Chapter 161: Hiding
Not long ago, Eyang Sect, one of the Five Blessings, tried to stand up for Sun Dynasty Palace. They sent the enlightened sword-bearer Taoist priest Qing Niao to Wen family village. He reached just in time to meet Wen Leyang, who had just tunneled through the belly of Mount Emei, bringing the seven fat Rainbow Brothers, jade knife Guo Huan and Wei Mo home. As a result, Taoist priest Qing Niao returned in defeat. This prompted the Five Blessings to gather on the Nine Peaks Mountain, wrestling for treasured weapons. Zi Que died. Almost all the elites of the right path worked together to capture the demon monk San Duan. The disciples of Tuo Xie then found out from the demon monk about the whereabouts of the Qilian Immortals’ giant pangolin, which led to Wen Leyang’s venture into the Gold-Consuming Lair and Shanghai.
This series of event all happened for one reason. It was all because the Jilong Sect obtained a piece of information, which was there was an important person hidden amongst the Wen Bucao, the important personage who was significant to the destiny of the right and evil path of the cultivation world!
This message was pa.s.sed on to the Wen family by the supreme leader Huang He on behalf of supreme leader Zi Que after his death. Due to the Thunder Heart Sand, old demon rabbit Bu Le, Wen Leyang, Rainbow Brothers, and others made enlightened person Zi Que thought, before his death, that the Wen Bucao was not a normal strong mortal clan like they appear to be. To eliminate the deep grudge between the Wen Bucao and Jilong Sect, he ordered the Taoist priest through gritted teeth to reveal the truth, in a show of goodwill.
After the Five Blessings left, little demon rabbit Shan Duan had followed them down the mountain to investigate the origins of this sentence when Wen Leyang led the others to embark towards the Gold-Consuming Lair.
As Shan Duan did not use his full strength in the series of battles on the Nine Peaks Mountain, his powers seemed to not have diminished. The rakshasa on his back was not refined by himself but was a dharma character produced by karma energy because he had comprehended the Buddhist Zen Truth. Although the Weeping Buddha crushed it, no harm was caused.
Jilong Sect lost their armies and generals on this venture. They lost their Sect’s treasured weapon, their supreme leader died, almost all their elites were badly injured. As such, little demon rabbit had caught up to them without expending too much effort.
Wen Leyang listened intently to old demon rabbit Bu Le’s words. An important personage who was significant to the destiny of the right and evil path of the cultivation world was hidden among the Wen family. This issue was critical. It could even invoke a ma.s.sacre between the Mountain Sect and World Sect of the cultivation world. Wen Leyang himself would think about this matter when he had nothing to do. He reached one conclusion. This person might just be… it was most probably himself. This conclusion had made him secretly happy.
Without him noticing, Wen Leyang had smiled at old demon rabbit Bu Le. He casually received the carrot given to him by Xiaoyi.
Old demon rabbit had not met a person who smiled at him while holding a carrot for a long time. He was slightly stunned before continuing, “That child Shan Duan, had already been refining for more than a thousand years. The cultivators of Jilong Sect are no match for him. He found out the whole thing after using some tricks. Hehe, this matter has to start from Sun Dynasty Palace!”
When old demon rabbit was talking, he had already cast a soundproof Magic Circle. The people outside the Circle can only see their mouths moving but could not listen to what they were saying. After all, other unrelated people should not know about the ‘important personage who is significant to the destiny of the right and evil path of the cultivation world’.
After First Uncle Wen Tunhai finished contacting the engineering team, he sat beside Wen Leyang. He interrupted and asked, “Wen Leyang, do you still remember Yu Lingzi of Sun Dynasty Palace?” The soundproof Magic Circle did not obstruct people from entering or leaving. Those who entered the Magic Circle could converse as they wished.
