Chapter 96

Upon seeing this old friend, Bian Xu was startled, his mood becoming a little complicated immediately afterwards.

His own hairs were all white, but his old friend before him was still in his prime, the superior one immediately evident when both sides were compared. Cultivators had lifespans that were several times that of mortals, the youth and beauty of non-age making them appear to be blessed by the Heavens, but there was a cruel side to that, too — they were allowed to show ugliness, ignorance, and poverty, but it was age alone that they could never show.

That was because ‘age’ was not only a law of nature, but the judging phrase of ‘having no affinity with the Great Dao for all one’s life.’

Bian Xu refused to admit that he was jealous, but did feel slightly upset. In the end, he said not a thing, nodding mildly at Ji Qianli.

Everyone below began to converse with gusto. Hearsay stated that White Tiger Estate’s Lord had been seriously injured due to eliminating demons, and after so many years of straight rest in recuperation, all of the Estate’s matters had been handed down to its elders while he struggled for his life.

However, it now seemed that instead of having a tiny bit of a hint that his wick was about to go out, he was hale and hearty.

Ji Qianli looked up to see Cheng Qian atop the tree, shot him a smile, then called out to Tang Zhen from a distance. “I will say, everyone — those of you that have grudges need to think about this. What good would destroying his primordial spirit with one slash be, when he doesn’t fear death? His death would end it all, no suffering to be had. Are you all comfortable with that? If I had an enemy I couldn’t live under the same sky with, I would definitely be itching for them to suffer the utmost of disgrace every single day, while also having a long, healthy life.”

As soon as the Estate Lord opened his mouth, a wave of fresh shit-stirring sticks pummeled the face. Han Yuan looked to really want to cuss the guy out, but he was so pissed off, he couldn’t think up anything good to say for a minute.

This man’s sudden appearance was beyond anyone’s expectations. Even Tang Zhen couldn’t fathom why he had come.

“Your words do not lack reason, Estate Lord,” Tang Zhen calmly stated, “but Zhenren Han’s abilities are far too remarkable. If we want to lock him away, there needs to be a suitable place for it.”

“What would a suitable place be in your opinion, Zhenren Tang?” someone asked.

Tang Zhen cupped his hands towards the asker. “The affairs of all the major sects are quite complex, so I’m afraid they wouldn’t be able to manage him. I’m also afraid that everyone else would have the will, but not the strength to. Hum… when the Skeletonizing Array broke last month, did any of you get an impression of Sect Leader Yan’s cultivation base and sword skills?”

Of course they had. It was a pretty deep impression. How many sword cultivators could cultivate to a primordial spirit? How many could enter the Sword Spirit Realm?

Tang Zhen smiled. “That is why, in my humble view, Fuyao Mountain would be a good place.”

As soon as he said that, Ji Qianli, whose standpoint was unclear, suddenly interjected. “I don’t think that’s appropriate.”

Tang Zhen’s eye twitched a bit.

Hands behind his back, Ji Qianli stepped forth, shooting a glance at Cheng Qian on the treetop. “The Fuyao Sect is Han Yuan’s original sect. Even if Sect Leader Yan is righteous and won’t give in to personal feelings, would this not be the equivalent of all of you trapping him in a situation where he’s innocent, yet suspicious? It’s not appropriate, not appropriate at all — isn’t that right, my little friend, Cheng Qian?”

Cheng Qian vaguely sensed the surging undercurrent of this scene, but was momentarily unable to make out the whys and wheres of it. Thus, he said nothing.

Right then, someone spoke into his ear. “How do you know him, too? How do you know such an embarrassment?”

Upon turning his head, he saw that their eldest, who had ignored the crowd leaving him a front-row seat to run off and build the Stone Seed before anything else, was currently not waiting in said Seed. The stately Sect Leader had instead come and scrambled up into this tree like a monkey.

Cheng Qian: “…”

Who exactly was the one that was embarrassment, here?

“I actually have a proposal.” Ji Qianli became grave, strode with a slow gait over to Tang Zhen’s side, and looked at Han Yuan.

The latter got the overall feeling that the man’s gaze held a weird sort of pity. It gave him bad goosebumps to see it.

