Chapter 481: Zhao Xiongge Arrives

The three from the Shangqing Sect could make little sense of the situation. Su Po asked, “And this lady is?”

Niu Youdao turned around. “Who she is isn’t important. What matters is that the three of you have had a tiring couple of days. Go back and get some rest.”

Su Po was left speechless. They had come asking a favor, after all. Harsh words could not be spoken, nor could anything unpleasant.

Tang Yi said, “You can misunderstand me however you like, but are you truly unwilling to do anything for Martial Uncle Dong Guo?”

Niu Youdao shot back, “How exactly have I misunderstood you? Back when the Shangqing Sect wanted me dead, do you dare say you knew nothing about it? Do you dare say you never tacitly allowed it?”

Tang Yi bit her lip, unable to answer. The thing she had once done against her conscience had, in the end, become a barrier between them.

Su Po said, “Niu Youdao, what happened back then had nothing to do with the Sect Leader. It was us…”

Niu Youdao raised a hand and cut him off, refusing to let him continue. “You keep bringing up Martial Uncle Dong Guo. Back then, did any of you give me a way to live for Dong Guo Haoran’s sake? Sect Leader Tang, think about it yourself. In the Illusory Realm, I told you not to follow me. I told you to leave at once. Did you listen? I made it perfectly clear that something was going to happen and told you to get out while you could, yet you still led the Shangqing Sect straight into the trap. With people like you, even if the sky fell, no one could drag you back. Nothing anyone says gets through. What would I go back to the Shangqing Sect for? To become a Sect Leader no one listens to? What would be the point?”

Tang Yi said, “You said something was going to happen. We were worried about your safety, so…”

“Enough with the ‘so.’ You couldn’t even protect yourselves, yet you wanted to concern yourselves with my safety? What kind of joke is that? If you had that ability, would you still need to come begging me?”

“Fine. This time, I was wrong. As long as you come back, from now on we’ll do whatever you say.”

“It isn’t only this time that you were wrong. You’ve been wrong more times than I can count. And spare me this talk about obeying me from now on. There’s one person right in front of you who still refuses to listen. I’ve already made myself very clear. Deal with Elder Tang first, then we’ll talk.”

That one sentence left all three with nothing to say. Asking someone for help was a bitter thing indeed; they could only endure his cutting remarks.

Off to the side, Guan Fangyi sighed inwardly. With an almost-smile, she watched Niu Youdao. This man was usually unshakable. Even if Heaven and Earth collapsed around him, he could face it calmly. Yet whenever Tang Yi was involved, he could not keep his temper. That alone said quite a lot.

“See our guests out.” Niu Youdao turned away without ceremony and looked out the window, presenting them with his back.

“This way.” Yuan Gang extended a hand toward the three, inviting them to leave.

Once they were gone, Guan Fangyi said with a smile, “Master Dao, you rather lost your composure just now.”

Niu Youdao snorted. “A pack of fools.”

“You can’t quite say that. It has nothing to do with whether they’re fools. They’ve never had the freedom to act as they please, which is why they look foolish to others. The things done by the Shangqing Sect’s predecessors left consequences behind, and those consequences inevitably fell on them. Everywhere they go, there is no place for them. What would you have them do? They’ve been moving forward under that burden all this time. It hasn’t been easy. Aren’t you yourself avoiding those same consequences and their influence? Otherwise, why would you be so desperate to keep your distance? You can run from them. They can only carry them. They have no choice.”

Niu Youdao fell silent.

By evening, the person who had sworn never to bow her head, the person who stood between the Shangqing Sect and Niu Youdao, arrived. Tang Susu had come. Su Po and Luo Yuangong accompanied her. Tang Yi had originally intended to come as well, but the two of them stopped her. By now, they too could see that Niu Youdao simply could not get along with Tang Yi.

What even Su Po and Luo Yuangong had not expected was that the moment Tang Susu entered Niu Youdao’s room and saw him, she said nothing. Instead, she slowly lowered herself to her knees and knelt directly before him. Su Po and Luo Yuangong instinctively reached out as if to stop her, but in the end, their hands slowly drew back. That kneeling brought silence to the room. Even Niu Youdao had not expected it. Tang Susu either refused to bow at all, or, once she did, bowed utterly.

