Chapter 102 - Mourning
"I am about to arrange a grand array! I will not spare anyone who rushes into the array haphazardly!" Gu Hai shouted icily.
Hearing this, all of the cultivators" eyes went wide instantly!
Arrange an array! Arrange a GRAND array!
Just the earlier grand array was still vivid in their minds. Sure, that array was creating explosions continuously, but it was still within the acceptable range of the cultivators.
But now, Gu Hai wanted to arrange an array!
"Sky Sabers Life and Death Game?"
"Maybe it"s 28x28 Heaven and Earth Grand Array?"
"The grand array that annihilated twenty thousand cultivators!"...
The cultivators were struck with a jolt. Some of the more timid cultivators had already begun to back off.
Gu Hai, on the other hand, without paying any heed to the cultivators all around, turned his gaze at his army.
"Gao Xianzhi, take the Heaven Company with you and patrol around the Gu Mansion for now. Anyone who dares to rush in without announcing themselves, kill them!" Gu Hai ordered in a heavy voice.
"Yes, Your Grace!" Gao Xianzhi obliged promptly.
"Gu Han, help Gao Xianzhi and point out the range of patrols to him. At the same time, deal with the remaining Song Jia Sect disciples!" Gu Hai gazed at Gu Han.
"Yes, G.o.dfather!" Gu Han answered respectfully.
"Gu Qin, help the others to settle in!" Gu Hai ordered.
"Yes, G.o.dfather!" Gu Qin responded immediately.
Slowly, the arrangements were made for the ex-convicts.
With all the non-stop construction over the half year Gu Hai was absent, Gu Mansion had only grown bigger and bigger. However, Gu Hai still liked his Soaring Heaven PaG.o.da.
Having just returned from taking a hot bath, Gu Hai felt refreshed. He took out some spirit stones and began to arrange the array.
His men also a.s.sisted him burying the spirit stones, laying out a grand array.
Suddenly, a cloud of white mist rose into the sky, gradually enveloping the entire Gu Mansion.
"Run, Gu Hai has arranged the array!"
"Sky Sabers Life and Death Game, it"s the Sky Sabers Life and Death Game for sure!"
"No, it"s the 28x28 Heaven and Earth Grand Array!"...
The surrounding cultivators retreated towards the outer ring at breakneck speed. After all, Gu Hai"s formation was infamous!
Atop the Soaring Heaven PaG.o.da...
Gu Hai"s eyes glittered with satisfaction as he overlooked the grand array, shrouded in a layer of clouds. Others may not be able to see what was going on inside from the outside, but standing at the top of the paG.o.da, the center of the array, everything outside was pretty clear.
"G.o.dfather, is this 28x28 Heaven and Earth Grand Array, or Sky Sabers Life and Death Array?" Gu Qin looked about curiously.
"Neither!" Gu Hai shook his head in response.
"Oh?"
"Laying an array requires a huge amount of spirit stones, and the little bit of spirit stones I have are far from enough!" Gu Hai shook his head.
"Then, what array is this?" Gu Qin asked, taken aback.
"The stratagem of the empty city!" Gu Hai answered, taking a deep breath.
Hearing this, a serious look appeared on Gu Qin"s face before he nodded. "G.o.dfather, you are truly wise and far-sighted. With the notorious reputation of 28x28 Heaven and Earth Grand Array and Sky Sabers Life and Death Array, the cultivators would not dare to take risks easily!"
Gu Hai nodded agreement.
In a forest far away from the Gu Mansion…
The rustling of gra.s.s sounded in the forest as if someone was walking. It was none other than the Earth Company taken away by Chen Tianshan.
At this moment, the Earth Company was shuttling through the forest quickly, carrying Chen Tianshan on a stretcher.
"Ke ke ke ke, hurry up, that way, that"s where Gu Mansion is, ke ke ke!" Lying on the stretcher, Chen Tianshan was struck with fits of coughs as he pointed into the distance.
Not just Chen Tianshan, many of Earth Company"s men had suffered serious injuries, most of whom were being carried on a stretcher as they shuttled through the forest quickly.
"Captain, what happened with your Clear River Sect, why did they ambush us?" one of the men asked, an unsightly look on his face.
