Chapter 208: Gathering
Yu Qingtang’s call was answered by a long, drawn-out silence.
At last, Scholar Xiao took it upon himself to break the quiet. He burst out laughing, waved the folding fan in his hand, then gave Yu Qingtang a familiar tap on the shoulder and said with grave sincerity, “Brother Yu, how can you make a joke like that at a time like this?”
Still laughing, he pointed at the stunned Ji Ruxue. “Though I suppose it worked out. After that little performance, even the holy maiden isn’t nervous anymore.”
Yu Qingtang looked up at him in silence and stressed, “I’m not joking.”
“It’s real.”
Wen Tianxia was silent for a moment before slowly asking, “...Who would choose a name like that?”
Yu Qingtang considered the question, then tentatively answered, “A comedian?”
Wen Tianxia closed his eyes.
Then he opened them again.
“I thought it was impossible.”
“But for some reason, someone’s face just appeared in my mind.”
“For a person like him, a name like that... actually seems rather fitting.”
Scholar Xiao asked curiously, “Whose face?”
Wen Tianxia replied blandly, “Tianji Zi.”
Yu Qingtang: “...That’s giving dog Xiaosa a little too much credit.”
Scholar Xiao looked as though he had something to say, then stopped himself. After confirming it with Yu Qingtang several times, he finally asked, “That’s really his name? And that really is the secret incantation?”
He muttered to himself, “If so, perhaps the Esoteric Sect kept the incantation secret simply because they were too embarrassed to let anyone hear it.”
“Believe me!” Yu Qingtang was almost desperate to prove his innocence. “Do I look like the kind of person who would still be trying to make jokes with disaster staring us in the face?!”
He paused.
Then, with noticeably less confidence, he turned his head away.
“I guess I kind of am.”
Sometimes, the more nervous he got, the less control he had over his mouth.
“How can this be...” Ji Ruxue was deeply shaken. Her gaze wavered despite herself. “Like a dog...”
She seemed almost unable to force the words out. Looking to Yu Qingtang for help, she asked, “Is this truly an omniscient being?”
“More or less, assuming he hasn’t forgotten his own worldbuilding,” Yu Qingtang muttered. “He did write the book, after all.”
But the moment he said that, his own confidence began to crumble.
After all, this was hardly the first time dog Xiaosa had abandoned plot threads or contradicted his own setting halfway through.
The Heavenly Dao had certainly worked very hard to patch all of that into something coherent in this world, but if they were talking about dog Xiaosa himself...
He really wasn’t all that reliable.
The thought made Yu Qingtang nervous in an instant.
Don’t you dare screw this up when it matters most, dog Xiaosa!
“Well...” Scholar Xiao gave a helpless, wry smile. “It sounds unbelievable, but since Brother Yu insists, I’ll trust you this once.”
“In that case, Holy Maiden, there’s nothing left for you to worry about. You should come with us.”
“Next, we need to find...”
Wen Tianxia nodded. “The Heaven-Questioning artifact.”
He looked at Ji Ruxue. “Do you know where it is?”
Ji Ruxue was still staring blankly, not yet recovered from the shock of dog Xiaosa. She shook her head, uncertainty written all over her face.
“If it were me...” Scholar Xiao idly waved his folding fan. “Something that important would be kept in the safest place in the entire Esoteric Sect.”
Wen Tianxia closed his eyes. “If I were Bu Yetian, I would keep it inside my robes.”
“The only true immortal of this age carrying it on his person—if he had no intention of handing it over, who could possibly take it without him noticing?”
Scholar Xiao laughed despite himself. “Good thing you aren’t him. Otherwise, that really would...”
He turned his head and found Yu Qingtang staring at them with a strange expression.
Scholar Xiao’s eyes widened instantly. “What? Don’t tell me...”
Yu Qingtang blinked.
“It’s inside his robes.”
“How do you know that?” Ji Ruxue could no longer keep up. She stared at him in bewilderment. “Within the Esoteric Sect, the Heaven-Questioning artifact is considered even more important than the Heaven-Mending Furnace. Like the secret incantation, its location is an absolute secret known only to the sect master.”
“You...”
“Wait.” Scholar Xiao’s expression turned peculiar.
He narrowed his eyes at Yu Qingtang.
“Brother Yu has always been blessed with extraordinary fortune and favored by the Heavenly Dao. Everyone knows that.”
“Mm.” Yu Qingtang nodded. “What about it?”
“Bu Yetian has the Heavenly Dao in his grasp. He could practically be called half the Heavenly Dao himself.” Scholar Xiao’s expression grew increasingly subtle. “So when you say the Heavenly Dao favors you, what that really means is that Bu Yetian favors you.”
