Grudge Breaker

Chapter 398 Inviting the Enemy into the Trap (Part 2)
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"How did you know you were from Mengmengda? Heh—"

Uncle Fei chuckled, his eyes as they had always been at the Si Chen Manor—or rather, even carrying a hint of affection.

Is it that hard to recognize you?

Meng Mengda looked at his arm in disbelief. The beast-like black mane on his arm was still there. In terms of appearance and clothing, he was no different from Jing Zheng. Even if he was exposed, Uncle Fei could not possibly conclude that he was Meng Mengda. Where exactly did things go wrong?

Uncle Fei's previously somewhat cloudy eyes were now gleaming with a sharp light. He turned his back, put his hands behind his back, and slowly walked to the chair—completely turning his back to Meng Mengda, not out of trust, but out of utter contempt—you can't hurt me at all.

Only after settling down and slowly sipping his tea did Uncle Fei look at Meng Mengda again.
“I knew you weren’t Jing Zheng the moment you walked in, I just wasn’t sure who you were.”

"It's very simple. Jing Zheng is under my command not simply because of a promise or contract, but because he signed a 'secret agreement' with me."

Have you heard of "Sealed Contract"? Beast tamers use their own heart's blood to brand the "master's name seal" on three points on the spirit beast's Baihui (GV20), throat bone, and Mingmen (GV4). Unlike the one-sided enslavement of ordinary beast taming techniques, "Sealed Contract" is a two-way binding contract between the master and the spirit beast, with the master's "true name" as the contract. If the master breaks the oath, the beast can turn against him; if the beast breaks the contract, it will also be difficult to escape unscathed.

"Therefore, Jing Zheng and I are of one mind. To put it simply, I know exactly where he is and what he is doing right now. I also know exactly whether you are Jing Zheng or not."

……

“So that’s how it is,” Meng Mengda said, understanding.

"Since you knew I wasn't Jing Zheng, why didn't you expose me from the beginning, or just kill me?"

Uncle Fei laughed, "That would be so boring."

"What cat doesn't tease a mouse after catching it? Besides, I can't even tell which mouse you are right now."

Meng Mengda straightened up. "But you know I'm from the Si Chen Manor, right?"

"Heh, looks like you're not that stupid after all."

Uncle Fei took another sip of tea.

"The only place in the world where there is still a disguise potion is the Si Chen Mansion."

"So, what I need to confirm is simply—who you are in the Si Chen Manor."

"You weren't on the list for the Goddess Peak ranking trial this time, and I assigned you many tasks in the River of Three Crossings. Mengda, you are one of the people I least likely to suspect."

"Based on normal reasoning, Ding Heran or Ye Wujiu are the most likely candidates that Mo Tingfeng would send, because they are very familiar with Jing Lan and it would be less likely for them to be exposed."

“But I quickly ruled out the possibility that you were one of them. The reason is simple: I was not disguised. If these two saw me, given their affection and loyalty to Mo Tingfeng, they would be furious! Coupled with their confidence in their own strength, they would definitely lose their temper and capture me on the spot.”

"But you didn't."

"You even subconsciously referred to yourself as 'subordinate,' which makes me suspect that you are indeed my subordinate in the Si Chen Manor."

"In addition to your lifelike recreation of Jing Zheng, apart from Meng Mengda who has the Art of Reality, no one else in the Si Chen Manor can do this."

"To put it this way, what made me certain that you are Meng Mengda was not because you don't look like Jing Zheng, quite the opposite, it was because you look too much like him, so much so that I almost suspected there was something wrong with the 'Sealed Contract'."

At this point, Uncle Fei's face showed a look of regret and even melancholy.

"Mengda, have I been bad to you? Don't I value you? Why can't you stay peacefully in the River of Three Crossings and instead wade into this mess?"

"Don't tell me you're just following orders."

"That time you stole the disguise potion and disappeared for most of the day, you were secretly investigating something, weren't you? Mengda, tell me, what did you find out?"

……

Meng Mengda stared at Uncle Fei for a long time, then suddenly smiled shyly. That kind of "cute" smile that belonged only to the little fat boy looked incongruous on Jing Zheng's face.

"Uncle, I'm so thirsty, could I ask you for a drink of water?"

Uncle Fei was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and handed over a half-full cup of tea.

"Give."

The chubby boy gulped it all down, and then, still wanting more, smacked his lips with a lingering sense of satisfaction before relaxing completely and sitting down on the ground.

"Uncle, pretending to be Jing Zheng is actually quite tiring, and the mental burden is too heavy. It's good that you saw through me, so I can finally speak my mind honestly."

"...I know it's unlikely I'll be able to go back this time, so, may I ask you a few questions? I feel really uncomfortable not knowing the answers."

Uncle Fei narrowed his eyes, like a tiger assessing whether its prey still posed a threat. After a moment, he spoke.

"Just ask."
.
"First, besides being the copyist of the Si Chen Mansion, do you have any other hidden identity? The 'Sealing Contract' you used on Jing Zheng is, as far as I know, a technique only top-tier beast tamers can use. There are at most three people in the Sleeping Realm with this ability, and they are all in seclusion in the Upper Realm. Could you be one of these three?"

