Chapter 1777: Fate Cannot Be Changed

“Why do I need to care about it?” Jing Teng replied with a grin.

“You don’t even care that your own body was stolen? Who knows what other people will do with it?” Qiu Honglei asked in surprise, forgetting about her anger at Zu An.

Wei Suo nodded hurriedly as well. There was already all sorts of nonsense filling his mind, as he thought about whatever vulgar things they could do with her body.

When she saw their expressions, Jing Teng chuckled and said, “You’re all overthinking things. It’s nothing more than a vine.”

“A vine?” the others repeated, suddenly remembering that she was a vine fiend. They all sighed in relief.

Only Zu An asked in puzzlement, “Doesn’t that original body contain your power? Won’t they be able to absorb it if it ends up in the hands of another?”

“Don’t worry. They won’t be able to absorb anything,” Jing Teng said, shaking her head. “If anyone believes that the vine contains my power, they’ll be sorely disappointed.”

Zu An assumed that her original body was a bit special and that perhaps there was some kind of seal on it that only she could undo. He continued, “But now that your original body is lost, you won’t be able to recover your power. That means there won’t be any way of fulfilling your promise of helping me find my companions…”

“Are you planning to abandon me?” Jing Teng asked, her eyes narrowing. Her expression turned a bit cold.

“That’s not what I meant, but…” Zu An began, but he was interrupted by Qiu Honglei.

“We had an agreement. We would help you find your original body, and you would help us find our companions. It was a fair transaction with both sides being equal. Now, we’ve escorted you all the way to where your original body is, and yet it vanished without a trace. We don’t even know who stole it! We still need to search for our companions, so where would we find the time to keep you company doing nothing?” Qiu Honglei cried, clearly having already made up her mind. She definitely couldn't let these two stay together. It was too dangerous.

When she saw how angry Qiu Honglei was, Jing Teng smiled and said, “Miss Qiu, just now, I only borrowed your man to settle a grudge with Zang Ao. I hope you won’t take it to heart.”

Qiu Honglei was stunned, asking, “Is that true?” She had suspected that could be the case, but Jing Teng’s act was just too realistic.

Zu An forced a laugh and said, “Of course it’s true…”

Qiu Honglei ignored him and stared straight at Jing Teng, who chuckled and added, “Indeed. Even if you don’t believe me, you should know your own man.”

Qiu Honglei’s face turned red before she said, “It’s because I know him too well; that’s why I knew that your looks just happened to be his type.”

Jing Teng’s eyes lit up. She smiled ambiguously at Zu An, who coughed and said, “What are you saying…”

Qiu Honglei was also a bit embarrassed, but she didn’t completely trust Jing Teng. She continued, “Since it was just to fool Zang Ao, why didn’t you use Wei Suo instead of my Ah Zu?!”

Wei Suo continuously nodded and said, “That’s right, that’s right! I can also pretend to be your boyfriend!”

Jing Teng gave Wei Suo a glance. She asked with a sigh, “Do you think Zang Ao would’ve believed me if I did that?”

Qiu Honglei gave Wei Suo’s buck teeth a look and reflexively nodded, saying, “I guess you’re right…”

Any woman would need to choose an even more handsome man to fool their ex, someone who was more outstanding. Only then would their ex feel pain from inferiority and regret. If she ended up with someone like Wei Suo, wouldn’t she just be laughed at instead?

Wei Suo was speechless. Even though the two didn’t say it explicitly, those expressions made him feel as if countless blades had stabbed into his heart.

Qiu Honglei suddenly thought of something and asserted again, “Even so, you have no clues at all. We can’t just continue to waste time either.” Her woman’s intuition made her sense that something would definitely happen if she continued to let them stay together.

That wasn’t even considering the fact that Yan Xuehen had even sent her a voice transmission, reminding her to keep an eye on Zu An.

Huh? Wait, why would she give me that kind of reminder? It’s probably because of Chuyan, right?

“I’m not entirely without any clues, and didn’t I help you find one of your companions already?” Jing Teng replied. She recalled the white-clothed woman from earlier, wondering how Zu An had so many stunning beauties around him. She had thought that Qiu Honglei was already a rare beauty, yet now, another one had appeared.

Qiu Honglei was stunned, asking, “Even Sect Master Yan counts?”

“Of course,” Jing Teng said, raising her chin proudly. “If you hadn’t followed me here, would you have reunited with her?”

“Even though that’s the case…” Qiu Honglei began, just feeling as if something wasn’t quite right here.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be able to find my original body soon. At that time, I’ll find all of your companions,” Jing Teng said, cutting her off.

Qiu Honglei had a conflicted expression. In the end, she sighed unwillingly and said, “Alright.”

