World's No. 1 Swordsman
Chapter 64: The Three Return to the Mountain

Chapter 64: The Three Return to the Mountain

Chi Wen was truly frightened now.

She was a really simple girl. Though she appeared delicate and fragile, she was incredibly stubborn at heart. If anyone tried to reason with her using life principles, it would only backfire.

Hence, Wang Sheng took a different approach. Instead of lecturing her, he appealed to her sense of loyalty and attachment, making her shoulder the fate of thousands of innocent victims. Afterward, it was just a matter of waiting for her to make a choice.

As soon as Wang Sheng left, Chi Wen provided several key pieces of intelligence to the investigation team. Mu Wanxuan remained by her side.

The most valuable among them was a side-profile photo of the Fire Sage. Though somewhat blurry, it at least gave the police a general direction for their manhunt.

She also provided a set of hidden bank accounts linked to the Supernatural Revelation Club. By tracing their money trail, authorities could freeze a significant portion of the membership fees that the organization had collected.

This heavy blow could deal serious financial damage to the club's leadership.

Moreover, Chi Wen also revealed some initial insights into the Fire Sage's motives for establishing the Supernatural Revelation Club.

Of course, the credibility of the information was still up for debate.

From what she shared, financial gain was only the first step in his plan. Once he had accumulated enough resources, he intended to gather the scattered remnants of various Daoist heritages and form a massive unaffiliated practitioner organization—one that could stand on equal footing with orthodox and unorthodox sects.

That seemed to be the Fire Sage's ambition.

His display of talismanic techniques awed Chi Wen. At first, she had truly believed herself to be a cultivation prodigy destined for immortality.

She had sold off her luxury handbags, clothes, and jewelry; repeatedly asked her family for money; and borrowed from friends. Using every means available to her, she had single-handedly provided most of the initial funding that the Supernatural Revelation Club needed to take off. Her extravagant spending habits were truly unmatched.

Unfortunately, although she had provided valuable intelligence, it wasn't enough to completely absolve her of guilt. Hence, as her ever-reliable senior brother, Wang Sheng stepped in once again.

He had no choice. Their master was off in the mountains dealing with his "gallstones," and their mistress, bound by her official position, couldn't openly defend her daughter. Only Wang Sheng, the devoted disciple of Chi Wen's father, could look after her.

What Wang Sheng hadn't expected, however, was how easily he managed to sway the mistress.

The outcome left him a little dazed. All he did was ask if he could take their junior sister back to the mountain for a while. Without much hesitation, she agreed.

Perhaps, deep down, she also wanted Chi Wen to stay away from this storm for the time being.

The investigation team wouldn't rest until the club's leader, elders, and core members had been captured. However, Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan couldn't afford to waste more time here; their own cultivation was at stake.

"You don't have to worry about Chi Wen's well-being on the mountain," Wang Sheng assured. "My senior sister and I won't let her go hungry. Her cultivation will have to wait until our master returns, but we'll help clear her meridians and improve her physique until then."

The mistress seemed to have aged visibly in just half an hour. The fine lines at the corners of her eyes had become more pronounced.

She had raised her daughter for twenty years, only to now send her off to the very man she had once left behind. The feeling was not easy to swallow.

"Sorry for troubling you both," she said.

"Don't mention it," Wang Sheng replied.

He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and placed it on her desk, pressing it down gently before smiling faintly and turning to leave.

On the paper were Qing Yanzi's phone number and social media accounts.

If the mistress had truly wanted to contact him, she wouldn't have needed Wang Sheng to provide any information. Still, as Qing Yanzi's disciple, he had to leave this small gesture of hope.

They were scheduled to depart at 2:00 PM. Though Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan had already prepared their things, Chi Wen still had to sign some documents and pack her belongings.

While waiting, Bulldozer and Mou Yue took some time to see them off. Although their interactions had been brief, they had at least become acquainted with the two agents by now.

Over lunch, Wang Sheng took note of what he had gained from this trip.

A copy of the Three Scrolls of the Medicine God for the sect; two special-issue phones from the Special Investigation Unit, one of which has a cracked screen; and one junior sister, who hardly seems like she'll be an easy responsibility...

They also got some miscellaneous clothes and supplies, all of which Mou Yue had arranged to be taken back to the mountain with them.

Bulldozer and Mou Yue had been their escorts when they first arrived. But with the investigation team stretched thin, a young police officer had been assigned to drive them back.

Chi Wen was prohibited from contacting her dormmates. After packing, she left campus under Mou Yue's supervision.

Meanwhile, Wang Sheng had one more person to say goodbye to: Shen Qianlin, his high school senior.

***

After lunch.

Though the sun was high in the sky, a young woman in a long dress and slippers ran hurriedly on the tree-lined path near the school gate, drawing the attention of several restless young men.

