Chapter 154: Return

When Fang Jing fought Kuki Muen, he struck him down the cliff. Yet he knew very clearly that Kuki was at his last gasp, his life hanging by a thread.

So, he told Higashi Yuantai to send men to search for Kuki Muen. He also whispered instructions: If they found him, they should work with Shishidōmaru to hide him away temporarily.

One main reason Fang Jing did this was for the “Outer Demon Gate”.

Kuki Muen surely held the core secrets of the “Outer Demon Gate.” Contrary to what his teacher Kume Nansho had said, a practical man like Kuki would not have specially returned to the country just to challenge Kume Nansho to a duel if he hadn’t already encountered the Outer Demon Gate.

Kume Nansho disdained the “Outer Demon Gate.” He believed the secret methods recorded in the Outer Demon Gate for transforming the human body were useless. This came from his mindset as an old-school martial artist.

For a man like him, probably any method relying on external forces to gain strength was considered wicked and unorthodox.

But Fang Jing disagreed. He always believed that strength was simply strength. Any strength he could master was undoubtedly correct strength.

If the secret methods recorded in the Outer Demon Gate could make him stronger, then of course, he would use them without hesitation.

However, Kume Nansho and others wouldn’t see it that way. Moreover, he didn’t want any bad rumors spreading.

Who knew if Kuki Muen might have told others? If someone in the Black Devourer Syndicate also knew about the Outer Demon Gate, it certainly wouldn’t be good for his side.

Always a cautious person, he made up his mind quickly.

He spread word that Kuki Muen was dead. At the same time, he spread another rumor: that Kuki had disappeared after being thrown off the cliff.

This way, no one could determine Kuki’s true fate, much less the whereabouts of the Outer Demon Gate in his hands.

Very soon, after retrieving the scroll of the Outer Demon Gate from Kuki Muen, Fang Jing felt his plan was quite thorough.

Both scrolls of the Outer Demon Gate, including the illustrations and text, were written in a cipher code. This was likely ancient ninja script, making decryption difficult.

(No wonder Master Kume Nansho wasn’t worried about me secretly learning the ‘Outer Demon Gate’. If this thing ended up in my hands, it would be effectively useless…)

However, Kume Nansho, towards the relic left by Huanzang Style’s founding father, simply couldn’t bear to destroy it outright. That’s why it was left to him. Yet, Kuki Muen possessed an unusually deep understanding of these encrypted codes. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have returned to the country and demanded the “Outer Demon Gate” from Kume Nansho.

“Bwahahahaha—!”

Kuki Muen laughed heartily.

“That senior brother of mine has grown old and foolish, actually choosing someone like you as a disciple… I bet he never dreamed you’d choose the same path as me.”

Fang Jing sneered coldly: “Spare me the boring talk. You must know what’s recorded inside!”

“Hmph! Young man, why do you think I agreed to your demand?”

Kuki Muen laughed. It wasn’t an ordinary smile; it carried a dark tinge.

“Or perhaps you think torture and interrogation would make me talk…”

“I believe everyone has a weakness. Target that weakness, and anyone will talk eventually.”

“You’re right,” Kuki said unhurriedly, stating a fact, “But you don’t have the time. Because I am dying.”

“……”

Fang Jing stared at his face. Indeed, the shadow of death lingered on Kuki Muen’s features.

“I’m different from normal people. I possess two ‘Esoteric Energy Pores’. The main reason I could defeat my senior brother, Kume Nansho, lies in this…”

He chuckled mockingly: “I just never imagined someone else shares this trait, possessing two ‘Esoteric Energy Pores’ as well.”

Kuki Muen wasn’t stupid. Seeing Fang Jing activate the “Inner Ghost Gate” three times consecutively, he basically guessed Fang Jing was like him, someone with two Inner Ghost Gates.

To his question, Fang Jing neither confirmed nor denied it.

“By the way, why are you so interested in the ‘Outer Demon Gate’? Isn’t the power from the Inner Ghost Gate alone immensely strong…”

Kuki abruptly brought up the question again: “The secret methods recorded in the ‘Outer Demon Gate’ are not what you imagine. They aren’t normal methods of physical training. They are utter, complete heresy and external techniques.”

“The founder of Huanzang Style truly went mad. Only a madman could conceive such abnormal technology. Yet, one must admit, he was a brilliant genius. It’s just a shame… The techniques related to the ‘Outer Demon Gate’ aren’t secrets to make the strong stronger. They are methods to quickly turn the weak into the strong.”

