Chapter 67

Exposed

When Liu Ming saw this, he was slightly startled. One must know that, if the sect had to inform someone of something, they would usually send out a disciple to personally convey the message. Yet, a letter had unexpectedly appeared here; this was too strange.

“Don’t tell me that…”

An idea suddenly flashed through Liu Ming’s mind. His eyebrows creased as he reached out and grabbed the letter in front of him. After sweeping over it with his conscious, he found no abnormal fluctuations and pulled out the piece of paper from within. After looking over it twice, his face slightly changed.

“Unexpectedly, it’s those two who are looking for me. Didn’t they say that they would flee after returning? Don’t tell me that a problem has occurred in the Bai Clan!” Liu Ming’s mind ran through the possibilities. Rubbing his two hands, a ball of flame suddenly appeared and immediately turned the letter into ash.

After that, he summoned his cloud and made a beeline out of the Barbarian Ghost Sect’s main gate.

After a small period of time, Liu Ming descended to the edge of the mountain range and near a small building. He then entered one of the watchtowers. There, he saw his two former acquaintances, who had been waiting here for over ten days.

There was one tall and one short male, both wearing yellow clothing; precisely, they were the Bai Clan’s Gu San and Guan Lao Da.

When the two of them saw Liu Ming, they were both startled and hastily stood up. Guan Lao Da hesitated somewhat as he asked:

“You are, young master?”

“It’s only been a year since we’ve seen each other and the two of you don’t even recognize me.” Liu Ming faintly smiled as he walked over and proceeded to sit down on another chair.

“So it really is young master. This is truly good news. The current young master looks very different from before. It seems that the Clan Leader will be shocked when he sees you.” When Guan Lao Da made clear of the situation, the astonishment on his face finally disappeared. He immediately stepped forward and respectfully spoke.

The adjacent Gu San also stepped forward and paid his respects, but the expression on his face was complicated.

When the two of them delivered Liu Ming to the Barbarian Ghost Sect, they had no idea that the youngster in front of them would be able to pass the Opening Spirit Ceremony. Unexpectedly, Liu Ming had become a disciple here.

Seeing each other today, the status between the three of them was now substantially different.

“My appearance has been altered due to cultivation. Nevertheless, why did you come here? Could it be that some problem has arisen in the Bai Clan?” Liu Ming explained his predicament before continuing to calmly speak.

“I see! When Clan Leader learned that young master had become a Spirit Apostle in the Barbarian Ghost Sect, the entire Bai Clan celebrated for three days and three nights; even eldest daughter returned because of this special occasion. Furthermore, the two of us have come here under the orders of the Clan Leader to present you with a secret letter personally written by him.” Guan Lao Da said. He then retrieved a black lacquered letter which was sealed tight and passed it over to Liu Ming with both of his hands.

“Eldest daughter? Oh, you must be talking about my elder sister Bai Yan Er! How about this: why don’t you come with me and we can find another place to discuss things.” After Liu Ming heard what was said, his gaze swept the surrounding area. He did not immediately open the letter; instead, he told them to find a different place.

Guan Lao Da and Gu San naturally didn’t dissent to this idea.

Liu Ming brought the two of them out of the watchtower and after performing a single handed technique, a grey cloud condensed next to him. He called for the two of them to stand on it and then started flying the cloud. They then travelled towards a distant and remote mountain top.

In the time it takes to have a cup of tea, Liu Ming brought the now pale guests to a bald and bare mountain top.

When the two of them descended to the ground, their legs nearly gave way and toppled over.

The two of them subsequently looked at Liu Ming with a face full of fear and respect.

“Okay, this place is barren so there shouldn’t be anyone who can eavesdrop. Now you can say what happened. If I remembered correctly, didn’t you say that once you returned to the Bai Clan, you would immediately leave for a foreign place? Why are still delivering a letter for the Bai Clan’s Clan Leader?” Liu Ming patted the letter in his hands and spoke with an extremely calm expression.

“Brother Liu, save us! The affair the two of us did has been discovered by eldest daughter. Moreover, eldest daughter has already planted a restriction on our bodies. Right now, our lives are hanging on a thread.

“That’s right, aside from this letter, eldest daughter also wanted us to bring another item to Brother Liu. She said that you would understand once you saw it.”

What made Liu Ming extremely surprised was that, in the next second, the two of them immediately kneeled with a “pu tong” sound while they started talking with a runny nose and tears in their eyes.

“What!? That girl called Bai Yan Er already knows that I have replaced Bai Cong Tian? How does she know? The two of you need to carefully explain it to me!” Even though Liu Ming was calm, once he heard the two of them speak, his face slightly changed.

“Yes! Once the two of us returned to the Bai Clan, we wholeheartedly wanted to remove the poison in our body so we could freely break away from the Bai Clan. When the news of Brother Liu becoming a Spirit Apostle arrived, Clan Leader had a lot more trust in the two of us. Finally, a couple of months ago, we had the opportunity to steal the medicine needed to cure us. However, when we were conspiring to leave the family, we were overheard by young lady Yan Er who had just returned. The eldest daughter is also a Spirit Apostle; we do not know what technique she performed on the two of us, but after a moment of vertigo, we unconsciously told her the whole story. Yet, after young lady Yan Er finished listening, she didn’t punish us. Instead, she placed a restriction technique on the two of us and let us voluntarily leave without harm. After several days, when Clan Leader instructed us to send a letter to Brother Liu, the young lady also wanted us to send this item to you.” Guan Lao Da quickly gave his account and then took out a bamboo slip from his bosom and gave it to Liu Ming.

