Ch. 27 - Man Behind the Mask

The main branch of the Ji family, Snowfall Pavilion.

[ED: Snowfall Pavilion: Luoxue Pavilion]

This pavilion, with its jade and pearly ornamentation and grandly carved pillars was the place allotted to Xu Lian’er and her daughter, Ji Quexue, when she was born.

"Quexue, do you know about the return of the eldest son?"

Xu Lian'er looked worriedly at the girl on the couch who was fiddling with a true skill, her expression was a little formal.

Ji Quexue looked down at the skill with her head lowered. The snow-white hands danced lightly, and a ray of mysterious light appeared, condensing into a small and delicate fire lotus at her fingertips.

After a few breaths, the dissipated fire lotus in her hands, raised her head, and said, "No need to worry, the eldest son ... Ji Yuenian has lost his cultivation base and his Heart Fire has long extinguished, he can't take the position given by He Xuan Shangzhen even if he has returned."

After going through a lot of ups and downs in the past, Ji Quexue seemed to have changed as a person, her eyes were very firm, and the cowardice and weakness in them had already disappeared without a trace.

Xu Lian'er sighed and said, "But he is the eldest son after all. Although his Heart Fire is extinguished, and the difficulty of re-ignition is unquestionable, but what if …”

“There are no what ifs," Ji Quexue stood up. Her delicate and fair face appearing even more beautiful against the backdrop of her aqua blue dress. "Tomorrow, Ji Hong will go to Heyun Temple to take the position that is rightfully mine. Then, it will be completely impossible to raise qualms about the issue."

"Quexue, how can you address your father in such a manner?" Xu Lian'er shook her head, her face turning a bit discontent.

Ji Quexue was silent for a moment, then walked up to Xu Lian'er, looked down at the woman who was half a head shorter than her, and said word by word, "From that day on, I no longer recognize that cold-blooded and ruthlessness man as my father. In fact, if one day I succeed in cultivation, I will make him regret for what he has done!"

"Quexue! How can you think like that!"

Xu Lian'er stared blankly at Ji Quexue. She felt as if she did not know her daughter at all and some stranger had swapped places with her daughter.

Ji Quexue leaned closer, her head full of silken blue hair resting on Xu Lian’er’s shoulders. She whispered in her ear, “Mother, you were also the eldest daughter of the Xu family back then, if only you weren’t so recreant and blindly obedient; devoid of any self-opinion, us mother and daughter pair would not have been so pitiful in this Ji family household for all these years. Compared to the cruel and ruthless Ji Hong, you stand accused of more crimes. You are the greater culprit. ”

After that, she turned around and walked out of the pavilion with unhurried steps.

Xu Lian'er stood alone in the empty pavilion for a while, then fell on the couch and buried her head deeply in her arms.

Not long after, whimpering and low sobbing echoed in the silent pavilion.

…

It was a cold night again.

Ji Bugui flipped through an ancient book in the study, and couldn't help but admire silently in his heart.

He couldn't even understand a single page of such an obscure and incomprehensible ancient book. But Young Master Ji marked the dozens of ancient books on the bookshelf on the west side with dozens of notes and scribbles. It was apparent that Ji Yuenian had already perused through these different kinds of ancient books more than once.

"Those who live in Luzhou in the north are good at killing, but only because of their livelihood. They are clumsy and affectionate, and they don't cultivate much."

Reluctantly recognizing the words on it, Ji Bugui couldn't help shaking his head after reciting this sentence in a low voice, and muttered to himself, "This ancient book of Lao Shizi actually show Luzhou in such a way, it is extremely absurd. Even the eldest son's annotations are a little confusing to me."

After he finished speaking, he put down the ancient book in his hand and turned to look at the large table made of sandalwood by the window.

In the upper left corner of the table, there were many things like the pen, ink, paper, and ink stone. All densely covering the whole space. These were all tools Ji Yuenian would use quite frequently.

Ji Bugui stepped forward, and just as he was about to flip through the scrolls placed on it, a low voice came from outside the study.

"Eldest Son, the Patriarch invites you to the Zenhai Hall."

[ED: Zenhai Hall: Hall of Tranquility]

The Zenhai Hall was in the core building of the Ji family's main branch. There was a main hall and six sub-halls. The Ji family's ancestral hall was located in the Spirit Gathering Hall behind the Zenhai Hall.

Ji Bugui paused and said, "Okay, I'll go over here."

The voice echoed again, "I beseech the Eldest Son to take his leave now."

Ji Bugui was a little embarrassed, but felt more and more uncomfortable in place for Ji Yuenian.

Although this person was respectful and observant on the surface, his tone was actually very aggressive. After the dignified Ji family's eldest son's Heart Fire extinguished, his treatment was cold like this.

"I know."

Ji Bugui thought of Ji Yuenian's explanation, suppressed his unnecessary thoughts, pushed open the door, and walked out.

The sash covering the windows of the pavilion was open, and the cold night winds swept into the hall, flipping the yellowed pages with the rustling sound all books made when flipped.

The obscure ancient book Ji Bugui had just put down was gently closed, revealing the torn cover.

Five twisted seal characters were listed vertically on it, slightly glowing with golden light.

…

The main branch of the Ji family, Zenhai Hall.

"Head in, Eldest Son."

A black-armored guard looked blankly at "Ji Yuenian" in front of him, and spoke lightly.

Ji Bugui glanced at the guard, he just stood there under the door to the hall, and slowly stepped into the brightly lit hall.

