无常劫水千丞 WuChangJie Impermanence novel by ShuiQianCheng English translation: Chapter 63

Zong Zi Heng was feeling uneasy. He found a secluded place in the forest and spent a long time alone, watching the twilight fall, before returning to the tournament ground.

According to the plan, Hua Yu Xin would be on the move soon, and he could not hold up his business.

On the way, he bumped into Li Bu Yu.

Li Bu Yu had swept away yesterday's gloom: "Where did Your Highness go? I've been looking for you for half a day."

"I was strolling around." Zong Zi Heng said warmly, "What did Bu Yu want to see me for?"

"I wanted to judge the sword techniques of other sects together with Your Highness."

The two of them chatted as they walked towards the tournament grounds.

Li Bu Yu's gaze suddenly fell on Zong Zi Heng's waist: "Your Highness has changed swords?"

"Yes." Zong Zi Heng took off his sword and showed it to him, "This sword was given to me by Xu Zhi Nan Zhen Ren, which came from the hand of Master Ran of the Giant Spirit Villa."

Li Bu Yu was overwhelmed by an unexpected favor, "Can I, can I take a look?"

A swordsman's sword is not a toy and is not shown to anyone casually. This gesture represented great recognition.

Zong Zi Heng smiled, "Don't you want to see it?" A few years ago, when he was out on a trip, he inadvertently saved Li Bu Yu, who was also traveling, from an evil spirit. The two of them had already known each other in the Wuji Palace, but due to Li Xiang Tong, they did not interact with each other. Since then, Li Bu Yu has been visiting him every year in Daming. Although Zong Zi Xiao disliked Li Bu Yu for being a bit crafty, he felt that this young man was intelligent and pleasing to the eye, and with the fostering from the head of Wuliang Sect, he would become a great man in the future.

"I want to see, I want to see." Li Bu Yu solemnly took the sword with both hands, admired it carefully and praised it from the bottom of his heart, "It's a good sword. What is its name?"

"Jun Lan."

"Good name, Your Highness has always been good at choosing names."

Zong Zi Heng wondered, "Where did this 'always' come from?"

"Lan is a gentleman, and Heng is a jade. Your Highness’s sword is like you, and you are like your name." Li Bu Yu's expression was very sincere.

Zong Zi Heng broke into laughter, "My name, which was given by my father, can't be counted as mine."

"Since the emperor gave the name, he must have thought that the Your Highness is worthy of this word, so it will be counted as yours."

"You ah, have really grown a good tongue."

The two of them talked and laughed as they returned to the tournament arena, where they ran into a black-faced Zong Zi Xiao.

"Where have you been?" Zong Zi Xiao said unhappily, "You were nowhere to be seen during my match. Were you with him the whole time?"

Li Bu Yu said sarcastically, "Ninth Highness."

"I was a little tired and went to take a rest, and when I came back and ran into Bu Yu." Zong Zi Heng said, "You won, didn't you?"

"Of course I won." Zong Zi Xiao gave Li Bu Yu a sidelong glance, "When did I ever lose?"

He used the word "lose" with extra emphasis, and Li Bu Yu's face changed slightly.

Zong Zi Heng gave him a disapproving look, "Alright, has Miss Hua's competition started yet?"

"It's about to start, I thought you've forgotten." Zong Zi Xiao pulled Zong Zi Heng, "Hurry up."

Li Bu Yu also followed unhurriedly, getting several surreptitious rolls of the eyes from Zong Zi Xiao.

At this time, the dusk was rising, and there were only two rounds left in today's competition. Those who had made it this far were all very talented. After all, there will be only eight people in the final competition tomorrow. Hua Yu Xin is not a bad performer among the female cultivators.

But this time she has drawn Ye Yun Chen from Chunyang Sect, who is one of the most likely candidates to win this year's Jiaolong assembly, so there isn’t much suspense.

At this moment, Ye Yun Chen was talking to Xu Zhi Nan under the ring.

As the three of them walked over, Xu Zhi Nan smiled and said, "Your Highness, everyone is looking for you."

Zong Zi Heng said with embarrassment, "Was feeling slightly unwell and rested for a while."

Ye Yun Chen arched his hand towards a few people, but when he looked at Zong Zi Xiao, he had some pride of a teenager between his brows.

