Urban Martial Saint

Hearing Wen’er’s mother’s words, Ye Qing couldn’t help but frown slightly, looking deeply at Wen’er’s mother, unable to figure out what exactly this woman was up to.

The matters inside the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master are earth-shattering secrets, and countless peak masters want to obtain this secret. After coming out of the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, Ye Qing dared not alert those from Chatiang Peak, fearing they would surround him to inquire about the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master. Such earth-shaking secrets, anyone would understand their importance. Even those around Ye Qing wouldn’t dare ask him, as the secret is too significant to disclose arbitrarily. Under such circumstances, Wen’er’s mother coming to Ye Qing to inquire about the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master seemed a bit too abrupt, perhaps because she didn’t understand social conventions and thus didn’t consider these reasons?

Looking at Wen’er’s mother, Ye Qing really couldn’t fathom what she was thinking, hesitating for a moment. Just then, Wen’er hurried over, anxiously saying, ”Mom, what are you doing? The secret inside the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master is of great importance and can’t be disclosed casually. By asking Brother Ye like this, aren’t you putting him in a difficult position?”

Wen’er’s mother glanced at her daughter and smiled, ”I know the secret inside the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master is important, but I’m not here to ask about those secrets. I just want to ask about the formation layout inside the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, to see if it aligns with my predictions.”

Speaking of which, Wen’er’s mother turned to Ye Qing again, ”Sorry, Mr. Ye, my previous words were a bit unclear. I actually just want to research the layout inside the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, because I have deeply studied formations myself. More than twenty years ago, based on the information obtained about the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, I deduced its layout. I’ve come to ask you about the layout, primarily to verify whether my deductions were correct!”

Hearing this, Ye Qing suddenly understood; he had misunderstood. Wen’er’s mother wasn’t asking about the secrets inside the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, but simply wanted to study the formation layout. For someone deeply involved in studying formations, having such thoughts is entirely normal. Plus, since she only asked about the formation layout without inquiring about the secrets, it’s not considered as leaking the secrets of the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, which Ye Qing had no issues revealing.

”That’s not a problem!” Ye Qing immediately said, ”The layout inside the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master follows the Nine Palaces...”

”Don’t discuss this here; the layout inside the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master is vast and grand, and can’t be explained in just a few words,” Wen’er’s mother gestured, ”How about we go inside and talk? I want to study the layout inside the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master carefully!”

Ye Qing happened to be free this morning, so he didn’t refuse, following Wen’er and her mother to the main building, where they found a study and sat down. Ye Qing first took out a piece of paper and drew the layout of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation, marking the position of each gate for Wen’er’s mother to see.

Wen’er’s mother held the paper, studying it for a long time, questioning the specifics inside. From what she said, it seemed her research on formations was not inferior to Ye Qing’s. It’s no wonder she surpassed several sect leaders of the South Ridge Sect in tomb-robbing accomplishments; her level in formations is regarded as highly skilled in today’s age. Many hidden formations inside the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master were missed by Ye Qing, yet she pointed them out. Through Wen’er’s mother’s description, Ye Qing finally understood why the layout inside the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master had some minor deviations from the layout of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation. Listening to Wen’er’s mother’s explanations, Ye Qing truly benefited greatly from this!

After understanding the layout inside the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, Wen’er’s mother suddenly drew a line at the location of the underground river at the Gate of Life, saying, ”I heard from Wen’er that you came out from this place, rather than directly from the Gate of Life!”

”That’s right!” Ye Qing nodded, saying, ”The people from the Wanyan Family blew up the exit of the Gate of Life; it’s impossible to exit directly from the Gate of Life. So we exited from this gate instead of the Gate of Life. Actually, thanks to Fat Wang and the others digging a tomb-robbing hole here, otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to make our way out!”

Wen’er’s mother ignored the tomb-robbing hole matter and continued deducing along the underground river’s position, then drew two stone chambers above, saying, ”You met the White Water Ghosts and Eight-clawed Dragon Turtle in these two stone chambers?”

”White Water Ghosts? Eight-clawed Dragon Turtle?” Ye Qing looked at Wen’er’s mother in astonishment, completely unaware of what she was referring to.

”These are the two types of creatures you encountered in the two stone chambers…” Wen’er’s mother said, ”Those creatures that look completely pale, resembling a corpse, yet have a human-like appearance, are the White Water Ghosts. Although they look like humans, they’re actually a type of hairless water monkey, also a kind of water monster. In ancient times, this kind of White Water Ghost existed underwater in some ponds and rivers, often dragging people swimming in the river to the bottom. Ancient people were more superstitious and thus referred to them as water ghosts. Over time, such creatures became increasingly rare, now mostly found only in some deep mountains and swamps. Unexpectedly, there is a batch of White Water Ghosts inside the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master.”

