Scripture of Days Past

Chapter 253: I’ll Remember that Name

Yang Ling immediately understood Chu Qiguang’s intentions. Clearly, Chu Qiguang didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention to himself, so he was allowing Yang Ling to take all the credit.

”But I’m no match for that living corpse,” Yang Ling said.

”Who can attest to that?” Chu Qiguang asked with a smile. ”I’ve captured the living corpse along with Yi Shuang and Han Ying, so you and I are the only ones who can give an account of what just transpired.”

Even though the undying divine general had awakened a part of Layman Evergreen’s consciousness, Chu Qiguang wasn’t concerned about that at all.

Clearly, that part of Layman Evergreen’s consciousness had always lain dormant within the undying divine general, serving only as a safety precaution. Even after it awakened, it didn’t recognize Yi Shuang and Han Ying, indicating that it was unable to contact Layman Evergreen.

Yang Ling couldn’t help but be drawn in by the tantalizing prospects laid out before him. This was his chance to get his political career back on track, and it was an opportunity he couldn’t afford to pass up, especially since refusing Chu Qiguang would most likely lead to his demise.

After a brief internal struggle, he revealed, ”Song Ming was on his way to the archive building with me, but that living corpse wounded him before we arrived...”

Chu Qiguang was very pleased to see that Yang Ling had come around so quickly, and the two of them began making up a cover story together.

Right at this moment, Lin Lan’s frantic voice rang out from deep within the second floor of the archive building.

”Brother Chu? Why aren’t you saying anything, Brother Chu? Can you hear me?”

Lin Lan had her arms wrapped tightly around Chu Qiguang’s lifeless husk with tears streaming down her face.

She had been obediently resting against Chu Qiguang’s leg with her eyes closed and her ears covered, ignoring all of the so-called ”hallucinations”. However, as the commotion grew more and more intense, she couldn’t help but ask Chu Qiguang what was happening.

When she received no response, she snuck a glance up at him, only to discover him sitting in a completely silent and motionless fashion, as if he were dead.

She began frantically calling his name, but he still didn’t respond. When she pressed a hand against his chest, it caved in as if he had turned to paper. This immediately sent Lin Lan into a blind panic, and she became convinced that Chu Qiguang had died from demonification.

Right at this moment, Chu Qiguang appeared behind her with a puzzled expression and asked, ”What’s going on, Lin Lan? Why are you suddenly so upset?”

Lin Lan turned to discover another Chu Qiguang standing behind her, and she was so shocked that her tears instantly stopped.

”Brother Chu? How are there two of you?”

”What do you mean?” Chu Qiguang asked. ”Did you see some type of hallucination?”

He stepped forward, and before Lin Lan had a chance to stop him, he swatted his old husk with his hand, instantly shattering it into particles too small for the naked eye to perceive.

It was as if the Chu Qiguang that Lin Lan had been holding had abruptly vanished into thin air, convincing her that she had indeed fallen prey to a hallucination.

She instinctively leaned her head against Chu Qiguang’s chest and sniffled, ”You scared me to death just now, Brother Chu... I thought you had undergone demonification...”

”It’s alright. I’m here now,” Chu Qiguang consoled her as he gently stroked her back.

After taking some time to comfort Lin Lan, Chu Qiguang called out, ”Come here, Instructor Yang! This is Lin Lan, the archive building’s bookkeeper. Lin Lan, this is Instructor Yang Ling. Some fiends attacked the archive building just now, but Instructor Yang forced them back. If it weren’t for him, both of us would already be dead!”

Chu Qiguang gave Yang Ling all the credit for defending the archive building, recounting the cover story that the two of them had fabricated together.

Lin Lan trusted Chu Qiguang completely, and she had no reason to doubt an instructor from the Demon Vanquishing Department, so she immediately believed their story.

In her eyes, Chu Qiguang had little connection to Yang Ling, and if two unrelated people were telling the same story, then it had to be true.

With Lin Lan convinced, Chu Qiguang and Yang Ling now had a third party to corroborate their story.

Chu Qiguang instructed Lin Lan to close the twenty-one stone gates leading to the second floor. He and Yang Ling then left the archive building, where Qiao Zhi and Zhang Jitian were still waiting.

Yang Ling retraced his steps and led everyone to the unconscious Song Ming before hiding him in a nearby forest.

”He was knocked unconscious by a single blow from the living corpse, so he didn’t see anything that could contradict our story,” Yang Ling said.

”Good,” Chu Qiguang replied with a nod as he cast his gaze into the distance, where the battle at the villa was still raging.

Although the battle in the archive building was over, the battles across the rest of Jade Face Mountain were still far from over.

”What should we do next?” Yang Ling asked.

”It’s time for you to save the day,” Chu Qiguang replied with a smile.

***

Zhang Haizhu, Li Chu, and Huang Xiangyu were with pill instructor Li Jian, and the four of them were locked in an arduous battle against a pair of fiends.

All of a sudden, an orange cat fiend jumped out with a draconic head clasped in its mouth and frantically yelled, ”Run! Layman Evergreen’s living corpse has been slain, and its killer is right on my tail! We have to get out of here!”

Zhang Haizhu and the others had no idea what the orange cat fiend was talking about, but the two fiends were horrified to see the draconic head in its mouth. They had personally witnessed the power of the undying divine general, so they immediately fled the scene in a panic with Qiao Zhi.

Zhang Haizhu’s group could only stare after them in bewilderment.

”What’s going on? Why are they running away?”

Immediately afterward, Yang Ling came racing down the mountain, and Zhang Haizhu’s group was ecstatic to see him.

”I’ve already slain the fiends attacking the archive building,” Yang Ling declared in an authoritative manner. ”The four of you, come with me.”

As Yang Ling continued charging down the mountain, a small army quickly formed behind him, with Chu Qiguang among its ranks.

With Qiao Zhi continuing to spread panic among the fiends, most of them immediately fled the mountain, while the few who chose to stand and fight were quickly slain by Yang Ling’s forces.

From the perspective of Zhang Haizhu and the others, Yang Ling was like an invincible general that was rolling down the mountain like a wrecking ball, crushing all the fiends in his path.

Before long, all the fiends on the mountain had either fled with Qiao Zhi or been slain.

***

Yang Ling led everyone all the way down the mountain before storming back up to the training ground, where large clusters of buildings and courtyard had already been razed to the ground.

At this moment, Zhong Shan’e was still locked in battle against Layman Evergreen’s eleven living corpses.

As soon as Yang Ling’s forces arrived on the scene, someone yelled, ”Head Instructor, we’ve managed to clear out all the fiends on the mountain under Instructor Yang Ling’s leadership!”

Of course, the one who had spoken was none other than Chu Qiguang.

”Well done, Yang Ling!” Zhong Shan’e chortled with glee.

At the same time, a cold voice rang out across the entire training ground.

”Yang Ling, is it? I’ll remember that name.”

Yang Ling’s complexion instantly turned deathly pale. He knew that he had just become the target of a Dao Comprehension-state cultivator.