Wen Leyang tried to recall for a while. He then nodded with a smile, “When the Sun Dynasty Palace first came up the mountain to avenge the doll-faced man, who I killed in the Red Leaves Forest, Yu Lingzi was the one who led the men. He even used that red little flying sword to injure you, which ‘You’ve Got Me’ pounced on it in the end.”
Old demon rabbit Bu Le smiled and nodded, “In the end, this matter happened because of Yu Lingzi!”
In the cultivation world, Sun Dynasty Palace was only a small sect with average abilities and a below average popularity. It had always attached itself to Jilong Sect. Yu Lingzi was the first disciple of the Sun Dynasty Palace’s supreme leader. A few years ago, when he went up to the Wen family village, he looked to be in his forties. However, as true cultivators refined qi to extend their lives, Yu Lingzi was actually in his seventies already.
When Yu Lingzi was still a young boy, he had rescued an old man by chance. When the old man woke up, Yu Lingzi found out that he was also a qi-refining cultivator, but had no magical powers.
The old man was eccentric. He held onto Yu Lingzi and relentlessly wanted to repay Yu Lingzi for saving his life. He said that there was a sword hidden in a place and he wanted to guide Yu Lingzi there to retrieve it.
At that time, Yu Lingzi was still carrying out his master’s orders. He dared not believe in the crazy old man. He laughed and wanted to leave. The old man unexpectedly flew into a great rage. He arranged a few rocks and boulders, said some unrelated things and lastly chuckled, “I will wait for you for four days, go!”
Yu Lingzi was utterly annoyed by the old man, he genuinely regretted for saving him. When he heard that he could leave, it was as if he received amnesty and he ran away like a puff of smoke. However, the Taoist priest had never dreamt that in the following three days, the unrelated things muttered by the old man had all happened to him. He finally understood that he had met a living G.o.d.
When Yu Lingzi went back, the old man was still there, bent over and lying on the ground deriving Divination Skills without a pause. He did not seem to hear his approach. Yu Lingzi did not dare to disturb. He waited earnestly at one side.
After three days, the old man suddenly gave a strange cry. He fell, sat on the ground and muttered: Broken gong, big flat cake, and the dog!
When Wen Leyang heard this, his expression changed as he repeated, “Did this old man say broken gong, big flat cake and the dog?”
Old demon rabbit Bu Le nodded, “The World Sect had started stirring since ten years ago. They frequently showed their faces to find these three peculiar objects. Hehe, this old man had known about them a few decades ago.”
Wen Leyang gulped. He frowned and asked, “This old man, could he be Wei Mo’s uncle…”
Old demon rabbit nodded, “I think so too. Let me continue.”
Although Yu Lingzi did not understand what the old man said, he had regarded him as a living G.o.d in his heart. He had firmly remembered the eight words ‘broken gong, big flat cake, and the dog’.
The old man only came back to his senses after a while. He suddenly saw that Yu Lingzi had arrived. He jumped up abruptly and asked with anger, “When did you come? What have you heard?”
Yu Lingzi was scared and he quickly shook his head, saying that he had heard nothing.
The old man looked suspiciously at Yu Lingzi and said in a low voice after a long while, “Secrets of the heavens can be big or small. You have saved my life, I think it is alright to reveal the small matters to you. The most it will do to me is make me suffer a little. However, you must not tell anyone else anything that I have said just now, or else I will die a tragic death!”
Yu Lingzi swore that he had not heard anything at all and the old man left it at that. The old man told him about the sword’s whereabouts. Yu Lingzi was overjoyed. He had wanted to ask about other things, but the old man had said it all.
Finally, Yu Lingzi started scheming. He coaxed and pestered unceasingly to make the old man tell him where the old man could be found after this.
Yu Lingzi was a handsome young boy then. He had refined his qi since young and was high-spirited. He made people like him unexplainably. The old man had obviously been lonely for a lifetime. Moreover, Yu Lingzi was also his life’s savior. Finally, he mumbled three words, “Nine Peaks Mountain!”
