Chapter 136: Show Your Cards, I'm Also a Recipient, Faceless and the Lord of a Thousand Faces

Chapter 136: Show Your Cards, I'm Also a Recipient, Faceless and the Lord of a Thousand Faces

Sunlight seeped through the gaps in the curtains, illuminating half of Xue Jing's face as he sat upright on the sofa, deep in thought with his arms crossed.

After a while, a soft knocking sounded at the door.

Snapping out of his reverie, Xue Jing didn't get up but instead, with a flick of his finger, a shadow at the door condensed into a tangible, shadowy hand that turned the doorknob.

Holding Cat, Xue Wan saw the door open and hesitated, about to speak when she noticed her brother wasn't there.

Puzzled, she walked in, passing through the corridor and into the living room, where she finally spotted Xue Jing sitting on the sofa, half his body shrouded in shadow.

He remained silent, his calm expression visible on the half of his face that wasn't in shadow as he gazed at Xue Wan.

His posture exuded an air of authority, reminiscent of a mafia don, which only added to Xue Wan's unease, causing her expression to falter.

"Sit, sister," Xue Jing said flatly.

Xue Wan: "..."

She put Cat down and cautiously walked over to Xue Jing, but instead of sitting on a chair or the sofa, she knelt before him and placed her hands on his knees.

"Woof!"

Xue Wan mimicked a puppy, her voice meek as she gazed up at Xue Jing from a seemingly adorable angle, her large, lustrous eyes brimming with innocence.

Xue Jing: "..."

This shameless woman had no qualms about groveling before her younger brother, her tail metaphorically tucked between her legs.

Ever since she lost a game to him as a child and vowed to 'be a dog' if she reneged on her debt, she had abandoned her dignity as an older sister.

From that day on, whenever she did something wrong, she would play the role of a dog before Xue Jing to beg for forgiveness.

"Behave," Xue Jing said expressionlessly, no longer falling for her antics. "Sit."

"Oh..." Xue Wan's face was a picture of obedience as she removed her hands from his knees and, maintaining her kneeling position, scooted back a little before sitting up straight like a well-behaved child.

"Do you know you did wrong?"

"I know, I was wrong, woof!" Xue Wan readily admitted her fault.

Xue Jing, expressionless: "What exactly did you do wrong?"

Kneeling before him, Xue Wan placed her hands on her thighs and replied meekly, "For hiding things from the family and trying to handle them on my own, which ended up dragging Younger Brother into trouble."

Xue Jing clicked his tongue. "You know this already?"

This was a classic move of hers, but seeing her so readily admit her mistake and accept the lesson, he found it hard to stay angry.

After a moment's thought, he asked, "When did this happen?"

"Two months ago... My mentor, that Professor Lu, showed me a performance where seeds instantly bloomed into flowers..."

Xue Wan recounted the events honestly.

"Afterward, she asked if I wanted to learn, and when I said yes, she took me straight to the bestowal ceremony..."

She scratched her head, a charming yet doe-eyed expression on her face. "I thought it was just a magic trick, I never imagined it was real. Ahahaha, haha, ha..."

Under Xue Jing's unwavering gaze, her laughter tapered off, and she resumed her well-behaved demeanor.

Xue Jing pondered for a moment before asking, "How do you feel now? What's your mutation rate?"

Xue Wan's eyes widened in surprise. "You even know about that, Young Master Jing?"

"I caught that woman earlier and asked her a lot of questions," Xue Jing replied.

"What does she look like? Describe her," Xue Wan asked, tilting her head.

"She has a colorful left eye."

"Sister Qin? You caught Sister Qin?"

Xue Wan's face lit up with shock and admiration. "You're amazing, Sir Jing!"

Her expression, though exaggerated to curry favor, held a genuine spark of awe.

After her mentor had separated her from her brother, she had received a call from a classmate telling her about the commotion at the school gate and urging her to come and watch. That was when she had realized something was amiss and hurried to the scene.

Upon arriving, she had seen clear traces of a battle involving a recipient of the Flower God's blessing, and putting two and two together with the timing of Xue Jing's departure from school, she had guessed that something had happened to her brother.