Her age was there for all to see. She was already in her seventies or eighties, yet here she was kneeling to a young man, and a junior at that. Anyone who saw it would feel the weight of the sight. In a sense, Niu Youdao was not of a generation that could properly receive such a kneeling. Neither was Dong Guo Haoran. Tang Susu’s seniority stood above them. That was precisely why it had once been so difficult for Tang Susu to humble herself before a junior like this.

But what had happened outside Myriad Beasts Sect had made her understand something with painful clarity. The dignified Sect Leader of the Shangqing Sect had suffered an extraordinary humiliation, yet the Shangqing Sect had been utterly powerless to do anything about it. It was not Tang Yi alone who had been humiliated, but the entire Shangqing Sect. Even the sect’s generations of departed ancestors seemed to have been shamed along with her. Tang Susu was a proud and strong-willed woman. The grief and fury in her heart had nowhere to go. This time, she had finally understood that compared with the Shangqing Sect as a whole, her personal honor and humiliation truly counted for very little. And so she had come. And she had knelt.

Niu Youdao did not step aside to avoid receiving it. Seemingly unconcerned, he asked, “Elder Tang, what is the meaning of such a grand gesture?”

Tang Susu’s expression was desolate. Back when she had moved against Niu Youdao, how could she ever have imagined that a day like this would come?

She slowly shook her head. “This old woman was wrong. I have come to apologize to you. Whatever wrongs were committed, they were all mine alone. You are a man of stature; do not stoop to quarrel with a petty old woman like me. So long as you can help the Shangqing Sect out of its present predicament, this old life of mine is yours to dispose of as you please. I would die ten thousand deaths without regret!”

The muscles in Su Po’s and Luo Yuangong’s faces tightened as both watched Niu Youdao for his reaction.

Niu Youdao was silent for a moment. Then he suddenly spoke in a deep, forceful voice. “Good! From this day forward, every grievance between me and the Shangqing Sect is wiped clean. It is all in the past. Get up.”

Tang Susu shook her head. “If you do not agree to return to the Shangqing Sect, this old woman will not rise.”

Niu Youdao stared at her. “You’d best not try to force my hand. Give me a few days to consider it.”

“This old woman…”

Tang Susu was about to continue when Luo Yuangong said sternly, “Junior Sister, get up.” He and Su Po helped her to her feet together, stopping her from saying more for fear she would anger Niu Youdao.

After the three left, Niu Youdao sat beside the couch in silence. That kneeling had left a heaviness pressing on his heart. A scene from a ruined temple surfaced in his mind. Dong Guo Haoran’s voice had been weak. “I will use a secret art of the Shangqing Sect to transform my lifetime of cultivation into thirty-six Transmission Protective Talismans, to protect you and ward off evil…”

The facts had proved that Dong Guo Haoran’s Transmission Protective Talismans had indeed saved Niu Youdao’s life more than once, such as during the battle in the desert at Boundless Pavilion. Even now, three of the talismans Dong Guo Haoran had passed to him remained within his body, kept against a time of need. To this day, in fact, more than half the cultivation within Niu Youdao’s body had originally been Dong Guo Haoran’s.

Guan Fangyi watched him for a while. At last, she smoothed the back of her skirt with both hands and sat down beside him with a sigh. “Now you’ve got a headache, don’t you? What exactly are you trying to do? Why won’t you give them a clear answer?”

Niu Youdao replied slowly, “Was my answer not clear enough?”

“Didn’t you just say you needed a few more days to consider it?”

“I’m waiting for the person behind all this to show himself. There are certain things that need to be made clear. I need to know exactly what he intends. I’m not going to step into this blindly.”

Night fell. Moonlight spilled its silver radiance over the rolling peaks. On a small hilltop among them, an enormous black-feathered bird rested upon a boulder. Beside it stood a disheveled man, almost inseparable from the creature. A wine gourd hung at his waist as he stood with hands clasped behind his back, gazing up at the moon. It was Zhao Xiongge.

A figure came flying through the mountains and landed on the hilltop. It was Uncle Chen.

