M49S Vol 1 Chapter 7. The Sreen Wall

Meng Qiqi was using a leaf flute to summon his young disciple. He still didn’t know how the Wang clan would respond to the changes in the secret realm, so he had to hurry and take care of what he needed to do before anything shifted.

He turned back to look for Chen Boyan and saw him cutting through the beasts with one hand while lifting a Ruizhu Sect female disciple with the other.

The little martial uncle’s teeth itched. He felt like biting someone.

“Young Master Chen!” He called out from afar. When Chen Boyan turned to look, he raised his hand in a wave. “See you around!”

As the words left his mouth, Meng Qiqi jumped down from the tree. At that exact moment, a boy of twelve arrived flying on a sword, catching him steadily in mid-air.

“Good disciple, let’s go.” Meng Qiqi patted the boy’s not-so-broad shoulder, comforting his own wounded heart.

The young disciple focused hard on keeping the sword steady, so much so that he didn’t even have time to wipe the rain off his face. “Master, you’re heavy.”

“Shut up.” Meng Qiqi smacked him on the head and conjured a barrier of invisible qi in front of them to block the wind and rain.

Back there, Chen Boyan watched the sword slice through the storm and disappear. He was finding the man harder and harder to understand. He wasn’t heading east, but toward the west, where the beasts were even more numerous. What was he trying to do?

Chen Boyan wanted to follow and see for himself, but as the eldest disciple, he couldn’t just abandon his juniors. The Ruizhu Sect girl looked at him with gratitude in her eyes and a blush on her cheeks. “Thank you for the rescue, Senior Brother Chen.”

Chen Boyan snapped out of his thoughts but gave no reply. He simply nodded in acknowledgment.

Just then, another group of cultivators approached, about five or six of them. Chen Boyan lent a hand to help the girl rejoin her group, then turned and walked away without looking back.

“Senior Brother Chen!” the female cultivator reached out, but couldn’t even catch the hem of his robe.

Her heartfelt call couldn’t stop Chen Boyan. Right now, all he wanted was to find his junior brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on his side today. He searched for a long time without spotting a single familiar face, let alone that idiot Tu Youqiong, who had sent a signal but then ran off on his own.

Chen Boyan didn’t want to waste any more time. He decisively headed toward the dwellings nestled in the valley. The rain hadn’t stopped. More and more cultivators were losing control as their qi surged beyond restraint, forcing them to retreat toward the valley. Even if they came across treasures along the way, they no longer had the strength to pick them up.

Flying swords streaked through the rain like beams of light, shooting toward the valley. Before long, the houses built against the mountain were filled with drenched young cultivators. These structures were originally part of a grand complex of halls and pavilions. Faded murals still hinted at their former glory, though now everything had fallen into disrepair with age.

By the time Chen Boyan arrived, bonfires were already burning in several spots. Shen Qingya was moving among the wounded with his fellow disciples, helping to dress their injuries.

“Senior Brother!” Dai Xiaoshan immediately spotted their eldest brother in the crowd and rushed forward to greet him.

Chen Boyan saw he was alone and asked, “Where are the others?”

“Senior Sister is inside,” Dai Xiaoshan replied. “A cultivator got scratched by a beast. She’s a girl, and Senior Sister is helping apply medicine. Tu Youqiong and Guinian haven’t shown up yet. Neither have the new junior sister and junior brother.”

Chen Boyan frowned slightly. He had told them all before that if they couldn’t find each other, they were to meet up wherever the crowd was thickest and avoid wandering off alone, so they wouldn’t keep missing each other. It seemed the other four had been delayed by something. Otherwise, they wouldn’t still be outside.

The rain was getting heavier, and the beasts were growing more and more restless. It was becoming too dangerous to remain outside. Before Chen Boyan could even sit down to rest, he stood up again.

“I’ll head back out to search. If any of them return, send me a signal. One per person, so I’ll know how many have come back.”

“Got it!” Dai Xiaoshan nodded firmly. He had an almost blind faith in his senior brother. To him, there was nothing the eldest disciple couldn’t handle.

Just as Chen Boyan turned to leave, someone caught up to him with long strides.

“Wait a moment, Brother Chen.”

Chen Boyan turned around. “Is there something you need, Brother Shen?”

Shen Qingya’s expression remained as composed and gentle as ever. “Qiqi asked me to pass a message to you.”

Meng Qiqi? So they really did know each other. Chen Boyan nodded. “Go ahead.”

“He said both his disciples are rather playful. If you can’t find them right away, don’t worry.”

Lowering his voice slightly, Shen Qingya added, “But there are two others he hopes you’ll keep an eye on. One is named Wang Zi’an. The other is Wang Ziling. If you run into them, lend them a hand if you can.”

Chen Boyan said nothing. Wang Zi’an and Wang Ziling were both among the Wang family’s younger generation. Why had Meng Qiqi singled out these two?

He pondered it briefly, then lifted his gaze. “Is my Little Martial Uncle here too?”

Shen Qingya simply smiled and stepped back. “Take care, Brother Chen.”

Chen Boyan was still caught in endless speculation because of Meng Qiqi, while on the other side, beyond everyone’s line of sight, Meng Qiqi had already summoned his Xiujian and was speeding westward.

What was in the west? Truthfully, even Meng Qiqi didn’t know. But his martial uncle, Zhou Ziheng, had left behind a map and a compass in the bamboo hut outside the Pass. The map depicted the Wang family’s secret realm, and in one place in the west, there was a red mark drawn deliberately.

