Chapter 183 - Patriot or Traitor?
Zhong Yue and Shui Zian continued walking and they eventually entered a jungle where ruins, rubbles and burnt totem pillars were strewn about.
No one could be seen around and other than the chirping of the birds and the noises made by the insects, the surroundings were eerily quiet.
They moved very fast and Shui Zian moved incredibly fast past all the obstacles while Zhong Yue followed behind warily, all the while maintaining his silence.
“Zhong Yue from the Zhong Shan Clan, you seem to be very wary of me?”
Without turning back, Shui Zian suddenly said with a laugh, “And you seem to have a very bad impression of me. Could you please tell me what I did to have warranted this suspicion?”
Zhong Yue’s heart clenched as he was fraught with trepidation as soon as Shui Zian volunteered to group up with him and now, after the latter had asked his question, Zhong Yue was put into an unprecedented level of alertness.
“What are you trying to say, Elder Shui?”
Zhong Yue said cautiously, “I don’t dare to have any prejudice against Elder Shui.”
Shui Zian however, said, “I do things in a way that would always cause people to suspect that I have betrayed the Swords Gate and the whole of humanity. Therefore, it is normal that you suspect me as well, am I right?”
The nagging feeling in Zhong Yue’s heart continued to burgeon and he said, “Elder Shui is a senior in the Swords Gate and you have rendered significant merits to the Swords Gate for a very long time. If it weren’t for Elder Shui, the Swords Gate would be in an even more dangerous situation by now.”
Without turning back, Shui Zian continued to walk and said while shaking his head, “Not really. Even though we gave an excuse for the Xiao Mang Celestial Race to declare war on us, they wouldn't dare to because the headmaster of Swords Gate is not dead yet. They will continue to exercise restrain and only would only declare war once the headmaster passes away, as that is the best time for them to conquer the entire Great Wilderness. This was the reason why I went everywhere to invite the various strong individuals from various races, but they did not provide much help as well. After all, the Xiao Mang Celestial Race would only play nice with us until the death of our headmaster.”
Zhong Yue frowned as people would only try to claim all the credits and honor while Shui Zian did not accept the honors but instead, proceeded to analyze the reason why the Xiao Mang Celestial Race would not declare war on the Swords Gate.
Shui Zian then suddenly said, “You are suspecting me because of Tian Myriad Mother, right?”
Goosebumps appeared all over Zhong Yue’s body and he almost let out a shout but he managed to force himself to regain his ground!
Shui Zian looked backwards and he slowed down his speed to walk side to side with Zhong Yue. He then stared at Zhong Yue and said, “Tian Myriad Mother is Shui Qingyan, right? You found out about this and you knew someone in the higher-ups of the Shui Tu Clan summoned Shui Qingyan so that she could be devoured by Tian Myriad Mother, am I right?”
Zhong Yue grew increasingly alarmed and he felt Shui Zian’s gaze was akin to that of a poisonous snake! Shui Zian gazed at him as if Shui Zian could see through him and glean whatever thoughts ran wildly in him!
“During the previous Lawless Battle, Shui Qingyan used my sword cocoon and sword silk when she fought with you, which ultimately caused you to suspect that I was the one who summoned the real Shui Qingyan and let Tian Myriad Mother to devour her, is that right?”
Shui Zian continued saying with a smile, “And the sword cocoon sword silk is one of the ten Malefic weapons and I am the owner of this weapon. Therefore, Shui Qingyan’s possession of a sword cocoon is naturally given by me to her, which is why you are suspecting me right now.”
Zhong Yue coughed and he immediately felt his lips were dry and his throat was sore as he said, “What are you trying to say after telling me so much?”
Shui Zian replied, “After what I said, do you still not understand at all?”
Zhong Yue breathed in deeply and he said seriously, “Elder Shui Zian, please clarify your intentions!”
A calm Shui Zian then said casually, “Of course I’m going to kill you so that the secret will not be exposed. Chances are hard to come by so I want to take this chance to kill you. My identity has been exposed by you and previously, it was hard to kill you as I would immediately reveal my true intentions to the others. But now, no one would be able to connect your death to me, especially in this dire situation of being hunted by the celestial races.”
