Chapter 88: Invisible Smoke, Secret Dealings!

Fengxi's expression turned to shock.

He never expected that Di Jiang Zu Wu would make such a demand.

——Transforming the shape of the Primordial Spiritual Treasure into a cloth strip, he tied it to his forehead, directly covering the mini Houtu.

Fengxi's expression turned strange for a moment.

He wondered……whether this was Di Jiang Zu Wu's petty revenge, a counterstrike for looking down on that Houtu tattoo.

Of course, just thinking about it, Fengxi, under the Ancestral Witch's seemingly indifferent but actually divine gaze, acted in accordance with goodness.

A flash of divine light on the Nine Nether Map turned the scroll into a black cloth strip, which he tied to his forehead.

At that moment, Fengxi suddenly felt a sense of ease.

Because……it seemed that the perception of Houtu Ancestral Witch, who observes heaven and earth and monitors the universe, was somehow blocked here?

Becoming an overlooked target!

Only a Great Luo can oppose a Great Luo!

Fengxi's heart pounded wildly.

Under Di Jiang's orders, doing this thing to evade Houtu's surveillance is really… too… too exciting!

He looked at the Ancestral Witch, opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Di Jiang's expression was satisfied; he nodded and said, 'That's more like it.'

'Now that's a proper witch; won't go out and disgrace the Wu Clan's image, making people say the entire Wu Clan, top to bottom, are flatterers.'

'Uh…' Fengxi froze, feeling a bit dazed.

'Wait… this isn't what I imagined? Is Di Jiang Zu Wu planning a big move?'

His expression was shocked and strange, the deep confusion in his heart showing on his face.

'Oh? You seem to have something you don't understand?' Di Jiang raised his eyebrows, looking at him amusedly, 'Could it be that you think I'm dissatisfied with the Houtu Ancestral Witch's tattoo on me, so I made this demand?'

'Hah…' he snorted, 'What do you think I am? Quibbling over such a trifle? Afraid that the Houtu fellow cultivator will run to my head to show off and act arrogantly, thus wanting to eliminate even the slightest possibility?'

'Ridiculous! Laughable!' Di Jiang Zu Wu's voice rose, full of grandeur, 'Am I really such a narrow-minded existence?'

'We Twelve Ancestral Witches can even call each other brothers and sisters… such closeness, how could you understand?'

Di Jiang's sleeve fluttered, as if he were angry, due to others doubting his and Houtu's 'deep brother‑sister bond'.

The Twelve Ancestral Witches, all formed from Pangu's essence blood, are one family!

Since we're one family, what's there to say about two families?

Regardless of Houtu Ancestral Witch's status in this family being high or low, wanting to address Di Jiang Zu Wu as brother‑sister or sister‑brother… Di Jiang Zu Wu won't mind!

Fengxi, frightened, performed a salute, showing remorse, having slighted Di Jiang's magnanimity.

'The ignorant need not be blamed.' Di Jiang understood him, then added, 'From now on you must not have such doubts, thinking we Ancestral Witches are hostile to each other and bear grudges!'

'Yes!' Fengxi lowered his head in agreement.

Di Jiang's expression finally eased, showing a hint of fatigue on his face, 'I had you do this not out of selfish motives, but entirely for public affairs and the greater good.'

'Tattooing a Houtu on one's forehead… what propriety is that in others' eyes?' Di Jiang sighed deeply, 'Houtu the younger sister is also reckless, paying no attention to details…… not even reminding you one or two, just assigning work, and in the end making me play the villain.'

His fingertip lightly tapped the chair armrest, earnestly instructing Fengxi, 'Who you admire is your freedom.'

'Tattooing yourself, wanting to ink whatever…… that too is your freedom!'

'But this freedom is not limitless!'

'If you shut yourself at home, no matter whom you lick, that's your own affair.'

'But now you're going out as an exchange student and handling diplomatic affairs!' Di Jiang shook his head, 'When you go out, in others' eyes you represent the entire Wu Clan's image—although in reality your status in the Wu Clan isn't high, not even up to the table.'

Not being an Ancestral Witch or a Great Witch, you fundamentally lack the qualification to speak for the Wu Clan.

'But!' Di Jiang said slowly, 'Those superficial ignoramuses won't care, while those with ulterior motives who hide malicious intent will even invert right and wrong—for example, the Diehard supporters of the Demon Race.'

They will confuse the truth, disregard a factual phenomenon—no matter the clan, there are both outstanding elites and mediocre folks; both those of high moral character and those whose bottom line is worrying.

