Rumors Of A Ghost (Arc 1)

"Bo'er, you actually did a good job holding your ground against your senior brother. Unfortunately, that last move was really messy..." Feng Yongrui trailed off, his thoughts going back to the "Swallow Wind Dance".

"Come here, show me that move again," Feng Yongrui told Ma Bo.

Hou Renshu stepped aside and Ma Bo saluted his Master. Then, he unsheathed his sword and began a series of movements.

Now, in all honesty, Feng Yongrui was not a sword genius. Since he was in the body of a genius cultivator, his body's reflexes were great and his swordplay was awesome. However, when it came to teaching others, Feng Yongrui was completely clueless.

Around five or six years ago, Feng Yongrui had just arrived in this world and his ability to understand swordplay was close to zero. To him, everything looked quite cool, but that was it.

Knowing his limitations, Feng Yongrui could only give superficial guidance to his disciples and say some fancy words. In reality, there were many times when he didn't understand anything.

Thankfully, he was a good actor, and he managed to look cool and awe-inspiring without losing face. As for his disciples, they were able to advance this far mostly because they were both very smart.

Of course, Feng Yongrui was not happy being a useless Master like this, so over the years he studied hard and did his best to understand swordplay and teach his disciples better. His hard work had paid off -- he wasn't "blind" when it came to watching swordplay, but he wasn't the best either.

If another cultivator saw Ma Bo's sword moves, they would immediately perceive that something was wrong and take immediate measures. But Feng Yongrui, who was like a cultivator wannabe, couldn't grasp the problem.

He could only try to fix Ma Bo's stance and form, but that was it.

As their Master, Feng Yongrui sometimes felt incompetent. If they had gotten a better Master, would they have better skills?

...But the most useless thing in this world is to ask "what if", because those thoughts will never happen.

In spite of his worries, Feng Yongrui saw that over time, Ma Bo was improving at a steady rate. One day, however, Feng Yongrui was given a task by the Sect Master. During these few years, the Sect Master would sometimes give Feng Yongrui tasks, but nothing extraordinary had happened so far.

This time, the Sect Master's task was for Feng Yongrui to investigate a local gang. This gang, filled with robbers and crooks, were getting more and more unrestrained in their actions.

However, this time, it seemed like this gang was not so simple. They seemed to be related to the Demonic Path. For that reason, the Sect Master wanted Feng Yongrui, an elder, to take care of this matter.

"...Speaking of robbers, aren't they usually cannon fodders in a story?" Feng Yongrui was busy chatting with the System.

"Robbers kidnapped the female lead, thus making the male lead chase after them and kill them... Or, robbers who pick a fight with the male lead, only to be beaten into a pulp... Something like that?" He mused.

"Do you think these robbers are important, System? I still remember this..." Feng Yongrui took an item out of his sleeves and gazed at it, deep in thought.

The item was a green jade, beautiful and enchanting. When he had first brought his disciples to attack the robbers' stronghold, Little Prince had took this item out of the leader's clothes.

At that time, he did not know what it was and didn't pay much attention to it. However, over the years, he had observed it and tried to understand what was so special about it, to no avail. It looked just like a normal jade, but Feng Yongrui's gut feeling told him there was something off about it.

Feng Yongrui had even used the System's "super vision ability" to check the jade, but he didn't see anything special about it.

"Sigh... I guess I just have to go with the flow," Feng Yongrui muttered. Since he had accepted the task from the Sect Master, he told his disciples he would be gone for a while and headed down the mountain.

When he had exited the Immortal Pathway Sect, Feng Yongrui changed his countenance. This was a habit he had developed and something he really liked to do.

In fact, one of the things he wanted to buy from the System was the ability to change his face whenever he wanted to. This would be a great skill that could help him a lot, no matter which world he was assigned to.

It did not take long for Feng Yongrui to arrive at a town called Huafeng.

Compared to Luofeng town, Huafeng town was not that close to the Immortal Pathway Sect. However, it was unique because it was situated near a forest.

Thankfully, this forest was not filled with too many wild animals. At least in the outer part of the forest, the villagers would be able to hunt and pick vegetables without fearing for their lives.

