Chapter 58: The Fourth Scripture Scroll, Courage of the Noble Gentleman!

"Xu Bingzheng's plan failed." Wang Ping confirmed this once more with his spiritual sense. Because of Lin Sheng's resolution, the resentment and baleful qi were still a long way from birthing a demonic entity.

However, as long as the arrangements here remained unbroken, the Lin Family Mansion would forever be a haunted estate. Given enough time, if more people wandered inside by mistake, failed to find their way out, and ultimately died trapped within with their grievances, the accumulated resentment and baleful qi would still run the risk of birthing a demonic entity.

To settle this once and for all, he had to dismantle the mansion's setup.

"An abnormal art, huh."

Wang Ping looked around before his spiritual sense finally settled on Lin Sheng's corpse. "This is it. The core of the entire mansion, the gathering point of the resentment and baleful qi."

To return everything to normal, the only way was to completely destroy Lin Sheng's corpse, because the resentment and baleful qi in this place all stemmed from him.

"But... it won't be that easy."

Wang Ping frowned slightly. The resentment and baleful qi swirling around Lin Sheng not only accelerated the birth of the demonic entity but also acted as a crucial barrier protecting his physical body.

A mere paper substitute couldn't break through this barrier.

'Should I bring my true body over?'

Wang Ping shook his head. Resentment and baleful qi were not tangible things. He wasn't optimistic about the effect martial arts would have against them. Most likely, only magic would work.

'But my cultivation is too low.'

Of the four cultivation traits of the Tribulation Transcending First Layer, he had only cultivated Telepathic Spiritual Perception and Flawless True Body. He still had no clue how to achieve Cosmic Orbit Respiration.

Borrowing Qi to Manifest Magic was even further out of reach.

Therefore, even if he cast Soul Seizing, there was a high chance it wouldn't shake the mansion's resentment and baleful qi, let alone destroy the corpse protected beneath it...

"...Hmm?"

The next second, Wang Ping looked down at Lin Sheng's corpse right in front of him. Then, he turned to glance at the Swallow-Feather Saber that had been sheathed after serving as a makeshift door bolt.

Wang Ping had read the file on Lin Sheng before coming here, and it contained a record regarding this Swallow-Feather Saber. The Lin Family had served as bailiffs in Longxing County for generations. It was said that their ancestor was once a lay disciple of Shenlong Temple, and this saber was gifted by the temple's martial monks. Its name was Upholding Righteousness.

Lin Sheng must have used it to carve the words inside the room earlier.

Judging by the carvings, this was undoubtedly a precious saber forged from exceptional materials, capable of slicing through iron as if it were mud... Thinking of this, Wang Ping tentatively reached out toward it.

'Taiping Sutra!'

In an instant, the Swallow-Feather Saber vanished from Wang Ping's hand. Meanwhile, inside the Great Peace Mortuary, the towering tome flipped to a brand-new page.

The fourth scripture scroll!

"...The will of heaven."

Wang Ping sighed in amazement. He turned and walked toward the corpse in the center of the room, lightly placing his hand on Lin Sheng's shoulder before silently reciting in his heart:

'Taiping Sutra, tally it up.'

The following second, an unparalleled might descended from the depths of the void. Ignoring the barrier of resentment and baleful qi, it swept up Lin Sheng's corpse and vanished on the spot.

Immediately after, Wang Ping's consciousness sank into the Great Peace Mortuary. His gaze fell upon the towering tome, watching a faint light burst from the newly born scripture scroll.

Scenes began to emerge one after another.

In the vision, he saw a heroic-looking youth practicing with a saber and spear in a spacious courtyard. Judging by his appearance, it was Lin Sheng during his childhood.

Under the scorching midday sun, he trained until he was drenched in sweat, yet he remained full of vigor.

Behind him stood a stern-faced middle-aged man—likely his father—who occasionally voiced instructions to correct Lin Sheng's movements.

After a long while, the middle-aged man finally spoke in a deep voice:

"That's enough. Take a break."