Zhong Yue had goosebumps and he felt extremely threatened!
Shui Zian laughed and said, “Opportunities like this will not come by anymore if I missed my chance today. In fact, I don’t even need to kill you as all I have to do is let the celestial races do the wet work for me and no one would be none the wiser if I pretended to fight to death to escape from their pursuit. Not only would the Swords Gate not suspect me of your death, they would even try to comfort me and ask me not to feel responsible over your death!”
In Zhong Yue’s psyche ocean, Xin Huo however, looked casually at the vigorous waves in the thunder ocean, which was a result of the incredible turbulence Zhong Yue’s emotions.
“Brat Yue, just relax. This old man doesn’t yet seem to have any intention of killing you.” said Xin Huo lazily.
“Really?”
Zhong Yue was stunned and he said in disbelief, “If he did not want to kill me, then why did he say such things?”
The little fire boy replied, “How would I know? I guess he is just toying with you.”
Zhong Yue still felt wary despite Shui Zian not wanting to kill him for now. He could have killed him easily without any consequences through the borrowed knife of the celestial races!
Shui Zian stared at Zhong Yue and said, “Are you not worried for your life? You will soon be killed by me.”
Zhong Yue acted calmly and said, “Is there any use for me to be worried now?”
“There really is no use at all.”
Shui Zian yawned and said, “I could kill you easily if I wanted to, but there is still a worrisome matter lingering in my mind. There was once an ordinary young boy that entered the Swords Gate long ago, someone who simply drifted among the mediocrity without any improvement for the longest time. This boy had undergone such momentous changes such that his improvements shook even Zuo Xiangsheng!”
Suddenly, Shui Zian then shifted the direction of his words to Zhong Yue and he said, “This young boy felt like he had completely changed to another person. In the Demon Ruins, so many people had died and among them were even two elders. But the young boy remained unharmed. But his performance after that incident was even more shocking than before it. Thousands were killed in the Beast God Ridge and he returned unharmed yet again! During the Lawless Battle, he even outmatched the core disciples of the top ten clans and fought on equal terms with Tian Myriad Mother to gain the first place among the outer disciples!”
Shui Zian recounted the incidents Zhong Yue were involved in as his gaze turned sharper and sharper and he said, “Then, out of everyone’s watch, he did not attempt to obtain the spirit of Swords Gate but instead, quietly left Swords Gate and headed towards the territory of the monsters. After becoming a Qi Practitioner, he saved one of the four young aces of Sword Gate, Jun Sixie and when he returned to the Swords Gate, he displayed outstanding talent and became a Rebirth level Qi Practitioner instantly without even going through the Spirit Nurturing stage first. So tell me, a little disciple from the inconsequential Zhong Shan Clan, hitherto unheard, suddenly garnering such fame ... is someone like this worthy of my suspicion?”
Zhong Yue let out a breath of relief and he asked as he smiled, “It is indeed worthy of any suspicions but may I know what are you so suspicious of?”
Shui Zian replied with a smile, “I did not suspect him based on nothing. My suspicion was based on an incident that happened in the Swords Gate before the young boy became so outstanding and that incident was the eruption of the Devil Soul Forbidden Land.”
His gaze was as sharp as swords that pierced straight into Zhong Yue’s heart and he said, “Devil Soul Forbidden Land is just like a catastrophic land to most Qi Practitioners as they had no clue of what is lurking in that abyss. However, to those strong individuals that are the pillars to the entire Swords Gate, they could feel that the things lurking in that abyss were still as strong as ever! Those were the remaining souls of the demonic gods! Therefore, I suspect that a demonic god’s soul had infiltrated and taken over the body of the young and little disciple of the Zhong Shan Clan. Therefore, just like how Shui Qingyan is no longer the Shui Qingyan before she was devoured by Tian Myriad Mother, this little disciple is no longer the little disciple he used to be, am I right?”
Zhong Yue felt speechless and he said, “What a great story, Elder Shui.”
