Chapter 681: Watching the Fire From the Other Side of Shore
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Meng Qi carried an oiled paper umbrella as if he was wandering in the rain. He ambled on the prosperous street. Itinerant peddler, the stands and ordinary pedestrians were like ocean waves, either fluctuating or staying tranquil.
A generally accepted fact was that Luoyang housed numerous masters. Thus, Meng Qi did not felt anything unusual earlier. He felt differently after hearing Yuan Lihuo saying that the news of the Ninth Heaven remnants had been secretly spreading in Luoyang. There seemed to be lots of masters concealed in the crowds. Those who came and left in a hurry looked quite serious as if something was about to happen under this peaceful scene.
“That’s how a tossed stone makes ripples...” Meng Qi peeped at his surroundings in relief and didn’t spread his spiritual force. After all, he didn’t plan to get involved in this thing no matter if the news about the Ninth Heaven remnants was real or not, whether there were tricks and plots or not. None of these things were relevant to him unless Gu Xiaosang asked for cooperation with the contract.
Therefore, now he has a sense of superiority for being an onlooker and staying out of this. He saw a few drops of rain, so he held the oiled paper umbrella and smiled at the pedestrians passing by.
It was not a bad feeling to watch the fire from the other side of the shore!
Raindrops fell at the round in the bluish stone floor. Meng Qi would not choose to come along for the ride to Antai Restaurant, and he found an inn in random and picked a room which was relatively tranquil.
This was a separate yard which divided into three wing rooms in left, middle and right. As soon as he stepped into the room, Meng Qi’s was more pleasant.
There sat a Taoist with a knot out of his grey hair, and without any wrinkle on his face. His eyes were half open with his long breath. He turned a blind eye at Meng Qi as if he immersed in the book. The rain fell straight to the floor was precisely covered by the dense leaves.
The window of the right wing room was set up, revealing a gorgeous woman whenever she was angry or pleasant. Her striking appearance, together with her arched eyebrows and upturned nose, making her brave gestures intertwined with her beauty. Dressed in a red dress, looking so bright but not flashy, her style popular among the Jianghu.
Her breath was just at the level of enlightening the Apertures, but she lowered her eyes as if she was hiding something, without a glance at Meng Qi. She seemed to sense Meng Qi earlier before he noticed and didn’t mind him at all.
“Luoyang indeed attracted a lot of masters to come; two masters hid here in a mere Guest House...” Meng Qi stayed out of this affairs and didn’t want to detect their real strength. He walked under the eaves, folded up the umbrella and shook off its raindrops, leisurely opened the door of the middle wing room. And then he lighted up the candle, brought out his own “Tao Te Ching” to read.
This book was a bit weird. At present Meng Qi didn’t thoroughly trust the Six Taoist, so he temporarily didn’t want to examine the book.
The red-clothed woman and the Wooden-hairpin Taoist still kept their original gesture. There could only be heard the sound of drop ticking, feeling like in a dark and tranquil space.
With the bluish white lamp illuminating the book, Meng Qi held the “Tao Te Ching” in his hands, read this book while shook his head slightly, and ignored what happened outside the window.
The next day, it had unbroken sunshine since wind died down and the rain stopped. Meng Qi changed his clothes and went out from the inn, planning to meet Su Ziyue and Gu Changqing secretly.
The street currently packed with people. Meng Qi slowly walked and enjoyed the atmosphere. He attained the inner peace while he was looking around in the road to observe different people.
Suddenly, the woman in red dress walked in a hurry and passed through Meng Qi without noticing, turned into a branch road.
After some time, the Wooden-hairpin Taoist slightly caught up to her. When he saw Meng Qi, he nodded as he was greeting him before turning toward another road.
“Those paths all reach Antai Restaurant.” Meng Qi chuckled, directly headed forward deep into the city.
No sooner he passed the fork than the woman, and the Wooden-hairpin Taoist who blended in the crowd turned their heads at the same time. They looked at the place where Meng Qi disappeared with a sigh of relief as if they dispelled any doubts.
Contrary to the direction of Antai Restaurant, Meng Qi approached the Su’s manor. At this moment, he felt more pleasant because Su Ziyue went out at a brisk pace. She had grown up and was less immature, and she was both dynamic and gentle with her green dress revealing her fresh temperament.