Before the words even faded, Lin Sheng plopped down onto the ground. While panting, he looked at the middle-aged man with anticipation. "Dad, can I touch it now?"

"You kid." Hearing this, the middle-aged man didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He reached down, unfastened the saber at his waist, and tossed it into Lin Sheng's lap. "Take it, and be careful. This was passed down from your great-grandfather. Its edge can blow away hair and snap strands, its sharpness can slice iron like mud. It is a top-tier Ordinary Weapon."

"Thanks, Dad!" Lin Sheng hugged the saber, cheering with joy.

The middle-aged man was in a talkative mood now and continued, "Back then, your great-grandfather brought this precious saber out from the Buddhist Shenlong Temple."

"In those days, lay disciples who were granted a saber like this were few and far between."

"Your great-grandfather's martial arts actually weren't worthy of this saber. However, his master at the time believed he had an upright and steadfast nature, that he possessed a heart dedicated to upholding righteousness."

"Only then was an exception made to bestow it upon him."

"Therefore, the name of this saber is Upholding Righteousness. The meaning is a hope that the wielder will always act in upholding righteousness and adhering to justice, unwavering in their resolve."

"I know this one!" The young Lin Sheng immediately raised his hand and exclaimed excitedly, "This is our Lin Family's ancestral motto. I've seen this phrase in the ancestral hall."

"That's right."

The middle-aged man gave a slight nod. "This saber and the ancestral motto have been passed down ever since. It's a pity your old man's martial arts are lacking, and we don't have an Internal Force inheritance."

"Otherwise, with the materials used to forge Upholding Righteousness, let alone a mere Ordinary Weapon, it could easily be a Sharp Weapon or even go a step further to become a Famous Treasure."

Speaking to this point, the middle-aged man let out a melancholic sigh. Seeing this, Lin Sheng immediately patted his chest and declared loudly, "Don't worry, Dad! From now on, I will practice martial arts diligently and become the most amazing bailiff in the county seat. I'll glorify the name of Upholding Righteousness and make it a Famous Treasure!"

"Then I will be looking forward to it."

The middle-aged man smiled and ruffled Lin Sheng's hair before leading him inside. The father and son walked shoulder to shoulder, and the vision paused at this frame.

The next second, the scene shifted.

It was an ancestral hall. There was one more memorial tablet on the altar, and Lin Sheng was dressed in mourning clothes with the saber strapped to his waist, kowtowing heavily toward the tablet.

His father had died in the line of duty.

The reason was a bandit suppression operation. The various county yamens of Changle Commandery had dispatched a joint force in an attempt to annihilate the commandery's number one bandit king. Instead, they fell into a trap and suffered a crushing defeat.

Following the rules of the County Yamen, Lin Sheng naturally took over his father's position, enlisted as a bailiff, and inherited the ancestral Upholding Righteousness.

At that time, he was determined never to fail the ancestral motto of upholding righteousness and adhering to justice.

However, reality struck him head-on.

"Killing the innocent to claim merit, slaughtering the villagers outside the city... Human lives are of supreme importance, yet you call this a trivial matter?"

"You seem to have misunderstood something."

In the vision, Wang Ping saw the burning Front Village, along with Chen Haoyan standing before Lin Sheng.

"Human lives being of supreme importance refers to the people living within the county seat. The wealthy clans, the scholars. As for those black-headed commoners outside the city... do they even count as human?"

Ideals and reality clashed violently in this moment.

And after days of agonizing struggle, Lin Sheng chose to resist. He attempted to report up the chain of command, informing the magistrate Xu Bingzheng about the actions of Chief Constable Chen Haoyan.

...The result was self-evident.

Investigation, suspension, confinement at home. The inexperienced young man went through massive ups and downs in just a few short months, thoroughly seeing the true face of Longxing County.

Thus, he couldn't help but question:

'Was Father like this too?'

He had only been a bailiff for a few months and had already seen so much filth. His father had served for over a decade—how much had he seen, or even done?

Was the ancestral motto of Upholding Righteousness nothing but empty words?

Right at that time, Xu Bingzheng arrived.

