The Tale Never Ends Chapter 168 The Chief of Clan Zhang

One way or the other, Yan Jishi was not only a talker, but also a curious one, albeit with his regular bursts of expletives. What he pointed out quickly piqued the interests of Lu Bugong and Zhang Zhigui, all of whom began to stare at me strangely.

I merely smiled and slowly reached for my glass, and called for another toast. Another quiet round of cigarettes ensued before I finally began my tale, "I think Old Man Xie might have forgotten to tell you that my father, Murong Hai, is not my biological father. Of course, my mother is not my biological mother as well." All three of me fixed me with a dumb and bewildered look. But a dawning expression formed on Lu Bugong's face, then he asked hesitantly, "Shiyan, are you... are you a fox demon in human form?"

"Cough!" I almost choked from the fumes of my cigarette when I heard him. "What in the world had led this dumb fool to think of this?" But Yan Jishi and Zhang Zhigui wore the exact same expression as Lu Bugong, obviously sharing the same notion that they thought I was a non-human masquerading as one.

Edelweiss was already stifling her urge to burst out laughing, and so was Chongxi and Lin Feng, who were all equally entertained by the notion that I was a demon. All three of them merely giggled, instead of trying to help explain, leaving me to face my predicament alone. But their wry demeanor led Zhang Zhigui and his companions back into a state of daze and bewilderment again, wondering if they had spoken out of turn. At last, I spoke, "I am a human through and through. For real. But... but my parents are not." "HUH?!" Yan Jishi cried, his mouth hanging open in shock. "There's no need for such surprise," I said, grinning, "My father was once human. But, by his words, he had attained immortality for Heaven knows how long. As is my mother. But she was not formerly human, but a white fox. Hence, in the eyes of the foxes today, she is a living ancestor; a matriarchal ancestor whom they still worshipped, so that makes me their 'lordling'."

I paused just in time to see Zhang Zhigui and his friends taking a long deep breath with their eyes wide opened. Despite their being fellow practitioners of arcane magic and sorcery like us, they clearly did not take what I said well, wrestling with their beliefs and realities pertaining to the truths about demigods, immortals, and demons. Seconds passed in stiff silence, and I decided to shatter the ice. "Actually, I am beginning to have some ideas about my history." I got up and took my sword, unsheathed it, and placed it on the table for everyone to see. "Look at these two runic words that said "Shiyan." My father told me that he met a gravely-injured Taoist priest, during one of his pilgrimages with Mother. It was then when he first found me. I was still a baby then. A toddler wrapped in a bundle of cloth, carried on the priest's back, along with this sword..."

Zhang Zhigui interjected suddenly. "Wait a minute. I am hardly a true student of lore and legends, but I did notice something in the archives of my family... something about the word "Shiyan." According to legend, the five Wufang Shangdis - collectively, Qing Di of the West, Bai Di of the East, Yan Di of the South, Xuan Di of the North, and Huang Di of the Center - each of them have magical swords of their own. Each were named after the color they represent. The swords were named..." I interrupted this time, continuing in his stead, "Shiqing, Shibai, Shiyan, Shixuan, and Shihuang." That left Zhang Zhigui's mouth hanging wide open again, but he quickly nodded.

We looked around and everyone else were dumbstruck; stunned by our exchange and the revelation we shared. Yan Jishi's and Lu Bugong's eyes were threatening to pop out of their sockets, when Zhang Zhigui hesitantly went on, "Shiyan. If my guess is true... It's possible that... it's possible that might be a descendant of Yan Di of the South, a son from the lost ancient clan Shennong." I nodded. It was something that I came to know not long ago, and I too suspected that it might be true.

Zhang Zhigui cleared his mouth with a gulp of liquor. "It is either coincidence or providence that there was some information about these five swords kept in the archives of my family, especially the two ancient monarchs Yandi and Huangdi. According to Chinese mythology, Yandi and Huangdi together joined their powers to defeat the tribal leader of the ancient Nine Li Tribe, Chiyou. With the swords Shiyan and Shihuang, the monarchs slew Chiyou by beheading him. And yet here we are, with this sword name Shiyan in our presence. Could it actually be the very same sword from the legends..." Zhang Zhigui's eyes slowly wandered to the Shiyan Blade. I turned it over, handing the hilt to him, allowing him to have a closer look.

Zhang Zhigui received the sword and began studying it. With his companions, they began examining it intently, muttering nonstop about how handsome the sword looked, despite its ancient design. Knowing nothing about archaeology, I could scarcely deduce the age of the Shiyan Blade. But Lu Bugong knew a little about the study of ancient and intrinsically valuable items. He inspected the sword with great detail, swinging it around and weighing it, before he finally nodded to Zhigui, indicating his satisfaction that Zhigui's deductions could well be true.

However, I might be the only one hardly taken aback by the background story, for I have discovered them myself some time ago. Rather, Zhang Zhigui and his friends have never stopped drowning in waves after waves of astonishment and epiphany, since they sat down. Then I noticed Lao Tao. He had never once uttered a word since we began recounting our stories, and sharing about what we know about my sword. But I would then discover some time later that Lao Tao must have had knowledge pertaining to my identity, although he must have his reasons for keeping quiet. What a fool I was then!

