Chapter 5: Settling Accounts
After a brief rest at the Dragon Rest Platform within the sea, a figure in a green robe descended to the seabed.
Chen Ping'an was currently unable to cast a water-repelling spell, so he could only rely solely on his incomparably resilient martial artist's physical body to continuously plunge deeper into the sea, much like a green mountain entering the water.
Earlier, he had mistakenly thought that dropping to the first realm would give him some breathing room, a chance to catch his breath. He never expected that, as the old saying goes, the Way of Heaven is never off the mark, harboring no grudges overnight.
Going to the Great Sash Dynasty to demand an accounting was true, but that was Cui Dongshan's business. What was imminent and unavoidable was that he himself had to bear a Heavenly Punishment alone.
Since the calamity was inescapable, how to face it and how to survive it—over the past ten thousand years, mountain cultivators had devised all kinds of ingenious methods and surprising approaches.
Within the sea, Chen Ping'an activated his vision and spotted an undersea mountain range. He shot toward it like an arrow, walking along the main dragon spine of the range, like a mountain visitor leisurely descending the slope.
Strangely enough, for Chen Ping'an, whose Dao was closely tied to water, he had actually traveled far several times, but the number of times he had truly submerged himself in water could be counted on one hand.
Chen Ping'an was surprised to discover some traces of human activity on this mountain path. With a flick of his sleeve, he swept away the silt, revealing a dilapidated rest pavilion built on the mountainside.
Truly, the seas changed into mulberry fields, and mulberry fields turned back into seas.
Roughly estimating that he had about a quarter of an hour of leisure time, and since there was no one around, Chen Ping'an stretched lazily, then swung his sleeves, swaggering down the mountain. After walking for a while, feeling like a rich man parading in the dark, he found it boring. So he tucked his hands into his sleeves and mentally cheered himself on a few times. But then he thought again—at this moment, asking Heaven to be favorable didn't seem right. The correct approach was to ask "the Old Man in Heaven to take another nap," wasn't it?
Chen Ping'an chuckled to himself. After all, he was a Martial Artist at the Pinnacle Realm; speaking was no problem. Bored, he started to ask, "Is anyone here..."
Would he become utterly destitute, even his martial artist's physical body destroyed? Or would he make further progress on the martial path, advancing from Pinnacle Realm to the Eleventh Realm? It all depended on this one move!
If the former, then even the prospect of visiting the Jade Capital in the future would certainly be a luxury. Whether he could even live out a hundred years was uncertain.
If the latter, then truly, "as long as the green mountains remain, there's no worry about firewood." Having reached the First Realm, he could slowly climb the mountain. That journey would be for relaxation, for sightseeing, for nurturing the spirit, and for cultivation.
It seemed that, after all the twists and turns, he had returned to those bleak days when, as a straw-sandal-wearing youth, he relied on practicing fists to cling to life.
Reaching the foot of the mountain, he respectfully offered three sticks of incense, then walked "below the mountain" without any particular direction. His green figure moved as fast as thunder. Suddenly, Chen Ping'an stopped, raised his head. So fast?!
Chen Ping'an held his breath, concentrated, and took a deep breath. In an instant, he ascended to the Divine Arrival Layer.
The surrounding seawater was pushed back layer upon layer. In an instant, the sea surface became tumultuous, with waves surging for tens of thousands of miles. Strange phenomena appeared everywhere, and countless aquatic beings in the sea fled farther away.
At that moment, Mr. Sanshan Jiuhou spoke from afar with his mind voice: "Since you know my Dao name, you should understand that in this matter, I can be of no help to you, fellow Daoist."
Chen Ping'an smiled freely and said, "Senior, I appreciate your goodwill, but I humbly decline."
Mr. Sanshan Jiuhou said no more and clearly withdrew his divine consciousness. He didn't even offer a few polite words, because this matter involved a Heavenly Punishment; anyone else getting involved would at least incur Heaven's aversion.
Being able to exchange a casual word with Chen Ping'an at such a juncture already counted as this ancient Daoist being able to shoulder responsibility.
Liu Xiang had also left the Dragon Rest Platform and appeared on a island immortal mansion tens of thousands of miles away, a Daoist site that had been established. Using the Art of Transposition, he threw more than a dozen unremarkable immortal refiners even farther away.
