The Dragon Pinning Sect:
A plainly dressed Long Wanqing sat before a Go board in a large hall, playing Go alone.
An old woman with a walking stick stood at the side. That was Elite Hall’s Fire Division Master, Ding Rui.
Ding Rui frowned slightly as she stared at Long Wanqing.
“Hall Master, things have already progressed this far. You should just tell me where the Dragon Luring Jade is,” Ding Rui said coldly.
Long Wanqing’s hand, which held a Go stone, paused. Then, she turned her head and revealed a cold smile. “Ding Rui, you are going against your superiors. Have you considered the consequences?”
“I’ve already found the dragon vein. As long as I can solve the Twenty-Nine Line-Pair World Go Puzzle around it, I can obtain it. However, I need your Dragon Luring Jade. Hall Master, sorry for the offense. I will offer my apologies and take my punishment after I obtain the dragon vein!” Ding Rui said.
“How do you know that the Dragon Luring Jade is with me?” Long Wanqing asked as she stared at Ding Rui.
“When your mother died, she did not have the Dragon Luring Jade on her. She must have given it to you or your younger sister. Your younger sister was young and inexperienced, so it is most likely with you. Song Pingsheng and those fools might not understand, but this old woman’s mind is clear,” Ding Rui replied coldly.
“When my mother died?” Long Wanqing’s eyes suddenly narrowed.
Staring straight at Ding Rui, Long Wanqing asked, “Do you know how my mother died? Or rather, were you responsible for her death?”
Ding Rui raised her eyebrows and said, “Hall Master, I did not kill your mother. However, I do know something. Hand over the Dragon Luring Jade. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
“You know something? Why did you not say anything? All for the Dragon Luring Jade?” Long Wanqing asked coldly.
Ding Rui remained silent.
“Tell me how my mother died, and I will give you the Dragon Luring Jade!” Long Wanqing said.
Ding Rui suddenly narrowed her eyes and said, “Hall Master, did you intentionally let me capture you?”
“Yeah?”
“You purposely let yourself get captured? You risked yourself to find out the cause of your mother’s death?” Ding Rui’s expression changed.
Long Wanqing showed a faint sneer as she said, “Ding Rui, others say you are a shrewd person. You are indeed alert. But so what? At the very least, I discovered an Elite Hall traitor, right?”
“Traitor? Hall Master, you should not be too harsh with your words. I am not a traitor. It is just that you are not worthy of being the hall master. Long Wanqing, to think that you consider yourself smart, only to be outsmarted. For the sake of investigating your mother’s death, you risked yourself. However, the flood dragon Fu Xue sealed your cultivation. You are now like an ordinary person. What strength do you have now to keep investigating? The Dragon Luring Jade is with you? Take it out, or don’t blame me for making a move!” Ding Rui said coldly.
Long Wanqing revealed a cold smile and said, “If you are not speaking, why should I give it to you?”
“How stubborn!” Ding Rui snorted coldly before extending her hand towards Long Wanqing.
Buzz!
Suddenly, a red barrier of light appeared around Long Wanqing.
Boom!
Ding Rui’s right palm struck the light barrier. Greatly shaken, she quickly moved back.
“This is the Dragon Luring Jade?” Ding Rui’s expression changed.
Long Wanqing slowly turned her head around and said coldly, “Since I dare to come, I naturally have the means to protect myself. Although you sealed my cultivation, I still have the Dragon Luring Jade. Ding Rui, the Dragon Luring Jade is not important to me. I only want to know the cause of my mother’s death. Tell me, and I can give you the Dragon Luring Jade!”
Ding Rui stared at Long Wanqing, the expression in her eyes repeatedly changing.
“Humph! Long Wanqing, even if you have the Dragon Luring Jade to protect you, so what? With your cultivation sealed, you can’t flee; you can only wait here!” Ding Rui shouted coldly.
“Ding Rui, stop continuing your mistake. Today, it is just me. In the future, if my maternal grandfather comes to know, do you think he will spend so much time speaking with you?” Long Wanqing countered coldly.
Upon Long Wanqing’s mention of her grandfather, Ding Rui’s eyelids suddenly twitched. Fluster flashed in her eyes, but she seemed to recall something in the next moment that allowed her to calm down.
“Humph!”
Ding Rui turned away and left the hall.
Ding Rui flung out her sleeves and slammed the doors shut.
Bang!
“Keep watch. No one is allowed in or out!” Ding Rui shouted at the guards standing at the doors.
