Chapter 1549: Joining

Chapter 1549: Joining

Mo Hua said, "I'm not carving up your flesh."

Bai XiaoSheng asked, "Then whose flesh are you planning to carve up?"

Mo Hua sighed. "Why do you always think of me as such a bad person? Am I really that bad?"

Bai XiaoSheng sneered. People without self-awareness were exactly like this.

A weasel paying respects to a chicken, you still want to play the good guy?

Bai XiaoSheng had long seen through Mo Hua's tricks: "At the end of the day, you just want me to work for you for free, don't you?"

Mo Hua said, "What do you mean 'work for free'? Listen to yourself. This is called 'sharing the same goal,' a win-win cooperation."

Bai XiaoSheng refused outright: "No deal. You and I are not the same kind of people."

He had truly been burned by this kid Mo Hua too many times.

This kid was deep and scheming, full of tricks. Bai XiaoSheng feared that Mo Hua could sell him off and he'd still be counting the money for him.

The key point was that this had happened more than once, especially in Houtu City...

Thinking of this, Bai XiaoSheng suddenly paused and asked Mo Hua, "By the way, why are you here?"

Mo Hua asked, "What do you mean?"

Bai XiaoSheng said, "This is Qingchou Prefecture, a land of disaster. Why aren't you in Houtu City playing your role as 'Young Master Mo,' visiting brothels, meeting the flower queen, living your life of luxury? What are you doing here?"

Mo Hua said, "Qingchou Prefecture has erupted in chaos."

Bai XiaoSheng frowned. "And then? What does Qingchou Prefecture's chaos have to do with you?"

Mo Hua sighed. "I cannot bear to see the suffering of the common people."

Bai XiaoSheng was taken aback, then let out a cold laugh. "Guess if I believe that?"

You white-faced, black-hearted little bastard, a swindler who doesn't pay for his crimes...

Can't bear to see the suffering of the common people? I think you want to see me suffer...

As Bai XiaoSheng thought this, he suddenly grew alarmed. "You didn't... follow me here, did you?"

Mo Hua was speechless. "Why would I follow you? Do you have some treasure on you?"

Bai XiaoSheng shook his head. "Then how else could it be such a coincidence that wherever I go, you show up?"

Mo Hua said, "Perhaps this is fate bound by cause and effect."

Bai XiaoSheng's face twisted in disgust.

What fate?

The fate between a free laborer and a black-hearted boss?

That kind of fate is better off thrown to the dogs.

Mo Hua said, "Enough with the nonsense. Hurry up, the situation is urgent, time is short. Join forces with me and Uncle Gù, and we'll go do something great together."

Bai XiaoSheng said, "You go do your great deeds. I'm a beggar now, don't get in the way of my begging."

You call yourself a beggar? Who in the Late Golden Core Stage comes here to be a beggar?

Mo Hua felt frustrated at Bai XiaoSheng's stubbornness, and seeing that he was impervious to reason, he had no choice but to bring out the "elder" to pressure him.

"Are you going to ignore your Great-Aunt's words now?"

Bai XiaoSheng was slightly startled, then thought for a moment and sneered:

"Who are you trying to fool? This isn't Houtu City... Besides, my Great-Aunt is my Great-Aunt, and you are you. Don't go claiming credit you don't deserve."

Seeing that Bai XiaoSheng had grown thick-skinned as a beggar, and being far from home where Little Senior Sister's authority as Great-Aunt held less sway, Mo Hua had no choice but to bring out another "big shot":

"Then you should know that my martial aunt has come to Kun Province, right?"

"Your martial aunt?" Bai XiaoSheng frowned.

Mo Hua nodded. "My Little Senior Sister's mother. By seniority, she should count as... your great-grand-aunt?"

Bai XiaoSheng's face turned pale with shock. "She... she's come to Kun Province too?!"

(TN: 老人家 (Lao Rén Jiā): Literally “old person,” but commonly used as a respectful form of address for an elderly or highly respected person. Here, it is an honorific referring to 'Her/She' and does not necessarily mean that she is literally old.)

"Oh, so you called my Martial Aunt 'old'? I'll remember that. You're done for." Mo Hua nodded.

Bai XiaoSheng genuinely wanted to strangle Mo Hua to silence him.