“I went traveling with my disciples a time before, and saw that a generation in Shuzhong had been scourged by demonic cultivators several times, its people unable to pull through life. Those cultivators’ bases are, for the most part, nothing, and will surely be no big challenge for all present to deal with, though the sheer amount of them will be a bit of a bother. Also…” Ji Qianli waved his sleeve, and then a gray figure flew out of it. It was a tiny girl whose entire body was gray and black, and from the waist down, her form was practically too blurry to see clearly. She floated in midair sullenly, a dead look in her eyes, indescribable resentful and ghostly qi coming off of her.

“A ghost?” Yan Zhengming whispered.

There was a burst of clamor inside the Ten-Party Array.

With a face like his whole life was flashing past his eyes, akin to mist, Tang Zhen looked like he had been slapped — perhaps, he was thinking back to the days where he himself had been a ghost. He automatically took a step back.

“Correct,” Ji Qianli said. “I came here specifically to inform all of you that the Soul-Devouring Lamp, once vanished for a hundred years, has reappeared in the human world.”

This remark set off a thousand different waves. Everyone erupted on the spot.

Over a hundred years ago, the Soul-Devouring Lamp had appeared, creating countless slaughters. Its holder, Jiang Peng, had come from unknown origins, yet had an unparalleled time in the demonic cultivators’ limelight. There had once been rumors that he’d had the capability to aspire for Beiming — and if it was said that the demonic dragon was trouble, he at least had things he would never do, while a ghost cultivator’s methods had no such bottom line.

One wave had not yet settled before another arose. These archdemons were like mosquitoes after the start of summer, where swatting them to wipe them out never ended.

“I met him outside of Mingming Valley before, then accidentally let him get away…” Cheng Qian whispered. “Has he really refined himself into the Soul-Devouring Lamp already?”

Yan Zhengming tightly hooked him around the waist. “Why didn’t you say so back then?”

“…I was getting bugged by you, so I forgot.”

The other looked at him with an angry face, but unfortunately, Cheng Qian calmly looking back at him put out his immense fire. Not pulling a long face, Sect Leader Yan’s eyes involuntarily softened up, whereupon he had no choice but to push Cheng Qian’s face to the side. “Look over there, not at me.”

“Seniors, there’s another living creature here,” the overlooked Shui Keng said dryly.

He looked at her.

Having understood the threat, she turned her bird head away in distress. “Ah, it’s fine. This living creature just so happens to be blind.”

Ji Qianli’s group whispering to each other gradually quieted down, after which he turned to Han Yuan. “You have been running rampant amongst the Nightmare Travelers for untold years, and thus have considerably deep experience in the demonic path. Would you be willing to lend us a hand, now?”

Han Yuan peered at him with a cold smile.

“The Soul-Devouring Lamp has not been present for a hundred years,” Tang Zhen suddenly said, “and but a single ghost doesn’t necessarily mean you’re telling the truth. In light of your undertone, Estate Lord, would this not be tantamount to sending the demonic dragon back to Nanjiang? These various sects have run into a lot of incidents and lost quite a lot in order to hunt down the demonic dragon. If you want to let the tiger return to his mountain, others may not agree.”

He distorted Ji Qianli’s words to perfection, and said distortion appeared to make sense.

“I don’t understand, Second Brother,” Shui Keng said quietly. “Why does Senior Tang seem to want to protect Fourth Brother one minute, then not the next?”

Cheng Qian placed his hand on her head, not making a sound, though both he and Yan Zhengming had heard. Tang Zhen wanted to protect Han Yuan, yet wasn’t agreeing to let him go back to Nanjiang… why?

Ji Qianli smiled. “That’s simple. Why, have you forgotten, Zhenren Tang? Your eight-trigrams plate with the blood oath is still around, isn’t it? Since we could set one up, we can naturally set another one up. Not only can the demonic dragon be made to take part, but it can even getl us… Sect Leader Yan and the rest over, for everyone to discuss its clauses. You established an appointment last month for the fifteenth, Zhenren Tang. Han Yuan could have just scampered off, yet he has peacefully been sitting here for a month in wait for you all. Does that not clearly demonstrate the effect of the blood oath?”

Tang Zhen put away all the emotions on his face, as blank as a wooden carving.

