My Years in the Folklore World

Chapter 866 The Identity of the Old Executioner

"Under the guidance of the tiger whisker bracelet, you came to the door of a dead house. A dead house is where the souls of the dead rest. The house is low, with a door but no windows. It looks like a tomb, and the interior is a space of its own. If a living person enters it without permission, it will suppress his own life luck. At the least, he will suffer bad luck, or even his life."

"You feel the tiger whisker bracelet on your hand buzzing, like crying or sobbing, as if a tiger is lying on the ground and wailing. Do you want to enter this dead house to find out what's going on?"

Jiang Xinghuo did not hesitate too much and directly controlled the character to enter the house.

Since the Qilin's blessing technique has been triggered at this time, it means that there must be a hidden plot waiting for me. This dead house should be the key map to trigger this plot.

"You calmed down the vibrating and buzzing tiger whisker bracelet, and knocked on the door of the dead house. An old executioner with a broken arm and a blind eye quietly appeared in front of you. Although he was disabled, the evil spirit of this old executioner still frightened you."

"You have discovered it, old judge."

"Although the old judge is blind and disabled, he immediately sensed the aura of a living person on you, as well as the aura emanating from the tiger whisker bracelet, so he led you into the house of the dead. Do you want to follow the old judge into it?"

Jiang Xinghuo chose yes.

He had a hunch that the truth and key to all things might lie in this old judge. As long as he could trigger the relevant plot from him, he would be able to find the truth of all things.

"You followed the old judge into the dead man's house and found that it was exactly the same as the legends outside. Although it looked low and short from the outside, with a door but no windows, it was a completely different world after entering. It was completely different from the low buildings seen outside. It was completely a world of its own."

"The old judge led you into the private residence and asked his paper figurines to serve you soul-nourishing tea. This kind of tea can only be grown by dead people and has the effect of warming and nourishing the soul. If the same tea seeds were grown by a living person, they would taste the same as plain water. Only when grown by a dead person can they have the effect of warming and nourishing the soul."

"After some simple polite words, the old judge also brought the topic to the point. He said that he wanted you to take off the tiger whisker bracelet on your hand. It wanted to release the soul of the mountain lion imprisoned in it. What do you plan to do now?"

"The value of this tiger whisker bracelet lies in the remaining spirit of the mountain lion imprisoned in it. If it is released, the bracelet will lose its original value and will become a completely useless defective product."

Jiang Xinghuo thought about it and decided that this bracelet was dispensable to him. It would be nice if it could be used to advance the subsequent interactive plot.

"You chose to take off the tiger whisker bracelet and handed it to the old judge. After the old judge took the tiger whisker bracelet, he used his fingers to smooth out the talisman and spell on it, and then threw the bracelet heavily to the ground. You only heard a sad tiger roar, and the tiger whisker bracelet immediately shattered into debris. The tiger whiskers inside also fell to the ground, twisted and transformed into the phantom of a mountain lion."

"The old judge used his blind eyes to look at the phantom of the tiger in front of him. A fierce murderous aura appeared on his body. The phantom of the tiger also threw itself into the old judge's arms, emitting bursts of mournful cries."

"After a long while, the murderous aura on the old judge's body finally dissipated. While comforting the remaining soul of the mountain king, he told you about the past."

"This old judge was born in the Longxing area outside the Great Wall. His parents were both mountain keepers in the mountains outside the Great Wall. Therefore, he has been friends with all the beasts in the mountains since he was young. This mountain beast was raised by the old judge. Although they are of different species, they are as close as brothers."

"The old judge should have inherited the position of mountain keeper because of his family's deep knowledge. However, when he was exploring the mountains, he found a ghost-head knife in the mountains."

"Since then, he has been trapped in nightmares every night. In his dreams, someone teaches him martial arts and swordplay, and various monsters and demons from the secular world appear as his opponents."

"More than a decade later, he had mastered all the skills that the man in his dream had passed on to him. Only then did he realize that the man in his dream was actually the leader of the previous generation of the Xingmen Sect."

"The old leader was framed and besieged by his enemies, and fell deep in the mountains of Guandong. A trace of his remaining spirit is placed on the ghost-headed sword, hoping that someone can obtain his inheritance and take on the responsibility of revenge for him."