Liu Xiang silently counted in his heart. A Heavenly Punishment arrived on schedule.
The sea area where Chen Ping'an was seemed neatly cut, like a knife slicing through tofu. In an instant, all the water vanished. In reality, countless amounts of seawater were pressed aside by the Great Dao, confined to the space around him alone.
Gradually, the sound of drumbeats began to echo from the seabed—the powerful heartbeat of the Martial Lord of the Human World.
Farther away, seawater rushed wildly into that "empty space." Without any warning, it manifested a startling phenomenon of being cooked by a great fire. Boiling water surged, white mist billowed—it was truly a sea of fire.
After the sea of fire, golden raindrops, numbering in the billions, fell from the sky. Each drop was round and condensed into solid form. Between the sky and the sea, it was as if a magnificent golden pearl curtain was suspended from the Heavenly Court.
After that, the seabed trembled. The mountain range, as if a living creature had gained intelligence, roared with a heavenly sound, denouncing the sins of that lone martial artist: High treason, his crime deserves death!
Liu Xiang sighed deeply. This was still the remnant charm of heaven and earth after the collapse of the new divine path. If Zhou Mi had been willing to linger in the human world and had manipulated things at this moment? The consequences would be unimaginable.
Even the Shanhai Sect could sense the ripples of this Great Dao tide. The startling waves crashing against the shore caused cracks to appear on the cliffs. The stone-carvings and calligraphy, which over the dynasties had been handiwork of immortal families, became blurred.
But the time for staying at this Second Mountain—a stick of incense's duration—had arrived. Qi Tingji and Lu Zhi and the others had to rush to the Great Sash Central Marchmount at the Third Mountain. Only Mi Yu returned to Bottle Gourd Continent, appearing at the Grey-Mist Mountain and returning to Fallen Mountain.
Nalan Xianxiu watched the group of sword immortals depart. The astonishingly loud sound of waves woke a drowsy little girl. Holding an umbrella, she ran over to see what was happening.
The spirit girl who had named herself "Splashing Bloom" stood on tiptoe, trying to help her ancestral master block the rain. Nalan Xianxiu waved his hand and said with a smile, "You just need to hold your own umbrella to keep out the rain."
Nalan Xianxiu blew out a smoke ring and muttered to himself, "Broke one person's heart, saved this world. Splashing Bloom, tell me, should I curse him, or praise him for being right?"
The little girl huffed, "As long as it's not that bastard, I'll give this person a thumbs up and praise him as a hero, a sage, a good man. I'd praise him in any way—no problem at all."
Nalan Xianxiu smiled. "What if it is him?"
The little girl was stunned for a moment, then said fiercely, "If I meet him face to face, I'll curse him a hundred times with my mouth, and at most praise him once in my heart."
Nalan Xianxiu laughed. "Those direct disciples of the Literary Sage's lineage—how brilliant, how passionate! How come when it comes to romantic love, they're all such dim-witted blocks of wood?"
The little girl replied gloomily, "Ancestral master, it's understandable too. If they weren't like that, what would there be to like about them?"
Nalan Xianxiu nodded. "That makes sense."
Liu Xiang suddenly frowned, looking toward the distant sea area. He warned with his mind voice: "Wang Zhu, don't rush over and make things worse. This Heavenly Punishment—what's happening now is just the beginning."
A true dragon, wrapped in thousands of waves, was using water arts on the sea, madly speeding toward the seabed where the Heavenly Punishment had landed. It was like the old dragon three thousand years ago, riding clouds and mist, bringing rain to the human world.
Liu Xiang only advised her once, then no longer reminded or stopped the East Sea Water Lord. In the human world, no matter how complex people's hearts became or how the landscape changed, it was ultimately a matter of reaping what one sowed, or each person seeking their own blessings.
The true dragon crashed headfirst into an invisible barrier of the Great Dao, smashing its head until it bled. One dragon horn snapped off on the spot, and the other wobbled precariously. But it paid no heed and kept crashing into the wall.
On that invisible wall, blurry bloodstains appeared. The two dragon horns had long fallen to the seabed. The dragon claws trying to tear open the barrier were also shattered.
Making things worse? She couldn't even help at all.
