Under One Person: Dressed as Lü Liang, with vests all over

Chapter 173 Zhang Huaiyi's Last Words
When the first sound came out, Feng Baobao, who was standing next to her, opened her eyes wide, put her head very close, and curiously examined the snail.

Zhang Chulan's face also showed a hint of surprise.

This thing can actually make a sound?
Lu Liang was already used to this, but when he heard the sound, his eyebrows still twitched slightly.

Because he had heard the first sound from another snail shell a few days ago, and it came from Zheng Zibu.

Zheng Zibu said:
"So your name is Zhang Huaiyi. Is Zhang your original surname?"

“Ah, no, it’s a bestowed surname,” Zhang Huaiyi explained.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zibu's voice immediately carried a hint of surprise:

"Wow, so I might be walking alongside a future Celestial Master now. What an honor!"

The sound from the snail shell paused for a moment.

Zhang Chulan couldn't help but murmur:

"That was... my grandfather's voice when he was young?"

Lü Liang nodded slightly. "The other voice is Zheng Zibu, who came from the Maoshan Sect of the Shangqing Dynasty and is the one who comprehended one of the Eight Extraordinary Techniques, the Tongtian Lu."

Soon, the sound from the snail shell continued, and Zheng Zibu's tone carried a hint of gossip.

"Hey! I heard that there was a secret martial arts competition at the Celestial Master's Mansion, and Zhang Zhiwei suffered a loss at the hands of his fellow disciples! We thought about it for a long time, but we couldn't think of any Celestial Master's Mansion disciple who had such skills. Could it be... you?"

"what?"

Zhang Huaiyi's voice contained both surprise and a hint of helplessness.

"So... that's what people are saying outside?"

"Eh? Isn't it?"

"Of course not." Zhang Huaiyi gave a helpless laugh, then continued:

“I understand. None of you care about the truth. You’ve all suffered at the hands of your senior brother, so even if there’s only a slight possibility, you’re willing to believe that your senior brother suffered the loss.”

"What does this have to do with me! They're the ones who spread it!"

Zheng Zibu explained, his tone clearly nonchalant:
"I've never been harmed by Zhang Zhiwei! It's just that my brother Lu Jin has exaggerated his abilities to an incredible degree!"

"I asked him to introduce me to someone, but he always makes excuses to refuse!"

"Hmph! Is he afraid I'll go too far? We're all from the same Taoist sect, I won't overdo it! Maybe I can even stand up for him!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Huaiyi quickly advised:
"Brother Zheng, I believe you know what you're doing, but my senior brother doesn't!"

"It's alright!" Zheng Zibu said nonchalantly. "My methods aren't forceful, so a little joke with him shouldn't be a problem, right..."

"Brother Zheng, I advise you to be more cautious..."

Zhang Huaiyi said in an extremely serious tone.

……

Just then, a woman's voice interrupted their conversation.

Lü Liang quickly recognized the voice as Tian Xiaodie's.

Tian Xiaodie's tone was as cheerful as ever:
"Hey? You guys are talking about that martial arts competition? I didn't expect Big Ears to be so amazing. That's Zhang Zhiwei, you know."

“No, we didn’t talk.” Zhang Huaiyi immediately denied it.

"Hehe, but I've saved them all using snail shells."

“Fellow Daoist Tian, ​​this…” Zhang Huaiyi was speechless.

"Haha, Big Ears, what's the rush? Here, this snail shell is for you."

A sound like something cutting through the air was heard.

Immediately afterward, Zhang Huaiyi asked, "Is this the same kind of conch shell that I gave to Fellow Daoist Wei Shufen the other day?"

"Yes, you've already seen how to use it before, but this is an improved version, inspired by Master Zheng's ideas."

Upon hearing Tian Xiaodie's words, Zheng Zibu immediately laughed heartily and praised her:
"Fellow Daoist Tian is indeed exceptionally talented, managing to modify it so quickly. You and Brother Ma must have a lot to talk about."

"Master Zheng, I'm becoming more and more interested in this Brother Ma you mentioned. Why don't you take me to meet him?"

"Okay."

After that sentence, the conversation paused for a moment, as if they were walking.

But other chattering voices kept mixing in from the background, so the scene must have been quite lively.

Lu Liang focused his mind and tried hard to identify the background noise.

……

"Wow! What are all these? Windmills? Clay figurines? Hey? And what's this copy of 'Jin Ping Mei'?!"

"Xiao Xu! These are other people's personal belongings! Put them back!"

"Brother Dong, I need to look for clues! Who knows if the clues are hidden in this pile of objects? I don't want to lose to that Wei Shufen!"

……

"Old Liu, come and take a look. What is this? Is it a photograph? It even has color."

