The Path Toward Heaven

“Though I know you didn’t mean anything by what you said, it’s still uncomfortable to hear it.”

Su Ziye said to Tong Yan, “Inform the people of the zen temple. This is their vegetable garden.”

It was the philosophy of the Cultivation world that a magic treasure discovered without an owner should belong to the place where it was discovered.

Su Ziye was a devil man of the deviant sect, so he usually wouldn’t pay attention to such a rule; but the situation was different now, and the Baotong Zen Temple was treating his illness at the moment.

He Zhan said, “No need for it, because this can’t be counted as a chance encounter.”

“I know you have good luck, but you distort facts,” Su Ziye retorted.

He Zhan took out a vase and a boxing glove and put them on the table, exclaiming, “Do you still think all these have something to do with my luck?”

Tong Yan moved his gaze from the sword to the vase and then the boxing glove. “They indeed have nothing to do with luck,” Tong Yan declared after some observation.

The flying sword, vase and boxing glove all looked quite pristine, indicating that they had not been buried too long; and they must have been buried not deep in the ground since He Zhan could find them so easily.

All that considered, these were obviously not the treasures buried by the monks of previous generations at the Baotong Zen Temple, and they were most likely not the buried treasures altogether.

There was only one explanation: All these treasures were placed in the vegetable garden intentionally for He Zhan to find.

Tong Yan walked to the window and looked out through the window at the vegetable garden, remaining silent, pondering something.

Su Ziye lay in bed, so he didn’t see the vase and the boxing glove on the table until now. “Yu Buhuan and Tu Qiu are probably dead,” he said with arched brows.

Glancing at him, He Zhan asked, “Do you know these items?”

After telling them about the backgrounds of Yu Buhuan and Tu Qiu, Su Ziye said, “If my information is not wrong, they should have joined the Old Ones quite early.”

He Zhan said with a changed expression, “These items must have something to do with what happened yesterday.”

Tong Yan chimed in without turning his head around, “Like I said, this sword is a big trouble.”

He Zhan and Su Ziye fixed their gazes on the sword.

The Barren Vase and the Diamond Boxing Glove were the famous magic treasures of the deviant sects on the Cold Mountain; but it was obvious that this sword had a much higher state than those two treasures. If these three magic treasures were remained from the battle between the orthodox Cultivation sects and the Old Ones last night, why would they happen to be in the vegetable garden of the Baotong Zen Temple and be discovered so easily by He Zhan?

“Like I said earlier, I don’t think luck is a good thing. Besides the reason I have already mentioned, I don’t think this has anything to do with luck.”

He Zhan continued, “It’s because a person with such good luck can’t exist in this world for too long, as they would have been struck dead by heavenly thunder a long time ago.”

Su Ziye asked, “Though I have thought this way over the years, how can you explain the happenings in the past?”

He Zhan answered, “I think someone has been watching me in secret all the time. He would provide me with whatever I needed, just like what has happened today.”

Su Ziye laughed and remarked, “It sounds quite jovial.”

He Zhan said with a bitter smile, “But I don’t know who that person is or what he wants from me. If somebody showed up one day and claimed that he had created me and wanted to take back everything he gave me, or he asked me to do something I’m incapable of doing, what would I do then? I have been actually trying my best to evade it in recent years. I don’t participate in the Cultivation tournament anymore, and avoid interacting with the Cultivation sects, spending my time traveling among the mountains and rivers. What I have been afraid of is that person suddenly showing up before me one day.”

Tong Yan turned around and said to him, “I think you you’ve been thinking too much.”

“Why do you say that?” He Zhan demanded after a startled pause.

Tong Yan said, “No schemer is that stupid. The magic treasure you picked up is pretty good stuff. Though you have a good talent for Cultivation, it’s nothing exceptional.”

“I didn’t quite get it. Please say it plainly,” He Zhan pressed.

“You are not worth those treasures,” Tong Yan said.

He Zhan felt offended, exclaiming, “How can you explain what has happened to me over the years? Why is it impossible for a master of previous generation to like my talent and help me in secret?”

“If it were your real mother, maybe,” Tong Yan proclaimed.

