Chapter 3: The Legacy of the Heavenly Master

  Xiao Yu...

  ……………….

  The Wei army hired over a dozen villagers from nearby villages to help them search for Xiao Yu in the cornfields.

  Early in the morning, Xiao Yu woke up from his coma and faintly heard Wei Jun calling him. He immediately shouted towards the entrance of the cave: "Jun-ge, I'm here..."

  "Brother Jun, I'm over here......"

  "Over there, from over there came out......" A faint conversation sound was heard from above.

  Hearing the conversation coming from not far away, Xiao Yu finally felt at ease. After all, who would love to stay in this dark and damp hole? It wasn't until then that Xiao Yu had a chance to take stock of the hole. With the remaining sunlight, Xiao Yu could vaguely make out that the hole was about 40 square meters in size, with brick and stone walls on all sides. Xiao Yu only then noticed the "table" under his feet that he had crushed. Xiao Yu flipped over the tabletop and found a skull underneath, which gave him a big fright.

  After careful observation by Xiao Yu, he finally discovered that what had crushed him was not a table, but a somewhat rotten coffin. Xiao Yu recalled that he had lain on the coffin in the tomb for a day, and his body hair stood on end, his heart felt a wave of dizziness.

  In this tomb, except for the skull and three things in his wooden box, there was nothing else. Xiao Yu looked at the small hole above his head and thought to himself: "This is probably the legendary thief's hole! Zhongnan Province's Yunfeng City is indeed an ancient capital of several dynasties, with ancient tombs hidden even in ordinary soil."

  "Xiao Yu, where are you? ...... " Wei Jun's voice echoed at the entrance of the cave.

  "Brother Jun, I'm over here!" Xiao Yu hastily replied from within the ancient tomb.

  "Xiao Yu? Are you in there?" At this time, a head stretched out from the entrance of the cave and shouted into the ancient tomb.

  "Yes, Brother Wei, I'm here! See me?" Xiao Yu looked at the cave entrance and excitedly waved his hand upwards.

  "I see you, wait a minute, I'll find a rope to pull you up!" Wei Jun heard Xiao Yu's shout, and his tired face showed a surprised expression.

  Wei Jun, who had not slept all night, suddenly shook off his fatigue and quickly called the villagers he had hired from nearby. At this moment, Wei Jun's face was tense, Xiao You was after all someone he had asked for help, and he had also been to Xiao You's home, knew Xiao You's mother, and knew that Xiao You was her only hope, if something happened to Xiao You, he really didn't know how to explain it to his mother.

  The Wei army brought people to pull Xiao Yu out of the pit, and when they saw Xiao Yu covered in mud, the wound on his head was blocked with a blood-soaked bandage, but there were dark red bloodstains on his head and face after the blood had coagulated. The Wei army didn't care about the dirt on Xiao Yu's body, and hugged him with red eyes, saying: "Good brother! Brother owes you an apology!"

  Xiao Yu had lost a lot of blood and hadn't eaten anything all night, so he was already exhausted. When Wei's army gave him a tight hug, everything went black before his eyes, and with great effort, he managed to force out a smile and said: "Brother Jun, find me something to eat, damn it, I'm starving." After that, he fainted.

  ……..

  Xiao Yu felt that he had entered a mysterious space, with darkness all around. In the center of the space floated three objects: a large pen, a book, and a wooden sword, all outlined by dense, glowing lines. Looking at these three things, Xiao Yu was stunned - weren't they the same three items he had bought from the two earth mice? The three glowing objects suddenly moved, shining and circling each other, drawing out the image of a tall, majestic man. The man held a pen in his right hand and a book in his left, with a long, precious sword slung diagonally at his waist.

  Although it was just a vague outline, it seemed lifelike. As he looked at the figure, a name suddenly appeared in Xiao Yu's mind - 'Zhong Kui?'

