Hua Chongyang had been mulling over this the entire time when he was traveling earlier. He did not have any friends with such a huge age gap between them. Moreover, he had disguised himself for this mission. He spent most of his time in the Nether Sect where he held a high-rank. When they went about their various missions, he rarely had the chance to personally take action. Therefore, he was certain he had not met this old man before. Throughout his time with the Nether Sect, he had taken out quite a number of elites at the Six-leaf stage and above. He was worried that perhaps, the old man had recognized him and had come to seek revenge from him.
Lu Zhou did not answer Hua Chongyang immediately. Instead, he gauged his extraordinary power. The palm strike he launched was not powerful. It roughly contained one-tenth of his extraordinary power. Finally, he said half-seriously as he threw out a random story, “My surname’s Lu. I’m from Penglai. You resemble a friend of mind, young friend… It seems like I was mistaken.”
So what if he was mistaken? The person he wanted to find was Yu Zhenghai.
Lu Zhou’s answer caused an expression of delight on Hua Chongyang’s face. “Oh, a senior from Penglai! Forgive my rudeness!”
“You know about Penglai?”
“I don’t only know about it…” Hua Chongyang stopped talking abruptly, swallowing the rest of his words. He had almost ruined his mission.
Lu Zhou, on the other hand, was intrigued. If he had known, he would not have said that he was from the Penglai Sect nor would he choose to mimic a Penglai Sect technique when he attacked.
Hua Chongyang changed the topic. “What brings you here to Jing Province, old mister?”
“I’m looking for someone,” Lu Zhou answered honestly, “What brings you here to Jing Province, young friend?”
A question for a question. There were no losses.
“I’m looking for someone,” Hua Chongyang replied.
“…”
Their conversation was tense and stilted, fraught with distrust. This was common in the cultivation world.
Lu Zhou was not surprised by Hua Chongyang’s response.
At this moment, several cultivators flew on their swords in the air. They were heading north. All of them wore white robes and were moving swiftly.
Hua Chongyang looked up at them with a slight frown and said, “The Hengqu Branch?” He cupped his fists at Lu Zhou at once. “Old mister, I’d best get going. Until we meet again.” He leaped into the air and tailed the Hengqu Branch cultivators.
Lu Zhou was puzzled. The Hengqu Branch was one of the major branches from the Confucian Societies. They had always kept a low profile over the past years. Why were they out and about now? Were these branches starting to make their moves after the fall of the ten great sects? Perhaps, they were thinking of ways to improve their sects’ strength after the dawn of the Lotus Severing era?
Lu Zhou did not dwell on this any longer. He stepped into the air and followed them, flying at full speed.
As Hua Chongyang flew, he looked behind him. As he had expected, he saw Lu Zhou following him. He looked at the others from the Hengqu Branch in front of him. Then, something stirred in him. The older, the wiser. It was too easy for something unexpected to happen if he was too close to his target. Hence, he slowed down. “Senior Lu, are you going to the heaven worship platform to see what the fuss is all about as well?”
‘Heaven worship platform?’ Then, Lu Zhou remembered what the Clouds Inn waiter told him and said, “Yes.”
Hua Chongyang felt uneasy when he heard this. Things were much more complicated than he had imagined them to be. He had assumed this was an ordinary live sacrifice and that a Seven-leaf elite such as himself could easily accomplish his mission alone. Now that he discovered the elites from the Hengqu Branch elites and the Penglai Sect’s senior, he realized this was not a simple matter.
Hua Chongyang had a better impression of the Penglai Sect. The Confucian Societies had governed the world for a long time. When the Nether Sect began to walk on the road to world dominion, it was only natural for them to offend many Confucian cultivators who were also officials in the Divine Capital.
In the end, Hua Chongyang slowed down even more. He blocked the wind with his energy as he asked, “Do you know about the person being sacrificed this time, Senior Lu?”
