125. The Imperial Envoy Arrives

Near dusk, deep within the Myriad Mountains, four masked figures draped in black robes were hurtling forward at breakneck speed.

These four figures were precisely the imperial commissioners dispatched from the capital by the Great Kang Emperor at Wang Taiyu’s memorial, tasked with apprehending Song Tiangang.

Previously, these four had chased Song Tiangang right into the Myriad Mountains. Yet Song Tiangang possessed countless and formidable methods. Despite their desperate and breathless pursuit, the four had ultimately lost track of him.

"Chen Wu," someone muttered in a low voice. "Night is about to fall, and this Myriad Mountains is no place for us to linger. Make a decision: do we stay or do we leave?"

The man addressed as Chen Wu was broad-shouldered, and his mask faintly bore the texture of a dragon's pattern. As the Dragon of the Earthly Branches, he ranked fifth, hence the designation Chen Wu.

Chen Wu said apathetically, "The Emperor commanded us to investigate the matter of the tax revenues in Xuzhou City. Now that the truth has been brought to light, we naturally must apprehend Song Tiangang. Since this fellow has fled into the Myriad Mountains, we must account for him whether he is dead or alive."

An account had to be rendered. With the Emperor’s decree hanging over them, none of them dared to slack off. Leaving was an option, but they could not simply leave empty-handed.

Another person mused thoughtfully, "Earlier, I saw that black sun streak across the horizon, and Song Tiangang immediately used some technique to chase after it."

"After all, we are not cultivators, which is why we were shaken off by him just now."

"If we can find that black sun, perhaps we can find Song Tiangang."

At the mention of the black sun, even Chen Wu’s tone turned somewhat solemn. "That black sun was exceedingly bizarre. When it appeared, a desire to obtain it and claim it as my own actually welled up inside me."

"Moreover, when the black sun swept past above Song Tiangang’s head, it seemed to have uttered a sentence."

"Wei San, Xu Qi, and You Shiyi, did you hear it?"

"No."

The three of them shook their heads. Engrossed entirely in the pursuit of Song Tiangang, they had had no spare attention to pay to the black sun. If even Chen Wu had missed it, let alone them.

"Forget it."

Chen Wu shook his head, continuing his flight as he spoke. "There are remnants of the abandoned folk living in these Myriad Mountains. Once night falls, those people will appear as bright as torches in our eyes. If we can learn from them where the black sun went, there might still be a chance of finding Song Tiangang."

"And if we cannot find him?"

"Wouldn't that be even better? Fleeing in fear of punishment only adds to his crimes."

"Song Tiangang has escaped, but the Song family cannot run. The Emperor merely requires a scapegoat to answer to."

"Then could we perhaps..."

"Official business comes first. There are plenty of people back in Xuzhou City."

...

Meanwhile, inside the Pure Immortality Temple, Chen Huangpi applied the "Overthrow Qing and Restore Ming" ointment onto a piece of gauze, then wrapped it around his eyes, tying it securely behind his head.

"Quite sturdy indeed," Chen Huangpi nodded with satisfaction. "With this topical ointment, my eyes will recover in two days at most. By then, I'll first visit the old temple to check on the Second Master, and then there's Ah Gui. It treated me thus, and I cannot fail it."

Although Song Tiangang was dead, his soul had inexplicably vanished into thin air. Without a soul to nourish it, the soul-stealing ghost residing within the Ledger of Summoning Souls could not awaken. This caused Chen Huangpi deep distress.

The bronze oil lamp chimed in lazily, "What are there to fear? Aren't there remnants of the common folk living in the Myriad Mountains? As the saying goes, impoverished mountains and wicked waters breed scoundrels. When the time comes, just slaughter them all and feed them to Ah Gui, problem solved."

"No, no." Chen Huangpi shook his head. "My Master’s primordial spirit transformed into the sun and moon, rendering him equivalent to the Heavenly Dao of the Myriad Mountains."

"Master said that all good things are left for me."

"The Myriad Mountains are mine, and the remnant folk are mine as well."

As Chen Huangpi spoke, he placed one hand on his hip while pointing a finger toward the sky. "The sun and moon are the rules, and also the Mandate of Heaven. The Mandate of Heaven is my Master. I have received the Mandate from Heaven, and may my reign endure for all eternity—how could I slaughter my own subjects?"

