Chapter 56: The Arrival of a Valuable Guest

Those who remember always suffer more than those who forget.

Ji Wushuang understood this truth. So, the matter of the drugging was tacitly avoided by both him and his beloved disciple.

They left the demon palace together and boarded a luxurious ship moored on the shore of Moon Reflection Lake, traveling by water toward the town.

Halfway through their journey, a falcon raised by the demon palace flew over from afar. It circled above the ship with a long screech.

Shui Jingxuan looked up and smiled slightly. He extended his arm to let the falcon land, pulled a slip of paper from the tube tied to its talons, and glanced over it.

Ji Wushuang stepped forward and bent to look. The note simply read four words: “The esteemed guest has arrived.”

Ji Wushuang raised an eyebrow and looked at his disciple with a questioning gaze. Shui Jingxuan crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it into the river.

He said gently, “The person I invited will be arriving soon. May I borrow your pleasure boat to entertain him?”

“What’s mine is yours. Do you need to ask?” Ji Wushuang smiled tenderly. He put his arm around his disciple’s shoulder and squeezed, then looked at the servant standing nearby and instructed,

“The young master is hosting a banquet. Set up a table of food at the bow of the ship.”

Hearing the manor lord call this man ‘young master’, the servant knew that this person must hold great weight in the lord’s heart. He dared not be negligent and quickly acknowledged before heading off.

Ji Wushuang frowned. He looked at his disciple and asked in a deep voice, “What kind of guest is so precious? Male or female?” Regardless of gender, anyone his disciple valued so highly was someone he needed to guard against.

“Male,” Shui Jingxuan said, glancing at his master with amusement at the slightly sour tone in his voice. He explained, “This man is extraordinarily talented. I plan to recruit him to follow me to the demon sect.”

“The Han people see our kind as heretics. It will likely be very difficult to recruit them to serve our people,” Ji Wushuang said objectively.

“No matter!” Shui Jingxuan waved his hand dismissively. “If he refuses the toast, I naturally have a cup of punishment waiting for him.” As he spoke, the smile on Shui Jingxuan’s face faded, and a hint of coldness crept into his eyes.

Ji Wushuang was pleased by his beloved disciple’s cold attitude. He thought to himself, ‘So it’s just someone he wants to use? Good!’ He greatly disliked his disciple valuing anyone other than himself.

The servant quickly set up a table with chairs and placed dishes and wine on the spacious deck at the bow. The ship sailed against the current.

The beautiful scenery on both banks constantly changed. From time to time, a river breeze carrying the scent of flowers and grass blew past, refreshing the mind and heart. It was the perfect setting for entertaining guests.

The two stood at the bow with their hands behind their backs, waiting. After a short while, they saw a handsome young man being escorted by two burly men as they leaped across the water.

When they saw the sect master on the pleasure boat waving at them, the two burly men lightly tapped their toes and swept toward the bow.

“Subordinates greet the sect master. The man has been brought,” the two burly men said, throwing the man onto the deck and cupping their hands toward Shui Jingxuan.

Ji Wushuang’s martial arts had reached perfection. The bluish-black lips from his previous cultivation of the Poison Demon Skill had long returned to normal.

At first glance, he looked like an ordinary, handsome man. They didn’t recognize him immediately. But when Ji Wushuang stepped forward and stood beside the sect master, they looked closely.

Trembling, they wanted to kneel and pay respects, but Ji Wushuang stopped them with a look. They had to suppress their excited expressions and step aside.

Shui Jingxuan responded softly. He looked at the man sprawled on the deck, who looked disheveled and tense. Ji Wushuang also stepped forward to carefully examine the ‘talent’ his disciple had mentioned.

Seeing the two figures standing on the deck, Yi Fengxing did not recognize his old acquaintance Shui Jingxuan. Instead, he was completely caught by Ji Wushuang’s presence.

He thought: ‘This man has a sinister gaze, concealing a murderous aura, and exudes an oppressive authority. He looks down at me with contempt and appraisal, not like looking at a person, but like appraising a piece of goods.’

