Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
At the Captivity Island in the Void Ocean…
A private Specter Ship sailed towards the island from afar. A figure jumped off the ship as it came closer to the shore and then proceeded to stow the Specter Ship.
“I guess it’s here,” Liu Chai mumbled, after taking a glance at the map to reaffirm their location.
This island was totally different from the islands that Liu Chai had explored before, as it seemed completely barren. There were no trees, the soil was black, and huge carbonized rocks stood everywhere, seemingly rather desolate.
After scanning around, a castle built with black stones on the mountaintop caught Liu Chai’s eye in a flash.
According to what Tong Gua had said, the eccentric Fistfighting Master seemed to be living in this castle. Thus, Liu Chai hurriedly headed for the castle.
The island seemed rather peculiar, showing absolutely no signs of life. There were no beasts along the way as well. Liu Chai easily reached the castle on the mountaintop without hindrance.
The castle doors were wide open. Liu Chai was about to step into the castle, when he realized that there was a skeleton sitting by the castle doors. There were a few lines of words written on the skull.
Liu Chai could not understand the characters. However, with the help of the artifact’s analyzing ability, the squiggled words gradually turned comprehensible.
……
One day, I died.
Those who loved me missed me dearly, while those who hate me were in high spirits.
On the third day after my death, my corpse was buried deep under the ground. Those who hated me looked at my grave and laughed, while those who loved me did not dare to look as they shed their tears.
Three years later, my body had already decayed. My grave was exposed to wind and rain. Those who hated me occasionally mentioned me after tea, while those who loved me used silent tears to reminisce about me late at night.
A hundred years later, my body was no longer there, leaving only my skeleton. Those who hated me vaguely remembered my name but had forgotten my face, while those who loved me had a short silence when they reminisced about me. However, everything started to fade away.
A thousand years later, my grave was deserted. Those who hated me had forgotten about me, while those who loved me, had also lost their memories about me.
I had become a complete nobody to this world.
I worked diligently all my life, yet I could not bring anything from this world along with me. I was persistent throughout my life, yet I could not bring along any vanity or admiration with me. I wanted to cry, yet I could not make a sound; I wanted to repent, yet it was too late!
Love, hatred, relationships, and revenge. They would no longer serve any purpose when facing death. Many years later, they would all be buried under the ground.
……
Liu Chai felt heartbroken reading those words.
Those words seemed to have a type of power. It was as if there was a hoarse voice narrating his story in the past, having an effect on Liu Chai’s emotions.
Liu Chai sighed after looking at the skeleton. Then, he stood up straight and walked into the castle.
At that very moment, a black ray flashed through the eyes of the skull. Then, it disappeared from where it was, and reappeared in front of Liu Chai’s eyes, startling him.
“Hello, I’m here to look for someone…”
The skeleton merely remained silent and stared fixedly at Liu Chai. The soul flame in its skull was burning weakly.
Liu Chai felt rather uneasy. He was about to walk around it and make his way in, but the skeleton blocked his path again.
“He… is… already dead…” a hoarse voice sounded in Liu Chai’s mind.
Liu Chai was stunned to hear the voice and unconsciously asked, “The Fistfighting Master is dead?”
The skeleton nodded slightly.
Liu Chai was dumbfounded to hear the sudden news. He originally thought he would gain something through his visit here, but unexpectedly, the Fistfighting Master was already dead.
He lifted his head to take another look at the castle, feeling unsatisfied.
Thus, he asked, “Can I have a look inside?”
The skeleton did not reply. Suddenly, the soul fire in its skull blazed furiously, as it grabbed Liu Chai’s right hand.
Liu Chai used his left hand to punch the skeleton’s jaw in reflex. However, the punch did not cause any damage to the skeleton. Instead, a minus three sign appeared on top of its head in red.
“The heart of a warrior… haha… a talented young one indeed.”
“What do you mean by the heart of a warrior? Let go of me!” Liu Chai yelled with rage when he felt the pain in his wrist.
