63: Chapter 63 Saving Old Chen from the Blood God's Nail, Changing the Heavenly Secret Strategy

"Grandpa."

A Li threw herself into the arms of the Old Man in Gray Robe.

Roars echoed from the distance, with Li Tianxing's furious shouts intermingled with Buddhist chants.

Gu Han swept his Divine Sense across the area and saw two figures locked in fierce battle on a rooftop a hundred zhang away, the shockwaves collapsing half the street.

"Let's go."

Gu Han scooped up the old man and the girl, his figure darting into the labyrinthine alleys like a ghost.

The old man weakly grabbed his lapels.

"Benefactor... head west... there is an abandoned Earth Temple..."

"Few people ever set foot there."

Gu Han understood and flashed forward repeatedly.

No sooner had the three figures turned the street corner than the wall they had just been standing by was blasted into dust by a blood-colored palm print.

"Little Beast, you cannot escape."

Li Tianxing's voice was like a festering sore that wouldn't leave.

Gu Han sneered and suddenly veered into a foul-smelling drainage ditch.

Rotten vegetable leaves floated in the sewage, yet he moved as if walking on flat ground, crossing the hundred-zhang ditch in the blink of an eye.

When Li Tianxing chased to the exit of the ditch, he saw only a few wild dogs scavenging for food; there was no trace of Gu Han left.

"Damn it!"

Li Tianxing was furious, the vertical eye between his brows glowing with a surge of blood-red light, but suddenly his expression changed drastically, and he dodged to the side.

"Amitabha."

Zen Master Liao Chen arrived in mid-air, stepping on a golden lotus, and brought his monk's staff down upon him.

The two powerhouses clashed again, while Gu Han had already carried the old man and the girl into a dilapidated temple.

"Bang!"

The broken temple door was slammed shut by the wind, and Gu Han gently placed the old man on the dust-covered altar table.

A Li stumbled to the side of the table, her small hands clutching her grandfather's sleeve tightly.

"We are safe for now."

Gu Han swept his Divine Sense around to confirm there were no pursuers, then looked at the old man who was regulating his breath.

"How should I address you, old man?"

"This old man is surnamed Chen; the neighbors all call me Blind Chen."

The old man smiled bitterly and pointed to his own cloudy eyes.

"Although I am not completely blind, it is about the same."

Gu Han's gaze flickered.

This old man's manner of speaking was extraordinary; he was by no means an ordinary blind man.

Furthermore, when he had been treating the old man's injuries, he discovered that the man was suffering from severe internal wounds.

He was suppressing them entirely with his cultivation.

Even stranger was the little girl; although her eye sockets were hollow, she seemed capable of seeing through everything.

This combination couldn't help but make Gu Han recall the event six years ago that had shocked the world: Chen Xuanji fleeing the Heavenly Secret Pavilion with his granddaughter.

This news had reached even the bookworm original owner, who had heard many rumors about it.

Immediately, Gu Han couldn't help but probe with a guess.

"Old Chen, judging by your speech, you must not be an ordinary person."

"Furthermore, the little sister's eyes are not something an ordinary person would know about."

Gu Han's gaze was like a torch, staring at the Old Man in Gray Robe leaning against the altar table.

A flash of sharp light vanished from Blind Chen's cloudy pupils.

A Li huddled in her grandfather's arms, her hollow eye sockets trembling slightly.

"Benefactor, you are joking."

Blind Chen coughed twice, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

"This old man is merely a fortune teller, and this girl A Li was born with an eye ailment..."

"Born with the Spirit Pupil, a darling of heaven and earth."

Gu Han suddenly interrupted, speaking word by word.

"This kind of Physique favored by heaven and earth is one in ten thousand."

"You..."

Blind Chen's cloudy pupils contracted sharply.

His withered fingers gripped A Li's shoulders tightly, his voice hoarse and guarded.

"Benefactor, what do you mean by this?"

Gu Han's gaze was calm as he spoke slowly.

"Those born with the Spirit Pupil can peer into Heavenly Secrets and connect Yin and Yang; it is the 'Heavenly Favored Physique' from ancient legends, but unfortunately..."

He looked at A Li's hollow eye sockets, his tone growing heavy.

"The power of the Spirit Pupil is too overbearing, and a Mortal body cannot withstand it; under the backlash, the eyes self-destruct."

Blind Chen's expression changed drastically, and he abruptly pulled A Li behind him, his voice trembling.

"Does Benefactor also want to seize A Li's Spirit Pupil?"

Gu Han's lips curled slightly, unmoved.

"The world-renowned 'Old Man of Heavenly Secret,' Chen Xuanji, has now fallen to such a state; it is truly sigh-worthy."

"You..."