"Your Majesty, why not consult the wise and virtuous ministers?"

"Where are the wise and virtuous ministers?"

"Near at hand yet far away."

The Fox Mountain God chuckled, "I once heard that an enlightened ruler is inevitably surrounded by wise ministers. Since Your Majesty is the destination of Heaven's mandate, you are naturally a sovereign of the highest order, and those by Your Majesty's side are naturally wise ministers."

By now, it had somewhat figured out how to get along with Chen Huangpi: do not argue about right or wrong, and pay no heed to logic. Chen Huangpi’s train of thought was vastly different from ordinary people, so everything must take him as the standard. Going along with his whims in all things was the key.

Seeing Chen Huangpi beam with joy, the Fox Mountain God knew that as long as it next brought up the plan to leave the Myriad Mountains and go slaughter cultivators outside at will, it would definitely leave a very favorable impression on Chen Huangpi.

The Myriad Mountains were fraught with malevolent anomalies, and the Pure Immortality Temple was unimaginably wicked; it was no place to linger. The outside world was the true paradise.

However, the Fox Mountain God had overlooked one thing.

Although the bronze oil lamp also desired to leave the Myriad Mountains—their goals were identical—its showing off in front of Chen Huangpi like this was simply more than the bronze oil lamp could stomach.

"Very well, very well!" the bronze oil lamp shouted aloud. "The treacherous minister has already jumped out, and that treacherous minister is none of other than the Fox Mountain God!"

"You spout nonsense!" the Fox Mountain God cried out in shock and anger. "My loyalty is absolute; how could I be a treacherous minister?"

The bronze oil lamp cursed furiously, "You just rephrased what this lamp said earlier and spat it back out! If you aren't a treacherous minister, then who is?"

"Next, you would surely say that there are countless cultivators outside the Myriad Mountains."

"Those cultivators are all bastards who drink human blood, eat human flesh, slaughter people for treasures, commit every conceivable atrocity, and act just like local bullies and ruffians. They are all deserving of death, and as long as Chen Huangpi goes out on a killing spree, not only will he purge the universe, but he will also awaken Ah Gui."

"Do you dare deny that you intended to say precisely this?"

"You... you..." The Fox Mountain God stammered, unable to articulate a response.

"What? Exposed by this lamp, are you now left speechless?" The bronze oil lamp tilted its head up high, proud as a victorious rooster. "Treacherous minister, treacherous minister! You are the quintessential treacherous minister!"

"Fine, I am the treacherous minister, and you are the loyal subject!" The Fox Mountain God was driven to laughter by sheer anger. "Then tell me, what brilliant idea do you have?"

Though it did not know why this bronze oil lamp had suddenly turned on it, if it could not produce a solid rationale, the Fox Mountain God was determined to debate this bronze oil lamp thoroughly right in front of Chen Huangpi.

Foxes were the most perceptive of human nature and exceedingly eloquent.

The bronze oil lamp retorted with utter disdain, "The words you spoke were the words of this lamp, and the plan you uttered was the plan of this lamp. You plagiarized this lamp's ideas and instead demand that this lamp conceive a new one—you are virtually as shameless as this lamp..."

Before its words fully faded, the bronze oil lamp abruptly froze.

At the same time, Chen Huangpi sensed something and turned his gaze toward a certain direction.

...

At the foot of Yuqing Mountain, Chen Wu and his three companions ascended the stone steps.

They had already searched several settlements of the remnant folk, but had come away empty-handed. The black sun seemed to have vanished completely upon entering the Myriad Mountains.

In truth, it had indeed vanished, because the black sun was simply the Primordial Escape Divine Light emitted after the bronze oil lamp underwent its mutation. Once inside the Myriad Mountains, the bronze oil lamp had utterly transformed into a malevolent anomaly—a sinister, ferocious black wicked lamp. Trying to find it was as difficult as searching for a needle in the vast sea.

Presently, this Yuqing Mountain was their final stop.

Arriving at the mountain gate of the Pure Immortality Temple, You Shiyi shook his head and said, "Interesting, truly interesting. The remnant folk at the foot of the mountain said this temple is called the Pure Immortality Temple, yet the mountain gate bears the inscription 'Suppressing Immortality Temple'."