  Zhong Kui has been reading the book "The Legend of Zhong Kui" recently. Zhong Kui: "A saint who grants blessings and peace in Chinese folklore, born in Chang'an at the foot of Mount Zhongnan during the Tang Dynasty, with a leopard-like head, ringed eyes, iron face, and curly whiskers, his appearance is extremely ugly; However, he is a talented person who excels in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, history, medicine, and divination. He is straightforward and fearless of evil spirits. In the year Tang Xuanzong ascended to the throne (Tang Xiantian Yuan Year, 8th month, 4th day, September 9, 712), he went to Chang'an to take the imperial examination. Zhong Kui wrote "Waiting for a Banquet in Yingzhou" in five chapters and was praised by the chief examiner as a "prodigy", ranking first among the tribute scholars. However, during the palace examination, the treacherous minister Lu Chui judged him based on his appearance and slandered him, causing Zhong Kui to fail to become the top scholar. In anger, Zhong Kui smashed his head against the pillar of the hall and died, shocking the imperial court. The emperor posthumously awarded him the title of Top Scholar and gave him a grand funeral. According to legend, Emperor Tang Minghuang dreamed that a small ghost stole Yang Guifei's purple sachet and Tang Minghuang's jade flute and ran around the palace. At this time, a big ghost caught the small ghost and ate it. The big ghost was extremely ugly, wearing a broken hat, blue robe, horn-shaped belt, and court boots. He claimed to be a scholar from Mount Zhongnan who failed the imperial examination and died after smashing his head against the steps. He told Emperor Tang Minghuang: "I swear to eliminate all evil spirits in the world for Your Majesty."

  As if knowing what Xiao Yu was thinking, the faint shadow outlined by the texture nodded almost imperceptibly, and a voice directly imprinted on Xiao Yu's mind: "Yes, just like you thought, I am that Zhong Kui".

  Xiao Yu's heart skipped a beat: "Damn, is this for real? He actually knows what I'm thinking?"

  The faint shadow in the air seemed to reveal a hint of a smile, and the voice was directly imprinted on his mind: "This is your sea of consciousness, and I am now just a wisp of true spirit hiding in these three magical artifacts. These three magical artifacts have recognized you as their master, but they are more powerful than you, so I can know your thoughts, of course, only your current thoughts. Once you leave the sea of consciousness, I won't be able to know your thoughts anymore."

  He paused for a moment, as if waiting for Xiao Yu to digest his words, before continuing: "I failed to transcend the calamity in the last heavenly tribulation, leaving only a strand of my true spirit stored within this artifact. I've been waiting for someone with the right fate to inherit my legacy. Now, after hundreds of years, my remaining true spirit is about to dissipate. Fortunately, I've encountered you. I hope you can inherit my legacy and eradicate all the evil creatures in the world!!!"

  After finishing this, the illusory shadow dispersed with a loud noise and disappeared. A vast amount of information flooded into Xiao Yu's mind, including chess, books, paintings, medical skills, divination, cultivation techniques, and so on. Zhong Wei left all his life experiences to Xiao Yu.

  The memory of a thousand years was too overwhelming, Xiao Yu couldn't withstand the impact and fainted...

  …………..

  Xiao Yu opened his eyes, already the second day's early morning, lying in Yunfeng City People's Hospital ordinary ward, staring blankly at the mottled tree shadows on the windowsill.

  Everything seems like it's from another world.

  Yesterday evening, due to the large amount of information left by Zhong Wei, even after Xiao Ye woke up, he almost had a memory disorder. However, relying on his firm willpower, after several hours of effort, he slowly sorted out Zhong Wei's legacy and made it a part of his own memories.

  Wei Jun walked in from outside with a water jug, saw Xiao Yu had woken up and was sitting on the bed staring blankly, quickly put down the water jug and hugged Xiao Yu, excitedly saying: "Xiao Yu, you little scamp finally woke up, I was worried to death!"

  Xiao You regained his composure and looked at the Wei soldier who had brought in the water jug, a faint smile playing on his lips as he said, "Brother Jun, sorry to have worried you."