“If otherwise, would all of you prefer to go contend with the Soul-Devouring Lamp and a legion of ghosts yourselves? Would you prefer to sort out those demons with not much power, yet many means yourselves?”

Bian Xu suddenly butt in. “Tell us, then. How should this debt of blood be repaid?”

His tone was completely impolite, a nearly confrontational question. There was silence on the field.

Ji Qianli went silent for a minute. “Brother Bian, the dead cannot come back to life. Falling into prejudice will put your cultivation at a disadvantage. You should feel as much.”

Getting his sore spot jabbed, Bian Xu’s face fiercely twitched. Han Yuan, however, just laughed. “I could repay it with my life for you.”

Upon hearing this, Tang Zhen took back his gaze and placed it upon Han Yuan. “Han Yuan. Cultivators need to speak and act prudently,” he said slowly. “At times, what one says will be spilt water that is difficult to retrieve. Think carefully before words come out of your mouth next time.”

Han Yuan hadn’t necessarily been speaking from his original mind, likely just habitually being provocative for one moment of delight. Tang Zhen’s admonishment was not really necessary. Han Yuan’s heart demon was trapped by the phrase, ’getting ordered around makes me want to disobey’; what he could not bear to hear the most was disparaging comments and threats. Tang Zhen saying something like this might make him swear by the Heavens to repay with his life!

Cheng Qian’s heart thumped. Despite being unwilling to guess at Tang Zhen’s intent with a suspicious frame of mind, he still felt some difficulty come up within him.

“Shh, it’s fine,” Yan Zhengming said. “Look.”

During his speech, Han Yuan had already made a vowing gesture, but right as he went to speak, his expression suddenly changed. His entire body appeared to be frozen exactly in place, mouth opening a couple of times with not a sound coming out.

Cheng Qian gathered true essence into his eyes — he saw that Han Yuan appeared to be bundled up tightly in a layer of water film, prompting him to remember the ‘Anti-Water Pearl’ Yan Zhengming had told him to deliver a while before.

Just as expected… when Han Yuan became trapped on the remnant site of the Ten-Party Array, Yan Zhengming had itched for hailstones to smash down upon the other’s head every single day. Why would he have so nicely prepped an Anti-Water Pearl for him?

“That’s an ‘Anti-Oath Pearl’,” Yan Zhengming whispered. “Place it on the body for one shichen, and one won’t be able to make any oaths for three days. I feared that he would say some nonsense.”

Something so weird and useless was definitely Li Yun’s work.

He then frowned, and said to himself, “What’s up with Tang Zhen? Did he take the wrong meds?”

After this interruption, Ji Qianli finally caught an opportunity to speak to Bian Xu. “Your Black Tortoise Hall is located in the ice fields of the extreme North, separated by Nanjiang by hundreds of thousands of li. It naturally has nothing to be concerned over, but does your Hall manage the turmoil of the Central Plains?”

As he spoke, he raised his hand to point at the little mid-air ghost. Agitated by his force, she abruptly pounced forward, the several cultivators closest to her getting up and dodging in a panic.

This old man of White Tiger Estate would either not show up, or show up start stuff.

However, no one dared to say as much to his face, as he was one of the Four Sages.

“I proclaim that the blood oath be as follows,” he started, lackadaisically. “First, the demonic dragon must do all he is capable of doing to arrest the demonic cultivators running amok in the Central Plains and the Soul-Devour Lamp, else he will take a tenfold backlash. Second, after catching the Soul-Devouring Life, the dragon will be confined to Nanjiang and guard its entrance for all his life, never to take a half-step out of it, else he will suffer tenfold backlash. Third, since the dragon is serving this sentence, he’ll need to bear with a daily flogging for five hundred years, only to be cut short if he dies of old age, else he will suffer tenfold backlash. Fourth, from now on, the dragon must not wantonly slaughter innocents, create demonic weaponry, accept disciples, or teach, else he will be struck with lightning and die horribly.”