“Yes!” the guards answered.
Not far away, complicated emotions flashed in the eyes of a white-haired old man when he saw Ding Rui come out. Then, he rushed over to her.
“Aunt!” the white-haired old man greeted respectfully.
[TL Note: The raws here specify the mother’s cousin. However, in English, that is first cousin once removed, which is a mouthful to say, so I chose to use a simple form of address: aunt.]
“Ding Dong?” Ding Rui frowned.
“Aunt, by capturing the Elite Hall Master and bringing her here, you are…you are putting the Dragon Pinning Sect in a bad position. What if…” Ding Dong stammered with an unsightly expression.
Ding Dong did not want to offend Long Wanqing. Although he was the Dragon Pinning Sect Master, he was worth nothing next to Long Wanqing’s identity.
Previously, he might not even be qualified to seek an audience with Long Wanqing. Now, Ding Rui locked Long Wanqing up here.
Just thinking about it inspired fear in Ding Dong.
Ding Rui looked at him and said, “Don’t worry. I will take responsibility for everything!”
“But…but Long Wanqing…she…,” Ding Dong still said worriedly.
“You fear her but do not fear me?” Ding Rui said coldly.
Ding Dong showed an unsightly expression. However, he could only put up a bitter smile in the end and say, “Alright!”
“Don’t worry. You won’t get implicated. Furthermore, have you forgotten about our major operation this time?” Ding Rui asked.
Ding Dong remained silent for a while before eventually nodding his head. “Alright!”
“This is a forbidden area. Tell your Dragon Pinning Sect disciples not to approach.”
“I already gave that order long ago!”
“Also, how goes the solving outside?” Ding Rui asked.
“We have solved one hundred Go puzzles, but these Go puzzles are too difficult. They are not that easy to break. We have offered a reward of one superior-grade spirit stone for every Go puzzle solved. Now, more and more people are participating!” Ding Dong explained.
“That’s not enough. Increase the reward tenfold.”
“Ah? Ten superior-grade spirit stones for solving one Go puzzle? So much? The cultivators will go crazy. My Dragon Pinning Sect disciples will also rush to try solving the Go puzzles!” Ding Dong said, feeling startled.
“There are three thousand Go puzzles. You have solved only one hundred. There are still two thousand nine hundred left. How much longer do I have to wait? Get them to solve the Go puzzles quickly, with all their might. What are spirit stones worth? I have plenty of them!” Ding Rui said coldly.
“Alright!” Ding Dong nodded.
——
Gu Hai traveled south, heading to the Dragon Pinning Sect. As he got closer to the Dragon Pinning Sect, he encountered more and more cultivators. Likewise, an increasing number of cultivators recognized Gu Hai.
“Gu Hai? He is Gu Hai!” someone suddenly called out.
“He killed twenty thousand cultivators in the Great Feng Mafia Family!”
“However, he has a Century Lifespan Immortality Peach!”
The cultivators gave Gu Hai strange looks, wanting to charge over but refraining due to his notoriety. After all, the events at the Great Feng Mafia Family were too brutal.
Were the three thousand evil men here as well?
Many cultivators followed behind Gu Hai. When they arrived at a small valley, they finally could no longer restrain themselves and started to surround him.
Gu Hai stood in the center of the valley, coldly eyeing the fifty cultivators encircling him.
These fifty cultivators held up their weapons as they stared at Gu Hai.
“Gu Hai, where’s the Century Lifespan Immortality Peach?” a red-clad man, the leader, asked coldly.
“The Century Lifespan Immortality Peach?” Gu Hai revealed a hint of a sneer.
“That’s right. You haven’t eaten it yet, right? Hand it over to us, and we will let you go. Otherwise…” the red-clad man said coldly.
“Hand over the Century Lifespan Immortality Peach!” the cultivators shouted.
Gu Hai narrowed his eyes slightly and said, “You guessed right, the Century Lifespan Immortality Peach is still with me.”
The crowd’s eyes lit up. “Hand it over!”
With a faint sneer, Gu Hai said, “You are still not qualified!”
“Then, don’t blame us for being rude!” the red-clad man said coldly.
The cultivators immediately showed ferocious expressions as they raised their weapons to charge forward.
Gu Hai’s expression slowly turned chilly as he leaked a murderous intent.
“Stop!” A shout suddenly came from far away.
The cultivators who were prepared to attack in the valley paused. When they turned their heads to look, they saw a green-clad man in the distance rushing over.