As soon as he entered the hall, he saw Ji Hong sitting on the highest seat of honor, and he couldn't help but feel nervous in his heart.

"Nian'er, how is your recovery coming along?"

Ji Hong stood up from his seat and walked slowly towards Ji Bugui.

After all, Ji Bugui was only a mortal. As the head of the family, Ji Hong was quite majestic. At this moment, his body could not help but tremble slightly, and he felt an indescribable feeling of depression in his mind.

"Nian'er?"

The floor of the hall was divided into three layers, from high to low to the gate of the hall. Ji Hong stopped in front of Ji Bugui, standing on the secondary level, a giant shadow covering his face, making him unable to discern any expression on his face.

Ji Bugui calmed down, forced a smile on his face, and said, "Patriarch ... Father, I'm better."

Ji Hong frowned slightly, as if he noticed something, but he didn't care. He reached out and patted Ji Bugui's shoulder and said, "Nian'er, do you want revenge?"

"Revenge?" Ji Bugui was a little puzzled.

Ji Hong turned slightly, let the lights in the hall illuminate Ji Bugui's bewildered face, and said solemnly, "Yes, when you were abolished and thrown into the Qingluan Mountains, you should have died without a trace. I don't know why you were able to return intact, but your Heart Fire has extinguished and with it all the memories too are lost. This debt ... must be repaid with blood."

"Father, what do you mean by these words?"

The continuous stream of cold air diffused into his body from ghost armor, which made Ji Bugui sober up a lot.

Ji Hong glanced at Ji Bugui and said softly, "Your memories of this life are all in your soul, if you want to take revenge, you can only try to take out some of the spells that are quite damaging to you. The memories before the Qingluan Mountains."

Ji Bugui noticed the slight trembling of the Sentient Ghost-devouring Armour, and felt a lot more at ease. He raised his head and said, "According to you, Father, what should I do?"

Ji Hong was silent for a moment, as if he was extremely reluctant, and sighed slightly.

Ji Bugui sneed on the inside, but still maintained a respectful facade on his face, and said: “Father, it’s alright. I’ve already lost my cultivation. If Nian’er can avenge and save face for our Ji family, I’ve willing to do anything!”

Ji Hong hesitated for a few breaths before opening his mouth and said, "For now, the only way to do this is to cast a soul-searching spell and split a part of your soul, then maybe you can detect those memories."

Without any hesitation, Ji Bugui responded, "Okay!"

The Zenhai Hall was extremely quiet, except for the "father and son", there was not a single soul.

Ji Hong was a little surprised at Ji Bugui's decisiveness, thought for a moment, and then said, "There is one more thing, I don't know if I should talk about it as a father."

Ji Bugui sneered in his heart, but he didn't stop at all, and respectfully said, "Father, it doesn't matter."

Ji Hong paused for a bit and said, “Your Heart Fire has extinguished, you don’t have a chance to ignite it anymore. But if I can take out the Grade 6 Heart Fire Sequence that is attached to your soul when it is split, I can refine it and use it for the betterment of the family …”

Silence.

Ji Bugui didn't know what to do, so he had to keep silent.

Seeing that he seemed to be resisting the idea, Ji Hong hurriedly added, “Nian’er, you’ll have to be willing for this to work. Else, I cannot obtain the Heart Fire seed. The Ji family is weakening in Taichu, our reach has dwindled. How about you help your father this once? ”

The soul of every creature was attached to the Heart Fire, but 99% of the creatures were unable to ignite it. However, the fire seed that ignited the fire could be devoured by other creatures to enhance the rank of their own Heart Fire.

It was just that most of the living beings died after their Heart Fires extinguished, so there are not many opportunities to use this extremely harsh method.

Ji Hong’s had a Grade 7 Heart Fire Sequence. If he could devour a Grade 6 Heart Fire from Ji Yuenian, he could very likely use this improve upon his own Heart Fire, and could even directly break through the Late Stage of the True Dao Realm with the aid of the momentum.

All the flaws within “Ji Yuenian” were masked by the Sentient Ghost-devouring Armor. To Ji Hong’s senses there was indeed an extinguished Heart Fire within Ji Yuenian. Which was also his real motive in summoning Ji Yuenian at this hour.

It could be said the seeds for the vicious plot had already germinated the moment he lay eyes upon Ji Yuenian, who had his Heart Fire extinguished.

Ji Bugui was silent for a while, then said, "I will do it. When will Father cast the spell?” 　　 Ji Hong’s eyes bounced in excitement. It was only at this rare instance did the master of the cultivation family of Ji lay down the thick mask hiding the true nature of his heart: The devilish side.

"I'll ask someone to prepare it now, and I'll cast a spell at midnight! Don't worry, Nian’er. Once I take a look at your memory, I will definitely avenge you!”

After this sentence fell, Ji Hong knew that something was wrong, he laughed dryly, and said, "Even if I split your soul, you won't necessarily die. Don't worry, I will do my best to save your life!"

Obviously, in his eyes, "Ji Yuenian" who had lost all memories at this time could already be coaxed at will without any disguise, without worrying about any consequences.

Ji Bugui nodded, then retreated directly into the dark corner of the main hall, sneering inwards.

Save my life?

Casting a spell to split the soul basically meant zero chances to survive.

If the Heart Fire was split from the source of the soul, then the soul would be destroyed directly, and the true spirit would not be able to reincarnate, and there would be no possibility of survival.

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