Chapter 1176: The Divine Fraud

These voices, like "demonic sounds piercing the ear," and like a gentle spring rain, seeped into Young Master Dan Zhu's heart.

Naturally, they also subconsciously stirred Dan Zhu's rejection and wariness.

He suddenly opened his eyes and looked around; his pupils were like jadeite, flickering with an unusual brilliance.

The night was deep and heavy, and there was nothing around him.

Dan Zhu slowly sat up, his brow tightly furrowed, and in his mind the vague voice from the dream just now still echoed:

"Tomorrow at the hour of Xu, Dan Yang Mountain, the northwestern fork — the Divine Lord's guidance—"

"Disperse the confusion, become—the hope of the Dan Que Tribe—"

Dan Zhu pondered for a moment, then rang the bell at the edge of the table.

A crisp sound rang out.

Outside the stockaded house, the two Jin Dan elder guards were startled at once; they tossed aside the meat they had been roasting halfway, hurried into the stockade, and seeing Dan Zhu sitting clothed, asked anxiously:

"Young Master, what's wrong?"

Dan Zhu's emerald-green eyes looked at his two personal attendants; he was just about to tell them the strange, mystical words he had heard in his dream.

But when the words reached his lips, he stopped again. Dan Zhu was silent for a moment, then asked, "Did you notice anything unusual outside?"

The two guard elders exchanged a glance and both shook their heads.

The big, burly elder swore solemnly, "Young Master, rest assured. With us guarding outside, not even a single mosquito can fly in."

Dan Zhu nodded.

He trusted these two elders, who had been his guards since childhood, very much.

"Young Master—did something happen?" the other guard elder asked with some concern.

Dan Zhu hesitated for a moment, then ultimately shook his head. "It's nothing. Perhaps I've been overthinking; I had some dreams at night and feel a little unsettled.

The burly guard elder's brow furrowed slightly.

The other guard elder's face was full of worry. "Young Master, your status is noble; you must take care of your health and not tax your mind too much."

Since ancient times, deep feelings do not last long, and excessive wisdom brings harm.

The Young Master was not only a heaven-gifted prodigy, born with compassion, but also overthinking too much; he truly feared the Young Master might suffer some mishap.

Dan Zhu said, "I understand. You may go rest now."

The two elders could only sigh softly at this, then cup their hands in farewell.

After the elders left, Dan Zhu's heart remained hesitant and unsettled.

"Were the words I heard in the dream someone trying to deceive me?"

"Or were they truly an oracle given to me by the Divine Lord?"

Dan Zhu was silent for a long time, still unable to find an answer.

After all this upheaval caused by Mo Hua, the confusion in his heart deepened, his worries grew heavier, and he could not calm his spirit to sleep. He could only pick up the scroll in his hand and continue reading, then look at the map of the Dan Que Tribe beside him, his brow tightly furrowed.

Like this, he sat reading until dawn; when he saw the morning sun rise, his divine sense inevitably became somewhat weary.

A cultivator's physical body was robust in blood and qi; even without sleep for ten days or half a month, there would be no major harm to the body.

But not sleeping would cause considerable wear on the divine sense.

Humans are one with heaven and earth; they work at sunrise and rest at sunset.

Cultivating by day and falling asleep deep at night was the way for cultivators to restore their divine sense.

It was also one of the most important ways for ordinary cultivators who did not walk the path of divine sense and could not cultivate spirit thoughts to stabilize their sea of consciousness and replenish their divine sense.

Sleep well, and the spirit-mind is stable.

Sleep poorly, and while there is no great harm to the physical body, it will cause the divine sense to be depleted, the will to be low, and the spirit to be lacking.

Dan Zhu was diligent, hardworking, highly talented, and given to much thought, with worries often in his heart; thus insomnia was a common occurrence for him.

Especially the "whispered words" Mo Hua had said to him while he slept made his spirit-mind all the more uneasy.

Dan Zhu faced the morning sun, sat in meditation for a while, and cultivated as usual.

Vast spiritual power merged into his meridians, ultimately gathering at the Jin Dan within his qi sea, shimmering with the crystalline light of the Jin Dan realm.

After cultivating, Dan Zhu rose and left the stockaded house.

The two guard elders had long been waiting outside the door.

One was a big, burly man draped in wolfskin, very imposing. The other was plain and unremarkable in appearance, low-key and steady.

Dan Zhu asked, "From where shall we return to the main tribe today?"

The burly one said, "From Da Feng Mountain, heading north, taking the Kashgar Ancient Road, back to the Great Main Tribe, to report to the Chieftain, my lord."

"If we go a bit faster, we can still make it back to the Dan Que main tribe before the great feast."

Dan Zhu asked instinctively, "Not going through Dan Yang Mountain?"

