Chapter 2605 — Han Jingyi Is Kidnapped

Because a Heaven-rank expert had gone in and never come out—so who would dare enter after that? True, the news had reported the capture of a gang of tomb robbers, and Chief Bai had guessed they might have been after Zhang Lifeng's tomb, but he had not paid it much mind. Zhang Lifeng's tomb was not a place just anyone could enter.

Legend held that only with a detailed map and set of instructions handed down from those early days could one enter those traps and come out alive. Chief Bai had stayed in this area to teach, but part of his purpose had been to search for that lost map and those lost instructions.

The trouble was that too many years had passed; there was no thread left to follow. Still, Chief Bai was only mildly surprised, and he quickly recovered his composure. "Heh, you mean to tell me you went and robbed our founder's tomb? That is nothing to worry about—you did not get in, did you? In truth, I once had thoughts of robbing that tomb myself, wanting to see whether any of Founder Zhang Lifeng's notes or insights had been passed down inside."

"I... did get in..." Wei Zhao said with a bitter smile. Chief Bai had clearly misunderstood him, taking his words as a confession of disrespect toward the founder—but that was not what Wei Zhao had meant at all.

"What? You got in? Then how are you still able to come out?" Chief Bai's eyes went wide, and he stared at Wei Zhao in disbelief. "Oh... I see. You went in, then turned right back around—retreated in the face of difficulty?"

"Teacher Bai, let me be honest with you. I entered the tomb, and I obtained Zhang Lifeng's alchemist's notes. And his pet from back then came out of the tomb with me..." Wei Zhao hurriedly cut Chief Bai off and spoke plainly.

"What? You actually obtained Founder Zhang Lifeng's alchemist's notes? And his pet... could it be the Heavenly Thunder Pig?" Chief Bai froze, staring at Wei Zhao as if he could not believe his ears.

"Yes," Wei Zhao said with a nod.

"Uh... you were actually acknowledged by the Heavenly Thunder Pig? Legend says that the one acknowledged as master by the Heavenly Thunder Pig is Founder Zhang Lifeng's closed-door disciple... and you..." Chief Bai was thrown into confusion and scrambled to his feet. "By the ancestral precepts, you are my founder as well! Founder above, please accept this bow from your disciple..."

"Don't... Teacher Bai, what are you doing!" Wei Zhao was startled out of his wits and hurried to steady Chief Bai before he could actually bow. "I only got hold of these alchemist's notes by sheer luck, and the Heavenly Thunder Pig simply took a liking to me and followed me. How could I possibly be your founder?"

"The ancestral precepts say exactly that. Founder Zhang Lifeng once left behind a letter saying he was going to seek out his closed-door disciple, and that whoever obtained his alchemist's notes and was acknowledged by the Heavenly Thunder Pig would be that closed-door disciple—and the next heir to his mantle! It is only that all these years we never saw the Heavenly Thunder Pig or Founder Zhang Lifeng's alchemist's notes appear in the world, and we suspected he had never found an heir and had taken them into the tomb with him. Now it seems that must be exactly what happened," Chief Bai explained. "So the ancestral rules cannot be set aside. Since you have obtained them and been acknowledged by the Heavenly Thunder Pig, then you are my founder!"

"..." Wei Zhao smiled bitterly, at a loss before Chief Bai's stubbornness, and could only say, "All right, then let us keep the two matters separate. At school, you are my teacher—am I right? I am a student here, and you are a teacher here. That cannot be changed, can it?"

"That... that is true!" Chief Bai was not a rigid man, and he understood Wei Zhao's meaning well enough.

"So, since I am your founder and you are my teacher, let us help each other and treat one another as equals. But at school, you are still my teacher and I am still your student. In private, believe whatever you like," Wei Zhao said, settling for the next best thing.

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that Zhang Lifeng had left such an ancestral precept behind. But only a man as upright and unyielding as Chief Bai would ever abide by it; anyone with ill intent would surely have killed him and seized the treasure rather than acknowledge the existence of a founder like him.

"That... works too!" Chief Bai knew their relationship had grown rather tangled. At school, he was indeed Wei Zhao's teacher—an unchangeable fact.

"Teacher Bai, the real reason I came this time was to bring you those alchemist's notes to look at. After all, they should have been yours to begin with... and I have kept them all this time before bringing them out..." Wei Zhao said, a little embarrassed.

"That is not right. Whether you look at it from the angle that you are my founder, or from the angle that you are my disciple, these alchemist's notes are yours as well. Even among fellow disciples, they belong to whoever has the fate to obtain them. That you are willing to bring them to me to share already makes me very happy," Chief Bai said, without any pretense or false modesty, speaking honestly. He had waited a long time to see these alchemist's notes.

"Good. Since everything is settled, I will find Han Jingyi and have her send you a copy—she has already scanned them into an electronic version," Wei Zhao said. With the matter settled, Wei Zhao felt he had fulfilled a long-held wish. After all, Chief Bai had given so much for him, and it would be unreasonable for Wei Zhao to give nothing in return.

Although Zhang Lifeng's alchemist's notes were far more precious than the materials Chief Bai had given him, when all was said and done, they were things that belonged to Chief Bai's own sect.

Wei Zhao fished out his phone, ready to call Han Jingyi—but Wang Xinyan's call came through first.

At noon, since Wei Zhao had not come, Wang Xinyan and Han Jingyi had gone to the cafeteria together to eat. But before they reached it, a black off-road vehicle came speeding over, braked hard, and stopped right beside Wang Xinyan and Han Jingyi.

Just as the two of them were stunned, the car door opened and a woman in black stepped out. Without giving Wang Xinyan or Han Jingyi a chance to ask anything, she struck first, bringing a knife-hand chop down on Han Jingyi's neck. Though Han Jingyi was an Earth-rank expert, her defensive ability was very weak, and the woman in black was a Heaven-rank expert—so even with true qi protecting her body, it was no use.

Han Jingyi crumpled on the spot, and the tablet computer in her hands slid to the ground. But before Wang Xinyan could even cry out for help, the woman in black flung Han Jingyi into the car and then sped away in a cloud of dust.