Chapter 300: Ridiculous

Ren Yidao rose under the resentful gaze of the Yellow Sand Tiger, casually smoothed his lapels, and walked straight to the door to open it.

"Hello."

"……Hello."

It was a pity that outside the door was not some highly anticipated Miss Sadako, but a living person with a shadow.

It was truly disappointing!

Even the breadth of her chest was not particularly generous!

Ren Yidao looked at the silent, head-bowed visitor, stepped aside, and invited:

"Since you've come, why not come in and sit for a while? I imagine you must have something to say."

"Or should I go with you? Will you take me somewhere quiet?"

Standing outside the door, Gongsun Changshou squinted at Ren Yidao, glanced at the alert yellow cat on the floor, nodded slightly, and walked into the room with ease.

Click.

Ren Yidao closed the door and, instead of returning to the bed, invited her to sit at the table and said solemnly:

"Fellow Daoist Gongsun, visiting in the middle of the night, you must have something important to discuss. May I ask what guidance you have?"

The two were not close; they could only be considered strangers.

But here in the unfamiliar Eastern Wasteland, the two shared another layer of identity: fellow countrymen and fellow practitioners.

The relationship between the Divine Path Sect and the Sword Casting Hut was average—not particularly good, but definitely not bad—and disciples of the same generation would address each other as 'Dao Brother' when meeting abroad.

Since she was visiting strangely in the dead of night, Ren Yidao did not think his charm was great enough to make her throw herself into his arms, so he could only assume she had something to discuss.

After a moment of silence, Gongsun Changshou raised her head and asked earnestly:

"Where are you actually from?"

Still doubting?

"Me? Didn't I say? I am indeed from the Divine Path Sect."

Gongsun Changshou shook her head; she had already believed he was from the Divine Path Sect after seeing the Dao God.

"No, I mean, which main peak are you from? Tuling Peak?"

Ren Yidao:?

No, why would it be Tuling Peak!

Do I look like a comedic character like Niu Rixing whose brain is filled with muscles?

Ren Yidao couldn't help but reflect on his recent words and actions, then gave a light cough and shook his head:

"Ah, cough! No, although I practice body refinement, I am not a disciple of Tuling Peak; I am actually a disciple of Luoyue Peak."

This was not a secret; anyone who investigated would know, so there was no need to hide it.

More importantly, he did not want to be mistaken for a single-celled organism from Tuling Peak.

That would be too embarrassing!

Upon hearing Ren Yidao's earnest and serious explanation, Gongsun Changshou nodded, let out a long breath, and said in a low voice:

"So it is like that..."

So?

She raised her head, stared intently into Ren Yidao's eyes, and spoke slowly:

"Then... what is your relationship with Luoyue Shangren?"

"Master and disciple."

"Master and disciple? But hasn't she been missing for hundreds of years? Haven't her followers and disciples all died or fled? Has she returned?"

Ren Yidao raised his hand to stop Gongsun Changshou's barrage of questions, looked into her eyes, and asked softly:

"Fellow Daoist, how long has it been since you returned to the Beiming Divine Continent?"

Gongsun Changshou pursed her lips, remained silent for a while, and sighed lightly:

"It has been over a hundred years..."

Not having returned for over a hundred years, that made sense.

"Then it is understandable that you do not know these things."

"I am a disciple accepted on behalf of the master by Senior Sister Jing Yueqin. I have never met Luoyue Shangren in person, and the old master herself has still not returned to this day."

"And now, including myself, there are five disciples on Luoyue Peak."

"Then you..."

Gongsun Changshou digested this information for a while and wanted to ask more, but was interrupted by Ren Yidao:

"I have said so much; now it should be Fellow Daoist Gongsun's turn, right? Is there nothing you want to tell me?"

The moonlight from outside the window spilled into the room, landing on the black hair the youth had let down while resting, making him look even more bewitching beyond his delicate features.

His eyes appeared exceptionally bright in the darkness, but they lacked the clarity of a youth, surging instead with dark emotions.

He said:

"For example, what is your relationship with Luoyue Shangren?"

Gongsun Changshou: "..."

"You asked so many questions about her; you certainly can't know nothing at all, right?"

"Or, if you want me to be more explicit, that is fine too..."

He asked softly:

"Is that 'Luoyue Shangren' who fought others in Death Valley one hundred and thirty years ago... you?"

Once these words were spoken, there was a long silence.

Gongsun Changshou lowered her head and did not answer, and Ren Yidao was also silent, just watching this fellow Daoist from the Sword Casting Hut calmly.