Saying so, he waved his hand, and the eight-trigram plate that had overseen a blood oath once before flew right into his hand. He smiled as he took a survey of his surroundings. “I brought up the blood oath, but the dragon studied under Fuyao Sect, so I’ll need to ask Sect Leader Yan to take the oath alongside me in representation of the Sect. If, someday, anyone plays favorites to the dragon, their sect will decline to an unredeemable state, its bloodline cut off — I presume that no one here has any other opinions?”

Anyone with opinions dared not say anything, quelled by his string of ‘tenfold backlash’s and the ‘struck with lightning’.

Ji Qianli took the initiative to force out a drop of blood from his fingertip, which submerged straight into the plate, after which he took and flung it right towards that giant parasol tree.

Everyone held their breaths for a moment. The plate was seen to circle around the tree’s dense canopy for long time, and then a hand suddenly caught it. Yan Zhengming, hidden in the canopy, moved branches aside, gave a profound look to Ji Qianli up on the high platform, then dripped a drop of blood onto the plate — the Fuyao Sect had entered the oath.

Seeing the plate fly towards Han Yuan, Tang Zhen was about to reach out his hand to stop it. “Sect Leader Yan, you should consider this carefully before…”

Yet, he did not get to finish, as the plate bypassed him to get to Han Yuan.

The instant Fuyao had entered the oath, Han Yuan gained the symbol of the pledge upon his body.

He stared at the symbol, thoroughly dumbstruck.

This…

After all this time, his senior hadn’t expelled him from the sect! He was still one of Fuyao’s!

In this moment, Han Yuan didn’t feel a bit of anger at being forced into an oath. He quickly raised his head to look at Yan Zhengming on the tree, lips trembling slightly, yet saying nothing.

Tang Zhen’s expression twisted up — the blood oath had already been made.

Cheng Qian, however, inwardly sighed, feeling an empty peace of mind.

For the sake of Han Yuan’s personal vendetta, the human world had been overturned into a horrible state. Wanting to expose the past like human lives were no big deal would be impossible. He had made an immense mistake, and needed to pay an immense price — no one could protect him from that.

Otherwise, aside from those enemies and detractors not agreeing with it, the karmic law of the Heavens wouldn’t sit idly by, either.

Allowing him to live to atone was already him slipping the net. Regardless of whether he would be confined on Fuyao Mountain or ordered to stand guard at Nanjiang, it would be the best result.

With the stances of Fuyao and White Tiger Estate settled, no one else could say anything in regards to either emotions or logic. They successively stepped forwards to add their witness to the oath plate.

In the twilight of the setting sun, the dust of the matter settled.

When everyone began to leave, Ji Qianli cast aside his Estate disciples to come towards Cheng Qian. He looked him up and down. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. You’ve made improvement, and have a good future outlook.”

“Estate Lord Ji,” the other responded.

‘Ji Qianli’ smiled. “Don’t call me that,[3] I was just messing with you last time. You don’t blame me for locking your junior up, eh?”

The name of White Tiger Estate’s Lord was Shang Wan’nian. Apart from a few people that didn’t pay attention to what went on outside of their windows — like Cheng Qian — everyone knew that.

Cheng Qian slightly bowed his head. “How could I dare to?”

Estate Lord Shang looked at him, smiling lightly. “In muddy waters, someone will inevitably want to fish. In poor planning, someone will inevitably shine a dagger. I’m afraid that the weather is going to change. You need to be careful.”

With that, he looked down to view the spot on his hand where the symbol of the blood oath was fading away, smiling craftily. “But, then again, that will have nothing to do with us old fellows.”

Cheng Qian was startled.

Shang Wan’nian brought out some familiar derangement once more, humming as he went. “After I die, how could I care about what tall floods he brings?”

He suddenly stepped forward, nearly bumping into Cheng Qian. He grabbed Cheng Qian’s lapels, his eyes, so deep that their bottoms could not be seen, were like two eerie, black wells that stared unblinking at him.

Then, a thread of spiritual consciousness entered the middle of Cheng Qian’s brows.

He heard the other’s consciousness speak. Long ago, Hear the Universe was disguised as a piece of spiritual jade, where it wandered the world. No one should have been able to recognize it, and I don’t know why it fell into your hands. Since this is Heaven’s will… well, don’t let anyone know that you have it. Remember this.

