Chapter 1150: The World-Honored One Observed the Future
“What? You two are constables?” Yue Changhe was astonished. “I’d always assumed you were hunting me down because I carry both human and demon bloodlines. I thought that the two major factions behind you coveted the rarity of my blood, so they sent you to capture me for inhumane experiments or to use me as some kind of linchpin between humans and demons.”
Back then, the eagle-eyed man and the elderly monk had borne down on Yue Changhe with such ferocity. The first thing they questioned was whether he was human or a demon; they forced him to make a choice. They didn’t look like they had come with friendly intentions, which was why he had fled for his life.
The eagle-eyed man drew in a sharp breath. “Your understanding doesn’t seem entirely wrong either.”
Lu Yang nodded inwardly. Actually, I think so too, which is why I’d stepped forward to offer a few diplomatic words.
However, there was no need for Yue Changhe to serve as a bridge between the two races with his small stature. The current linchpin was the Great Xia, Buddhist Kingdom, Demon Region, and East Sea Economic Treaty.
When he had been bedridden and recovering from his injuries, the Xia Emperor, Zhu Tian, and Ao Ling had negotiated this treaty, and he had been a witness to it. The Buddhist Kingdom had also voluntarily joined after learning of the treaty.
“Nonsense! I explained the reason when I first saw you. You’re just trying to evade capture!” The elderly monk fumed. He had chased Yue Changhe across half the Buddhist Kingdom, wearing out two pairs of cloth shoes until their seams had split. Even he was losing his temper.
“You clearly came up and said you were going to take me to Xitian, the Western Paradise!”[1]
“I said I was going to take you to Xitian Temple. You ran off before hearing the whole thing!”
Yue Changhe scratched his head awkwardly. It’s your temple that’s poorly named. You can’t blame me for that. “Wait, that still doesn’t add up. What crime did I commit for you to be arresting me?”
“You kidnapped the little princess of the Nine-Tailed Fox Tribe, yet you’re still trying to deny it?”
“I kidnapped that little lass?” Yue Changhe’s eyes widened, his expression screaming, “I knew you bald donkey just found me an eyesore and wanted to frame me.”
With a living Buddha present, I’m not afraid of this elderly monk resorting to violence.
“It was clear that the little lass snuck out of her tribe on her own and ran all the way from the Demon Region to the Buddhist Kingdom. She didn’t even have a single spirit stone on her. If I hadn’t brought her back with me, she would probably have starved to death.
“That little lass is really a handful. I’m about to become impoverished from all the delicacies she has been eating every day.
“Later, she told me that she was the Nine-Tailed Fox Tribe’s little princess and asked me to send her back, promising she would pay me back the money tenfold or even a hundredfold once she got back.
“I figured that since my parents had secretly given birth to me, I was an unregistered person, so I couldn’t leave the Buddhist Kingdom through legal channels. Thus, I told the little lass to write to her family herself and ask them to send someone to pick her up.”
Surprise flickered in the eagle-eyed man’s eyes. “Did you read what the Nine-Tailed Fox Little Princess wrote in that letter?”
“No. As long as the Nine-Tailed Fox Tribe came to take her away, that was all that mattered.”
The eagle-eyed man produced a letter and showed it to everyone. The handwriting was crooked and childish.
Daddy, Mommy, I’m staying at a big brother’s house in the Buddhist Kingdom. It’s very safe. Big Brother said he’s a “black” something and has a special status, so he can’t leave the Buddhist Kingdom. He told me to write to you to come pick me up. Oh, and bring lots and lots of spirit stones when you come.
“Wait...what? So the Nine-Tailed Fox thought I kidnapped that little lass? Then why didn’t they make a move when they came to pick her up?!” Yue Changhe was nonplussed. The Nine-Tailed Fox is a major tribe in the Demon Region. They could crush me with a single finger.
The eagle-eyed man put away the letter and replied seriously, “At first, when the Nine-Tailed Fox Tribe came to pick up the Little Princess, they saw how weak you were and considered attacking you. But on second thought, they reckoned that you couldn’t be the main culprit with such low cultivation. Surmising that there might be an ambush nearby, they just paid the money and left just like that.”
