Chapter 1558: The White Stone Gentleman Who Can Sense Good Or Ill

Inside the Four Hundred Kilometers Bodhisattva Mountain Range, the Night Bodhisattva was sitting in a meditative position and wearing a blank expression. Her guts were churning with anxiety though.

Even now, she still couldn’t figure out why the goat-headed man was suddenly spying on her. Did she slip up somehow, or was it for some other reason?

What worried her even more was her future.

Just a moment ago, she thought that her future was bright and clear. Now, it was all doom and gloom.

As expected, one should not surrender themselves to joy too soon or risk being slapped in the face!

“Relax. He’s gone.” It was at this moment Ye Qing’s voice rang inside the Night Bodhisattva’s mind once more.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

“Greetings, young master.” The Night Bodhisattva hurriedly responded before admitting her own mistake. “My deepest apology for almost ruining your business with my incompetence, young master. I hope you can forgive me.”

It did not matter if she actually made a mistake or not. At worst, the apology did nothing. At best, it would appease her new masters.

“It’s not your fault. We won’t blame you for his suspicion either, so don’t worry,” Ye Qing assured her.

Although Ye Qing had seen through her thoughts immediately, the Night Bodhisattva relaxed instead of panicking. “You are generous and broad-minded, young master. This minor god is impressed.”

“What should I do next, young master?”

Ye Qing replied, “Stay here and continue constructing the sacrificial altar as he commanded. Keep everything as usual and make sure you don’t slip up. That is all. We’ll handle the rest.”

“As you command, young master,” the Night Bodhisattva answered and saluted him.

No more ripples appeared in her heart. Clearly, Ye Qing had taken his leave.

......

“Is that the one they call a White Stone Gentleman?” Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou were standing side by side in the sky. They were surrounded by layers of cloudy qi that were formless and intangible. It could not be seen, heard, or sensed.

“I believe so. His nose for danger defies logic otherwise!” Feng Qingyou answered.

Ye Qing’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. “I’m growing more and more curious about that mysterious woman. To think she can make a White Stone Gentleman into her servant!” The White Stone Gentleman he was speaking of was the goat-headed man.

A White Stone Gentleman was a Disaster-class Stranger. Legend had it that the blood of the ancient auspicious beast, Bai Ze, ran through its veins. It had nine orifices in its heart that could tell good or bad luck, nine ears that knew fortune or misfortune, and nine curly horns that enabled it to walk the Primal Chaos. It was called the White Stone Gentleman because of its refined appearance and goat head.

Since ancient times, White Stone Gentlemen were exceedingly rare. They were often worshiped as auspicious beasts. This was the first time Ye Qing or Feng Qingyou saw one.

A White Stone Gentleman was just a Disaster-class Stranger. To a Sage, he was someone they could suppress easily. However, a White Stone Gentleman possessed a highly anomalous ability that allowed it to “tell good or bad luck” or “know fortune or misfortune”. In other words, it could somehow sense impending danger or predict misfortune down the line even though there were no signs.

That was why this White Stone Gentleman repeatedly tested and observed the Night Bodhisattva even though Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou never took action. It was because he sensed something foreboding.

Moreover, a White Stone Gentleman was exceedingly adept at escaping. It could traverse the Primal Chaos and thread the line between real and unreal like lightning.

This was why the duo abandoned their original plan to capture the White Stone Gentleman alive. As powerful and confident as they were in their own strength, they did not want to test the White Stone Gentleman’s anomalous ability. If they screwed up, and the mysterious woman detected that something was amiss, then their efforts would be all for naught.

There was no such thing as perfection. They could only plan as much as possible and adapt when necessary.

So, after a quick discussion, they gave up their original plan to capture the White Stone Gentleman and tracked him down in secret instead.

Of course, tracking down a White Stone Gentleman was not a simple matter earlier. It was highly possible that they would be detected on the way. Thankfully, the White Stone Gentleman unintentionally screwed himself over by consuming her portion of the Night Bodhisattva’s mind as punishment.