What followed was everything Wang Ping had investigated. Lin Sheng was implanted with the abnormal art, turning into a hotbed to incubate a demonic entity, struggling amidst starvation and cannibalism.

"Benefactor, you don't need to torture yourself like this."

Li An's voice rang out from the vision.

"I am not torturing myself."

This was the first time Wang Ping truly heard Lin Sheng's voice. It was very weak, very young, yet carried a deep tone of enduring pain. "I am merely holding on."

"What happened with Pang Yue is already beyond saving."

"However, you can still be saved. Although you killed someone, the sin does not lie with you, but with the one who orchestrated all of this. You should strive to survive."

"But we can't get out."

Li An's voice carried a sense of collapse. "The food will run out eventually, and death is only a matter of time. Since that's the case, we might as well do something that brings us relief."

Seeing this scene, Wang Ping immediately understood. The truth was indeed somewhat different from Li An's description. He might have truly hated the scammer Pang Yue to the bone, but he didn't necessarily have the courage to murder. The reason he committed the killing was mostly a desperate choice, acting recklessly after realizing he was trapped in a dead end.

This was also the exact effect Xu Bingzheng wanted to achieve.

At that moment, what Li An truly wanted to ask, what he truly wanted to say, wasn't those words of collapse, but a simpler, purer question:

'Why hold on?'

The reason to stick to one's bottom line and not give up on oneself, even when in a desperate situation.

"There is no why."

In the vision, Lin Sheng responded softly:

"I am a bailiff of Longxing County. Having put on this official uniform, if even I cannot uphold the principles of justice in this world, who else will?"

Though he said this, a grave mistake had long been forged. He had only avoided taking the very worst step, yet failed to put a stop to everything from the beginning.

'Upholding righteousness and adhering to justice... I'm sorry, Father. I've disappointed you...'

At this point, the vision shattered with a boom.

Wang Ping snapped back to reality. Standing before the fourth scripture scroll, he saw that every stroke of the writing on it seemed as if carved by a knife and chiseled by an ax, identical to Lin Sheng's handwriting.

[Volume Four: Courage of the Noble Gentleman]

[Where righteousness lies, one does not bow to power, nor heed personal gain. Even if the whole nation offers itself, one's gaze remains unchanged. Valuing death over abandoning righteousness without yielding—this is the Courage of the Noble Gentleman!]

The effect of this scripture scroll was incredibly pure.

"I can only use this scripture scroll when my actions align with the principle of upholding righteousness and adhering to justice."

"And once the scroll is activated, apart from a decisive, fatal wound, no injury can impede my movements or affect my condition."

What was a decisive, fatal wound?

In the judgment of the Courage of the Noble Gentleman, it meant having his head blown off. In other words, unless his head was completely crushed by someone, he was unkillable.

Furthermore, he would remain in his peak condition the entire time!

The next second, the world spun.

Wang Ping's consciousness returned from the Great Peace Mortuary. At almost the same time, having lost Lin Sheng's corpse as its core, the resentment and baleful qi within the mansion disintegrated.

Sunlight pierced through the dark clouds, spilling into the courtyard.

"Rumble!"

The haunted mansion shattered in response.

...

With the retreat of the baleful qi, the previously tightly shut Lin Family Mansion lost its supernatural aura. The talisman seals pasted on its doors also peeled off and fell to the ground.

Wang Ping walked out of the mansion with Li An following behind him. Facing the sun he hadn't seen for so long, Li An felt unaccustomed and couldn't help raising a hand to block the glare. Yet a second later, he realized what he was doing and actively lowered his hand, bathing himself in the sunlight to his heart's content. By the time he regained his senses, his face was already covered in tears.

"Live your life well."

Seeing this, Wang Ping patted his shoulder. "No matter what, your life was saved by Lin Sheng risking everything. Staying alive is the best way you can repay him."

"I understand," Li An choked out, nodding.

However, looking at the young man who, despite being emaciated, was otherwise fine, Wang Ping suddenly frowned as a doubt surfaced in his mind.

"Wait... what have you been eating all this time?"