From just that one glance, Yi Fengxing almost immediately concluded that this man was no ordinary person. He must be a strong figure who had long held a high position, someone he absolutely could not provoke.

If the person arresting him today was this man, his life was at stake.

Thinking this, Yi Fengxing felt some fear. But when he saw Shui Jingxuan standing beside the man with a full smile, his eyes lit up as if he had found a lifeline.

He quickly stepped forward to greet him. “Master Shui! Long time no see! Did you invite me here today?”

Yi Fengxing took a seat at the bow as instructed, thinking thankfully: ‘At least the person who invited me is Master Shui, not that man.

This should be easier. Master Shui is courteous and refined; he probably won’t make things difficult for me.’

Seeing how familiar they were, Ji Wushuang frowned and asked, “Have you known each other for long?”

Shui Jingxuan glanced at him in surprise and replied, “Brother Yi is Miss Ling Yue’er…? Why does it seem you don’t remember?”

Ji Wushuang really didn’t remember. At that time, he only knew he wanted to get close to Master Shui, who had won his heart. He focused entirely on how to approach him later and didn’t pay any attention to those people’s appearances or names.

However, hearing the name of a woman from his disciple’s mouth, Ji Wushuang frowned and pressed, “Who is Ling Yue’er?” He didn’t like women around his disciple. Ever since boarding the ship, that had been the case.

“The young lady who gave me the recipe for roast chicken,” Shui Jingxuan said, glancing at his forgetful master. He felt like facepalming.

Since Ji Wushuang hadn’t disguised himself, Yi Fengxing didn’t recognize him. Seeing them talking about his friend while ignoring him, Yi Fengxing asked out of curiosity, “Does this chivalrous friend also know Miss Yue’er? Are you friends?”

Ji Wushuang gave him a cold glance but didn’t bother to answer his question.

Yi Fengxing felt a chill down his spine. Wanting to leave quickly, he looked at Shui Jingxuan and asked directly, “Master Shui, if I may ask, why did you invite me?”

Shui Jingxuan smiled but didn’t answer. Instead, he pointed at the two black iron tubes tucked into Yi Fengxing’s waist and asked, “Brother Yi, could I borrow those iron tubes at your waist for a look?”

When you are under someone else’s roof, you have to bow your head. Though extremely reluctant, Yi Fengxing slowly untied the iron tubes and handed them over, nervously cautioning, “Be careful. These things are very dangerous.”

Shui Jingxuan nodded with a smile and held the two iron tubes in his palm, playing with them. Yi Fengxing stared intently at his hands, afraid that his playful movements might set off the explosives.

Ji Wushuang also stared at his beloved disciple’s hands, but not at the black iron tubes. He looked at his disciple’s slender, fair fingers. These hands were still the same as before.

No matter how diligently he practiced martial arts, they remained smooth and delicate, without a single callus. Against the dark iron tubes, they appeared even more like white jade, beautiful beyond compare.

Ji Wushuang squinted, remembering the scene at the demon palace feast where Chen Yuanyuan couldn’t take her eyes off his disciple’s hands.

Displeased, a shadow fell over his face. He grabbed his disciple’s fingertips, kissed them, then gently rubbed and played with them, unable to let go.

One played with the iron tubes, the other played with the jade-like hand. Neither interfered with the other, each enjoying themselves.

Yi Fengxing’s eyes widened. His gaze, which had been fixed on the iron tubes, was now drawn to their ambiguous actions. He was dumbfounded.

“Master, we have a guest,” Shui Jingxuan said helplessly, reminding his master of his persistent skin hunger that flared up anytime, anywhere.

“So what if there’s a guest? Can’t I be close to you?” Ji Wushuang frowned in dissatisfaction. He let go of his disciple’s hand and instead wrapped his arm around his waist, a possessive gesture.

He was used to doing whatever he pleased, never caring about the world’s opinions. After winning his disciple, he had tasted the sweetness and wished he could stick to him every moment.

