Feng Zizhang scratched his head, “I don’t know what I was thinking, I just wanted to acknowledge him.”

“Doesn’t this count as recognizing a thief as our father?”

“Sister, that’s not how you use that idiom,” said the same Feng who had been cursing Ning Buwei indignantly a few months ago.

Inside the cave, Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng were chatting back and forth, while outside, someone had completely frozen in place.

Chu Xin, who had been told halfway through his flight that he didn’t need to come, remembered he hadn’t agreed on a time for tomorrow’s ceremony viewing with the senior and the others, so he turned back. Who knew that as soon as he reached the entrance, he would hear Li Chengfeng admit that he was Ning Buwei, scaring him into slapping a concealment talisman on himself.

He then heard the entire process of how his two friends “recognized a thief as their father.”

Chu Xin couldn’t understand Jiang Yizheng and Feng Zizhang’s actions.

He had also been saved by Ning Buwei before, but… that was the great demon who had committed numerous crimes and turned the seventeen states into a bloodbath—

If it weren’t for Ning Buwei, his senior brother Chu Li wouldn’t have died, his master Chu Wu wouldn’t have suffered a great loss in cultivation and turned white-haired overnight, and senior sister Shen Xi wouldn’t have lost her lover and become depressed.

However, back in Linjiang City, Ning Buwei had also saved him and his uncle Chu Sun…

If he considered the greater good, Ning Buwei was a great demon, the enemy who killed his senior brother. He should immediately report to his master and the sect that Ning Buwei was hiding in the Wushi Sect. But if he considered moral obligation, Ning Buwei was also his life-saver.

No one had told him what he should do. It seemed that no matter what he chose, it would be wrong.

Chu Xin stood frozen at the cave entrance for a long while before silently flying away on his sword.

–Halfway up Yijian Peak.

“So your surname is Ning,” Chu Jun poked his son’s little face. “Ning Xiu?”

“Ah! Eh!” Ning Xiu heard his Bai Bai mother call his name and excitedly waved his little arms, making the bells on his longevity lock jingle.

Chu Jun chuckled.

No wonder the little one had looked confused and unresponsive when he called him Li Xiu these past few days. He had been calling the wrong name.

He had seen and heard the entire process through the white-robed shell. Remembering how calmly Ning Buwei had claimed to be “Li Chengfeng” before, he smiled helplessly, “Quite the actor.”

“Ya~” Ning Xiu strained and kicked his legs, actually managing to roll over on the bed. He lifted his head to look at Chu Jun, excitedly seeking praise, “Ah!”

Mother, look! I’m amazing!

Chu Jun reached out to pat his little head, “Very impressive.”

Ning Xiu curved his eyes and smiled at him from his prone position, “Ah?”

Where’s Father?

He wanted Father to see how amazing he was too!

In the cave were only he and his son. Chu Jun wore only a thin undergarment, leaning lazily against the wall, supporting his head with one hand as he listened to his son talk, responding occasionally, “Mm-hmm, that’s right.”

Although it was complete gibberish, they still managed to enjoy themselves.

“Ning Buwei… Li Chengfeng…” Chu Jun let his son grab and chew on his finger. “A person of the Ning family… Ning Chengfeng?”

“Ah ya~” Ning Xiu heard his father’s name and tilted his little head while hugging his mother’s finger, blinking his eyes.

It’s Father! Call Father to come play with me!

Chu Jun was lost in thought.

Over five hundred years ago, he had named a child from a branch of the Ning family.

Chu Jun didn’t like remembering things much, but he could recall this clearly only because of a divination he had performed on a whim at the time.

Back then, he had just emerged from the swampy wilderness between Qian Prefecture and Zhongzhou. This place was plagued by evil creatures, yet it was also the necessary route for disciples of the Wanxuan Academy in Qian Prefecture to travel to Zhongzhou. As a result, incidents often occurred, and his friend Hao Zheng had asked him for a favor.

He had entered the swampy wilderness with his sword, spending nearly a year slaughtering half the wilderness. With the smell of blood permeating his very bones, he should have gone into seclusion for a breakthrough, but he felt uneasy.

For cultivators, feeling “uneasy” often foretold trouble. So he casually picked up a few small stones from the ground and performed a divination.

Great fortune.

A destined person.

Chu Jun frowned.

As someone who cultivated the path of bloodshed, even dogs would avoid him on the street, let alone people.

He must have divined incorrectly, Chu Jun thought. So he found a random cave to enter seclusion, preparing to break through from the peak of Hinayana Stage to Tribulation Crossing.

But he never expected that crossing the tribulation would attract Ninth Heaven Dark Lightning. Eighty-one bolts of dark lightning struck down, not only charring him to a crisp but also shaking his dao heart.

After the spectacular tribulation lightning finished, his dao heart of bloodshed was completely destroyed, leaving him barely clinging to life.

He thought he wouldn’t survive, lying in a daze in the wilderness. When he woke up, he saw an unfamiliar cultivator.

This cultivator was extremely handsome and polite. Seeing him awake, he exclaimed joyfully, “Fellow cultivator, you’re finally awake.”

