Book 2: The Golden Lock of the Eight Gates
Chapter 20: Welcoming the Guest
“Yes, granduncle, it’s exactly like you said. There’s no one in this world that you can’t see through.” Yinglan excitedly said.
Seeing Yinglan reminded him of his adopted sons of his who had betrayed him. He shook his head and sighed. “They are easy to see through because the royal family of the Liao Kingdom isn’t complicated to understand and they are all just mediocre men. Besides, it’s hard to see clearly when you’re in the middle of it………….”
He was right in the middle of it so he didn’t see through his sons. Zhong Shan kept thinking, what about the remaining adopted sons?
Yinglan didn’t notice Zhong Shan’s change in mood and continued, “That adviser of the new Emperor, no, actually, he’s a second ranked high official now. He urged the emperor to marry me and even threatened me to hand over the military. I got so angry at the time that I simply left to come back here. He will regret it. In Liao, other than myself, everyone else is just a puppet. The other four countries will overrun Liao soon or later.”
Zhong Shan was amused by Yinglan’s outburst. He could tell that Yinglan was already quite a capable general.
“Then, has our Yinglan taken a fancy to anyone? Granduncle will go propose to him for you. If he’s not willing, I’ll force him to come.”
“No, no. I have to find a man who can surpass granduncle, otherwise, I won’t marry.” Yinglan seemed a bit anxious, replying immediately.
“Uh, then that will be somewhat difficult.” Zhong Shan laughed heartily. It seemed that nobody had caught her eyes yet.
“Granduncle, have some tea.” Yinglan poured some more tea for Zhong Shan.
“Alright.” Zhong Shan lowered his head to sip the tea.
Right as Zhong Shan looked down, Yinglan looked at Zhong Shan longingly.
Zhong Shan looked up again, “It’s good that you’re back. Don’t fight for the Liao Kingdom anymore. Come fight for me, I plan to establish a country.”
Yinglan obviously was taken back by Zhong Shan’s words, she looked at him and said, “Granduncle, are you giving up on immortality? Besides, you’ve reached the Xiantian stage already, why do you want to establish a country?”
“It’s not easy to be an immortal. I want to establish a Heavenly Dynasty and control the whole world. It will make immortality easier to obtain.” Zhong Shan frowned.
Actually, establishing a Heavenly Dynasty and immortality were unrelated. But Yinglan chose to believe Zhong Shan due to her admiration for him. She excitedly looked at Zhong Shan, to control the whole world? How ambitious, and only her granduncle was bold enough to dream of it. Who else could surpass him in this world?
“Granduncle, are you going to unify the six countries?” Yinglan asked.
“Unify the six countries? That’s only the first step. Then, it’s those five countries where you were before. By that time, after the six countries are unified, I will unify those five countries over there as soon as possible. I will have people open up passages through the mountains between the areas and create an even bigger territory.” Zhong Shan spoke.
“En, Yinglan will definitely help granduncle.” Yinglan immediately answered excitedly.
“Establishing a country isn’t as easy as you think. The path before us will be extremely treacherous. I will encounter numerous enemies who are not just mortal people and also those who are seeking immortality. Or the path could even be a dead end. Do you still want to venture into it with me?” Zhong Shan looked at Yinglan with a frown.
“Wherever granduncle goes, I’ll go with you.” Yinglan replied right away.
Zhong Shan was moved, but at the same time reminded himself that he had to ensure Yinglan had a way out. For himself, it was a path of no return, but he couldn’t drag her down with him.
Afterwards, they talked about bygone days and funny stories from her time leading the military.
It was the deadline that the heads of the great families had set to attack the Zhong Estate. They had waited for ten days and the royal Su family still hadn’t showed up. They were currently preparing for their assault. Four people at the advanced stages of Xiantian with another four people at the earlier stages of Xiantian should be enough to handle a normal family, no, even the royal family. However, they decided to wait for the best time, at night.
This decision gave the Zhong Estate a chance to welcome an outside help.
Zhao Suoxiang rode on a white horse with a silver spear in hand. He happened to arrive at the gate of the Xuan City this day. He frowned after looking at the gate.
Xuan City? Zhong Shan’s Estate. He had missed the chance to hunt Hao San because he was attending other important business. He heard from his shidi that someone named Zhong Shan had been swallowed by a snake. He wondered whether it was the same Zhong Shan he knew. He couldn’t believe Zhong Shan would be a person with such a short life span.
Though Zhong Shan had entered the Kaiyang School, Xuan City was still his home. Zhong Shan had invited him to visit last time. Since he was here, he certainly would pay a visit.
Zhao Suoxiang dismounted his horse at the gate and asked one of the guards.
“May I ask how to get to the Zhong residence?”
“Zhong residence?” The guard asked in surprise.