“Not really.” Lu Zhou was relieved Hua Chongyang had slowed down. How could he continue to tail Hua Chongyang otherwise? His target was moving at the speed of a Seven-leaf Nascent Divinity realm elite while he was only at the One-leaf stage. He could use Whitzard to catch up, but that would just be exposing his identity.
Hua Chongyang thought about it for a moment before he said, “I heard the woman is of unknown origins, and she’s an evil person. Some say she’s from Lou Lan, and some say that she’s from the Endless Ocean. The point is, she’s unusual. After she showed up, the beasts attacked the humans, and the birds ran amok. In the cultivation world, these are unlucky signs. She’s going to be used as a sacrifice.” After he finished speaking, he furtively studied Lu Zhou’s face. He wanted to make sure Lu Zhou was not after the same person.
Naturally, Lu Zhou was not interested in these matters. His target was Yu Zhenghai, and Yu Zhenghai alone. “And you believe that?”
“Of course not!” Hua Chongyang shook his head.
“… Are you going to rescue her?” Lu Zhou asked.
“…” Hua Chongyang was stunned. This old man was something else. Before he could glean any information from the old man, he discovered he had been checkmated. “Just like you, I’m just going to see what the fuss is about, Senior Lu. However, this woman’s special. It’s a shame for a living person to be offered up as a sacrifice.”
“The hearts of men are difficult to fathom. We would be considered fortunate to be able to make it through this world smoothly. Who has the time to feel sorry for others?” Lu Zhou said.
“You have a point. I’m enlightened.” Hua Chongyang looked ahead. The Hengqu Branch cultivators were no longer in sight. He said, “Senior Lu, shall we pick up the pace?”
“There’s no need,” Lu Zhou said calmly.
Hua Chongyang gave it some thought and found it reasonable. He nodded at once and said, “You’re wise, Senior Lu. The heaven worship platform won’t go anywhere. There’s no need to follow the people from the Hengqu Branch.”
The two of them continued flying. They were neither fast nor slow. They flew past a patch of forest and river outside the city. Then, they saw a simple yet formal heaven worship platform in plain colors. It was like a dark ink painting.
The heaven worship platform was not huge. It occupied about 100 meters of the land. It was completely paved with limestone. There were steps at its four corners. In the center of the heaven worship platform, a raised dais seemed to have been temporarily erected. There was a wooden cross on it, and firewood was piled at its feet.
‘They’re really using a living person as a sacrifice?’
“Senior Lu, there are oo many people here,” Hua Chongyang said.
The two of them landed slowly. They stepped into the bounds of the heaven worship platform.
Many low-ranked cultivators were swarming in and surrounding the heaven worship platform.
“Kill the demon woman!”
“Kill the demon woman!”
“Kill the demon woman!”
Lu Zhou and Hua Chongyang heard the cries from the crowd and turned to look.
The Hengqu Branch cultivators in white robes were gathered together. They did not join in the shouting.
There was another group of cultivators in Daoist robes to their left. Both groups were looking at each other.
Hua Chongyang frowned. As he expected, things were truly complicated.
“Young friend, why are you frowning?” Lu Zhou asked.
“There are too many people here. It’s noisy,” Hua Chongyang replied.
“Why don’t we leave now? You’re like a long-lost friend to me. Would you care to join me for a cup of tea?” Lu Zhou tried his best to make himself seem peaceful and approachable. ‘I can’t appear imposing now.’
However, Hua Chongyang shook his head and said, “Let’s take a look now that we’re here…” He promised his sect master and Mister Seventh that he would complete the mission. How could he give up halfway? Although the situation was complicated, it was still controllable.
Hua Chongyang looked up at the wooden platform and asked, “Senior Lu, you’re not here for the woman?” His eyes were brimming with doubt and disbelief when he asked the question.
Lu Zhou knew that Hua Chongyang would not believe him no matter what his answer was. Hence, he said, “Why are you asking me if you’ve already made up your mind about me?”
