The unrestrained

Chang Clan Residence

Wei Ying asked, "Before you tell me, let me ask you something. Confirm for me that the, uh, wiping out of the Chang Clan wasn't done by me, was it?"

I said, "No."

He let out an "Oh."

I spoke again, "The killing was not done by you, but it was related to you."

He asked, "What's the relationship?"

I said, "There are two relationships. First, one of the people who were connected to it shared a past with your mother."

Pausing for a moment, he spoke, "... My mother?"

Wei Ying was the son of Wei ChangZe, a servant of the YunmengJiang Sect, and ZangSe SanRen, a rogue cultivator. Both Jiang FengMian and his wife, Yu ZiYuan, were quite familiar with Wei Ying's parents. I know this from my shufu. Since his mother was his classmate. His mother was just like him. She shaved my shufu's goatee one day during her studies at cloud recesses. I really don't know why she did that. But that was the reason for my shufu's grudge against Wei Ying since he reminds him of Zangse Sanren.

I also halted, turning around to look at him, "Have you heard of the name 'Xiao XingChen'?"

He searched through his memories, "No."

I said, "'No' is correct. He was well-known when he left the mountain twelve years ago. Now, nobody mentions him."

Wei Ying asked, "What's the mountain? Who taught him?"

I spoke, "I do not know which mountain it was. His was taught by a cultivator. Xiao XingChen was a pupil of BaoShan SanRen."

Now he understood why I said that this person shared a past with his mother, "So, that mean's Xiao XingChen is my shishu."

ZangSe SanRen was also a pupil of BaoShan SanRen.

BaoShan SanRen was a cultivator who lived secluded from the rest of the world, rumored to be of the same generation as Wen Mao and Lan An. Most of the heroes from that generation had already returned to dust, yet BaoShan SanRen was said to have still remained unfallen. If it really was so, then she must be hundreds of years old and have quite a high level of cultivation. Back then, with the lead of Wen Mao, the cultivation world focused on the rise of clans instead of sects, and cultivational forces connected by blood ties rose as if they were bamboo shoots after a spring rain. Without exception, every cultivator who was slightly famous chose to found a sect. Yet, this cultivator decided to retire into solitude, living in a mountain under the cultivational name of BaoShan SanRen. Nobody knows, though, which mountain she was embracing. Speaking of it, it was only called retiring into solitude because nobody knew. If after one retired into solitude, they could still be found easily, it wouldn't be called retiring into solitude anymore.

She lived in an unknown celestial mountain and would often secretly take abandoned children up the mountain to be her pupils. However, all of the pupils had to vow that they would devote their whole lives to cultivation, never leaving the mountain or entering human society. Or else, no matter what the reason was, they were never to go back again. They'd need to depend on themselves to survive in the mortal world, cutting all ties with their teacher.

Everyone spoke highly of BaoShan SanRen for her foresight in setting this rule. This was because, during the few hundreds of years, only three of her pupils left the mountain-YanLing DaoRen, ZangSe SanRen, and Xiao XingChen. Of these three pupils, none died a peaceful death.

I told him the stories of the last pupil, his shishu.

When Xiao XingChen left the mountain, he was only seventeen. I had never met him in person, but I had heard about Xiao XingChen's talent from others.