He fumed, "Don't talk nonsense."

Mo Hua sighed, "I'm the type who speaks bluntly and isn't very good at covering for others' faults. If I ever slip up in the future..."

Blunt-spoken, not good at covering for others' faults.

In simple terms, it meant he would spout nonsense, even malicious slander.

Bai XiaoSheng drew in a cold breath, his scalp tingling.

How could there be such a wicked person in this world...

Bai XiaoSheng found it hard to refuse, but after pondering for a moment, he sighed again, "It's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that I have my own matters to attend to. I have to cultivate my own Dao..."

Mo Hua asked, "And your own Dao is to play the beggar here?"

Bai XiaoSheng shook his head, "You don't understand. This is called comprehending the principles of all living beings, enacting the Dao of all living beings, and understanding the suffering of all living beings."

"But..." Mo Hua's gaze sharpened slightly as he spoke slowly, "Others are enduring real suffering, and you're here acting out suffering. Do you think that's appropriate?"

Bai XiaoSheng was taken aback. He couldn't help but look up and glance at the pitiful beggars around him.

These people's suffering was real—the suffering of life and death, of separation and grief.

Though he was here playing the part, also trying to comprehend hardship, no matter how he comprehended it, it was still "fake."

Mo Hua continued slowly, "You don't need to act out suffering to comprehend it. If you go save the living beings, isn't that also comprehending the Dao of All Living Beings?"

Bai XiaoSheng's heart skipped a beat.

Damn it, this accursed Mo Hua... what he said seemed to make a little bit of sense...

But...

Bai XiaoSheng looked up at Mo Hua and frowned, "Are you tricking me again?"

Mo Hua shook his head and said helplessly, "You're too suspicious. Always doubting everything. Your Dao Heart isn't firm. How can you seek the Dao like this?"

Bai XiaoSheng snorted coldly.

"Alright, stop playing the beggar," Mo Hua said. "Hurry up. Let's go do something proper."

Bai XiaoSheng's expression turned sour, his face full of reluctance, but he still slowly stood up. A faint shimmer passed over his body as the tattered clothes and disheveled appearance of the mortal guise faded away, transforming him back into that formless, unrestrained eldest master of the Bai Clan.

"Fine..." Bai XiaoSheng said.

After all, playing the beggar here alone was rather boring.

Watching the common folk suffer around him, as insignificant as weeds, while doing nothing—that was indeed somewhat hard to bear.

Following Mo Hua, though risky and possibly full of pitfalls, was at least not so dull.

Mo Hua said, "Then let's go."

"Mhm." Bai XiaoSheng gave a soft hum, then bowed to Gu Changhuai: "Magistrate Gu."

Gu Changhuai returned the bow, "Elder Master Bai, it's been a while."

At the same time, he was secretly astonished.

Though he knew Mo Hua was immensely resourceful, he never imagined that with just a few words, he could actually persuade this extraordinary Late Golden Core Stage cultivator of the Bai Clan.

Not to mention anything else, Mo Hua's ability to sway people's hearts and 'convert' cultivators was truly beyond comprehension.

Even a Golden Core grand cultivator of the prestigious Bai Clan could be "talked into leaving" by his silver tongue...

If someone with such eloquence were to become a human trafficker, who knows how much evil they would wreak...

Gu Changhuai sighed inwardly.

...

Afterward, the three of them continued walking along the devastated streets of Qingchou City.

With Bai XiaoSheng, a Late Golden Core Stage cultivator, joining them, Mo Hua's party had become three, and their strength had been greatly enhanced.

Bai XiaoSheng was from the prestigious Bai Clan, a legitimate direct-lineage Golden Core cultivator. Though only at the Late Golden Core Stage, he was in no way inferior to an ordinary Peak Golden Core cultivator.

This was a genuine "thigh" to cling to.

But at this very moment, this "thigh" of the Bai Clan was walking alongside Mo Hua, frowning inwardly as he reflected.

Why was this Mo Hua everywhere?

Why could this Mo Hua always find him?

How had he gotten tangled up with this menace and couldn't shake him off?

Bai XiaoSheng had originally thought that since Mo Hua's "base" was in Houtu City, and Mo Hua's Little Senior Sister—who was also his own Little Grandaunt—was there too, then naturally, Mo Hua's range of activity wouldn't extend beyond Houtu City.

