The Magic of True and False

"Master, I think what you said is incorrect."

"What do you mean by incorrect?"

"I don't know."

Zhang San: "Hmm?"

Wang Xiaoer thought carefully but couldn't articulate his reasoning. He simply felt that his master was wrong.

Zhang San muttered under his breath, "You say I'm wrong, but you can't provide a reason? What kind of logic is that!"

Frowning, Wang Xiaoer said, "Recently, there have been rumors in the martial world. After Lord Wu returned to Hanwu County with thirty thousand stone of grain, it did indeed provide relief to the people there. I heard that Grand General Wang Jue also won the battle, so there haven't been any further issues with transporting supplies."

Listening to this disjointed response, Zhang San asked, "What are you trying to say?"

Wang Xiaoer turned around and looked at the setting sun and the path along the field.

The old farmers on the road, the children on the backs of cows, the sounds of laughter and joy.

He watched for a long time.

Though he didn't understand why, Wang Xiaoer firmly said, "In any case... it's not meaningless. Lord Lu and Lord Wu risked their lives, and of course, there's you, Master, who has done so much. How could it be meaningless?"

Zhang San sneered, thinking to himself that no matter how clever Wang Xiaoer was, he was still just a kid.

If solving problems were as simple as fighting and killing, then this world would be too perfect for a professional assassin like him.

"At least... Master, it seems like you haven't been having nightmares recently."

"Well, that's true."

Bathed in the light of the setting sun, the two master and disciple silently departed.

...

...

In the evening, outside Xiaotian Town, there was a tranquil deep mountain.

Within the deep mountain was a dilapidated temple, the current shelter for the two master and disciple.

Half a year ago, after Wang Xiaoer saved Zhang San, who had fallen into a coma for two whole months, it was thanks to the deep mountain temple that Wang Xiaoer had found. This way, they were able to avoid the search conducted by the entire prefecture due to the deaths of Lord Lu and Lord Xu.

Even more so, after the incident of forgetting their enmity, Wang Xiaoer spent a significant amount of time on medical skills, apart from martial arts. That's what ultimately saved Zhang San's life.

Otherwise, considering Zhang San's condition at the time, with his bones shattered, even with his heavenly-ranked internal energy protecting him, it would have most likely been a certain death.

As the nightingale flew by, the bright moon hung in the sky.

A faint glow from a candle illuminated the dilapidated temple.

The wind blew through the temple's broken windows and brushed against the back of the man sitting on the cushion.

Wang Xiaoer carefully untied the bandages on his master's back and held up a candle, carefully examining the surface. He said, "Master, the external wounds have healed for the most part, but there are more scars."

Zhang San replied, "If it's really as you say, then just surviving this time is already good enough."

Wang Xiaoer placed the candle on the ground and said, "Master, you looked so frightening back then. It was the first time I saw someone levitate in the air, and moreover..."

Recalling that terrifying scene, Wang Xiaoer hesitated, still unable to bring himself to remember it fully.

He remembered the fierce wind and flying debris between the mountains and forests, following the bloodstains on the ground and the strange noises in the woods, Wang Xiaoer did indeed find Zhang San's location.

But that terrifying scene had left a deep imprint in Wang Xiaoer's mind.

Floating in mid-air, Zhang San was surrounded by countless black mists. His skin cracked open, flesh and blood rotted away, revealing a chilling sight of white bones amidst crimson organs, enough to send shivers down one's spine.

Segments of fresh blood danced wildly in the wind, creating an unusually gruesome and bloody scene.

Young Wang Xiaoer had never witnessed such eerie and bloody spectacle before. Overwhelmed by the horrifying sight, he fell to the ground in fear. However, what followed was even more mysterious, adding a touch of the supernatural to the bizarre scene.

As Zhang San's flesh and blood completely broke apart, shattered, or decayed, the surrounding black mists suddenly vanished, replaced by a radiant white light.

In an instant, the dim forest, overshadowed by towering trees, became as bright as daylight.

Then, within the sea of white light, Zhang San's shattered flesh rapidly regenerated before the naked eye.

The fragmented white bones restored themselves in a blink of an eye.

The severed meridians quickly reconnected.

The lost flesh and blood promptly regenerated.

