Chapter 346: with translation of chapter title

346. Chapter 346 Hongyun and others arrive in the West, Shaohao finally departs.

「What a thieving Daoist, to suddenly discuss such a major matter without first sending a name card, instead disturbing people's peace! 」

Di Jiang jumped straight up from the bed, without even looking at Zhunti, took his treasure bow, and headed into the great mountains.

Di Jiang was in a bad mood, naturally needing to vent; thus the giant beasts in the mountains suffered disaster, becoming meat for his meal.

These giant beasts have existed since ancient times, unable to take human form, nor are they ferocious beasts; they possess wisdom, some can speak human words, their fleshly bodies are strong, making them extraordinary beings of heaven and earth.

Few have proper forms; most appear strange, yet they possess divine abilities, ordinary people dare not provoke them; those who hunt them are mostly individuals of great divine abilities, and Di Jiang is clearly among them.

After staying in the mountains for several months, Di Jiang returned happily, only then learning that Jieyin had arrived and was residing together with Zhunti in Di Jiang's tribe.

As for the remaining ancestor witches, aside from Zhu Jiuyin who is adjacent to him, the others have not yet arrived.

Upon hearing that Zhu Jiuyin had arrived, Di Jiang shouldered his game and went over; upon meeting, Zhu Jiuyin spoke first: 'Elder brother, you previously sent a message saying you were anxious, so I hurried over—what is the matter that you suddenly summoned everyone, with urging in your words?'

Seeing Zhu Jiuyin arrive, Di Jiang also returned with joy, but contrary to his earlier urgency, he laughed and said:

「The remaining brothers and sisters have not yet arrived: let's not speak of this matter for now; I will go to the great mountains, hunt a dangkou, and bring it back to eat. 」

「After we have eaten our fill, we will then properly discuss this matter; those two fellows are not easy to deal with, and their sudden arrival this time must conceal something I do not know. 」

Di Jiang spat divine fire from his mouth, igniting it upon the spiritual wood; in an instant it caught fire, this flame being bluish-purple, quite extraordinary.

The dangkou hunted by Di Jiang, after a simple preparation, was placed upon the firewood.

Soon, the aroma of the roasting meat gradually spread; Di Jiang and Zhu Jiuyin sat to the side, their eyes fixed on the gradually changing prey, Zhu Jiuyin could not help but swallow his saliva and said:

「Elder brother, I haven't tasted dangkou meat in a long time; today I must have a hearty meal, and since we have meat, why don't you bring out the wine, elder brother? 」

「I have heard that under your leadership, your tribe has produced a talented person who can brew fine wine, extremely intoxicating. 」

Di Jiang shook his head: 'You are usually wise; later we still need to discuss matters, drinking would be inappropriate; after we finish our discussion, there will be plenty of fine wine.'

Zhu Jiuyin heard this, feeling a slight regret in his heart, but also understanding the priority; he nodded and said: 'Then I will follow the elder brother's lead, but just what matter makes you uncertain, requiring consultation with me, to the point that even wine cannot be drunk.'

The prepared dangkou continuously dripped fat over the bonfire. Di Jiang remained silent for a long time, then finally asked:

「Second brother, you say we have been in the West for so long that we are likely to have forgotten the appearance of the Eastern Continent, right? 」

「Now even I myself do not know whether we should be considered Easterners or Westerners. 」

Zhu Jiuyin's brows immediately knotted, not knowing why Di Jiang brought this up; he secretly thought that this gathering of everyone was probably concerning this matter.

Since he understood the importance of this matter, Zhu Jiuyin did not dare speak rashly; after a brief consideration, he replied vaguely: 'Elder brother, why discuss this matter? We ourselves awoke in Mount Buzhou, and the Wu Clan was also nurtured within Mount Buzhou.'

「Yet we have stayed in the West for so long; now that you ask, I too do not know how to answer. 」

「If we trace back to the origin, we are naturally Easterners, but looking at our Wu Clan's youths nowadays, I fear few have ever seen the Eastern Continent. 」

Zhu Jiuyin's voice carried emotion, yet he never revealed his own view on the matter; his words remained ambiguous.

Seeing this, Di Jiang also understood his brother's concern; he no longer pressed further, merely patting Zhu Jiuyin's shoulder and saying: 'Slick fellow, you cannot be fooled; wanting to hear a sincere word from you is still difficult, yet precisely because of this, among the many brothers and sisters, you have become the wisest one.'

Di Jiang looked at Zhu Jiuyin with a half-smile, his eyes holding no blame, and laughed:

「Forget it, let's not speak of anything else; we'll talk after we're full. 」

Di Jiang waved his hand boldly, appearing carefree; as he spoke, he tore off another large piece of dangkou meat and began chewing it heartily.

