The Yao Emperor and His Human Doctor.

Chapter 51 - Investiganting the Past (2).

Tong Ye led them to Lai Guen's current residence, located at the back of Begonia Pavilion. The former Sect master now lived in a humble hut and he didn't even allow servants to be sent to help him with the household chores. Tong Ye entered first, to inform about the visit and the topic of discussion.

Before long he was back  smiling. "He will welcome you. Please don't notice the simplicity of the place."
"We wouldn't dare!" Ren Loo replied happily. They entered while Tong Ye returned to the Pavilion, as the matter was private between them. The interior of the hut was dimly lit, but it was cool and airy. Lai Guen was sitting under a thin bamboo mat, sitting in the lotus position.

He nodded toward two mats for Qiang Yong and Madam Ren to sit on.
"I heard you want to know about Dr. Su... I think it's around this time of year that he comes to visit Tung Shiu's grave..." It was during the first snow that he made his departure." He spoke almost to a halt himself, remembering. He was an extremely thin man, but his constitution was as strong and firm as a tree.

Cultivators were able to maintain their youthful appearance for a long time, Lai Guen allowed his hair to bleach. It was generally customary for Sect masters to adopt a slightly older age to command respect.
Qiang Yong nodded. "I heard that you were the master of the Cultivation Sect and also a doctor during the war."

"Ah! Yes. Tung Shiu and I were disciples of the same master. However, like Su Ning, I would like to pursue medicine only."
"Why didn't you adopt him as a disciple?" Ren Loo asked.
"Tung Shiu found him first, hehe. Lucky fellow, huh? He was blessed by some star."

"I remember he once went to a village to exorcise some demons. He fell into a trap arranged inside a barn and was seriously injured. The demon was going to give a fatal blow but a wooden beam fell right on top of his head. .. A boy of about twelve years old who was resting in the barn cut the ropes from the beam and saved him."

Lai Guen said that Su Ning initially sold herbs and medicines accompanied by a yao, traveling from village to village. Tung Ye knew that he wanted to be a doctor but he still insisted that he be his disciple. He promised to help him join the Medical Sect if he accepted this proposal.

"It seems he became obsessed with making him his disciple." Qiang Yong commented with some displeasure in his voice. He didn't like the idea of someone monopolizing Su Ning.
"Of course he stayed. From afar one could see that this child was born for cultivation. He had a sense of responsibility, dedication and a strong soul. Many masters covet students like that, although no one dared to take him away from Tung Shiu. Neither I would do it. There was no one better to teach it either."

This Qiang Yong could not discuss. Tung Shiu was well known as one of the best cultivators in the world. And obviously Su Ning was the best person to be his replacement.
"He was also already teaching Deng Choi at that time. He was the first disciple and a good shixiong for Su Ning." Lai Guen continued. "They got along well. There were no rivalries as Su Ning had a clear goal of becoming a doctor, although he was a much better cultivator than Deng Choi."

“Did you know about the spirit weapon creation technique?” Qiang Yong asked. Lai Guen looked at him with patient eyes. "Yes. Tung Shiu created and perfected the technique for a long time. It was a lifetime's work."
Both Ren Loo and Qiang Yong were uncomfortable with this, but they needed answers. The Emperor cleared his throat and spoke again. He pretended to be unaware of the details of the story to compare the versions.

Of course, Su Ning's was true for him, but he wanted to know if Lai Guen was being sincere.
"Then why did Dr. Su destroy them? As you said, it was his shifu's life's work."
Lai Guen sighed, lowering his head. "I believe this is the real reason for your visit. It's not a good story, I can tell you now." The former master continued his story.

"Deng Choi was very different from Su Ning, not only was he stronger and older than him, his temper was harsh and ambitious while his shidi was gentle and modest. Furthermore, Su Ning was more focused on studies and noticeably more insightful. At the same time that Tung Shiu was teaching them, he was looking for a way to perfect the existing technique of creating spiritual weapons."

"His objective was to create a weapon without having to sacrifice a life. He would stay locked up in his residence for several hours, poring over his projects when he wasn't with his disciples. One day he managed to put this technique into practice. He managed it with just a fragment of his soul, transform an ordinary sword into a spiritual weapon. He gave it the name Zhào liàng shìjiè [1], hehe."

"He gave it that name without even knowing what he was dealing with. I remember he came to me scared afterwards. The weapon seemed more malicious than one created by the normal method. We puzzled for a long time about it, and I then proposed that he tried to do something else."

"As Deng Choi was his first disciple, he helped him make his sword, to prevent the technique from being really harmful and from moving forward. They gave it the name Ruì Míng [2] originally. However, it it behaved exactly like the first sword. Both refused their names, did not obey their masters and their power was very destructive."

"At the time, Deng Choi was very dissatisfied with having such a powerful sword that he could not accept being dominated. He refused to accept this and went to complain to Su Ning. That boy had many skills, including weapon making and analyzed the sword As she refused the given name, he took her to the blacksmith shop and removed the imposed name."

"After that, Su Ning simply asked the sword what his name was and, oddly enough, a name appeared in place of the one that was erased. You already know what it is, don't you?"
"Tūnshì zhě línghún [3]." Ren Loo spat contemptuously.
"Yes, the Soul Eater... After she took her name, the sword seemed to have ceased to be controlled by the owner.

Deng Choi ran to show the master. Tung Shiu was very afraid of his sword, he did not dare to use it. After learning that the Devourer was docile after changing her name, he called Su Ning to talk, thinking that he had used some kind of spell. Well, Su Ning's father was a blacksmith and the boy knew a lot about the shape of swords. He erased the name Zhào liàng shìjiè also for the master, in front of himself to prove that he did not use any other artifice."

"And the true name of Tung Shie's sword revealed itself. As soon as he saw the name, he definitely kept the sword in a secret location and did not touch it again until he discovered what was wrong with the technique, even because he I wasn't sure if just changing the sword's name was safe."
Lai Guen paused. "Her real name was Quánmiè [4]."

Author's Note

[1]Zhào liàng shìjiè (照亮世界), means "Enlighten the world".
[2]Ruì Míng (瑞明), "auspicious and bright".
[3]Tūnshì zhě línghún(吞噬者灵魂) "Devourer of Souls".
[4]Quánmiè: "total extinction" or "complete annihilation" is the name of Tung Shiu's spiritual sword (全灭)