"Ke ke ke, traitors, they are traitors, they betrayed my Clear River Sect and are hanging around with the Song Jia Sect!" Chen Tianshan wore an ugly look as he replied.
"Captain, let"s go back and kill them!" a few criminals said as they scowled.
"No, don"t go back!" Chen Tianshan ordered in a feeble voice.
"Sir, this subordinate is unable to take this insult! In this ambush, three hundred of us were injured and we also lost fifteen good men, when have we suffered such a serious loss?" that man said, his eyes wide with anger.
"I know, ke ke ke, I know that I am not that intelligent, I did not see through their tricks! I am afraid of many things, I am not as clever as Gao Xianzhi, nor am as cutthroat as Scar, or as mysterious as Shangguan Hen, but I know the fear of death! Ke ke, fear of death! I have mentioned this to my Lord, but my Lord didn"t care about it, on the contrary, he let me stay! Because I am afraid of death, I don"t want to take risks, we have lost fifteen men already, I don"t want to lose any more men! We will report it to my Lord, my Lord will avenge us!" Chen Tianshan declared weakly.
"Yes!" An ugly look immediately took over the Earth Company.
"Clear River Sect has already been destroyed, hahaha, it has perished. In the end, we were late! We are being attacked from within and without, now it already belongs to Song Jia Sect completely. I wonder if Chief is alright, whether he is alive or dead. Ascendant Hall Lord is imprisoned! Song Jia Sect Chief, Song Shengping, you, you sure have the nerves to do such outrageous thing!" Chen Tianshan muttered feebly.
"Ascendant Hall Lord has been imprisoned! Song Shengping, what does he want to do?"
"I don"t know, hurry up, follow this road and keep going. We must see my Lord quickly, hurry up!" Chen Tianshan ordered, his voice strained.
"Yes, sir!" The Earth Company"s expressions turned ugly as they ran into the distance.
Gu Mansion...
Next to Gu Mansion was a small gorge, which was also shrouded by a cloud of mist at this time. As a result of the mist, outsiders didn"t dare to approach.
This small gorge was extremely calm and quiet. There was a brook flowing within, its banks lined with azaleas. Usually, outsiders weren"t allowed to enter this valley, lest they disturb the serenity of the valley.
At this moment, Gu Hai, carrying a box of food, stepped into the valley, and pa.s.sing through the azaleas, stopped before a grave.
The headstone of this grave was very inconspicuous, as if it was just an ordinary grave. Written on the gravestone was: Here lies Chen Xian"er, beloved wife!
Gu Hai, carrying the box of food in his hand, watched the headstone in silence for a while.
After a good long while, Gu Hai slowly opened the box of food and took out dishes of cakes.
"Steamed Mung Bean Cake! Homemade Purple Glutinous Rice Cake! Red Bean Cake! I brought everything you like. I didn"t cook for you for half a year, check out whether I am out of practice or not!" Gu Hai looked at the headstone and smiled blankly.
Slowly, Gu Hai sat back down and rested on the tombstone.
"Xianer, the old man is back!" Gu Hai sighed heavily.
Resting on the tombstone, Gu Hai raised his head up to look at the sky. He seemed to have relaxed a lot. The all-majestic and aggressive Gu Hai seemed to have put everything down and turned into a child before this tombstone.
"See, I have become younger, I no longer look like an old man. I am already at the seventh level of the Xiantian Stage. Didn"t I tell you, if others can cultivators, I also can! And I did it! Moreover, I will become better with each pa.s.sing day, I will soon reach the Golden Core Stage, I will reach the Nascent Soul Stage as fast as possible! I will become stronger and stronger. I will make sure to not give in to those who trampled us so easily anymore. I will avenge you, kill those group of b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, and chop them into pieces!" Gu Hai said in a very calm tone, but his eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with determination.
"You don"t need to worry about me, I will live well, I will do better than anyone, better than our enemies!
"I have glimpsed the situation a bit already. Perhaps, they came to the Nine-Five Island searching for the dragon vein, but didn"t find it! I will slowly but surely find them! My wife, my beloved!"
