Chapter 4108: The Old Man of Life and Death
Zhang Ruochen had no interest in the subsequent developments of the turmoil aboard the Heavenly Dragon.
Because, as the host, the Meng Clan simply lacked the ability to handle the two factions—the Western Buddha Realm and the Earthly Desolate Buddhist Sect. Without absolute evidence, right and wrong, truth and falsehood, no longer mattered much.
If Meng Naihe were present, it might have been different.
The two of them arrived again at the Cloud Mist Sacred Mountain at the ship's stern, standing on a cliff.
Fan Chen had swiped a jug of wine from the banquet and was drinking alone, savoring it himself. He said, "Do you think the eldest master of the Meng Clan will obediently comply? I think he harbors a hidden fury. Once freed, he will surely find a way to retaliate. As the son of a Heavenly Venerable, a top figure of the Meng Clan, revered by billions of living beings, having lost so much face, how could he not silence us by killing?"
Zhang Ruochen followed his lead, saying, "More than that? He would never dare betray the Nether Ancestor Faction! We ambushed and captured him, but the Nether Ancestor Faction could make the entire Meng Clan vanish from the universe."
"Do you understand this truth?" Fan Chen said.
Zhang Ruochen smiled. "Precisely because I understand, I didn't let him know our identities, nor did I use means to control him. Because control carries the risk of losing it. Without control, we can be more flexible, advancing and retreating with ease."
Fan Chen analyzed the eldest master's mindset, saying, "He absolutely wouldn't dare speak of betraying the Nether Ancestor Faction. So, the best way to retaliate against us is to send the Heavenly Dragon, along with us, to Biliuo Pass as sacrifices. He deliberately mentioned the sacrifice matter earlier to bait us, to keep us on the Heavenly Dragon. Are we really still going?"
"With a profoundly unfathomable Dark Envoy, the mysterious Eight Divisions Followers, and even the Nether Ancestor possibly there, this journey is absolutely perilous beyond measure."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Are you afraid?"
"What's there to fear about life and death? But dying for nothing isn't worth it. This humble monk just wants to know, why must you go there? Is there no possibility of not going?" Fan Chen said.
Zhang Ruochen pondered for a moment, then said, "How about you go see Compassionate Navigation Venerable and Xuanyuan Second, inform them of the sacrifice matter and the danger at Biliuo Pass, and leave with them. This journey has nothing to do with you at all."
Fan Chen frowned slightly. "It seems you have a reason you must go. But you're wrong about one thing—this journey isn't unrelated to me. The Saha World and the Ultimate Bliss World are supreme treasures of Buddhism. How could this humble monk watch them fall into the hands of the Nether Ancestor Faction? This matter is beyond us. How about we call for help?"
"Who?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Fan Chen said, "Of course, it's the Can Deng Master."
"I thought you had already sent word to him! Now that we're far from the Hell Realm, is it still in time?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Fan Chen said, "You never said so, so why would this humble monk send word? It's indeed troublesome now. Using a transmission talisman might take months or years for him to sense it. Moreover, the space-time and heavenly mechanism rules may have been sealed and obscured by the Nether Ancestor Faction, making it uncertain whether it can reach Can Deng Master's sea of consciousness. The best way is to send a trustworthy cultivator to personally return to the Hell Realm to seek his aid."
"Seeking aid is a bit much, isn't it? Just asking for a favor," Zhang Ruochen said.
Fan Chen said, "So the Imperial Dust is also a face-conscious person? If you recover your cultivation, you'd be invincible. But now, what's wrong with bowing our heads a little?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "I mean, Can Deng Master is also a Buddhist cultivator. If the Saha World and the Ultimate Bliss World are taken, he should come to help without hesitation. Seeking aid implies personal obligation. Between personal sentiment and righteous duty, Can Deng Master would surely choose the latter."
Fan Chen pretended to ponder.