Zhu Jiuyin seeing this, also relaxed a bit, hehe laughing: 'Elder brother, why say these things? Discussing matters naturally comes after we're full; I have no great wisdom, merely being a bit more alert than the other brothers and sisters.'

「Furthermore, allow me to speak frankly, your probing is too simple and crude; even if it were not me, even if Gonggong came, he could sense something amiss. 」

Upon hearing these words, Di Jiang first stared, then laughed embarrassedly, tearing at the dangkou meat to hide his embarrassment, and only after a long while did he ask:

「Really, is it that crude? 」

Zhu Jiuyin smiled but said nothing; his elder brother's actions are coarse yet meticulous, his mind deep as ravines—no one knows whether his earlier probing was truly due to his ineptitude at dissimulation or a deliberate reminder.

And Zhu Jiuyin never dwells on it; regardless, he always believes Di Jiang's actions must have a reason.

A dangkou over ten zhang in length fell into their hands; they ate only for a few moments, and after they were full, Di Jiang and Zhu Jiuyin happily returned.

They no longer spoke of discussion, merely waiting quietly for the remaining ancestor witches to arrive; as for Jieyin and Zhunti, the two acted as if they did not exist at all.

Outside Di Jiang's tribe, Hongyun and Zhenyuanzi, accompanied by the remaining eight Primordial Dao cultivators, had just arrived; although they had not seen Jieyin and Zhunti, they were already certain that the two were within this tribe.

Facing Jieyin and Zhunti, who were huddled within the tribe, Hongyun and Zhenyuanzi also found them rather troublesome, but fortunately they were not in a hurry; waiting a few days posed no great problem.

Just as Hongyun began to regret participating in this affair, the black-robed Daoist who had previously advised him laughed and said: 'This is indeed heavenly aid for us. Brother Hongyun, it seems this opportunity to capitalize on victory will surely fall into your hands.'

Hongyun's face filled with doubt, not knowing why he would say such, so he asked:

「What do you mean by these words, friend? 」

The black-robed Daoist smiled, hands behind his back, appearing carefree and confident, and said: 'Esteemed Daoist brothers, please observe: within the Wu Clan now, those coming and going are fully armed with weapons and armor, their eyes harboring killing intent, a posture of preparedness for battle.'

While speaking, the black-robed Daoist confidently pointed to the bustling Wu Clan members moving about within the tribe, continuing: 'And in this Xifang Dalu, it is well known that Jieyin and Zhunti have deep-seated enmity with the Wu Clan, having endured countless battles.'

「Originally, because the Wu Clan entered the West and due to matters of the Celestial Court, the two sides have been a deep-seated grudge as deep as the Sea of Blood. 」

「Although there is now a easing of relations, one must know that ice three feet thick does not form in a single day; to dissolve this hatred is likewise not instantaneous. 」

「Jieyin and Zhunti have only just entered Di Jiang's tribe, yet they have already made them wary to this extent; the gap between them is plain to see. 」。「Moreover, I have heard that in recent days, the ancestor witch Zhu Jiuyin rushed over, likely also to guard against these two; I expect they will not stay many days before being expelled from Di Jiang's tribe. 」

「Furthermore, the distance from here to their Mount Sumeru is extremely far; it cannot be reached in a short time. 」

「If we gather our strength and await them at leisure, then by the time they arrive in this Xifang Dalu, they will have lost the advantage of heaven and earth; would they not then be at our mercy, to be slaughtered like fish and meat? 」

「Therefore, I hereby specially congratulate you, Dao brother. 」

The black-robed Daoist's brows and eyes held a smile, as if he could already see the primordial purple qi before him.

Regarding the black-robed Daoist's words, Hongyun and the others felt somewhat strange, yet also thought they made sense, so they did not wish to speak further.

Zhenyuanzi, mature and steady, after consideration still advised: 'Friend, your words are perhaps too absolute; we should still be more vigilant, waiting outside this tribe would be to overlook the Wu Clan; better we go set an ambush outside Mount Sumeru.'

Regarding Zhenyuanzi's words, the black-robed Daoist had not yet spoken when another purple-robed Daoist let out a cold snort and said:

「Friend Zhenyuanzi's words are perhaps too much about boosting others' morale while diminishing our own prestige, waiting outside the Dao Chang is likewise not secure. 」

「These two have long wandered the Xifang Dalu; the Dao Chang of Mount Sumeru has hardly seen them return a few times; going there to set an ambush would truly be a waste of time. 」

「Moreover, friend, do not forget that Mount Sumeru is not merely the Dao Chang of Jieyin and Zhunti; there also stands the Heavenly Emperor's separate palace upon it. 」

"Everyone in the arena is at the quasi-saint realm and also great gods of the Hunyuan Dao; to act in the wilderness already violates the Heavenly Court's laws, and if it were elsewhere it would still be okay, but to act before the Heavenly Emperor's separate residence— isn't that openly offending the Heavenly Court's authority?"