"The old judge really lived up to expectations. Not only did he successfully kill the enemy who framed and hunted Master, he also shouldered the responsibility of protecting the Xingmen Sect. For a hundred years, he fought off countless enemies for the Xingmen Sect. It was not until the imperial court issued an order to exterminate the monsters outside the Great Wall that the old judge's fate changed."

"Back then, the leader of the Xingmen Sect led many masters to the outside of the Great Wall and started a massacre again. Not only did they kill many innocent mountain monsters, they also killed innocent people to claim credit, and used the bodies of innocent people in exchange for rewards."

"The old judge was born and raised in Guandong, so he would not sit idly by and do nothing. So he tried to dissuade them, but the leader of the criminal sect not only refused to listen, but became even more aggressive."

"The old judge couldn't stand it any longer, so he thought of using force to stop them. However, the leader of the Xingmen sect had already poisoned him, so it was difficult for him to use his cultivation. Finally, under the siege of the leader of the Xingmen sect and others, his limbs were broken, his arms were severed, his eyes were gouged out, and he was thrown into the woods to die."

"And this mountain lion has become the guardian of the mountains. After sensing what happened to the old judge, it wanted to rescue him, but unfortunately it also fell into the trap prepared in advance and was skinned and killed by the leader of the criminal sect. Even its soul was forcibly restrained."

"Later, after the old judge died, he entered the town of disaster. He could feel that the soul of the mountain king was here, but he could not find the exact location. If you had not come to my door today, I am afraid that I would not have been able to find the trace of the remaining soul of the mountain king."

Seeing this, Jiang Xinghuo's expression became a little strange. It was not because he felt sad about the old judge's past experience, but because he felt that this sentence sounded so familiar.

What the old executioner and the old judge said in the temple were almost exactly the same, even the details and the cause of the incident were not different at all.

Only in the final ending did two completely different developments occur.

According to the old executioner.

The reason why he survived was because he received a gift from the dying tiger. Therefore, he was able to survive from the brink of death due to serious injuries, and also received the legacy given by the tiger in a disguised way.

But according to the old judge, the situation was different. Although Shanjun wanted to save him, he was killed by the leader of the Xingmen Sect. His bones, flesh, fur and even his soul all became the trophies of the Xingmen Sect.

You have to say which of these two endings he believes more.

Jiang Xinghuo still trusts the old judge more.

There are too many flaws in the old executioner of the Grandma Temple. If Guitou Ke's words are a false accusation, then the old judge has given another guarantee on Guitou Ke's words.

Moreover, we can get a glimpse of the remaining soul of the mountain king in the tiger-whisker bracelet from the game text. If the old judge was lying, there would be no reason for the mountain king to be so kind to him.

The identity of the old executioner is worth questioning.

Since he knew what happened in the past and also had a tiger whisker bracelet made from tiger bones, his identity was self-evident.

Apart from the leader of the Xingmen Sect, there is probably no one else who can be identified.

Even if he was not the leader of the Xingmen Sect, he must have been an eyewitness to the incident, otherwise he would not have known it so clearly.

"Now that the old judge has finished telling his past, do you want to tell it about the old executioner?" Jiang Xinghuo chose yes without hesitation. He didn't know the true identity of the old executioner, but the old judge must know who the other party was.

"You told the old judge about the old executioner in the Grandma Temple. After hearing what he said, the old judge immediately concluded that the old executioner was the last leader of the Xing Sect."

"The reason why it turned into a mountain lion is because it used the soul-stealing method of the Xingmen Sect. The soul-stealing method of the Xingmen Sect was created by the fifth generation leader, but because it was too vicious, it was listed as a forbidden technique. It was a pity to destroy it, so it was put aside and the disciples were forbidden to practice it privately."

"This spell is derived from the method of taking over another's body, but it is completely different from the method of taking over another's body. The method of taking over another's body is to use one's own consciousness to forcibly take over another's body, but one has to give up one's original body."

"The Soul Stealing Technique is to absorb the target's soul power for your own use, so that you can possess the other party's abilities. Not only can you perfectly replicate the other party's physical characteristics, but you can also possess most of the abilities that they control. The only drawback is that there is a time limit."

After reading the description of the soul-stealing technique, Jiang Xinghuo had a general understanding of why the old executioner could transform into a black tiger.