“Mr. Zhao, come this way, please.” Suddenly, a man outside the gate came up and politely said.
“Mr. Zhao, I’m a servant of the Zhong Estate. I have been waiting here for some time. My master had showed us your sketch and instructed that if Mr. Zhao had come this way, we were to invite you to the Estate as an honored guest.” That man respectfully spoke.
“Zhong Shan is at home?” Zhao Suoxiang frowned.
The guard widened his eyes after hearing Zhao call Zhong Shan by name. Zhong Shan? Did he know who Zhong Shan was? Was it a name he could call out so casually? The servant’s reply surprise the guard even more.
“Yes, the master is at home.” The servant replied respectfully, without a hint of anger.
“Take me there.” Zhao Suoxiang mounted his horse and galloped after the servant towards the Zhong Estate.
Zhong Shan received the news that Zhao Suoxiang had arrived with immense joy. Zhao had impeccable timing.
He led Yinglan and Tianling-er to the front door just in time to received Zhao Suoxiang.
“Hahaha, Zhao Suoxiang, what brings you here?” Zhong Shan happily welcomed Zhao.
Tianling-er knew Zhao but Yinglan didn’t. She gave the man a puzzled look; obviously, he must be amazing to receive such a welcome from granduncle.
“I was passing by and heard that you had been swallowed by a snake. I didn’t believe it and come over to make sure. It looks like it’s just rumor since you seem perfectly fine.” Zhao dismounted with a laugh.
“I was swallowed by a snake, but I was lucky to escape. Come, come inside, please.” Zhong Shan said.
“En.” Zhao nodded. The white horse was taken away by a servant.
After they entered the hall, the servants instantly served them the best tea. There were four of them, Zhong Shan, Zhao Suoxiang, Tianling-er, and Yinglan.
“This is Yinglan and you know Ling-er.” Zhong Shan briefly introduced everyone.
“En.” Zhao simply nodded.
“You said you passed through Xuan City, do you have anything urgent to attend to?” Zhong Shan asked with eyebrows crossed.
“Nothing urgent, just trying to join in on the fun.” Zhao Suoxiang laughed.
“Oh?” Zhong Shan was surprised.
“To the east of the Xuan City, at the Eight Gates Mountain. There’s been quite a lot of activity over there. I missed the death of Hao San, this time I certainly won’t miss the excitement.” Zhao said.
“The Eight Gates Mountain?” Zhong Shan put down his tea cup and looked at Zhao in suprise. Wasn’t the Eight Gates Mountain where Beiqingsi and Tiansha had gone to?
“Yeah, the Eight Gates Mountain is now a battleground. A lot of practitioners have died or been wounded there. I heard that the Kaiyang School has also suffered some casualties.” Zhao spoke after a sip of tea.
“What? There were casualties from the Kaiyang School? Then, how is da shixiong Tiansha now?” Tianling-er asked in worry.
“Da shixiong?” Zhao Suoxiang surprisingly looked at Tianling-er. Tiansha was the da shixiong of the second generation of the Kaiyang School. Was Tianling-er already at the Gold Core Stage?
“En, who from the Kaiyang School died?” Zhong Shan immediately switched topics.
Zhao turned to look at him and answered, “I’m not sure. I only heard that once the battle started, every school suffered casualties.”
“What exactly happened?” Zhong Shan asked with a frown.
“It was not too long ago, something big happened at the Eight Gates Mountain, then various strange events followed soon afterwards.” Zhao also said with a frown.
“Oh?” Zhong Shan was curious.
“The Eight Gates Mountain isn’t a famous mountain and usually no one goes there. There’s a small school there called the ‘Golden Lock School’ which is quite desolate. There’s only one person at the school and they say he’s very old with no disciples. No one paid much attention to it. But, just a few days ago, there were earthquakes around the mountain and sounds similar to the roar of a dragon could be heard there. Afterwards, a large quantity of Spirit Stones gushed out of the ground. A lot of Spirit Stones. People from the neighboring schools all wanted to take control of the area to mine the stones.” Zhao said.
“What, the roar of a dragon?” Zhong Shan abruptly stood up with sparkling eyes.
“Uh, yeah, the dragon cried nine times. It could be that some wild dragon was shaken up by the earthquake.” Zhao Suoxiang dubiously looked at Zhong Shan.
“Nine times? You sure it was nine times?” Zhong Shan flabbergasted.
Zhao nodded and hesitantly looked at Zhong Shan.
Zhong Shan shook his head, “I forgot my manners. If all the neighboring schools are fighting for it, then it shouldn’t take too long. Aren’t you a bit late heading there now?”
Zhao Suoxiang smiled lightly, “I haven’t finished yet. The most bizarre thing is that when people from all the different schools got there, they found a huge formation that had sprung from nowhere at the Eight Gates Mountain.”