“Didn’t you want to learn to fistfight? I can teach you, but you need to promise me one thing,” the hoarse voice of the skeleton sounded again in his mind.
“Didn’t you say he’s dead?” Liu Chai was shocked.
“Do I look alive to you?”
Liu Chai was so dumbfounded he didn’t know what to say next…
Liu Chai thought that it actually made sense. This figure before him was actually dead, completely dead.
“So, you are the Fistfighting Master? The one who had a battle with the King of Beiqi? The warrior who lost?”
The skeleton’s soul fire flickered. Then, it nodded in response.
Liu Chai became excited seeing that the skeleton had revealed its identity. He never thought that he could inherit his powers that easily.
“Come, hurry up and teach me!”
“You have not made your promise. I will teach you after you have done so.”
Liu Chai was dazed, and asked, “What do you want me to promise you?”
“Find Mu Zhiguang’s lost memory…”
“Mu Zhiguang? What do you mean?”
The soul flame in the skeleton’s head started flickering again. A message then appeared in Liu Chai’s mind, allowing him to understand the meaning behind the name, Mu Zhiguang.
Through this vague message, Liu Chai learned about the Mu Tehai Nation, which was once found within the Void Ocean and was known to have great powers.
It was a powerful existence, which once ruled the Void Ocean at the peak of its power.
The source of this message was a little boy who was kept in prison.
His name was Mu Zhiguang, born in the Reign Scepter, which was the most prestigious family in the Mu Tehai Nation.
Since young, he believed that the power of death was the most evil one of all. The power to control death would make a person fall. Yet, as he grew up, he realized that he was different from the rest of the clan. He possessed the most evil Talent of Death, instead of the clan’s Oceanic Power.
Thus, he constantly suffered from anxiety and fear, wondering when he would fall. He might even become a henchman of the evil, and a disgrace to the family.
Just as he expected, when the clansmen found out about his Talent of Death, they immediately locked him up. They had even thought of giving him capital punishment.
The remaining messages were rather blurry and fragmented. However, Liu Chai saw the Mu Tehai Nation confronting a strong deadly force coming from the deep seas.
The evil forces from the depths of the sea were too powerful, thus the Mu Tehai Nation gradually declined upon their invasion.
At that moment, a person stepped forward.
In this country where death was detested, he used the power of death to protect the clan.
The world has inflicted torturous pain on me, yet I return the favor with kindness and love.
Mu Zhiguang led his clansmen to revolt, and made their way to the deep seas to rage war against the deadly force.
The messages started becoming even more blurry. The last thing that Liu Chai saw was a Vortex of Death emerging from the bottom of the sea, pulling the entire kingdom down and tearing the island apart.
It was Mu Zhiguang, who controlled death, that used his powers of death. He successfully retrieved the piece of land where his clansmen were staying from the Vortex of Death.
The entire Mu Tehai Nation was completely torn apart, a once glorious country had collapsed.
However, that was not the end of their misery. Those who survived the Vortex of Death were infected by the Power of Death from the bottom of the sea. Their bodies started to rot, as they lost consciousness and turned into zombie ghosts. When Mu Zhiguang saw what happened, he was extremely heartbroken as he could not save them.
He thought of killing them off to release them from their sufferings. Yet, this kind man could not do it. In the end, he chose to lock them up.
……
As he began to regain consciousness, Liu Chai lifted his head and took a glance at the castle.
“Are they locked up in here?”
The skeleton shook his head and replied, “This is just spiritual sustenance which I have built based on my memories. I don’t know where they are. I could only remember that my clansmen seemed to be locked up in a castle.”
The soul fire in the skeleton’s eyes turned dimmed while saying so.
“You are Mu Zhiguang?”
The skeleton shook his head again and said, “I should be a part of his body. I am not the complete Mu Zhiguang. That is why all I remember are parts of his memory. Yet, I cannot recall everything in the past.
Liu Chai frowned upon hearing the skeleton’s explanation.
“What should I do? How do I find him?”
