<h4>Chapter 1307: Chapter 1615: Shocking Secret (1)</h4>


    "Not the only one?" Ling Chen was stunned hearing this, staring nkly at Xu Ming as his mind failed to register it.


    "Second Brother, do you know someone else like this?"


    Xu Ming nodded and said, "Yes. And that person lives in the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion. You... should know who I’m referring to."


    Ling Chen thought for a moment, then his expression changed drastically as he eximed, "You don’t mean that young man, do you?" Back then, when he first visited the Yangxin Pavilion, Huang Zheng and Liang Tian fought over who would take him as a disciple, resulting in a brawl. Midway, a young man appeared and stopped Liang Tian and Huang Zheng. Faced with the young man’s reprimand, Liang Tian and Huang Zheng listened quietly, not daring to utter a word in retort. Clearly, they were very afraid of that young man.


    At that time, Zhou Qi was still working at the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, and Ling Chen specifically asked him about the young man’s identity, but Zhou Qi couldn’t provide an answer. Besides, when the Nine Elements Pill was contested at the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, the young man also appeared. However, he didn’t say a word and left promptly after he put down the Nine Elements Pill.


    Ling Chen had always been curious about the young man’s identity, and hearing Xu Ming mention this now, he was greatly shocked.


    "Second Brother, are you saying that young man..."


    "No, not him." Xu Ming shook his head and said, "The young man you mentioned is my Junior Brother."


    "Junior Brother?" Ling Chen was taken aback once again. Xu Ming’s information was so heavy that he nearly fainted. After collecting his thoughts, Ling Chen picked up his teacup, took a sip, and waited until the news was digested before speaking, "Second Brother, do you mean... your Master and our Ling Family ancestor are both several hundred-year-old monsters?"


    "You could say so. As far as I know, my Master lived in the same era as Ling Gengqiu. As for his identity, I’m not sure; he has never mentioned his past to us. While by his side, both my Junior Brother and I called him Master, not even knowing hisst name."


    "Then why does he live in the valley of the Yangxin Pavilion? Isn’t he someone from the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion?"


    "I’ve considered this question too. There should be some connection between him and the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion. But no matter what happens at the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, he never intervenes or asks questions. I stayed with him for years and never saw him step out of his room. I suspect that he might have stayed in that room for decades, never leaving even his own room."


    Ling Chen asked curiously, "Then how did your Master take you in as disciples?"


    "I was still very young at that time, only about two or three years old. Once, when I went out, traffickers knocked me out. When I woke up, I found myself lying in that room. Since then, I’ve been with my Master. I remember, aside from Master, there was also another person, my Senior Brother, who was over twenty years older than me. My Master seldom cared for me; it was my Senior Brother who took care of me. Until I turned twenty, he finally allowed me to leave that room. However, my activity was restricted to the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion. It wasn’t until my martial arts skill reached a modest level that I was permitted to leave the Pavilion, to assist them with certain tasks, and hone myself through realbat. In this way, I wasted a good thirty years of my life."


    "Second Brother, since you’re his disciple, why did you leave? Did your Master let you go?"


    Xu Ming sighed softly, recalling something with lingering fear, he said, "He didn’t let me go, I escaped myself. That person... my Master, he’s a very terrifying man."


    After a pause, Xu Ming continued, "One time, by ident, I found the floor in the room to be somewhat loose. I thought to repair the floor, so I removed all the wooden nksid on the ground, ready to fill in the soil beneath. However, I discovered that the soil under the floor was very loose, and there were many bugs in it. These bugs only appear where there’s decaying matter, hence I was curious about whaty beneath. Finding a time, I dug up the soil under the floor, intending to clean it all up. However, when I dug half a meter deep, I suddenly found a heavily dposed corpse. I was truly scared at the time; who would have thought there would be a corpse buried beneath my daily resting ce?"


    "Although the corpse had dposed significantly, after I dug it out, I could still recognize his identity—he was my Senior Brother. By then, my Senior Brother had left us for a long time. I asked my Master about it, and he told me that my Senior Brother went out to hone himself and didn’t know when or if he would ever return. I grieved for a long time over this. My Senior Brother treated me like his own little brother, and we shared a deep bond. But I found his corpse inside my own room, which proved that my Master was deceiving me; my Senior Brother never left. He died, murdered!"


    Saying this, a trace of pain flitted across Xu Ming’s eyes. Silent for a while, he then continued, "The room was inhabited by only three of us—me, my Senior Brother, and my Master. I couldn’t have killed my Senior Brother; I didn’t have that ability. Although my Senior Brother was just over fifty, he was already a master on the Heavenly List. After finding his corpse, I examined it closely and discovered a hole in the top of his head, as big as a fist. It had to have been made by someone with great force punching it through. The only one capable of this, and who could make my Senior Brother unable to resist, was my Master."


    Ling Chen frowned slightly, asking puzzled, "Second Brother, why did your Master do this? Was it because your Senior Brothermitted an error?"


    "No! Let me exin slowly. Where I found my Senior Brother’s corpse, Iter dug out three more corpses over time. Due to the long years passed, they had all turned to skeletal remains. However, without exception, these people suffered fatal injuries to their heads. Out of fear toward my Master, I didn’t dare reveal this, burying it in my heart, and I reburied those skeletonized corpses intact. Not long afterward, when I awoke one night, I found a little boy of two or three years old in the room. My Master told me he was my Junior Brother and instructed me to take care of him well."


    "That moment marked my realization that all of this was arranged by my Master. As we grew up, Master would quietly kill us like he did to Senior Brother, then fabricate an excuse for Junior Brother. Subsequently, he’d continue searching for another child to be a disciple, letting Junior Brother take care of him, repeating the cycle unending. For this reason, I seized a chance, secretly escaping, never returning."


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