Wang Zhu could no longer maintain her true dragon form. She reverted to human shape and drifted down. On the verge of unconsciousness, she murmured softly, "Returning it to you."
As for the half of the sea's water fortune that Wang Zhu had swept up, it lingered in this area, refusing to leave.
Within the forbidden zone, the pure martial artist, who was tempering his physique through layers of divine path tribulations, finally—as he had expected—ascended to the Eleventh Realm in one step. Strands of martial fortune descended upon this place and this body.
But it was still difficult to hide the decline. The Great Dao was about to crush him. Relying solely on his own strength—the Martial God Realm's physical body and fist intent—still felt like a single leaf in the vast ocean, too insignificant.
Wang Zhu struggled to open her eyes and vaguely saw a figure in a green robe and long gown. But it wasn't him.
It was the man who, even after she had reached the Fourteenth Realm, she still dared not resist in the slightest: the Dragon-Slayer, Chen Qingliu!
Chen Qingliu had received Mr. Sanshan Jiuhou's mind voice, and in one step, using the Art of Shrinking the Earth, he had crossed two worlds and come directly to the seabed of the Righteous Continent.
Wang Zhu heard his words, tinged with a hint of mockery: "A leopard never changes its spots—still that stubborn and untamable nature. But you are willing to sacrifice yourself for others, to repay a life-saving debt. Regardless of your true intentions, what you have done is a 'weary dragon' deed, abandoning your Dao for righteousness. Rather novel, indeed."
Three thousand years ago, when there were many flood dragons and their kin in the world, this wouldn't have been anything new. Just as in the human world, good deeds and bad deeds, good intentions and malicious thoughts, are forever mixed together.
But three thousand years later, since Wang Zhu was the first true dragon in the world, the meaning was different.
Before the connection of Heaven and Earth, Chen Qingliu had long foreseen this moment. He just hadn't expected it to come so urgently.
From this, it could be seen that Chen Ping'an's actions had caused Zhou Mi's vision of a new human world to fail. What a great resentment from Heaven and wrath from the gods.
Chen Qingliu withdrew, stopping only when he was ten thousand miles away from the Great Dao barrier. He prepared to unleash his life-bound flying sword and challenge the "Dao" with the sword.
Killing whom wasn't killing? Hitting what wasn't hitting?
He, a lowly figure who had started as a page boy in a brothel, had the fortune to achieve the Dao and reach the pinnacle of the human world. Even so, he could still do the one or two things that only he could do.
For learning, increase daily; for the Dao, decrease daily. Cultivators of the Dao reduce excess to supply deficiency. This sword was something Chen Qingliu had to give—it was the proper return gift that this human world deserved.
This was fair justice.
As for the ghost "Xian" that had roamed the Great Sash Dynasty for three thousand years, it was originally meant for him to personally resolve, to help her gain freedom and escape from the sea of suffering.
That was a private matter.
Therefore, Chen Qingliu had to deliver a sword strike, both for public and private reasons, to help that young man pass this tribulation, so that he could continue to look forward to a true era of peace.
The sword shot out like the Ancestral Dragon ascending to heaven.
Unfortunately, there were no onlookers in the human world.
————
Shi Zhouren, this Daoist, was probably the topmost assassin. The only one who could barely go head-to-head with him was probably Xiao Xun.
Although he had schemed against the entire human world a great deal, he had once said a very apt phrase: "Occasions" in the world always appear in a new guise, either startling people or surprising them.
For Yin Mi, the crown prince of the Great Sash Dynasty in the Central Continent, tonight encompassed both: the shock was that the Emperor had suddenly died in the Great Li capital of Bottle Gourd Continent; the surprise was that a kingdom cannot be without a ruler for a day.
Yin Mi, the crown prince regent, was in his prime. He had estimated that he would need to be crown prince for at least another thirty years before he could ascend the throne.
The vice-headmaster of the Confucian Temple, Han, had directly gone to the crown prince's residence, where Yin Mi was reviewing memorials late into the night. He then had Yin Mi summon nearly twenty of the Great Sash's important ministers, cramming them into one room.
Only then did Old Master Han explain the reason. Everyone was dumbfounded. If it weren't for Old Master Han himself being the vice-headmaster of the Righteous Confucian Temple, anyone would have thought it was an absurd joke.