Suddenly, Lin Feng asked Yan Jishi. "Yishi, I have something that I do not understand." The latter turned, and said, "What is it, Lin Feng?" Lin Feng fell silent, wondering how he should piece his question together and asked, "The humanoid golems and huge black hounds are all your magic, are they not?" Yan Jishi responded with a nod. "We know that they have no corporeal bodies of their own, and they crumble to dust at the slightest impact. But we encountered a black tiger when we were running back uphill. That tiger was a true tiger. Despite a strong kick from me, it did not crumble into dust like your paper golems and familiars. What magic did you cast on that tiger?"

Then Edelweiss quipped suddenly, "Indeed! There's also Lu Bugong's horse! That's a truly strong stallion! Hardly a wisp of fume or a whiff of dust." Yan Jishi stared at them for a split-second, before he shared a quick look with Lu Bugong and they grinned playfully at each other. "It's quite a story. But here's the short version: this is a fusion technique that Bugong and I came up with! What do you think? Is it any good?"

As it turned out, Yan Jishi had an inspiration during a funeral he attended. He saw the papier-mâché figurines used during the funeral, and had an inspiration, which he then discussed with Lu Bugong. Hence they came up with an idea: Lu Bugong would first build a frame with wood, before Yan Jishi formed the likeness of his figurines with his very own papier-mâché material. Coupled with his enchantments, this would allow Yan Jishi to summon paper minions with actual corporeal forms.

Similar to how humans burn offertory effigies and sacrifices with hopes that they would appear in the Underworld for the use of their dead loved ones, Yan Jishi possessed the innate magical ability to animate to life anything that he burned. This was only because this magical ability was bestowed upon his birth as a member of a family of Hell Guards, which allowed them to be conduits between the Mortal Plane and the Underworld. As for Lu Bugong, whose ancestor was fabled to be the legendary engineer and artificer Lu Ban, he did not find his calling as a craftsman until he completed his university. He had returned home one day following his graduation, and since that night, he had been visited by an old wilted man in his dreams, who began teaching him woodworking. Strangely, that was also when his hair started to turn white. When the old man finally taught him his final lesson, it was also the day when his hair turned fully white. There had been speculations that the old wizened man, was in fact their mythical ancestor Lu Ban, but no one could tell for sure.

In Eastern esotericism, woodworkers are known to wield some knowledge of magic. Furthermore, Lu Bugong's skills in carpentry and magic, which were imparted to him by the mysterious old man in his dreams, hardly used any nails at all. His crafts relied solely on the Lu Ban Lock, an ingenious design by his ancestor. Unlike the Lu Ban Locks we now see being sold in the markets and stores as toys, the actual Lu Ban Lock was integral in Chinese wooden architecture, its design bearing the hallmarks of various Chinese mystical disciplines and teachings. Hence, only the combination of Lu Bugong's skills and Yan Jishi's abilities could make such a feat of turning paper figurines into actual living beings, possible.

Our talk then shifted back to Zhang Zhigui, where he revealed that he had recently clashed again with the mysterious cult, the Order of Pain. It was during the rites for his deceased grandfather, after the seventh day of his death.

We knew about the fixated grudge that the Order of Pain had for Zhang Zhigui, although we knew not their reason. The truth behind the Order's hatred towards Clan Zhang was made clear when Zhigui went home. At his deathbed, Zhigui's grandfather revealed to him the truths of their clan and all the secrets they had been guarding, including the tale of his duel against the leader of the Order many years ago, where, by a stroke of luck, he was able to undo the magic of the latter, and injured him gravely. This would culminate in the Order's deep hatred for Zhang Zhigui. They have sworn an oath to end the line of Clan Zhang by killing the sole male heir of the clan, Zhang Zhigui himself.

When the Order's leader discovered about the death of Zhang Zhigui's grandfather, he had plotted to abduct his soul for revenge. Little did they realize that the three Champions of Yishui were not the only guards present during the ritual to make sure everything went smoothly; Xie Bingyi, one of the infamous Triune of Wu Zhong was also there. Despite the suddenness of their assault, the Order, with the help of Clans Lu and Yan, where two of the three Champions hailed from, was ignominiously routed.

Then came a short period of peace that hardly lasted for long, for the weasels then came, imploring for Zhang Zhigui's help.

We began talking about the Battle of the Yellow Soil Ridge, and I remembered how easy it was for Edelweiss to restrain Zhang Zhigui and took him captive. "I remember you have formidable skills yourself, Zhigui," I asked, "How was it possible that you were so utterly defenseless against Edelweiss?" It was hardly out of courtesy that I said so, because I knew that Zhang Zhigui had magic and skills of his own, both of which were awesome and impressive as well.

Instead, Zhang Zhigui grinned weakly and pointed his nose before he gasped aloud, "Alas!"

Chapter end