Mentioning 'bottom line is worrying', Di Jiang glanced at Fengxi, causing this little witch's face to break into an embarrassed smile.

'Those who disregard facts will bark nonstop, using all kinds of overgeneralizations, seizing on your actions and splashing filth onto the people behind you.'

'Obviously, their own camp's atmosphere is actually even more worrying, with constant battles and slaughter, innocent victims suffering one after another, yet they still have the mood to criticize what you do.'

Di Jiang Zu Wu's eyes shone with wisdom, a great insight that sees through heaven, earth, and hearts: 'The martial slaughter between Wu and Yao has not yet begun, but the struggle in the realm of speech has already quietly opened its curtains.'

'Like you, swaggering with a Houtu Ancestral Witch tattoo on your forehead…… do you believe that if you just show your face at Kunlun Mountain, the next day all of Honghuang will start rumors?' The Ancestral Witch sneered, 'Either they'll say the Wu Clan is wildly promoting ancestor‑witch worship within, then using that to attack the Wu Clan's internal system.'

'Or they'll say the Ancestral Witches practice nepotism, promoting only those skilled at flattery.' Di Jiang glanced at the Fengxi lost in thought, 'They don't care whether you have genuine talent and ability…… mouths melt gold, petty people criticize—has such a thing ever been rare throughout past, present, and future?'

Fengxi listened, and cold sweat poured down.

Although he had heard and seen before, knowing this pool of muddy water was very turbid, yet since he had never personally stepped into it to become a party involved, his feeling of it was not deep.

Now he felt it, and only then did he know how deadly this place truly is!

'You should also be clear.' Di Jiang adopted a more comfortable posture, leaning against the chair back, 'Just how much you are now watched over by heavenly fate.'

'Even if you have a Primordial Spiritual Treasure protecting you, plus our Ancestral Witches' attention, making it impossible to destroy you physically.'

'But trampling you mentally, isolating you in your career…… is that hard? Not at all!'

'You can't be killed, but there are plenty of ways to ruin you.'

'If rumors really spread and the outside world spreads that you're a brown‑noser, under pressure Houtu would finally have to put you in cold storage, and your career would be ruined.'

'Don't talk about a bright future, a beautiful tomorrow…… staying at Kunlun Mountain for just a few days you'll have to slink back like a stray dog.' Di Jiang's eyes were indifferent and cold, 'Houtu the younger sister is the same.'

'Her life's path has been too smooth; in some aspects she still has shortcomings, being overly idealistic.'

Di Jiang, evaluating from on high, directly pointed out Houtu Ancestral Witch's shortcomings.

Fengxi, meanwhile, kept wiping sweat——some things, just a little imagination, are enough to bring enormous pressure.

'So, sir, that's why you had me transform the spiritual treasure into a cloth strip?' Fengxi, having wiped away the cold sweat, looked admiringly at Di Jiang Zu Wu, 'Originally, it wasn't to block Houtu the elder's gaze, but to prevent other Great Luos from seeing Houtu the elder's tattoo, using that to make a big deal? Is it to protect Houtu the elder's tattoo?'

'A child can be taught.' Di Jiang nodded approvingly, 'Exactly, that's right…… I am doing this just to protect this tattoo. Otherwise you'd have to wash it off, which would be too disrespectful to Houtu the younger sister.'

Although, this protective method……is somewhat strange.

But, shielding protection, that's also protection, right?

"Should I just turn this spiritual treasure into a hooded coat?" Fengxi asked, "After all, I still have tattoos of the other eleven Ancestral Witches on my body..."

"That's not necessary." Di Jiang shook his head, "If it's not on the face, the problem isn't big… Actually, if you tattoo the Houtu Ancestral Witch on the soles of your feet, you don't need to go to this trouble."

Fengxi's eye twitched.

"Tattooed on the soles of the feet……would that kill me? It would definitely kill me, right?"

"The Houtu Ancestral Witch will definitely smack me with a palm, turning me into minced meat, dead and clean!"

"No……not necessarily die clean……"

"It might seal and imprison my true spirit, then after the cycle of reincarnation opens, toss me into some eighteenth level of hell, sentence me to indefinite imprisonment……being alive would be worse than death!"

Fengxi shivered, his whole body appearing so thin and frail.

At this moment, he deeply doubted what Di Jiang Zu Wu had said earlier about the Twelve Ancestral Witches loving each other, everyone being one family.

Of course, making him turn his doubt into words……is impossible to do.

You can't provoke Houtu, but could you possibly provoke Di Jiang?