Meng Qi pretended to be a young master wandering in the street as he slowly walked in the direction of Su Ziyue’s place. He secretly operated his breath and kept alert.
Less than five steps apart, Meng Qi’s spiritual force suddenly shook as if he could sense that several people gazed at Su Ziyue and pedestrians passing by.
“Someone is monitoring...” Meng Qi didn’t change his expression, smiled at the left stall, leaving Su Ziyue passed behind him. He secretly operated movements such as Eight Nine Mysteries, the Primeval Golden Lotus, and Jade Virtual Divination!
The crowd seemed to walk away passed him, and the air became thin. Meng Qi uncertainly divided several positions in his mind.
“One, two...” Meng Qi silently counted. There were about four monitors who didn’t know each other. Some of them were strong so that Meng Qi was incapable of ensuring their specific situation; the others were relatively weak, exposing their weaknesses and traces.
“Is the four monitors were from the Sect of the Plain Lady, Destruction Sect, the Crying Elder and Kill-stopping?” Meng Qi thought with a sneer and didn’t expose them but directly went forward, leaving by the left side of Su’s.
“There is no need for me to expose them now. Waiting for another two or three years, when I approach the level of grandmaster, capable of fighting against with them by his strength for some time or temporarily suffering the Half-step attack, I can ask Abbotship Kongwen and Primogenitor Lingbao for help and wipe them out with one attack. And I will severely destroy the evil denomination such as Sect of the Plain Lady and Destruction Sect even if they had a long history and hard to kill!”
Surely Meng Qi had equipped himself with four calamities, and he was as close as Half-step to Dharmakaya. He was clear of his situation; it was true of his enemy. The longer he stalled, the crazier his enemy would be. They would kill him before he got a promotion. Therefore, Meng Qi believed he would be safe for these two years, but more dangerous things would happen in two years such relatives kidnapping and asking himself to meet them.
“When I go to Six Fan School later, I will send a letter to my family and tell them how cruel and ferocious the enemy is in a detailed way, letting them operate the formation as long as possible. Besides, my younger sister needs to be restrained to go out and entrust her to Uncle Wang...” Meng Qi had already come up with a plan.
Committing a crime in Luoyang was hard. With such detailed plans, they would be safe.
Logically speaking, people had limited energy, and it was even more energy-consuming when it came to coping with defense passively. This level of security was indeed hard to endure. But Meng Qi didn’t need the Su’s to persist for a long time; three years would be enough.
This was the confidence of the “Killing Blade” who was famed throughout the world!
After finishing all these plans, Meng Qi went back to the inn as usual when the night came. He continued to light up the candle and read the “Tao Te Ching,” trying to figure out why it was unusual.
At the same time, he lamented that it was troublesome to regret the Hidden Latch. His master had entered stupa for a long time, but there hadn’t been any sign of Nirvana renascence, so it was impossible for Meng Qi to bring him to sense The Buddha’s Palm. As for his Junior Brother who deeply concealed his breath, still fell into sleep. While his blushed face suggested, his offensive power contained itself in his flesh and blood. According to Abbotship Kongwen, the statue of his Junior Brother was similar to the concept in True Scripture from Grand Phantasia described. But he usually devoted himself in his training and never read it before. Maybe his gain was summarised from the perception from Primary Instruction of The Buddha’s Palm.
As the night wore on, the Wooden-hairpin Taoist slowly stepped in with a bottle of wine. He raised his head and looked up at Meng Qi’s shadow which reflected in the window, and then chuckled and went back to his room.
As the night darkened, Meng Qi put away the “Tao Te Ching,” which he couldn’t figure out, and blew out the bluish white lamp.
“In the dead of night, watch out for fire...” the night-watchman said as he passed by. The red-clothed woman landed to the ground and only represented her level of enlightening the Apertures. The Grand Formation of Luoyang were monitoring the considerable movement.
She raised her head cautiously and looked to the left wing room, seeing that the Taoist was pouring the wine by himself and drinking. Her eyes suddenly grew darker.
By the way, she glanced at the middle wing room and saw that the lights were out, the room was dark, which revealed that the young master in blue gown seemed to fall asleep.
She breathed in slightly and secretly went back to her room.