Your Great Sash's Emperor Yin Ji, Prince Yin Miao, and Grand Secretary Cai Yushan had secretly colluded with a Daoist from the Azure Mystery world, joining forces with the Fourteenth Realm ghost Xian to ambush the new Grand Preceptor of Great Li. All of them were killed instead.
A heavily armored military general, who had made great contributions, stared wide-eyed and said sternly, "Headmaster Han, our Emperor personally visited Great Li to try to form an alliance with the Song clan. No matter the reason, the Emperor of a kingdom like Great Sash—this Chen fellow killed him just like that?!"
Old Master Han roared angrily, "Don't you know the rules, you bastard? Call me Vice-Headmaster Han! The damned Headmaster of the Confucian Temple is named Dong!"
The civil officials in the room were all dumbfounded by the string of "damn its."
That armored general's face turned bright red. He strained his neck, about to talk back to Vice-Headmaster Han. An emperor of a kingdom being openly killed in another country's capital was a tremendous disgrace. What, was Chen Ping'an, as the last disciple of the Literary Sage, a villain crying "thief" first? Was the Central Confucian Temple going to blindly favor Great Li?
Crown Prince Yin Mi scolded, "Ma Xuan, you must not be rude."
Ma Xuan was the Emperor's confidant, without equal. Yin Mi was the crown prince regent in name. The one who supervised him, the regent crown prince, was Ma Xuan, who had recently been transferred into the capital.
No, it should be "the late Emperor" now.
Old Master Han said, "Prince Yin Miao once dream-walked to an immortal palace and met a self-proclaimed 'Immortal Lord' named 'Shi Zhouren.' After that, Emperor Yin Ji secretly studied mountain secret techniques, trying to seize Yin Miao's physical body to pursue a life spanning hundreds or even thousands of years, long reigning as the Great Sash Emperor. Grand Secretary Cai Yushan, following the path of supporting dragons, contributed a great deal during this time. This immortal's chronicles and social interactions—you must investigate them one by one: the earliest contact between Great Sash and the ghost 'Xian,' when, where, and who was involved."
"The Great Li Dynasty has formally declared war on your Great Sash. I believe you will soon receive the state document. On the Desolate Wilderness battlefield, your two countries' border armies are close. The Great Li Iron Cavalry should have already been notified, waiting for the result here... After the Battle of Bottle Gourd Continent, it is said that the Great Li Iron Cavalry is the best in the world. Your Great Sash Dynasty was the most unbelieving. These sixty thousand Great Sash border troops—if a battle starts, how many tens of thousands will survive? Aren't you officials curious?"
Hearing this, the civil and military ministers of Great Sash, the pillars of the state, all changed expression dramatically. If the late Emperor Yin Ji's actions were considered a "rebellion," and the Emperor seeking immortality was the Great Sash Yin clan's business, then the Confucian Temple, which rules over all emperors and monarchs, might still be able to gloss it over with an unspoken "family scandal should not be aired." Even if the Confucian Temple's punishment turned out to be strict on the inside but lenient on the outside, causing a major upheaval in the dynasty, would they even change the royal surname?
If it came to that, even if the Great Sash Dynasty changed its surname, wouldn't the dynasty still need these experienced civil and military officials? After all, whoever sits on the throne needs officials to govern the country.
But a considerable portion of the sixty thousand Great Sash border troops heading to the Desolate Wilderness battlefield were young noble sons serving as middle-ranking officers, accumulating experience and "gilding their resumes." They were related to everyone in this room by blood or marriage—twists and turns, but connections could always be found. Fighting the Desolate Wilderness demon race, they could hide behind the lines regardless of the battlefield's outcome. But once war broke out with Great Li, killing whom wasn't killing? What's more, if the Great Li border troops completely unleashed their hands, they would specifically target these privileged sons who only talked and accumulated military merits.
It was said that after the battle in central Bottle Gourd Continent, the Great Li border troops had built sixteen mounds of skulls on both banks of the Great River. The corpses placed on top of those mounds were rumored to be from Desolate Wilderness sects and great clans.
