159: Chapter 39 The Legacy of Nine Yin

Just as Yang Kang was secretly guessing that Old Imp might not be entirely proper, Meng Li spoke up: 'Old Imp lives up to his nickname. Despite his age and seniority, he has always had the Heart-Nature of a mischievous child, fond of fun and play, knowing no sorrow.'

'The stories worth mentioning about him are all muddled affairs.'

'What muddled affairs?' Huang Rong's curiosity was piqued.

Meng Li glanced at her: 'Speaking of it serves no purpose.'

Huang Rong frowned and snorted: 'I think you just don't know.'

Seeing this, Guo Jing said: 'Ronger, since Elder Brother Meng brought it up, he must know. If he's not saying, it's probably inconvenient to speak of.'

But Huang Rong said: 'There's nothing that cannot be spoken of openly. What could be inconvenient? I think he's just deliberately being mysterious, trying to keep us in suspense.'

Guo Jing was about to say something else when Meng Li preempted him, asking Huang Rong: 'Do you truly wish to know? Speaking it may not be to your benefit.'

Huang Rong was taken aback, then suspiciously asked: 'Could it be the matter is related to me?'

Meng Li said: 'One of the incidents is indeed related to you.'

'Tell me then.'

Meng Li took a sip of water and began: 'The matter must be traced back to the beginning, when The Real Person of Chongyang obtained the Nine Yin Manual.'

'After The Real Person of Chongyang obtained the Nine Yin Manual, he perused it but did not practice the Martial Arts recorded within. His original intent in competing for this manual was not for its Martial Arts, but rather his hope to quell the disputes and turmoil it had caused.'

'Furthermore, he was already universally acknowledged as the world's number one at that time.'

'Practicing or not practicing the Martial Arts within made little difference to him.'

'Regarding this manual that had caused countless disputes, he considered it a scourge and thought of destroying it outright. But on second thought, it was, after all, the painstaking work of predecessors, and Martial Arts themselves have no inherent division between righteous and evil. Those with good intentions who use it for the Righteous Path make it righteous. Those with malicious intent who use it for evil deeds make it evil.'

Hearing this discourse on righteousness and evil, Guo Jing, Yang Tiexin, and the others nodded subconsciously, clearly in agreement.

Meng Li paid no mind and continued: 'In the end, the Nine Yin Manual was preserved. To prevent it from falling into the hands of villains, The Real Person of Chongyang, on his deathbed, instructed his Junior Brother Old Imp not to look at its contents and, after his death, to separately bury the upper and lower volumes of the manual.'

'Old Imp strictly adhered to his Senior Brother's dying wish. He did not look at the Nine Yin Manual. After The Real Person of Chongyang passed away, he went to Yandang Mountain to bury the Nine Yin Manual - Upper Volume.'

'Later, on his journey to bury The Lower Volume of the Nine Yin Manual, he encountered Medicine Master Huang and his wife, who had recently married and were traveling for leisure.'

'The three of them went boating and drank together. After a few cups of wine, Old Imp's tongue loosened, and he revealed the matter of burying The Lower Volume of the Nine Yin Manual.'

'Upon hearing this, Medicine Master Huang instantly felt a surge of greed...'

'Impossible!' Huang Rong instantly interrupted, then added: 'My father is aloof and proud, of unparalleled talent and intellect. It's impossible that he...'

'It was the Nine Yin Manual!'

Meng Li's one sentence cut off her defense, and he continued: 'The original Hua Shan Sword Conference was held precisely to compete for it, and your father participated.'

Huang Rong was left speechless.

Meng Li continued: 'After Medicine Master Huang conceived this greed, he tried borrowing it and using provocation, all to no avail.'

'Later, he proposed competing with Old Imp in a game of shooting stone pellets.'

'Shooting stone pellets is a game children often play, which perfectly suited Old Imp's preferences.'

'Then, they set the wager: if Medicine Master Huang lost, he would give his treasured Soft Hedgehog Armor to Old Imp. If Old Imp lost, he would have to let Medicine Master Huang's non-martial artist wife, Feng Heng, take a look at The Lower Volume of the Nine Yin Manual.'

'The Soft Hedgehog Armor is the treasure of Peach Blossom Island, renowned throughout the Martial Forest.'

'Old Imp felt that if he won and wore it openly, anyone with knowledge would know he had defeated Medicine Master Huang, which would be extremely impressive. Plus, he often played shooting stone pellets and was confident of victory.'