Feng Yongrui stopped at a small stall and ordered some noodles while listening to the villagers' gossip. Unlike the previous robbers, who harassed people and lived in a mountain stronghold, the robbers this time were more discreet.

Their hideouts were few and unknown, their leader was elusive, and they didn't harass people for money. It seemed more like a criminal organization than a simple group of robbers.

Feng Yongrui listened to the villagers while eating his fragrant noodles, the oil staining his lips. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a woman wailing and sobbing.

"Mi'er... Has anyone seen my Mi'er?" She cried.

Feng Yongrui turned his head to look at her. The woman was obviously a local, but her clothes were dirty and tears streaked her cheeks. Her eyes were filled with terror and pain... No, it was more suitable to call it desperation.

She grabbed a random stranger and began crying. "Sir... please, have you seen my daughter? She's about five years old... About this tall... she was wearing a pink dress..."

The stranger shook his head, looking at her in pity.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, I don't know anyone like that. You should've watched over your daughter more carefully," He murmured.

The man shook his head and walked away, leaving the poor woman in tears. She began calling and grabbing at other people, begging them to tell her if they saw her daughter. The people could only shake their heads sadly and walk away.

"Tsk, tsk," The boss of the noodle stall clicked his tongue.

"Another one's gone. Well, what can ya' do, eh? Just blame ye'r bad luck," He said, shaking his head.

"Another one?" Feng Yongrui's interest was piqued. "Boss, what do you mean?" Feng Yongrui asked.

Seeing his curious face, the stall owner shook his head and sighed.

"You're not a local, are you? Lemme tell ya', there's been a lot of kidnappin' these days. Well, you ain't gonna call it kidnappin' if the one takin' the children is a ghost, eh?" He said.

"A ghost?" Do people believe in ghosts here? Feng Yongrui urged the man to continue.

"It started a really long time ago... Lemme see, was it last year? The butcher's son disappeared in the middle of the night. Poof! Gone, just like that, ya' know?" The boss was wiping his bowls as he continued talking.

"Poor guy. He searched everywhere for the kid, but he ain't find nothin' at all. Ever since then, several other kids have disappeared too. At first we thought it was them robbers, ya' know?"

The boss became more animated as he spoke. "Several years ago, some robbers kidnapped our kids. Thankfully, some cultivator or something took care of them and brought the kids back."

The "cultivator or something" Feng Yongrui pursed his lips.

"We thought that our kids were disappearing because of those same robbers. But ya' know what? That ain't the case. There ain't no robber here, lad. There's just a ghost, stealin' kids an' eatin' 'em." The boss gave a long, winded sigh and shook his head again.

"I say, how can there be ghosts? I mean, what made you think it was a ghost that took those kids?" Feng Yongrui asked.

"Those kids always disappear at night, ya' know. And there ain't no sign of someone breakin' into their house. Nothin' was amiss, I tell ya'. Even the government sent people to investigate, but they ain't found nothin'."

Feng Yongrui took another bite of his noodles, but couldn't find it tasty anymore.

"That poor mother should've watched over her kid more carefully. It's just bad luck, that poor woman," The boss said.

"Well, isn't this village close to the Immortal Pathway Sect? Did anyone think of telling the sect about this?" Feng Yongrui asked. "Surely the Immortal Pathway Sect won't let something like this happen so close to them?"

The boss rolled his eyes. "Ya' think it's that easy, kid? That sect or whatever it is seems just like another hypocritical sect to me. Even if they send someone, I doubt they'll find those ghosts. I ain't gonna put my hopes on them."

Feng Yongrui: "..."

Feng Yongrui sighed and finished his noodles, his heart feeling heavy. Did the Sect Master know about this? The stall owner said this incident had started at least a year ago... Why did the Sect Master decide to take action now, and didn't take action immediately?

"Anyway, thanks for the noodles and the information. Here's the money," Feng Yongrui paid the stall owner and left.

He was going to investigate the children's disappearances. Not just because he was worried about the children, but because this was related to the Sect Master's task and he felt like it would be important.

***

Feng Yongrui: ...Why do my tasks always involve robbers?

System: Host, maybe you should be a policeman?

Feng Yongrui: "..."

***

Does anyone have any ideas on why Ma Bo's cultivation and sword skills aren't that good? Can anyone guess what's happening?

Comment below~