Chapter 601: translation of chapter title

Xihuang split the East Sea with his axe, and even for a period afterwards he would occasionally appear and disappear mysteriously near the Dragon Palace gate, so that the Dragon Ancestor Great Sage, when going out for a stroll, kept looking left and right, suspicious and jumpy, wishing he could arm himself to the teeth, on guard lest he carelessly get caught in a sack and be hacked to death with axes.

These all have precedents to learn from.

For a moment, these two great divine beings seemed to have exchanged blows, and neither spoke again.

Their silence doesn't mean the problem is settled.

The aftermath continues to brew, with all sorts of rumors and claims—everything you can think of.

Among them, Daozu is no longer a suspect… he's restraining Houtu—how could that be 'suspicion'? The evidence is as solid as a mountain!

However, with Nüwa having fallen into the great pit of the underworld, the Daozu lurking in Zixiao Palace is truly invincible.

Even if Nüwa tried to repeat her earlier act of trampling Zixiao Palace, she could hardly regain her former glorious victory, and both she and Daozu would end up losing.

Nüwa… she's had it so hard!

Such 'criminals' are the most disgusting; everyone tacitly skips over them, just keep it in mind.

By contrast, who exactly remains among those sneaky assassins who popped out during the siege to kill Nüwa?

This is still quite enough to pique the interest of many Great Luo deities, eager to investigate.

And once we review, we can always dig out many interesting details.

"At the time, there was actually one, or perhaps several, black hands appearing together…"

A master versed in heavenly-mechanics calculations let slip: "I can feel that when the murder case broke out, the light was shifting, and the heavenly mechanisms were hazy."

"Also, regarding karma…" another ancient god great sage whispered, "I curiously traced the root, but found karma severed, impossible to trace."

"Not a single clue left—this is a technological crushing of us solvers… Actually it does suggest some possibilities."

"Heavenly mechanisms, karma… cultivating these Great Daos, and being able to surpass us many times over, becoming an insurmountable monument… seems only a few people can do that?"

You say a word, I say a sentence, and Fuxi's head is just short of having a plaque that reads 'Killing Sister to Prove the Dao'.

Your word, my phrase, and the Jieyin Ancient Buddha of Buddhism has already been placed on the suspect list.

"Fuxi Great Sage probably isn't the mastermind… if he wanted to kill his sister to prove the Dao, he wouldn't need to hide." An upright person spoke up with fair words: "When did he ever sneak around while oppressing Nüwa?"

"They come openly—just hoping Nüwa would turn hatred into motivation, growing actively."

"So he's the most suspicious, yet also the least suspicious."

This ancient god great sage who understands the siblings' dark dealings has made a definitive statement.

"But… the one who killed Nüwa with Absolute Kill was the Yi Dao!" another deity questioned.

"Yi Dao? That actually doesn't prove anything." The earlier upright person shook his head: "Such a level of Yi Dao is rare, but some people can still pull it off."

"Like the Heavenly Emperor Di Jun who holds the Hetu Luoshu… the Hetu Luoshu is the supreme treasure of Yi Dao, once an emblem of the August Emperor August Emperor's dominance over Honghuang."

"And like the Jade Disc of Creation—it's the carrier of the Heavenly Dao system. And where does the Heavenly Dao come from? It's precisely the fusion of Creation, representing matter, and Yi Dao, representing information."

"Heavenly mechanisms plus Creation, information and matter—this is what the primordial Pangu relied on to sweep the world and shape the Heavenly Dao… In other words, as long as someone carries the Jade Disc of Creation and deploys that level of Yi Dao, it's no problem at all."

"If this can be proven, it means Daozu's role in this grand play is even larger!"

"Daozu… what a ruthless person!"

That upright person sighed.

Sighing, sighing, he suddenly froze, lost in thought.

"Actually, there's another expert who understands Yi Dao well, whom we've all overlooked…"

"Who?" a nearby deity curiously asked.

"Of course… it's Her Highness the Empress Nüwa!" the upright person exclaimed like discovering a new continent, "Empress Nüwa and Emperor Fuxi live together day and night—who doesn't know whom?"

"His Majesty Emperor Fuxi's Way of Creation is flawless—otherwise how could he have opened Honghuang and created all things?"

"By the same token, Her Majesty Empress Nüwa's level of heavenly mechanisms is absolutely beyond our imagination, reaching an extremely high level."