"First purifying immortalities, then suppressing them."

"Truly..."

"Truly what?"

A childish voice suddenly drifted out from behind the mountain gate.

The four of them raised their eyes to see a young Taoist boy of about twelve or thirteen years old, clad in a Taoist robe, walking toward them.

The young Taoist had his eyes tightly bound with gauze, and he carried a yellowish oil lamp in his hand. A fox trailed along behind him.

The youth possessed cultivation, yet with their strength, they were utterly unable to discern his specific realm.

As for the fox, it was even stranger. It looked somewhat like a deity, yet possessed not the slightest trace of incense fire.

Uncertain of the situation, but well aware that the Myriad Mountains were profoundly bizarre and anything could happen, Chen Wu cupped his fists and said, "My fourth brother speaks without thinking at times. He was merely struck by the unusual naming of your esteemed sanctuary, hence his abrupt words. Please do not take offense, little brother."

"It's fine. Previous cultivators have said the same thing."

"Could it be a middle-aged cultivator dressed in gray robes?"

When Song Tiangang had escaped, he had indeed worn gray robes. However, before he even crossed the mountain gate, he had already been slain by Chen Huangpi, so naturally he had never spoken such words.

Chen Huangpi shook his head. "No, it was some cultivators wearing black clothes—dozens of them, in fact."

Upon hearing this, Chen Wu and his three companions felt no disappointment. This was because Song Tiangang, empowered by the golden seal, possessed strength comparable to a prefectural city god. If he wished, even if he stood right before cultivators and let them widen their eyes and unleash their spiritual sense, they would remain completely oblivious.

Consequently, Chen Wu asked, "Little brother, a blazing black sun swept across the sky in broad daylight—have you happened to see it?"

"I cannot see." Chen Huangpi pointed at his own eyes with a look of disappointment.

"This..." Chen Wu furrowed his brow; the boy was genuinely blind.

The other three also looked somewhat helpless. Seeing that Chen Huangpi possessed cultivation, they had assumed the gauze wrapped around his eyes was merely decorative. After all, to cultivators, losing one's sight was no grave matter; unless one was born blind, numerous methods existed to restore vision.

Most crucially, cultivators possessed methods to test for falsehoods. Although they themselves were not cultivators, at a single glance they could tell that Chen Huangpi was not lying.

"Are there any adults in your esteemed temple?"

"There are, but my master has lost his mind. He comes and goes like a ghost, so I have no idea whether he is in the temple at the moment."

As Chen Huangpi’s words fell, Chen Wu and the others grew even more disappointed.

One blind boy, one madman. It seemed impossible to extract any useful information from this place.

At that moment, You Shiyi suddenly spoke up, "In four hours, daybreak will arrive. We had best leave quickly."

Whether it was his imagination or not, ever since this little blind boy had emerged, he had the persistent sensation that a pair of eyes was watching him from the darkness. The crucial point was that while this temple's incense fire was astonishingly meager, it harbored no malevolent anomalies—the entire place felt wrong in every conceivable way.

In truth, Chen Wu had no desire to linger either. Yuqing Mountain was their final stop; failing to find Song Tiangang would not incur the Emperor's wrath. Furthermore, even if they did find him, His Majesty probably preferred that Song Tiangang remained a fugitive fleeing from justice forever.

Just then, Chen Huangpi frowned and warned, "Night has already fallen, and there are countless malevolent anomalies within the Myriad Mountains. No matter how formidable your cultivation may be, the moment you run into even one, every anomaly within a radius of a hundred miles will pick up your trail. By then, even if you want to run, you won't be able to escape."

He was offering this warning out of genuine kindness. After all, these few cultivators, though somewhat lacking in manners, did not appear to be malicious people.

However, Chen Wu merely cupped his fists. "Little brother, we still have official business to attend to. We shall take our leave."

With that, the group turned around and simply departed, acting as though they were strictly executing their duties.

Chen Huangpi looked perplexed. He muttered softly, "These four are so strange. They clearly have no deities protecting them, yet they insist on leaving in the middle of the night. Could it be they aren't afraid of the anomalies at all?"

The bronze oil lamp chimed in faintly, "That's because they are anomalies themselves."