Although Wen Leyang had prepared himself, a boom still sounded in his head. He grabbed old demon rabbit Bu Le by the hand, “That uncle of Wei Mo that could derive the world’s situations is hiding on the Nine Peaks Mountain? In our Wen family?”
Old demon rabbit retracted his hand and nodded, “At least he is on the Nine Peaks Mountain.”
Wen Tunhai chimed in, “The Nine Peaks Mountain spans across a thousand kilometers. However, whenever the Nine Peaks Mountain is mentioned, it is always related to us Wen Bucao.”
Although the Nine Peaks Mountain was an unbroken stretch of boundlessness, in everybody else’s eyes, Nine Peaks Mountain was equal to the Wen Bucao, and Wen Bucao was equal to the Nine Peaks Mountain. If one were to look for someone on the Nine Peaks Mountain, naturally they would search among the Wen Bucao.
Wen Leyang finally understood. The important personage who is significant to the destiny of the right and evil path of the cultivation world mentioned by enlightened person Huang He had nothing to do with him.
This man was Heaven-telling Sect Wei Mo’s uncle. A Divination Skill expert who was said to be able to completely derive the world’s situations. After thinking about it for some time, Wen Leyang lowered his voice and asked First Uncle, “Have you told Wei Mo about this?”
Wen Tunhai shook his head, “Wei Mo is a messy person. We have tried probing, but he wouldn’t bother about other people. In our family, only you had some relations with him, so we have waited for you to return…”
He had not finished when heavy footsteps were heard. Wei Mo came running back. This time, his face was ghastly pale, his eyes lifeless. He ran all the way to Wen Leyang and stopped. He was panting heavily. He suddenly reached out and grabbed Wen Leyang’s hand after a while, “I… I have… have thought it through!”
This time it was Wen Leyang who retracted his hand. Having his hand held by another man made him felt sick. However, Wei Mo had used all his strength. Unless Wen Leyang broke his fingers, he could never detach him.
Wei Mo completely did not realize what he was doing. His tone was terrified. He stammered on, “It’s… it’s my uncle! There are generations of Heaven-telling Sect’s monastics on Mount Emei. Other than him, none had gone into society. There is no one else who could mess with my derivations other than him!”
Wen Leyang took a deep breath, “Following that train of thought, your uncle had known that you would come to Wen family village, that’s why he messed around with the village’s setting, making you unable to do your telling?”
Wei Mo nodded, “That old man was most adept at deriving the fine numerals of the world’s situation. It’s not surprising that he had foretold that I would come to Wen family village. I don’t get it, why does he want to stop me from deriving…”
Wen Leyang chuckled, “I think he doesn’t want to be found by you!” Wei Mo had been practicing Divination Skill for his entire life. He’s an idiot-type of genius, completely ignorant of the ways of the world. It would not be strange for him to not be able to tell such a simple purpose.
Wen Leyang finally freed himself from the grasp. He turned and asked Wen Tunhai, “Our village…”
Wen Tunhai did not have to wait for him to finish and replied, “About thirty years ago, there was an earthquake on the Nine Peaks Mountain. We decided to rebuild the village. We even expanded our scale.
Even if Wei Mo’s uncle was highly skilled, he could have never entered the Wen family village and build a few houses without reason, or plant a few trees to mess around with the setting. The only explanation was this living G.o.d had seized the opportunity when the Wen family village was rebuilding houses and expanding their scale to alter the setting of the village. These alterations had nothing to do with feng shui or the five elements. It was solely to cause the Heaven-telling Sect’s mathematics to not derive accurately.
Grand Elder Wen snorted, “This man had arrived on Nine Peaks Mountain thirty years ago?”
The other elders looked at one another and shook their heads. In the Wen family, whether it was Wen family village or the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness and Death, there were no outsiders. Everyone was a direct disciple of the Wen clan bloodline. The womenfolk who married into the family were all from normal mortal families. The in-laws were also thoroughly checked by the Wen family, but in the end, they did not find anything suspicious.
