Chapter 189: Houtu"s Retreat
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
To be Sages in the Untainted Land, one definitely needed Merits. Although one"s Merits could not be withdrawn, his capacity would be influenced negatively if he carried Karma on his back. Further, a certain amount of Karma would turn a Sage into a common figure. As for Zhenyuanzi, his attack obviously hit Houtu"s Achilles heel.
Now it was totally impossible for Houtu to fight back even though she wanted to do so since the Nether World Book Formation set by Zhenyuanzi was connecting more and more ley lines on Untainted Land. That was to say, if she really killed Hongyun and Zhenyuanzi, the Karma she would carry on could possibly turn herself into a common figure and the entire Wu Tribe might also face extermination.
However, Houtu was still not willing to just let Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun go like that, so he could only say, "Zhenyuanzi, you"re right, while I, a Sage, have many methods to torture you. Even though I can"t kill you now, I can let you be sealed eternally."
After hearing Houtu"s threats, Zhenyuanzi"s complexion suddenly changed. It was well-known that Being Sealed Eternally would bring much more suffering than being killed directly. Right at this time, Cangjie, who just recovered a little bit, clapped Zhenyuanzi on his shoulder and said with a smile, "Zhenyuanzi, I will die without anything to regret with a good friend like you."
Seeing the Bell of Chaos in front of him, Cangjie burst into laughter. "Houtu, you"re really indulging in your wishful thinking if you want to seal me forever. I have already died once, so I"m not afraid to die again. However, this time I will also let you suffer." Then, Cangjie"s vital force suddenly became pretty turbulent.
Seeing Hongyun"s behavior, everyone in Untainted Land was shocked, for Hongyun was going to destroy the character creation Merits to fight against Houtu by the Karma created during this process. How crazy he was! Merits of heaven were hard to gain, while to destroy them would also create Karma. This was why Merits played a very important role in protecting oneself in Untainted Land because no one wanted to carry the Karma created by killing a man with Merit on his shoulder.
In the meantime, Zhenyuanzi looked at Hongyun with a determined face and then approached him, laughing and saying, "Haw-haw, Hongyun, I will also die without regrets with having such a friend like you. Let"s tell the entire Untainted Land today, even though all of us are nonent.i.ties in the Sages" eyes, that we will not be bullied easily."
Looking at Zhenyuanzi, Cangjie felt pretty sorry since Zhenyuanzi had been influenced negatively when he had gotten the Hong Meng Immortal Qi. And now Zhenyuanzi was even going to sacrifice himself. Cangjie would certainly not let him do this, so he said immediately, "Zhenyuanzi, you don"t need to do this. This affair is between me and Houtu."
Zhenyuanzi then laughed. "Hongyun, why are you such a sissy now? If you still treat me as your best friend, we should die together. You think I will be afraid of death?"
"Pa, Pa, Pa!" A clap of applause suddenly came from afar, which soon attracted Zhenyuanzi and Cangjie. It turned out that Musen was clapping his hands. Musen then said, "Hey! One of you is the leader of the Earth Immortal"s Residence and another is the Ancestor of Chinese Characters of our Human Tribe, how can you die so easily?"
Musen then walked to Cangjie and Zhenyuanzi with Suiren-Shi as well as another two leaders of the Human Tribe. Suiren-Shi looked at Cangjie, saying with a smile, "You"re Ancestor Hongyun. I have long heard of your great reputation. I can"t believe you will incarnate into our Human Tribe and be our fifth ancestor. Your kindness knows no bounds to create characters for us Human Tribe. Just as my brother said just now, you are indeed the "Ancestor of Chinese Characters" of our tribe."
Ancestor of Chinese Characters? The Almighty in the Untainted Land suddenly realized something. Cangjie indeed deserved the name of Ancestor of Chinese Characters of the Human Tribe for creating characters, that was to say, Cangjie now got an extra layer of protection. If Houtu wanted to kill Cangjie, he would be the common enemy of the whole Human Tribe.
Right at this time, the words of Musen and Suiren-Shi surely frightened Houtu. If he killed Hongyun now, he would kill the Ancestor of Chinese Characters of the Human Tribe. In this way, the Wu Tribe would definitely fall into trouble with the Human Tribe just as the Demon Tribe had.
Houtu stared at Musen, who was standing next to Cangjie with a blue face, and then said coldly, "Martial Ancestor of the Human Tribe Musen—no, I"d better call you the Self-centric Separation of Minghe—so your opinion is also Your Veneration Minghe"s?" In the eyes of the Sage, Musen"s opinion was actually Minghe"s thought.
After hearing the query of Houtu, Musen replied calmly, "Ancestor of Sorcery Houtu, don"t mix me and My Veneration together. I"m a member of the Human Tribe, so I need to consider for the sake of the Human Tribe. Now Hongyun incarnates into the Ancestor of Chinese Characters Cangjie in our tribe, and if he is killed, our Human Tribe"s Luck will also be influenced, that"s why I can"t just stand by."