Having suffered the painful lesson of being set up by Mo Hua before, Bai XiaoSheng had thought, if I can't afford to provoke him, can't I at least avoid him?

Since he couldn't dodge this menace within Houtu City, wouldn't leaving Houtu City solve the problem?

The Great Spirit Field Realm should be far enough.

Qingchou Prefecture should be remote enough.

As it happened, a riot had broken out there—a storm of blood and chaos—and he could come over to experience the suffering of the masses.

Who in their right mind would run to a place like this?

But he never could have imagined that, of all things, Mo Hua would still track him down.

And with all those beggars in Qingchou City, he'd still managed to pinpoint him with uncanny accuracy...

This was truly bizarre.

Where exactly was the root of the problem?

Could it really be that back then, when Mo Hua sparred at the Qianxue Debate Tournament, he'd run his mouth about Mo Hua, sizing him up and spouting nonsense—calling him a slacker, saying he'd pulled strings, gone through the back door, calling him a second-generation heir, a Crown Prince, mocking that he "could barely even hold a sword, let alone spar with it..."—all those words...

Had Mo Hua caught hold of that thread of cause and effect, planting the seed of this disaster?

That couldn't be that ridiculous, could it...

He was just a Golden Core cultivator. Bai XiaoSheng occasionally badmouthed the Ancestor behind his back, and he'd never been marked by the Ancestor for it...

Could it really be that disaster comes from the mouth, and he'd touched a taboo of this kid Mo Hua?

Bai XiaoSheng wore a pained expression.

Mo Hua suddenly turned his head to look at Bai XiaoSheng.

Bai XiaoSheng's heart skipped a beat.

Mo Hua asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing..." Bai XiaoSheng's mind turned, and he finally asked:

"You... what are you planning to do next?"

"Didn't I already say?" Mo Hua replied. "Find a way to quell the riot in Qingchou Prefecture."

Bai XiaoSheng nodded and said no more.

But as he walked, mulling it over, he suddenly felt something was off and asked, "You want to quell the riot... do you have the Earth Sect backing you?"

Mo Hua shook his head.

Bai XiaoSheng asked, "Will the great clans allocate you grain?"

Mo Hua shook his head again.

Bai XiaoSheng asked, "Will the Dao Court send Dao Soldiers to support you?"

Mo Hua shook his head once more.

Bai XiaoSheng asked again, "Then who's supporting you?"

Mo Hua said, "No one. It's just the three of us."

Bai XiaoSheng was speechless, and finally rolled his eyes hard. "So after all that talk, you're nothing but a general with no army."

He'd thought that when Mo Hua kept going on about quelling the riot, saving the masses, and accomplishing something great... that he'd come prepared, with manpower, resources, and authority all in place, which was why he had such confidence.

But this poor kid had nothing at all...

Empty-handed, and he dared to make bold claims about doing great things.

Bai XiaoSheng sighed. "Do you know how many people are in Qingchou Prefecture?"

Mo Hua nodded. "Probably still a few tens of millions."

Bai XiaoSheng's head was starting to ache. "Do you even know how many people that number actually is? There are only three of us here. Even if we're all Golden Core cultivators with formidable combat power, there's no way we can suppress the situation and pacify such a complicated upheaval..."

"Let alone feed them all."

"With that many people, each with a mouth to feed—even if each one only eats a single bite of rice a day, that's enough to eat you out of house and home..."

Mo Hua nodded, his expression calm. "I know."

Bai XiaoSheng fumed, "You know?! You really know? You know and you still—"

Mo Hua shushed him, frowning. "Keep your voice down. Why are you getting so jumpy?"

"You're several hundred years old. Can't you be a bit more composed like me?"

Bai XiaoSheng took a deep breath, his head throbbing with frustration. In the end, he simply had no energy left to argue and sighed, "Fine..."

He was already on this sinking ship anyway, what else could he do but let this kid do as he pleased.

"So," Bai XiaoSheng asked, "what exactly do you plan to do?"

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then said, "I plan to... kill a man first."

"Kill someone?" Bai XiaoSheng was momentarily taken aback.