Picking up a piece of Mung Bean Cake, Gu Hai started eating. While eating, he looked about. After a good long while, a bitter smile emerged.
"A few months back, I was in the Xiantian Endgame World, where I learned that a human has three souls: the heaven soul, earth soul, and human soul. After you die, your heaven soul returns to the heavens, your earth soul is reincarnated, and your human soul stays by your grave. Is your human soul here? Can you see me? Can you hear me?" Gu Hai asked in a gentle voice while eating the Mung Bean Cake.
"Xian"er, I miss you!" Two lines of tears trickled down from the corners of Gu Hai"s eyes.
Leaning on the tombstone, Gu Hai mumbled gently. The heavens knew after how long, Gu Hai gradually fell asleep, leaning on the gravestone.
In his dream, a voice seemed to have spoken again and again.
"My husband is a peerless hero! He will save the country!
"My husband is a good man who helps the needy and relieves the distressed!
"Husband, this puppy is so poor!
"Husband, I want to give you a baby!
"My husband is the strongest man, he can protect me!
"With my husband by my side, no one can bully me!"...
The voices in the dreams were the memories of the past. Gu Hai relived the old days in his dream again and again. Even when he was asleep, the tears did not stop.
At this moment, Chen Tianshan and many men of the Earth Company charged into the Gu Mansion.
All along the way, they proceeded smoothly. Although many were curious why the Company looked like this, no one dared to stop them.
Inside the Gu Mansion...
"Captain Chen, who did this to you?" Gao Xianzhi looked at an injured Chen Tianshan in shock.
"Where is my Lord? Quickly, take me to my Lord!" Chen Tianshan was extremely anxious.
The four captains gathered about, Gu Qin and Gu Han with them.
"Captain Chen, my father is mourning for my mother, no one can disturb him!" Gu Qin said in a serious tone.
"Ah! But… but the situation is extremely critical!" Chen Tianshan said anxiously.
"You can tell us first, my father is mourning my mother, absolutely no one can disturb him. Even Great Brother and I aren"t allowed to approach!" explained Gu Han.
"Mother? My lord has a wife!" Scar blurted out, astounded.
Gu Qin and Gu Han remained absolutely silent. Looking at their expression, everyone also came to understand, but they didn"t ask anymore. They turned their heads, looking at Chen Tianshan.
"Chen Tianshan, what happened?" Shangguan Hen asked, a frown creeping up on his face.
"Yes, we-we were ambushed!" stated Chen Tianshan, agonized.
"You were returning to Clear River Sect and were ambushed!?" Everyone was flabbergasted.
A few days later, in an arbor inside the Clear River Sect, the Song Jia Sect Chief was listening to his subordinates" report.
"Gu Hai is back? It seems Elder Bai has failed!" Song Shengping said coldly.
"Yes, Elder Bai even transformed, but-but he was still killed by those criminals!" a subordinate standing behind Song Shengping reported respectfully.
"Hmph, wastrels, you let him return so quickly. He is acting so ostentatious, hmph!" Song Shengping remarked in a cold tone.
"Chief, those criminals...!"
"That Li Wei was such a wastrel, he let those criminals destroy his Golden Tong, those fools! If it was before, we would still have to worry, but now, what are you worried about? You can transform now, can"t you? And the remaining disciples are being demonized, do you still have to be afraid of them?" Song Shengping asked coldly.
"Yes, this subordinate was worrying too much!"
"How goes the interrogation?" Song Shengping asked in a heavy voice.
"He still won"t give us anything, we are trying everything, but the Clear River Sect Chief is very stubborn, he is not saying anything!" that subordinate reported with a grimace.
Song Shengping narrowed his eyes. "We have to force him to give up that monk"s whereabouts. Otherwise, it will be troublesome, even for me!"
"Yes, Chief!"
Chapter Notes:Ebook: The first EIF Ebooks are out! Please consider buying one to support EIF"s translator and editor (myself and RED) :D
Volume 1 and Volume 2. For those of you who have bought the book, we"d really appreciate it if you"d leave a review on Amazon!
If you"re enjoying The Everlasting Immortal Firmament so far, please consider leaving it a vote here: So, we have our own discord server now, anyone who wishes to join can join us at