If it were her master they had met today, she wouldn’t necessarily even look for the other two. But her master was still missing, so she couldn't help but worry. She thought to herself, I guess I’ll just keep a closer eye on this woman.

“Did you obtain some clues regarding where your original body is?” Zu An asked curiously. She was way too calm right now, as if everything were going as expected.

Jing Teng didn’t reply immediately, and instead set up a formation around them. Then, she took them all into the jade necklace she kept close to her chest.

Zu An’s group was surprised. If she was being so careful, it was clear just how great of a secret this was.

Sure enough, after arranging all of that, Jing Teng said, “The vine buried in that coffin wasn’t my real body.”

Zu An’s group was shocked. It wasn’t her original body?

But judging from how panicked Zang Ao looked, it didn’t seem like a fake.

If Jing Teng really could have fooled him, why would she have been deceived in the past?

When she saw their confusion, Jing Teng sighed and said, “To be honest, I have to thank Immortal Ruler Baopu for this. After he granted me enlightenment, he carried out a divination for me and informed me that there was a great disaster in my fate. He likely already saw my destiny and made corresponding arrangements. It’s just that he didn’t tell me the truth.”

“Immortal Ruler Baopu?” the group asked in surprise. They hadn’t expected all of this to have been within his grasp.

“A divination could pry into one’s fate?” Zu An asked. That was what he was more concerned with. He had encountered abilities with foresight, such as the libationer’s disciple Qi Yaoguang being good at astrological divination. However, she could only vaguely pick up on some trails of fate. There was divination in this world too, but it could at most determine whether a certain thing carried good or bad luck. Yet now, there was someone who could see one’s destiny?

“Of course. Divination, talismans, sacrifices, formations, pill refinement, weapon refinement, and ritual music make up the six skills of cultivation. Each one is broad and deep, as they follow the natural laws of the world. Most people only cultivate one,” Jing Teng said extremely seriously. “But Immortal Ruler Baopu was extraordinary. His attainments in that field far exceed those of others, so that was why he was able to see my destiny.”

“There is something I don’t really understand. If he already saw your misfortune, why didn’t he just tell you instead of doing all these complicated things? Isn’t this doing way more than required?” Qiu Honglei asked in confusion.

Zu An nodded. She was a smart person, as expected. She had immediately seized the crux of the issue.

“Even if he told me, I was still young and ignorant back then, and hadn’t experienced those things. I might not have treated what he said with much importance, right?” Jing Teng replied. She paused for a moment before giving an example. “It’s just like how children hear from their parents that they have to study properly from a young age, and only then can they become outstanding. Another example is their health. Early to bed, early to rise… It’s clear that what they’re saying is correct, but would a child really listen?”

Zu An’s group understood when she explained it like that.

Jing Teng chuckled and continued, “Besides, I also asked Immortal Ruler Baopu about that. The Immortal Ruler told me ‘fate cannot be changed’.”

“Fate cannot be changed?” Zu An repeated with a frown. He reflexively felt a dislike for that sentence.

“That’s right,” Jing Teng said with a nod. “Immortal Ruler Baopu said that destined fate can’t be changed. No matter how hard you work to avoid that destiny, the more you do, the more it will actually push you toward that preordained destiny.”

Zu An and the others fell silent. They all vaguely sensed the suffocating, powerless feeling of facing fate.

“I don’t believe in fate. If I just accepted it without doing anything, that would be going against my nature,” Zu An suddenly said. He immediately felt that pent-up feeling dissipate considerably.

“That’s right. I was raised in the Devil Sect ever since I was young. I’ve faced all kinds of dangerous situations. If I accepted fate, I would have died a long time ago,” Qiu Honglei added, also recovering.

Wei Suo wanted to say something, but couldn't find any suitable words. He could only say in agreement, “Me too!”

Jing Teng smiled and said, “Actually, back then, Immortal Ruler Baopu wasn’t completely pessimistic. He said that even though fate can’t be changed, it can be used as a stepping stone to move in a more favorable direction.”

“What do you mean?” Zu An asked. He vaguely seemed to have grasped something, but it slipped away a second later.

“I didn’t understand what he meant,” Jing Teng said in puzzlement. “That’s why he made a series of arrangements and left behind my original body. Additionally, he made a replacement body for me. He told me that one day, if I encountered something, I could then retrieve it. Only now did I understand everything he did back then.”

Zu An was full of admiration when he heard that. This Immortal Ruler Baopu’s methods truly were extraordinary.

“Where is your true body?” Qiu Honglei asked curiously.

Jing Teng didn’t reply. Her gaze landed on the distant grand tomb.