Fengxi pondered, seeming as if he hadn't lived enough yet.

Finally, he listened wholeheartedly and calmly to Di Jiang Zu Wu's "just a couple more words" on his diplomatic work, nodding repeatedly from start to finish, showing absolute support and approval.

After he finally finished listening, not knowing how much time had passed, his whole person felt dazed and hazy.

……

Dazed and hazy, he went out; dazed and hazy, he walked toward the place where exchange students prepared to depart.

After feeling a gust of cold wind blow, he managed to calm himself down.

Recalling his experiences, summarizing what Houtu Ancestral Witch and Di Jiang Zu Wu each revealed, then calculating the current state of the world……Fengxi had a thousand words in his heart, but in the end they could only be condensed into one sentence.

"These days in Honghuang……it's a turbulent autumn!"

"When is the Honghuang world ever not turbulent?" a steady voice suddenly sounded, refuting Fengxi's words.

"Ha!" Fengxi was startled, his body moving and turning, he saw the visitor's face clearly, his expression instantly turning strange, "Yuchen?!"

"What are you doing here?"

He was on guard, looking at that hateful guy who once made him take the blame for thunder.

Looking back to those years, when Fengxi first transmigrated, he was heroic and vigorous, full of spirit, unaware of the Wu Clan's characteristic—many trumpets.

In his dreams, within the Wu Clan, he stood out.

Too bad, the dream was great, but reality is harsh.

Being personally educated by Di Jiang Zu Wu, he received a beating.

What's the reason for this?

Nine times out of ten, it's because of those nine teammates of his!

These divine teammates, in tacit agreement, pushed him into the leader's position, directly facing the Ancestral Witches' investigation and review……If it weren't for Fengxi being a Grand Master of the Following Heart School, whose standards dropped quickly, he would have decisively sworn loyalty to Di Jiang Zu Wu on the spot; otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable!

However, misfortune leans on fortune.

Fengxi was also thus slightly valued by the Ancestral Witches, to the extent that he has achieved what he has today.

Of course, this doesn't mean Fengxi should face Yuchen and his gang with a good attitude.

If he weren't afraid that the opponent, while fighting, might have an epiphany breakthrough in an exhilarating battle, he would have already called out to the battlefield for a duel.

"How come I can't come here?" Yuchen, with a sword at his waist and a smile, said, "Just like you, I was selected by the superiors to go to Kunlun Mountain as an exchange student."

"Pfft!" Fengxi curled his lips, "You still need to go as an exchange student? To study?"

"You're a genius; wouldn't just having epiphanies be enough?"

"Even geniuses need to pay attention to basic principles!" Yuchen's smile grew brighter, "Otherwise, who knows when heaven might envy talent."

"Hmph." Fengxi remained noncommittal.

After a long while, he finally spoke again, "You're actually still able to jump around……Honestly, I find that strange."

"There's nothing strange about it……it's all normal." Yuchen said cheerfully, "Among the Wu Clan, trumpets—no, geniuses are so many; everyone knows what's going on."

"Although we showed our talent a bit earlier, attracting the attention of many Great Witches……but as later talents emerged, we're no longer a big deal."

"Even now, we've been entrusted with important tasks, doing exchange studies together……under the guise of learning, we do some diplomatic work for the Wu Clan, maintaining the achievements of the two Ancestral Witches' leaders in establishing relations."

"Actually……" Yuchen gave a hehe laugh, "Many of the people sent out have ties to those places."

"The amount of results we can produce largely reflects the attitude of the Grand Luo Supreme Emperor there toward the Wu Clan……" Yuchen shrugged, "If our results are big, it means the Grand Luo there is willing to increase investment in the Wu Clan……and the Wu Clan will give back, boosting our status based on merit and granting us rights……"

"Conversely, if there are no results……it means waiting or withdrawing investment."

"After all, these are silent, unspoken transactions between the players."

Yuchen gave a simple explanation; Fengxi, thinking it over, said, "Indeed."

"So……my old friend!" Fengxi rubbed his hands, "I don't know which great deity stands behind you in Kunlun Mountain."

"You guess?" Yuchen asked with a squinting smile, while patting the long sword hanging at his waist.

"No guessing." Fengxi shook his head, "First, I lack the insight to see through your Great Dao foundation; second, nowadays all sorts of false pretenses and nominal trumpets……who knows whose pawn you are?"

"You're really boring." Yuchen shook his head.

The two chatted and laughed, as if dispelling their past estrangement.

(End of chapter)