'Even if he lost, letting a non-martial artist look at the manual wasn't a big deal.'

'Thus, Old Imp gladly agreed.'

'In the end, he lost.'

'Medicine Master Huang had a self-created martial art called the 'Finger Flickering Technique,' an extremely sophisticated hidden weapon technique. Using it to shoot stone pellets, winning was practically a sure thing.'

'Old Imp honored the bet and let Feng Heng examine The Lower Volume of the Nine Yin Manual.'

'Unexpectedly, after reading it, she said the book was a miscellaneous divination text she had seen before, not The Lower Volume of the Nine Yin Manual.'

'The real Lower Volume of the Nine Yin Manual had been swapped out by Ouyang Feng.'

'Old Imp, strictly adhering to The Real Person of Chongyang's instruction, had not looked at the manual's contents before and couldn't tell if it was fake, but he instinctively doubted. To prove her words were true, Feng Heng told him to randomly select passages from the book to test her.'

'Old Imp did as she said and found that Feng Heng could fluently answer the content from the book, so he believed her.'

'Enraged, he tore the manual to shreds on the spot, then secluded himself to practice his Martial Arts, hoping to achieve mastery and retrieve the manual from Ouyang Feng.'

Hearing this, Guo Jing couldn't help but exclaim in surprise: 'Could the manual really have been swapped by Ouyang Feng? Wouldn't that make him even more formidable?'

Meng Li smiled: 'Of course not.'

'It's true that Ouyang Feng wanted to seize the Nine Yin Manual back then, but he thought The Real Person of Chongyang was already dead and planned to snatch it directly. Why would he think of swapping it?'

'Then what happened?' Mu Nianci asked, puzzled.

Meng Li didn't answer but pointed at Huang Rong: 'She knows the answer.'

Guo Jing asked directly: 'Ronger, what's the answer?'

Huang Rong sighed: 'My mother had an extraordinary talent, possessing a photographic memory. For ordinary books, she only needed to read them once to remember them completely. Even if the content of The Lower Volume of the Nine Yin Manual was complex, she could memorize it after reading it two or three times at most.'

'Old Imp didn't know this, so naturally he thought what my mother said was true.'

Guo Jing was stunned: 'Your mother was that amazing?'

A photographic memory was something completely unimaginable to him.

Huang Rong didn't respond, only a flicker of sadness passing through her eyes.

Yang Tiexin, Yang Kang, and the others were also greatly surprised, but then thinking of Medicine Master Huang, it seemed normal.

Medicine Master Huang was of unparalleled talent and intellect, and extremely fastidious. His wife naturally couldn't be an ordinary person; having a photographic memory was plausible.

However...

Huang Rong's expression wasn't right!

Noticing this, Mu Nianci seemed thoughtful and asked Meng Li: 'What happened later?'

Meng Li continued accordingly: 'Later, relying on her memory, Feng Heng transcribed The Lower Volume of the Nine Yin Manual from memory, allowing Medicine Master Huang to achieve his wish, but it also sowed the seeds of calamity.'

'After Medicine Master Huang read The Lower Volume of the Nine Yin Manual, he found that while the Martial Arts within were powerful, they lacked the general principles and complementary Internal Skill. Practicing them would be harmful rather than beneficial, so he didn't practice them, merely storing it away as a treasured collection.'

'Little did he expect that while he didn't practice it, his Disciples would develop wicked thoughts.'

'His Disciples, Mei Chaofeng and Chen Xuanfeng, pledged themselves to each other in secret. Fearing punishment from Medicine Master Huang, they planned to flee. But worried their Martial Arts weren't sufficient for a carefree life outside, they found an opportunity, stole The Lower Volume of the Nine Yin Manual, and defected.'

'When Medicine Master Huang found out, he flew into a rage, severed the tendons of his remaining Disciples' feet, and expelled them from the school.'

'To appease Medicine Master Huang's anger and stop him from blaming the Disciples, Feng Heng secretly hid in the study to transcribe The Lower Volume of the Nine Yin Manual again from memory.'

'But several years had passed by then. Even with a photographic memory, how easy could it be to perfectly restore the original content word for word? In the process, she exhausted her mental energy. Coupled with being pregnant at the time, she eventually brought herself to the brink of exhaustion, her life force nearly spent.'

'Not long after giving birth to her child, she passed away.'

With this outcome revealed, the entire group fell silent...