Chapter 23: Trouble Comes Knocking, Boss Foresees

Deep night, Taoyuan Square.

The lights along the 17th-floor corridor flickered erratically.

At the very end, only the light of Ye Bu Liang Culture Co., Ltd. remained on.

“Old Yu, you’re not a young man anymore—why play such a joke on a kid?”

At that moment, Bai Buran’s lazy voice drifted out; he reclined in his office chair, legs crossed, facing an elderly man with white hair—it was none other than the old security guard Zhang Fan had seen during the day.

“I just wanted to see what kind of brat stole the Zhenwu Jade Tablet,” Yu Fu grinned, revealing yellow teeth, his wrinkled face twisted into a grimace.

“That’s not wise… if you scare him off, I won’t be able to explain to Old Chu.” Bai Buran shook his head.

“That brat stole the Zhenwu Jade Tablet… such a vital thing—why would Chu Chaoran entrust it to you, a Zhenwu discard?” Yu Fu smirked, his cloudy eyes scanning Bai Buran.

“I’m still your boss… show a little respect… calling me a Zhenwu discard doesn’t sound good…” Bai Buran glanced sideways, speaking coolly.

“I heard that back in your days at Zhenwu Mountain, you did plenty of wicked things…”

Yu Fu’s grin widened: “Back then, when Liu Nan Xu was undergoing the Thunder Trial to claim the title of Tian Shi, you secretly practiced drawing down lightning beside him—nearly killed him with it…”

At this, Yu Fu nearly laughed out loud—if true, the famed Three Tian Shi of Zhenwu Mountain would have been one short.

“Who among the young hasn’t been foolish? Those are all ancient history now…” Bai Buran leaned back, his gaze drifting toward the ceiling, lost in memory.

“So, why exactly were you expelled from Zhenwu Mountain back then?”

At these words, Bai Buran’s eyes sharpened slightly—a flash of cold light appeared, like a flickering blade. Even without direct eye contact, Yu Fu’s aged face twitched violently; his brows furrowed, and he fell silent.

“That brat…” Yu Fu hesitated briefly, then steered the conversation back.

“Precisely because he’s so important, he’s been entrusted to me…” Bai Buran said coolly.

“First, I’m in the same city as him—Yujing City—so it’s convenient to watch over him…”

“Second, as a Zhenwu discard, I operate without restraint—if anything goes wrong, Zhenwu Mountain won’t be blamed.”

At this, Bai Buran let out a soft sigh, a look of helplessness crossing his face.

“Old Yu, you’ve realized by now—that brat is a troublemaker…”

“Caring for such a troublemaker means you can’t follow the rules… Just watch—our good days are over.”

As he spoke, Bai Buran tilted his head back and slowly closed his eyes.

“The Zhenwu Jade Tablet concerns a sect’s lineage—how could it fall into the hands of this ordinary kid? He’s not even a Zhenwu disciple…”

Yu Fu frowned, his expression puzzled, then asked: “What’s so special about the Zhenwu Jade Tablet?”

“Long ago, the Twenty-Eighth Patriarch of the Chan School, Bodhidharma, came to China, crossed the river on a reed, arrived at Shaolin on Mount Song, and thus Chan took root in the North—Bodhidharma became the First Patriarch of Chan in China…” Bai Buran shifted topics, speaking not of Daoism but of Buddhism.

“Afterward, Bodhidharma’s robe and bowl passed to the Second Patriarch Huike, then to the Third Patriarch Sengcan, then to the Fourth Patriarch Daoxin, then to the Fifth Patriarch Hongren, and finally Hongren passed it to the Sixth Patriarch Huineng—after five generations, the Sixth Patriarch fulfilled Bodhidharma’s legacy, transmitting the Dharma to the South…”

“Since then, Chan has become the most influential school of Chinese Buddhism—today, how many millions of followers does it have?”

Here, Bai Buran paused briefly, then slowly opened his eyes; his dark pupils glimmered with sharp light.

“Even the Buddhist robe and bowl carried such weight… Our Daoist lineage, rooted in this land, has endured for over a thousand years. The Zhenwu Jade Tablet concerns lineage succession—it’s far more than symbolic. The Ancestors’ hidden wisdom is profound, its mysteries unknown to outsiders…”

“Like losing the Nine Tripods, one loses the realm!?” Yu Fu recalled an ancient legend concerning cosmic fortune.

“Moreover, the Zhenwu Jade Tablet hides another immense secret,” Bai Buran whispered: “about an old case in Daoism eighty years ago.” “You mean…” Yu Fu’s face twitched violently, as if he’d just realized something.

“The Great Universal Offering—the Daoist Catastrophe.”

At these words, the office fell into sudden silence, like a frozen, lifeless pool. Both Bai Buran and Yu Fu wore grave expressions.

Eighty years ago, Daoist masters from across the land gathered at Longhu Mountain for a ritual to bless humanity—but it became the Daoist Catastrophe, severing Daoist lineage and turning countless schools into lost traditions.

“How could this happen?” Yu Fu said grimly.

He had only heard rumors of the incident eighty years prior—nearly ninety percent of Daoism’s elite perished there; not a single one of the five previous Tian Shi of Zhenwu Mountain survived…

“Wasn’t the Great Universal Offering a ritual to summon the gods and bless humanity?”

“No one knows,” Bai Buran shook his head, sighing softly. “I heard Old Chu himself went with his master. Of all the Daoist masters on Longhu Mountain, only he walked out alive—clutching his master’s bloody hand…”

“At the time… that bloody hand was tightly gripping the Zhenwu Jade Tablet.”

With this, Bai Buran slowly sat upright, gazing at Yu Fu with a deep, quiet intensity: “Old Yu, that object isn’t just about Zhenwu’s lineage…”

“It may also hold the secret of the Daoist Catastrophe.”

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At this, Bai Buran’s expression grew even heavier.

“After the Daoist Catastrophe, less than twenty years passed before Old Chu attained the Pure Yang Wuji Realm…”

“The world has long whispered that the Daoist Catastrophe concealed the secret to Immortality—Old Chu merely glimpsed a fraction of it, yet he stepped into Pure Yang.”

At this, Yu Fu fell silent, but his eyes gleamed with unusual light.

How many Daoist cultivators throughout history have sought nothing but those two words: “Immortality”?

Just two words—the greatest obsession of every Daoist.

“So then… that brat really is a troublemaker,” Yu Fu said gravely.

He couldn’t understand why such a vital Zhenwu Jade Tablet had fallen into the hands of this utterly ordinary kid—and why, if it was so important, Chu Chaoran had let it leave the mountain.

“Old Chu has reached the True Person Realm, comprehending the Pure Yang Wuji Dao—he understands the subtle principles of nature… perhaps, by fate’s design, he already knows the Mandate?” Bai Buran murmured softly, his eyes clouded with uncertainty.

“This boy is so important—and Zhenwu Mountain left him in your care?” Yu Fu’s expression turned deeply strange; he instinctively leaned back.

“See? I told you—it’s a trouble. An unavoidable trouble!”

“Zhang Fan… that brat—I scared him today. Will he still come?” Yu Fu couldn’t help asking.

“He will come,” Bai Buran said, as if reading minds.

“Why?!”

“Because that kid is trouble—and trouble always comes knocking,” Bai Buran sneered.

“Just watch—that brat…”

As he spoke, Bai Buran turned slightly in his chair, gazing out the window at the clear night sky, stars glittering, the bright moon hanging high—his face showed no emotion.

“From now on, all of our lives will be different because of him!!”

(End of Chapter)