After the duel with Master Zhou, the Guo family villa was a complete mess.
The expensive crystal chandelier had been smashed into countless shards, and the five ghostly entities Master Zhou had summoned earlier had also wrecked quite a few things.
The worst off were Master Zhou and Liu Wenhao—both had blood all over their faces.
Liu Wenhao was still crouched in the corner, groaning in pain. When that vengeful spirit had possessed Master Zhou, it had slapped him across the face more than a dozen times. From the force of it, I'd bet he lost a few molars in the process.
Given the situation, it really wasn't my fault.
It was Liu Wenhao who egged Master Zhou into challenging me. I was forced into this—purely an act of self-defense, and nothing excessive at that.
Once Uncle Hu carried Master Zhou over to the sofa, I went back and took a seat.
Guo Ziping still hadn't recovered from the shock. He stared blankly at me, his tone much more respectful than before.
"Young Master Wu… will they be alright?"
"They'll be fine. Master Zhou just fainted; he'll wake up soon. As for Mr. Liu, it's just some surface injuries—nothing serious," I said calmly.
"Young Master Wu, what exactly did you do to them? Why did Master Zhou suddenly go mad and start hitting Liu Wenhao?" Guo Xiaotong's big eyes blinked with curiosity as she looked at me.
Zhang Yunyao, equally puzzled, also looked at me expectantly.
Uncle Hu chuckled and answered for me:
"That was dangerous just now. Master Zhou's no ordinary man—he's skilled and even summoned several fierce spirits to deal with our young master. But compared to him, our young master is far superior, so he ended up being the one subdued."
"Young Master Wu, you're amazing—my idol!" Guo Xiaotong's eyes sparkled like stars, her pretty face flushed with excitement.
Of course, Uncle Hu was just making things up. He hadn't seen those spirits, and Master Zhou hadn't summoned any. But I didn't bother to correct him and let it pass.
While we were talking, Master Zhou slowly regained consciousness.
The moment he woke, he shuddered all over and sat bolt upright on the sofa.
The first thing he did was check himself over, making sure no "parts" were missing.
Being in the feng shui world, he knew all too well how terrifying vengeful spirits could be—once they possessed someone, they wouldn't stop until the victim was dead.
And there hadn't just been one spirit earlier. No wonder Master Zhou must have thought his life was over.
Now, realizing he was still alive and intact, he must have felt as if he'd been given a second chance.
Without hesitation, Master Zhou stood, strode over to me, and bowed deeply until his back was nearly bent in half.
"Thank you, Young Master Wu, for sparing me. I admit defeat wholeheartedly. I was disrespectful earlier—please forgive me."
Since he'd humbled himself so sincerely, I couldn't embarrass him further. I smiled and said:
"Master Zhou, you're too kind. Our duel was evenly matched. It's just that something went wrong during your spellcasting—an interference from the spirit—which caused you to lose. My win was hardly honorable."
Hearing that, Master Zhou was both respected and reassured, making him even more deferential.
"In front of Young Master Wu, how could I dare call myself a 'master'? You're the one with true mastery. May I ask who your teacher is?"
"My teacher is Li Xuantong of the Qimen Feng Shui School," I replied lightly.
Master Zhou gasped, his eyes going wide with shock and fear.
"So you're a direct disciple of the Feng Shui King, Li Xuantong! Forgive my ignorance. Had I known you were here, I wouldn't have dared to make a fool of myself even with eight lives. I've offended you—please excuse me. I'll take my leave."
He bowed deeply again, then hurried toward the door.
Liu Wenhao scrambled awkwardly to his feet and caught up to him.
"Master Zhou, don't go! I hired you to help me—"
"With the Feng Shui King's disciple here, I won't stay and embarrass myself. Mr. Liu, you've really put me in a tough spot," Master Zhou said, flicking his sleeve and striding away.
Liu Wenhao turned to glare at me, spitting out,
"Wu, you just wait—I'll deal with you sooner or later!"
From the way his words whistled through his teeth, I figured those slaps from earlier had knocked out a good number of his front teeth.
"What a fool—threatening our young master. He doesn't know the meaning of death," Uncle Hu said angrily.
After the two left, only the Guo father and daughter, Uncle Hu, Zhang Yunyao, and I remained in the villa.
Guo Ziping shakily rose from the sofa, excitement in his voice.
"As expected of the Feng Shui King's disciple. I couldn't understand the techniques you used just now, but I could feel how incredible they were. It seems there's hope for my condition after all."
I then remembered—our purpose here had been to help Guo Ziping.
It was just that Liu Wenhao and Master Zhou had interrupted us.
"Mr. Guo, earlier we only got halfway through our discussion. Can you tell me exactly what's been happening to you?" I asked.
Guo Ziping glanced at Guo Xiaotong and Zhang Yunyao.
The two girls were still standing there, listening.
He seemed embarrassed to speak in front of them and said instead,
"Young Master Wu, let's talk privately. This matter is… difficult to speak of."
"Dad, what could you possibly hide from us? Just say it here," Guo Xiaotong protested.
"You little girl, there are things you shouldn't hear."
He then turned to me.
"Young Master Wu, shall we speak upstairs?"
"Sure," I agreed, walking over to help him up the stairs.
Guo Xiaotong, pouting, could only stay downstairs with Zhang Yunyao and the servants to clean up the mess.
Guo Ziping's health was truly frail—he wobbled as he walked, and by the time we reached the second floor, he was drenched in sweat and panting heavily.
I helped him into a study, where he closed the door before inviting me to sit.
He sat across from me, hesitating for a long while before finally saying, somewhat embarrassed:
"Young Master Wu, lately I've been having a strange dream. In the dream, there's a beautiful woman who sleeps with me every night."
Do you want me to keep the translation style consistent like this for the rest of the novel? That way, every chapter will have a one-line English theme followed by the full translation in a fluent, novel-like tone.