It so happened that both Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou had left their imprints inside the Night Bodhisattva’s mind. So, Ye Qing manipulated things so that the portion of the mind the White Stone Gentleman consumed contained a wisp of his imprint.

Now, he could easily detect the White Stone Gentleman no matter where he went. They did not need to follow him and risk being discovered anymore.

This was also one of the major reasons they chose to abandon their original plan.

Sometimes, you pay the price for your own conceit. Such was the case for this White Stone Gentleman.

“Say, who do you think this god he’s talking about?” Ye Qing asked.

Since he could sense the White Stone Gentleman’s location, they were not in a hurry to chase after him.

Feng Qingyou shook his head. “It’s impossible to deduce based on his words alone.”

Ye Qing wasn’t surprised by her answer. The White Stone Gentleman claimed that his god was a “god of gods, demon of demons, evil of evils, celestial of celestials, and spirit of spirits”, but that was not the god’s actual title or divine name. It was most likely just useless fluff the Stranger had come up with to convince the believers that his god was worth worshiping.

The Taoists, the Buddhists, the Confucians, the emperors and more, this was a tactic countless people had used to fluff up their ancestors or grandmasters or seniors or champions. It was bombastic-sounding but otherwise completely meaningless.

Despite the change of plans, it wasn’t like they had gotten nothing. They at least knew why the mysterious woman was building the altar and sacrificing all these lives for.

This was enough for them to make some early preparations.

“Let’s go. It’s time for the protagonist to enter the stage.”

Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou exchanged smiles with each other before disappearing into nothing. One of them rode the wind, and the other moonlight.

......

Chu, Jin Xiu prefecture.

“Chu is a beautiful land.

Prosperous like brocade embroidery,

Champion in civil and martial.

It is a world in the world.”

This poem was composed by the Poem Blossom, Wei Sanhan. It was describing one of the nine prefectures of Chu, Jin Xiu.

Wei Sanhan gave three reasons as to why Jin Xiu was named Jin Xiu (brocade embroidery): One, the realm was full of gorgeous scenery. Two, the realm was prosperous like the market for brocade embroidery. And three, the realm was overflowing with talent in both civil and martial areas.

Hence, there was a saying that went like this: Chu is strong because it is beautiful like brocade embroidery.

Unfortunately, Jin Xiu was but a pale shadow of the magnificent, prosperous prefecture it used to be. The streets were empty, the people moved hurriedly and worriedly, and the place in general looked barren and desolate. Their golden days were clearly behind them.

The reason behind this state of things was simple. It was because the emperor had lost his ultimate treasure, and the empire had lost its fate. Evil were spawning all over the place, and the disasters were never ending.

“Disaster” here did not just refer to natural disasters. There were also man-made ones from both humans and Strangers.

The disaster plaguing Jin Xiu was mostly a man-made one.

Here, the demons, villains and heretics were running rampant to put it mildly.

While the Heavens’ Eye was missing, and Chu’s Will of the Empire was fading, the demons, villains and heretics that used to be as meek as mice were all showing their ugly faces and plunging the realm into chaos.

Jin Xiu was no exception.

Originally, Jin Xiu was dominated by the government force, the Jin Xiu Grand Prince Office. But now that Chu’s Will of the Empire was fading, and public unrest was rampant, one of the thirty six unorthodox sects, the Scarlet Practice Divine Sect, had invaded the prefecture to convert its people into their worshipers. So far, their efforts were met with great success. Although the government had responded swiftly, their suppression efforts yielded minimal results.

Later, the Daoless Monastery, Fish Dragon Gang, Serpent Subjugation Hall and more factions sensed weakness and swarmed into Jin Xiu like sharks who caught the scent of blood as well. As a result, the situation grew even worse and chaotic.

The factions were fighting each other for territory and profit everyday, causing unrest to Jin Xiu and making life miserable for everyone living in the prefecture.