Chapter 134: Hermes guilt (1/2)
The four of them halted to see what the commotion was about.
A horse abruptly stopped in front of them, and a man climbed down from it
He was wearing rusted iron armor, and a saber hung at his waist. A piece of fabric fell on his forehead and read, ”Wu”
”Are you lot from the Wu kingdom? We have occupied the mountain and are not allowing any Xia citizens into this place!”
Zhen Hong cleared his throat and spoke on behalf of them, ”We are passing cultivators...”
The man clenched his hand on his sword, and aggressively replied, ”I'm a cultivator too, I don't care about your status, our king has ordered no one to enter these mountai-
A kick flew to the soldier's face, and he was sent flying into a thick tree.
The man who attacked was the sect leader.
He skillfully recovered his footing and exclaimed, ”Since when do Foundation Establishment weaklings get to boss us around? And why is an immortal allowed to be in a mortal army?!”
Zhen Hong asked, ”Martial Grandfather, you haven't gone out of the sect lands for some time, right?”
”I have lived the last century entirely upon my mountains, yes.”
”The times have changed now, mortals can choose to pursue cultivation and maintain their connection to the mortal world,” Zhen Hong explained.
”Who decided that?!” The sect leader shouted in frustration.
”Lord Lao Zi did.”
When the sect leader heard that name, he instantly fell silent and coughed.
”Let's go back now.”
They all got into the chariot and flew back west.
Alex was somewhat curious and questioned Zhen Hong.
”What's exactly wrong with mortals cultivating?”
Zhen Hong frowned and replied, ”When mortals cultivate with a mortal mindset, they seek to rule over other mortals, but an immortal shall have no mortal family, no mortal belongings, and shall rule over no mortals, that was the code of conduct during Martial Grandfather's generation.”
”And, Sir Lao Zi changed that?” Alex spouted out a name he's been hearing quite often in this place.
”Exactly, while Lord Lao Zi remains the wisest of men amongst mortals, his wisdom is more debatable among the traditional immortal clans.”
Alex thanked Zhen Hong and focused back on the ride.
There wasn't much to see in the barren cold desert below them, so he fell into a contemplative trance.
Earlier today, he had analyzed a crypt that Zhen Hong found.
The crypt spoke of a man's regrets about gifting power to the 'mortal-minded' and the reasons why he disappeared.
'This lines up eerily well with the narrative of 'Lao Zi' who spread cultivation to mortals and then disappeared,' Alex was almost convinced of his hypothesis.
However, the crypt he read was only 'the third testament' and there were likely many more, from which he could piece the rest of the story.
'Maybe, I could even find his whereabouts, and solve this mystery...!' Alex began to feel excited and intrigued.
However, he then shook his head.
'I can't focus too much on this, I already need to defeat the ghost emperor, and finish the negotiations with the Jade Emperor first.'
As he was thinking, the barren wasteland gradually got lusher, and the Kunlun mountain range was in view.
They swiftly landed next to the pagoda, and climbed up, only to find a group of eager sect elders waiting for them.
”How did it go?!
”Did you defeat the ghost king?!”
”What about the ghost mother?!”
The elders were like frenzied paparazzi, asking the tired group endless questions.
Alex exclaimed, ”We defeated the ghost king!”
Ultimately, he left out the part about Yan Wang, since it didn't concern them.
Cheers erupted from the crowd, and suddenly, a woman pushed through.