Zong Zi Xiao also sized up Ye Yun Chen.

They weighed each other's strength.

Xu Zhi Nan instructed in a low voice, "Yun Chen, be merciful to Miss Hua, but don't be too irreverent either."

"Senior Brother, I understand."

Li Bu Yu said curiously, "Xu Zhen Ren, tonight is the night of the full moon. I heard that after sunset is when Yin energy is the greatest. Is it the time when the Yuanyang technique is at its weakest?"

Xu Zhi Nan laughed, "The Yuanyang technique is the purest and the most Yang, so the night of the full moon is indeed unfavorable to us. Every month on this night is when the cultivators of our sect take a rest, but it is only slightly affected, not weakened."

On the other side of the ring, Hua Jun Cheng was also encouraging his sister, but Hua Yu Xin was distracted, frequently looking in the direction of Zong Zi Heng. To outsiders, Hua Yu Xin's nervousness was because she was going to face Ye Yun Chen, but in fact it was not.

Once the match began, Ye Yun Chen took the measure, looking neither intentionally losing the game nor being aggressive. Only after a dozen moves in a row did he decide to end the fight. He dodged Hua Yu Xin's thrusting sword and swept his palm across her shoulder.

Hua Yu Xin took the blow and fell to the ground after taking several steps back.

Ye Yun Chen gave an arch of his hand, "Miss Hua, thanks for letting me win."

But Hua Yu Xin was lying on the ground, unresponsive, as if she had passed out.

Hua Jun Cheng called out, "Xin Er?"

Ye Yun Chen frowned slightly.

Hua Jun Cheng jumped into the ring, picked up Hua Yu Xin and used his spiritual energy to feel out her injuries, "Xin Er!"

The crowd was a little surprised. Everyone could see that Ye Yun Chen had not struck hard, and a female cultivator was by no means an ordinary weak woman. How could she not be able to receive even one blow?

Hua Jun Cheng gave Ye Yun Chen an annoyed look, but he could not accuse him. The ring does not distinguish between men and women, winning and losing were based on an individual's ability, so if he blamed the other party for this, he would only appear to be small-minded.

But Ye Yun Chen looked at Xu Zhi Nan with innocent and confused eyes.

Suddenly, Hua Yu Xin's eyes snapped open.

"Xin Er, you're alright ..."

Hua Yu Xin's expression, however, became very odd as she staggered up from the ground and looked around as if she was looking for something, yet she was oblivious to those present.

"What, what’s wrong?" Hua Jun Cheng looked at his sister worriedly.

Xu Zhi Nan coughed lightly, "Yun Chen, how much force did you just use?"

"At most three or four points, really." Ye Yun Chen hurriedly said.

"My core, my core." Hua Yu Xin covered her abdomen with one hand and muttered under her breath.

"Xin Er, what are you talking about?" Hua Jun Cheng pulled Hua Yu Xin, "What's going on with you?"

"My core!" Hua Yu Xin shouted shrilly as she viciously pushed Hua Jun Cheng away.

"What ... core?"

"What's going on, what's wrong with her?"

"It's like she's been possessed by an evil spirit ..."

Xu Zhi Nan jumped into the ring and shouted, "Who are you?!"

"My core, my ..." Hua Yu Xin wandered aimlessly as if she had lost her soul, only protecting her abdomen to death. As if she had finally spotted Hua Jun Cheng, she was stunned for a moment and said quietly, "Little Tiger? Have you seen my core?"

Hua Jun Cheng was shaken, staring at his sister with wide eyes, "You ... you ..."

"What's going on?" Li Bu Yu said urgently, "What's wrong with Miss Hua?"

Xu Zhi Nan pulled out a spirit gathering talisman from his pocket, only to see the talisman burning instantly.

"An evil spirit, it really is an evil spirit!"

"Where is this evil spirit? How dare it possess Miss Hua's body!"

"This place is full of cultivators, how can it be when the Yang energy is so concentrated?"

The commotion on this side of the ring gradually drew the crowd over.

Zong Zi Heng said, "This evil spirit's tone is so familiar."

Zong Zi Xiao echoed, "Yes, back then that person too kept calling out 'My core."

Hua Jun Cheng looked at Hua Yu Xin with a pale face and said in a trembling voice, "Could it be that you are ... Little Martial Uncle?"