By then, I'm afraid the Heavenly Court might want to spare us, but in the end we'll still be forced to act.

Zhen Yuanzi only then realized what was happening, and instantly broke out in a cold sweat. After all, the Heavenly Emperor's separate residence atop Mount Sumeru had been used only once before and never again thereafter; he couldn't help but feel remiss for not having considered this.

Facing the crowd before him, Zhen Yuanzi could only bow slightly and say:

What you say is reasonable; I, this poor Daoist, have been negligent.

Those present hurried to console him, and even the purple-robed Daoist from earlier spoke up:

You truly shame us, Brother Dao; please don't blame yourself. The Heavenly Emperor's separate residence is rarely opened in the Wilderness, and ordinary people simply cannot attend to it—this is not your fault.

Moreover, what you say is also reasonable, but to act right at the gate of the Emperor River Tribe is to show undue contempt for the Wu Clan.

Why don't we compromise a little? Let each of us guard a different direction, and only after those two, Jieyin and Zhunti, emerge will we send word to everyone to surround and kill them—how does that sound?

The black-robed Daoist nodded and also spoke in praise:

That's excellent, and we don't need to be overly greedy; as long as we keep our original intent, obtaining even one of those paths would be a great gain.

Everyone present nodded in approval, exchanged a few friendly words, then each took a position to wait, fishing.

But as time passed, the crowd began to feel doubtful; now, not seeing Jieyin and Zhunti emerge, they instead kept hearing reports of the Ancestral Wu entering the Emperor River Clan.

Their behavior doesn't look like they're wary of Jieyin and Zhunti, trying to drive them away; rather, it seems they want to gather the strength of the Ancestral Wu to kill the two outright.

Faced with this abnormal situation, everyone felt something was wrong, yet they couldn't bring themselves to let go, so they could only continue waiting.

Although unspoken, the range of their encirclement of the Emperor River Tribe had clearly expanded somewhat, pulling the distance apart considerably.

But while everyone was waiting, the Wilderness suddenly transmitted a major event: Shaohao has attained the Dao.

According to his clansmen, Shaohao had fought the Great Devil years ago, his wounds were too severe to ever fully heal; he endured for a long time but ultimately could not sustain himself and thus attained the Dao and departed.

Furthermore, before his departure, he had already made arrangements with the White Tiger Clan: those of pure bloodline and outstanding talent all joined the Heavenly Court.

Moreover, it is unknown what price he paid, but the vast majority of the White Tiger Clan thus remained in the Heavenly Realm.

Faced with such a great change, the White Tiger Clan's choice was to abandon most of their Wilderness territory and preserve their vital strength.

As for whether Shaohao, before his departure, opened a world for his clansmen—this remains doubtful to this day, not something to be told to outsiders.

In the Widespread rumors of the Wilderness, it is said that before Shaohao attained the Dao, he opened a world, leaving within it all the wealth and resources accumulated by the White Tiger Clan over countless aeons.

He specially concealed its entrance; aside from the White Tiger Clan's people, no outsider has ever known of it.

Some say Shaohao reached a certain agreement with the Heavenly Court, exchanging the entire White Tiger Clan's resources and wealth for their survival in the Heavenly Realm.

Others go further with conspiracy theories, claiming that the Heavenly Court long knew Shaohao could not endure, and after his departure silently annexed the entire White Tiger Clan, so that all of its myriad accumulations fell into the hands of the Heavenly Court.

Only few believe this, after all, the Heavenly Court's past image has been extremely positive, and its reputation in the Wilderness cannot be shaken by mere rumors.

As for the Heavenly Court's attitude toward such rumors, aside from dismissing them as slanderous conspiracy theories, they mostly just let them be.

And regarding the White Tiger Clan's affairs, the Heavenly Court naturally understood them from start to finish; the only thing that surprised Qi, Di Jun, and the others was that they never expected Shaohao to have endured for so long.

Qi, in the Heavenly Realm, lightly waved a hand; gusts of gale wind swept through, tearing apart myriad clouds, and the heavens' red clouds were ripped to shreds.

Since Shaohao's departure, such occurrences have frequently appeared in the Wilderness; Qi can sense it, that within the gale winds lies a feeling of sorrow.

These winds constantly howl across the Wilderness; they feel sorrowful because the divine spirit that commands the gale winds has departed.

Qi gazed at the sky-filling gale winds, and only after a long while did he sigh slowly:

"Shaohao, fellow Daoist, this departure of yours—I wish you may return soon; then, having unraveled the mystery of the womb and cast off your own bonds, you will be able to behold the Great Dao."

"I just don't know when, in this Wilderness, I will be able to meet you, fellow Daoist." (End of chapter)