**The Whispering Bones**

Knock, knock, knock. A persistent rapping sounded.

“Who is it?” White Lotus, the Holy Maiden of the White Bone Way, drew open the door to her chamber. Initially, she saw only a pair of unsettlingly white eyes. Blinking, she discerned the face from which they stared. “Second Elder, to what noble business do I owe this visit?”

“Can an old man not simply come to greet the Holy Maiden?” The Second Elder chuckled, a sound that should have been benevolent from his aged face, but which was rendered sinister by the unnervingly all-white eyes. “The Holy Maiden’s cultivation advances by leaps and bounds. Truly, it is a blessing to our White Bone Way.”

“Where? Elder, you are the white jade pillar upholding this sect’s sky, the purple gold beam supporting the sea.” White Lotus demurred gracefully.

“Haha. Do you not plan to invite this old man to sit?”

“This…” White Lotus’s eyes flickered with a hint of difficulty. “I am but a maiden, after all. It is… inconvenient.”

“This old man watched the Holy Maiden grow from a child. You are like a daughter to me. What inconvenience could there be?” Without further ado, the Second Elder squeezed into the room. He glanced left and right, his gaze seemingly casual, and then asked, “Holy Maiden, why do you still wear a night veil in your own chamber within the sect?”

White Lotus blinked again. “Naturally beautiful, I must needs hide my radiance and nurture my obscurity.”

“Hahahahaha…” The Second Elder’s laughter boomed, then abruptly ceased. “Ouyang has returned. I can sense his presence.”

“This is indeed good news! It is not in vain that we exhausted our efforts and sacrificed so many dark pawns to cover for him all this way. Why has the Great Elder not yet appeared?”

“Who can fathom his thoughts?”

“If even you cannot guess, how could I possibly know?”

“Is it that you do not know, or that you do not wish to know?”

“This maiden has no need to know.” White Lotus smiled charmingly. “Matters of great import within the sect require the Elders to decide. I shall simply await news.”

The Second Elder held her gaze for a deep moment before rising to depart. Just as he stepped through the doorway, he paused. “Holy Maiden, why are you so agreeable today?”

White Lotus giggled, a melodious sound. “Look at you speak. When have I ever been disagreeable? Even my occasional temper is for the greater matters of this sect, is it not?”

Finally, the Second Elder left, the oppressive feeling that had permeated the room seemingly blocked by the closed door.

……

“Perhaps this was the final probe.” White Lotus murmured softly. She sat in silence for a while, ensuring that no one else would come to disturb her. Only then did she place an array plate and pull open her wardrobe. She dragged out the tightly shut-eyed Jiang Wang and tossed him onto the bed.

At this moment, Jiang Wang’s five senses were sealed. This was the only way to avoid the scrutiny of those unnervingly white eyes.

White Lotus formed a hand seal, lifting the five-senses seal.

Jiang Wang jolted awake, his gaze fixed on White Lotus. His hand instinctively rested on his sword, but he did not speak. Although his five senses had been sealed, preventing him from hearing the conversation between White Lotus and the Second Elder, the emptiness allowed his mind to calm and reflect on the day’s events.

“Ask whatever you wish.” White Lotus walked to the table and seated herself directly.

“You saved me again,” Jiang Wang said, his voice strained.

White Lotus smiled. “Why mention such trifles?”

“This is the White Bone Way’s old nest. Are you one of their people?” Jiang Wang pressed.

“We are all people of the Dao Gate,” White Lotus replied.

Knowing that arguing over whether the White Bone Way constituted orthodox Dao Gate was pointless, Jiang Wang reiterated, “I only ask, are you or are you not a person of the White Bone Way?”

“Not ‘me’.” White Lotus extended a jade finger and pointed at Jiang Wang. “It is ‘we’.”

“What does that mean?”

“I originally did not wish to tell you so soon, because your ‘metamorphosis’ is not yet complete,” White Lotus sighed. “But since you have appeared here tonight, you will not give up until you have an answer, correct?”

Jiang Wang did not respond to her question, but instead asked, “So Fang He Ling’s arrival at Bull Head Mountain today was a trap? Who was it targeting?”

“An idle move by the White Bone Messenger, not specifically targeting anyone. It was simply that no matter who followed Fang He Ling tonight, they were to die here. In any case, we are soon abandoning this place. You and that Jicingsi dark operative simply happened to meet.”

The White Bone Way would soon leave Bull Head Mountain. Jiang Wang keenly registered this information, but he set it aside for the moment. He turned back to his previous questions. “What does ‘metamorphosis’ mean? What do you mean by ‘we’?”

“The white bone lotus flower on your back, the Flesh Birth Soul Return technique you suddenly mastered… Are these not enough for you to make an association?”

“You have always understood me well. Perhaps these are all your machinations. The white bone lotus flower could have been tattooed while I was in a coma, and you could have used some method to pass on the Flesh Birth Soul Return technique… It is impossible for me to be related to the White Bone Way!”