Kuki Muen openly shared the information he obtained from the upper scroll of the “Outer Demon Gate.”

Through his own research on the upper scroll, he had gained a deep understanding of the philosophy of Huanzang Style’s founding ancestor.

“The prosthetic limb on my disciple Haijima is partly derived from the Outer Demon Gate’s technology. But as you saw, even with partial modifications, Haijima was no match for warriors on our level…”

A self-mocking smile appeared at the corner of Kuki Muen’s lips.

“Even less was he able to fantasize about using this kind of power to fight those unnatural ‘monstrosities’.”

“Monstrosities?”

Fang Jing snapped out of his daze, urgently questioning: “What do you mean by that? Could it be… you’ve also encountered those ‘Strange Phenomena’…?”

“‘Strange Phenomena’?… I don’t know what you refer to. But for me, it was a nightmare. A nightmare I never wish to recall again.”

Kuki Muen’s expression twisted in horror, as if remembering something. After a long silence, he spoke with a heavy face.

“That was the first time I realized it. No matter how much I trained my body, no matter how much I honed my proud fists and feet, they were utterly fragile and powerless against those things. I couldn’t even protect what I wanted most to protect.”

“Fragile beings like us humans must find ways beyond human limitations to have the right to resist those malignant entities.”

“So after that, I vowed to become stronger by any means necessary. I was willing to stop at nothing.”

Yes, stop at nothing to become stronger. This resonated deeply within Fang Jing’s heart, finding an echo in his own mentality.

(So unfortunate, Nishizuka Tsukasa. Deep down, you and I are the same kind of person. If only I had met you before Senior Brother, perhaps the outcome would have been entirely different…)

Seeing the hesitation flash in Fang Jing’s eyes, Kuki gave a bitter laugh and said, “Alright. I can teach you everything I know about the information I possess, the Outer Demon Gate, and its cipher codes. But… I have one condition.”

“I cannot let you go…”

Fang Jing stated bluntly. He was very clear now: Kuki, like himself, pursued strength at all costs.

“Naturally. I am a dying man anyway.”

Kuki Muen voiced his last wish.

“I have a daughter… Her mother and I abandoned her many years ago. By now, it’s been a long time. She must be nearly thirty years old. I only recently learned about her. If possible… go and see her for me.”

“This is your request?”

Fang Jing paused before asking the question.

“Well, that’s it then.”

Kuki’s eyes held half a smile, half desolation.

————————

Three days later, Fang Jing obtained most of the information he wanted from Kuki.

Over those three days, he also extracted the secrets of the “Outer Demon Gate” from Kuki Muen. Additionally, he learned a dark chapter from Huanzang Style’s history.

“Ancestor Genzo was a strange and unusual figure at the end of the Warring States period. I think… he probably shared experiences similar to ours. His descent into madness came from his obsession with researching secret methods to push human limits to the extreme. ‘Inner Ghost Gate’ was undoubtedly his creation. But for that genius, the ‘Inner Ghost Gate’ was imperfect, riddled with flaws.”

This was the truth. The Inner Ghost Gate could unleash human potential, but its method was essentially “borrowing the next year’s resources.” It seemed to tap into human ultimate strength, yet ultimately led only to the user’s own end.

“This path leads nowhere. For humans, at least, it’s not a viable road.”

Therefore, this “founding ancestor” of Huanzang Style decided to embark on another path.

He reasoned: if the human body couldn’t achieve what lay beyond its individual limitations, then simply transform the body.

Over decades, he constantly sought forbidden External Methods: techniques of Gu poison from abroad, exchanges with a Dutch scholar, mastering secrets even Christianity deemed black magic.

At some point, this great ancestor began dabbling in dangerous experiments. He started with animals. But quickly, he realized their limitations. He began abducting living people, conducting experiments on flesh modification.

“As the years went on, this founding master grew ever more reckless and mad. By the time his disciples discovered it, a mountain of corpses lay in the remote valley where he hid; among them was his youngest son…”

The disciples knew their master was truly insane. His power was immense. For the sake of his “research,” he would continue his bloody experiments.

To stop him, after paying a heavy price, these disciples slew the founding ancestor.

In his final moments, Ancestor Genzo declared he had completed his ultimate “masterpiece.” He laid a Curse: that generations of Huanzang Style practitioners would slaughter each other, on and on, until the lineage perished. Only then would he “return.”

Of course, this was merely an ancient, dark tale passed down, hardly to be taken as fact.