Yu Qingtang felt there was something deeply wrong with the way that sounded, but he still nodded along.
“I guess... you could put it that way.”
The more Scholar Xiao spoke, the more certain he became. He extended his fan and pointed it at Yu Qingtang.
“You know a secret incantation the Esoteric Sect never teaches outsiders.”
“You even know what the Esoteric Sect’s sect master keeps inside his robes.”
Yu Qingtang choked.
“Why does this sound weirder every time you say something?”
“Brother Yu, I’m not the one making it sound strange.” Scholar Xiao nodded solemnly. “The situation itself is becoming rather intimate.”
His face suddenly lit with realization.
“No wonder Brother Ye looks determined to fight Bu Yetian to the death. He must have figured it out too!”
“Figured out what...” Yu Qingtang was rendered speechless. He wanted nothing more than to crack Scholar Xiao’s head open and inspect whatever was inside. “Stop talking nonsense!”
“Ji Ruxue is already looking at me differently!”
“Huh?” Ji Ruxue’s gaze darted between them. “I-I have never seen the Immortal Venerable show anyone special favor...”
“See?!” Yu Qingtang jabbed an accusing finger at Scholar Xiao. “There’s a naive kid standing right here! Stop spouting nonsense!”
“She’ll actually believe you!”
Shaking his head over and over, he cautiously poked his head out through the window to look outside.
The fighting beyond had already reached a fever pitch.
Ye Chenyan’s surprise attack had initially been extremely effective. The Esoteric Sect disciples had been caught completely off guard and driven back again and again. But it had not taken long for several Heavenly Realm envoys to appear, followed by Soul Transformation and Integration stage elders from within the Esoteric Sect, finally stabilizing the situation.
The Esoteric Sect truly deserved its reputation as an ancient sect with deep foundations. The sheer number of high-level cultivators it possessed was clearly beyond what the Four Books Academy alone could match.
Just as the momentum seemed ready to swing back against them, Ye Chenyan charged into the formation once more with the might of the Realm Stone behind him, smashing forward with unstoppable force.
Then an enormous white-jade hand descended from the heavens.
Far above the white clouds, a colossal immortal manifestation lay hidden, vast enough to blot out the sky.
That immortal had finally shown himself.
“Immortal Venerable!”
Esoteric Sect disciples dropped to their knees across the grounds, bowing in terror.
“Your disciples have failed in their duty.”
Ye Chenyan raised his head and looked up at him.
The giant-like immortal’s white hair streamed downward, his brows and lashes frosted as though with snow. His eyes held neither sorrow nor joy nor emotion of any kind, making that peerlessly handsome face seem all the more like a sculpture carved from cold jade.
The hand resting upon the Esoteric Sect’s plaza slowly lifted, pushing aside even more of the clouds.
Ye Chenyan’s pupils contracted.
Only then did he suddenly realize that the Esoteric Sect, suspended high in the Nine Heavens, was not floating atop the clouds at all.
The immortal had placed it upon his knees.
Bu Yetian did not even rise.
After that brief movement, the clouds swiftly closed again, shutting out the probing gazes of everyone below.
Thunder exploded without warning.
A bolt of heavenly lightning crashed down.
Ziyun confidently lunged straight at it, opened her enormous mouth, and bit down with a loud “Awooo!”
The heavens darkened.
A torrential downpour and raging hurricane followed, making the majesty of heavenly power all the more overwhelming.
“Hmph! The weather around your Esoteric Sect isn’t much to brag about, is it? Wind and rain everywhere.”
A woman’s sharp voice rang out.
Chi Yantian froze, then whipped around in delight.
“Cult Leader! Hey, Jiaojiao, you came too!”
“Why shouldn’t I?” Tu Jiaojiao lifted her chin. “We’re allies. We live and die together!”
Hongni raised one hand.
Fiery red silk unfurled across the sky as though half the heavens had burst into flame. The rain evaporated into wisps of smoke before a single drop could reach the ground.
“Now that everyone has shown themselves...” Cangyan laughed heartily as a massive hammer dropped into his hand. He boldly pointed it toward the heavens. “Why bother hiding any longer?”
“The people of this world all have their doubts. There are certain matters we might as well discuss openly and honestly!”
“At a time like this...”
A white-robed qin cultivator approached with his instrument cradled in his arms. Behind him, his disciples stood ready with instruments of their own.
He raised his eyes, sat cross-legged, and plucked the strings.
“Then let us play a piece of ‘Calming the Storm.’”
The music cultivators joined together.
Melody drifted through the air, and the raging hurricane vanished in an instant.
Cangyan burst out laughing.
“Well, Linjiang Xian? We still beat you here!”