“I do not possess the divine ability to modify memories.” White Lotus suddenly chuckled. “However, I have indeed paid close attention to you, ever since you were a beggar…”

Jiang Wang was suddenly shaken! To escape Fang Peng Ju’s pursuit, he had transformed into a beggar, barely surviving in Huan Zhen View. That was even before he opened his meridians. White Lotus had been observing him even then?

White Lotus quickly explained, “Originally, all of you beggars who settled in Huan Zhen View were simply completing a selection under our guidance.” Her voice grew distant, “Huan Zhen View is a very meaningful place, and also a place chosen by the Honored God. As early as when Zuo Guang Lie died in battle, I became curious. So many beggars died, yet why were you the only one to survive? Could it have been mere coincidence? Why, after you returned to the Dao Academy, did your cultivation immediately advance a thousand miles a day? Presumably, you have also noticed, have you not? After opening your meridians, your cultivation speed surpassed that of ordinary people. Most importantly, you can devour the White Bone Way’s seed, you can perfectly adapt to the White Bone Way’s secret techniques, you possess the Flesh Birth Soul Return technique! You are not ordinary. You are a child of the White Bone Way!”

White Lotus finally concluded, “Later, I understood why you appeared in Huan Zhen View. It was precisely the Honored God’s arrangement.”

“No, that’s not right!” Jiang Wang shook his head vehemently. He believed his cultivation stemmed from the Tai Xu Illusion Realm, fundamentally unrelated to being a ‘White Bone Way child’. But the Tai Xu Illusion Realm was his greatest secret, one he could not reveal in argument.

“Perhaps your mouth says it is not right, yet in your heart, you weep in pain.”

“What ‘Way child’!” Jiang Wang took a step back. “I said, it is impossible for me to forgive the White Bone Way’s actions. It is also impossible for me to be in league with you all. We are not of the same path!”

“That is because you have not yet clearly seen the truth of this world, not thoroughly wiped away your hypocrisy, not found your true self.”

“I know perfectly well who I am. I have no need of your reminders.” Jiang Wang attempted to control his mind, to allow himself to think calmly. “You mentioned a White Bone Way seed?” he asked.

“It is a very precious thing. I too only possessed one. It can absorb the nutrients of the one it parasitizes to grow, and ultimately perfectly control the host. But it was unexpectedly devoured by you… So you see, the seed could of course not take effect on a Way child!”

Jiang Wang looked at her coldly. “You tried to parasitize me?”

A rare hint of apology flickered in White Lotus’s eyes. “At that time, we were not yet acquainted…”

“We are not acquainted now either, and you make me feel very strange!” Jiang Wang said icily. “There is no need to say more! I absolutely do not believe I am some White Bone Way child. Even if it were true, I would absolutely not be in league with you all, this group of human-faced beasts!”

The phrase “even if”, while expressing his resolve, also revealed a tremor of doubt.

White Lotus did not press this point, but instead countered, “Is it raising fierce beasts and disregarding the deaths of ordinary people that constitutes human-faced beasts? Or is it extracting the Dao Pulse of the water race to refine meridian-opening pills that constitutes human-faced beasts?”

“Do not think to use words to shake my Dao heart!” Jiang Wang’s voice was firm, as if anything less would be insufficient to withstand the pressure he felt. He took a deep breath, reaffirming his resolve. “White Lotus, since our paths diverge, let us part ways. I said, my life was saved by you. You can take it back now.”

White Lotus’s eyes were beautiful, filled with a mixture of anger and resentment, like rippling autumn waters. She simply gazed at Jiang Wang with those eyes.

“How could I bear to kill you?” Her voice softened, a gentle murmur. “However, if you cooperate, I can wipe away your memory of tonight. Simply treat it as if nothing happened. Wait until you are thoroughly awakened, and then you will remember what occurred tonight.”

“Burying one’s head in the sand?”

“No, merely that the time is not yet ripe.”

White Lotus rose and leaned closer. Before Jiang Wang could react, she pressed him down onto the bed, holding him in place. “Look into my eyes,” she said. “I do not possess the divine ability to manipulate memory. I will simply use a secret technique to temporarily seal this short segment of memory. Therefore, you must open your mind and fully cooperate. If there is any accident, the slightest mishap could lead to madness, and the gravest to your soul being scattered.”

Jiang Wang understood clearly. This was the best possible choice. Tonight, he had mistakenly entered Bull Head Mountain, stepping into a nest of thieves. He should, by all rights, have met his end. White Lotus’s various interventions had already saved his life. But no matter how they discussed it, it was impossible for her to allow him to carry the secrets of the White Bone Way back to Feng Lin City. And he, rather than die, would not be in league with the White Bone Way. Now, he could temporarily delay the choice he was forced to make and avoid immediate death.

Jiang Wang fully opened his mind, allowing his consciousness to be submerged by countless lotus petals. He felt a sense of warmth, of inclusion, and of attachment. Then, in this boundless sea of lotus petals, he saw a lotus bud drifting towards him. It grew taller and taller, until it was level with Jiang Wang’s gaze. Then the lotus bloomed. At its center were neither stamens nor lotus seeds. Instead… there was a black candle!

……

……

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