Book 14: Chapter 119

Green Lotus

The giant lotus that looked as if it just rose from pure waters was undoubtedly real. The size of it should’ve been intimidating, yet its moist appearance and hue made it seem too beautiful to be true.

No traces of Tianhu’s black energy were visible, and there were no signs of him resisting from within. There was no distinguishing if the world within or the exterior world was the real world. There was reality, bitterness, friction, contradiction, everything had followed a system, operating on a parallel system to the real world. Those inside would lose the ability to discern fact from fiction, therefore losing the ability to fight against the new world. Nasumerujez‘s scripture provided incredible cultivation, while the illusion of the green lotus was an otherworldly ability.

The monk recited scriptures leisurely, yet it simultaneously sounded as quiet as mosquitoes buzzing and as loud as the first long echo of the gong at dawn. Those were the only audible things. The lotus started to autonomously rotate under the influence of the recital ritual. The leaves grew whilst evolving into a purer appearance. Howbeit, as with all things, nothing at the mercy of nature could survive forever.

The leaves started to split, wither and fall as if autumn walked in until only the seed was left behind. Once the lotus had reverted into its seed form, the person inside would forever be a resident of the new world, forever experiencing the process of samsara until their body degenerated into nothingness.

Once silence loomed over the area again, the monk’s arrival was once again a secret unknown to anyone else.

***

There was actually one person who was aware of the monk’s presence, but he was relegated to just checking out the unconscious useless folks on the ground… and an old man who’d been cut into pieces.

“Karma Path… Just like Luo Ming. No wonder why he could come up with such a convoluted strategy. Uncle Jiyi went savage with this.”

As Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor’s secret passage had been sealed, only a small number of people could pass through, but the White Princes never intended to mobilise a large force into the imperial city through the passage. If they did that, they’d have been classified insurgents and wouldn’t have had any place they could call home in the Central Plain, which would’ve left them with no other option besides fighting the imperial court to the death, and that would’ve inexorably resulted in their defeat. Killing His Majesty to occupy the imperial city wouldn’t do them any favours; they needed to assassinate him without letting anyone know they were responsible. Still, Ming Feizhen did not expect the person assigned to the job and the mastermind to be Venerable Monk Jiyi.

Venerable Monk Jiyi, who swore to release the ghouls of the three rivers, was arguably the idol of monks. Ming Feizhen didn’t expect to run into him at the imperial city, for these reasons and that he had participated in a fair number of secret operations to rule the pugilistic world over the years. Ambushing Shang Bieshi, putting Gongsun Chu’s back against a wall, making use of Fiends’ Genesis and raising an army was all for being able to turn the tables when he was in a pinch. After killing Yu Sihe but failing to obtain the Nine Dragons Fire Jade, he managed to put Confucianism in a pinch. While Huang Yuzao managed to take up the mantle, Confucianism was unable to rise in the pugilistic world, and that became inevitable after Huang Yuzao opted to educate students for the imperial court.

If Venerable Monk Jiyi succeeded in his assassination, then Gongsun Chu would be lynched, so he’d go into hiding. If Emperor Yuansheng was assassinated, a new Emperor would need to be crowned, and the five White Princes wouldn’t hesitate to jump on the opportunity to make him a puppet. In the worst-case scenario, where their chosen monarch wasn’t crowned, the imperial court would have to put off stripping them and drink poison to quench their thirst.

Had it not been for Tianhu, Ming Feizhen saw a chance of the plan succeeding. Either way, it had a better chance of bearing fruit than praying for Emperor Yuansheng to spare them. There were adepts in the palace, but it still would’ve been hard to defend one attack after another.

Ming Feizhen wore a long face.

“Can someone free me?!”

It had been four hours since Cuo Xitong trapped Ming Feizhen in the chair. In addition to his sore back, his restrained limbs made it feel awful, not to mention all the mental gymnastics he couldn’t resist performing whilst stuck. Even if he had to stay stuck, couldn’t someone at least get out of the dangerous place?!

“I swear to never mindlessly eat tangyuan again! Just get me out of here! Eh? Wait…”

Before Ming Feizhen had more time to analyse what he heard, several big men barged into the room.

“Who are you people?! What do you want?!”

The group picked Ming Feizhen up, while was still on the chair, and carried him out. Combined with the group carrying him, there were twenty-four big men waiting out in the garden. The only common denominator between them was that they were openly hostile. Some of them were chubby. Some were the condescending type who’d been fighting since they were eight. Some looked like the type to poison their parents’ dinner. Some of them looked as if they were on the run from the government and didn’t even have time to change their clothes. Only one face was familiar.

“Gongsun Chu?”