Blind Chen looked as if he had been struck by lightning, stumbling back two steps and hitting the altar table, his face instantly turning as pale as paper.

A Li sensed her grandfather's abnormality, her small hands clutching his sleeve tightly.

"Grandpa, don't be afraid. A Li will protect you..."

Gu Han looked at the grandfather and granddaughter, sighing inwardly.

He had faintly sensed a special fluctuation of spiritual power within the old man when he had circulated the Heavenly Prison Demon Suppression Scripture.

It was extremely similar to the legendary art of Heavenly Secret deduction.

Combined with the little girl's eerily hollow eye sockets, the answer was obvious.

"There is no need to be nervous."

"If I truly had designs on you, I would not have saved you."

"Benefactor has mistaken me for someone else."

Blind Chen's voice was dry, his withered fingers clutching A Li's shoulders tightly.

"This old man is just a fortune teller..."

"Is that so?"

Gu Han chuckled and suddenly raised his hand, a streak of blood-gold True Qi shooting out.

"Nine Hells True Qi?"

"No, it is Heavenly Prison True Qi."

Gu Han withdrew his hand.

"Do you still want to deny it now?"

Blind Chen trembled all over, and after a long while, he let out a long sigh.

"Fine."

"This old man is indeed Chen Xuanji."

"If Benefactor wants to capture this old man to claim a reward at the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, then go ahead and do it!"

"I only ask that Benefactor spare A Li."

A Li raised her small face.

"Grandpa?"

"When I defected from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion back then, I had already expected this day."

Gu Han's gaze flickered.

"Then, A Li's eyes..."

"Born with the Spirit Pupil."

Chen Xuanji gently stroked his granddaughter's head.

"When she was born, her eyes were as brilliant as the galaxy, capable of looking directly at Heavenly Secrets."

"In order to hide it, this old man specifically placed a Seal on them, to avoid others peering at them."

"Unexpectedly, I still could not hide it from that old man Chen Xuantian."

"He actually wanted to seize A Li's eyes to transplant them onto his grandson."

"Are the people of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion truly so vicious?"

Gu Han's eyes turned cold.

Chen Xuanji smiled bitterly, his withered fingers gently stroking A Li's hair.

"The Spirit Pupil can peer into Heavenly Secrets and reverse one's fate; for the sake of his grandson's future, that old thief Chen Xuantian is capable of anything..."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly coughed violently, spraying out a mouthful of black blood, his aura instantly wilting.

Gu Han frowned, grabbing Chen Xuanji's wrist, and probed his body with Heavenly Prison True Qi; his expression changed drastically.

"Senior, your injuries..."

Chen Xuanji gave a miserable smile.

"This old man's Lifespan was already coming to an end; I was just worried about A Li."

He suddenly grabbed Gu Han's hand, a final glimmer of sharpness erupting in his cloudy eyes.

"Benefactor, this old man is willing to offer the 'Heavenly Secret Strategy' as a reward; I beg you to keep A Li safe!"

"Plus the whereabouts of the other part of the 'Heavenly Prison Demon Suppression Scripture' and the method to control the blood river netherworld blade."

"The 'Heavenly Secret Strategy'? The whereabouts of the fragments of the Heavenly Prison Scripture?"

Gu Han's eyes brightened suddenly, blood-gold True Qi surging in his palm.

Chen Xuanji's withered wrist was held by him, and the residual Blood God Nail toxin in his Meridians was being frantically devoured by the heavenly prison chains.

"Cough, cough... Benefactor, do not go to the trouble."

Chen Xuanji smiled miserably and shook his head, his chest sunken beneath his gray robe.

"This old man's heart pulse is shattered; I am relying entirely on my cultivation to hang on to my last breath."

Gu Han's pupils constricted.

These injuries had been accumulating for at least five or six years; no wonder even his True Qi could not save him.

As he spoke, Chen Xuanji coughed up bloody foam and pulled a bronze compass from his bosom.

"If Benefactor agrees to keep A Li safe, this object and the 'Heavenly Secret Strategy' shall be the reward!"

"This object was obtained by this old man twenty years ago at the Dragon Fall Abyss."

Chen Xuanji gasped as he shoved the compass into Gu Han's hands.

"It can conceal one's aura, making one appear like a Mortal; unless a Saint personally investigates, no one can detect it."

Upon hearing this, Gu Han was very tempted.

However, when he thought about bringing a little girl along, it would be extremely inconvenient.

A Li suddenly threw herself at Gu Han's feet, blood seeping from her hollow eye sockets.

"Big Brother, please save Grandpa."

"A Li... A Li is willing to give you my eyes."

The little girl's heart-wrenching cries echoed in the dilapidated temple.

Gu Han looked down at the blind girl kneeling at his feet, his heart trembling.