Before he could think it through, Zhang Ruochen added, "The person delivering the message must be strong enough. Otherwise, they might be killed halfway!"
"This humble monk will go find Compassionate Navigation Venerable and Xuanyuan Second. Now there's a reason to persuade them to leave!"
Fan Chen sensed something, panicked, jumped off the cliff, and disappeared into the night.
A familiar fragrant breeze arrived, accompanied by the crisp sound of a tin staff.
Baozhu Ksitigarbha stepped to the cliff's edge, glanced down, and said with a mix of reproach and resentment, "Why is the little monk so flustered? Am I that terrifying? Or have you done something shameful?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head with a smile. "Didn't the others come?"
"Don't worry, aside from me, no one knows you two are here. Now, tell me, why did you stir up this trouble? Why frame Tantuo Ksitigarbha and Baoyin Ksitigarbha?"
Baozhu Ksitigarbha's voice was still as pleasant, but much colder, each word like an ice needle piercing the soul.
Zhang Ruochen frowned deeply, complaining, "This Xuanyuan Second has such a big mouth! He even warned me not to tell anyone, but then he turned around and sold me, an honest man, out completely."
"Pfft! You, an honest man? If you're honest, then there are no cunning people in this world!"
Baozhu Ksitigarbha was amused by Zhang Ruochen, laughing so much she swayed like a flower in the wind. "Don't blame Erjia Heavenly King. He looks fierce, but he's truly honest. It wasn't him who exposed you; it was the beautiful and lovely Seventh Miss. She said there was a Taoist priest, outwardly immortal-like but inwardly full of scheming, who told her the whereabouts of Tantuo Ksitigarbha and Baoyin Ksitigarbha."
"Did the Seventh Miss really say that?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Baozhu Ksitigarbha said, "You, hiding your cultivation to board the Heavenly Dragon and deliberately stirring up trouble, how could the Meng Clan not use this opportunity to turn the tables? That Seventh Miss wanted to use the Earthly Desolate Buddhist Sect to deal with you, to expose your true form."
"At the same time, the Seventh Miss needed a legitimate reason to thoroughly search the eldest master's mansion. This way, it's killing two birds with one stone!"
Zhang Ruochen nodded helplessly. "Alright! I have to admit one truth: beautiful women who achieve success in cultivation are inevitably intelligent."
"Why?" Baozhu Ksitigarbha asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Because beauties can enjoy the fruits without effort, without needing to cultivate hard. Such beauties are undoubtedly unintelligent."
Baozhu Ksitigarbha was tickled by Zhang Ruochen, laughing heartily, without the composure of an Indestructible Infinite cultivator, nor the detachment of one who has seen through the mortal world. Or perhaps she simply didn't want to hide her emotions.
Zhang Ruochen looked at her ethereal, immortal-like face and said, "You can't even sever your seven emotions and six desires. How did you reach your current realm? Doesn't Buddhism advocate severing joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, and desire?"
"Daoist, that's very anti-human! Earlier, this poor nun debated with Compassionate Navigation Venerable: should we sever the seven emotions and six desires, achieving emptiness in all four elements, or should we be true to our nature, cultivating a childlike heart?" Baozhu Ksitigarbha said.
"Forget it, this poor Daoist has no interest in your Buddhist matters."
Zhang Ruochen said, "When you entered the eldest master's mansion, did you find any clues?"
When the Soul Mother suppressed Wu Shi, it was a battle between a Half-Ancestor and a Heavenly Venerable-level figure. How could all traces be erased?
Moreover, the Soul Mother left in haste, and Xuanyuan Second arrived quickly, not giving Tantuo Ksitigarbha and Baoyin Ksitigarbha enough time to fully cover up the truth.
Seeing Baozhu Ksitigarbha silent, Zhang Ruochen smiled. "So, you did find clues! Since the truth is out, why does the nun still accuse this poor Daoist of framing Tantuo Ksitigarbha and Baoyin Ksitigarbha?"
