Unparalleled Duo
Chapter 60 - 60 39 Double Xie Presents the Book

60: Chapter 39 Double Xie Presents the Book 60: Chapter 39 Double Xie Presents the Book Shen Youran was very puzzled by Sun Yixie’s actions.

Everyone knows that martial arts manuals, especially internal cultivation methods, are not to be shown lightly.

It’s not like studying in school, where you can show someone a word you don’t recognize or a poem you don’t understand to ask for help…

If one must make a comparison…

a martial arts manual is like a high-tech weapon design diagram.

Even with close friends, one cannot easily share it, let alone show it to outsiders.

“No way?” At that moment, Shen Youran also had doubts, “Could this kid really consider me as one of his own?” He was not so naive, so he quickly dismissed the idea, “No…no, he might be testing me to see my reaction; maybe the paper doesn’t even contain internal cultivation methods, but is filled with nonsense…or perhaps the method described is very common, belonging to the lowest tier of martial arts, and showing it to me would do no harm.”

With this thought, he hurriedly waved his hand, refusing to take the paper and said, “Younger brother, this isn’t appropriate.” He paused, then continued in a serious tone, “You are new to the martial arts world, you might not understand many things yet, as your brother I should remind you…anything that records martial arts should not be casually shown to others, even to those you trust deeply, this act should be cautiously considered.”

“Ah, that’s well said.” Sun Yixie had anticipated Shen Youran would answer this way, and he responded in a very hearty tone, “Brother Shen, you are the person I trust, I’ve thought it through before deciding to show you…besides, just by the reminder you gave me now, it’s enough to prove you are a gentleman of integrity.”

He said this, seemingly worried that Shen Youran was still not hooked, so he glanced at Huang Donglai and added, “By the way, Donglai has also seen this mental method…we are all brothers, there’s no need for such distant formalities, Brother Shen.”

His attitude looked very natural, and his words were quite complete.

Shen Youran also felt that since the other party had put it this way, taking a look wouldn’t hurt.

Thus, Shen Youran put on a conflicted expression, hesitated, and after a few seconds, accepted the paper and unfolded it to examine.

While he was reading, Sun Yixie explained, “This is the secret Divine Skill from our Sun family—the ‘Reversing Heaven and Earth Heart Method,’ which my father specially entrusted to me after I decided to attend the Youth Hero Conference; the original is inscribed on a large stone slab, which I found inconvenient to read, so I copied it down.”

“Hmm…” Shen Youran hummed and did not reply; he was deeply scheming and, after receiving the paper, did not rush to read the content.

Instead, he first examined the paper and the ink to estimate when it had been copied.

Of course, he couldn’t find anything amiss since the paper was indeed the one that Sun Yixie had copied a long time ago.

However…

at this moment, Sun Yixie omitted some information in his words—he did not tell Shen Youran that the Sun family’s martial arts actually comprised a great variety, mentioning only the “Reversing Heaven and Earth Heart Method.”

Just in case, before coming here, Sun Yixie had trimmed the edges of the paper slightly and made sure the edges were tattered, which could cover the fact that one side had been bound before.

Yes, some might remember that back in Hangzhou, Sun Yixie had Huang Donglai help him copy all the martial arts from his family’s stone slab into simplified characters and bound them together; now, to prevent Shen Youran from deducing from the slight traces on the edges of the paper that it had been bound, and further deducing that there are more pieces of paper and more types of martial arts…

Brother Sun had made very thorough preparations.

Moreover, in those years there was no international organization to standardize the size of papers, and no one could tell how many times a piece of paper had been cut from its creation to its purchase at home.

Thus, just from the paper alone, Shen Youran could not find any flaws.

So, he began to read the content with a dubious mind.

“Hiss…younger brother, this text is…” Shen Youran looked at the bundle of simplified characters, recognizing some, but not the majority, thus he read with a puzzled look.

“Hey, I don’t know either.” This time, it was Huang Donglai’s turn to chime in and bluff, “I’ve seen that stone slab with the mental method inscribed on it, it indeed had this kind of writing.” He shrugged, “If it weren’t for the fact that both of us didn’t recognize these characters, I could have guided Sun Brother myself.”

Shen Youran thought for a moment, “Could it be…

something was missed during your transcription?”

“Impossible.” Sun Yixie replied decisively, “Martial arts techniques, missing one character can lead to a myriad of errors…

I understand this principle, so I ‘drew’ these characters one by one from the stone slab, not missing a stroke…

While copying, I specifically had Donglai watch with me to ensure I didn’t copy it wrong.”

“No mistake.” Huang Donglai said, “I can guarantee, the content on this paper is completely identical to the original on the stone slab.”

“Then…” Shen Youran pondered again, “Could there be some mystery with the stone slab itself?”

“I’ve checked that too.” Sun Yixie said, “I’ve toasted, soaked, poured mercury over, and placed the stone slab in an ice cellar…resulting in nothing; finally, I gritted my teeth and broke it open to look, but still discovered nothing…”

Hearing this, Shen Youran really wanted to curse; he thought, “Idiot, some secrets are cleverly hidden; what if there was indeed a method to translate this text on that stone slab, and now you’ve destroyed it?”

But though he thought this, he couldn’t say it aloud.

“Younger brother, can that stone slab be pieced back together?” Shen Youran asked with a glimmer of hope.

