Chapter Eleven: The Murderer

  I looked at Miao Chunyi and was speechless, isn't standing like that tiring? I stood there for a while before reacting, thinking of the scene where one pays respects to their master on TV. I got up and knelt down in front of Miao Chunyi, then knocked my head against the ground in a somewhat awkward manner, but with a bit too much force, hearing a "thud" sound that left me dazed for a moment. I said something strange: "Master above, please accept your disciple's respects——”

  It should be like this, then I got up and stared at Miao Chun - oh, it should be my master. My master tilted his head and looked at me for a while before choking: "That's it..."

  I nodded, somewhat amused. Indeed, it was a bit simple. I chuckled and scratched my head: "Master, this bump on the head is so loud, can't it count as three? Besides, sincerity is what matters, those are just external forms, no need for them."

  The master's face twitched, and he finally made up his mind about one thing: I wasn't that obedient kid after all. He snorted, too lazy to bother with those trivial matters, as long as my character wouldn't be too bad. Besides, this wasn't a place where they paid attention to those mundane rules, nor was it the right time. The master's expression turned serious, and he nodded at me: "Since you've joined the Quanzhen Sect, I won't let others harm you. Moreover, dealing with cultivators doesn't count as violating the precepts."

  From the master's words, it seems that as a Quanzhen practitioner, one cannot easily use magic, especially on ordinary people, and also cannot easily engage in magical battles with others. Otherwise, the master would not have spoken so much nonsense. Just as I was thinking this, the master came before me, his face serious: "Young one, for your safety, I will temporarily open your heavenly eye. However, once it is opened, you will often see ghosts and monsters, so you must be mentally prepared."

  These past few days, I've experienced so much that I'm not as afraid anymore. Moreover, life is precious, and besides, I was born with a bit of foolish courage. So, I took a deep breath, although thinking about it still makes me see ghosts and feel some fear. However, if I don't look now, it's going to be very dangerous. Therefore, I nodded heavily: "Master, I'm not afraid——"

  The master nodded, his hands clasped together, with the two thumbs pressed against each other and the index fingers extended like sharp swords. The middle finger, ring finger, and little finger were interlocked, while he muttered incantations under his breath. Then, changing his hand gesture, he stretched out his middle finger and hooked it over his index finger, still chanting incessantly. Next, he changed again, with the index finger, middle finger, and ring finger tightly clasped together, and the thumbs and little fingers also pressed against each other.

  Watching the master's constantly changing gestures, I suddenly felt enlightened, wasn't this the nine-character mantra from the movie? As the master's gestures changed, I subconsciously shouted out: "All soldiers who are about to engage in battle should form up in front."

  When I shouted out the last word, it felt like something was surging in my heart, and my mind was clear and calm. At that moment, Master had already finished his hand gesture and stopped chanting, his eyes suddenly opened wide, shooting out a beam of light, then he made a sword with his index fingers and pointed at my brow, fast as lightning. If it were any other day, I would have instinctively dodged, but under the influence of the Nine-Character True Speech Spell, my mind was clear and I was completely absorbed in that feeling, unaware that Master had already taken action. Suddenly, a huge force slammed into my brow, making my head buzz loudly, and it felt like something shattered inside my brow. I instinctively covered my head and let out a loud cry, then retreated backward until I crashed into the wall.

  "Little one, what's wrong with you?" I vaguely heard the anxious cry of my master. I held my head and let out a miserable groan, my brain felt like it was going to explode, throbbing and jumping wildly. The tearing pain in my brow made me want to smash my head to pieces. Damn it, opening the heavenly eye is so deadly!

  It wasn't until the tearing sensation between my eyebrows slowly faded away that I finally caught my breath, leaning against the wall and panting heavily. My body was already drenched in sweat, and my gaze gradually regained its focus. The first thing I saw was Master's anxious face. I forced a smile: "I'm fine, Master... not dead yet..."

  The master also let out a sigh of relief, but immediately became angry again, muttering to himself: "You fool, you know the Nine-Character Mantra, but you can't even recite it at this critical moment. You've entered a state of complete absorption, fortunately, you have a strong fate, otherwise, someone else might not have been able to pass this test today. However... I wasn't wrong about you, you really are a good seed for cultivating the Tao."

  It wasn't until later that I realized I had almost lost my life, because I didn't have any foundation at all, yet I shouted out the nine-character mantra and entered a state of selflessness, possibly even divine travel. As a result, my energy was stirred up, and along with it, the energy field of my master, who only wanted to temporarily open my heavenly eye, also became somewhat disordered. Unbeknownst to me, I had attracted the energy from heaven and earth into this place, disrupting my master's energy field. Even he didn't know how his heavenly eye was opened, and if things went badly, he might not be able to withstand such a large amount of energy and directly collapse his divine consciousness. If that happened, even if I didn't die, I would end up as an idiot. Fortunately, I was still lucky, at the very least I didn't become an idiot.