The people in the other rooms had all been eaten by Lin Sheng, and the mansion had no other food reserves. Since that was the case, even if Li An hadn't been killed, he should have starved to death!

For a split second, Wang Ping almost had a stress reaction.

However, facing his question, Li An didn't show any abnormality. Instead, he revealed a similarly confused expression. "I don't know. I asked the benefactor too."

"But he didn't tell me."

"Even though I haven't eaten anything, I mysteriously have energy and don't feel hungry... Maybe I'm just lucky to be alive, or maybe it's because I'm used to starving?"

How could that be possible?

Wang Ping shook his head. He turned to look at the Lin Family Mansion again. With the disappearance of the baleful qi, his spiritual sense could gradually capture the profound mechanisms within.

'Flesh and blood as the core, strength and weakness dictating the hierarchy.'

'The strong can feed on the flesh of the weak at will to fortify their physique. Moreover, as time passes, this feeding can even be conducted across empty space.'

At this moment, Wang Ping saw the sheer malice in Xu Bingzheng's scheme. An uncontrollable look of disgust washed over his face. After all, according to this setup, if Lin Sheng had entertained the thought of eating a person for even a fraction of a second during his final moments, he could have effortlessly devoured Li An's flesh from a distance, completely falling into depravity thereafter.

'Fortunately, Lin Sheng seemed to have realized this as well.'

'That was why he locked himself in the room and broke his own limbs... Right, he crippled his own martial arts, knocking himself down from his original position as the strong!'

After that, the "strong" within the mansion became Li An.

'And every time Li An felt hungry and thought of Lin Sheng's previous cannibalistic actions, breeding similar thoughts, he would devour Lin Sheng's flesh across space!'

This was the real reason he was able to survive.

Because without him knowing, Lin Sheng had dismantled his own flesh and blood piece by piece to feed him. That was how he had survived without eating or drinking!

"...So that's how it is."

After a moment of silence, Wang Ping waved his hand and looked at Li An. "I didn't expect you to endure so well. Since that's the case, go have a good meal once you get back."

Lin Sheng had taken this secret to his grave.

Given that, Wang Ping naturally wouldn't blabber about it. There was no need to burden Li An, who had just barely escaped with his life, with such a devastatingly heavy weight.

'But speaking of which, is this the abnormal art of Great Shun?'

Wang Ping's heart was filled with disgust.

After all, compared to the magic of the Immortal Gate, although Great Shun's abnormal art possessed mystical properties, the process was akin to drinking blood and eating raw meat. It was cruel, primitive, and completely inefficient.

To give the simplest example, if it were a matter of consuming people, his own Life-Stealing Thief was much more elegant. It was bloodless from start to finish and even came with the visual effects of immortal light.

Following that, Wang Ping had the paper substitute escort Li An home.

Meanwhile, inside the County Yamen, Wang Ping's true body opened his eyes and let out a long breath. In that single cycle of breathing, a full thirteen styles of the Art of War fused seamlessly into one.

Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong!

Feeling the vajra divine power surging through his body, along with a promise worth a thousand gold being relit within the Great Peace Mortuary, a look of satisfaction surfaced on Wang Ping's face.

"I've finally paid it all back!"

My peerless debt talent has returned!

"The boost that Flawless True Body gives to martial arts cultivation speed is even higher than I imagined. Using a trait meant for immortal cultivation to practice martial arts is indeed an overwhelming advantage."

As Wang Ping examined himself, he made calculations in his heart.

Of the three goals he had set previously, he had already accomplished two.

However, the life-and-death crisis he had anticipated had not yet appeared. This made him wonder if he had been jumping at shadows and acting overly cautious.

"I have absolutely no clue."

Thinking of this, Wang Ping couldn't help but scratch his head—only for his hand, reaching above his neck, to grasp empty air. He felt absolutely nothing.

"...Huh?"

Instantly, the world spun.

His line of sight plummeted violently from a height before turning pitch black. Wang Ping's thoughts ground to a sudden halt, leaving only the echoing thud of a heavy object hitting the ground ringing in his ears.

"Thump!"