I am a swordsman in a strange city

Chapter 50 Mysterious Leak
In the dimly lit little house, a lone lamp could not dispel the darkness in the corner.

Pei Ju turned around and saw his grandfather standing behind him, holding a copper bell in his hand. The sound of the copper bell he had just heard must have been made by his grandfather.

Grandpa woke me up.

Generally, when performing such a spiritual ritual, one either needs to wake up on their own or need someone to awaken them, because the person inside may become trapped in it and never wake up again. If they never wake up, their physical body dies, and their consciousness is essentially devoured by the 'spirit'.

It's even possible that the person who suddenly wakes up is no longer themselves.

"grandfather."

Pei Ju turned around and saw his grandfather standing behind him. He saw that his grandfather was holding a copper bell he had never seen before in one hand, and the ghost-slaying sword that had been enshrined in the other hand.

In addition, he also saw his grandfather's serious face. The firelight reflected in his eyes, making him look sharp and stern.

"What is your father's name?" Master Pei asked.

"Pei Xu." Pei Ju answered immediately. At first, he didn't know why his grandfather asked him that, but he still answered without thinking. He immediately realized that his grandfather was verifying whether he was still himself.

Although Grandpa trusted Grandpa very much, he still took precautions.

"What's your maternal grandfather's name?" Fourth Master Pei asked again.

“Mei Tingsong,” Pei Ju replied quickly once again.

"Alright." Master Pei responded, took a few steps forward, placed the sword he was holding back on the offering table, and asked, "How is it inside? Any gains?"

"Yes," Pei Ju answered confidently. "I have learned true internal energy cultivation, two sword techniques, and a lightness skill."

A hint of surprise flashed in Master Pei's eyes as he asked, "Did you learn that?"

As he asked the question, he lit an incense stick to offer incense to the patriarch.

"Yes." Pei Ju replied.

Pei Ju knew why his grandfather asked that question, because if it wasn't learned but obtained through a spirit seal, then he would bear a curse.

"Come on, let's go outside and demonstrate it, let's see," Master Pei said impatiently.

Pei Ju immediately got up and followed his grandfather outside.

It was already dawn outside.

He glanced at the clock on the wall of his house; it was five o'clock in the morning, and dawn was just around the corner.

Pei Ju came outside, holding a wooden sword in his hand. He stood there but did not immediately begin practicing his swordsmanship.

Instead, he practiced the technique of "embracing the primordial energy." Although only one night had passed, five years had actually elapsed within it.

The inner and outer parts of the body do not belong to the same body, but the feeling of embracing the primordial energy is extremely proficient.

He leaned on his sword and stood there, circulating his energy according to the technique. Before long, a faint heat flowed in his dantian and moved along his meridians.

At first, it was just a wisp of airflow, but soon the feeling of that airflow circulating in his meridians became like a torrent, and it was as if endless energy was being generated in his consciousness.

In the darkness, it seemed that what he had cultivated in that body in the 'Mount Hua' world had connected with him at this moment. His consciousness seemed to break through its shell, and the things deep within his consciousness surged out and merged with this body.

The Embracing Yuan Force is a technique that combines internal energy with the physical body, allowing them to merge together. At this moment, Pei Ju discovered that the Embracing Yuan Force was extremely effective.

His body moved, he settled into the stance, stood still, held the sword upside down, and then suddenly moved again.

He wants to practice the Yangwu Sword.

This set of sword techniques cultivates both internal energy and sword skills, integrating internal energy cultivation into sword practice. It is a sword art that combines cultivation and training.

Pei Ju moved.

The transition from stillness to movement is instantaneous; the inverted sword, once twirled, becomes upright, and then flips and lands in a stance.

In Master Pei's eyes, Pei Ju's sword was obviously much faster than before, and his body movements were smoother and lighter.

Pei Ju was seen constantly turning his body in an area the size of a table, his sword never leaving his body, yet not a single sword thrust outwards.

The sword is close to the body, encircling the whole body. The body moves with the sword, and the sword moves with the body. The movements are light and agile, like a bird.

