Chapter 83: First Clash
A few days passed in the blink of an eye.
Jiang Ce ate until full then slept, slept until awake then ate, didn’t need to work and had people taking care of him, clearly never went to school yet lived like a university student.
News soon came from Ye Lu Feng’s side, saying that Chen Mian had originally planned to retire and cultivate immortality as soon as Jiang Ce returned to work, but due to this special situation, plus Ye Lu Feng somehow using threats and inducements, the final result was that he continued working until Jiang Ce returned.
Of course, the job was kept, but the salary was definitely gone; having Chen Mian substitute for him at work and hand over the salary to himself, such a good thing even the Three-Body Problem wouldn’t dare to be this sci-fi.
The process and results of this Great Tomb trip were not known to too many people.
One reason was that the impact was too great; the more people who knew, the more likely trouble would arise.
The second reason was that after conversations with Wei Lao, Xiao Lin, and others, Jiang Ce and they had reached a consensus: there might be a mole among the Gatekeepers.
The reason was simple: the Gluttonous Ghost’s people were ambushing in the Great Tomb, and they specifically sent a Heaven-Reaching Dharma Master at Five Energies Returning to Origin, not too many not too few, just right to annihilate Xuan Qing and the others with the minimal power; if Jiang Ce hadn’t become a variable, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
The Gluttonous Ghost had a special secret method; the Corpse King brought back wasn’t weak but wasn’t strong either, at most just became a Fierce Ghost for about ten years, that Sixth Rank Ghost Disciple could absolutely control it without letting it Resurgence.
In other words, the Gluttonous Ghost’s Heaven-Reaching Dharma Master appearing there was unnecessary to begin with, unless they were targeting them.
But how did the Gluttonous Ghost know about their actions?
Saying it was a coincidence was still too far-fetched.
However, due to lack of evidence, it couldn’t be confirmed, only that there was a hidden danger.
So Jiang Ce acting as envoy to visit other sects was also carried out in secret.
And since it was nominally forming an envoy group, whether for the Gatekeepers’ face or safety considerations along the way, there was naturally a proper entourage.
Just the Heaven-Reaching Dharma Masters at Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, there were two accompanying.
One was Xuan Qing, the other was a Buddhist Cultivator Jiang Ce hadn’t seen before, with Dharma Name Ku Zhen.
Below Heaven-Reaching Dharma Master, there were Confucian Path, Martial Dao, and Buddhist, almost all people Jiang Ce was familiar with: Ling Xun, Qin Shen Bo, Liang Zhi Che, Lu Yun.
It was said Xuan Qing planned to bring his direct disciple Li Zhijun, but because he was in seclusion at a critical moment, Xuan Qing gave up; Liang Zhi Zhou was originally on the list too, but his arm had just been reattached not long ago and still needed long-term recuperation, really unable to go out.
Worth mentioning was that Lou Leshan, whose great name Jiang Ce had long heard, was actually released and set off together as one of the accompanying envoys.
At that time, Xiao Lin told Jiang Ce, “Don’t look at his weird temper, but his cultivation is not bad, fully Sixth Rank, can help you with many things,” but Jiang Ce just felt Xiao Lin this jerk simply found Lou Leshan too troublesome, so threw him to the even more troublesome himself.
And the most ridiculous thing was, this guy was also a Confucian Cultivator, practically the same vein as Liang Zhi Che.
One started as a genius, debating and debating until it became a thesis defense; the other read books and read until he read novels and became Sitting-Forgetting Dao.
Plus an Unlucky Person Liang Zhi Zhou, Jiang Ce always felt that those walking the Confucian Path more or less had some issues, of course, excluding himself and Wei Lao.
Actually, there weren’t so many people at the beginning, but Jiang Ce asked Xiao Lin, if he took away so many people, wouldn’t the branch’s overall strength be weakened?
Xiao Lin replied, “As long as I’m here, even if only I remain, the Gluttonous Ghost has to continue lying low obediently for me”; Jiang Ce felt he was showing off in front of him, which made him a bit uncomfortable, so he went to Wei Lao to wheedle and finally took an extra Heaven-Reaching Dharma Master.
In the following days, Xiao Lin kept frantically looking for Jiang Ce, but Jiang Ce hid and wouldn’t see him, and Xiao Lin had no way to deal with him.
As for whether Xiao Lin would come up with some dirty trick to mess with him again, Jiang Ce didn’t care; now he was like a general out in the field, not entirely obeying orders, what can you do if I don’t listen to you?
On the contrary, a casual remark from Wei Lao lingered in Jiang Ce’s mind for several days, wondering if the other had discovered something.
“Remember Cao Gong’s words: power serves human will, not humans serving power and changing for it.”
However, besides this sentence, Wei Lao didn’t elaborate, so Jiang Ce was just a bit uneasy, unsure if the other had noticed something or was just reminding him based on his some performances in the Great Tomb; in the end, he could only look at the shoulder bag in the corner of the room that no one had touched, thinking to take it one step at a time.
Finally, the day of departure arrived.
Jiang Ce met up with the others in the underground parking lot.
Because the situation was complicated, they chose to drive themselves; although slower, it was more convenient.
After some observation, Jiang Ce noticed that Ku Zhen seemed to be Ling Xun’s Master, so after greeting the others, he went up to chat a couple sentences; unexpectedly, Ku Zhen had no airs, very approachable, and although they hadn’t met before, he always made Jiang Ce feel that the other seemed to have a good impression of him.
Because there were many people, a total of eight, they drove an MPV.
Xuan Qing and Ku Zhen sat at the very back, one on the left one on the right, heads tilted to both sides, seeming to have some grudge against each other.
Lu Yun had his hands on his knees, sitting upright in the middle, trembling.
The middle section was Liang Zhi Che and the others; Jiang Ce saw only the passenger seat empty, so naturally sat there.
“Phew”
Jiang Ce heard several long exhalations, puzzledly turned back to look.
He hadn’t even asked anything when Liang Zhi Che hurriedly waved his hand: “It’s nothing, nothing, Big Brother you continue sitting!”
Even the usually steady Qin Shen Bo was clearly a bit panicked: “It wasn’t me exhaling, you sit yours.”
“Amitabha, not me either.” Ling Xun performed a Buddhist salute.
Jiang Ce said suspiciously: “Then swear to the Buddha.”
“Uh” Ling Xun frowned, hesitated several times, still sighed: “Don’t make it hard for me.”
Jiang Ce was just about to speak when he heard a magnetic voice from beside him.
“Big Brother? You are Jiang Ce, right.”
Jiang Ce puzzledly looked toward the driver’s seat: “You are… Lou Leshan?”
“Yes, I’ve heard of your great name for a long time.”
Lou Leshan nodded, speaking with full regret: “Since you are Liang Zhi Che’s Big Brother, do you know that Liang Zhi Zhou, due to his arm’s severe injury, can no longer cultivate in this life, in rage sought short death, and has already died.”
At these words, Jiang Ce was horrified.
He turned to look at the dumbfounded Liang Zhi Che: “Your brother died and you didn’t tell me, he was my brother in arms, dearest kin and friend.
Little sister, I promised your brother to treat you like my own sister, from now on it’s just us depending on each other, Big Brother will take good care of you!”
“What? Sister?” Lou Leshan sharply turned back, glaring at Liang Zhi Che: “You’re female?!”
But he realized something wrong, looked toward Jiang Ce, just meeting his mocking expression.
“That’s it?”
So busy with New Year… just this chapter for tonight, we’ll continue tomorrow daytime