This pose of his was too ambitious. The very next moment, a hand stuck itself in out of nowhere, bringing Cheng Qian backwards and lithely pushing Shang Wan’nian away.

Yan Zhengming took back his paw, straightening up his sleeve like nothing had happened. “Hello, Estate Lord. Please conduct yourself with dignity,” he stated, expressionless.

Cheng Qian: “…”

In other words, that inexplicable ‘ear’ on the back of his hand was Hear the Universe. He furrowed his brow; he genuinely hadn’t informed anyone of this, but had brought it up to Tang Zhen once. Would the other suspect something?

Cheng Qian didn’t have many friends, but Tang Zhen counted as one. Making him speculate about an old friend like this suddenly made him feel like his chest was weighted down by a puddleof cold, sticky mud, making it hard for him to breathe.

“Estate Lord, hold on…”

Right as he was wanting to ask what ‘Hear the Universe was, Shang Wan’nian drew a few steps backm then put his finger against his lips in a silencing gesture.

After that, the old lunatic pointed to his own eyes, then his ears, then finally his mouth, and shook his head three times in a row — not looking, not listening, not speaking.

Once done, he lowered his head. A smile of indescribable connotation suffused his face, and he turned with his hands behind his back, striding towards Han Yuan. “My little Han friend, you can come down from the Ten-Party Array. I came uninvited today, so I ask to accompany you back to Fuyao Mountain for a temporary stay. Once two days pass, the journey will begin. You will come with me down to Shuzhong, then go back to Nanjiang. Oi, don’t pull a long face. This happened because of you, so making you clean it up now is only natural.”

Yan Zhengming eyebrows nearly flew off of his face. “An uninvited guest doesn’t need my approval?” he mumbled, depressed.

The ‘hahaha’ of Shang Wan’nian’s laughter came from the distance, just in time to answer his question.

Yan Zhengming got serious, shot a glance at Cheng Qian, who had a heavy load on his mind, and Shui Keng, who was bent out of shape, then grabbed Cheng Qian’s wrist. “Let’s go.”

Shui Keng followed after without a care, looking extraordinarily please and optimistic. “Eldest brother, is fourth brother coming home now?”

He simply did not feel like paying attention to her. “What did Tang Zhen mean?” he quietly asked. “Did he say anything to you before, Xiao Qian?”

Cheng Qian knit his brows tight, a monster knot in his heart. “He told me that he wanted to protect Han Yuan by confining him on Fuyao Mountain.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Shui Keng asked.

“Good, my ass. So that’s what he meant,” Yan Zhengming answered. “Could you not tell? His implication also was, ‘if this person cannot remain in Fuyao Mountain, kill him for security.’”

Cheng Qian’s hand glanced over Shuang Ren’s sheath. Before the final moment, where the proof was concrete and the truth came to light, he would be willing to pardon Tang Zhen for all of his cover ups. He didn’t want to suspect him of anything.

Even though friendships between noblemen were not very intimate, they required the bare minimum of trust. However, he had no choice but to admit that this time, their eldest was right.

“They’re going to look for the Soul-Devouring Lamp,” he said. “I’ll go with them.”

“I’ll go, too!” Shui Keng chirped.

“No chance,” Yan Zhengming overruled. “The instant you leave my line of sight, something’s definitely going to happen.

“As for you…” He looked over at Shui Keng, then chided her with no bit of politeness. “What are you making noise for? Shut your beak!”

Cheng Qian wanted to say something further, but the other waved his hand to interupt him. “There’s no need to say anything else. Tomorrow, I’ll find Shang Wan’nian to chat with him, and get a feel for the situation… is that old thing really one of the Four Sages? Why is he kind of insane?”

Their eldest was extremely perceptive in the field of picking out peoples’ faults, forever able to grasp main points.

That very night, Cheng Qian couldn’t sleep. With difficulty, he managed to get out of Yan Zhengming’s tangled limbs, then enter meditation in the Residence of Peace’s secluded courtyard.

Even so, he was unable to calm down, getting the overall sense that something was about to happen.

All of a sudden, the door to the yard was forcefully pushed open by someone. Upon opening his eyes, he saw Li Yun, whose face was as sunken as water. “Is our eldest here?”

“Why?”

“Estate Lord Shang is dead.”