"However, although Her Highness Empress Nüwa's Yi Dao level is not low, she surely couldn't have killed herself… so this suspicion can be ruled out."

The upright person summed it up in the gossip circle.

As he spoke, a gentle breeze blew, lifting the mist that veiled the upright person's face, revealing his true visage—none other than the Wu Clan's Space Ancestor Witch, Di Jiang the Great God!

"After all the reckoning, the means of Absolute Kill used on Nüwa, whether targeting a person or an object… the prime suspect at the time was the Hetu Luoshu, or perhaps the Jade Disc of Creation."

"And the custodians of these two objects… well, they're competitors with the human and Wu clans, with ample motive to commit the crime, and they can't wash clean."

Di Jiang the Great Sage said, the Demon clan's leader harboring whatever ill will toward the human and Wu clans is understandable.

"As for the method of severing karma…"

"And on the day of the incident, given Nüwa's profound power and keen spiritual perception, how could she walk into an ambush unaware?"

"Why couldn't Nüwa detect so many black hands' schemes?"

"You must know her cultivation is the pinnacle of the present age!"

"Even with the underworld's heavy pressure, the restraint of reincarnation, and the fact that Nüwa's identity is merely a trumpet… yet scheming against her is still absurdly difficult!"

"It's absurd to the point of being almost a self‑directed, self‑staged act!"

"Only one explanation can make sense of it."

"That is—on this matter, Nüwa suffered a cognition‑reducing blow, her spirit dulled, her spiritual sense blurred… leading to a momentary mistake that allowed the most absurd assassination to succeed."

"And the attainments in karma and spiritual Dao capable of affecting someone of Nüwa's level are exceedingly rare in the present age."

"The most outstanding among them is precisely found in the Buddhist school, famed worldwide for karmic retribution and salvation methods!"

Di Jiang Zu Wu pointed his spear at the Buddhist school, pointing at the Jieyin Ancient Buddha.

Having spoken, this ancestor witch sighed, "If it really is him… then the mastermind behind this operation's layout is terrifying beyond description, preparation beyond thorough, myriad schemes and myriad plots—all just to make Nüwa die cleanly and swiftly."

"Exhausting heart and blood, wringing out brain and marrow—too terrifying."

"No wonder Nüwa fell into this pit… it's reasonable, expected."

"High! Too high!"

Di Jiang glanced at Houtu, "Houtu, you say, isn't that the reasoning?"

"……Reasonable!" Houtu slammed the table, quite excited, "I've thought about it, and that's correct!"

"Di Jiang, you're truly a good comrade! You helped me resolve many things that were hard to self-consist… no, that were hard to think through, plot brain… supplemented logic self-consistent, I'd call you the strongest reasoner!"

"I think so too." Di Jiang seemed somewhat weary and sighed, "In that case, many problems can be explained."

"The Saint Jieyin Buddha would intervene, actually there were omens earlier…"

"Back then, Houtu little sister, you reshaped reincarnation and opened the netherworld; this Saint accepted the order of the Dao Ancestor Hongjun, deliberately stationed at the gate of the Sea of Blood to ruin your plans!"

"Now, again colluding with the Dao Ancestor to pull a dumbing‑down strike on the girl, it's actually not too strange…"

"His motive for the crime, I've also figured it out for him."

Di Jiang Zu Wu closed his eyes, as if casually guessing such unreliable content would not make him feel guilty.

——Speaking nonsense with eyes open, that's somewhat immoral; the conscience would feel uneasy.

"The Buddhist sect tries to meddle in reincarnation, thus continually weakening you, Nüwa, the ruler of reincarnation… that's also quite reasonable, right?!"

"Yes!" Houtu slapped the table, nodded firmly, adding emphasis, "It's very likely like that!"

……

"That's just a bunch of bullshit!"

There's no impermeable wall under heaven.

Especially when someone deliberately leaks the news.

Soon, on Mount Sumeru, Jieyin Buddha received the message.

Instantly, his sturdy body shook, then shook again, three shakes…… the shaking wouldn't stop.

While shaking, he loudly shouted his grievance.

"I want to clarify…… this wasn't done by me!"

Although the Wu Clan's account was detailed and plausible, Jieyin Buddha desperately denied it.

Also.

Such a thing, even if beaten to death, cannot be admitted!

A religion, its leader actively intervenes, interfering with a clan faction's sovereign, causing that sovereign's death……

Oh wow!

From now on, this sect better not think it's okay; any sovereign who steps up will be crushed to death!