The other plain-looking guard elder found it somewhat strange:

"Young Master, we never go through Dan Yang Mountain—"

He then explained:

"That route only looks a bit shorter on the map, but if you actually walk it, the mountain paths are too winding, there are more demon beasts, and it actually takes longer."

Mo Hua, who was eavesdropping in the distance, felt his heart skip a beat at these words.

Miscalculated...

The Dan Que Tribe was very large, with many mountain strongholds, and Mo Hua was not familiar with it.

He had indeed only looked at the map, saw that Dan Yang Mountain was the closest, and so guessed they would certainly pass through Dan Yang Mountain.

But the actual situation was vastly different.

The route this "Divine Lord" had predicted was simply wrong.

"For such a small matter, I should have calculated it first. Now it's troublesome—"

Mo Hua frowned.

They're not even heading in the same direction; this way, Seeing Dan Zhu may not follow the path I planned.

He's even less likely to believe my guidance as the Divine Lord.

This tiny misjudgment could severely damage the Divine Lord's authority.

"I'll have to think of a way later to make up for it—"

But I can't send dreams too many times, or inconsistencies will pile up.

Besides, once Seeing Dan Zhu returns to the main base, I won't be able to sneak in anymore—and then I can't "send dreams" at all.

Mo Hua sighed inwardly.

Seeing Dan Zhu said nothing more, only nodded.

For the entire morning after, Seeing Dan Zhu attended to tribal affairs.

Around noon, he set out, accompanied by two elders and a group of Foundation Establishment guards from the Dan Que tribe, leaving the small tribe under his rule and heading toward Da Feng Mountain.

Mo Hua, clinging to a sliver of hope, followed a short distance behind.

But in the end, he confirmed: Seeing Dan Zhu and his party were not heading toward the "Dan Yang Mountain" I foretold, but another side—Da Feng Mountain.

Mo Hua sighed.

This "charlatan" of mine, for his very first time guiding a "path," had gotten it wrong.

Mo Hua truly had nothing to say; finally, he thought, fine, if he's lost, he's lost—who is born already a "charlatan"? Everyone must take detours, endure a few failures.

To "deceive" others, you must accept that they might refuse your deception.

Mo Hua gradually calmed his mind.

Though he had failed, he wasn't angry; instead, he decided to keep following this Zhu Shaozhu.

As the saying goes: it's not the thief who steals you fear, but the thief who keeps thinking of you.

As long as you keep thinking, keep planning, someday this Zhu Shaozhu will be within your grasp.

On the mountain path of Da Feng Mountain, Seeing Dan Zhu's party marched ahead, a large, noisy group.

Mo Hua concealed his form, hands behind his back, expression leisurely, trailing far behind.

After walking a while, Seeing Dan Zhu suddenly remembered something, turning repeatedly to look toward the right-side path, his expression troubled.

It seemed that deep inside, he still couldn't let go of the Divine Lord's revelation.

Mo Hua's heart gave a slight jolt.

After another ten li, Seeing Dan Zhu suddenly stopped.

The guard elder asked: "Shaozhu?"

Seeing Dan Zhu pondered for a moment, then declared with resolve: "Change course—we go to Dan Yang Mountain."

The guards exchanged glances. "Shaozhu, this—"

Seeing Dan Zhu offered no explanation, only said: "Dan Yang Mountain."

Without waiting for others, he stepped forward toward the right-side Dan Yang Mountain direction.

"Shaozhu!"

"Shaozhu, you—"

The group tried to stop him, but as Shaozhu, they couldn't restrain him; in the end, they could only sigh and follow him toward Dan Yang Mountain.

Mo Hua, watching from behind, was momentarily stunned.

"This Shaozhu—voluntarily walks right into my deception? Mo Hua didn't know whether to call the boy naive or his own Divine Lord 'revelation' too powerful."

But this was also good.

Mo Hua's eyes brightened.

On the other side, Seeing Dan Zhu led the group through more mountains and rivers, crossing Chongshanjunling, shifting from Da Feng Mountain toward Dan Yang Mountain.

They walked on until they reached a fork in the southwest corner.

Seeing Dan Zhu stopped, examined the surroundings, and confirmed that this foot of the mountain was precisely where the voice in his dream had "sent the dream" to tell him.

The big guard whispered: "Shaozhu, you're—"

Seeing Dan Zhu said: "I'm tired. Let's rest here."

"Rest…"

Zhu Shaozhu is a Jin Dan—his vital energy is strong; why would he need rest after walking this little mountain path?

Everyone exchanged glances, confused.

But Seeing Dan Zhu had already sat cross-legged and begun meditating on the spot.

The others had no choice but to guard around him, standing alert.

