Chapter 485: Spirit Void Sect
The Young Tracker
After sacrificing a few cans of food, Luke finally figured out the young boy's situation.
The boy's name was Jiu, he was fifteen years old, and he had grown up in the ruins of the Spirit Void Sect. He had an uncle who was his only living relative, and he had lived in the mountains since childhood, never having seen the outside world.
His uncle didn't look after him often, only visiting the mountains periodically to bring supplies like toiletries, clothes, and boots.
Linda asked curiously,
"What do you usually eat?"
Jiu poured potato chips into his mouth, licked his fingers, and said sincerely,
"There are lots of things to eat in the mountains. Fruits, antelopes, deer, snow leopards, gray wolves, and mountain eagles—all can be eaten."
"Especially the mountain eagles. They are so fragrant when roasted, but they are hard to catch."
Linda was speechless. She could understand fruits, antelopes, and deer, but what was this talk of snow leopards, gray wolves, and mountain eagles? Could an ordinary person catch them?
Luke smiled. "Do you catch them yourself, or with others?"
"Just myself. Why would I need anyone else?"
"I don't believe it."
Luke pretended to be annoyed. "You must be lying. How do you catch a gray wolf, they're so big?"
Jiu's face immediately flushed red.
"I'm not lying! I really can catch them. See..."
With that, he soared up, swift and untraceable like a ghost. He extended his right hand and violently grabbed the trunk of a tree.
Crack!
The tree bark shattered like plastic.
"Internal energy!"
Linda was surprised. "He actually mastered the method of Internal Energy!"
Her Master often said that practicing ancient boxing required talent. Mastering internal energy before the age of thirty was considered genius, yet the boy before her was only fifteen.
Jiu spread his palm proudly.
"See? With a light grasp, the gray wolf stops moving. It works really well."
Luke and Linda exchanged glances, both feeling strange. They had been skeptical, but now it was confirmed: this simple-minded boy was indeed a disciple of the Spirit Void Sect.
Knowing his identity, Linda couldn't ignore him anymore. As the old beggar's only direct disciple, she was, in principle, also a member of the Spirit Void Sect—the Senior Disciple Sister.
The Senior Disciple Sister should look after her Junior Disciple Brother, shouldn't she?
With this thought, she opened her backpack and took out carefully prepared beef jerky, preserved fruits, and nuts, placing them in front of the boy.
"Where is your uncle?"
"In the city."
"When does he come to the mountain?"
Jiu counted on his fingers and said with some uncertainty,
"About another month, probably."
"Wait!"
Linda frowned. "Your uncle lives in the city?"
"Yes!"
"He lives in the city and leaves you alone on the mountain?" The pitch of the girl's voice started to rise.
"Yes!"
Jiu scratched his head. "Is something wrong?"
His mind wasn't sharp, and he hadn't received much schooling; he simply didn't understand the difference between the city and the mountain.
Linda took a deep breath, trying to suppress her anger, and asked,
"What is your uncle's name?"
The Caretaker's Burden
Ten-Mile City was exactly as its name suggested: only about ten square miles in area. It was less a city and more a slightly larger township.
Due to its geographical location, the city was underdeveloped. There were no buildings over seven stories, and no noteworthy industries. The only decent businesses were a tannery and a meat processing plant.
Qiu Yuan was an employee at the meat processing plant, living the same monotonous, repetitive life as his colleagues.
He was a typical Northwest man: short chin, high cheekbones, reddish-dark skin, with a weathered look from enduring the wind and sand. His personality matched his appearance—dull, quiet, and after nine years, still just a junior worker.
He didn't mind, but if his wife hadn't constantly nagged him, he wouldn't have even thought about giving a gift to his boss.
Gift-giving was a skill he completely lacked. He took two cases of liquor to his leader's house, left after barely sitting down, didn't dare mention a raise, let alone a promotion, and didn't even know what he went there for.
The weather was gloomy, and Qiu Yuan's mood matched it.
After sighing for a while, he couldn't come up with a better plan and had no choice but to head home, considering how to explain things to his wife—that foolish woman was a real headache when she got upset.
When he arrived home, the door was wide open, and there was a boy playing with mud in the yard.
Qiu Yuan looked at him, uncertainly.
"Jiu?"
The freshly cleaned and dressed Jiu looked up in surprise and ran over like the wind.
"Uncle, I finally see you!"
Qiu Yuan looked him up and down: clean appearance, handsome haircut, and a brand-name tracksuit with the tag still attached. If it weren't for the face, he would never have believed this was the mud-covered boy from the mountains.
"You... you... your clothes..."
Before he could finish, a voice reached his ear:
"Are you Qiu Yuan?"
He followed the sound to the doorway, where a man and a woman appeared. The man was dressed fashionably, with an exceptional demeanor, young, but exuding a sense of awe. The woman was blonde and blue-eyed, extremely beautiful, but her eyes were cold, staring at him like a man-eating tiger.
Qiu Yuan was unsure of their identity and hesitantly asked,
"Who are you..."
Linda took out the white jade token and tossed it to him. "Do you remember this thing?"
Qiu Yuan caught the token, glanced at it, and instantly froze.
"The Sect Leader's token? How is this possible?"
"How... how did it get into your hands?"
Linda merely offered a slight smile and turned to walk into the house.
Qiu Yuan disregarded everything else and quickly followed her inside.
"Miss, Miss, who are you? Why do you have the white jade token?"
Linda said coldly,
"Are you a disciple of the Spirit Void Sect?"
Qiu Yuan gave a bitter smile. "There's no Spirit Void Sect anymore. The Spirit Void Sect has been gone for a long time."
"How did it disappear?"
"Miss, shouldn't you tell me your background first?"
"What? You doubt me?"
Qiu Yuan shook his head.
"Judging by your appearance, you must be a foreigner. I think you must have a relationship with Lingxu Zi."
"That's right. He is my Master."
"No wonder."
Qiu Yuan placed the white jade token on the table. "How is the Old Master doing?"
"Very well."
Qiu Yuan murmured a response, his expression indifferent. It was clear he was only asking out of courtesy and wasn't truly concerned about Lingxu Zi's well-being. "Do you mind if I ask one more question? What are you doing here?"
"I want to see the current Sect Leader of the Spirit Void Sect."
"The Spirit Void Sect has no Sect Leader." He paused, sighing. "Since you are Lingxu Zi's disciple, I won't hide it from you. Aside from Jiu outside, there are no other disciples left in the Spirit Void Sect."
Linda was confused. "Master told me the Spirit Void Sect had hundreds of disciples. How can there be none left?"
"That was twenty years ago."
"Ever since Lingxu Zi fled overseas, the Spirit Void Sect declined. The disciples either fled or scattered. Within a few years, only Jiu's father, Zhang Hanqing, remained. After his death, he entrusted the child to me. Now, only Jiu is left of the Spirit Void Sect."
"How could this happen?"
"Lingxu Zi committed a crime, and the sect was besieged by various factions. Naturally, it fell into decline."
His calm words held little emotion. It was clear he didn't have much affection for the Spirit Void Sect.
Linda was speechless. She had been prepared to scold him, but the words caught in her throat. Qiu Yuan was thirty-eight this year, and twenty years ago, he was just a young man. It was commendable that he adopted the unrelated Jiu. What more could she expect of him?
Qiu Yuan continued,
"Miss, if possible, please take Jiu away. I simply cannot afford to raise him anymore."
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