Chapter 4: Bai Clan
“Ha! Leave the Da Xuan Country? You really think that the Heart Nourishing Pill given to us by the Clan Head was Spiritual Medicine? Think about what happened to the people who previously betrayed the Bai Clan. In addition, our families are both still living within the Bai Clan. If we leave now, how are they going to live? If I remember correctly, you married a beautiful lady last year and she became pregnant earlier this year. According to doctor Zhang, there’s an eighty percent chance that it will be a boy.” Guan Lao Da spoke loudly, but his expression was grave.
“This…” Hearing what he said caused Gu Lao San to feel as if cold water had been poured onto his head. He stood motionless without saying a word.
“If it truly does not work, I do have a desperate plan. Though our chances to live do not exceed twenty percent. This plan will also use up all the savings we’ve stockpiled through the years.” Guan Lao Da’s eyes flashed for a bit before he spoke.
“Use up all our savings and still only have a twenty percent chance to survive?” Hearing this, Gu Lao San’s face became bitter.
“Hmph. If I did not have some relationship to the Clan Head’s main wife, even this small chance would not be there. If you are unwilling, I will not force you.” Guan Lao Da calmly replied.
“You misunderstand, Guan Lao Da. How could I possibly refuse? If it can preserve our lives, using all of our wealth is not a big deal.” Gu Lao San quickly said in shock and apologetically smiled.
“If you understand, then great! Let’s not waste any time, before news gets back to the clan we need to sneak back in order to quickly prepare.” Guan Lao Da’s expression relaxed a bit.
This time, Gu Lao San only nodded his head, not daring to show any unwanted expressions.
The two of them discussed the plan a little more in front of the new grave. From his chest, Guan Lao Da pulled out a pair of green gloves, made of unknown material and shouted.
From the pair of green gloves, a layer of bright, white light rushed toward the ground in front of him.
“Boom”
Soil and countless wild grasses flew in different directions as a three foot deep pit appeared in front of the two.
Gu Lao San circled around the pit before he kicked the corpses into it.
When he walked over to the young man’s corpse, he hesitated a bit before he reached behind his back and pulled his sword out of its sheath.
With a swipe of his finger over the sword, a green light scattered from its surface.
With a twist of Gu Lao San’s wrist, he prepared to use his sword to do something to the corpse.
Although, Guan Lao Da was simply watching from the side, his ears twitched and his expression changed. He then turned toward the river and yelled, “Who is it? Who dares to sneak around and eavesdrop on us!”
As soon as he finished talking, Guan Lao Da moved his arm. On his fist, a light shone and a frightening air mass flew out.
A muffled noise!
About a hundred feet away, the underbrush started to violently shake. A weak figure crawled out, before he lay down on the ground motionlessly.
Guan Lao Da saw this and walked over. With a kick, he flipped over the weak looking figure to make him face up.
Surprisingly, it was a young man with his eyes shut. His clothes were in tatters and he was completely unconscious.
“Could it be he came from the river? Looks like I do not even have to do anything and he still won’t live for much longer.” Guan Lao Da gave the young man another glance and relaxed after confirming that there was no threat.
“Still, hurry up and finish him off. What we just said cannot be leaked out.” Hearing Guan Lao Da, Gu Lao San relaxed a bit beside the hole. Without hesitation he still called for a murderous act.
“You do not need to tell me that, I know. Hm? This kid’s appearance…” Guan Lao Da was slightly annoyed at Gu Lao San and the gloves on his fist started to shine once more. However, just as the light swept across the young man’s face, he became shocked.
“What’s happening? What’s wrong with his appearance?” As Gu Lao San saw Guan Lao Da lower his glove, Gu Lao San naturally became curious.
“If you come over here you will know!” Guan Lao Da pulled back his fist and waved Gu Lao San over with a strange expression.
Seeing that, Gu Lao San’s curiosity grew. He did not think much as he sheathed the sword in his hand and walked over to Guan Lao Da.
“Who is this kid and why does he look exactly like the young master?” After the thin man saw the young man’s appearance, he couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.
“It’s somewhat close, but his face is somewhat pale. His brows are also much thicker and he has many scars on his face. In addition, his skin is somewhat rough and much different from the young master’s smooth skin—from never having to work hard.” Guan Lao Da took a breath and closely observed before coming to a conclusion.
“There are a lot of people that have similar appearances in this world. It isn’t too weird to meet someone that has an appearance similar to the young master. It doesn’t matter how similar this kid looked to the young master, since the young master had a Spiritual Pulse and was going to be a practitioner like you and me.” Gu Lao San also calmed down and carefully analyzed the situation.