Time passed slowly; from You hour onward, Seeing Dan Zhu sat motionless.

Until the sun of the Great Wilderness slowly sank, the horizon glowing blood-red, clouds like burning fire, radiating brilliant light.

Only then did Seeing Dan Zhu open his eyes again, gazing toward the southwest fork.

But at the fork, not a single figure could be seen.

"Did I get it wrong?"

Seeing Dan Zhu frowned, waited longer—but still, nothing happened.

It was now Xu hour; he had reached Dan Yang Mountain, yet the dream's "revelation" never appeared.

Seeing Dan Zhu, for no clear reason, quietly exhaled in relief.

"Of course, there's no such thing as a true 'Divine Lord'—how could one so easily grant revelations?"

"It was all just a dream. I really did overthink it—"

Yet for some reason, a faint sense of disappointment quietly stirred in Seeing Dan Zhu's heart.

His heart was indeed lost, needing someone to dispel the fog from his path, and indeed confused, needing someone to show him the way.

Though the Danque Tribe seemed powerful, most of its ordinary cultivators had indeed suffered greatly, and he truly wanted to give the Danque Tribe hope.

Dan Zhu feared that the "revelation" from the god in his dream had truly come to pass.

Thus he did not know whether it was real or false, whether to believe or not.

But if the god's "revelation" did not exist at all, Dan Zhu's heart would still ache with disappointment and pain.

As the sunset gradually sank, the sky grew dark.

The big-bodied guard elder said: "Young Master, the light is fading; we must set off."

Dan Zhu sighed, nodded, and said, "Let's go."

He rose to leave, yet could not quite let go, so he turned back for one last glance.

In an instant, Dan Zhu's pupils contracted—he saw, in the distance at the crossroad, a faint figure.

It was a very blurred figure, holding a wooden staff, walking from the east, wrapped in the glow of the setting sun.

Behind him, the setting sun blazed like fire, the colorful clouds spread across the sky, magnificent beyond words.

Strangely, no one knew when the figure had appeared, or where it had come from.

It seemed as if it had materialized from nothing, appearing out of thin air before everyone's eyes.

At the same time, his figure merged with the red sun, as if he had stepped forth from the fiery glow of the horizon—a "god."

Dan Zhu stood there, stunned.

The other Danque Tribe cultivators were also shaken in spirit.

"This is—"

They did not know who this silent, eerie figure—merged with the red sun—was, or what his purpose was.

The Jin Dan elder wore a solemn expression and began activating his artifact.

Some guards scattered, forming a protective circle around Dan Zhu.

The atmosphere around them grew tense, like a drawn bowstring.

Yet Dan Zhu still stood frozen in place, and the Danque Tribe elders and guards dared not move, only watching helplessly as the figure stepped closer.

The atmosphere burned like the dying embers of sunset—tense, lingering, unrelenting.

In this atmosphere, the figure from the red sun slowly reached the crowd, revealing a face as pale and refined as a painting, startlingly young.

It was a boy.

A boy whose brows were like a gentle breeze and whose face was like a bright moon, yet otherwise utterly ordinary.

Of course, he was not tall, appearing clean and unassuming, harmless—eliciting not a trace of suspicion.

The Danque Tribe elders and guards could not help but exhale in relief, yet a flicker of embarrassed anger rose in their chests.

A boy, a frail youth with cultivation barely at Foundation Establishment, his Qi faint and thin—had made these Jin Dan elders and guards treat him like a dire threat, so tense and alarmed.

It was truly humiliating.

Dan Zhu looked at Mo Hua's appearance, his expression clearly disappointed.

Yet he asked: "You—who are you?"

Mo Hua's expression was calm, his tone indifferent: "You may call me—Lord Wuzhu."

At these words, the elders and guards who had just relaxed were startled again, their faces turning solemn once more.

In the wild lands, "Lord Wuzhu" was not a simple title.

This boy dared to call himself "Lord Wuzhu"—he was no ordinary person.

Dan Zhu frowned: "Are you the Lord Wuzhu of the Wang Ting?"

Mo Hua shook his head, correcting: "Lord Wuzhu is the Lord Wuzhu of the Divine Master, not of the Wang Ting."

The guard elders frowned, their eyes filled with shock.

Dan Zhu's heart leapt suddenly.

The Lord Wuzhu of the Divine Master—this boy was connected to the Divine Master, meaning he was linked to the revelation in my dream?

Dan Zhu asked Mo Hua: "Do you know me?"

Mo Hua's pitch-black eyes, like ink, met Dan Zhu's emerald-green eyes, calm and steady for a moment, then asked without flinching:

"Who are you?"

Dan Zhu said: "I am Dan Zhu."

Mo Hua nodded, expressionless.

Dan Zhu's heart felt inexplicably hollow.