Subsequently, a somewhat dazed but rejuvenated Zhang San, with a healthy complexion, emerged in mid-air.

If it weren't for what happened afterwards, Wang Xiaoer would almost believe that an immortal had descended to save his master or that a miracle had occurred.

In any case, what transpired in that instant was definitely beyond the capabilities of a human being.

However, just as Zhang San's body fully restored, the white light abruptly vanished.

The black mists reappeared!

The skin once again ruptured.

The meridians self-destructed.

The flesh gradually putrefied.

In the blink of an eye, except for the head, more and more parts of Zhang San's body turned into nothing but white bones.

But just when it seemed that Zhang San's body would be reduced to a mere skeleton, with even the bones on the verge of shattering and the internal organs about to decay, the black mists disappeared again, followed by a radiant white light that illuminated everything as if it were daytime.

The body restored once more.

But after the restoration, the black mists returned, and the entire body disintegrated.

After the disintegration, there was white light again.

At that moment, Wang Xiaoer stood dumbfounded, watching his master go through five or six cycles between death and rebirth.

However, as he calmed down, Wang Xiaoer immediately realized that he had to put a stop to this phenomenon occurring on his master's body.

Regardless of whether it was an immortal descending to the mortal realm, a miraculous event, or a demon seeking vengeance, a person's body, even if it were a Heaven Rank Grandmaster, could not withstand such torment.

At that time, Wang Xiaoer noticed the towering trees surrounding him.

Presumably, his master had chosen this forest because he was afraid of being pursued by the Zhennan Army.

The height of the trees combined with White Crane Flies' light-footed techniques might provide him with a chance to get closer to his master.

But even if he managed to get close to his master, what should he do?

After careful observation, Wang Xiaoer noticed three peculiar aspects of his master's body.

The first was the head.

No matter how his body was destroyed or reborn, his master's head remained unchanged.

If anything, the only difference was the color of his hair. When his body decayed, his hair turned into the white of an elderly person, and when he was reborn, it became black, symbolizing youth.

The second was the heart.

Amidst the black mists and the body's collapse, revealing the white bones and internal organs, Wang Xiaoer keenly noticed that his master's heart emitted a faint red glow...

Or, to be more precise, it was the inner part of the heart that was emitting light, and after passing through the heart, the light turned into a faint red.

The third item was a finger ring.

Wang Xiaoer clearly remembered the white jade cloud-patterned finger ring. It should have been the personal belonging of Lu Gaosheng, the Prefect of Tianruo Prefecture, although he didn't know why his master wore it.

Regardless of whether his master's palm was intact or reduced to bare bones, that white jade cloud-patterned finger ring always emitted a faint blue light, fitting snugly on his master's thumb.

Wang Xiaoer deduced that the cause of his master's abnormality should lie in these three places.

However, the head and the heart are vital parts of the human body, and he couldn't take any action against his master's body in these two areas.

So, the only thing he could try was the finger ring.

Moreover, when Wang Xiaoer carefully recalled the situation in Gourd Valley facing three hundred experts of the Earth Realm, his master clearly wasn't wearing the finger ring. If there was really something strange or unspeakable inside his master's body, such a phenomenon would have occurred long ago.

Why did it happen only after his master put on the finger ring?

The more Wang Xiaoer thought about it after calming down, the more he felt his speculation was correct.

And Wang Xiaoer believed that if he wanted to remove the finger ring, the best time would be after the white light had repaired his master's body. Otherwise, taking it off when his master's body was disintegrating might bring about other risks.

Having made up his mind, Wang Xiaoer started climbing up the trunk, reaching the top, and finally leaping high into the air towards Zhang San.

However, things turned out to be much more complicated than Wang Xiaoer had imagined. The winds in the forest were fierce at that time, accompanied by flying sand and pebbles. After leaping from the tree, losing the point of support, he was easily affected by the wind and sand.

Jumping up in the air, only to be blown down by a gust of wind.

Fortunately, Wang Xiaoer had a solid foundation in righteous internal cultivation. If an ordinary person fell from such a height, they probably wouldn't be able to get up after one or two falls.

After numerous attempts, relying on some luck and previous experience, Wang Xiaoer finally reached Zhang San's side and successfully took off the finger ring. He felt the forest winds dissipating, and then he and Zhang San fell together onto the ground in that forested area.