Meng Qi stood by the window with his hands clustered behind his back and sheltered in the dark, smiled at their behaviors. His mind was peaceful without any emotional change.
Another day, in the manor of the Emperor’s younger brother.
Zhao Heng finished his training today and greeted “Blood Teeth Arrester” Yuan Lihuo who secretly “protected” him before returning to his room.
He closed the door, automatically activating the protective spell that isolated the room.
Only then could Zhao Heng heave a sigh of relief. Though the whole manor covered tremendous space, he could just feel reassured in this little room, and feel like that the small room was under his control without being spied on by others!
After all, an imperial prince had his privacy. He was unwilling to be observed by others when he had a sexual life, so the Political Affairs Hall acquiesced and arranged for anti-spying measures in his quarters.
The minute he relaxed, he felt someone looking at him. He suddenly turned around and saw a mysterious man wearing a large black robe and the mask of “Heavenly Primogenitor” from the opera. The man was fiddling with a green accessory with a dark gem in the center in his hands.
“Heavenly Primogenitor? Are you one of the members of The Immortals?” Zhao Heng asked, quickly calming down.
Meng Qi smiled and said, “Precisely.”
Zhao Heng quickly thought and tried to detect Meng Qi’s strength. He was able to enter into Zhao Heng’s room without leaving any trace and being touched by anyone under such a strict monitor of Political Affairs Hall!
“Why do you come here?” Zhao Heng asked, maintaining his composure.
“Prince Wei, now you are in a difficult situation, and you are lonely without anyone’s help, so I guess maybe you need help from outside?” Meng Qi asked. He felt quite odd as he rarely spoke to his companions while adopting his other identities.
Zhao Heng’s expression changed, and before long, he was back normal. He took the seat opposite Meng Qi and said with a smile, “So you want to invite me to join in the Immortals?”
“Of course. After joining the Immortals, you can gain the skills belonging to different titles, as well as buy cheap elixir and containers. Besides, you can use the exchange function with the Six Taoist and change materials and intelligence with companions all over the world. For example, Reincarnation Charm is the one that you need to finish one task in The Immortals each year without damaging the interests of your own family or the people you care for. Even if other members need to fight against Zhao’s because of the order of task, you would be informed in advance...” Meng Qi simply explained the benefits and costs to Zhao Heng.
Zhao Heng listened and pondered attentively. He did not give an immediate answer.
Meng Qi added, “All these requires a certain degree of your freedom. We hope that you can make concessions to gain advantages and temporarily give up your position as the Emperor’s younger brother. We will do our best to help you ascend the throne if there is an opportunity in the future.”
Zhao Heng was silent for some time before slowly exhaling. “What I am training is the new Book of Shocking the World which intertwined with humane skills. The more respectable I am, the faster I can get a promotion. Once without the position as the emperor’s younger brother, my speed of promotion will slow down, and I would die in the Samsara sooner or later. However, as long as I ascend the throne and become the most respectable emperor, I can immediately break through the current shackles...”
The premise was that there needed the materials such as the True Emperor Seal to assist his cultivation.
Zhao Heng’s meaning was clear and thorough. He would not give up his current position no matter how difficult the situation would be.
Meng Qi looked at Zhao Heng as if he was encountering the latter for the first time. He had always known that Zhao Heng was ambitious, but he did not expect him to be so stubborn.
“Was there a different side to each of his companions that he had no idea?”
Meng Qi sighed. “Do you know how tremendous of assistance you have just given up on?”
Zhao Heng smiled as if he had a well-thought-out plan in his mind. “I don’t know if there is the role of an associate in the Immortals? I can inherit the skill from my own family, and I don’t need any title. I only need to exchange for materials. Though I can’t finish tasks, I can be of help in the imperial court.”
Meng Qi thought and agreed with him peacefully. “Sure.”
When he was back in the yard, it began drizzling as the wind picked up. Meng Qi sat by the window, deep in thought. The red-clothed woman and the Wooden-hairpin Taoist were both not back yet.
Gradually, nighttime arrived in his silent yard. Suddenly, a person slipped in the yard and broke into Meng Qi’s room. The red-clothed woman’s face went pale as she said in a hurry:
“I am Sun Yuexiu of the Azuremoon Sword Sect, and I need instant recovery. Please help me to get rid of the blood stains outside! I will pay you back tomorrow!”