Hidden moth

Chapter 326 The Mountain Gate Reshapes Bones and Reincarnates

Between master and disciple, the inheritance is not just about techniques, but even includes one's entire life.

Zhang Yanfei's master was a sorcerer of the Subtle Sect, whose cultivation was not very high. He was only a second-level calligrapher throughout his life, but he was also a calligrapher, painter, art connoisseur, and art appraiser, as well as a very famous monk.

Zhang Yanfei first learned calligraphy and painting from her master, and then she was taught martial arts techniques. Even her job was introduced to her by her master.

Unlike his senior brother Ye Hui, Zhang Yanfei was not good at business. Besides cultivation, he loved art, and art school was a good place for him that matched his major.

The event that changed his life occurred about twelve years ago. Zhang Yanfei was the director of the library at Nanhua Academy of Fine Arts when he discovered a painting while taking inventory of the library's collection of rare books and paintings.

The inscription reads "The work of Lei Dunzi, the founder of the Dan Ding Sect," and the figure in the painting is the famous Tan Jun, the immortal.

Out of his identity as a sorcerer and his professional habits, he began to inquire and research, trying to find out the origin of the painting. He learned that there was a painting called "Tan Xian Leaning on His Staff" recorded in the Dan Ding Sect's classics, but it had long since disappeared.

This could very well be the painting, but he wasn't sure. According to the information he had gathered, the "Tan Xian with a Staff" painting was said to possess magical properties, and seeing the painting was like seeing the immortal Tan Xian himself...

There are no secrets that stay hidden forever. Before he could do anything, someone from the Dan Ding Sect contacted him, asking why he wanted to know about the painting.

Zhang Yanfei shared his discovery, and the Dan Ding Sect reacted quickly. Deacon Wan Zhongle led a group of people to Nan Hua, bringing with him a pile of ancient calligraphy and painting materials.

He sensed something was wrong as soon as he saw the scene, so he presented a forgery he had made himself, which was very skillful. His purpose was simple: to see if the people from the Dan Ding Sect really recognized the painting.
In fact, Wan Zhongle had never seen the "Tanxian's Staff Picture" recorded in the sect's records, but as soon as he saw the painting, he said he wanted to take it away, because the patriarch's relics should not continue to be lost.

Wan Zhongle took the painting as soon as he saw it. His reason was simple: if it remained at the Nanhua Academy of Fine Arts, it would be nothing more than an ancient painting that no one would care about. But bringing it back to the sect would have a completely different meaning.

What about Zhang Yanfei? Wan Zhongle gave him a batch of ancient calligraphy and painting materials and asked him to make a fake to cover his tracks. He also gave him a reward, which left him no room to refuse.

Zhang Yanfei was afraid of this kind of thing, so he had prepared in advance, letting Wan Zhongle take away a fake. Anyway, no one had ever seen the real thing, and Zhang Yanfei could easily say that the painting in the art academy's collection was originally the one taken away by Dan Dingmen.

However, Zhang Yanfei also confirmed that the original work in the collection is very likely the legendary "Tan Xian with a Staff" painting, but he does not know what kind of magic it has.
Out of curiosity, he eventually couldn't resist and began to study the painting. At first, he didn't dare to do any destructive experiments and found nothing.

Later, he began to try minimally invasive sampling analysis, but found that he could not destroy the painting by any means. The scroll was not afraid of water or fire, and even if it was stained with oil, he could easily peel it off with his divine sense... By then, he had broken through to the third level of cultivation.

This is a magical artifact! Unfortunately, at that time his cultivation level had not yet broken through to the advanced stage, he had not mastered the art of controlling artifacts, and he did not understand its wonderful uses.

Zhang Yanfei fell into a professional misconception. At first, he studied it from the perspective of calligraphy and painting appraisal. After discovering that it was a magic treasure, he considered it from the perspective of the wonderful uses of conventional magic tools, thinking that his cultivation was insufficient to make any further discoveries.

Several years later, when he went to Nanhua Temple to pay respects to his master's memorial tablet, he was suddenly inspired as if enlightened, and remembered the saying "seeing the painting is like seeing the immortal Tan". So he went home and tried to pay respects.

At first, his worship efforts yielded no results. Later, he inquired about the rituals of ancestor worship in the martial arts school, asked someone to bring him incense to awaken his spirit, and finally, after performing the rituals, he achieved results.

The immortal Tan in the painting seemed to come alive, giving him a divine imprint containing the secret formula for breaking through to a higher level in the Hidden Elephant Technique, and telling him that only the "Hidden Elephant" could "open" this painting.

Later, Zhang Yanfei performed the same ritual to worship the scroll again, but the scroll showed no response...

