The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

The misty light of daybreak foreboded the gloomy coldness that would last the entire day. Inside the tent, Qi Zhengyan was making all sorts of exquisite and mysterious seals with his hands. The seals, containing the implicit charm of the river, blossomed naturally.

Sinister wind began rising, passing through the room and hitting their faces with bursts of coldness. They swirled in the middle of the tent to form a vortex.

Upon seeing this scene, Jiang Zhiwei, Ruan Yushu, and Zhao Heng began feeling doubtful as they recalled Qi Zhengyan’s behavior today. It almost felt ridiculous. How could he change so drastically? His meticulousness and caution made him an entirely different person.

The only thing unchanging about Qi Zhengyan was his poker face. It was already ingrained in him to keep his emotions concealed and to speak as little as possible.

“Just what exactly happened to him in the past year?”

They all turned to look at Meng Qi, hinting for him to find a chance to question Qi Zhengyan. Though unwilling, Meng Qi must admit that he was the bond and lubricant of the team dynamic. He was their intimate sister and the aunty in the neighborhood committee…

“I really must find a chance to have a good talk with Senior Brother Qi!” Meng Qi had long wanted to do so.

The wind began oozing a hint of darkness as the vortex contorted to form a human shape and emit sounds of shock, fear, hatred, and confusion.

“Lord!”

One’s obsession was of no equivalent to one’s soul. It did not have any specific knowledge of its original human self, and only remember its strongest, lingering thought before its death. Not a peep of the reverberating sound was left the tent thanks to Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei working together to seal it inside.

“Lord?” Zhao Heng had always been sensitive to such titles. “Miao Cong was Miao Hu’s only son and the future leader of the Nine Mountains Army. Who would he call Lord?”

“So the deceased is not Miao Cong,” Qi Zhengyan said expressionlessly.

“Not Miao Cong? Doesn’t that mean something is wrong with Miao Hu?”

“If this has nothing to do with Miao Hu, how can the perpetrator pull off this stunt?”

“No wonder we were framed as soon as we arrived at the camp. It is precisely because we are new and couldn’t recognize Miao Cong. That way, we won’t discover anything wrong,” Jiang Zhiwei said, frowning.

Caressing the strings of her zither with her right hand, Ruan Yushu added, “Had we not respond quickly enough, perhaps the accomplice Liang Ye might have destroyed the telling characteristics of the corpse on the pretense of making a mistake.”

Once Miao Hu confirmed that the corpse was indeed his son, it was likely that no one else would suspect otherwise!

Qi Zhengyan loosened his hands and the sinister wind dissipated. He said in a softer voice, “The corpse’s face had already been destroyed in the first place. We could only roughly determine his identity from his appearance and the vigor of his flesh and blood.”

This matter seemed to have become very clear. When Miao Hu saw newcomers joining the army, he secretly killed an Exterior expert and pretended it was his son to frame them. Then, he was free to openly rebel and provoke an internal strife. The Revolutionary Army would then fall apart, giving them an excuse that since a defeat was impending, there was no need to be besieged. That would leave them the room to escape the war!

“We must inform Du Huaishang and Immortal Wanshi and see if they have any countermeasures to this,” Meng Qi said after some thought. Du Huaishang was close to full recovery, enough for him to use his divine weapon. It was just the right timing for him to make a sudden appearance and control the situation.

They must not let the issue of spying and internal strife to continue for long. They must end it quickly at the roots or they would be facing both exterior attacks of the Imperial Army from the outside and internal scheming. If that happened, failing to guard the camp would be a small comfort in itself. The Revolutionary Army would have zero chance of turning their defeat into a victory, that is, crossing the river and attacking the capital.

Meng Qi straightened his back and an incorporeal, colorless light once again flew out from behind his head. He left his doppelganger behind to occupy the tent and used his true body to go to the main battalion camp.

Du Huaishang could now walk and the vertical line on his midbrows was open, revealing a golden eye. Inside the pupil was a golden flame and the breath of the Golden Crow.

Meng Qi waited for Du Huaishang to finish expressing his heartfelt gratitude before telling him about the deceased’s obsession.

Du Huaishang looked solemn. He knew that loyalties were wavering during his time in a coma but he did not expect it to be this bad.

Hu Zhigao and Hou Yue exchanged looks. “Had Miao Hu betrayed us for the imperial court?”

Immortal Wanshi was startled. He smiled bitterly before sighing. “I thought that Miao Hu would never stand with the imperial court after the loss of his only son. In the event of an internal strife and Heavenly King’s continued coma, I was planning to throw my support behind him. Yet, I nearly fell into a trap and helped the imperial court win this war.”

Silence shrouded the tent. Du Huaishang regaining consciousness did not seem to improve their current situation. Internal strife was brewing in the Revolutionary Army and one of their largest armies was already revolting.

After a short silence, Du Huaishang glanced at Meng Qi and said, “Why don’t we test Miao Hu?”

He did not wish to lose his right-hand man!

Meng Qi voiced his agreement. Considering the weakened state of the Revolutionary Army, an internal strife would be disadvantageous for their task.

Naturally, if the breakout of an internal strife was inevitable, it was best if they ended it as soon as possible. There can be no more benevolence or hesitation. Four top-tier masters who were temporarily united were certainly superior to a group of five masters with a traitor inside.