Ye Qing suddenly understood, thinking carefully, those water monsters that looked like humans really deserved the name ”water ghost.” When they were soaking in the water, they looked like bloated corpses. And the way they swam and attacked people in the water indeed resembled water ghosts, very eerie. The ancient people calling them water ghosts indeed seemed fitting.

”What about the Eight-clawed Dragon Turtle?” Ye Qing asked once more, it was evident that Wen’er’s mother was quite knowledgeable, as she could answer many tomb-robbing related questions. After all, the South Ridge Sect is one of the most prestigious groups domestically in tomb-robbing, and Wen’er’s mother’s level exceeds those sect leaders of the South Ridge Sect, so she must possess extensive knowledge.

”What you saw should be considered the Octopus Snake Turtle, rather than the Eight-clawed Dragon Turtle!” Wen’er’s mother replied, ”If it were a true Eight-clawed Dragon Turtle, you all wouldn’t have been able to escape alive.”

”What’s the difference between the Octopus Snake Turtle and the Eight-clawed Dragon Turtle? What exactly is this creature?” Ye Qing asked.

”It’s a hybrid monster from ancient times,” Wen’er’s mother explained, ”Have you heard of the saying, ’A dragon gives birth to nine sons, each unlike the other’?”

Ye Qing nodded, he had indeed heard of this saying. A dragon gives birth to nine sons, none resemble the dragon. It’s said that due to the dragon’s promiscuous nature, mating with different species, they bear different offspring. However, this is merely mythological legend. The existence of dragons is still uncertain, let alone the matter of them having nine sons.

Wen’er’s mother continued, ”The existence of dragons remains unproven, but many of the dragons depicted in ancient folklore were actually large pythons or pythons that evolved into jiao!”

Ye Qing couldn’t help but think of the Fat Jiao at Mount Wendao. It appears that stories of snakes transforming into jiao aren’t entirely baseless and are indeed real. Wen’er’s mother knowing about this would imply it’s factual.

Wen’er’s mother went on, ”The saying ’A dragon gives birth to nine sons’ mainly refers to snakes mating with other species and producing hybrid offspring. I heard from Wen’er that you once encountered a dragon crocodile, which is actually the offspring of a jiao and a crocodile.”

This matter was previously mentioned by Nine-Fingers Wu Yong as well. On this account, Wen’er’s mother and his views align, suggesting its truth. And Wen’er’s mother’s knowledge seems no lesser than Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s.

Wen’er’s mother continued, ”As for that Octopus Snake Turtle, it’s likewise a hybrid species. However, the Octopus Snake Turtle’s antecedent isn’t from an ordinary snake or a jiao crossbred with a turtle; its antecedent might be a mutant snake!”

”Mutant snake?” Ye Qing exclaimed, ”What kind of snake is that?”

”Have you heard about the Double-headed Snake?” Wen’er’s mother asked.

”Double-headed Snake?” Ye Qing thought for a moment, ”I’ve heard people mention it, seems there’s a thing like that, but I’ve never seen one myself.”

”Have you heard of the Eight-headed Snake then?” Wen’er’s mother asked again.

”That I haven’t heard of!” Ye Qing immediately shook his head, although the Double-headed Snake is somewhat acceptable because Double-headed Snakes have appeared in various places worldwide. But as for Eight-headed Snake, he’s completely unfamiliar. Double-headed snakes are already hard to fathom, Eight-headed Snakes? How could they possibly exist?

”You haven’t heard, but it doesn’t mean they don’t exist!” Wen’er’s mother said, ”The Octopus Snake Turtle is indeed the offspring of the Eight-headed Snake crossbred with turtles.”

”Then shouldn’t it be called the Eight-headed Snake Turtle?” Ye Qing asked.

”Haha…” Wen’er’s mother smiled faintly, ”If you observe carefully, you’d find that the Octopus Snake Turtle you saw actually has mouths and eyes on each tentacle. You might call them tentacles, or heads!”

Ye Qing’s face changed slightly; he hadn’t observed this carefully. But on contemplating, the tentacles’ ability to bend and follow paths in darkness is quite unique. The body remained shielded inside the cave while the tentacles could clearly sense everything around. Ye Qing previously considered it was based on some other sensory system; now, hearing what Wen’er’s mother explained, could it really be the tentacles housed eyes?

”Mom, how do you know so much?” Wen’er curiously asked from the side, surprised by her mother’s explanations about the Octopus Snake Turtle and White Water Ghosts. Even though she’s been with the South Ridge Sect for many years, she hadn’t heard of these creatures. That her mother, without entering the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, could describe those water monsters so precisely was amazing!