In fact, he still had one sentence he hadn't asked aloud:

"Are you, perhaps, Luoyue Shangren?"

But this thought only arose for an instant before he decisively denied it.

Not to mention that her appearance bore not the slightest resemblance to Luoyue Shangren, her cultivation techniques didn't match up at all.

Moreover, there was one decisive reason—her scent was wrong.

Although he didn't really want to admit it, foxes are actually canines, and his nose was quite sensitive.

Ren Yidao had seen Luoyue Shangren's clothing and had long since memorized the scent on her.

After a long silence, Gongsun Changshou raised her head and spoke slowly:

"Do you know..."

Ren Yidao: "What?"

"Since you all knew about that matter, why have you only come now?"

"Have you forgotten your master!?"

Listening to this unfriendly tone, Ren Yidao first shook his head with a wry smile, then couldn't help but burst into loud laughter:

"Hahaha!"

Gongsun Changshou frowned, not knowing why the other party was suddenly acting this way, and asked unpleasantly:

"What is there to laugh at?"

"Laughable? No, no, no, I am not laughing at you, but at myself."

Ren Yidao waved his hands repeatedly, shaking his head back and forth in amusement, and it took him a long while to catch his breath.

"You ask why I only came now? Isn't the reason exactly what you just said? The disciples under the sect died, left, or fled."

The youth laughed, his tone relaxed, yet what he spoke of was a truly tragic fact:

"The Senior Sister fell into Demon for a hundred years because of Master's disappearance, slaughtering the great sect that had plotted against Master at the time, leaving not even a chicken or dog alive, which resulted in her being entangled by Sin Karma until she barely regained her sanity a hundred years ago."

"The Second Senior Brother's wife was killed by someone, his cultivation base regressed instead of advancing, and for a hundred years he locked himself in a cage to repent, never taking half a step out of Luoyue Peak."

"Or are you saying you want to count on two disciples who have been in the sect for less than half a year, and have only just entered the Human Realm, to find a master they have never met?"

Ren Yidao's expression didn't change, but by the time he finished speaking, there was no more laughter in his eyes.

Only a deep, silent pitch-black remained.

And the calmer he was, the more it made Gongsun Changshou feel an indescribable pressure, making her unable to even open her mouth.

"As for me, I joined Luoyue Peak two years ago, only learned of this news a month ago, and crossed borders from Beiming Divine Continent to the Eastern Wasteland's Western Regions half a month ago, traveling without stopping to rush here."

He looked at the complex-faced Gongsun Changshou with a smile and asked in return:

"Tell me, if I wasn't doing this to find her, was I just bored? Was I here in this Death Valley for a sightseeing trip?"

"And after I've done all this, in your words, I've become an unfilial and disloyal person?"

He said:

"Fellow Daoist, you tell me yourself, is this not laughable?"

The pressure on Gongsun Changshou's shoulders was swept away, but she didn't know how to speak for a moment; her mouth hung open for a long time, but she could only stammer:

"I, I didn't say that..."

"No, you did. That is what you think in your heart, isn't it?"

Ren Yidao smiled until his eyes narrowed, looking very pleased.

"Don't worry, I'm not angry, and I have no reason to be angry."

"Because you were right!"

"I am just this rebellious, so what?"

"What does a master who has been missing for hundreds of years have to do with me?"

"Let her come and clean up the sect herself."

"If it weren't for the Senior Sister and Senior Brother, I wouldn't have bothered to look for her at all."

Gongsun Changshou wanted to tell him to stop talking; she didn't think these were Ren Yidao's true feelings, only that they were words spoken in a moment of anger.

This matter was indeed her own assumption.

Having one's good intentions questioned would indeed make one angry.

But Ren Yidao didn't give her a chance to explain; he stood up, waved his hand to open the door, gestured for her to leave, and smiled:

"Fellow Daoist Gongsun, or should I say Senior Uncle Gongsun, I don't know what relationship you have with my master, nor do I know what you are doing in the Eastern Wasteland. Whether you are looking for her or not, it doesn't matter."

"I don't need your help here, and I ask that you do not meddle in my affairs."

"Now, it is late at night, and there is a distinction between men and women, so please return."

Clang.

Having been unceremoniously shown the door, Gongsun Changshou looked at the tightly closed gate, slowly lowered her raised hand, let out a long sigh, and turned to leave.

"Today's matter was my fault, I apologize to you... we shall speak again tomorrow."

"If you truly want to find your master, you will need my help."

She left the courtyard after dropping this sentence and returned to her own bedroom.

Inside the room, Ren Yidao's expression had long since returned to calm, and there was no chilling killing intent in his eyes.