Baozhu Ksitigarbha shot him a glance. "We only found traces of a top-tier battle in the eldest master's mansion. Tantuo Ksitigarbha and Baoyin Ksitigarbha said they were summoned by the eldest master's secret sound to eliminate an anomaly there."
"And the anomaly?"
"It has already fled!"
"What kind of anomaly was it?"
"Their cultivation was extremely high, and even Tantuo Ksitigarbha and Baoyin Ksitigarbha couldn't see through their true form."
Zhang Ruochen, as if holding all the cards, smiled. "Since the eldest master summoned them with a secret sound, he must know who occupied his mansion. Why not ask him?"
Baozhu Ksitigarbha stared intently into Zhang Ruochen's eyes.
Zhang Ruochen met her gaze without flinching. Her breathtaking face, illuminated by the lights of the distant palace complex, appeared even softer and more radiant, stirring the desires deep in one's soul.
If one could reach out and hold that delicate, snow-white, immortal-like face, the fine texture and soft elasticity would surely surpass countless beautiful things in the world.
If one could kiss those crystal-clear, rosy lips, feeling the intoxicating entanglement of a fragrant tongue, it would surely melt away a few ounces of bone.
But Zhang Ruochen's eyes gave Baozhu Ksitigarbha an infinite depth, like peering into an abyss, evoking a dangerous sense of falling.
A transmission entered Baozhu Ksitigarbha's ear.
She was first surprised, then showed worry and doubt.
Zhang Ruochen said, "It seems news has come from the eldest master."
"You can't hide it from the Daoist! The eldest master was ambushed. He said it was an unknown Buddhist cultivator from the Earthly Desolate who attacked him," Baozhu Ksitigarbha said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "The eldest master may not know all the Earthly Desolate Buddhist cultivators, but the nun surely knows them like the back of your hand. Those who could ambush him probably number no more than five fingers, right? It seems there are other Ksitigarbhas from the Earthly Desolate on the Heavenly Dragon. What is your Earthly Desolate planning?"
Baozhu Ksitigarbha quickly recovered her composure. "Daoist, now it's your turn to speak. How much do you know?"
"What could this poor Daoist know? Even if I know something, why should I tell you?" Zhang Ruochen feigned ignorance.
Baozhu Ksitigarbha shook her head. "If the Daoist didn't want to tell me anything, why wait for me here? You chose this place because it's where we first met, isn't it?"
Zhang Ruochen had chosen this spot precisely to wait for Baozhu Ksitigarbha.
And to test her.
To see if she, like Tantuo Ksitigarbha and Baoyin Ksitigarbha, had been won over by the Eight Divisions Followers.
The eldest master's claim that an unknown Earthly Desolate Buddhist cultivator attacked him was also part of this.
If Baozhu Ksitigarbha had truly sided with the Nether Ancestor Faction, she wouldn't have spoken so much with Zhang Ruochen. She would have directly struck him down, pinning everything on him to completely clear Tantuo Ksitigarbha and Baoyin Ksitigarbha.
But Zhang Ruochen still didn't fully trust Baozhu Ksitigarbha. He planned to test her once more, leaning close to her ear, speaking in a low, mysterious tone: "The Heavenly Dragon's destination is not the Meng Clan's territory, Wanliu Domain, but Biliuo Pass. All cultivators on this ship are sacrifices."
Baozhu Ksitigarbha's expression remained unchanged, but her pupils slightly dilated.
Regardless of truth or falsehood, this news was terrifying.
There were many powerful cultivators on this ship. Who could swallow them all?
Zhang Ruochen resumed his calm, self-satisfied demeanor. "Does the nun truly fully trust Tantuo Ksitigarbha and Baoyin Ksitigarbha? Does the nun know where they went recently?"
"Please, Daoist, enlighten me. Where did they go?" Baozhu Ksitigarbha said.