With his many years of experience learning swordsmanship, Master Pei quickly realized that this set of sword techniques was used to cultivate sword sense and was mainly for defense. As for how well it would perform in actual combat, it all depended on how the swordsman used it. No matter how well one practiced it, it would be useless if one did not use it properly.

Because when fighting, you should rush in and thrust your sword. Some people are afraid and dare not get close enough to rush in. If you don't dare to rush in, you can't get close to your opponent, and even the most powerful moves won't hit them.

As for any other uses, he couldn't immediately see them.

Pei Ju, however, had a completely different feeling. He felt that when he was practicing this sword technique, his internal energy was surging as he swung the sword. This was because the sword was just moving with his body and was not actually being thrusting or slashing.

The power he exerts on his sword is contained and not revealed, so his internal energy is not released.

The breath surges repeatedly within the body's meridians.

In this way, the body's meridians are like blocked river channels, which are constantly being pounded by the water and become more and more unobstructed.

As his body spun faster and faster, the jujube wood sword in his hand created a black shadow.

As his internal energy gathered and strengthened, the lightness effect brought by the Golden Goose Technique also became apparent.

In the blink of an eye, he had been practicing for more than an hour without stopping. As the sunlight shone down, the sword in his hand shone with brilliance.

Finally, he felt that the internal energy in his body no longer increased, but stabilized. His body had completely absorbed the internal energy brought by the Embracing Yuan Force, so he leaned on his sword and stopped.

He stood there, eyes closed, regulating his inner energy and guiding it back to his dantian.

To others, the sight of white smoke rising from his head was quite spectacular.

When Pei Ju opened his eyes again, the Fourth Master felt that his grandson's eyes had become exceptionally bright at that moment.

Pei Ju's lips curled into a slight smile. Just as he was about to speak, he saw a girl on the second floor of the neighboring courtyard, perched on the low wall, watching him. He didn't know how long she had been watching.

So he smiled at the other person without saying anything, but the other person neither smiled nor spoke, but just looked at him intently.

Pei Ju ignored her and said to his grandfather, "I brought out everything I learned inside."

"Okay." A smile also appeared on Master Pei's face, and his originally gloomy eyes became more bright.

He knew very well that the breathing technique passed down in his family was not particularly advanced, and that relying solely on his own abilities to slay demons would severely damage his own spiritual power.

Therefore, from the very beginning, it was about using divine power to slay demons. To become a true swordsman, one needs to acquire genuine internal cultivation methods and develop true internal energy.

Having true internal energy is the foundation of a swordsman's profession; otherwise, one is like a rootless duckweed, and the body will easily collapse.

At Master Pei's shout of "Good!", Pei Ju suddenly leaped up towards the wall of the courtyard next to him. He pushed off the wall with his foot and jumped over it. On the wall, there was a small purple-white flower, about the size of a palm, growing among some weeds. He picked it off.

Then, following the courtyard wall, he reached the base of the wall in a few steps, then leaped up, put his hand on the low wall, and was already on the second floor next door. He straddled the low wall and sat down next to Ye Youruo.

He casually handed over the flowers in his hand, and before the other person could take them, he directly stuck them between the fingers of the other person's fair hand.

He raised an eyebrow and said, "Isn't my lightness skill cool?"

Before Ye Youruo could answer, he fell backward, startling her. She saw Pei Ju push off the wall with his foot, flip in the air, and spread his arms, landing on the courtyard wall like a gliding bird. After a moment of relief, he leaped back into his own courtyard.

Pei Ju returned to the courtyard, glanced up, pointed his sword at the corner of his eyebrow, and waved it upwards, as if to greet someone, but it also seemed like he was just showing off, before entering the sword hall.

Ye Youruo wrinkled her nose and involuntarily pouted, seemingly disdainful of Pei Ju's behavior.

At that moment, a woman walked out from behind her.

This is an older woman, who looks to be around fifty years old.

She came out and said, "Miss, you like him."

"Who would like him? He's so cocky, always trying to show off, and always flirting with other women. Who would like someone like that?"

"Oh, really? But you seem very happy, miss," the woman said with a smile.