These were Zhang Yanfei's recounted past experiences. Hearing this, He Kao couldn't help but interject, asking, "How did you perform the ritual back then? What did you put on the incense table?"

Zhang Yanfei: "I didn't put anything else on the incense table. At the time, I was only thinking about unraveling the mystery of the painting itself."

He Kao nodded and said, "I see! Please continue."

From then on, Zhang Yanfei began to collect information about the Hidden Moth, and learned that the magic sect had such a history, and that the Hidden Moth actually had such magical abilities.

He also knew that the scroll could actually be "opened," but he needed to find Yin'e to figure out how. This meant that Yin'e must know the painting's secrets, so they could try to lure her out.

There happened to be a national tour exhibition at the time, and the last stop was in Qiyuan, so Zhang Yanfei took the genuine product to the exhibition... but he thought things were a bit too simple.

In a sense, he succeeded. Someone stole the painting. Although it wasn't discovered at the scene, the thief had already revealed his whereabouts, which became the clue for the investigation.

But he never expected Yin'e to pull such a stunt. Stealing is one thing, but why replace it with such a clumsy fake painting? It ended up getting him arrested... If he could find Yin'e, he really wanted to ask her what she was thinking.

At this point, He Kao silently took the blame for Xiao Pang, but then retorted, "Even if I or someone else switched the painting, it wouldn't warrant sending you to jail, would it? The police need evidence to solve cases; if you didn't do it, you didn't do it!"

Zhang Yanfei sighed: "You're right, this originally had nothing to do with me, but it was a lid that lifted something else..."

The painting inexplicably became a fake, and all parties were shirking responsibility. There was no evidence to prove that Zhang Yanfei was responsible, but the police found something else after they intervened.

Taking advantage of the situation, someone reported that many of the ancient paintings in the collection of Nanhua Academy of Fine Arts have been replaced with fakes in recent years, and the original works have appeared on the overseas art market many times. The suspect is Zhang Yanfei.

There are indeed far more than one fake among the antiques in the collection of the Nanjing Academy of Fine Arts, but these things were not done by Zhang Yanfei. This was the situation before he took office, and no one noticed, or even if someone did, they pretended not to know.

This was a messy and unclear situation, and he could only keep quiet, otherwise he might get himself into trouble. But he never expected that he would be reported!

He was taken away by the police and soon after arrested by the prosecutors, but the case was not so easy to investigate.

No one witnessed Zhang Yanfei committing the crime. Even if there are forgeries among the ancient paintings in the museum's collection, it could be someone else's doing, or it could be that the paintings were fake when they were collected and brought into the museum. Theoretically, based on the existing evidence alone, it is not possible to convict Zhang Yanfei.

Zhang Yanfei herself also thinks so.

But theory is one thing, action is another. The investigators were very experienced in this area and focused their efforts on Zhang Yanfei. As long as the suspect confessed, the difficulties would be easily resolved.

However, Zhang Yanfei insisted on not pleading guilty, and the case reached a stalemate. Later, he was detained beyond the legal limit... Once things developed to this point, they became very troublesome.

The situation developed in this way not only because the investigators were eager to make a contribution, but more importantly because someone wanted Zhang Yanfei to take the blame and cover up all the historical misunderstandings.

Fortunately, Zhang Yanfei wasn't without connections. Realizing this, he went to great lengths to pull strings and finally secured medical parole. Shortly after his release, he "died of illness." Zhang Yanfei's death might be a good thing for everyone, meaning all the blame could be pinned on him, leaving no way to prove his innocence.

Zhang Yanfei concluded by saying, "I remain innocent until my death; the court has not convicted me!"

That's true; he didn't confess, nor did he face trial. He Kao pondered, "This differs greatly from what you told your disciple Wu Yanjun."

Erji raised his head and said, "You even know these things?"

He Kao: "Since I was able to identify you, how could I not know the situation? As for what happened, I would like to hear your explanation."

Erji lowered his head again and said, "Not all the people locked up in the detention center are innocent. In fact, the vast majority of them have really committed crimes. As far as I know, the only one who was completely innocent at the time was Xiaowu."

I didn't want this silly kid's life to be ruined like that. Seeing that he had good aptitude, I taught him the art of microscopic perception and instructed him to find my senior brother Ye Hui after he left, so that he would have a way out in the future.

I could have left the detention center earlier, but I stayed for two more months because of this child. I had to teach him a lesson before leaving. I just wanted to help him, not harm him. I couldn't possibly tell him the real story.

He Kao nodded silently upon hearing this, as it matched what he had previously known.

Unfortunately, Zhang Yanfei didn't want to involve Xiao Wu in his troubles, but some people thought differently. After discovering that the painting wasn't genuine, they couldn't find Zhang Yanfei, so they went to design Wu Yanjun instead.