She had then received a call from Xue Jing and rushed to the hotel.

However, she wasn't clear on the specifics of what had transpired.

And as far as she knew, the plants cultivated by that Ah Qin sister, Na Gu something Cha, were almost the bane of martial artists.

For her martial artist younger brother to actually defeat and even capture her...

"That person said she wanted me to join the church, perform a bestowal ceremony on me, and get me to worship your Lord of a Thousand Red and Gorgeous Faces."

"I didn't agree, so she tried to force it on me and take me away against my will."

"It was your mentor, that Professor Lu, who put her up to it."

Xue Jing gave a rough account of what had happened.

Upon hearing this, Xue Wan more or less understood the whole situation.

A complex look flashed in her eyes as she said softly, "Rest assured, Ah Jing. This won't happen again... Sister will protect you."

Xue Jing cleared his throat.

"Speaking of which, I also have something to tell you."

After a moment's thought, he said, "Actually, I didn't defeat that woman with martial arts."

Xue Wan looked puzzled. "Huh?"

Then, as if she had thought of something, she stood up abruptly, her eyes wide with shock, and slammed her hand on the table next to her.

"You didn't beat her, so you sold yourself to her, seduced her, and then turned the tables on her in bed while she was...ahh!"

Xue Jing's lips twitched, and he immediately used his shadow flame to materialize a hand and slapped her on the head with a crisp sound.

"What are you thinking about? That's too lewd."

Xue Jing said helplessly.

Xue Wan rubbed her slapped head and looked at the floating shadow flame hand beside her, blinking.

"What is this?"

Xue Jing crossed his arms and rested them on his chin. "Sis, I'm showing you my cards."

"I'm also a recipient."

Xue Wan's eyes widened. "You too...?"

"How did this happen...?"

She murmured.

Being a recipient was a dangerous occupation. One had to live with the fear of being contaminated and mutated, never knowing when they would lose themselves and transform into monsters.

Venturing into this hidden world was extremely perilous, with friction between different sects, the hunting done by that semi-official madman organization, and the competition for the limited spots on the 'Ladder'. It was a cutthroat world, to say the least.

What she least wanted was for her family to be dragged into this world.

Yet, her most cherished younger brother had become a recipient.

Xue Wan didn't doubt Xue Jing's words. The black flame hand floating beside him was the best proof, clearly a manifestation of an 'unconventional' power that an ordinary person couldn't possess.

Her expression turned serious as she asked, "Ah Jing, which sect performed the bestowal ceremony on you? Which Divine Mask bestowed its blessing upon you?"

Xue Jing blinked and told her the reason he had just thought of.

"None. In fact, I don't even know why I became a recipient myself."

"I only know that the Divine Mask that bestowed its blessing upon me is called..."

"...The Lord of Faceless and a Thousand Faces."

Xue Jing said slowly.

This name... was made up by him.

Just now, he had come up with it.

With his divine skill exposed, he had to find a plausible explanation for the source of his abilities.

And given the power and unpredictability of divine skills, only the equally unpredictable power of a recipient's divine blessing could explain it.

Thus, he decided to pretend to be a recipient!

But what kind of divine blessing could explain his multitude of abilities?

For now, he only had the obvious Shadowflame and Plant Bond, but he would surely unlock more divine skills in the future.

When that happened, he would need new explanations, so he might as well create one that could explain them all from the start.

And so, he invented a non-existent divine being—the Lord of Faceless and a Thousand Faces.

'Faceless' referred to the fact that this god had no actual form and no true body.

'Thousand Faces' was to justify the myriad of abilities he would possess.

A god with a thousand faces, a thousand abilities, yet faceless and without a true body.

Thus, the Lord of Faceless and a Thousand Faces.

"The Lord of Faceless and a Thousand Faces?" Xue Wan furrowed her brows in thought, then shook her head.

"Never heard of it..."

Xue Jing remained calm and said, "That's normal. There are so many divine beings; how could you know them all?"

After a pause, he continued, "In fact, I also became a recipient not long ago, and I don't know much about it. It was only from that woman earlier that I learned about the possibility of recipients being contaminated and mutated."

