Chapter 21 - 21 21 Deceiving Brother Hero

21: Chapter 21: Deceiving Brother Hero 21: Chapter 21: Deceiving Brother Hero “When I was a child, I once met a white-haired old man…”

Zhang Xiaoman’s face showed a look of reminiscence, as if he could see the distant past.

“He told me I was special and was willing to teach me some things…

He was my mentor, Ling Wushuang…”

Zhang Xiaoman spoke very slowly to make it easier for him to make up the story on the spot.

“Later, he left, and it wasn’t until several years had passed that he returned to me, barely alive, and before dying, he told me all of this…

It was from him that I received some inheritance…”

Zhang Xiaoman got stuck at this point, paused, and turned around inconspicuously, his face taking on an expression of deep thought.

Brother Hero hadn’t thought that much and, seeing Zhang Xiaoman stop, quickly asked, “What happened next?

What inheritance did you get?”

Zhang Xiaoman thought to himself, I don’t know any inheritance, I’m just fooling you.

However, to avoid giving himself away, he decided to drag the topic out for a while longer and then said:

“Brother Hero, trust me, it’s not yet time to tell you about this…

What I can tell you is that this inheritance is not a blessing but rather a heavy burden…”

Brother Hero, seeing Zhang Xiaoman’s serious expression, couldn’t help but imagine all kinds of secrets; despite his immense curiosity, he knew better than to press further.

Zhang Xiaoman quietly breathed a sigh of relief at this, but before he could relax, he saw Brother Hero as if suddenly realizing something, his face lighting up with understanding.

“Ah, that’s right!

I remember now, no wonder you always asked us to play hide and seek next to a solitary grave before we moved houses when we were kids.

I even asked you who it was, but you would never tell.

Could it be that the person buried there…

was your master?”

Zhang Xiaoman felt a surge of frustration, thinking Brother Hero’s imagination was a little too active.

I had no damn master; playing there was purely because I was just too timid back then, okay?

As for not telling, I didn’t even know who it was; what was there to say?

But no matter how much he internally complained, he couldn’t lose the basic quality of being a master confabulator.

Zhang Xiaoman didn’t respond to Brother Hero’s question but instead turned back and gave him a meaningful smile, neither confirming nor denying.

Unsure of what Brother Hero imagined again, he looked enlightened after seeing the other’s expression.

He then nodded as if he believed even more in what Zhang Xiaoman had just said.

“Brother Man, I had no idea you were a hidden expert…

I’ve been with you for so many years and never realized, you’ve hidden it too deep.

I’m very curious, when did you learn all these skills, and how did I never notice?”

Zhang Xiaoman put on an expression that said “think about it carefully” and then replied:

“Haven’t you noticed that starting from the fourth grade, I’d go out every Saturday?”

Brother Hero suddenly realized: “Ah!

I was curious where you went back then, so you were…”

“That’s right!”

Zhang Xiaoman nodded briskly but privately scoffed.

“Joking, my math was terrible back then, I had to go to the teacher’s place for tutoring every Saturday, how could I let you know such an embarrassing thing!”

Seeing that Brother Hero was about to ask more questions, Zhang Xiaoman quickly waved his hand to interrupt:

“Old Lu, let’s not worry about other questions for now, I need to purify these monsters’ corpses first, or it’ll be troublesome if someone finds them.”

Brother Hero swallowed his forthcoming question upon hearing this.

He then saw Zhang Xiaoman slowly spread out his right hand, and an intricate and beautiful seven-pointed star emblem immediately caught his eye.

“This, this is…”

“This is the will of the Inheritors, the dawn in the darkness, the mark of the Dawn Breaker, the badge beneath the dawn…”

Zhang Xiaoman paused, glanced at the eye in the middle of the seven-pointed star in his hand, and said subconsciously:

“This is called…the Eye of the Starry Sky.”

Brother Hero was also deeply captivated, and after a moment, he asked,

“But how come I don’t seem to have seen this on your hand before?”

Zhang Xiaoman couldn’t help but laugh and shook his head.

“Brother Hero, let me ask you, do you remember ever looking at the palm of my hand?”

Brother Hero thought for a moment and said hesitantly,

“That, I don’t think so… I can’t quite remember.”

Zhang Xiaoman nodded.

“That’s right, I have always intentionally hidden it, and since you’ve never paid attention to it, it’s quite normal that you didn’t notice.”

Brother Hero was speechless, his face a mixture of confusion, and he didn’t speak again.

Zhang Xiaoman slowly approached the monster’s corpse and reached out slowly towards the Faceless Monster.

As he closed the distance, the Seven-pointed Star on his palm became increasingly bright.

Just before Zhang Xiaoman was about to touch the corpse, a visible wave of energy surfaced, followed by streaks of light flying from the monster’s body to his palm, the whole process spectacularly vivid.

In just a moment, the monster’s body, along with the flowing light, became fainter and fainter, finally disappearing completely, and the pattern on Zhang Xiaoman’s palm returned to its previous state.

“Ding, Corpse Demon Essence absorbed, points increased by 7.”

The system prompt sounded in Zhang Xiaoman’s mind.

Brother Hero, having witnessed this whole process, was so shocked that his mouth was agape.

His eyes, as if about to pop out, were fixed on Zhang Xiaoman’s right hand, not even realizing his phone had fallen to the ground.

“This, is this Extraordinary Power…”

Brother Hero’s lips trembled uncontrollably, he was incredibly shocked by what he had seen.

Zhang Xiaoman smiled calmly and said to him,

“Let’s go, there’s another one over there.”

Brother Hero hadn’t yet grasped what Zhang Xiaoman meant, but seeing him head toward the entrance, he followed.

“Zhang Xiaoman, what was that ability you just used?

Was it magic?

Or a superpower?

Could it be Cultivation Techniques… Ah!

Shit!

What is this!”

Brother Hero had been following behind Zhang Xiaoman, asking questions, but when he turned into the entrance of the passageway, he suddenly saw a terrifying monster and was so startled that he almost stumbled and fell.

“There’s another dead one here!

Damn, that scared me!

I thought I ran into a live one!”

After realizing that what was on the ground was just a corpse, Brother Hero finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Xiaoman glanced at the corpse on the ground and said nonchalantly,

“I encountered one blocking my way when I was coming through here, so I killed it casually.”

These seemingly indifferent words sounded like thunder to Brother Hero.

“Casually…

killed?”

He repeated blankly, looking at Zhang Xiaoman with even more complexity in his eyes.