Unsheathed

Chapter 428 (3): Time for Autumn Hunting, Please Enter the Trap

Chapter 428 (3): Time for Autumn Hunting, Please Enter the Trap

Old Man Yang glanced at the hunchbacked and slightly adrift Zheng Dafeng, revealing, "Cui Chan's actions and desires as well as his secret philosophies have taught me some extremely valuable things. I've benefited immensely from them. I racked my brain for nine thousand years in the past, yet I was still unable to come up with a good answer for my dilemma. I thought about many things, yet I only made insignificant progress. In fact, I made more progress during two casual chats with Cui Chan. As such, I need to repay Cui Chan for this unexpected benefit.

"In other words, it won't matter much even if I lose everything pertaining to my bet on Chen Ping'an."

"Master, there's something that I'm very curious about. Out of all the disciples that you've taken, is there anyone that makes you very happy or very sad? For example, is Master relatively satisfied with Senior Brother Li Er having the potential to reach the Divinity Tier of the tenth tier?" Zheng Dafeng asked.

"No," Old Man Yang replied with a shake of his head.

Zheng Dafeng pointed at himself and asked with a sheepish grin, "Then what about me? I'm already so pitiful, so does Master not feel a modicum of sadness for me?"

Old Man Yang replied with a snigger.

There was a look of grief in Zheng Dafeng's eyes as he lamented, "Master, even though I was already prepared for this, I still can't help but feel a little hurt after hearing your answer."

Old Man Yang couldn't be bothered speaking nonsense with his disciple anymore, and he suddenly said, "In order to stay alive, and to live a better life after staying alive, it's necessary to compete with the entire world. Children are naive, youths are hotheaded, ignorant people are courageous, those in the cultivation world are righteous, scholars are strong-willed, generals are loyal, and ruthless leaders are risk-takers. All of these paths will allow one to stride forward with a clear conscience. However, some people insist on fighting with themselves, so how can they untie the complicated knot that they've made in their hearts?

"It's difficult for cultivators to cultivate their hearts nowadays, and this is because of a... restriction that we established for cultivators back then. It's because of this restriction that cultivators are inferior to even ants. However, we didn't imagine at the time that it was coincidentally this handicap that became the so-called sparks that Cui Chan speaks of...

"Forget about it. Focusing on the hesitant and indecisive nature of the human heart alone, it's as if someone is wearing soaking wet clothes as they climb a mountain. Their clothes will feel heavier and heavier, and the halfway point of a journey of one hundred kilometers will become ninety kilometers. In the end, it's a profound topic regarding how one can wring dry their clothes and continue up the mountain in a relaxed and refreshed manner.

"However, everyone was caught by surprise that these ants actually managed to make it to the peak of the mountain. Of course, some people might have considered the possibility, yet they paid no heed to the matter because they only cared about their pursuit of immortality. They mistakenly thought that after the ants reached the mountain peak and saw the jade pagodas in the heavens, it would still be a very long journey for them to fly up from the mountains even if they grew wings. Thus, they could simply crush the ants to death at that time.

"They planned to fatten up the prey before hunting them and enjoying a scrumptious meal, yet in reality, things have remained very peaceful even after countless years. Many deities have managed to slow down the decay of their godly bodies, and heaven and earth are also continuing to expand further and further. However, you've already seen the final outcome."

Old Man Yang didn't display too much grief, indignance, or sorrow as he said this, and he remained so calm and composed that he appeared much like an outsider who was revealing the biggest secret of the world.

"Why aren't the sages of the Three Teachings disposing of Master once and for all to avoid any future troubles?" Zheng Dafeng asked in a careful voice.

Old Man Yang smiled and replied, "Is there any point in you asking such a profound question right now? Should you not be thinking about how to escape the life of a bachelor?"

Zheng Dafeng smiled in embarrassment and remarked, "So Master also knows how to tell jokes now."

An extremely rare look of helplessness appeared on Old Man Yang's face, causing his wrinkles to bunch together as he replied, "It's all thanks to the constant nagging by Li Er's wife who's detested by both gods and ghosts alike."

"Sister-in-law is also...?" Zheng Dafeng asked in a quiet voice.

Old Man Yang sneered and replied, "If she were, then would I not punish her until she lives a worse life than dogs and sows? It's because she's nothing more than an annoying mortal shrew that I don't bicker with her."

Zheng Dafeng felt a huge sense of relief.

"Gu Can to Chen Ping'an is just like Chen Ping'an to Qi Jingchun. This is the crux of the death trap," Old Man Yang revealed.

Zheng Dafeng frowned and asked, "Gu Can and Chen Ping'an's innate dispositions are far too different, no?"

Old Man Yang smiled faintly and remarked, "To be able to think this far... It looks like you have indeed improved a little."

"Is this a request from her?" Zheng Dafeng asked in a quivering voice.

Old Man Yang shook his head, a look of emotion and reminiscence on his face as he murmured, "She doesn't care about these things, and she wouldn't mind either way. After all, she's... her."

"Pitiful, how utterly pitiful," Zheng Dafeng said with a sorrowful expression.

He recalled the young man who had sat opposite him under the eaves in the Dust Medicinal Shop, snacking on roasted seeds as he smiled and looked at everyone else in the courtyard.

He felt like that young man had already suffered such a perilous and underserved calamity, so it should surely be time for him to relax and enjoy some peaceful days, right?

Unexpectedly, however, there was a scheme even more terrifying than Du Mao and his Sword Devouring Ark waiting for Chen Ping'an right from the moment he left Old Dragon City.

Autumn had arrived.

It was now time for autumn hunting.

"Following the arrival of a chaotic age, there will eventually come a day when people in the Majestic World dislike talking about principles and reasons," Old Man Yang said calmly. "There are fools who think that learning and understanding the principles is useless, and there are ill-intentioned people who twist the principles to achieve their own goals and satisfy their own desires. Everything will come to light with the fundamental reasons.

"People will die without food, and it's even more certain that they'll die without water. At that time, people will realize the value of someone who is willing to speak reason. Fortunately, people have very short memories, often forgetting past hardships once their wounds heal. The world thus repeats this cycle again and again, with nothing improving at all even after ten thousand years.

"Fortunately? How is this fortunate?" Zheng Dafeng asked in a shaky voice.

"Am I a human?" Old Man Yang asked with a smile.

Zheng Dafeng was rendered speechless.

"And are you a human?" Old Man Yang asked next.

Zheng Dafeng remained silent.

In the end, Zheng Dafeng left the medicine shop and walked along Clay Vase Alley, walking past Chen Ping'an's ancestral residence and also walking past Gu Can's ancestral residence.

Old Man Yang continued to puff at his smoking pipe alone in the backyard of the medicine shop.

Ten thousand years ago, there had been clusters of divine light in the sky, appearing majestic among the dazzling celestial bodies.

The humans in the world were nothing more than insignificant sparks, so how could they possibly win?

Cui Chan had already given his answer.

Old Man Yang was unwilling to admit this, yet he had no option but to admit it.

Meanwhile, the person who was able to give this answer was most likely already at someplace in Bamboo Scroll Lake.