Book 2: The Golden Lock of the Eight Gates
Chapter 20: Welcoming the Guest
“Yes, granduncle, it’s exactly like you said. There’s no one in this world that you can’t see through.” Yinglan excitedly said.
Seeing Yinglan reminded him of his adopted sons of his who had betrayed him. He shook his head and sighed. “They are easy to see through because the royal family of the Liao Kingdom isn’t complicated to understand and they are all just mediocre men. Besides, it’s hard to see clearly when you’re in the middle of it………….”
He was right in the middle of it so he didn’t see through his sons. Zhong Shan kept thinking, what about the remaining adopted sons?
Yinglan didn’t notice Zhong Shan’s change in mood and continued, “That adviser of the new Emperor, no, actually, he’s a second ranked high official now. He urged the emperor to marry me and even threatened me to hand over the military. I got so angry at the time that I simply left to come back here. He will regret it. In Liao, other than myself, everyone else is just a puppet. The other four countries will overrun Liao soon or later.”
Zhong Shan was amused by Yinglan’s outburst. He could tell that Yinglan was already quite a capable general.
“Then, has our Yinglan taken a fancy to anyone? Granduncle will go propose to him for you. If he’s not willing, I’ll force him to come.”
“No, no. I have to find a man who can surpass granduncle, otherwise, I won’t marry.” Yinglan seemed a bit anxious, replying immediately.
“Uh, then that will be somewhat difficult.” Zhong Shan laughed heartily. It seemed that nobody had caught her eyes yet.
“Granduncle, have some tea.” Yinglan poured some more tea for Zhong Shan.
“Alright.” Zhong Shan lowered his head to sip the tea.
Right as Zhong Shan looked down, Yinglan looked at Zhong Shan longingly.
Zhong Shan looked up again, “It’s good that you’re back. Don’t fight for the Liao Kingdom anymore. Come fight for me, I plan to establish a country.”
Yinglan obviously was taken back by Zhong Shan’s words, she looked at him and said, “Granduncle, are you giving up on immortality? Besides, you’ve reached the Xiantian stage already, why do you want to establish a country?”
“It’s not easy to be an immortal. I want to establish a Heavenly Dynasty and control the whole world. It will make immortality easier to obtain.” Zhong Shan frowned.
Actually, establishing a Heavenly Dynasty and immortality were unrelated. But Yinglan chose to believe Zhong Shan due to her admiration for him. She excitedly looked at Zhong Shan, to control the whole world? How ambitious, and only her granduncle was bold enough to dream of it. Who else could surpass him in this world?
“Granduncle, are you going to unify the six countries?” Yinglan asked.
“Unify the six countries? That’s only the first step. Then, it’s those five countries where you were before. By that time, after the six countries are unified, I will unify those five countries over there as soon as possible. I will have people open up passages through the mountains between the areas and create an even bigger territory.” Zhong Shan spoke.
“En, Yinglan will definitely help granduncle.” Yinglan immediately answered excitedly.
“Establishing a country isn’t as easy as you think. The path before us will be extremely treacherous. I will encounter numerous enemies who are not just mortal people and also those who are seeking immortality. Or the path could even be a dead end. Do you still want to venture into it with me?” Zhong Shan looked at Yinglan with a frown.
“Wherever granduncle goes, I’ll go with you.” Yinglan replied right away.
Zhong Shan was moved, but at the same time reminded himself that he had to ensure Yinglan had a way out. For himself, it was a path of no return, but he couldn’t drag her down with him.
Afterwards, they talked about bygone days and funny stories from her time leading the military.
It was the deadline that the heads of the great families had set to attack the Zhong Estate. They had waited for ten days and the royal Su family still hadn’t showed up. They were currently preparing for their assault. Four people at the advanced stages of Xiantian with another four people at the earlier stages of Xiantian should be enough to handle a normal family, no, even the royal family. However, they decided to wait for the best time, at night.
This decision gave the Zhong Estate a chance to welcome an outside help.
Zhao Suoxiang rode on a white horse with a silver spear in hand. He happened to arrive at the gate of the Xuan City this day. He frowned after looking at the gate.
Xuan City? Zhong Shan’s Estate. He had missed the chance to hunt Hao San because he was attending other important business. He heard from his shidi that someone named Zhong Shan had been swallowed by a snake. He wondered whether it was the same Zhong Shan he knew. He couldn’t believe Zhong Shan would be a person with such a short life span.
Though Zhong Shan had entered the Kaiyang School, Xuan City was still his home. Zhong Shan had invited him to visit last time. Since he was here, he certainly would pay a visit.
Zhao Suoxiang dismounted his horse at the gate and asked one of the guards.
“May I ask how to get to the Zhong residence?”
“Zhong residence?” The guard asked in surprise.