"I... I'm just happy for him. A swordsman's abilities are singular, all focused on the sword. The fact that he's made progress is something to be happy about, especially since he's my only friend here."

"Yes, you're right, Miss, it's time to eat." The woman said in a doting tone, "You've been watching for over an hour."

"Oh." Ye Youruo immediately turned around, but she did not throw away the small white and purple flower in her hand. Instead, she went back to her room, took out a specimen bag specially used for making specimens, and carefully put it in.

Pei Ju felt relieved.

Even though he was going to go inside the temple later, there was no pressure.

I helped make breakfast with my grandfather.

The two ate and talked at the same time.

“A long time ago, I asked around to see if there was a person named Bao Qianshan,” Master Pei suddenly said.

"Have you found it?" Pei Ju asked.

“We couldn’t find him. Even in the entire registration system of the Extraordinary Management Committee, there is no such person. There are a few similar names, but they were all confirmed to be unrelated,” said Master Pei.

Pei Ju was somewhat surprised.

There is no such person.

"Could it be some that weren't even registered?" Pei Ju asked.

This situation certainly exists, and it was very common in the past. Many people were unwilling to register, believing that they would be monitored or conscripted, severely restricting their freedom.

“That’s possible,” Master Pei said. “But whether it’s Bao Qianshan or Bao Duxing, whoever they are, their goal is simply to take you into the temple.”

"Back then, your father's final fate was also to be sent to a temple. And after I gave you instructions, you met him once and also had the idea of ​​going to a temple. So you must find out who he really is," said Master Pei.

"Who exactly could it be?" Pei Ju asked.

"We should figure out whether he's a human or a ghost. If he's a human, that's fine, but if he's a ghost, then he's a 'cousin ghost'," Master Pei said solemnly, holding the bowl in his hand.

"Grandpa still suspects he's a ghost? But if he is, why didn't he just come and harm me instead of making me go into the temple?"

"Because that is just a spiritual world derived from the temple, and He is locked inside the temple and cannot come out. He can only release some changgui (a type of spirit or ghost), and the purpose of the changgui is to find food for Him," said Master Pei.

Pei Ju understood what his grandfather meant.

In other words, now that the grandfather has become the temple keeper, the power to seal Him has been strengthened, so He cannot come out and can only send out ghouls to lure people in to feed Him.

"What if we find out he's a ghost?" Pei Ju asked.

"Kill him," Master Pei said.

"How can we be sure if he is a cougar?" Pei Ju asked.

"Ask him where he's from, his home address, ask him as clearly as possible, ask him about his living conditions there," Master Pei asked.

"Grandpa, didn't you say before that after He devoured Xiao Qiu, His spiritual power increased, which caused Him to respond to people in other places and attract other people?" Pei Ju asked.

"Yes, that was indeed my thought before, but why did I think that way?" Master Pei suddenly frowned, deep in thought.

"Is there anything wrong with thinking this way?" Pei Ju asked.

"No, it's possible," Master Pei said, but there was something else he didn't say. Before this, he had always believed that Bao Qianshan, who went in with his son, was the 'Chang Gui'.

After hearing what his grandson brought back yesterday, he concluded that it was because His spiritual power had increased that He had attracted people from other places.

This change in his thinking made him feel uneasy, but he couldn't quite put his finger on where that unease came from.

Seeing his grandfather deep in thought while holding the bowl of porridge, Pei Ju said, "Let's agree to him for now."

At this moment, Master Pei looked up at Pei Ju, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes. He didn't speak, but instead held the chopsticks to his lips, making a shushing gesture, and then made a cut across his throat with the chopsticks.

Pei Ju immediately understood what his grandfather meant.

Moreover, he saw his grandfather look at the octagonal table after he finished making that gesture.

Pei Ju's expression immediately turned serious.

He knew that his grandfather was worried that the 'evil tiger' could hear their conversation.

Normally, as long as those taboos are not violated here, His will not be disturbed, but now Grandpa is worried that His consciousness may seep out on its own.

If that's the case, then the mystery has already begun to leak.

(End of this chapter)