An old man from the Yin clan who oversaw the Ministry of War bowed and pleaded, "Vice-Headmaster Han, the Confucian Temple must make the Great Li Song clan exercise restraint. The border troops of both nations on the Desolate Wilderness are top elites. If the two countries fall out, it will be a bloody internal conflict with heavy casualties. It will only delay the Righteous Continent's overall offensive against the Desolate Wilderness and let the Desolate Wilderness monsters laugh at us."
Old Master Han sneered, "I've known for a long time that the Great Li cavalry are elites. As for whether the Great Sash border troops are elites, we'll find out once the fighting is over."
A young, handsome civil official stepped forward, bowed, and said clearly, "Vice-Headmaster Han, allow me to speak boldly. The late Emperor's faults, the Great Sash Dynasty should indeed bear. However, if the Great Li border troops are allowed to attack Great Sash without restraint, the Confucian Temple would be suspected of being unkind for failing to intervene and allowing the situation to worsen. The border troops of both nations who die in a foreign land would be suspected of dying in vain. Therefore, I humbly request the Confucian Temple to both hold the Great Sash Dynasty accountable and prevent the Great Li Song clan from acting impulsively."
Old Master Han asked, "What official post do you hold?"
The young civil official replied, "Lecturer in the Eastern Palace, Deputy of the Supervisorate of the Heir Apparent."
Old Master Han turned to Crown Prince Yin Mi. "Is he a confidant you promoted?"
Yin Mi answered, "He was a literary talent greatly appreciated by the late Emperor. He writes excellent Daoist verse."
Old Master Han said, "Yin Mi, immediately send this man to the Desolate Wilderness battlefield, to the front line where Great Sash borders the Great Li Iron Cavalry's jurisdiction."
This young civil official, whose entire life was destined to rise meteorically in the Great Sash court, stood frozen, scared out of his wits.
A vice-headmaster of the Confucian Temple wouldn't scare him with empty words.
Old Master Han stared at the man. "Once you become one of the Great Sash border troops, then you'll be qualified to say these fine-sounding, righteous words to me."
"Young man, when the time comes, if you write letters to the Confucian Temple—whether they are impassioned deathbed notes or pleas for justice on behalf of the Great Sash border troops—I and the Confucian Temple will believe every word you say is sincere."
"Remember to smear some snot and tears on the letter paper. Since you write excellent Daoist verse, maybe you can produce some border fort poems with literary flair."
The man, not yet thirty but already an exceptional member of the Great Sash central government as the second-in-command of the Supervisorate, had already regretted it bitterly.
Just thinking about being thrown onto the Desolate Wilderness battlefield, with the two countries at war, a Great Li Iron Cavalryman charging at him with a gleaming blade, or a spear thrusting into his chest from horseback, or arrows raining down like a storm... merely imagining such scenes filled him with terror, as if he had fallen into an icy pit.
Old Master Han ignored him and began to issue orders. "Yin Mi, the Great Sash Dynasty will cooperate with the Confucian Temple in thoroughly investigating this matter. The capital is to be placed under martial law immediately. No flying sword messages are to be sent out. Officials and cultivators are not allowed to leave. Also, secretly notify the Five Marchmounts' Mountain Lords, the Imperial Observatory, and the several high-level River Deities. They are to fully cooperate with the Crown Prince's residence and get to the bottom of this. Any leakage, whether under Great Sash national law or the Yin clan family code, will be punished severely. As for the secret edicts concerning the deployment of all landscape spirits within Great Sash territory, I will stamp them with a Confucian Temple seal first."
Yin Mi nodded. "The principle is: before the truth is uncovered, for everything from now on, including myself, the Great Sash Dynasty will obey the Confucian Temple's orders."
Actually, everyone in the room knew full well that the Grand Dowager of the Great Sash Dynasty was the Central Marchmount Mountain Lord, Yin Ni.
In the Righteous Continent, the Great Sash Yin clan was the only one to build its capital at the foot of a great mountain.
Ma Xuan had followed this route of official advancement via the Central Marchmount, joined the Great Sash border troops, successfully made his achievements, and became the foremost military general and frontier official.
In addition, there was the elusive Great Sash Dynasty Grand Preceptor, Liu Rao, who had been in seclusion for nearly a hundred years, so much so that many commoners didn't even know their dynasty had a Grand Preceptor.