“However, if this kid has a Spiritual Pulse, I have a better plan for preserving our lives. However, I do not think that there’s such a coincidence in this world. Practitioner Clans borrow the power of their blood relations in order to give birth to children with Spiritual Pulses. For normal people it is a one in a thousand chance that they will have a Spiritual Pulse. If a normal person knows that they have a Spiritual Pulse, without enough resources or a method of training they cannot possibly become practitioners. Remember us? As soon as we realized that we had Spiritual Pulses, we decided to join the Bai Clan, so we could get to the height we are at today.” Guan Lao Da was still lamenting over his future as he said that.
“That’s right. Those that have been sent to this ceremony were the best of the best in the Practitioner Clans. Now that I think about it, we have no chance to beat those who are born into the Bai Clan.” Gu Lao San didn’t think much as he responded.
“Nothing we say helps right now. Let’s first try our best to keep our lives. Seeing that this kid is quite young, I will leave him with an intact body.” Guan Lao Da didn’t say much more and tensed his arm up. On the tip of his hand were nearly invisible green sparkles.
Naturally, Gu Lao San had no objections to the killing of this kid.
With a shake of his arm, Guan Lao Da’s greenish fist landed silently on the young man’s Dan Tian.
TL: Dan Tian – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dantian
Even though the attack seemed extremely weak, Guan Lao Da had used the power of his practitioner weapon. Therefore, the power within the strike was enough to shatter the kid’s internal organs and thus would take his life within seconds.
As soon as Gu Lao San saw the green light on Guan Lao Da’s fists, he turned around and was about to ‘manage’ his young master’s corpse.
However, right then, a surprised yelp came from behind him.
“No way, this kid has Yuan Li. He has a Spiritual Pulse!”
Guan Lao Da’s voice was shaking quite a bit as he called out.
Hearing him, Gu Lao San quickly looked back.
He saw Guan Lao Da holding his fist while the green light on his fist had completely disappeared.
However, on the young man’s stomach, a ring of near invisible white light was silently pulsating and looked as if it was about to die out at any moment.
“Yuan Li protection. This kid definitely has a Spiritual Pulse and probably has quite a decent Yuan Li foundation too.” Gu Lao San was quite stunned.
“Haha, this time, it’s a true miracle. Gu Lao San, we do not need to go back to Bai Clan anymore. With this kid, we can live our lives without worry.” Guan Lao Da stared blankly at the kid who was still in a coma before he started to laugh freely. A hint of insanity was visible on his face.
“Guan Lao Da, what do you mean. Why does this kid having a Spiritual Pulse save our lives?” Gu Lao San blinked his eyes and was still quite confused.
“Why does the Clan Head want to kill us?” Guan Lao Da stopped laughing and asked back.
“Because the young master died while we were supposed to protect him.” Gu Lao San looked even more confused.
“Hehe, but is the young master not right here!?” Guan Lao Da said and pointed at the kid in front of him while sneering.
“What, you’re going to…” Gu Lao San wasn’t stupid and immediately realized the intentions of Guan Lao Da. However, his face became much paler than before.
“Correct. We will be taking this kid to The Barbarian Ghost Sect and leave him with the person in charge of collecting those that will be undertaking the ceremony. Afterward, we can go back to Bai Clan and say that we already sent the person there. Once Head receives a mail which says that the young master was actually sent to the Sect, we will not be punished and we might even be rewarded.” Guan Lao Da was extremely calm as he spoke those words.
“That does work, but this kid doesn’t look too much like the young master. What would happen if he gets exposed? In addition, we do not even know where he is from! How do we know he would he agree to this?” Gu Lao San’s face darkened as he thought about the possibilities of failure.
“Hmph, what are you afraid of? Once this kid gets into the Barbarian Ghost Sect, it will be a couple of years before the Bai Clan sees him again. In addition, seeing how dangerous the Opening Spirit Ceremony is, this kid does not even have a chance of survival since he has never gone through any of the preparatory training. If he dies, we are basically free and without worry. As for his appearance, did you forget what you did before you became a practitioner?
“He does not have to look perfectly like the young master, just being similar is enough. The sect only has a picture of the young master from a year ago, having some sort of change is a normal thing.” Guan Lao Da said with confidence.
“What if he really does complete the Opening Spirit Ceremony and becomes a Spiritual Apostle, what should we do then?” Gu Lao San was still hesitant.
“Become a Spiritual Apostle? Are you still asleep? In the past years, only a few disciples have become Spiritual Apostles. As soon as we get back, we will try to get rid of the poison the Clan Head gave us and try to leave the clan together with our families. Even if that kid does not die and does something, what does that have to do with us? As long as we can save our lives now, everything else can be discussed at a later time. As for convincing this kid, we will do this…” Guan Lao Da leaned closer to Gu Lao San and whispered indistinguishable words to him.