“It hasn’t been an hour since Lord of Shadows died. I am sure the spy here has no idea yet. Heavenly King Du, why don’t you pretend that you are still in a coma? Immortal Wanshi can invite Miao Hu here and observe his behavior and manner while discussing his loyalty. Wake up at the crucial moment and use your momentum to suppress him and stabilize his wavering loyalty.” Having seen many similar stories, it did not take long for Meng Qi to come up with such a scenario.

Immortal Wanshi and Du Huaishang exchanged looks before slowly nodding.

…

Moments later, Hou Yue secretly led Miao Hu into the main battalion camp.

He pretended to have “misspoke” about Du Huaishang’s injuries being difficult to heal and mentioned the power vacuum in the Red Coats Army. Then, he told Miao Hu that Immortal Wanshi was having a secret discussion with Marquis of Nine Mountains.

Miao Hue could understand Hou Yue’s thoughts and became tempted. He controlled his strength and immediately restrained his breath before sneaking out of his own tent and following Hou Yue to Du Huaishang’s sickbed.

Miao Hu immediately knew Du Huaishang’s fate after glancing at the latter, whose eyes were closed and breath weakened. With a pained expression, he turned to look at Immortal Wanshi. “My heart breaks to see Heavenly King Du sacrifice his life for the common good.”

Immortal Wanshi exhaled a drawn-out sigh. “Unfortunately, not everyone in the Revolutionary Army has ‘loyalty’. With shifting loyalties and thoughts of their own, I can see the army soon falling apart but I can’t bear it. I want to give it a final push.”

“Please continue, Immortal.” Miao Hu’s turned solemn.

“Zhu Shou is domineering and greedy. Feng Jingtang is narrow-minded. Liu Shunshui is short-sighted and preoccupied with his own territory. Only you, Duke Miao, are magnanimous and broad-minded. You have the longest battle experience and the best reputation and strength among them. You are worthy of leading the army.” Immortal Wanshi saluted him solemnly. “Duke Miao, please take on this responsibility for the sake of the Revolutionary Army and the common good. I will definitely help you to the best of my ability.”

The expression on Miao Hu’s aged face changed continuously, shifting from shock to delight to worry.

Immortal Wanshi was secretly startled upon seeing the change in Miao Hu. It seemed like there was really something wrong with Miao Hu!

Just then, Miao Hu suddenly sighed. “I am really ashamed to receive such trust from you, Immortal. To be honest, my son Cong’s death was falsified.”

“Huh?” Immortal Wanshi and the rest were a little stupefied that Miao Hu was being honest.

In a voice deep with regret, Miao Hu said, “In a moment of momentary carelessness, I allowed my son to be kidnapped. Liang Ye threatened me and made me cause an internal strife.”

“I only have one son. I was worried about the chaos and was blinded by unscrupulous friends. That was how I ended up taking the wrong side. After listening to your words, Immortal, I suddenly realized my affairs are so minuscule compared to the important worldly affairs. For the sake of the Revolutionary Army and the good of the common folk, I will pretend that I do not have this son!”

He spoke impassionately as if he was sacrificing himself for the greater good.

“How ruthless!” The same thought occurred to Immortal Wanshi, as well as the “listening” Du Huaishang, Meng Qi, and the rest.

To Miao Hu, this might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance while he could still have more sons in the future!

“Great! Duke Miao, you are indeed righteous! It makes me ashamed of myself!” a familiar voice drifted into Miao Hu’s ears. He looked sideways and saw Du Huaishang stepping out from the canopy with the Sword of Divine Mandate in hand. He exuded such a majestic air with his breath fully unleashed.

“Heavenly King Du?” Miao Hu instantly lost his voice. He could not stop himself from looking at the sickbed and saw that the person who had been lying on the bed had completely transformed. Du Huaishang looked carefree and handsome in his white robe. He was smirking at Miao Hu.

All sorts of emotions flitted across Du Huaisang’s face. “My injuries have long healed, thanks to Master’s help. I decided to test after finding out about the wavering loyalties in the Revolutionary Army and the existence of spies. I didn’t expect you to be so magnanimous, Miao Hu. It really makes me feel unspeakably ashamed!”

Miao Hu’s expression shifted. He glanced at the divine weapon in Du Huaishang’s hand and turned to look at Immortal Wanshi and the mysterious Master, Meng Qi. Then, he quickly came to his senses and took a step forward and said in feigned surprise, “Testing us is inevitable. If I am in your place, I would have done the same. I feel very much at ease now that you have recovered and can regain the mantle.”

Then, Miao Hu pointed at Meng Qi. “Is this the Master that I met yesterday?”

“I have the single name of ‘Shi’. Yesterday, I left my doppelganger behind to infiltrate the camp of the Imperial Army and kill Lord of Shadows as to help Heavenly King Du recover.” Meng Qi gave Miao Hu a concise explanation to instill confidence in the latter that the morale of the Imperial Army was low and that they could start preparing for a battle against the Imperial Army.

Unsurprisingly, Miao Hu was immediately stupefied. “You killed Lord of Shadows in the camp of the Imperial Army?”

“Did he think that divine weapons are fake? Did he treat Martial Monarch and the other top-tier masters as false masters? Did he treat Lord of Shadows, a Second Order master, as a fake?”

“This is undoubtedly true. Before long, you will be able to verify this,” Immortal Wanshi said placidly.

Miao Hu suppressed his look of bewilderment and glanced meaningfully at Meng Qi before saying, “Now that Heavenly King Du has recovered, I am prepared to follow your lead!”

He hesitated before continuing, “But before this, can you help me save my son?”