What did that red mark mean? Why had his martial uncle disappeared without a word, leaving only those two things behind?

Meng Qiqi had never believed his martial uncle was dead. But if he wasn’t, then back when the sword cultivator Lang Xu came challenging outside the Pass, the one who should have gone out to meet him wouldn’t have been the aging master, but Zhou Ziheng. Yet he never returned, and their master died.

Three years had passed. Meng Qiqi used the excuse of building his master’s grave to linger outside the Pass all this time. He had traced Zhou Ziheng’s footsteps to this place, and he refused to believe there would be no answers.

A sharp whoosh split through the air as an iron arrow flew out and shot down a winged beast. His one-eyed disciple stood on a flying sword, drawing another arrow as he grumbled.

“Master, are we there yet?”

Meng Qiqi came back to himself and glanced at the map.

“Almost. Just ahead, veer northwest.”

“This is the thirteenth time you said that.” The disciple pushed his eyepatch up a bit, his ears twitching before he turned and fired another arrow.

The wailing beast tumbled from the sky. Their speeding sword whooshed past its head, weaving between scattered towering trees, cutting through the wind and rain as it rushed toward the northwest.

However, the long journey made even Meng Qiqi start to doubt the map’s reliability. His young disciple couldn’t take the constant wind and rain much longer either, so they had no choice but to stop and rest for the night.

The secret realm was too vast. Even though all the major sects had never stopped exploring it, the origin of the beasts and what lay in its farthest reaches remained a mystery to this day.

At dawn, Meng Qiqi opened his eyes first. When he looked over and saw his young disciple still meditating, a hint of softness appeared in his gaze, tinged by the cold night. “Xiao Yu’er, time to go.”

Xiao Yu’er quickly exhaled and came back to his senses. He slung his bow over his back and followed. At that moment, Meng Qiqi tossed him a jade bottle. “Qingya gave me some Clarity Pills. Take one. You’ve been soaked too long, it’s not good for your meridians.”

“Master, don’t you usually tell us not to take too many pills?” Xiao Yu’er held the bottle like a treasure.

“If you fall off the flying sword from exhaustion, wouldn’t I have to catch you? Your master is a very busy man.” Meng Qiqi summoned his Xiujian and flew off with a sigh.

“Master, wait for me!” Xiao Yu’er shouted.

Half a day later, the master and disciple finally approached the red mark. Along the way, they passed through heavy mist and nearly lost their direction several times. Without the compass and map, they would have gotten lost for sure.

“Ma-Master, look over there.” Xiao Yu’er pointed toward the distant valley. “Did we just go in a circle and come back to where we started?”

No wonder Xiao Yu’er was so surprised. The beasts on the ground and the lake still looked exactly the same, and the rows of halls faintly visible in the valley looked no different from where they had departed.

No, something was different.

Meng Qiqi narrowed his eyes. “There’s not a single soul in sight. Let’s check it out.”

The two put away their swords, applied a bit of grass sap that masked their scent to match that of the beasts, then quickly made their way on foot in a direction with fewer creatures.

By now, the rain had finally eased. The slanting drizzle gently patted their faces, no longer as biting as the day before. They moved fast, and before long, they had slipped past the clustered beasts and arrived at the mouth of the valley.

A moss-covered stone path stretched from the valley entrance, winding up through the withered grass to the mountainside. As they climbed, withered reds and dull greens lined both sides of the path, the entire scene steeped in desolation.

Xiao Yu’er couldn’t resist tugging at the dried vine hanging from an ancient tree along the path. It looked sturdy. Glancing back with a frown, he said, “Master, those beasts are following us.”

“Ignore them.” Meng Qiqi took his hand and leapt forward. In just a few strides, they reached the first set of temple buildings. Xiao Yu’er stared wide-eyed at the shadow wall blocking their way, and stretched out his hand to touch the lifelike dragon carved onto it. “Master, it’s a dragon…”

Meng Qiqi raised a finger to his lips. “Shh.”

Xiao Yu’er quickly covered his mouth and blinked his left eye in confusion, as if asking, but Master, didn’t you say no one was here?

What if someone was? Meng Qiqi didn’t voice the suspicion. His sharp gaze locked onto a sword mark that sliced cleanly down the middle of the wall. He reached out to trace it, but all he felt was dust built up over the years and a smooth surface. He reached out to trace it, but all he felt was dust built up over the years and a smooth surface. Nothing more.

Meng Qiqi hesitated. Could there be traces of his martial uncle left here? Just as he was about to circle around the shadow wall and head further in, a faint sound suddenly came from within the wall.

It felt distant yet near, as if right by his ear. But the moment he turned his head, it vanished without a trace. It sounded… like a person’s voice.

His expression grew serious. Xiao Yu’er tensed up and raised his bow. Meng Qiqi reached over and patted his head, then turned back to examine the shadow wall, his right hand resting on the sabre hilt. He didn’t draw it.

He needed a more cautious approach. Maybe test the waters with a shout.

“Chen Fangjun? You there?”

Xiao Yu’er pressed close and whispered, “Master, who’s Chen Fangjun?”

Meng Qiqi replied calmly, “A big bastard.”

Got it. Chen the bastard.

“Chen Fangjun?” Meng Qiqi called again. But aside from the distant roars of beasts, there was no reply. He shook his head and quickly left with Xiao Yu’er.

Meanwhile, at the far end of the mountain path, on the other side of the shadow wall, Chen Boyan stood still, a frown creeping over his face.

…Who the hell was calling him names?