Chapter 396

Chapter 396: Cannot Be Saved, Cannot Be Saved
“A dead man?”

Master Qing Yan explained in a deep voice: “Eighty years ago, the Five Elements Dao Sect was ambushed by three Divine Transformation cultivators. I killed one and badly wounded the other two. The one who died looked exactly the same as the man in front of us.”

Yu Zhao and Abbot Jie Tan suddenly understood.

“Exactly the same, or…”

There are people in this world who look alike, but there will always be tiny differences, in the eyes and brows, or in the way the bones grew.

But Master Qing Yan said with absolute certainty: “Exactly the same, as if they were carved from the same mold.”

That battle eighty years ago left Master Qing Yan with a serious hidden injury, so his memory of those three people was very clear.

To investigate their identities, the Five Elements Dao Sect had taken the dead Divine Transformation cultivator as a starting point, trying to trace their background. But they could not find any information at all and finally got nothing.

Master Qing Yan felt a bit regretful.

If he had known it was them, he should have thought of a way to keep one of them alive.

Yu Zhao stared at the corpse on the ground and recalled everything that had just happened. The figure of the corpse slowly overlapped with the other two Divine Transformation cultivators.

The masks that hid their faces, the same body shape, even the cultivation technique they used and their tiny habitual movements were exactly the same.

A chilling thought popped into Yu Zhao’s mind.

[If there is a way to create two people who are exactly the same, who is to say there will not be a third or a fourth?]

[What exactly are they?

Why did they ambush her and Abbot Jie Tan?

Does she have something on her that they want?]

Yu Zhao’s gaze slowly went unfocused. A blurry voice from Abbot Jie Tan sounded by her ear.

Her thoughts returned. Her scattered vision came back into focus, and what she saw first was the Wooden Alms Bowl in Abbot Jie Tan’s hand.

Wooden Alms Bowl?

Spirit core?

The spirit vein that had been drained overnight?

A light breeze blew past and scattered the fog in Yu Zhao’s heart. She linked everything together and pieced out the answer that was closest to the truth.

Strictly speaking, their real target was not her, and not Abbot Jie Tan either, but the spirit cores they had collected while begging from the sects.

They were also the mysterious people who had been secretly extracting spirit veins.

“Yu Zhao, did you discover something?”

Abbot Jie Tan saw that Yu Zhao’s expression was off and asked with concern.

“Abbot, I suspect the news that we are collecting spirit cores has leaked. They did not come for us. They came for the spirit cores.”

Yu Zhao had reported the theft of spirit veins to Sect Master Ji Yuan before, and Sect Master Ji Yuan had later told Master Qing Yan about it.

So as soon as Master Qing Yan heard this, he immediately thought of that group. A cold killing intent flashed in his eyes again.

Abbot Jie Tan sighed lightly: “A person may be innocent, but carrying a treasure brings trouble.”

“Other than you two, who else knows about the spirit cores?”

Master Qing Yan suspected there was a spy leaking information.

Yu Zhao and Abbot Jie Tan exchanged a look. There were not many people who knew about the spirit cores, and every single one of them was an important Person in Charge of the sect.

Would they leak the matter of the spirit cores?

Yu Zhao did not believe it.

Abbot Jie Tan did not believe it either.

So neither of them spoke. The air instantly grew heavy.

Master Qing Yan still wanted to ask more, when the injuries Yu Zhao had been forcefully suppressing suddenly burst out. She let out a muffled groan, blood seeped from the corner of her lips, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

Master Qing Yan was shocked: “Zhao’er!”

He stopped caring about asking questions. He stepped forward and grabbed Yu Zhao’s wrist in one move.

Thick, powerful spirit power kept pouring into Yu Zhao’s body.

Yu Zhao instinctively wanted to shake off Master Qing Yan’s hand, but his palm clamped around her wrist like an iron vise. She could not move at all.

She simply ignored the cold feeling on her wrist and focused fully on absorbing the spirit power to repair her body.

