Chapter 166: Hard to Distinguish Between True and False
Inside the side hall of the Mo Residence.
Seeing the crowd surrounding him, Min Jiangtao was not flustered. Instead, he extended his hand forward, "Hold on! Did you just say...the teacher came back half a short hour ago?"
"Indeed!"
The Housekeeper from the Mo Clan nodded.
Urgency flashed in Min Jiangtao's eyes, "This is bad, you've been deceived! That person isn't our teacher at all, but an impersonation by Zhang Xuan!"
"Impersonation?" A trace of confusion appeared in the Housekeeper's eyes.
"Indeed!"
Min Jiangtao nodded repeatedly, "That Zhang Xuan teamed up with members of the Fu Family—Fu Qinghong, Fu Qinghan, and others—to ambush the teacher in the suburbs. The teacher managed to sever an arm with his saber art... At that time, the teacher was also badly hurt, which allowed him to escape... If I'm not wrong, that Zhang Xuan's right arm must have been chopped off, right?"
"This… Yes!"
Startled, the Housekeeper couldn't help but nod.
Min Jiangtao slapped his thigh in revelation, "Exactly! His arm was severed by the teacher using the Mo Blade Technique. Think back carefully; at the wound, was there not residual saber qi left by the Mo Dao...?"
The Housekeeper fell silent.
As the Mo Residence's Housekeeper, having followed the old master for so many years, he certainly knew what his saber qi was like. It seemed that the "old master" he had seen just now indeed had a wound caused by the Mo Dao.
"I and the teacher thought he was seriously injured and would definitely find a place to hide, not daring to show his face. Yet he had the audacity to rush to the Mo Residence and pretend to be the teacher... Housekeeper, you've been with him for so many years, and you can't even distinguish the real from the fake. How foolish! Hurry and join me to catch him, to redeem your fault, or else... if the teacher gets angry, I'm afraid you won't survive!"
Min Jiangtao said urgently.
Hearing this, the Housekeeper wavered. However, recalling what the "old master" had said earlier, he had his doubts again, "You say... the one you brought is real, is there evidence?"
"Am I not evidence? As a student of the teacher, surely you don't think that even I cannot recognize my own teacher!" said Min Jiangtao, so agitated that he turned pale. He flipped his wrist, and a Mo Dao appeared in his hand, cleaving through the air.
Whoosh!
The powerful saber qi charged straight forward, leaving a deep crater in the ground in the blink of an eye.
"Can this saber art prove that I'm real?" Min Jiangtao challenged.
"Ye-yes," said the Housekeeper, nodding hastily.
Being the Mo Residence's Housekeeper, he naturally recognized the Mo Blade Technique. Young Master Min before him was skilled in the art, his strength formidable. He didn't need to look twice to know this one was the real deal. And if he was real, then the person he brought with him...would naturally be real too!
Disaster!
If he truly let a fake in and made things hard for the real one... death would not be far away!
Immediately breaking into a cold sweat, he paid no heed to further words and hurriedly turned to give orders, "Quick, to the small courtyard!"
Seeing his earnest demeanor, the group of subordinates realized the urgency and followed him quickly, allowing Min Jiangtao to breathe a sigh of relief.
Whether Elder Bai Ye would return to the Mo Residence was unknown to anyone, but on the way, Zhang Xuan had already anticipated all possibilities and made this contingency plan—never expecting it would actually come in handy...
The group rushed toward the small courtyard only to hear "Elder Bai Ye's" angry shouts before they arrived, "Help, help me!"
"Disaster, the teacher's in danger, hurry and save him..."
With a change in expression, Min Jiangtao charged ahead, followed by the Housekeeper who quickened his pace.
After a dozen or so breaths, they stopped outside the small courtyard.
Faced with the yard before them, the Housekeeper seemed hesitant.
Knowing that the other party was limited by orders and dared not enter at will, Min Jiangtao gestured broadly, "Stop overthinking it. That Zhang Xuan is vicious and brutal; he probably already set an ambush. Go rescue people quickly, otherwise, our teacher is really in danger..."
After speaking, he didn't care whether the others agreed or not, and kicked the small door open, charging straight in.
"Hurry up and follow!"
Seeing him charge in, Mo Yi, paying no heed to further talk, also led his men and charged over, only to find two "old masters" confronting each other face to face in the training room.
"Mo Yi, you've arrived just in time. Now, take down this impostor who's been impersonating me!"
Elder Bai Ye, who was missing an arm, couldn't help but rebuke them harshly when he saw that his subordinates had actually come following the summons.
"Mo Yi, this guy is impersonating me, committing a heinous crime. Arrest him quickly for a thorough interrogation!"
The "old master" opposite him also shouted out.
"..."
Mo Yi's face suddenly took on the likeness of someone suffering from constipation.
Listening to them, both men had identical voices, and crucially both held Mo Blades, with astonishing Sword Intent, just as hard to distinguish...
"What's the matter? You've followed me for a full thirty years, and today you can't even recognize me?"
The armless Elder Bai Ye said through gritted teeth, "That year, when you were out on the streets trying to steal steamed buns and nearly got beaten to death, I happened by and saved you, and gave you the status of a housekeeper. Have you forgotten all that?"
"I wouldn't dare..."
Mo Yi quickly nodded, looking back at the opposite "Elder Bai Ye" with narrowed eyes, "Men, seize this impostor for me."
The event of him stealing buns thirty years ago was only known by the old master; nobody else was aware of it. If the other person could speak of it outright, they must be the real one.
"Hold on!"
The "old master" on the other side, turning green in the face with anger, exclaimed, "Mo Yi, how dare you! Twenty years ago, you fancied the Wu Clan's second daughter and stealthily drugged her, hoping to rape her. But the dose wasn't enough, and at the critical moment, she woke up and exposed your identity. In a crisis, fearing she would scream, you strangled her to death... It would have been the end for you had I not cleaned up your mess. Surely you haven't forgotten about that?"
"I..."
Mo Yi's body trembled.
This secret matter was also resolved with the help of the old master. So it stood to reason... could this person be the real one? And the one missing an arm was the fake?
As he was wracked with indecision, unable to ascertain the truth, he saw Min Jiangtao abruptly lift the Mo Blade in his hand, pointing it at the armless "old master."
"Zhang Xuan, even now, you still try to impersonate an identity, causing confusion. Do you really think we can't tell who is who? Everyone, attack together and kill him, or if he escapes, no one will be able to save you..."
After speaking, paying no heed to further talk, his saber came slashing down.
His saber art was unparalleled, and as he moved, a straight line was drawn through the air, aiming straight for the spot where Elder Bai Ye's arm had been severed.
"You..."
Elder Bai Ye, who hoped his subordinates would turn the tide in his favor and kill the two impostors, could never have dreamed that he wouldn't even be able to prove his own identity. Furious to the point of nearly exploding, he no longer bothered to argue, and with a fierce thrust of his Mo Blade, immediately met the attack head-on.
"Clang!"
Their blades collided, and Min Jiangtao felt a numbness in his palm; the Mo Blade in his hand was immediately knocked flying.
"Mo Yi, can't you even recognize..."
Just as Elder Bai Ye was about to rebuke Mo Yi for not recognizing his own unique skill, he heard the "himself" across from him shout loudly, "Zhang Xuan, you're actually using spearmanship to imitate the Mo Blade Technique, confusing everyone. Shameless!"
"???"
Elder Bai Ye froze.
Is this actually... spearmanship?