Chu Jun looked confused. He usually disliked interacting with others, but given the situation, it was clear the other had saved him. So he bowed to the man, “Thank you for saving me, fellow cultivator.”

After speaking, he shoved all the good things he had accumulated over the past few hundred years into the other’s hands, and was about to leave, saying, “Farewell.”

“Ah, wait, fellow cultivator,” the cultivator, holding a pile of treasures, stopped him with an awkward smile. He returned all the treasures intact, “I am Ning Gu from Chen City in Shangzhou of Xun Prefecture. A few days ago, I passed through the swampy wilderness and saw you unconscious but still breathing. I took the liberty of bringing you back to Chen City in Xun Prefecture. I’m not after your wealth.”

Xun Prefecture and Qian Prefecture were diagonally opposite, quite far apart. It must have taken considerable effort for him to bring back a severely injured person. Chu Jun didn’t want to be entangled in too much karma with others, which was why he offered the gifts. Seeing the other refuse, he couldn’t force them on him, so he turned and gave a deep bow, “How can I repay you?”

Ning Gu smiled helplessly, “No need for repayment. I was originally doing good deeds to pray for blessings for my son.”

Chu Jun asked, “Your son?”

“My son was born weak and has been ill for a long time. This trip to Qian Prefecture was also to seek medicine from Jiting Sect,” Ning Gu’s face showed worry when talking about his son. “But even after using it, there’s no improvement.”

“May I see the little young master?” Chu Jun asked.

“Of course,” Ning Gu led him to the main room in the back courtyard.

Inside, a beautiful female cultivator was pacing while holding an infant. She was slightly startled upon seeing him.

“This is my wife, Li Xiaohan,” Ning Gu introduced. “Xiaohan, this is Cultivator Chu whom I brought back from the swampy wilderness.”

After they greeted each other, Chu Jun looked at the child in her arms and asked, “May I hold the little young master?”

Li Xiaohan instinctively looked at Ning Gu. Seeing him nod, she handed the child to Chu Jun, though she looked very nervous.

The child was tiny, not even as long as his arm, quietly nestled in his arms. His face was pale and his breathing weak, like a pitiful little kitten.

“This child was born with a heavenly spiritual body, with exceptional aptitude. Every breath he takes absorbs spiritual energy, but his sea of consciousness is weak and can’t bear so much spiritual power, causing him to appear frail,” Chu Jun said.

“That’s right, exactly right,” Ning Gu was overjoyed to hear him speak correctly. “Does fellow cultivator have any good solutions?”

He had searched all seventeen states without finding a solution. The child was too young, and some had divined that the child was fated to die young. But he and Xiaohan weren’t willing to give up, seeking medical advice everywhere, yet still to no avail.

“If you trust me, I can expand his sea of consciousness and reshape the bones for the little young master,” Chu Jun said.

Expanding the sea of consciousness meant widening the child’s sea of consciousness to be sufficiently vast. When the child grew older and began cultivating on his own, he could expand it himself, no longer worrying about its weakness. Reshaping the bones meant restructuring his foundation… Both processes were extremely painful, even adults couldn’t bear it, let alone a month-old infant.

Chu Jun explained to them, “I will bear it for him. He won’t feel any pain.”

Ning Gu said, “How can we allow this?”

Not to mention that this required extremely high skill from the practitioner, and any slight mistake in expanding the sea of consciousness or reshaping bones could be fatal for cultivators. Just taking such a big risk for someone else was rarely done.

Ning Gu and Li Xiaohan wanted to bear this suffering for their son, but they didn’t know the technique. The pain could only be transferred to the practitioner… After much deliberation, seeing their son about to breathe his last, they could only take the risk.

Chu Jun took out a red string, tied it to the child’s finger, and wrapped the other end around his own hand. While expanding the child’s sea of consciousness and reshaping his bones, he transferred all the pain to himself, yet didn’t even twitch an eyebrow.

The procedure took a long time. As it was nearing completion, the child who had been sleeping slowly opened his eyes and looked at him.

Chu Jun smiled at him.

The child gave him a cool look, then closed his eyes again.

Chu Jun sighed helplessly. Indeed, the path of bloodshed was despised by all.

But in the next moment, the small child tightly grasped his little finger. The child was weak, and his little hand was cold.

Later, the procedure succeeded, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Ning Gu and Li Xiaohan thanked him profusely. Chu Jun felt he had repaid Ning Gu’s life-saving kindness, believing they were now even and the karmic connection shouldn’t be too deep. He prepared to bid farewell and leave.

Unexpectedly, at parting, the Ning couple suddenly asked him to name the child.

The child had just turned a month old, and fearing they couldn’t raise him, they hadn’t dared to name him. Now that their biggest worry was resolved, it was natural to ask their benefactor to give him a name.

It was late spring in Xun Prefecture. The green shade was lush, grass was growing, and orioles were flying. In the distance, endless blue-green mountains stretched out, shrouded in purple mist. A long wind blew by, carrying countless fallen flowers from before the door towards the horizon.

“Riding the nine thousand li long wind, rising up.”

“Free and unrestrained, without worries or obstacles.”

“Let’s call him Chengfeng.”

“Ning Chengfeng.”