When Musen just finished his words, all the Sages came to realize the importance of Hongyun. They put too much attention on the Karma between Houtu and Hongyun before, while they totally forgot that Hongyun was the Ancestor of Chinese Characters, Cangjie of the Human Tribe. His creation of characters helped the Human Tribe"s Luck grow by almost half. If Cangjie died, the Human Tribe"s Luck would naturally be damaged.
The aim for Sages to steal the ident.i.ty as the Mentor of the Human Sovereign was to steal the Human Tribe"s Luck. The growth of the Human Tribe"s Luck would do good for all of those Sages in the long run, while if the Human Tribe"s Luck was damaged, none of those Sages could benefit from it anymore. Therefore, compared with those two results, they naturally wanted Cangjie alive.
All Sages then "kindly" went to persuade Houtu, "Fellow Taoist Houtu, Cangjie creates great Merit for the Human Tribe, so you can"t kill him as you like. Please give up attacking him now, otherwise, you will be the common enemy of the Human Tribe." "The death of Cangjie is related to the Human Tribe"s Luck. Since the Human Tribe is the ruler of Heaven and Earth now, its Luck can"t be damaged. Please don"t defy fate..."
The words of those Sages made Houtu pretty angry. The reason why they persuaded her not to kill Cangjie was just to protect their own interests. Cangjie"s life was related to the Human Tribe"s Luck, so those Sages who wanted to occupy Luck as much as possible naturally only hoped that the Human Tribe"s Luck would keep increasing, so they would never allow Houtu to kill or seal Cangjie.
Houtu suddenly noticed that no one supported her. Looking at the peaceful Blood Sea, she came to realize that even though the Blood Sea was close at hand, it was so unreachable. She had to ask herself, "Am I really wrong?"
"No, I am not wrong. What I"m doing is all for the Wu Tribe"s sake." Seeing it was impossible to kill Hongyun now, Houtu then calmed herself down and immediately decided to give up the chance to compete for the Human Sovereign. She then used the Bell of Chaos to carry all tribesmen of the Wu Tribe away, surely Chi You was a member among them.
When Chi You and the whole Wu Tribe were carried away, the battle of Zhulu Plain obviously came to an end. Xuanyuan"s army finally defeated the troops of the Nine Li Tribes, which was also the end of the first large-scale war of the Human Tribe.
At the same time, Musen, Suiren-Shi, Youchao-Shi, Ziyi-Shi, Zhenyuanzi, and Cangjie were all standing on clouds above Chen Du. Seeing that the battle on Zhulu Plain had eventually come to an end, most of them exhaled with relief. However, only Musen was still confused about why Houyu also took Chi You away. He worried that Houtu would stir up other trouble in the future.
Musen then looked at Cangjie and asked, "Fellow Taoist Hongyun, so you will go back to Wuzhuang Taoist Temple with Zhenyuanzi or go to the Holy Land of the Human Tribe with us?" Since Cangjie had got his memory about preexistence back and the Human Tribe would not limit its tribesmen"s freedom, Cangjie had the right to choose not to stay in the Holy Land of the Human Tribe. As for Musen and Suiren-Shi as well as another two, they had already gotten used to the life in the Holy Land of the Human Tribe, while Cangjie did not need to act like them.
Cangjie laughed, saying, "Fellow Taoist Musen, I was Hongyun in my preexistence, while now I"m Cangjie of the Human Tribe. You can just call me Cangjie from now on. As for your question, I think I"d better go back with Zhenyuanzi first and have a big meal there, and then I will return back to the Holy Land of the Human Tribe to do my Closed Door Meditation. I am getting many new feelings about character creation at this time, so I guess I will spend a lot of time in Closed Door Meditation."
As for Zhenyuanzi, he was indeed moved by Cangjie"s words, while he soon got a bitter feeling when he heard that Cangjie would have a big meal there in his Wuzhuang Taoist Temple, for he clearly knew much of his Ginseng would become food in Cangjie"s stomach. Therefore, Zhenyuanzi said, "In that case, how about all of you come to my Wuzhuang Taoist Temple together? You can have a taste of my Ginseng and we can also discuss something about Taoism."
Suiren-Shi, Youchao-Shi, Ziyi-Shi, and Musen all nodded. Even though all of them had heard of Ginseng for a long time, none of them had really seen it. Since Zhenyuanzi invited them just now, it was a good chance for them to satisfy their bellies.
Musen, Zhenyuanzi, and the other four then flew to Wuzhuang Taoist Temple on clouds. This scene made the rest of the Sages get lost in thought, for they realized that Minghe had already arranged everything within his control and his influence was also extremely great now.
Minghe was the owner of Ashura Tribe in the Blood Sea and the Nether World. Aside from that, he had Musen as his Self-centric Separation in the Human Tribe. And the establishment of Earth Immortal"s Residence by Zhenyuanzi also possibly gained Minghe"s permission and support. Unknowingly, Minghe had done so many things to reach his goal. It definitely frightened the other Sages, so they came to realize that they needed to be cautious about Minghe"s every move in the future, while they forgot that they were already involved in the trap set up by Minghe without noticing it.