Wu Yanjun almost lost his life, but fortunately He Kao saved him.

Next, He Kao finally asked about something he didn't know the answer to: "What's the story behind Er Ji's identity?"

Erji continued his story, revealing that he had encountered similar troubles to Wu Yanjun in his early years, which his master secretly helped him resolve. His master then arranged for him to become a monk at Nanhua Temple, providing him with a safety net should anything happen in the future.

In an era when anti-counterfeit ID cards were not yet widespread and population mobility was extremely high, it was still possible to obtain genuine ID documents as long as one had connections. Therefore, Zhang Yanfei also had another identity: a monk with the Buddhist name Erji.

After the master passed away, no one else in the world knew this secret.

All of Erji's documents are genuine, legally authentic, and have absolutely no connection to Zhang Yanfei. The identity of a monk has one advantage: one can use it as an excuse to travel and practice, and avoid showing one's face for extended periods.

He faked his death to escape, not only to avoid legal trouble, but also to prevent the "Tan Xian's Walking Stick Painting" incident from being exposed. This case would definitely attract the attention of the magic sects, especially the alchemy sect...

Having officially become a monk, Erji severed all ties with the past and went to the Qixia Mountain Hermitage Temple to live in seclusion, while also focusing on cultivating the art of hiding one's body.

Why Jingshe Temple? Because it's located in Qiyuan. The scroll was stolen by people from Qiyuan, and he wanted to find out who did it and also wanted to find Yin'e.

After finally hearing Erji's account of her experience, it was already broad daylight. He Kao looked at Erji, who was sitting in the shade of the tree canopy, and said, "You look very different now than before. I'm afraid even facial recognition software wouldn't recognize you. What happened?"

He Kao had already looked in the mirror and knew that this was not a disguise or change, but his true appearance.

Erji: "You are the leader of the Hidden Moth Sect, so you should know that the Hidden Moth Sect has a certain kind of magic."

He Kao: "I know, is it bone reshaping surgery?"

Erji nodded: "Yes, it's bone reshaping surgery..."

There is indeed such an applied technique, which seems to be close to the profound principles of body observation, but it was passed down by the Hidden Moth Sect. Its foundation is an internal cultivation method, in which the distribution of bones can be slowly changed.

It only has a fine-tuning effect, but if there is even a slight change in the key parts, the facial recognition features will change significantly, and the change will be real.

The process is quite slow, so slow that it's difficult to notice, often taking several months for even the slightest change to occur. During this time, while the old document is still recognizable, you should quickly replace it with a new one.

Since faking his death and escaping, Erji has been practicing the art of face reshaping. To date, he has changed his documents twice for various reasons, and his appearance has changed to what it is now.

As for the fact that some new certificates now require fingerprint records, it is no problem for him, who has cultivation and is proficient in microscopic techniques.

He Kao knew that bone-shaping techniques were somewhat useless to him, and he had never even considered practicing them, but they were exactly what he could use in Erji's case.

After thinking for a moment, He Kao asked again, "Who else knows about your faked death and escape?"

Erji: "My senior brother Ye Hui helped erase many traces. If someone wants to investigate, they can only find Zhang Yanfei's ashes, but ashes cannot be tested for DNA... But he doesn't know my current identity, and I haven't contacted him since."

He Kao: "What are your thoughts on Wu Yanjun?"

Erji sighed, "I heard he encountered some trouble, but he has turned misfortune into good fortune. After his Hidden Moth Technique broke through to the fourth level, I went to Taigu a few days ago to secretly check on his situation and found that he has become a third-level appraiser in the Microscopic Sect."

That's good. From now on, let's pretend Zhang Yanfei is no longer here!

He Kao nodded slightly and said, "I will verify the situation you described and your past actions. Please leave me your contact information, and I will contact you again in a month."

The sect has a fixed procedure for verifying returning disciples since ancient times. It takes as little as one month or as long as three months. It is impossible to make people wait indefinitely. If no problems are found, it can only be assumed that there are no problems.

In ancient times, the situation was simpler: one would travel to the hometown area to inquire about the person's deeds and reputation. Much of the time was spent on the road, and some experiences could only be heard from the person themselves, making it impossible to verify them in reality.

What if we find out this person has problems in the future? We can deal with it then!

With the significant improvements in transportation and communication today, it's no longer necessary to wait three months. Therefore, He Kao opted for the shortest possible timeframe of one month before informing Erji.

The major sects have their own reasons for doing so, but for the Hidden Moth Sect now, it carries great risk. However, since He Kao has inherited the Floating Color Cave and taken charge of a sect, this is the responsibility he must bear.

**
(End of this chapter)