“Mr. Zhao, come this way, please.” Suddenly, a man outside the gate came up and politely said.
“Mr. Zhao, I’m a servant of the Zhong Estate. I have been waiting here for some time. My master had showed us your sketch and instructed that if Mr. Zhao had come this way, we were to invite you to the Estate as an honored guest.” That man respectfully spoke.
“Zhong Shan is at home?” Zhao Suoxiang frowned.
The guard widened his eyes after hearing Zhao call Zhong Shan by name. Zhong Shan? Did he know who Zhong Shan was? Was it a name he could call out so casually? The servant’s reply surprise the guard even more.
“Yes, the master is at home.” The servant replied respectfully, without a hint of anger.
“Take me there.” Zhao Suoxiang mounted his horse and galloped after the servant towards the Zhong Estate.
Zhong Shan received the news that Zhao Suoxiang had arrived with immense joy. Zhao had impeccable timing.
He led Yinglan and Tianling-er to the front door just in time to received Zhao Suoxiang.
“Hahaha, Zhao Suoxiang, what brings you here?” Zhong Shan happily welcomed Zhao.
Tianling-er knew Zhao but Yinglan didn’t. She gave the man a puzzled look; obviously, he must be amazing to receive such a welcome from granduncle.
“I was passing by and heard that you had been swallowed by a snake. I didn’t believe it and come over to make sure. It looks like it’s just rumor since you seem perfectly fine.” Zhao dismounted with a laugh.
“I was swallowed by a snake, but I was lucky to escape. Come, come inside, please.” Zhong Shan said.
“En.” Zhao nodded. The white horse was taken away by a servant.
After they entered the hall, the servants instantly served them the best tea. There were four of them, Zhong Shan, Zhao Suoxiang, Tianling-er, and Yinglan.
“This is Yinglan and you know Ling-er.” Zhong Shan briefly introduced everyone.
“En.” Zhao simply nodded.
“You said you passed through Xuan City, do you have anything urgent to attend to?” Zhong Shan asked with eyebrows crossed.
“Nothing urgent, just trying to join in on the fun.” Zhao Suoxiang laughed.
“Oh?” Zhong Shan was surprised.
“To the east of the Xuan City, at the Eight Gates Mountain. There’s been quite a lot of activity over there. I missed the death of Hao San, this time I certainly won’t miss the excitement.” Zhao said.
“The Eight Gates Mountain?” Zhong Shan put down his tea cup and looked at Zhao in suprise. Wasn’t the Eight Gates Mountain where Beiqingsi and Tiansha had gone to?
“Yeah, the Eight Gates Mountain is now a battleground. A lot of practitioners have died or been wounded there. I heard that the Kaiyang School has also suffered some casualties.” Zhao spoke after a sip of tea.
“What? There were casualties from the Kaiyang School? Then, how is da shixiong Tiansha now?” Tianling-er asked in worry.
“Da shixiong?” Zhao Suoxiang surprisingly looked at Tianling-er. Tiansha was the da shixiong of the second generation of the Kaiyang School. Was Tianling-er already at the Gold Core Stage?
“En, who from the Kaiyang School died?” Zhong Shan immediately switched topics.
Zhao turned to look at him and answered, “I’m not sure. I only heard that once the battle started, every school suffered casualties.”
“What exactly happened?” Zhong Shan asked with a frown.
“It was not too long ago, something big happened at the Eight Gates Mountain, then various strange events followed soon afterwards.” Zhao also said with a frown.
“Oh?” Zhong Shan was curious.
“The Eight Gates Mountain isn’t a famous mountain and usually no one goes there. There’s a small school there called the ‘Golden Lock School’ which is quite desolate. There’s only one person at the school and they say he’s very old with no disciples. No one paid much attention to it. But, just a few days ago, there were earthquakes around the mountain and sounds similar to the roar of a dragon could be heard there. Afterwards, a large quantity of Spirit Stones gushed out of the ground. A lot of Spirit Stones. People from the neighboring schools all wanted to take control of the area to mine the stones.” Zhao said.
“What, the roar of a dragon?” Zhong Shan abruptly stood up with sparkling eyes.
“Uh, yeah, the dragon cried nine times. It could be that some wild dragon was shaken up by the earthquake.” Zhao Suoxiang dubiously looked at Zhong Shan.
“Nine times? You sure it was nine times?” Zhong Shan flabbergasted.
Zhao nodded and hesitantly looked at Zhong Shan.
Zhong Shan shook his head, “I forgot my manners. If all the neighboring schools are fighting for it, then it shouldn’t take too long. Aren’t you a bit late heading there now?”
Zhao Suoxiang smiled lightly, “I haven’t finished yet. The most bizarre thing is that when people from all the different schools got there, they found a huge formation that had sprung from nowhere at the Eight Gates Mountain.”