Wen Leyang did not give up. He continued to ask Wei Mo, “Can you find out where your uncle is?”
Unexpectedly, Wei Mo smiled confidently. He nodded with pride, “Now that the village had to be rebuilt, without my uncle’s meddling, the village will naturally have its own setup. Wait till the village is completed…” Wen Leyang felt a sudden chill down his spine. The four elders had recovered, but Wei Mo was reminding them of the past.
Wen Leyang quickly dismissed Wei Mo, “I’ll call you back to do a telling after the village is completed.” Then, he did not dare to meet the elders’ eyes, but smiled pa.s.sively at the old demon rabbit, “Please continue. What happened to Yu Lingzi after that?”
Old demon rabbit Bu Le continued to say what Shan Duan had heard.
Under the old man’s guidance, Yu Lingzi, who was a young boy then, went to Changbai Mountains and found an unnamed volcano. After some difficulties, he did find a fire element sword, which is called Firetail. It was this sword that wounded Wen Tunhai but was toppled by ‘You’ve Got Me’ in the end.
Yu Lingzi had been thinking about the old man’s warning since he got back to the mountain. He chose to keep the incident to himself. He told the others that he had unintentionally found Firetail out of pure luck. A few decades pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye, nothing had happened. Yu Lingzi had secretly come to Nine Peaks Mountain a few times but he did not find the old man.
Yu Lingzi’s cultivation base was far greater than his peers with the help of the divine sword Firetail. Not only was he the first among the second-generation disciples, he had also become the most important person in their sect. When they were faced with something big, he would be involved. Until about seven or eight years ago, the cultivators of the evil path who had been hiding in the world had grown even more restless. Five Blessings of the right path had also determined the cause. The Jilong Sect disciples pa.s.sed the order that all mini sects attached to them were to keep their eyes peeled to look for ‘broken gong, big flat cake, and the dog’.
Yu Lingzi did not even think about it in his dream that after some ten years, he would hear the three objects, ‘broken gong, big flat cake, and the dog’ again. His expression changed on the spot. The supreme leader of Sun Dynasty Palace noticed that change. When he was pressed to answer, Yu Lingzi told the truth about him meeting with the old man in his teenage years.
The supreme leader of Sun Dynasty Palace was also shocked. Although he did not know what was so strange about a broken gong, a big flat cake and a dog, anyone could tell, that something that prompted the World Sect to search for it so desperately must be some terrifying treasure. Out of greed, they did not convey this matter to Jilong Sect but dispatched their disciples to the Nine Peaks Mountain to search for the old man.
From that time until present was only a few years. Sun Dynasty Palace had silently searched for some time in Nine Peaks Mountain. Throughout the process, they had also kept an eye on the Wen family, but the Wen family had been strict on their inheritance. There were completely no outsiders among them. Hence, the Sun Dynasty Palace had excluded them from the beginning.
Sun Dynasty Palace had been roaming about in the Nine Peaks Mountain, but n.o.body from the Wen family knew about it. The Sun Dynasty Palace disciples were only found out by the Wen family when they wanted to luck the fruits of the ripening Return-to-Before Herb.
The Death Trademark of the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness and Death had long regarded the Return-to-Before Herb as a forbidden fruit and they naturally would not let anyone get their hands on it.
Up until that moment, the Wen family had thought that these shady people had purposely come into the mountain to fight over the Return-to-Before Herb with them. They had no idea that they were disciples sent by Sun Dynasty Palace to look for the old man.
The incidents that took place after that were just as mentioned by the Jingpo demon lady, who sneaked into the Miao Stockade Village. The Death Trademark and the Sun Dynasty Palace disciples had fought and killed each other several times on the mountain. The Death Trademark had suffered some losses under the cultivators’ magic, but the Sun Dynasty Palace disciples did not manage to fulfill their wish of taking away the Return-to-Before Herb. The demon lady of the Miao Stockade Village sensed that a treasure would appear on Nine Peaks Mountain and brought some people to sneak into the Nine Peaks Mountain, only to find out that the ripe Return-to-Before Herb that was completely useless to her.