"This is a Western painting, also called an oil painting."

"Brother Lin, you truly live up to your reputation for studying abroad; you're so knowledgeable! Is this actually a painting? Amazing! It's so lifelike!"

"Wow! It's all people in the drawings! Who are they?"
……

The footsteps stopped, and the sounds emanating from the snail shell became clear again.

"Wugensheng, why do you keep even a stone like a treasure?" a boisterous male voice rang out.

When those words echoed in the lingering snail shell, everyone in the pavilion pricked up their ears.

Zhang Chulan, in particular, unconsciously clenched his hands on his knees, glanced at Feng Baobao beside him, and then quickly looked away.

Lu Liang noticed that Zhang Chulan was also leaning forward unconsciously, as if he could hear more clearly that way.

"Haha, Brother Ma, don't you think this stone is beautiful?"

A clear voice chuckled and asked in return.

"I don't think so," the man called Brother Ma denied. "It can't be used for weapon crafting, so there's no point in keeping it."

Upon hearing the words "weapon forging," Lü Liang immediately guessed the true identity of this "Little Ma Brother"—

Ma Xianhong's great-grandfather, Ma Benzai, was a member of the Tiangong Hall and had mastered one of the Eight Extraordinary Skills, the Divine Refinement Technique.

Upon hearing Ma Benzai's words, Wugensheng immediately responded with a smile:

"The beauty of this stone is my beauty, not the beauty of others, which is quite wonderful!"

"I didn't expect you to have such leisure and refined interests," Ma Ben remarked, then added, "However... the stones in this cave are quite nice."

At this point, Ma Ben suddenly raised his voice and shouted loudly in another direction:
"Xiao Gu! My sac is full! What about yours? Fill up the stone here for your brother Ma!"

"no problem!"

A young man immediately responded.

……

Upon hearing this, Lü Liang's gaze sharpened.

Xiao Gu? Could it be Gu Qiting? But this voice sounds different from the mysterious person who rescued Qu Tong that day.

Just as Lü Liang was about to listen a few more words before analyzing, Zheng Zibu's voice rang out again.

"Brother Ma, come here, let me introduce you to a friend."

The conversation stopped abruptly.

……

Everyone sat silently, waiting for a minute, but no new sound came out.

Clearly, that was all that was saved from the previous conversation.

However, judging from the previous cases of the snails, the recorded sounds may not be just one segment, and sometimes they may even span several months.

Everyone continued to wait patiently, and two more minutes passed in silence.

The snail shell remained silent. Just as Lü Liang doubted that Zhang Huaiyi, a cautious man, would ever use the snail shell again, it finally began to make a sound again.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chulan's expression changed.

That was the voice that Zhang Huaiyi could only produce as he grew older.

Then the aged voice called out:

"Chu Lan."

"grandfather."

Zhang Chulan subconsciously responded, but only after the words left his mouth did he realize that these were likely his grandfather's last words to him.

Thinking of this, he looked up at Lü Liang and Wang Ye, seemingly struggling with whether he should ask them to leave.

Just then, Zhang Huaiyi's voice rang out again.

"Chu Lan, I don't know if you'll ever have the chance to hear these words in the future."

"This is a sound-storing artifact given to me by Fellow Daoist Tian Xiaodie of the Wuhou Sect. If one day you decipher the formation on it and hear these words, it means that you have finally entered this circle."

"So, Grandpa truly hopes you'll never hear these things."

"But if that day ever comes, Grandpa hopes you can do your best to live a good life."

“When you hear these words, Grandpa will definitely be gone, but Grandpa did not abandon you, nor did your father. Everything we do is to help you live a better life.”

"My fourth brother didn't succeed completely back then, so I couldn't escape the life-or-death crisis brought about by the passage of time."

"In the past two years, I have clearly felt that my time is running out."

"Before I'm completely exhausted, I want to help you eliminate as many potential dangers as possible."

"Therefore, I will take the initiative to show myself, using the Qi Source Flow as bait to attract those who know about the Jia Shen Rebellion and covet the Eight Extraordinary Techniques... and then take them with me."

"The first place I want to go is the Tang Clan."

"Tangmen?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chulan immediately looked up, his eyes filled with surprise as he gazed at Lü Liang.

Just now, Lü Liang mentioned that there was still someone alive among the Thirty-Six Thieves, and that person was in the Tang Clan.

Could it be that Grandpa went to the Tang Clan back then specifically for that person?
The next moment, the sound emanating from the snail shell answered his question.

"My target is Yang Lie, the leader of the Tang Clan."