Uncle Fei shook his head with a smile, but there was a hint of bitterness in his smile.

"No."

"Although I can use the 'secret contract,' I am not any of them. Ironically, I know all three of them, and if I were to be precise, I would have to call two of them uncles."

Meng Mengda was taken aback. Yes, how could he have overlooked that! The Fei family has produced the strongest spirit beast tamer in the Dream Realm since ancient times. Although he did not know Uncle Fei's name, he at least did not hide the fact that his surname was Fei.

But why has no one ever doubted him all these years? Why has no one, including Lord Si Chen and Mo Tingfeng, ever considered the possibility of the appearance of a top-level beast tamer?
Are you wondering why no one has ever doubted me?

Uncle Fei chuckled self-deprecatingly.
“Mengda, you are young and naturally do not know the secrets of the Fei family, the ‘Beast Taming Family’.”

"The Fei and Pang families have been famous for their beast-taming skills since ancient times. The two families have been fighting openly and secretly for the title of 'King of Beast Taming' for countless years. I am the most pathetic product of the few peaceful period between the two families."

"Since you want to know, I may tell you. After all, to those immortal sects and clans, my family's affairs are nothing more than topics of conversation over tea."

……

It turns out that Uncle Fei's father was the least favored member of the collateral relatives of the Fei clan. This was simply because their home was adjacent to that of the Pang clan's main family, so they inevitably had some contact with each other. However, this was a major taboo for the Fei clan.

Therefore, let alone top-tier beast-taming techniques like "Sealing Contract," even the most basic ability to control small animals like rabbits and rats is something our family is unwilling to teach.

Furthermore, since Uncle Fei's father was born out of wedlock, no one taught him the art of beast taming. Therefore, although he was born into the Fei family and bore the halo of a family of beast tamers, he was actually a good-for-nothing who knew absolutely nothing about beast taming.

For a few years afterward, perhaps to show their superiors, the two families suddenly "appeared" to be on good terms, one of the reasons being a marriage alliance.

However, the person chosen for this marriage will never be from the direct line of the family.

After some back and forth, the Fei family chose Fei Shijiu, Fei Shu's father. What a pathetic man, his name was nothing more than a birth number, not even worthy of any meaning.

As for the Pang family, it is said that they chose a woman of similar age from their own family. Although she was born out of wedlock, she at least had a name, Pang Xing'er. However, after the marriage, the woman saw that Fei Shijiu was loyal and kind, and after a few years she couldn't help but tell him the truth. She was not a daughter of a concubine from the main family, and she wasn't even born out of wedlock from a distant branch. She was just an unimportant cleaning maidservant by the side of the eldest daughter of the main family.

Therefore, Uncle Fei, who was ostensibly "the only harmonious offspring of the Fei and Pang families," was a joke from birth.

Not to mention the family's situation after the two families quickly fell out.

Predictably, Uncle Fei soon became an orphan.

But after all, he was burdened with the false halo of being the "only offspring of the Fei and Pang families," and in the end, the Fei family took him back to their master's house to serve as a servant.

At the age when he was just old enough to lift a chamber pot, Uncle Fei was assigned to the animal cage area behind the family's private school to clean up the spirit beasts' excrement.

There was no bedroom, of course. He ate and slept with the spirit beasts. Whether it was a blessing from heaven or not, after spending so much time with those spirit beasts, Uncle Fei was able to communicate with them telepathically without any teacher. This was a skill that the legitimate sons and daughters of the main family could never learn.

Separated from the beast cage area by only one wall was the private school's beast-taming arena. Uncle Fei often hid in the spirit beasts' latrine area to spy on their classes—that place was so filthy that no one would ever set foot there. This gave Uncle Fei plenty of time and opportunities to steal and learn all those "beast-taming techniques that even illegitimate children cannot pass on."

And so, he secretly learned the techniques during the day and, at night, while everyone was asleep, he took advantage of living in the beast cage to secretly train the spirit beasts. As time went by, Uncle Fei achieved mastery of beast taming and learned the most advanced beast taming techniques, all without the clan's knowledge.

“In their eyes, I am a complete waste of space, which is exactly what they want.”

Uncle Fei's gaze gradually focused from the emptiness of his memories.

"Later, by chance, I entered the Sichen Mansion and started from the lowest level as a clerk in the writing department. I have worked my way up to where I am today. No one knows that I know magic, and no one thinks that I can control beasts."

Uncle Fei chuckled self-deprecatingly.
"Hehe, tell me, someone like me, an embarrassing existence known to everyone but absolutely never mentioned, a dispensable piece of trash abandoned by the two major clans, who would doubt my identity as a 'top-level beast tamer'?"

……

Uncle Fei's candor moved Meng Mengda deeply. He never imagined that such a seemingly harmless and ordinary person would bear such a heavy fate.

"It's not surprising that someone like that would want to destroy all beautiful things, is it?" Meng Mengda thought to himself, but he had already asked the question aloud.
"Uncle Fei, do you hate this world?"

"hatred!"

Uncle Fei answered decisively.

"I hate the injustice of heaven and earth, I hate the decline of human nature, I hate the coldness of family ties."

"But I did all this not out of hatred."