"Little Martial Uncle?" Xu Zhi Nan asked, "What Mr. Hua is talking about, is it the one who was killed by Chen Xing Yong ..."

"Right! 'Little Tiger' was the nickname given to me by Little Martial Uncle when I was a child." Concerned, Hua Jun Cheng had completely lost his composure.

Xu Zhi Nan pondered for a moment, "Are there any items that he owned on Miss Hua’s body when he was alive?"

"Yes, Xin Er’s dagger."

Hua Yu Xin roared, "My core, my core, it's here, it's here!"

"I understand." Xu Zhi Nan said fervently, "On the night of the full moon, the Yang energy in Yuanyang technique is in decline. As our sect's aura is very attractive to evil spirits, it is easy to attract an invasion of Yin energy at this time, and this cultivator's resentment has not dissipated for years. Coming after the objects he owned when he was alive and the people he missed, and by all the coincidences, that blow from Yun Chen helped him get into Miss Hua's body."

All the Chunyang Sect disciples involved listened in awe. It was true that they would especially attract evil spirits on the night of the full moon, but it was unheard of for spiritual power to help evil spirits possess bodies, yet no one dared to question their Senior Brother.

Zong Zi Heng watched the performance on stage, sweating coldly with nervousness.

Zong Zi Xiao quietly squeezed Zong Zi Heng's palm. His big brother was pure and straightforward by nature, so he didn't want him to be exposed first.

Hua Jun Cheng choked on his sorrow, "Little Martial Uncle, is it really you?"

Hua Yu Xin was still searching for "his own core", while everyone, including Zong Ming He, had arrived at the sound of her voice.

Xu Zhi Nan took out another exorcism talisman from his pocket, "Sorry about that."

"Wait ..." Hua Jun Cheng said urgently.

"If this goes on, Miss Hua will be hurt, and it's not your little martial uncle, it's just a trace of his resentment."

"But he said his core is here." Hua Jun Cheng clenched his fist, "Although Chen Xing Yong has been put to death, who on earth ate my little martial uncle's core!?" He looked around and his voice was stern.

Everyone understood in their hearts that those who could buy the human core from Chen Xing Yong at a sky-high price were either rich or noble, and most of them came from famous sects, so the one who had eaten the human core was most likely in the Jiaolong assembly.

Xu Zhi Nan asked, "Who ate your core?!"

"You return my core, right here, my core ..." Hua Yu Xin looked like she was about to plant herself in the ring.

Xu Zhi Nan asked three times in a row, but naturally there was no answer. He was worried that Hua Yu Xin would reveal herself after a long time, and after obtaining Hua Jun Cheng's consent with his eyes, he threw the exorcism talisman out.

The talisman was useless to ordinary people. As soon as the talisman touched Hua Yu Xin, she screamed and passed out.

Hua Jun Cheng hugged his sister and said with tears in his eyes, "Little Martial Uncle, I will definitely avenge you."

"What's going on here?!" Zong Ming He asked.

Zong Zi Xiao said, "Father, do you still remember that Huaying Sect cultivator that big brother and I restrained in Gutuo Town? He had just possessed Miss Hua."

"What?" Zong Ming He obviously didn't quite believe it, "The one who had his core dug out?"

"Right." Zong Zi Heng arched his hand, "Father, when son interrogated Chen Xing Yong, he didn't know who ended up with the core either, but, just now ..."

What just happened, everyone saw. Although it’s very absurd, when related to evil spirits, anything can happen. At this time everyone's hearts were suspecting, in this Jiaolong assembly, in these surrounding people, someone had eaten a human core before.

Zong Zi Heng secretly glanced at Yan Shu, but saw that his expression was absolutely flawless. Zong Zi Heng secretly clenched his fists. This is only the first step of the plan. Tomorrow, he will make sure that this beast will unmask his true colors.

----

Directed by: Xu Zhi Nan

Executive producer: Zong Zi Heng

Casts: Hua Yu Xin (Main lead)

Little martial uncle (non-existent)

Qi Meng Sheng

Yan Shu

Zong Zi Xiao

Wusheng Brush

Translator: Ari

Editor: Emzie

Academy Award for Best Actress: Hua Yu Xin