"He valued the Tang Clan highly, harbored extreme hatred towards the Quanxing and the thirty-six members, and possessed formidable strength, including the Tang Clan's unique technique, Dan Shi. He had no choice but to eliminate him!"

"By the way, if you ever encounter anyone from the Tang Clan, be extra careful of Dan Shi!"

"However, I heard that after Yang Lie, no one in the Tang Clan has been able to use the Dan Shi technique for a long time."

"If this goes well, the elders from sects like Natural Gate and Yanwu Hall who experienced the Jia Shen Rebellion will leave with me for good, and I will leave you with a safer world."

"Chu Lan, Grandpa won't be able to stay with you anymore. You must remember the words Grandpa used to tell you."

……

When the sound of the snail stopped, there was a moment of silence in the pavilion before sound broke out again.

"Thank you, Brother Lü."

Zhang Chulan looked up at Lü Liang, his voice unusually sincere.

"I never thought I would hear my grandfather's voice again after ten years."

His gaze shifted to the snail shell, his eyes filled with longing.

"Brother Lü, can I keep this as a keepsake?"

"Sure, but don't rush. There might still be some things inside that we haven't heard yet."

As Lü Liang answered, he handed the snail to Wang Ye, who was standing next to him.

Wang Ye immediately understood and asked, "Should we try the method Lao Qing used that day?"

Lü Liang nodded.

As Wang Ye recalled the events of that day, he followed Zhuge Qing's instructions, holding the spiral snail in one hand and making a hand seal with the other.

"Use formations to drive formations, reverse the eight gates, reveal the gate of life!"

Then, a faint glimmer of light appeared on the conch shell again, and everyone's eyes lit up.

Soon, sounds came from inside again.

The faces of everyone in the pavilion immediately lit up with joy.

This time, it was Tian Xiaodie's cheerful voice that rang out.

"You didn't expect this, did you? There's a surprise here!"

"With Master Zheng's guidance, I modified the 'Rao Liang Luo' (a type of conch shell), but to hear this surprise, one must understand Qimen Dunjia (a form of divination) and talismans. Big Ears, you won't never hear it, will you? Haha..."

"However, even if I can't hear it, I still want to ask the question I'm most curious about."

"What exactly did you mean by that phrase you secretly muttered that day, 'Enter the Dao through technique, abandon technique to preserve Qi'?"

"Techniques can clearly maximize the effects of Qi, such as Qimen Dunjia, weapon crafting, and even talismans. Why abandon techniques and preserve Qi?"

"Haha, if you ever hear this recording, remember to tell me the answer!"

……

The sounds from the snail shell stopped completely, but Tian Xiaodie's laughter seemed to still echo in the pavilion.

Everyone in the pavilion fell into silent contemplation.

"Enter the Dao through technique, abandon technique to preserve Qi..." What does this saying mean?

Lü Liang, however, thought a little further ahead.

He had long ago discovered that the Eight Extraordinary Skills did not appear out of thin air, but were an advancement of the original abilities and techniques of those eight people.

In other words, one can glimpse the unique aspects of the eight extraordinary skills they each comprehended from their daily cultivation experiences.

Just as Lü Liang gained some insights from Duanmu Ying's notes at Jishetang.

Zhang Huaiyi's statement may very well be related to the Qi Source Flow that he later comprehended.

Using Qi as a bridge, one enters the Dao through techniques... Could this be the principle of the Qi body's origin and flow?
If that's the case, what would be the effect of the Qi Source Flow?

……

"Brother Lü, are there many of these magical artifacts called the 'Rao Liang Luo'?"

Zhang Chulan's voice interrupted Lü Liang's thoughts.

Lu Liang nodded upon hearing this, "As far as I know, there are four in total."

Upon hearing this answer, Zhang Chulan immediately leaned forward, moving even closer to Lü Liang, a slightly fawning smile on his face.

"Hey, Brother Lü, what did the other snail shells mention?"

Lü Liang gave a brief overview, but he did not mention his own speculation.

Without any hints from the mysterious person, the information that can be obtained solely from these preserved sounds is not particularly extensive.

But that alone was enough to surprise Zhang Chulan.

His eyes widened, his voice filled with shock, and he blurted out, "Holy crap! Brother Lü, what kind of efficiency is this!"

"You've only been out of the Qinling Mountains for a few days, and you've already found so much information, including sacred objects and rituals. That's incredible!"

"Hey, Brother Lü, what are you going to investigate next? Can you help me out?"

"Sure," Lü Liang readily agreed. "Next stop, the Tang Clan in Sichuan, are you going?"

"Go! Of course I'm going!"

He looked at Lü Liang with a grin, and asked expectantly:
"Brother Lü, when do you plan to set off?"

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(End of this chapter)