When she spotted a familiar figure sitting on a bench, engrossed in a book, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Senior Sister." Wang Sheng closed his book and stood up, looking at the approaching figure. In his heart, he couldn't help but praise her beauty. She was like a lotus emerging from the water.

"You're leaving already? Why the rush?" Shen Qianlin asked anxiously.

"We've done what we came here to do."

Wang Sheng glanced down at her feet. She had probably been in the middle of doing her nails when she got his message.

"Have a seat and catch your breath. You're sweating just from a short run."

Shen Qianlin stuck out her tongue in embarrassment. "I'm lazy, okay? I never have time to exercise, and I always skip P.E. to do other things."

The two sat down on the bench, neither deliberately closing the distance nor keeping a formal gap. They just stayed beside each other like old friends.

"Has there been a lot of gossip around campus today?" Wang Sheng asked.

"Mm. I even saw the video of you fighting someone. It has disappeared for some reason, though. I can't find it anymore."

"There are policies in place now. Ordinary people aren't allowed to see these things." Wang Sheng lowered his voice slightly. "I actually got lucky. I originally went to Mount Wudang to learn martial arts, but I ended up apprenticing under a great master and started cultivating."

Shen Qianlin blinked. "Cultivating?"

"Yeah."

Seeing no one nearby, Wang Sheng waved his hand over the grass beside the bench. A few fallen leaves floated into his palm, hovering and spinning gently above it.

The Supernatural Revelation Club incident had caused a huge stir. Even though the school had issued several statements, the students' curiosity was impossible to suppress. The battle between cultivators, the Supernatural Revelation Club—these had become the hottest topics of discussion in just half a day.

Shen Qianlin had heard plenty about it. She even knew a few of the students who joined the club. Still, hearing was one thing; seeing it with her own eyes was another. Watching what seemed like a magic trick, she couldn't help but gasp.

"No way, is this real?"

Wang Sheng studied her expression and casually tossed the leaves away. "If you're interested in cultivation, I can introduce you to a few Kun Daoist cultivators."

"Me?" Shen Qianlin pondered for a moment before quickly shaking off the thought with a smile. "I'll pass. I'm probably not suited for it. Besides, I'm happy with my life right now. Asking me to give up everything and go up the mountain to cultivate? I don't think I have the courage for that."

Wang Sheng nodded with a smile. "It's all about fate. Just be careful not to let those fake clubs trick you, okay?"

"How can they? If anything, I'd be the one tricking them," Shen Qianlin said smugly. "I've pulled so many juniors into the student council."

"That's just because you're pretty and charming," Wang Sheng teased, then glanced at the police car waiting outside the school gate. "Alright, I've said my peace. Comrade Shen, keep this conversation confidential. My senior sister and other people are waiting for me. I'm heading back now."

"Senior Sister?" Shen Qianlin raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that your girlfriend?"

Wang Sheng shrugged. "Cultivation is about maintaining a clear heart and few desires. We are merely fellow cultivators on the same path. Calling it a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship would be too worldly."

Shen Qianlin scoffed and laughed. "Please, it's obvious you're into her, but she's just not interested. You just don't know how to make a move, do you?"

Wang Sheng immediately put on a helpless expression. How was his senior so sharp? No wonder she had been the student council president for two years.

He sighed dramatically. "You can just think of it as us being devoted to cultivation, free from mundane desires."

Shen Qianlin just kept giggling, giving him a teasing look that seemed to say, "Yeah, right."

He let out a long, exaggerated sigh, as if lamenting his lost dignity. With a casual wave, he turned and left, taking half a drifting cloud with him.

"I'm off."

"I'll walk you out."

"No need. The sun's too strong outside. You might get tanned."

Wang Sheng waved her off and walked into the sunlight, gradually disappearing from view.

Shen Qianlin just stood still, her smile slowly fading as she watched Wang Sheng get into the SUV. She stared at the vehicle until it merged into the stream of traffic outside the school gate.

He was gone.

"Haaaa..."

She sighed softly and looked at the fallen leaves beside the bench. Crouching down, she picked up a few and twirled them between her fingers.

Falling blossoms drift with the water, never looking back at the green branches they left behind.

Inside the car, Wang Sheng rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a box containing a pair of bracelets that the Li family had gifted. He turned and handed the ornate box to the backseat.

"Senior Sister, this is for you."

"Mm?"

Mu Wanxuan blinked in surprise, opened the box, and instantly beamed with delight. She then glanced at Chi Wen, who was beside her.

Their junior sister was curled up against the car window, staring blankly at the passing scenery. Her eyes were still red and swollen, and the tear stains on her face had yet to dry.

Mu Wanxuan took out one of the bracelets and waved it in front of Chi Wen. "Here."

Good things were meant to be shared. Even though she wasn't as reliable as her junior brother, as the eldest disciple, she had to have at least some magnanimity.

In the passenger seat, Wang Sheng sighed and rubbed his forehead. He could only chuckle and let it be.