He rubbed his chin, reviewed his actions from just now, and nodded slowly:

"My response should be fine; Gongsun Changshou has already been suppressed by me."

After witnessing Ren Yidao's exquisite acting, it was unlikely that many people could harbor suspicions about him.

Nine truths and one lie.

Most of what Ren Yidao said was true, and even the anger he had just displayed was real.

He was not feeling aggrieved because he himself had been misunderstood; he was feeling angry for Jing Yueqin.

"However, was my performance just now a bit too over-the-top?"

"Hmm, never mind, let's just leave it at that."

Ren Yidao picked up the cat, Da Huang, who was preparing to slip away, with a beaming smile, pinched its soft belly, and thought to himself:

"It is true that I was also a bit annoyed."

To be slapped with a label the moment someone arrived—even if part of what she said was actually true—that was unacceptable.

Anyone would feel displeased after being offended; remaining silent would instead imply one had a guilty conscience.

"Speaking of which, there is someone who has been acting like they have a very guilty conscience!"

"Little Hu Wanwan, what exactly are you plotting?"

Perhaps Hu Wanwan thought he was hiding it well, but among the group, likely only Jiang Mingzhi, who trusted him unconditionally, did not think much of it; the others had all noticed problems to a greater or lesser extent.

It was very obvious that he was hiding something, constantly enduring and yielding.

"Then, what exactly will your evil intent be?"

"I hope you are smart enough not to provoke me."

Putting down the struggling cat, Ren Yidao shook his head, lay back comfortably on the bed, and re-entered his dreams.

"Forget it!"

……

……

Ren Yidao was asleep, but this night was very difficult for many people to endure.

After returning to her room, Gongsun Changshou did not rest; she stood in the center of the courtyard with her head tilted back, gazing at the bright, full moon overhead.

After a long while, she whispered to the moon in a voice only she could hear:

"I saw your disciple just now."

"I seem to have seen you."

"The same arrogance, the same self-willed nature, the same free Divine Path... you are truly worthy of being your disciple."

"It is just that he is a bit ignorant, does not know how to respect me, his Senior Uncle, and even drove me out, hehe."

"He is just like you were back when you ambushed Senior Uncle Sikong; he has no understanding of respecting the old and cherishing the young."

"You should come back and properly discipline him."

"So many years have passed, where on earth have you gone? I cannot find you anywhere..."

"A Yue."

……

In the Jiang Family residence, Jiang Mingzhi lowered his eyes and sat cross-legged, surrounded by five oil lamps, fiddling with a bone plate in his hands.

He was silently divining, hoping to obtain an omen for the trial two days later.

A diviner can divine Heaven above and Earth below, but they cannot calculate their own fate.

He could vaguely sense that he had a death tribulation and could calculate that Ren Yidao was the one to break the tribulation, but he alone could not calculate the specifics of this death tribulation.

He calculated again and again, but his brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

"Ominous, ominous, very ominous, ominous..."

Even the best-case scenario was ominous, and the very ominous scenarios were, without exception, all results where Ren Yidao did not enter the game.

There was a path to survival, but it all lay by Ren Yidao's side!

"Where exactly did the problem arise? The plan should have been flawless, the map is also real; which detail did I miss?"

"Is this the tribulation I cannot avoid?"

As Jiang Mingzhi was pondering, a sudden, intense gust of ghostly wind blew in from outside the window, carrying yellow sand, and extinguished one of the lamps surrounding him!

!!!

The accident came suddenly, but Jiang Mingzhi did not despair in tears; instead, he subconsciously cast a hex.

His hands did not stop moving, but as Jiang Mingzhi was about to calculate the result, his expression became increasingly puzzled.

Click.

He stared at the lamp that represented a person's life, his expression filled with disbelief.

"... Auspicious."

"Why would it be auspicious?"

……

Hu Wanwan paced back and forth in his room, his expression constantly changing, at times ferocious and at times pained.

"Could there be a problem on the side of my clan uncle?"

"Do I need to find a way to drag this out for another day? But they will definitely be suspicious; if..."

And just at this moment, the communication jade, which had been unresponsive, lit up slightly.

"Good!!!"

Hu Wanwan's spirit relaxed, overjoyed, and he grabbed the communication jade.

"My clan uncle finally replied to me!"

He quickly probed his spirit into it, saw the message his clan uncle had sent him, and then completely set his mind at ease.

The message in the communication jade was very short, consisting of only four simple characters:

"Everything as usual."

At this moment, the smile on Hu Wanwan's face...

Was incomparably ferocious.