The Jingpo demon lady, who had sneaked into the Miao Stockade Village, was originally a member of the World Sect and hated right path cultivators to the core. Although the Return-to-Before Herb was useless to her, she would never let the Sun Dynasty Palace disciples go no matter what. She then cast her witchcraft and killed all the Sun Dynasty Palace disciples on the Nine Peaks Mountain.
The Return-to-Before Herb was untouched, but all the enemies died. The people from the Death Trademark were dumbfounded. After they harvested the nine Return-to-Before Herb fruits, they carried the corpses of the enemies, which had fallen prey to the Green Head Widow Spell, back to the Red Leaves Forest. By this time, Wen Leyang had learned the Faulty Punch and had followed Fourth Elder Wen into the Red Leaves Forest for his training.
Wen Leyang had seen with his own eyes the corpses of the Sun Dynasty Palace disciples, who were killed by the Green Head Widow Spell.
Wen Leyang hit himself softly on his temple as if remembering something. He asked old demon rabbit Bu Le, “When I had just entered the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness and Death, there was a period where ‘You’ve Got Me’ was restless. Was it because the people of the Sun Dynasty Palace had used fire element magic powers when they fought with our Death Trademark, making the bug react to it?”
Old demon rabbit Bu Le was slightly stunned, “Em… I’m not too familiar with poisonous bugs.”
Wen Leyang looked at Grand Elder Wen, whose answer was not much help, “Don’t ask me about cultivation.”
First Uncle Wen Tunhai laughed, “With the working att.i.tudes of you two old men, you’re suited to work at my former department!”
When the people of the Death Trademark brought the corpses and nine Return-to-Before Herb fruits back to the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness and Death, Fourth Elder Wen had also received word that there were signs of Grand Master Tuo Xie in the ancient cave on Mount Emei’s Zhanyan Peak. He left the fruits in Wen Leyang’s care and led the elites out of the mountain. They met with the other three elders and went to Mount Emei together.
When the Sun Dynasty Palace did not hear from the disciples they sent to Nine Peaks Mountain, the Sun Dynasty Palace sent men to look for the group of missing disciples. This time, the one who entered the mountain was the doll-faced man.
Wen Leyang smiled bitterly. Ever since he refined poison into his body and embarked on the road of a Saint’s Body or a Saint’s Poisonous Body, he had been dragged into the scuffles of the cultivation world together with his family. From the small cry cultivators to the Five Blessings elites and even undefeated powerhouses like Cone Nail and Hanba, he had fought countless uphill battles over the years. However, his memories of the fierce battle during the stormy night in the Red Leaves Forest were still fresh. He could remember, even now, the dying expressions of the doll-faced man. It was his first time risking his life, and it was against a cultivator with a flying sword.
As to whether the doll-faced man came to the Red Leaves Forest to chase down the Yin Chi or because he discovered the whereabouts of the corpses of his peers, was unknown.The doll-faced man was the most loved final disciple of Sun Dynasty Palace’s supreme leader. His cultivation base was not bad. When his eye was stung by ‘You’ve Got Me’, he had conveyed the information of his death back to the Sun Dynasty Palace. The information he conveyed was only that he had died on the Nine Peaks Mountain. He did not have the chance to say whether he was in the Red Leaves Forest or Wen family village, nor did he have the chance to explain the sequence of events.
The supreme leader of Sun Dynasty Palace was surprised and angered. From their perspective, even if mortals were strong, they could never hope to kill the lousiest cultivator. They did not dare to revenge the Wen family village directly but spent three months to sneak in and spy on them. Until they confirmed that Wen family was only a mortal family, Yu Lingzi then followed the supreme leader’s orders and brought men up the mountain to seek revenge.