Liu Ming raised his eyebrows and told the two of them to stand up first. He then accepted the bamboo slip and carefully looked over it. He found that the inscription on the bamboo was made up of long and slender Spirit Markings. It had quite a sophisticated appearance.

The current him naturally was not the same as when he first entered the sect and didn’t understand anything about cultivation tools. After mumbling to himself irresolutely, he suddenly performed a single handed technique and hit an inscription on the bamboo slip.

A white light flashed.

The bamboo slip slightly trembled and then voluntarily flew out of his hand. It hovered in the air for a bit before a garish sunrise of colors suddenly appeared and congealed into a foot tall, youthful image of a girl.

However, the girl’s projection was extremely blurry and one could only vaguely make out her seemingly beautiful face. After it appeared, it started talking.

“I would presume this is Fellow Liu. Younger sister, Yan Er was the nominal sister of that good for nothing Bai Cong Tian. When I learned about Brother Liu’s situation, I should have personally gone and paid a visit. My Fa Li is too low to store a lot on this Glyph so I will keep things short. Since Bai Cong Tian was able to die in a lowly thief’s hands, it was probably due to his poor luck and ability so we cannot blame others for this loss. However, you were able to become a Barbarian Ghost Sect Spirit Apostle, but what you did use was a large amount of my Bai Clan’s resources. Thus, shouldn’t you compensate my Bai Clan? Otherwise, all I have to do is inform your sect that Fellow Liu cheated his spot into the sect and you shouldn’t be able to get away. Nonetheless, doing this brings no benefits to our Bai Clan so I have a small proposal…”

Bai Yan Er’s projection slowly continued talked while Liu Ming listened on expressionlessly. It was impossible to say what he was thinking.

“… since both parties will receive benefits from this, I believe that Brother Liu will not refuse. The letter my father gave you contains even more concrete conditions. All Fellow has to do is agree and you will not have to worry about anything else and can continue to be Bai Cong Tian. Another thing, although what Guan Lao Da and Gu San did is pardonable, the Bai Family cannot leave them alone. Thus, we will formally present them to Fellow as servants. As for the restriction on their bodies, all I did was use a few illusion techniques. I didn’t actually do anything to them. Of course, if Brother Liu believes that they are too troublesome, you can just give them a send off. I will not have any complaints. Alright, what I had to say has already been said. If Brother Liu does not reply, I will take it that Fellow agrees with this. Haha. Although the Bai Clan lost a direct disciples, if it is able to gain a true Spirit Apostle then we could be considered to have profited from a disaster.”

The girl’s projection let out a soft smile before subsequently disappearing.

The bamboo slip suspended in the air suddenly turned in a ball of flame and spontaneously combusted; immediately turning into ashes.

When Liu Ming saw this, he rubbed his chin; his facial expression showing that he was in deep thought.

“Brother Liu… No… Lord Liu, the two of us wish for you to become our master. From now on, we will be loyal and devoted ourself to the Lord without any intention of duplicity.”

“If master has any tasks that need to be completed, Gu San will use all his effort to accomplish it.”

When Guan Lao Da heard Bai Yan Er say that there really were no restrictions on his body, he was initially overjoyed, but once he heard that Liu Ming could “give them a send off”, he was suddenly struck with terror. Guan Lao Da and Gu San looked at each other and once again kneeled on the ground; quickly vowing to the heavens.

TL: Send off = Kill them

It was clear that these two were extremely afraid of Liu Ming following the words he heard from Bai Yan Er. Their lives were now in his hands.

“The two of you can stand. Why would I groundlessly take your lives? No matter the reason, if I did not meet the two of you back then I would have no method of becoming a Spirit Apostle. However, in order to maintain secrecy, I cannot let you go right now.” Liu Ming said while looking at them with a creased eyebrow.

“As long as Lord is content, you can use whatever method you deem fit on us. The two of us will not complain.” Guan Lao Da heard Liu Ming and involuntarily spoke hastily.

When the adjacent Gu San heard this, he also repeatedly nodded his head.

“Since this is the case, I will employ a few, small methods.” After listening to them, Liu Ming nodded his head and flipped his finger. Suddenly, a fine silver needle appeared and after a brief moment, it turned into a silver streak as it pricked into the bodies of Guan Lao Da and Gu San.

Guan Lao Da and Gu San naturally did not dare dodge the needle. They simultaneously felt their bodies become completely numb and were unsure of how many times the needle pricked them.

Liu Ming retracted his arm and the silver needle disappeared. He then emitted a faint smile and said:

“Okay, this Silver Needle Puncture technique of mine can hide within your body for several years. Within this period of time, you will go to a few places and help me complete a few matters. As long as you do things well, I will help you undo the technique later. Moreover, I will also help you bring your family members here from the Bai Clan. After that, wherever the two of you want to go, I will not stop you.”