  The master let out a sigh of relief, with a mixture of annoyance and surprise, and said with a smile: "Ah, being able to take on an apprentice with such great potential is also a delightful thing. Patting my shoulder, he said: "Young one, see if you can feel any changes."

  He nodded, shook his head, and felt much better. He looked up and glanced around, but it seemed that nothing was different. He turned his head slightly to look over, and the prison guard had been standing there all along, watching him without leaving. But what caught his attention wasn't the guard, rather a floating figure hiding behind the guard - a ghost, who was curiously staring at him with its hands resting on the guard's shoulders, looking like a curious baby.

  "Ah!" I exclaimed in surprise, involuntarily taking a step back and pointing at the ghost with a trembling voice: "There's a ghost hiding behind him -"

  I thought I wasn't that scared anymore, but suddenly seeing it still made my heart skip a beat. Instinctively, I felt terrified. However, Master didn't have much of a reaction, just looked at me and said calmly: "It's okay, this is a good ghost. Just like humans, ghosts can be good or evil. Generally, evil ghosts are either dark gray or black, and aren't they all malevolent spirits? One that hides behind a person like this is just a wandering soul."

  Before I could say anything, the prison guard suddenly let out a shrill cry and spun around, looking at something that wasn't there. He was already in a state of panic, and when he realized he couldn't see the ghost, he turned to me with a pleading expression: "Master Miao, Master Miao, we've known each other for a long time, and I've always taken care of you. Please help me out this time, chase the ghost away!"

  He almost cried while speaking, just short of kneeling down in front of his master. Earlier, he had seen that strange and eerie scene between me and the little ghost, so when it comes to supernatural things, he no longer has any doubts. That's why when I said this, the prison guard believed him, which is why he was so scared. Although Master said it was nothing, having a ghost by his side was still unsettling to think about.

  Looking at the warden's pleading face, Master softened his heart. After all, this warden was not a bad person except for being greedy; sometimes he even took care of people in the detention center. As Master was a frequent visitor here, he naturally got along well with the warden and couldn't help but feel sympathetic. He hesitated for a moment, then picked up paper and pen, drew a talisman, and handed it directly to the warden: "Don't worry, with this talisman, you won't be haunted by ghosts."

  The prison guard hastily reached out to take it, holding it tightly in his hand, and his face looked a bit better. However, he still felt uneasy after looking around. I noticed that the ghost had spun around and turned into a puff of white smoke, disappearing without entering the wall. It wasn't because of Master's talisman, but because it had already disappeared when I pointed out the ghost. I didn't expose Master, after all, the ghost didn't harm anyone, so it was good for the prison guard to have some comfort in his heart.

  The sky is already bright, I haven't slept all night, but I feel pretty good. Since the opening of the heavenly eye, my spirit has improved a lot. The prison guard thanked Master Qian En Wan Xie and returned to the duty room, but before leaving, he said that he would definitely help me pass on the message for free, which was an unexpected surprise.

  When it was time for breakfast, I unexpectedly saw a person, who was Captain Zhang. However, his complexion looked terrible today, with a pale and gloomy face, sadness, anger, and helplessness all mixed together. He looked very tired. Seeing me, he didn't speak for a long time, and I don't know what he wanted to do.

  I too had been silent, just quietly looking at Captain Zhang. After a while, Captain Zhang finally spoke up, his voice low and filled with a hint of anger: "The female corpse that was fished out that day was my sister. Kid, tell me what's going on?"

  Suddenly, I was taken aback and my mind was in a mess. It turned out to be Captain Zhang's sister! No wonder Captain Zhang's expression was so strange that day, and his reaction was also very weird. I reckon he had already vaguely guessed it that day. I also wanted to tell him what was going on, but all I could do was respond with a bitter smile: "I really don't know what's going on, I only know about Big Pillar Brother's situation, as for your sister's situation, I can only say sorry..."

  Captain Zhang stared at me, panting heavily for a long time before calming down. He then silently took out a photo and showed it to me. As soon as I saw it, I couldn't help but exclaim in surprise - how could it be him? It was the young man that Master had shown me using the Xuan Guang technique last night. But how did Captain Zhang know it was him?

  Obviously my exclamation also surprised Captain Zhang, who suddenly grabbed me and a burst of light flashed across his face, slamming into the iron door, shouting: "You've seen him, when did you see him, was it him who killed Li Dazhu?"

  I don't know why Captain Zhang was so agitated, but I vaguely sensed that this young man and Captain Zhang's deceased sister must have some connection, and it's even possible that Captain Zhang suspected that this young man had killed his sister. However, I didn't know if he was the one who had hit and killed Da Zhu Ge, and at the time, I could only shake my head, but in my heart, something seemed to be triggered.