I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 557 - 557 Do not trust anyone_1

Chapter 557: Do not trust anyone_1 Chapter 557: Do not trust anyone_1 “Me?”

Tang Que answered with an air of frivolity.

“My father was a forensic investigator, and I’ve seen all sorts of corpses since I was a child. I learned the craft of the Corpse-sewing Craftsman with him. A few years ago, my father passed away, and it was only from his belongings that I discovered the affair of the Nine Streams. Until then, I had always thought that it was only our family that was different.”

“Now it seems there are many people in the world just like us, isn’t that interesting?”

Hearing her words, Lu Ban felt that this young lady really didn’t have any reservations.

And she was quite a fun character.

“However, why didn’t your father tell you about the affairs of the Nine Streams?”

Lu Ban was curious again.

Other families or sects all regarded the identity of an Inheritor of the Ninth River as something significant, but in the Tang Family, they didn’t let their daughter know about it.

If Tang Que hadn’t gone through the belongings herself, perhaps the Corpse-sewing Craftsman would have been absent from this struggle for the title of Mysterious Monarch.

Er, but whether this Tang Que was the real person was still uncertain, and what she said might not be true.

The sweat dripping down Lu Ban’s back was monitored by his own vigilance.

He didn’t get an answer from Tang Que.

Because Lu Ban felt the presence beside him vanish.

He glanced over, and the silhouette in the cheongsam had disappeared, not knowing whether it was sent down the mountain or if the illusion that was there to deceive Lu Ban had left because it didn’t get what it wanted.

After walking a couple more steps, Lu Ban saw another figure emerge from the dense fog ahead.

It was Shi Buwen, white-haired yet still robust and sturdy.

Lu Ban thought for a moment and ultimately decided not to call out to the other party rashly, simply approaching step by step.

After a few steps, just as Lu Ban came up behind the man, he suddenly had a sense of déjà vu.

Wasn’t Tang Que also approaching him from behind just like this?

“Mr. Shi, you don’t need to look back.”

Lu Ban then spoke up.

He saw Shi Buwen place his hand at the position of his gun holster, as if ready to draw his gun at any time.

“I mean no harm, I just happened to see Mr. Shi on this path.”

Lu Ban walked two more steps forward, coming alongside Shi Buwen.

The old man didn’t have a single drop of sweat on him; it seemed as if the moist and sticky fog avoided him altogether, not leaving any trace.

Lu Ban, who was following behind, glanced ahead and immediately noticed a problem.

On this path, there was only Shi Buwen, not him—Lu Ban!

Damn it, the problem turned out to be with me.

“This path is quite simple, just follow the Rules and you’ll be fine. Two thousand steps might sound like a lot, but it’s not that long.”

Shi Buwen spoke in a faint voice, still on guard against Lu Ban.

“Two thousand steps? Wasn’t it one thousand?”

Lu Ban immediately asked.

Shi Buwen stopped in his tracks.

He looked at Lu Ban with a somewhat strange gaze.

“Who told you that?”

“Mr. He Chong.”

Lu Ban answered truthfully.

“Heh, I am only upholding tradition and came to see how my friends are doing. I didn’t expect that some people would really deceive the younger generation just for the position of Mysterious Monarch.”

Shi Buwen chuckled mockingly.

“This mountain path has a total of two thousand steps, no more, no less. If you don’t reach the top within half an hour, you’ll be sent back down the mountain. If you stop halfway and wait, I’m afraid you won’t be able to place in the competition.”

“Then why are you telling me all this?”

Lu Ban was curious again.

“You young ones might not understand, but we of the Nine Streams were once as brothers, separated due to various incidents. It’s natural for fellow disciples to support each other. Besides, compared to the position of Mysterious Monarch, I value benevolence and honesty much more. Asking me to lie and deceive is harder than reaching the heavens.”

Shi Buwen spoke as if it were the most natural thing, then continued upward.

Lu Ban silently followed.

A moment later, Shi Buwen, too, had disappeared.

“Is it really a thousand steps, or two thousand?”

Lu Ban muttered to himself.

According to He Chong’s words, one should trust no one they encounter on the mountain trail, which meant that what Shi Buwen said was surely a lie.

But what if the words He Chong said at the beginning were the lies?

What if it actually takes two thousand steps and He Chong had fabricated the advice about not trusting others to mislead Lu Ban on purpose?

This had led to the classic loop conundrum.

Using his sweat that dripped down, Lu Ban kept an eye on the condition of the mountain path, but there was not a soul in the places he passed through.

On this lengthy mountain trail, there was only Lu Ban.

After walking five hundred steps, Lu Ban suddenly heard some other noise.

It was neither the sound of breathing nor footsteps, but the rustling of grass as if it was being touched by something.

Lu Ban looked towards the woods on his left.

It seemed something was hiding under the bushes there.

A voice came through.

“…save, save me…”

It was a cry for help.

Lu Ban took a couple of steps closer, and gave the area a quick look with “True Sight”.

He saw a person lying there.

“Old Zhang?”

It was Blindman Zhang, the Paper-cutting Official.

This old man, nearing his seventies, was half-lying in the bushes, seemingly wounded by a gunshot, with several bullet holes in his jacket, from which blood was gushing out, looking seriously injured.

“Don’t come any closer.”

Blindman Zhang noticed Lu Ban and immediately yelled out.

“Don’t leave this mountain path, or you might encounter misfortune.”

He added a word of caution.

“Old Zhang, how come you’re here, who shot you?”

Having sized up Blindman Zhang, at least according to the current level of understanding, “True Sight” judged that the individual was a human being.

“Who else could it be but someone with a gun, and that’s Shi Buwen.”

Blindman Zhang heaved a sigh, as though regretting that he had trusted the wrong person.

“I thought he was just like me, here only to bear witness, but who would have thought, this guy had already betrayed Nine Streams. He pushed me off the mountain path and then shot me from ambush.”

“He came here with Dai Yuanyang, one in the open and one in secret. If Dai Yuanyang failed to persuade us, then it was Shi Buwen’s turn to make his move. Unfortunately…”

His breath was failing, his voice weak.

“Old Zhang, I have a question.”

Lu Ban said.

“How many steps does this mountain path actually have?”

Upon hearing Lu Ban’s question, Blindman Zhang fell silent for a moment.

“Fifteen hundred. Once you reach there, you’ll see a platform, which is the end point. When you get there, find Seventh Master to save me. Don’t trust anyone else.”

“Got it.”

Lu Ban nodded and then suddenly asked.

“Old Zhang, why didn’t you turn back? If you had turned back, you would have been sent directly to the bottom of the mountain, and you could have gone to look for help, right?”

Upon hearing Lu Ban’s words, Blindman Zhang was startled.

“Young man, you’re quite clever,”

Blindman Zhang laughed, and the bullet holes on his body seemed to heal suddenly, his whole being’s color faded away, transforming into a paper effigy of the kind that people burn on graves during funereal rituals.

“Is this real, or is it fake?”

Lu Ban made a comment to himself and continued climbing up.

*

These past couple of days have been quite busy, continue to ask for recommendation tickets, and monthly tickets!