He Zhan flung his arms, not willing to talk to Tong Yan anymore.

Tong Yan added, “Judging by the quality of the things you have acquired over the years, your mother must be an important figure like my Master.”

Thinking of it, He Zhan thought what Tong Yan said made some sense. “What should we do with these?” he asked while pointing to the items on the table.

“If you don’t mind, give them to us,” Su Ziye said while propping up against the head of the bed.

Tong Yan said, “I want the boxing glove.”

He Zhan snickered, “You have a weaker body, so it’s suitable for you actually. What about you?”

Su Ziye replied, “The Barren Vase is the remaining treasure of the Bloody Demon Sect, and that makes it very deviant, which counts you two out. It should go to me.”

“You two are so courteous. I’ll take the best stuff then.”

He Zhan put away the sword and started cooking the porridge.

The porridge was boiling in the pot, and it would take some time to before it was ready.

He Zhan took out the flying sword and looked at it by the window for a long time, muttering, “What is your name? Why did you appear here?”

The flying sword couldn’t answer his questions no matter how intelligent they were.

It was Tong Yan who answered his questions. “It is called the First Child Sword, delivered to your hands by someone,” he said softly while staring at the chess board.

“You believe my suspicion,” He Zhan pressed, surprised.

Tong Yan said, “This thing is of course suspicious.”

“But you mocked me earlier,” He Zhan snapped.

“I didn’t mock you. If your suspicion were proven to be true, my inference would be the only answer.”

Tong Yan continued while looking at He Zhan, “That person is your real mother, and your real mother is an important figure in the Cultivation world.”

He Zhan shrugged, unable to say anything.

Tong Yan said, “Many people would have died last night on the Cloud Platform, and many magic treasures would have been lost during the turmoil. Let’s wait and see what else your real mother brings you.”

He Zhan said with a serious expression, “I wish she would bring a jar of preserved beancurd to me, the spicy, delicious kind.”

Su Ziye said on the bed, “This is a good idea. I don’t understand why the monks consider the preserved beancurd animal stuff, since no meat is in it.”

At the same night.

It seemed that He Zhan’s real mother had indeed brought something over, but they didn’t know whether it was the treasure or not.

Judging from the value, it should be a treasure, but the puzzling part was that it wasn’t an object; it was a person.

Looking at the unconscious Tong Lu lying in the vegetable field, He Zhan was bewildered. “What is going on here?” he asked Tong Yan, shrugging.

…

…

The Institute of the White Deer had been on fire for a day and a night.

The courtyard that used to be filled by the sounds of students reading books had become ruins, with a burnt scent flooding the surrounding air. Even the cliffs were burnt to a black color.

Standing in front of the ruins of the institute, Pei Baifa closed his eyes with his head lowered, feeling the remaining warm temperature of the ashes, emotionless.

An elder of the No-Mercy Sect reported, “After checking all the corpses, we haven’t found Tian Jingren.”

Pei Baifa said in a deep and solemn voice, “I’ll be away for a while. When you people get back, lock down Longevity Mountain.”

The crowd of the No-Mercy Sect was quite astounded.

In recent years, the No-Mercy Sect had a weaker status in the Cultivation world because of suppression by the West Ocean Sword Sect, and their placement at the Plum Meeting had even dropped lately. Now that the Sect Master came out from behind closed doors and the West Ocean Sword Sect had been expelled from Chaotian, with Xiwang Sun killed and the Cloud Platform destroyed, it should be a good opportunity for the No-Mercy Sect to develop; but why should we lock down the mountain?

Though they couldn’t understand the reason, nobody dared disobey the Sect Master’s order.

Similarly, nobody dared ask for a reason or where the Sect Master was going.

All they could ask was when he’d return.

The elder asked, “When will Big Brother come back?”

“When I come back, you’ll know,” replied Pei Baifa.

Having said that, he stepped on his sword and headed westward.

Watching the sword light disappearing into the twilight, the crowd of the No-Mercy Sect bowed in that direction to bid farewell. They believed that their Sect Master must have taken on a significant task that would shock the world.

…