Linjiang Xian’s music stopped.
He looked up at Cangyan without a word.
“Too noisy.”
Then he turned away and sighed.
“Ruined the atmosphere.”
Qingzhu could not help clicking his tongue. “This is a battle, at least! You can’t just stop playing whenever you feel like it!”
Linjiang Xian remained perfectly calm.
“You keep playing.”
Miaoyin Xian asked with concern, “Master, what about you?”
Linjiang Xian’s gaze withdrew from Academy Head Mei.
He closed his eyes and calmly said, “I’m getting into the mood.”
Academy Head Mei instinctively looked back at him and gave a quiet laugh.
“Should we light some agarwood incense for him?”
“No.” Linjiang Xian kept his eyes closed, his expression unchanged. “I don’t like incense anymore.”
Qingzhu raised a brow and spun the bamboo flute in his hand.
“Wasn’t that because you called him fussy before?”
Linjiang Xian slowly turned his head toward him.
“I can’t say that either?” Qingzhu clicked his tongue. “Can’t say this, can’t say that—at this rate, you two can make up in your next life!”
He abandoned the Heavenly Music Sect musicians and charged into the formation alone.
“You keep playing.”
Miaoyin Xian cried out, “Martial Uncle Qingzhu, then what are you—”
Yu Qingtang quietly sidled over beside them.
“He’s keeping the beat.”
Miaoyin Xian’s face lit up.
“Yu—”
Then she looked at Yu Qingtang’s clothes.
“I’ll explain later!”
Naturally, Yu Qingtang had not snuck over here for no reason. During that massive ensemble just now, he had spotted several familiar figures slipping into the chaos.
He threw his arms wide and rushed toward them.
“Master! Senior Sisters! Senior Brothers!”
Daoist Idle Crane smiled at him with grandfatherly affection.
“My disciple—”
Yu Qingtang immediately bent at the waist, grabbed the hem of his robe, and curiously peered around behind him.
“Did you ever patch the hole in the back of this robe?”
“Hey, you!”
Daoist Idle Crane’s expression changed at once. He yanked his robe back, quickly glanced toward the Heavenly Music Sect elders beside him, then glared at Yu Qingtang and lowered his voice.
“Don’t expose my embarrassing business in front of outsiders!”
He muttered under his breath, “I haven’t had time.”
“It’s not that I’m short on spirit stones. It’s a question of priorities. I had to get your Twelfth Senior Brother’s instrument repaired first, and then your Fifth Senior Brother is getting married soon...”
He was counting the expenses off on his fingers when Eldest Senior Sister cut in.
“Master. Important business.”
“Oh, right.”
Daoist Idle Crane pulled out the Treasure-Gathering Basin.
Yu Qingtang froze.
“This is...”
For once, Daoist Idle Crane put on an intimidatingly serious expression.
“You need the Heaven-Questioning artifact, correct?”
Yu Qingtang nodded blankly.
Daoist Idle Crane smiled.
“Good. Your master will get it for you.”
His smile was as warm and kindly as ever.
Back at the sect, whenever one of his disciples tugged at his sleeve and asked him for candy, he always smiled just like this, tucked his hands into his sleeves, and told them—
All right. Your master will get it for you.
Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened.
Daoist Idle Crane gave the Treasure-Gathering Basin in his hand a gentle shake.
But the incantation he spoke was not the one Yu Qingtang had taught him.
Instead—
“Heaven-Questioning artifact, enter my basin.”
Clang!
Something heavy dropped into the Treasure-Gathering Basin.
Yu Qingtang’s mouth fell open in shock.
Daoist Idle Crane calmly reached inside and pulled out a small, perfectly square box, then handed it to him.
“Here. Take it.”
Yu Qingtang stretched out trembling hands to receive it, then passed it to Ji Ruxue behind him.
Only then did panic hit him.
“Master! You just stole a sacred artifact from an immortal! How much bad luck is that going to bring down on you?!”
Daoist Idle Crane smiled gently.
“Don’t panic. Your master is here.”
Eldest Senior Sister quietly leaned toward Yu Qingtang’s ear.
“Relax. We came prepared.”
“For the past month or so, our entire sect has done nothing but good deeds. Everything from saving lives and healing the wounded to threading needles for old ladies and running errands for old men...”
She confidently slapped herself on the chest.
“With the merit we’ve accumulated, the Buddhas enshrined at Dharma Academy have nothing on us!”
Before she could finish, she choked on her own saliva.
She dissolved into a violent coughing fit, almost keeling over on the spot.
Still struggling to speak between coughs, she insisted, “Accident! Just an accident! Cough, cough! Definitely an accident!”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
That is not remotely reassuring, Senior Sister.