He approached slowly, looking Zhao Xiongge up and down before asking tentatively, “Are you Mr. Zhao?”

Zhao Xiongge turned his head and smiled calmly. “You must be Chen Gong. The Left Envoy told me to meet with you. Tell me what’s happened.”

Uncle Chen said, “There was an unexpected complication. The Shangqing Sect ran into some trouble, but it has already been resolved…” He recounted how the Shangqing Sect had followed Niu Youdao into the Illusory Realm, been captured, and later escaped their predicament at Myriad Beasts Sect.

After hearing him out, Zhao Xiongge’s gaze abruptly swept toward Myriad Beasts Sect. “Chao Jing! He’s got some nerve. Does he think that because Myriad Beasts Sect stands behind him, I won’t dare touch him? I’ll find a chance to pay him a visit myself and see how many heads he has to spare!”

Uncle Chen said, “Since Niu Youdao came this time, Hongniang has been worried that he came specifically to settle accounts with Chao Jing. Niu Youdao himself refuses to admit it, though.”

“I heard about that from your Left Envoy.” Zhao Xiongge nodded slightly. “Have the people Niu Youdao mobilized arrived yet? How does he plan to move against the Shangqing Sect?”

It was precisely because he had learned that Niu Youdao intended to kill members of the Shangqing Sect that Zhao Xiongge had rushed over so urgently. By the time the news reached him, riding the Golden-Furred Hou would have been too slow, so he had specially commandeered a flying mount to make the journey.

Uncle Chen said, “Niu Youdao never reveals the depth of what he’s doing. I don’t know how he plans to act. Judging by the distance, his people should still be on the way.”

“Anything else?”

“That’s all for now.”

Zhao Xiongge nodded. “All right. You shouldn’t stay out for too long either. Go back.”

Uncle Chen cupped his hands and departed. Zhao Xiongge did not leave. He remained where he was and continued waiting.

About an hour later, another figure came flying through the mountains and landed on the hilltop. The man approached with an uneven, limping gait. One-eyed and crippled in one leg, it was Tu Han.

He came forward and saluted. “Master! It’s good that you’re here. The Shangqing Sect nearly came to grief at the hands of Myriad Beasts Sect.”

“I know roughly what happened. Tell me the details. I heard Niu Youdao survived the Rakshasa Tide?”

Tu Han paused in surprise, unsure where Zhao Xiongge could have heard that. Could he have another informant inside the Shangqing Sect?

After Tu Han gave a detailed account, Zhao Xiongge frowned. “You’re saying that before anything happened, Niu Youdao ordered Tang Yi to withdraw and warned her that trouble was coming?”

“Yes. I believe he meant well. The Sect Leader simply didn’t do as he told her, and that was why they ran into trouble.”

“Meant well?” Zhao Xiongge gave a soft laugh, his face turning wry as he looked into the depths of the night. “That bastard is impossible to guard against. My little trick couldn’t get past his eyes. The slightest movement was enough to put him on alert. He really is difficult to deal with. He never intended to move against the Shangqing Sect at all. His purpose was to force me to show myself. Chen Gong has probably already fallen into his trap and exposed himself.”

Chen Gong? Tu Han looked puzzled. “Move against the Shangqing Sect? Master, you mean Niu Youdao?”

“You don’t need to ask about that.” Zhao Xiongge waved the matter aside. “After everything that happened, how is the Shangqing Sect doing?”

“The same as before. Everyone is pinning their hopes on Niu Youdao, but he’s very resistant. I heard from Elder Su that Tang Susu went to admit fault this time. She even knelt to Niu Youdao, but he still didn’t agree…”

Tu Han related what he had heard from Su Po.

Zhao Xiongge sighed. “Elder Tang has finally been willing to bend. Even I couldn’t properly accept a kneeling from Tang Susu, yet that brat Niu Youdao actually dared to sit there and take it. Isn’t he afraid it’ll shorten his life? Tu Han, go. Find Niu Youdao and tell him to come see me. If I don’t show myself and give him an explanation, he’ll never agree. And if I keep hiding, I’m afraid that fellow won’t stop at tormenting the Shangqing Sect. Chen Gong may be the next one to suffer.”

[End of Chapter 481]