VIP Volume, Chapter 077: The Achilles’ Heel

The old shepherd took a sip of wine and asked Gou Seventh Master in a gloomy tone, "Old Dog, did you have the Faceless King change your appearance to evade the investigation from the Ancient Martial Gate?"

Gou Seventh Master snorted coldly, replying, "Since you flies keep pestering me, there's no need for me to hide anymore!"

The old shepherd shouted angrily, "Back then, your Old Nine Ranks stole the Kirin Bone from the Ancient Martial Gate! Now King Qitian sent you to Reed Village—what are you looking for?"

Gou Seventh Master, beard bristling and eyes wide, cursed back, "Old Sheephead, have you no shame? Was the Kirin Bone ever the property of the Ancient Martial Gate? We Eight Righteous found it first!"

The old shepherd snorted, "Don't forget that Elder Xue was one of our own in Ancient Martial Gate!"

Gou Seventh Master glared, "I am a man of Qitian Corporation!"

The old shepherd grew furious, "But it was Elder Xue and Elder Ye who found the Kirin Bone!"

Gou Seventh Master grew anxious, "Without me and Old Eight, those two would have died in the Ghost Cave of Mount Suo ages ago!"

Ghost Cave of Mount Suo? Ye Xiaoxuan's heart stirred. Wasn't that the very black cave he had been taken to by the giant tortoise? No wonder there were signs of human repairs inside, and it was so clean—nothing remained but the sword in the water and the murals on the walls. It turned out Grandpa's group had already been there!

From the exchange between the old shepherd and Gou Seventh Master, Ye Xiaoxuan gleaned some understanding. The feud between Ancient Martial Gate and the Old Nine Ranks likely stemmed from that so-called Kirin Bone.

The Eight Righteous of the Reed Forest had split into factions; Elder Xue joined Ancient Martial Gate, Gou Seventh Master became a man of Qitian Corporation, and the others either sided with one of them or, like Elder Tian and Elder Yu, remained neutral and kept to themselves.

It seemed these old-timers guarded their sect divisions to the death. The two old men together were nearly a hundred and fifty years old, yet their hatred remained so intense!

Ye Xiaoxuan sighed. Gou Seventh Master, thinking he was brooding over tonight's events, lowered his head and said, "Xuanzi, Seventh Master owes you an apology. Even if you really had something and refused to give it to me, I wouldn't have harmed your uncle, aunt, or that girl—just meant to scare you. I could never bring myself to actually hurt them!"

Ye Xiaoxuan nodded, knowing Gou Seventh Master spoke the truth. In the countryside, no matter if you were once a notorious bandit or a devil-may-care rogue, the years and the flavor of home had worn away your fighting spirit, leaving you an ordinary person.

Ye Xiaoxuan sighed and said, "Seventh Master, I don't blame you for scaring me. I just lament you and Sheephead—both men in your twilight years, with no deep personal grudges, only disputes over sect interests. You've both lived in this village for so long, yet still fight as if life and death hang in the balance. Is it worth it? Haven't you two drunk together often?"

The old shepherd and Gou Seventh Master both fell silent, sighing heavily in unison. Gou Seventh Master cast an unwilling glare at Sheephead and muttered, "That old turtle still owes me twelve yuan!"

The old shepherd patted his belly, "Call it medical expenses. I'm not paying it back!"

Hao Six Fingers gloomily asked Gou Seventh Master, "Does that make me one of the Old Nine Ranks? If so, am I now a man of Qitian Corporation? Xuanzi is really at odds with Qitian Corporation these days!"

Gou Seventh Master glared at him, "You're no Old Nine Rank. You think it's easy to join? I never gave you the Dog's Head Claw, precisely to keep you out of this mess!"

He sighed again, shaking his head in resignation, "Sheephead and I are mortal enemies, but our disciples grew up together as childhood friends. My hope that you two would avenge us is wasted."

Ye Xiaoxuan glanced at Hao Six Fingers, understanding that the two old men, after a lifetime of rivalry, were finally ready to let go. He couldn't help but feel relieved.

The old shepherd frowned at Ye Xiaoxuan, asking, "How did you get involved with Qitian Corporation?"

Ye Xiaoxuan shot Hao Six Fingers a look, "Don't listen to his nonsense! I just beat up Zhao Yanping, stole his sweetheart, and extorted him for a few hundred thousand. No deep enmity."

The old shepherd and Gou Seventh Master were flabbergasted. Hao Six Fingers pointed at Ye Xiaoxuan, "Beaten, robbed of wife, fleeced—he suffered them all. You call that no deep enmity?"

Ye Xiaoxuan snorted, "What wife-snatching! Yu'er is my girlfriend—she never even looked at him!"

Gou Seventh Master pondered, "That Zhao Yanping must be the son of Zhao Huadan from the Troupe Gate. He's not very important. Qitian Corporation wouldn't bother over such a small loss, wouldn't stand up for him. Indeed, it's hardly a mortal feud."

Ye Xiaoxuan sneered, "Even if they do stand up for him, I’m not afraid!"

The old shepherd and Gou Seventh Master looked at him with disdain. Feeling uncomfortable under their gaze, Ye Xiaoxuan stiffened his neck and said, "What? You don't believe me? Try killing me then!"

Gou Seventh Master snorted coldly, "Killing you would be as easy as crushing an ant! Wiping out your whole Ye family would take nothing more than a single night!"

The old shepherd, equally furious, glared at Ye Xiaoxuan, "You think you’re invincible just because you have that thing?"

How lewd that sounded! Before Ye Xiaoxuan could react, the old shepherd suddenly reached out and tapped the edge of his right cheek, just near his ear.

Ye Xiaoxuan cried out, feeling a roaring in his right ear and an agonizing swelling as if mercury had flooded half his head, pain threatening to burst his skull. He couldn't speak for a long while; eventually, the pain eased and the sound faded from his ear.

Once he recovered, Ye Xiaoxuan found himself sweating coldly. Alarmed, he clutched his head and asked the old shepherd, "How did this happen? Don't I have…"

The old shepherd waved him off, refusing to let him finish, and said sternly, "You think having that makes you invincible? Even the Martial Guards, once their grip is strong enough to shatter stone, can break through your shield and fatal point!"

"Shield and fatal point?" Ye Xiaoxuan exclaimed in terror. So even the Dragon Seal Armor had a fatal weakness—couldn’t it be destroyed by any expert?

The old shepherd nodded, glancing at Gou Seventh Master as if wanting to say more, but stopping himself.

Gou Seventh Master turned to Hao Six Fingers, "Mengzi, come check if my chest is bleeding."

Hao Six Fingers lowered his head to look, asking, "Where?" Gou Seventh Master raised his hand and chopped him on the neck. Hao Six Fingers’ head lolled to one side, and he collapsed into Gou Seventh Master's arms, unconscious.

Ye Xiaoxuan and the old shepherd shuddered. Gou Seventh Master truly didn’t hold back with his apprentice!

But a martial artist at the level of Martial King would naturally have perfect control over force and pressure points, and wouldn't make mistakes easily.

Gou Seventh Master rolled his eyes, glanced at Ye Xiaoxuan, and said, "This kid has Dragon Seal Armor as protection, right? I saw it when he stirred up trouble at the Chen Family Hall! No need to avoid me. But if you run into a Barefoot Man from the Old Nine Ranks, you’re dead for sure!"

The old shepherd’s face changed as he looked at Ye Xiaoxuan and nodded, "Barefoot Man is a master of pressure points—even I can't guarantee I could handle him!"