At that moment, a white-clothed boy with a mole between his eyebrows walked out from the doorway, grinning. "Headmaster Han, why not let me help the Crown Prince with some checking and filling gaps?"
Old Master Han thought for a moment and nodded. "That's for the best. I'm also worried that the noble gentlemen I brought with me won't be able to get around the eight-thousand tricks of these veteran officials in this room."
Ma Xuan was furious inside, silently cursing: this guy also calls you "Headmaster Han"—why don't you scold him with a "damn it"?
Cui Dongshan sighed and complained, "People are different from people. Some eat rice, some eat shit. The smell of what comes out of their mouths can't be the same, can it?"
Ma Xuan couldn't figure out this person's identity and mistook him for some righteous gentleman from the Confucian Temple. But the words he spoke—they didn't seem righteous at all.
Old Master Han didn't want to look at the Great Sash officials any longer. He left the room with Cui Dongshan, to follow the proper procedures and give a few instructions.
Just as Cui Dongshan turned around, he suddenly leaned back, popped his head out, and said with a sly smile, "Your Highness, he who is in charge should manage his own affairs. You've lucked out by becoming emperor early—you need to clear up the source, you know. Playing tricks in muddy water—besides making the water even muddier and the dirty even dirtier, is there any other outcome? I don't think so. Am I right?"
Yin Mi cupped his hands. "I am instructed."
Cui Dongshan tucked his hands into his sleeves and said softly, "There might be some commotion later. The Confucian Temple shouldn't make a mountain out of a molehill."
Old Master Han didn't mind the self-contradiction in the words and asked with a smile, "What kind of commotion?"
Cui Dongshan raised his hands behind his head and said, "Depends on the situation."
On the outskirts of the capital, in a secluded valley, lay the Daoist site of the Great Sash Dynasty's Grand Preceptor. It was shielded by several layers of clever illusion spells, so ordinary tourists passing by would automatically detour.
After a rainstorm, in the midst of the oriole wind, a small compound with two courtyards stood here, with green tiles and white walls, in the style of a mountain dwelling.
In front of the house was a large old locust tree, bare and bald, its trunk as big as a bucket, its branches and leaves sparse. Behind the house was an old osmanthus tree, with dense and lush shade, perfect for escaping the summer heat, able to seat three or four dozen guests.
A group of miraculous fireflies, called "Light of the Night" by mountain cultivators, gathered and clustered on that bare old locust tree, shining brilliantly, like a huge golden candle in the night.
An immortal's grandeur.
Jiang Shangzhen, who was here as a guest, used a barrier-breaking talisman, opened the door, and stepped inside.
In the open space in front of the house were two wooden chairs, one large and one small, occupied by an old man and a young girl.
The old man was boasting about how brave he was back in the day: "Your master doesn't care for empty fame. He loves tranquility the most and is tired of the mortal world. A hundred years ago, if a little girl like you wanted to be my disciple? Young talents and cultivation geniuses wanting to build a relationship with me could line up from the mountain gate at the foot of the Central Marchmount all the way to the Jade Sky Palace at the top."
Seeing the girl's face full of disbelief, he had to add an extra explanation: "Don't think your master doesn't look like a lofty figure. That's called 'a steamed bun has meat, not on the pleats.'"
The girl still didn't know where this place was or who her master really was. She had been sent here by her clan at the end of last year. Her cultivation aptitude was passable, but arguing with her master was her strong suit. "A donkey's turd looks smooth on the outside."
The old man was the Great Sash Grand Preceptor Liu Rao, a man of profound Dao power. Those so-called immortals in the court like Cai Yushan were nothing compared to him.
Liu Rao glanced at the guest who had unfurled a top-quality barrier-breaking talisman. The man looked unfamiliar. He asked with a smile, "What exalted presence visits this humble spot? I fail to welcome you from afar."
Jiang Shangzhen strolled leisurely in the other's Daoist site and said with a smile, "Your junior's name is Zhou Fei. My Dao name is the Collapsed True Lord. I pay my respects to the Great Sash Grand Preceptor."
Liu Rao clapped his hands in admiration. "An excellent Dao name!"