Abbot Jie Tan watched this scene and clicked his tongue in wonder.

Back during the Cultivation World Grand Tournament, Master Qing Yan had almost written the words “I hate Yu Zhao” right on his face, making the other Sect Masters discuss every day how to steal her away from him.

A few years passed, and Master Qing Yan’s eye disease was finally cured.

But it seemed to be a bit too late.

Yu Zhao guided the spirit power to reset her broken bones, wrapped them in it, then smoothed out her chaotic spirit power once more before slowly opening her eyes.

“Thank you, Master.”

Master Qing Yan forced his lips into a small smile, still not very used to it: “There is no need to be so polite between you and me.”

Yu Zhao gave a distant smile, seized the chance to pull free from his grip, and walked over to stand beside Abbot Jie Tan.

Who was close and who was distant was clear at a glance.

Master Qing Yan’s eyes dimmed.

Zhao’er still had not forgiven him.

“Master Qing Yan, Yu Zhao and I are preparing to head to Heavenly Sword Sect. What are your plans?”

“You have already been targeted. The road is long and full of danger. Why don’t I travel with you? We can watch out for each other.”

The words came out of Master Qing Yan’s mouth without him thinking too much.

[As expected.] Abbot Jie Tan thought in his heart.

The spot those three Divine Transformation cultivators chose to ambush them was very clever. Whether you looked toward the Greenwood Sect they had just left, or toward Heavenly Sword Sect where they were going, this place was at a distance from both.

On top of that, the spiritual energy here was thin, the terrain was steep, and few people ever came by. It was the perfect place to destroy a corpse and erase all traces.

Since this place was so remote and barren, how could Master Qing Yan, who was supposed to be staying behind at Chaozong Gorge, just “happen” to pass by here?

The only real possibility was that from the moment they left Chaozong Gorge, Master Qing Yan had been following behind them. To avoid being noticed, he had even kept a long distance between them.

That was why he could arrive in time when they fell into the ambush.

As for the reason Master Qing Yan was following them, it was better not to guess.

Now that he had the chance to travel with them openly, of course Master Qing Yan would not refuse.

Yu Zhao actually wanted to refuse.

But she understood priorities.

If they delayed any longer, many unnecessary variables would appear.

Yu Zhao did not want to delay the building of the ancient array formation because of her own personal feelings.

She did not give any opinion, which counted as silently agreeing.

Abbot Jie Tan thought for a moment and felt that having Master Qing Yan travel with them had many benefits. He could intimidate petty villains and also pressure the sects where they would go to beg for spirit cores.

When they went to the Greenwood Sect, if Master Qing Yan had been there, Sect Master Wu Sang’s time spent hesitating would have been greatly shortened.

After weighing it over, Abbot Jie Tan made the decision to agree.

Before they set out, Master Qing Yan buried the corpse on the spot, marked the place, and sent a message back to the sect.

“Zhao’er…”

“Master Qing Yan, please just call me Yu Zhao.”

Yu Zhao felt a shiver of disgust every time she heard “Zhao’er”. To protect her ears and her mental health, she spoke bluntly and asked Master Qing Yan to change how he addressed her.

Master Qing Yan’s lips moved twice. Then he answered softly: “Alright.”

Yu Zhao ignored him after that. On the road she focused only on traveling as fast as possible and studying the changes in the power of space.

Many times, Master Qing Yan looked toward Yu Zhao, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

Abbot Jie Tan was stuck between them and could clearly feel the complicated emotions coming from Master Qing Yan. From time to time, the cold air rolling off him would even prick at Abbot Jie Tan.

Abbot Jie Tan wanted to use Buddhist Dharma to comfort Master Qing Yan a few words and also persuade him to restrain his cold aura a bit, but before he could speak, Master Qing Yan’s cold gaze swept over.

Abbot Jie Tan wisely looked away.

The Buddha saves those who have karmic ties.

Master Qing Yan was not a person of good karma.

He could not be saved. He could not be saved.

—