Shui Jingxuan was speechless. But Yi Fengxing exclaimed in shock, “You… you’re master and disciple?” Same-s*x relationships aside, but master and disciple committing incest? Yi Fengxing’s mind couldn’t process it.

“What of it? A teacher for a day is a husband for life! Haven’t you heard that?” Ji Wushuang laughed contemptuously, twisting the Han proverb into something he liked to hear. His tone was domineering, as if his words were the law of nature.

Shui Jingxuan facepalmed, thinking: ‘Master has truly become corrupted, completely corrupted! With master here, how can I discuss business?’

With that thought, Shui Jingxuan turned serious. He looked at Yi Fengxing, who was choking and trembling, his face purple. He said firmly, “Brother Yi, I invited you here this time because I want you to teach my men how to make these iron tubes. Is that acceptable?”

He wasn’t omniscient. Though he knew the main components of gunpowder, he had no idea about the specific proportions or manufacturing methods.

Moreover, Yi Fengxing’s skill in making explosives was extremely high. Using just a few barrels of gunpowder, he had blown the vast demon palace to pieces, with a power comparable to modern explosives.

A talent like this was exactly what the demon sect needed most.

Knowing full well the power of his weapons, Yi Fengxing shook his head without hesitation. “Sorry, these things are very dangerous. If they fall into the hands of outsiders, it could cause trouble. I’m afraid I can’t agree.”

“Is that so?” Shui Jingxuan leaned back in his chair, his smile turning cold. He raised his hand and said, “Then I’m afraid I’ll have to wrong you, Brother Yi. Men, take him away!”

The two burly men standing by immediately stepped forward. They knocked out the panicked Yi Fengxing, who tried to resist, and dragged him away. After being fed a few bottles of medicine, this man would behave obediently from then on.

Once they were gone, Ji Wushuang picked up one of the iron tubes and asked curiously, “Is this what you wanted? What’s it for?” Anything his disciple wanted must be extraordinary.

Shui Jingxuan smiled mysteriously. He picked up the other iron tube and said calmly, “Watch.” With that, he lit the fuse and threw it toward the distant river.

The iron tube fell into the water. Soon after, a deafening boom came from beneath the surface. A towering wave several zhang high surged up, followed by a violent torrent that rocked the huge ship, nearly capsizing it.

This showed how immense the explosion’s power was.

When the waves finally settled, the entire river surface was covered with the white bellies of fish floating belly-up. The scene was spectacular.

Ji Wushuang was extremely surprised. He hadn’t expected that throwing a slender iron tube could cause such widespread destruction and casualties.

Looking at the scene before him, Shui Jingxuan smiled in satisfaction and slowly explained, “This thing can be used for offense and defense.

With it, it will be difficult for others to invade our demon sect. Furthermore, it can be buried underground to blast apart rocks, greatly increasing the efficiency of gold mining.

More importantly, I want to dig through the mountain rocks in the valley to build a secret passage, and acquire a piece of land outside the valley as another safe haven for our people.

As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. Our people may not be able to keep the gold mountain secret forever. With this secret passage and base, our people will have an additional escape route.

Using manpower alone to dig through several mountains would take our people a hundred years. But with these things, it’s different. Five years will be enough.”

After digesting his disciple’s words, Ji Wushuang hugged him tightly and sighed, “It’s hard on you, disciple, to think so far ahead and so thoroughly for our people.

In the past, I only blindly sought revenge and never considered the survival of our people. You are more qualified as sect master than I am.”

Pleased by his affirmation, Shui Jingxuan smiled brightly. He tilted his head and gently rubbed his cheek against his master’s neck, saying warmly, “That’s not how I see it. I have a flexible mind, and you have supreme martial arts. With the two of us governing together, the demon sect’s future will be even better.”

“Mm,” Ji Wushuang hummed in agreement. He smiled and kissed his beloved disciple’s rosy lips.

For him, as long as they could be together forever, that was the most wonderful and satisfying life. He would guard this person for the rest of his life and ask for nothing more.

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