Chapter 2232 — Four Matters

At this thought, Wei Zhao hurriedly flung open the Fierce Fire Fist manual in his hands—and one glance was enough to strike him dumb as a wooden chicken!

It was the same. It was actually exactly the same—identical to the Fierce Fire Fist that Uncle Qing had taught him, down to the last word! At least, in the heart-method verses of the first ten forms, not a single character differed!

This... what on earth was going on?

Wei Zhao's mind went blank with a thunderous roar, thrown into disarray. Several scattered matters suddenly fused into one whole—and these things, which seemed at once wondrous and coincidental, were not necessarily coincidence at all...

"Hoo..." Wei Zhao drew a deep breath and carefully recalled what Uncle Qing had said. He had once been the young sect master of an ancient sect, and because of a great treasure within that sect, the entire sect had been wiped out! And upon this Wulonghaote Mountain Range there had once been an ancient sect as well—and that ancient sect, too, had now scattered to the winds...

Was this coincidence, or convergence?

"Great Fire Lion, may I ask—that ancient sect up in the Wulonghaote Mountain Range, was it destroyed by men?" Wei Zhao asked gravely, his expression stern.

"Oh? Why do you ask?" A flicker of vigilance crossed the Great Fire Lion's eyes. "What do you know?"

"Nothing much. I merely wish to confirm a fact!" As he spoke, Wei Zhao set aside the Fierce Fire Fist manual the Great Fire Lion had given him, and suddenly circulated his inner-energy heart method, beginning to unleash the Fierce Fire Fist martial art—from the first form, flowing smoothly all the way through to the fourth form... Then Wei Zhao tried to unleash the fifth form, except that the attempt failed.

Yet even in failure, Wei Zhao felt a measure of delight. He could distinctly sense the momentum of the fifth form straining to burst out of his body—he had simply been too impatient, eager to demonstrate to the Great Fire Lion the Fierce Fire Fist he knew, and to learn some truth from the Great Fire Lion's mouth!

A most shocking and daring conjecture had already formed in Wei Zhao's mind, and this conjecture was gradually growing clearer. If it could be confirmed... Wei Zhao turned a gaze of complicated feeling toward Sun Jingyan beside him...

"Fierce Fire Fist! You actually know the Fierce Fire Fist!" The Great Fire Lion stared at Wei Zhao in disbelief. "What is your relation to the sect up on the mountain... Of course—you follow a map up to the upper range in search of something, so you must have some connection to that ancient sect of the upper range. Why didn't I think of that?"

As the Great Fire Lion said this, an expression of dawning realization appeared on its face.

Without Uncle Qing's and Granny Sun's permission, Wei Zhao absolutely could not reveal their identities—and with the enemy still unknown, exposure would likely invite disaster.

"That's right. If the answer to my earlier question is yes, then I do have some connection to the people who once belonged to that sect on this mountain!" Wei Zhao said.

"You are not wrong. They were indeed wiped out..." The Great Fire Lion sighed.

"So it is as I thought..." Wei Zhao smiled bitterly. "Then you... did not lend a hand?"

"I was merely the contracted spirit-beast of one of that sect's former masters," the Great Fire Lion said, shaking its head. "He left, and I have no obligation to protect the sect's other people. In that sect, he alone was kind to me. But the rise and fall, the succession and decline of sects, is the most natural thing in the world. He never charged me to guard the sect for him—and besides, many Heaven-rank experts came at the time. I was no match for them at all."

Wei Zhao nodded. He hesitated a moment, but in the end did not voice certain words.

By now, Wei Zhao had basically confirmed four matters.

This point, taken together with what Sun Yikai had once told him of Sun Jingyan's origins, made it basically certain that Sun Jingyan was not originally of the Sun family. Her surname had been changed after she returned to the Sun family—but she had been very young then, and knew little of such things.

And she carried such a map, and the place marked on the map was Uncle Qing's sect, the Wulonghaote Mountain Range. Then the relationship between Sun Jingyan and Granny Sun was all but ready to leap forth!

No wonder Wei Zhao had found Granny Sun and Sun Jingyan so alike. At the time he had thought little of it—Granny Sun was of the Sun family, and Sun Jingyan was of the Sun family too; being relatives, a resemblance in appearance was only natural.

But now it seemed that, perhaps...

If so, then every mystery could be explained. He was Uncle Qing's master, and so naturally held half the map; Sun Jingyan was Uncle Qing's daughter, and held the other half. This world truly was small!

These four matters gave Wei Zhao a splitting headache. Should he tell Sun Jingyan the truth? Though all of it was his own inference and conjecture, it was probably already close enough to the mark.

After hesitating a while, Wei Zhao decided to return and discuss it with Uncle Qing and Granny Sun first, and confirm it further before saying anything. Otherwise—first, this was not the right time to tell Sun Jingyan; whether it was true or not, it would inevitably unsettle her emotions and spirits—and second, he still needed to think the matter over carefully.

"The fourth form—with a bit of effort, the fifth form should be no problem," Wei Zhao said.

"I see no problem either." The Great Fire Lion nodded. "Your momentum already came through just now, only you were too impatient. With more practice, a few days' work should see you unleash it successfully!"

"A few days, is it..." Wei Zhao smiled and said no more, but directly circulated his inner-energy heart method and began to unleash the Fierce Fire Fist...

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