Chapter 1798: Token

"Know him? I guess you could say I do!"

Upon hearing Murong Sou’s inquiry, Yun Xiao recalled the connections from his past life and couldn’t help but feel quite sentimental. However, his vague words only left the former bewildered.

"But I do not know you, young man. I advise you to leave as soon as possible. Cultivating to such a stage is not easy, and if you lose your life due to some obsession, you might regret it immensely!"

Murong Sou, although curious about this plainly dressed young man, did not wish to delve deeper. Hearing the somewhat misleading words, he felt displeasure, and thus advised once more.

In fact, at this moment, Murong Sou was in a peculiar state where, besides having a clear mind and being able to speak, he could not move at all. Even he himself was unsure if this state was good or bad.

In this condition, what he needed was a quiet environment for study. If this young man attracted more cultivators, it would be troublesome for Murong Sou.

"I have already said, once I retrieve what belongs to me, I will leave immediately!"

Even in front of this old friend from the past, Yun Xiao did not reveal his identity as the Long Xiao Battle God. Besides maintaining a sense of caution, he was afraid of eavesdroppers, for it was his greatest secret.

"What exactly is it?"

Seeing that the young man remained, and unable to move himself, Murong Sou felt somewhat helpless and asked in a deep voice. He wondered what belonging on his person the boy could be referring to.

"Do you know a person named Xu Tongshi? The item he entrusted to you should be on you, right?"

Since the other party asked, Yun Xiao saw no need for delay. Upon hearing the name "Xu Tongshi" from his mouth, Murong Sou’s old face changed dramatically.

"You... How do you..."

Murong Sou almost blurted out "How do you know," but he held back just in time, understanding that the person in question was the only disciple of the legendary Long Xiao Battle God, with an exceptionally special status.

Back when Long Xiao Battle God was at his peak, Murong Sou was already an elder of the Murong Family. However, he was a drunken mess, constantly in a stupor, and in fact, did not have deep connections with the Battle God.

Back then, the Long Xiao Battle God was friends with the Murong Family’s patriarch. Only on a few occasions while drinking did this drunken elder of the Murong Family meet the Battle God, and he was always in a drunken haze.

Sadly, a hundred years passed, and both the once-renowned Long Xiao Battle God and the domineering Murong Family patriarch each turned to dust, never to appear above the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud again.

Murong Sou knew that the peerlessly talented Long Xiao Battle God had very high standards throughout his life. There were countless talented young geniuses in the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud, aspiring to be under his tutelage, yet none succeeded.

In the end, it was a subordinate of the Long Xiao Battle God who died on the battlefield, leaving behind a helpless child, who was then taken as a direct disciple. And this disciple, named Xu Tongshi, reportedly lacked outstanding talent.

When the news spread back then, it drew complaints of injustice from numerous talented young geniuses, highlighting Long Xiao Battle God as a man who valued old friendships.

Especially since Xu Tongshi’s talent was quite mediocre, having cultivated for many years and only revolving around the Earth Rank Third Realm, it further fomented the discontent in people’s hearts. However, as Long Xiao Battle God was immensely powerful at the time, no one dared to comment further.

As a century passed by, the illustrious Long Xiao Battle God vanished, and the whereabouts of his disciple remained unknown. Until one day many years later, Murong Sou, who was residing in Drunken Immortal City, spotted a man worn out by life.

Though the Murong Family was implicated and exterminated due to the Long Xiao Battle God, Murong Sou, the "immortal within wine," was well aware that it was the ambition and conspiracy of the Emperor Canglong Palace, and did not blame the Battle God.

The saying "When all the people are drunk, I alone am sober" perhaps referred to someone like Murong Sou. The day he saw the Battle God’s disciple Xu Tongshi, he was overjoyed, secretly believing that the heavens had not abandoned them.

However, at that time, Xu Tongshi was like a lost soul, hastily leaving after entrusting some items to Murong Sou.

The two agreed on a method for exchanging items, but over the decades, Murong Sou never saw Xu Tong again, not even knowing if he was still alive.

Unexpectedly, today, within the exceptional surroundings of the Murong Tomb, a plainly dressed young man barely in his twenties mentioned Xu Tongshi’s name before Murong Sou, how could he not be astounded?

"Could this young one be a descendant of Xu Tongshi?"

Murong Sou’s mind raced with possibilities, yet when he saw that the young man bore no resemblance to Xu Tongshi, he somewhat discounted his own speculation.

"You need not doubt my identity, nor am I a lackey of the Emperor Canglong Palace. Earlier outside, I even killed many from the Murong City Emperor Palace!"

With Yun Xiao’s intellect, although he couldn’t fully guess what Murong Sou was pondering, he had a general understanding of the latter’s concerns. He thus stated a fact, causing a sharp gleam to flash in Murong Sou’s eyes once again.