"This boy—he doesn't know me? Could the Divine Master's revelation be wrong? Or am I not the one chosen by the Divine Master?"

Dan Zhu frowned deeply.

Mo Hua's gaze flickered slightly, gently saying: "A chance meeting is fate; perhaps this is the Divine Master's will. I must continue my journey and cannot stay long—may we meet again, if fate allows."

After speaking, Mo Hua nodded to Dan Zhu, then leaned on the wooden staff he had just broken from a nearby mountain tree, passed Dan Zhu's side, and walked forward with determined eyes.

Mo Hua's eyes were determined, yet his steps were not swift; he deliberately slowed down.

At the same time, his wooden staff tapped the ground, one beat after another, making a drip-drip sound.

The sound of the staff seemed to strike Dan Zhu's heart, reminding him of something.

Dan Zhu's heart tightened inexplicably—just as Mo Hua's steps were about to fade away, Dan Zhu suddenly called out: "Wait."

Mo Hua's breath eased, then turned around calmly, his gaze as steadfast as a stone in the mountains.

Under Mo Hua's gaze, Dan Zhu suddenly felt uneasy—and resentful.

He had not expected that the one who might be the Divine Master's revelation, guiding him, would simply walk away.

And he had told him almost nothing.

But Dan Zhu was afraid: if this young man truly had dubious origins, once he missed him, he might never encounter him again.

Dan Zhu did not know that this concern of his was unfounded.

It's not the thief who steals you fear, but the thief who keeps thinking of you.

He had already been marked by Mo Hua, this "thief."

If he doesn't meet him at this fork, he'll surely meet him at the next one.

If he doesn't meet him today, who knows—in a few days, in some tribe of his Danque Tribe, he might again "accidentally encounter" Mo Hua, guided by the Divine Lord.

Dan Zhu had never considered any of this.

Although his cultivation realm was one great level higher than Mo Hua's,

his cunning was utterly no match for Mo Hua's.

Not to mention that Mo Hua had cultivated cause and effect, possessed superior spiritual awareness, and employed countless schemes.

"Young Master Dan Zhu, is there something you need?" Mo Hua feigned ignorance and asked gently.

Dan Zhu hesitated, torn inside, then finally spoke:

"Mr. Wu, judging by your appearance, you don't seem to be from the Great Wilderness?"

Mo Hua replied devoutly: "I am no one from any land, any clan, any faction. My entire flesh and spiritual essence have been offered to the Divine Lord."

Dan Zhu said: "Your Divine Lord—"

Mo Hua replied calmly: "The Divine Lord is the Divine Lord—unnameable, unknowable. The foolish cannot perceive His existence; only those blessed with great fortune and destined by Heaven may receive His revelation." Dan Zhu's heart leapt, yet his face betrayed nothing.

He asked: "Mr. Wu, how long have you cultivated?"

Dan Zhu looked at Mo Hua and thought he seemed younger than himself.

Mo Hua's expression shifted, and he smiled faintly—in that instant, his eyes held the weight of countless human joys and sorrows, the passage of time, the transience of all things.

Such a sorrowful, complex gaze instantly filled Dan Zhu with deep respect.

This "Mr. Wu" must be a man of profound story.

All those stories had been steeped in time, hidden deep within his eyes, too sacred to be spoken of to outsiders.

And indeed, Mo Hua said no more; his youthful face bore an air of ancient weariness, his gaze serene, as if to turn and leave.

Dan Zhu immediately called out: "Mr. Wu!"

Mo Hua looked at him.

Dan Zhu seemed to have made up his mind, and spoke slowly:

"To be honest, I am Dan Zhu, Young Master of the Danque Tribe. Might I invite Mr. Wu to visit my Danque Tribe, so I may properly entertain you as host?"

Mo Hua feigned hesitation.

Dan Zhu urged earnestly: "My Danque Tribe is an ancient, mighty clan of the Great Wilderness, powerful and influential."

Mo Hua's expression remained calm, seemingly uninterested.

Dan Zhu added: "Please, Mr. Wu, come to my Danque Tribe. To be honest, I have some questions I wish to ask you."

Mo Hua asked: "You have questions?"

Dan Zhu said: "Yes."

Mo Hua gazed at Dan Zhu with clear, steady eyes.

Dan Zhu returned his gaze with sincere earnestness.

Mo Hua's lips curled into a faint smile, as if genuinely impressed by Dan Zhu, and nodded: "Very well. I shall not refuse your kind invitation."

Dan Zhu exhaled in relief, a faint smile appearing on his previously worried face.

Three days later, the mysterious "Mr. Wu," Mo Hua, was personally escorted by Young Master Dan Zhu into the very heart of the Danque Tribe's main settlement.