If the other party really used the soul-stealing technique, then there is no doubt that he must be the leader of the Xingmen Sect.

At this time, the game text continues to move forward.

"In order to thank you for sending the remaining soul of the mountain king back, the old judge decided to give you some gifts as a reward, but he is now in the town of disaster, and all the props he had in his life have been taken away. The only thing he can't take with him is the inheritance of the Xingmen."

"You can choose two spells from the following five options to practice, just as a reward from the old judge."

"Soul-Killing Hand (rare technique), a technique that specifically attacks the soul. It will not cause any impact or damage to the body. It is divided into ten techniques, specifically targeting the three souls and seven spirits of all living things. The souls of all monsters and demons attacked by the Soul-Killing Hand will be severely damaged."

"Soul Separation Technique (rare technique), a technique developed by the sixth generation leader of the Xingmen Sect, combines the four methods of summoning souls, calling souls, guiding souls, and bewitching souls. It can directly separate the soul from the target's body. When the target is asleep, the success rate is extremely high. It can also treat soul separation syndrome and call back the lost soul."

"The Eight Methods of Punishment (Excellent Techniques), the signature skills of the beheading sect, are eight types of knife techniques that target vital parts of the human body. Although the moves are simple, if you can practice them to perfection, you can easily take off the enemy's head."

"The Gate Breaking Palm (a rare technique), a technique developed by the fifth generation leader of the Xing Sect, was created specifically to counter the Soul Stealing Technique. It can disperse the power of the soul devoured by the practitioner's body. It is also a means to specifically counter the Divine Strike and Devil Spirit Technique. It can destroy and seal all the acupoints in the target's body, thereby nullifying the opponent's magic."

"The key to the dungeon of the Xingmen Prison (special item). The dungeon of the Xingmen Prison has always been managed by the Beheading Sect. Only the leaders of the Beheading Sect can enter. No one else is allowed to enter without permission. Those who disobey the order will be killed. The ninth generation leader did not believe in evil and broke in without permission. As a result, he died suddenly in his room that night. No one knows the cause of death. There are no signs of fighting in the room. It seems that he lost his vital signs in an instant."

"Which two do you plan to choose as your reward?"

Jiang Xinghuo read the text carefully. The first three options were somewhat useless to him, but the last two options were more suitable for him.

Moreover, Jiang Xinghuo felt that the old judge deliberately put these two options out. Although he did not explicitly tell him what to choose, the implied meaning was not difficult to detect.

Therefore, Jiang Xinghuo did not let the other party down and chose the latter two without hesitation.

"You have obtained the secret manual for practicing the Gate Breaking Palm."

"You have obtained the dungeon key of the Xingmen Prison."

"Do you want to practice the Gate Breaking Palm immediately?"

Jiang Xinghuo chose yes without hesitation.

"Practicing, please wait..."

"Study completed."

"You have successfully mastered the Gate-Breaking Palm."

A text prompt flashed in the game.

In reality, Jiang Xinghuo also felt the changes.

All the methods of practicing the Breaking Door Palm appeared in his mind. Although it was called a palm, it was not a martial arts move, but rather a unique way of circulating magic power.

As long as you circulate your magic power according to the corresponding tricks, the palm force you exert can destroy and seal the acupoints in the opponent's body, which is a means of wasting effort.

As for the key to the dungeon of Xingmen Prison, we can only wait until we leave here.

"Where are you going to hang out next?"

"Will you go to the Grandma Temple to find out the identity of the old executioner? Or will you go to find the Ghost Head Guest and ask it to help you? Or will you go to other places in Yang Town to explore?"

Jiang Xinghuo thought about the three options and made his decision after a quick thought.

He planned to pull up the ghost-headed guest first. The other party already had a dispute with the old executioner, so he could take this opportunity to pull him into his own camp.

"You chose to look for the Ghosthead."

"On the way, please wait..."

"You have arrived at the hut where the ghost is hiding."

"You entered the cabin and found the ghost. You found that he was still sleeping and recovering from his injuries. Do you want to help him?"

"You used the power of resurrection of dead trees. The mana containing vigorous vitality enveloped the ghost head guest, and quickly restored the power consumed in his body."

(End of this chapter)