“First Senior Brother?” everyone said in surprise.
Gu Hai coldly eyed that green-clad man. That green-clad man immediately broke out in a sweat as he flew over desperately.
Bang! The green-clad man landed before everyone.
“First Senior Brother, we found Gu Hai already. We also scouted the surroundings, and the three thousand evil men are not around!”
“Indeed. First Senior Brother, he is alone. He cannot escape!”
“The Century Lifespan Immortality Peach is ours now. Master is reaching a major milestone in age. It would be great to use the Century Lifespan Immortality Peach as a birthday gift!”
[TL Note: For the Chinese, certain ages are considered major milestones. A major one is the age of sixty, as that means that one has lived for five cycles of the zodiac (twelve years for each cycle.) This being a cultivation story with cultivators living beyond normal lifespans, I’m guessing that the master of these cultivators is way beyond sixty. Hence, I translated it as a major milestone instead of the normal sixty that the raws typically refer to.]
“Senior Brother, let’s take Gu Hai down together!”
The fifty cultivators clamored excitedly.
“Shut up!” the green-clad first senior brother shouted.
“Huh?” The fifty cultivators revealed confused expressions.
“Mister Gu, you are a great person with great magnanimity. My junior brothers do not know better. Please forgive them. This humble one apologizes to Mister Gu on behalf of all my junior brothers!” The green-clad first senior brother bowed to Gu Hai.
“Huh? First Senior Brother, what are you doing?”
“First Senior Brother, why are you…?!”
“Shut up! You good-for-nothings!” the first senior brother shouted.
The junior brothers continued to show confused expressions. What is First Senior Brother doing?
Gu Hai stared at this first senior brother with cold eyes. Sweat endlessly poured out of the first senior brother’s forehead; that first senior brother felt incredibly anxious.
“Never mind!” Gu Hai nodded.
“Many thanks, Mister Gu!” the first senior brother said joyfully.
“The Dragon Pinning Sect is in front?” Gu Hai asked.
“Yes, it is about ten kilometers past this mountain!” that first senior brother replied respectfully.
Gu Hai nodded and walked off into the distance.
“First Senior Brother…!” the group of junior brothers clamored anxiously.
“Shut up!” the first senior brother shouted.
The junior brothers felt incredibly depressed. However, their first senior brother held great prestige among them, so they suppressed their frustration. However, when Gu Hai had gotten far away, they could no longer hold back.
“First Senior Brother, why did you let him go?”
“Indeed. First Senior Brother, there are fifty of us while he is alone. What are you afraid of?”
“When we first came to Nine-Five Island, wasn’t it to snatch the Century Lifespan Immortality Peach? Gu Hai was alone while there were fifty of us. That was a great opportunity; why did you let him go?”
“He cannot beat us!”
The group looked at their first senior brother anxiously.
That first senior brother sent off Gu Hai with his eyes. After letting out a long breath, he turned his head to look at his junior brothers.
“Fifty of you and him alone?” The first senior brother revealed an expression of disdain.
“Indeed. There are fifty of us. Could we not defeat a single person?” one of the junior brothers said, unconvinced.
“Do you know that Gu Hai alone slaughtered the entire First Song Sect, five thousand of them, about half a month ago?” the first senior brother asked coldly.
“Ah? That’s impossible!” Everyone’s expression changed.
“I, your first senior brother, was there at that time. Would I lie to you?” the first senior brother retorted coldly.
Naturally, everyone understood that their first senior brother would not lie. However…
“He killed five thousand First Song Sect disciples by himself?” Everyone suddenly got goosebumps.
Fear chilled their hearts as they watched Gu Hai dwindle into the distance.
“Just think about it. Gu Hai did not disguise himself as he traveled, yet others did not seek trouble for him.”
“That’s right. Why?”
“My guess is that they knew about the events at the First Song Sect, or they had recklessly charged over and in the end…” the first senior brother said with a frown.
Everyone: “…”
Just at this moment, some cultivators walked up quietly from behind.
“Do you see Gu Hai?” the leader asked.
“Bunch of reckless fellows! To think that they eventually went to seek trouble for Gu Hai. However, they were really fortunate. Let’s go. Hurry! Let’s catch up and see what Gu Hai is going to do at the Dragon Pinning Sect!” another cultivator called out.
Those cultivators rushed off towards the Dragon Pinning Sect.
The previously doubtful junior brothers now felt grateful as they looked at their first senior brother.