“Didn’t that little lass explain things properly to her family?” Yue Changhe gnashed his teeth. The next time I see that little lass, I’m definitely going to give her a good talking-to!
“It’s said that the Little Princess awakened her second tail on the way back and has been in a deep slumber ever since.” The eagle-eyed man’s tone grew stranger as he spoke. Yue Changhe’s story doesn’t sound like a lie.
Lu Yang had heard of the Nine-Tailed Fox Tribe. They were not born with nine tails; their tails awakened progressively. The more tails one had, the higher one’s standing was within the tribe.
There were three ways of awakening. The first is through exceptional talent, where one naturally awakens upon reaching the appropriate age. Another involved external intervention, such as consuming natural treasures or passing fox trials. The third stemmed from a change in one’s mental state, such as the blossoming of first love.
“Little Changhe, so this is where you are.”
An aged voice reached everyone’s ears. A hunched old man with a cane appeared in the temple.
Apart from the Everlasting Immortal Fairy, Lu Yang, Ao Ling, Qing He, Jin Caiwei, and Yun Mengmeng, no one knew how he had materialized.
The hunched old man ignored everyone, strolling leisurely through the ancestral temple. He circled Yue Changhe, involuntarily sighing with emotion. “So alike—you truly look just like that kid Yue Fang did when he was young.”
Yue Changhe braced himself for a formidable opponent, his gaze fixed on the old man. He was poised to strike at any moment. Through gritted teeth, he slowly uttered, “Grandpa.”[2]
“Seeing as you’ve called me ‘grandpa,’ hand over the jade pendant your father left you, and I will overlook that filthy human blood flowing through your veins and spare your life.”
“Spare my life?” Yue Changhe sneered. “You killed my father for that jade pendant, and now you’re willing to let me live?!”
The hunched old man shook his head with regret. “You’re just as obstinate as your father. A mere fortuitous encounter made him believe he was above the tribe. He fell for a human woman and tainted the bloodline of our Bixi[3] Tribe.”
“Humans are the foremost of all beings, yet demons have also produced true immortals. Bloodlines are neither superior nor inferior...”
The echo of Lu Yang’s earlier words resounded through the temple, sending chills down the spines of the eagle-eyed man and the elderly monk.
So the World-Honored One’s words hadn’t been meant for us but for the hunched old man.
Gazing down upon the ages and foreseeing the future—is this but a glimpse of the World-Honored One’s mighty power?
“Who’s speaking?!” The hunched old man felt his blood run cold. He simply couldn’t locate the source of the voice.
“How dare you play tricks before me? You’re courting death!” He flew into a rage, unleashing the oppressive aura of a Fusion expert. Our Bixi Tribe is born with boundless strength. Few cultivators of the same level can match me in raw power!
“Sādhu. To have slain your own son, Benefactor, you’ve truly abandoned all conscience.”
Lu Yang extended a finger and tapped the hunched old man’s brow, rendering him immobile.
In the old man’s eyes, that was no mere finger. It was the heavens themselves collapsing, shattering the temple, to mercilessly trample on him.
“Dear grandson, so you’ve been hiding here. You’ve really made your grandpa[4] look for you.” A ghostly voice rang out, and another figure appeared within the ancestral temple.
“Hand over the cultivation technique your mother left you, and I can grant you an intact corpse. That way, you won’t end up like her, with not even bones remaining.”
The eagle-eyed man and the elderly monk simultaneously recalled Lu Yang’s first words upon making his entrance.
This humble monk had no wish to manifest himself before the world. But since three benefactors have entered my temple and are embroiled in a dispute, it is only natural that I intervene.
Could it be that the “three benefactors” the World-Honored One referred to weren’t the three of us, but Yue Changhe and his paternal and maternal grandfathers?!
1. As explained in a previous chapter, going up to the Western Paradise is a euphemistic way of saying to die. ☜
2. The grandfather here is referring to one’s paternal grandfather. ☜
3. If you remember Baxia or Ao-Turtle, “Bixi” is the same thing. It’s said to be the sixth son of the dragon. ☜
4. The grandfather here is referring to one’s maternal grandfather. ☜
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