At the summit of the Central Marchmount, in a forbidden landscape secret realm, a woman in palace attire, languid in demeanor, leaned against a railing. She held a plain silk fan in her hand. She reached out as if to "pluck" the moon in the sky and "embroidered" it onto the silk, turning it into a white jade plate. Then she "moved" an old osmanthus tree from behind Liu Rao's Daoist site and planted it under the moon. She then shifted the scenery from the Northern Marchmount, bringing five green peaks and arranging them together on the fan, like a cute little celadon brush holder...
A slovenly man leaned against the railing, one foot on tiptoe, his face full of admiration. "I never thought such a technique of 'inlaid treasure' existed in this world. Truly a reincarnation of the Weaver Girl."
Yin Ni, the female Mountain Lord of the Central Marchmount and the Great Sash Yin clan's founding ancestor, didn't even lift her head. She sneered, "As if you've seen the Weaver Girl."
Unexpectedly, the man was shameless to an extreme. He nodded and said, "I've seen her. Not just her weaving skills; her appearance is seventy or eighty percent similar to yours."
Yin Ni looked up, a smile on her face. Using the most authentic Central Continent refined language, but with the most vulgar content, she cursed the man, something involving his ancestors for eighteen generations.
Instead of getting angry, the man laughed and clapped his hands. "She talks the same way too!"
The Shanhai Sect, after the bustle, fell into silence.
The scenery was always like this, except today the waves were a bit bigger, as if the old Dragon King was blowing his beard, stirring up heavenly winds that disturbed the sea and brought rain.
Just as the little girl Splashing Bloom was about to go back, Nalan Xianxiu told her to wait a moment. The girl asked in confusion, "Wait for who?"
Nalan Xianxiu said, "It's best if we can wait for them. If we can't, there's nothing to be done."
According to her estimate, it was very likely that Splashing Bloom would go back first, while she herself would need to wait until midnight.
The little girl didn't ask further who they were waiting for.
Just as Nalan Xianxiu estimated that the time of one incense stick had passed, she let out a faint sigh. She put away her tobacco pipe and was about to tell Splashing Bloom to go rest...
A figure in a green robe appeared out of thin air, somewhat disheveled, swaying unsteadily.
The little girl squinted to take a closer look. Eh, half an acquaintance.
Holding her umbrella with one hand and her waist with the other, she opened her eyes wide and asked, "Why is it you again? Why do you always sneak over without announcing yourself? Is walking through the main mountain gate so hard? Will you sprain your ankle?"
The green-robed guest, caught red-handed again, looked a bit embarrassed. For a moment, he didn't know how to explain. Last time, it was the Ritual Sage who threw him here; this time, he had chosen the Shanhai Sect himself.
The girl looked at him sideways and asked darkly, "This elusive guest from afar, do you now recognize A Liang?"
Chen Ping'an said helplessly, "Actually, I do know him. We're very good friends. I lied last time."
The girl's eyes lit up. She probed, "Since you know A Liang, then you must know that Embroidery Tiger, right? The Grand Preceptor of the Great Li Dynasty in Bottle Gourd Continent, Cui Chen!"
She wanted to seek justice for Sister Feicui.
The man blinked and answered the question evasively, "I am the Grand Preceptor of the Great Li Dynasty."
The girl was stunned, feeling like her brain wasn't working properly.
If he was from Great Li, then wasn't he a fellow countryman? And the Grand Preceptor of Great Li? A county official is not as powerful as a current administrator—she even had a small nest in a wilderness within Great Li's borders.
Nalan Xianxiu suppressed a smile and composed herself. This founding ancestor of the Shanhai Sect, for the first time, made a curtsy to an outsider. "Dao learner Nalan Xianxiu thanks Mr. Chen."
After Chen Ping'an returned the bow, he hastily offered three sticks of incense in respect, then hurriedly left the Shanhai Sect.
The heavy rain didn't last long. Splashing Bloom put away her umbrella, satisfied with herself. She nodded to herself, rubbed her eyes, wiped her face, and muttered to herself, "This Great Li Grand Preceptor, what a coincidence that his surname is also Chen. He looks fairly decent, with good bearing, but he's too timid. Haha, I scared him away."
Actually, the clever little girl had guessed: he was the one who had lived in Sister Xiuxiu's heart for a long, long time. He wasn't handsome either—why did she like him?