Chapter 105: Master Xuan Zhe: He Is Wei Xiaofan

At that moment, Yang Shengtian’s face twisted again, just as it had atop the Twin Peaks when he spoke with Wei Xiaoping and while talking to Huang Xianlin in midair.

Clutching his helmet with both hands, his brows knitted tightly and lips slightly drawn, Yang Shengtian’s expression reflected deep agony.

“Who exactly are you? Why do you parasitically inhabit my mind, piercing my nerves every now and then, forcing me to do this or that? No—this time, I won’t obey. If it kills me, so be it…”

Huang Xianlin and Wang Qingjie were startled by Yang Shengtian’s sudden self-talk. Particularly Wang Qingjie, who had never seen Yang Shengtian like this before and could hardly believe it. What had caused this sudden change in him? Had he lost his mind? Strange—why would the enemy appoint a mentally unstable person as a general?

Just then, several familiar cries came from the sky. Huang Xianlin immediately scanned the surrounding airspace.

There, an elderly man with silver hair and a youthful face hovered in the air, holding a whisk in his hand and standing atop a gleaming sword. Beside him was a strange beast, slowly flying toward them.

“Master Uncle? The Qilin Divine Beast!” Huang Xianlin exclaimed in surprise.

The elderly man riding the sword was none other than Wei Xiaoping’s master, the Immortal Xuan Zhe, and the beast beside him was the Qilin Divine Beast, Huang Xianlin’s mount.

It turned out that after departing from Huang Xianlin, the Qilin had returned directly to the Taoist temple to seek out its original savior, Huang Xianlin’s master, Immortal Xuan Wu, intending to summon him to aid Huang Xianlin.

Upon seeing the Qilin return alone, without its young master Huang Xianlin, Immortal Xuan Wu sensed trouble immediately and questioned the beast. Since the Qilin could only roar and shake its head, Xuan Wu said:

“Your young master didn’t come back with you—is he in trouble?”

The Qilin nodded.

“Did he lose the battle?”

The Qilin shook its head, then nodded again.

“So they weren’t defeated, but they didn’t win either?”

The Qilin nodded once more.

“Then why did you come back? Why didn’t you stay to help him?”

The Qilin let out mournful cries and showed Xuan Wu the areas on its body where it had been struck by dark arrows from Yang Shengtian.

Xuan Wu examined the Qilin’s several arrow wounds closely. Though healed, the scars remained. The pattern of injury seemed familiar, but he couldn’t immediately recall where he had seen it before.

After pondering for a while, Xuan Wu suddenly remembered: his senior brother Xuan Zhe once had a disciple named Wei Xiaofan, who possessed a mystical bow with wings—the Dark Bow. When not in use, the bow clung to Wei Xiaofan’s back; when summoned by thought, it appeared and could multiply infinitely, shooting dark arrows made of light that pierced enemies. Any wounds inflicted by these arrows would never heal unless the wings on the bow fanned air over the wound. This bow was unique in the world, belonging solely to Wei Xiaofan. Since it originated from a birthmark on Wei Xiaofan’s back, no one, no matter how skilled, could steal it.

Looking at the scars on the Qilin, Xuan Wu realized these were indeed injuries caused by the light arrows from that very bow. But Wei Xiaofan had vanished ten years ago at the age of fifteen. How could his bow have wounded the Qilin now? Huang Xianlin had ridden the Qilin into battle—could Wei Xiaofan have appeared on the battlefield and wounded his disciple’s mount? Could Wei Xiaofan now be fighting for the enemy? That couldn’t be; Wei Xiaofan and Huang Xianlin knew each other. Before Wei Xiaofan disappeared, Xuan Wu often took his disciple to his senior brother’s place to exchange cultivation and martial arts insights. They were familiar with one another. So why would Wei Xiaofan confront Huang Xianlin and injure the Qilin?

No, he had to ask his senior brother about this. Only Xuan Zhe, Wei Xiaofan’s master, could confirm if these arrow wounds were indeed caused by Wei Xiaofan’s Dark Bow. Although Xuan Wu recognized the scars, he wasn’t certain because Wei Xiaofan wasn’t his disciple.

Thus, Xuan Wu immediately set out with the Qilin to seek Xuan Zhe for verification.

Just as expected, Xuan Zhe confirmed that the Qilin’s wounds were indeed caused by Wei Xiaofan’s Dark Bow.

Overcome with emotion, Xuan Zhe said, “After more than ten years, there’s finally news. This Dark Bow belongs only to Wei Xiaofan. It manifests from the flesh on his back, and no one can take it away—not even by removing that section of flesh, only destroy it. So there cannot be a second bow. Its appearance means Wei Xiaofan has appeared—but why on the enemy’s side? And why didn’t he recognize Huang Xianlin during their confrontation?”

While Xuan Zhe was contemplating this, a disciple arrived to report that his senior brother Wei Xiaoping had been severely wounded and was just brought back to the Qingfeng Kingdom’s army camp by Da Huang.

Upon hearing that his beloved disciple Wei Xiaoping was gravely injured, Xuan Zhe, Xuan Wu, and the Qilin hastened to the military camp.

When they arrived, Wei Xiaoping was already unconscious.

Examining the wound, Xuan Zhe found that Wei Xiaoping had been pierced by an ancient divine weapon—the Golden Halberd. It had passed directly through his back and chest, narrowly missing his heart on the right side, leaving a finger-width gash. The blood flowed relentlessly. Fortunately, Da Huang had brought him back quickly, and Xuan Zhe arrived soon after.

Xuan Zhe carefully stitched the wound over the heart with special medicinal threads, then cast healing spells to staunch the bleeding.

The two masters worked on Wei Xiaoping’s injuries for an hour or two, then deemed him out of immediate danger, though he would need ten to fifteen days of rest before waking.

Xuan Zhe then asked Da Huang who had wounded Wei Xiaoping. Da Huang neither nodded nor shook his head but howled sorrowfully. When asked if he had seen Wei Xiaofan on the battlefield, Da Huang slowly lowered his head and nodded heavily.

———————————————————————

Da Huang first encountered Wei Xiaoping when the latter was thirteen years old and went into the mountains to gather herbs.

One day, while passing through a forest, Wei Xiaoping came across an injured strange beast, about the size of a mature ox. It lay under a giant tree, gravely wounded. When it saw Wei Xiaoping, it called for help. Though the beast looked odd, it understood how to appeal to humans, which touched Wei Xiaoping. He treated its wounds, and before leaving, as the beast couldn’t walk, Wei Xiaoping provided food and built a small grass shelter to shield it from wind and rain.

After more than half a month of care, the beast recovered. From then on, wherever Wei Xiaoping went, the beast followed faithfully.