Other than revenge, he also had to investigate the whereabouts of the old man. Yu Lingzi had listed out the strange rule of individual showdowns to force the old man out of hiding.
Yu Lingzi had died a few years after he leaked the information about the ‘broken gong, big flat cake, and the dog’ to his master. It was unsure if it was a coincidence, or if the old man’s words had come true.
The elites of the Sun Dynasty Palace’s second-generation disciples were divided into three batches. Within the short span of a few months, they had all died on Nine Peak Mountains. By now, the elders of the sect were really fl.u.s.tered. The elders personally led the men to seek revenge from the Wen Bucao at the Nine Peaks Mountain. However, they fell prey to the scheme of the wicked faction Jingpo elites who just descended Mount Emei, who pa.s.sed by the Nine Peaks Mountain on their way back to Miao Stockade Village and were all killed by the Mountain Coffin Spell.
When Wen Leyang and the four Wen Elders came back from Mount Emei, they discovered their bodies.
By this time, the two rabbit demons had already met Chang Li and Wen Leyang, ‘claimed a family connection’. The rabbit demons sent a message to Sun Dynasty Palace in the name of Great Mercy Temple, defending the Wen Bucao.
Sun Dynasty Palace had an unfavorable year. They were already a small sect. However, due to a moment’s greed, they had lost almost all their elites to baffling circ.u.mstances. They could not accept this no matter what, but they could not cross the Great Mercy Temple. So, they bore it patiently and strenuously. Until slightly more than two years later, when Third Elder Wei of One Word Palace and the remnants of the Blood Sect had perished together on Mount Emei, the clashes between the right and the wicked had sharpened immensely. The Five Blessings had joined hands and moved out, slaughtering the cultivators of the World Sect everywhere. Sun Dynasty Palace had used this opportunity to rake up the past and brought it to their backer Jilong Sect.
Qing Niao’s first ascended up the mountain ended in his return in defeat. This had led to Five Blessings of the right path and the rogue cultivators to mount the stage in full regalia in Wen family village.
This was the sequence of the events. The incidents that took place inside Wen family village these few years had basically been connected. All threads neatly tied up, the beginning corresponding the end. Although it was not as heart-stirring as the information, which Wen Leyang had obtained, the cause and effects, as well as the ups and downs were enough to make one heave a long sigh.
After little demon rabbit Shan Duan had understood the incidents from Jilong Sect, he used his own secret technique to erase the memories of Huang He and the others regarding this incident. He went back to the Nine Peaks Mountain and told old demon rabbit Bu Le everything. At the same time, Wen Leyang had come out of the Gold-Consuming Lair, calling home asking them to figure out a way to save the short-statured Leyang Wen who was kidnapped by Taoist priest San Tong.
Shan Duan immediately embarked towards Eyang Sect. After that, he did not contact anyone else. Until not long ago, even though he was injured, he went to Shanghai.
It seemed that because of the enlightened person San Wei, Eyang Sect was also a place with hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Little demon rabbit Shan Duan must have been badly injured there and was hunted by the Eyang disciples. The details can only be known after he wakes up.
Old demon rabbit Bu Le had finished talking about the ‘important personage who was significant to the destiny of the right and evil path of the cultivation world’.
This important personage was most probably that uncle of Wei Mo who was adept in deriving the fine numerals of the world’s situations. He was significant to the destiny of the right and evil path because he could seemingly foretell the locations of the three fantastic treasures of ‘broken gong, big flat cake, and the dog’.
What puzzled old demon rabbit, the four Wen Elders and the bunch of Jianghu veterans more was, whether it was the broken gong, big flat cake, and the dog or that living G.o.d of an uncle of Wei Mo who could do tellings, nothing seemed to have anything to do with the Wen Bucao.
However, according to Wei Mo’s words, his uncle had secretly altered the setup of the Divination derivation of Wen family village. If this living G.o.d was truly hiding among the Wen family, it could not only be because of the Wen family’s good fengshui!