"Also—"

Before Xue Jing could finish, he was interrupted by Xue Wan's astonished voice.

"Wait, Ah Jing, did you just say that you didn't undergo a bestowal ceremony and that you don't even know why you became a recipient yourself?"

Xue Jing blinked. "That's right."

Xue Wan furrowed her brows in thought and murmured, "Could it be... a natural-born recipient, a chosen one of the gods?"

"Chosen one of the gods?" Xue Jing echoed, puzzled. "What's that about?"

How did his convenient fabrication correspond to this term?

Xue Wan shook her head. "I'm not too sure about the specifics, but I vaguely remember my mentor mentioning this term once."

"Typically, recipients are 'people who choose gods.' They curry favor with the divine, offer their faith and worship, undergo a bestowal ceremony, and in response, the deity grants them their blessing, thus becoming a recipient."

"But natural-born recipients are different. They are 'gods who choose people.' When a deity takes a liking to a mortal, they condescend to bestow their power upon them, and thus, they are known as 'chosen ones of the gods.'"

"According to my mentor, there are no more than twenty natural-born recipients worldwide."

Xue Jing nodded. "Sounds impressive."

"Indeed, these chosen ones need not undergo bestowal ceremonies, worry about competing for spots on the 'Ladder,' or fear contamination and mutation. As time passes, they naturally ascend the ranks and grow stronger..."

A hint of worry crept into Xue Wan's eyes.

"But there's one problem."

"All chosen ones of the gods will suddenly vanish without a trace at some point, an occurrence known as the 'Divine Disappearance Phenomenon.'"

"The reason for their disappearance remains a mystery, as does their destination and the pattern behind the timing of their disappearance."

"The longest a chosen one has remained in this world is forty-six years."

Xue Wan bit her thumb nail, her perfectly aligned teeth gleaming.

"If you're a chosen one..."

Xue Jing patted her shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry. Who knows what the future holds?"

He hadn't anticipated that this explanation would inadvertently burden Xue Wan with psychological stress.

But now, he could only continue with this fabrication... There was no way he'd reveal the existence of the skill panel, not even to his family.

"Let's set my issues aside for now and focus on resolving yours," Xue Jing said gently.

"My issues?" Xue Wan asked, puzzled.

"Where's your sacred mark?" Xue Jing inquired.

"Umm..." Xue Wan's expression turned slightly embarrassed.

Seeing her reaction, Xue Jing raised an eyebrow. "What, is it in an intimate location?"

If so, that would be rather troublesome...

"Not exactly," Xue Wan hesitated, then bit her lip and lifted the hem of her top, revealing her slender waist.

Xue Jing's gaze followed, and he spotted the anomaly on her navel.

A red, octahedral gemstone hung from her dainty and attractive belly button, resembling a navel piercing.

While it looked beautiful, it gave off a rather promiscuous vibe.

Xue Wan quickly lowered her top, her face flushed: "Okay, okay, stop looking."

It was embarrassing enough for her own younger brother to see this peculiar sacred mark.

Xue Jing shook his head and lifted her top again with one hand, exposing her slender waist and navel once more.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Xue Wan exclaimed, her eyes widening.

"I'm your brother, your older sister!"

Xue Jing rolled his eyes. "Must you always think the worst? What could I possibly do to you?"

"Earlier, I tested one of the abilities of 'The Lord of Faceless and a Thousand Faces' on that female colleague of yours, and it seems it can solve your contamination issue."

"Alright, don't move. Let me take a look!"

The cat, who had been watching from the sidelines the entire time, wore an expression that seemed to say, "I can't believe this."

"Just look, why are you glaring at me...?" Xue Wan muttered, ceasing her struggles and turning her head away, presenting herself for inspection.

Xue Jing held her top with one hand and used the other to touch the red gemstone-like sacred mark.

【Detecting divine substance. Absorbing divinity...】

"How does it feel?" Xue Jing asked.

Xue Wan closed her eyes to focus on the sensation. "It feels like... something is being drawn out of me."

...

(Apologies for the late update. There's one more chapter coming, which I'm still writing. If you haven't slept yet, don't stay up waiting. Just read it when you wake up tomorrow.)

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