"The Chief of the Emperor Palace should be a powerful figure at the half-step Holy Rank, so how can you kill someone right under his nose with just a Heavenly Realm Late Stage cultivation?"

Murong Sou slightly shook his head, and what he said was also a fact. He was unaware of Yun Xiao’s ability to battle beyond his rank; previously, outside Yingrong Lake, he had sensed Tan Qigong’s cultivation.

After the family was destroyed, although Murong Sou still loved his wine as much as before, he had become ten times more cautious than in the past. Who knows if this guy is deceiving him, harboring some unknown sinister plots?

"If you don’t believe what I say, then you should recognize this thing, right?"

Yun Xiao naturally knew that mere words might not win Murong Sou’s trust, so he didn’t waste more words. Instead, he wiped his hand on his waist and immediately took out a black wooden plaque.

This wooden plaque was naturally the memorial tablet of Xu Tongshi’s own teacher, the Long Xiao Battle God. Yun Xiao had sensed the location of the Drunken Immortal City from this tablet back then but ultimately came up empty-handed.

Swish!

After Yun Xiao took out "his own" tablet, he didn’t hesitate. Meridian Qi surged from his right hand, and he directly tossed it towards Murong Sou in the square.

Thud!

Originally, Yun Xiao thought Murong Sou would definitely reach out to catch it, but until the spiritual tablet flew in front of him, the other party remained motionless, letting the tablet fall to the ground, facing upward.

"It seems Murong Sou is in some sort of special state!"

Seeing this, Yun Xiao, with his intelligence, understood some things instantly but did not reveal them. He believed that as long as Murong Sou saw the tablet and sensed certain obscure auras upon it, he would definitely understand his intention.

"This... this tablet..."

Sure enough, when Murong Sou saw the small characters written on the tablet, his complexion finally changed dramatically. Especially a certain unique and familiar aura emanating from the spiritual tablet left him with no doubts.

The day Xu Tongshi found Murong Sou, he already had this tablet in his arms. It was to memorialize his deceased teacher, Long Xiao Battle God; the tablet never left him.

This was also the token Xu Tongshi and Murong Sou agreed upon at the time; if one day someone came to find Murong Sou with this tablet, it would be to retrieve the items deposited long ago.

Frankly speaking, the items deposited by Xu Tongshi, who was only at the Earth Rank Third Realm back then, were insignificant to Murong Sou, but he still agreed without much hesitation.

In Murong Sou’s view, Xu Tongshi was trying to leave something for his descendants. If he encounters some mishap in the future, those descendants can rely on these items to cultivate Meridian Qi to a very high realm.

Unfortunately, Murong Sou waited for decades without anyone coming to claim the items. Instead, he once again saw the memorial tablet for Long Xiao Battle God within the Murong Tomb.

Murong Sou had absolutely no doubts about the authenticity of this tablet because during his agreement with Xu Tongshi, he had imprinted a trace of aura into the tablet, fearing impersonation during the claiming of items.

Murong Sou was naturally very familiar with his own aura, and even without physically touching it, he had no doubts that this was indeed the memorial tablet for Long Xiao Battle God given by Xu Tongshi.

"A mere spiritual tablet doesn’t seem to prove much, does it?"

However, although Murong Sou recognized the authenticity of the tablet, he still spoke these words. Years of caution had made him not easily trust anyone, even if a genuine token was placed before him.

A token, the spiritual tablet, ultimately remains a dead object. If Xu Tongshi were killed or captured and the opponent ruthlessly extracted certain information, and then impersonated to claim from him, it wouldn’t be impossible.

Even though those items hold little value in Murong Sou’s eyes, as someone in the Holy Vein Third Realm, he had once promised Xu Tongshi, and he certainly wouldn’t let them fall into enemy hands.

"Tsk tsk, this old fellow has indeed become far more cautious than he was back then!"

Seeing that Murong Sou still didn’t believe him, Yun Xiao wasn’t angry but instead showed a trace of appreciation in his eyes. His murmuring also revealed the deep sentiment in his heart.

One must know that the Murong Sou whom the Long Xiao Battle God had known was a genuine drunkard who had committed many absurd acts after getting drunk, even causing trouble due to it, and was expelled from the family by the Murong Clan Patriarch. Clearly, Murong Sou wasn’t a cautious person back then.

Who would have thought that after a hundred years, the once troublemaking Murong Sou has become so prudent?

This brought comfort to Yun Xiao, thinking that with such a cautious Murong Sou, the Murong Family might not lack the chance of revival in the future.

And hearing Yun Xiao’s words, Murong Sou’s heart was moved. How could this young man speak as if he was an old friend familiar with him for years?