Shui Zian laughed and said, “A great story indeed. I have no proof that you are a demonic god just like you do not have proof that I am the traitor of the Swords Gate. Our assumptions are merely our own assumptions and backed by no concrete evidence.”
Zhong Yue replied, “With that said, Elder Shui still has your own ways to kill me, right?”
Shui Zian started walking and he said, “Of course. Let’s go, the celestial race pursuers are near.”
Then, a confused Zhong Yue followed the footsteps of Shui Zian as he had no idea what he was thinking and the purpose for which he told him so much.
This enigma of an old man was someone he could not be see through at all.
The West Barren was incredibly vast and when Zhong Yue got here, he was on an airship that flew pass mountain after mountain. The airship flew very close to the ground as they tried to avoid the various celestial temples of the celestial races to prevent unnecessary troubles.
Now, as they tried to escape from the West Barren on foot, they saw different scenarios from a different point of view but unfortunately, Zhong Yue was unable to spare any extra attention to be spared for these beautiful scenarios.
Is Shui Zian purely suspecting me or does he really want to kill me through the hands of the celestial races? Why did he speak of the suspicions drawn to him if he did not want to kill me? Shui Zian, Elder Shui, just whose side are you on?
He really couldn't understand what this old man was thinking. Shui Zian spoke of the suspicions on both himself and Zhong Yue loud and clear. However, if he intended to kill Zhong Yue, there was no need for such talks at all.
As they progressed, they walked out of the jungle unconsciously and suddenly, Shui Zian took a turn and he headed into a territory of a celestial race instead of the direction of the Swords Gate.
Zhong Yue had a shock and he thought, My success on reverse opening the five great Yuan Shen secret realms has spread all over the West Barren and Shui Zian too, said that any celestial race territories would be unsafe to enter as they all want to kill me. So we should avoid their lands. Then why is he entering this celestial race territory? Is he really trying to kill me through the hands of the celestial races?
All Zhong Yue could only do now, despite his palpable apprehension, was to follow Shui Zian closely as things progressed to this extent.
This celestial race was one of the smaller races in among all the other races. On their path of advancement, the surroundings were very empty with only some ancient ruins standing on the plains while they occasionally saw some humans and monsters living in here. They also saw some huge totem pillars and palaces with no one residing inside.
Zhong Yue measured these totem carvings and he saw the carvings were about an abnormal god with a human’s head, horse’s body and hair, tiger’s back and tail, wings.
This celestial race had long dwindled rapidly judging from the lack of maintenance huge palaces and temples as well as the vastly abandoned land in the territory. Zhong Yue had also not seen even one disciple from this celestial race on their journey as well.
Not long later, they got to a tiny mountain that seemed to be unguarded, leading into the mountain.
Shui Zian just walked into the gates and together with Zhong Yue, they arrived at a weathered celestial temple. Although it looked very old and weathered, Shui Zian bowed and said respectfully, “Senior Martial Brother Ying, do you still remember our promise?”
“Of course!”
From the weathered temple, an old voice could be heard saying, “I owe you a promise and I will honor it. Now, could it be that you intend to call in this favor as you brought this young human here while there were a few tens of strong Qi Practitioners chasing after you? Hmph, this young man here must be the one that reverse opened the five great secret realms, the one they call Zhong Yue? Zhong Yue from the Zhong Shan Clan? Are you not afraid that I will kill him after bringing him here?”
Shui Zian smiled and said, “Of course not because you owe me a great deal as I was the one who saved the last remaining bloodline of your Ying Zhao Celestial Race.”
“What do you want me to do?”
The old voice asked again, “Ensure the safety of this young man?”
Shui Zian nodded and said to Zhong Yue, “Enter the temple and with the presence of old man Ying, you will be safe.”
“What about you, Elder?” asked Zhong Yue.
Shui Zian smiled and said, “There are too many pursuers behind us so I’ll help to reduce their numbers by a bit. Senior Martial Brother Ying, I will hand the boy over to you now. When I return, if he has lost even a hair, I will kill the last remaining bloodline of your race and let you watch as your race faces extinction!”
“Hmph! Let him in right now!” said the old voice with obvious malcontent.