“Pieced back together?” Sun Yixie was stunned for a moment, then laughed, “Haha, Brother Shen, you jest.

When I broke that stone slab and saw nothing interesting, I just went ahead and smashed it into dust and scattered it in West Lake; anyway, I had already copied the text on paper and memorized it in my mind, so why keep that stone slab…isn’t that just inviting thieves?”

Upon hearing this, Shen Youran cursed inwardly, “This self-proclaimed clever fool…perhaps your family’s inherited Divine Skill will be lost because of you.”

What he didn’t know…all these words were deceptive; and the truth and lies were mixed together, making it hard for him to discern.

Sun Yixie’s move was a “double insurance”: First, you, surnamed Shen, have been coveting our family’s secret treasure, right?

Today, I handed it right in front of you, let’s see how you deal with it.

Second, I explicitly tell you, now in this world, apart from this paper, the cultivation technique only exists as a backup in my mind; if you doubt the content on the paper, then you definitely can’t touch me.

Of course, this series of strategies was just a temporary measure, only able to restrain Shen Youran temporarily, not indefinitely.

If Shen Youran’s “big plan” really succeeded this time, later on he could completely send someone to Hangzhou to turn Sun Mansion upside down, and then he would discover that Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai were lying now.

But at the moment, Shen Youran really was schemed against.

“Brother Shen, we are all our own people, so I’ll just speak frankly.” After a moment, Huang Donglai looked at Sun Yixie, then spoke to Shen Youran, “With our capabilities, it might take us ten or twenty years to decipher what is written on this paper, so this mental method is useless in our hands; but Brother Shen, your martial arts cultivation is much higher than ours, you have broader knowledge and connections…if it were you, you might be able to decipher the mystery, or at least find someone who can translate this text…”

As he spoke, Sun Yixie smoothly took over the conversation, saying, “So what we mean…this Divine Skill will be left with you, Brother Shen.

We have no other requests, only hope that one day when you’ve deciphered the Divine Skill, you can share it with us brothers.”

At this point, Shen Youran actually had no more doubts about the “authenticity” of this mental method; first, the paper recording the technique, unless Sun Yixie had planned to deceive him months ago and had already forged this “fake skill,” it would not be possible to produce this paper; second, there are many ways to create a “fake skill,” like writing it backwards, omitting parts, or changing it…it would just allow people to either fail to practice correctly or go into a demonic state, there’s absolutely no need to produce a bunch of strange text, outright making it incomprehensible.

After considering all of this, Shen Youran felt that the motives of the two men were basically reasonable…

The Sun family had long been uninvolved in the Martial Arts, if Sun Yixie’s father knew the secrets of martial arts, he would have already taught it to his son; and while the Huang family had relations with the Sun family and also knew martial arts, it was ultimately in decline, lacking talent, even Young Master Huang himself admitted he wasn’t capable enough…

With these considerations, these two men coming to attach themselves to him, Shen Youran, the rising Sect Leader of Justice Sect, was not surprising.

“Hmph…so it is.” Shen Youran thought at this moment, “I thought you were really foolish enough to regard me as a close brother, but it turns out you are somewhat clever…knowing that I, Shen Youran, will definitely ascend to greatness, and finding that I quite admire you, thus you want to use me…once I’ve deciphered this ‘Reversing Heaven and Earth Heart Method,’ you’ll both be able to learn the Divine Skill you couldn’t decipher yourselves, and can also consider it a favor sold to me; then later, calling me brother, relying on this great mountain that is me, fame and fortune are just around the corner…”

He almost scoffed, thinking he had seen through their intentions.

But he eventually restrained his smile, and with an air of utmost righteousness, he said, “What are you two talking about?

I, Shen Youran, regard you both as younger brothers!

If a brother seeks my help, I must give my utmost, even if it means taking a blade in the ribs for them…” he spoke more and more loudly, excitedly standing up, “Rest assured, from today onwards, I, Shen, will do everything I can to decipher this mental method, and after deciphering, I will hand it over to you two for disposal first, if you do not agree, I won’t practice it by half!”

“No, no, no…if we practice, we three brothers will practice together.” Sun Yixie said, “I can make this decision, Brother Shen, you don’t have to decline any further.”

“Yes, Brother Shen, between brothers, why should we stand on ceremony?” Huang Donglai also agreed.

“Then…” Shen Youran showed a struggling expression, “As a brother, I can but obey with respect.”

“Brother!”

“Younger brother!”

The three of them thus called each other, standing up one after another, clasped hands, and looked at each other with great excitement, their eyes all appearing exceedingly sincere.

But in reality, deep inside, Shen Youran considered Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai as self-proclaimed clever fools, while Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai regarded Shen Youran as a hypocritical scoundrel.

These three shameless characters stood there, each vying in their acting skills, making the air around them seem to stagnate with a suffocating air of hypocrisy.

After acting for a long time, they finally sat down again.

Shen Youran nonchalantly took the paper recording the “Reversing Heaven and Earth” into his sleeve, then spoke again, “Right, Yixie, you just mentioned there were two things you wanted to discuss with me, what is the other matter?”

Sun Yixie replied, “Correct, Brother Shen, I have another request…” he paused for half a second, then continued, “I would like to introduce a brother with the surname Lei to you, and ask for a place at the Youth Hero Conference for him.”