No one could refuse the pleading gaze of a peerless beauty, but Zhang Ruochen chose to refuse. "Go ask them! You're all Earthly Desolate Buddhist cultivators. They won't lie to you."
"Very well! This poor nun will—"
Just as Baozhu Ksitigarbha made a move to leave.
Suddenly, three thousand golden Buddhist lights burst forth from beneath her feet, enveloping half of the Cloud Mist Sacred Mountain, cutting it off from the outside world.
"Ding! Ding!"
The silver-white tin staff spun rapidly, smashing down toward Zhang Ruochen's head.
The attack was swift, without any warning.
Even a cultivator a realm higher than Baozhu Ksitigarbha, facing such an unexpected strike, would likely be severely injured in an instant.
Then, defeated by her.
Or even killed by her.
In this critical moment, Zhang Ruochen formed hand seals, raising black and white forces that coalesced into a Yin-Yang seal, colliding with the descending staff.
"Boom!"
Ripples of energy spread outward, causing the three thousand layers of golden Buddhist light to warp.
Zhang Ruochen shifted his position, distancing himself from Baozhu Ksitigarbha, appearing in the void opposite the cliff, his eyes blazing with fury.
Baozhu Ksitigarbha, however, withdrew her staff, formed a hand seal at her chest, bowed forward in apology, and sincerely said, "Daoist, don't be angry. This poor nun was just too curious about your cultivation and identity, so I couldn't help but test you."
Zhang Ruochen's anger did not subside. "If this poor Daoist didn't have some skill, wouldn't I have died at your hands just now?"
"No! This poor nun only used three-tenths of my power just now, fully capable of retracting it," Baozhu Ksitigarbha said.
This was not false!
If the staff's power had exceeded half, the three thousand Buddhist lights she released would have been shattered first, unable to withstand the aftermath.
Zhang Ruochen said coldly, "Do you think this can be brushed aside so lightly?"
Before acting, Baozhu Ksitigarbha had naturally considered the consequences. "Since this poor nun has learned the Daoist's secret, I will naturally share a secret of my own as compensation."
"Fine! Let's see if your secret can quell the billions of raging flames in this poor Daoist's belly," Zhang Ruochen said.
Baozhu Ksitigarbha said, "Before revealing this secret, I dare to venture a guess at the Daoist's identity. Dare I ask, are you the supreme and ancient primordial ancestor of the Yama Clan?"
Zhang Ruochen narrowed his eyes, his coldness intensifying.
Seeing this, Baozhu Ksitigarbha was even more convinced of her guess, smiling. "Sheng Si is not actually Sheng Si, but Life and Death. Just now, when I attacked without warning, I wanted to force the Daoist to use your most fundamental power in a critical moment. The power you used just now was precisely the Qi of Life and Death."
"So, there is only one answer: the Daoist is none other than the Old Man of Life and Death, who forged the 'Book of Life and Death' at Biliuo Pass in ancient times, a remnant soul of the primordial ancestor returning."
"Clever people often like to think themselves clever," Zhang Ruochen said in a deep, cold voice.
Before naming himself "Sheng Si," Zhang Ruochen had already prepared to impersonate the "remnant soul of the Old Man of Life and Death." Because a powerful being couldn't just appear out of nowhere in the world; everything must have a traceable origin.
Without a trace, it would be troublesome.
The Old Man of Life and Death's interest in Biliuo Pass was perfectly reasonable.
Baozhu Ksitigarbha seemed indifferent. "I hope I am indeed overthinking, because then I could show you less respect. I originally liked you, because talking with you was very comfortable, without any restraint, very joyful. This feeling of being at ease is truly rare."
"Now that I know your identity, I can no longer find that feeling. I don't like it anymore! I always feel you're too old! The title 'Old Man of Life and Death' doesn't sound good at all."
Zhang Ruochen showed no regret. "You made a mistake, yet you blame this poor Daoist? What about the secret you were going to tell?"