Not only beat them to death, but also slap a "heretical/" label on them, never to be removed for eternity!

Few lineages can bear that hat.

Therefore, Jieyin Buddha went about clarifying, showing this matter has nothing to do with him.

He is innocent!

……

"Of course, suspicion toward Jieyin is merely one possible target."

Di Jiang Zu Wu said, "We can only mark the suspected trigger of the girl's death, and take final interpretive authority over her series of unreasonable actions during the whole siege."

——Don't ask about anything unreasonable.

——To ask, is to say the girl was dumb‑downed and her mind interfered!

"But that's just a dumb‑down strike……" Di Jiang lowered his eyelids, hiding the light in his eyes, "For the girl, and even for Nüwa behind her, scheming and calculation are relatively not her strong suit at all."

"Lowered is lowered, no great harm." This space ancestor witch blew on the tea foam, sipped clear tea, "After all, she once acted as director, hosted a grand play, and literally acted her brother's trumpet to death."

"This lets people, even after years, still remember vividly…… nobody dares to overestimate her skill in this regard."

"I guess, even if she feels remorse, returns to her old trade, barely manages to clear the level, who knows how many loopholes remain, still requiring allies to wearily fill the gaps."

Di Jiang spoke calmly, not looking at Houtu's somewhat elongated face.

Houtu glared at him, eyes unfriendly——if you won't speak, then say less!

Is there anything so despicable!

"So then, how did the girl die…… the dumb‑down strike here isn't the focus."

"The focus is, the power capable of besieging the girl!"

"This is the truly dangerous place!"

Di Jiang Zu Wu frowned tightly, able to crush a few flies, fully showing his current worried mood, his concern over the unpredictable situation.

"This shows there is a very powerful force secretly hiding behind the scenes!"

"It encompasses everything, involving the Heavenly Court, the Heavenly Dao, the Saints…… even within the Wu Clan and humanity, there are its insiders!"

"Furthermore, this insider has the chance to closely contact the girl…… if not, that great achiever of the Heart‑Mind Dao would hardly find a chance to strike, to dumb‑down the girl, ultimately causing her death."

"This is too terrifying!"

Di Jiang Zu Wu let out a long sigh.

"Yes! Too terrifying!"

Houtu immediately slapped the table, righteous and solemn——that's exactly what she was waiting for, that's the reason she wanted.

"Facing such a venomous snake lurking nearby, we must be cautious, drag it out, and crush it completely!"

"Long ago I felt a great hand covering this span of time, secretly trying to dominate one big event after another, bringing bloody disaster!"

"I once didn't think so, but now I've been taught to be human once."

"That behind‑the‑scenes big black hand might be an alliance of top‑tier divine beings dissatisfied with the current state of affairs……" Houtu narrowed her eyes, "They might be few in number, but each is immensely strong, with more than one Taiyi Daluo."

"Moreover, it's likely that members have lurked near me, in disguise……"

"Within reincarnation, their traces exist……"

"Among the high ranks, their will exists……"

"Perhaps this is an organization that transcends clan faction lines, trying to make adherence to a certain ideology its core, with members exchanging benefits, deeply rooted among witches and demons, drawing nourishment for growth."

Houtu rose, hands clasped behind her back, pacing back and forth, "This is a very dangerous bunch…… They are lawless and irreverent, utterly arrogant!"

"Now, their action against the girl is merely the first step…… In the future, they will become even more frenzied, even bolder!"

"We cannot be lenient!"

As she spoke these words, Houtu's expression was grave and solemn.

She was not joking.

She made Di Jiang Zu Wu understand that she had truly found something from certain clues.

Even in this process, she consequently suffered misfortune—

The girl has perished!

"Is that so?"

Di Jiang supported his chin with one hand, appearing to be deep in thought.

In fact, he was indeed thinking seriously.

But the content of his thoughts might differ somewhat from what Houtu is thinking.

"Where exactly did the problem arise?"

"Is it…… the Five Directions Heavenly Emperor?"

"Or…… the Five Fortunes Dao Master?"

"Sigh!"

"How annoying!"

"There are too many underground organizations involved; I can't think of a solution right away……"

Di Jiang is very troubled.

"Troublesome……"

"Don't tell me she really has grasped some crucial clue?"

"That would be quite a problem!"

Di Jiang let out a soft sigh.

Houtu mentioned her nearby…… that is a somewhat dangerous signal.

(End of chapter)