"Mm," Mo Hua said. "I hadn't originally planned to kill him... but now that you're here, there's an opportunity."

Bai XiaoSheng sneered. So after all this, he was still being used as a tool, a borrowed blade to do the killing.

"Who?"

Mo Hua said, "Lord Qingchou."

Bai XiaoSheng was startled. "The leader of the largest mob in Qingchou Prefecture?"

Mo Hua nodded.

Bai XiaoSheng frowned. "Why do you want to kill him?"

Mo Hua said, "He's the mastermind behind the uprising in Qingchou Prefecture, and... there's something off about him..."

Bai XiaoSheng was surprised. "Something off?"

Mo Hua nodded, speaking slowly, "I want to kill Lord Qingchou, skin him, and see what's inside..."

Bai XiaoSheng frowned and asked, "Are you a proper person? Why are you always thinking about flaying people?"

Mo Hua said, "I am a proper person, but Lord Qingchou isn't—so what's the problem?"

"Besides, I have a feeling that Lord Qingchou is definitely hiding some great secret..."

Bai XiaoSheng's expression shifted slightly, and he couldn't help but ask, "What great secret?"

Mo Hua said in a low voice, "If you don't kill him, if you don't skin him, you'll never know... what great secret he's hiding..."

Bai XiaoSheng looked utterly speechless, wishing he had a hammer to knock some sense into Mo Hua's head. After pondering for a long while, he frowned again and said:

"But... Lord Qingchou isn't easy to kill, is he?"

Lord Qingchou was the most vicious mob leader in Qingchou Prefecture. His cultivation was considerable, and with his Innate Physical Mutation, he was already extremely difficult to kill.

If he were caught alone, it might be manageable, they could set a trap, surround him, and devise a plan to execute him.

But once Lord Qingchou returned to the midst of his followers, his power would be overwhelming. A single call would summon a hundred, a thousand, even a hundred thousand or a million responses.

Killing him then would be as difficult as reaching the heavens.

"Besides," Bai XiaoSheng's gaze darkened slightly as he continued, "even if we could kill him, we shouldn't act rashly."

"Looking at the current situation, even if we kill Lord Qingchou, it may not do much good for the overall state of affairs in Qingchou Prefecture..."

As long as Lord Qingchou remained alive, the various factions would stand in opposition and check each other's power.

Once Lord Qingchou died, the pack of wolves would have no leader, and things would likely descend into even greater chaos.

That wouldn't matter much to people like themselves, but the weak refugees, the starving, and the displaced—they would die in even greater numbers.

In that case, even if the mastermind were eliminated, the ensuing turmoil would only create more Killing Karma.

Bai XiaoSheng cultivated the Dao of All Living Beings and had seen much of the world's suffering, so he naturally understood the complex relationships at play here.

Some matters had nothing to do with good or evil.

The situation was tangled, and what it feared most was instability. With the slightest misstep, countless thousands of lives could be lost.

With just the three of them, lacking resources, without any faction to rely on, and with so few hands, they could never hope to control the even more chaotic situation that would erupt from Lord Qingchou's death.

Therefore, Lord Qingchou himself was a great trouble, killing him or not both posed problems.

If they didn't kill him and let things continue, Lord Qingchou would keep accumulating Killing Karma, plunging all living beings into misery.

But if they did kill Lord Qingchou, it might instead accelerate the disaster and turmoil in Qingchou Prefecture.

On the chessboard, he was almost a 'dead piece,' inextricably tied to the entire situation of the rioting masses.

Mo Hua nodded. "I know all this, which is why we need to find another way."

Bai XiaoSheng didn't understand. "Another way?"

Gu Changhuai also looked at Mo Hua.

"What exactly are you plotting... in that head of yours?" Bai XiaoSheng couldn't help but ask.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then said, "The unrest in Qingchou Prefecture.. we're all outsiders here, with no faction to rely on, so resolving the rebellion ourselves isn't really possible."

"So... the problem of the rebellion can only be solved from within."

"From within?" Gu Changhuai was taken aback.

Mo Hua nodded. "We ourselves become rioters first. We guide the momentum, use the rioters' own strength to deal with Lord Qingchou and the problems within their ranks..."

Gu Changhuai's eyelids twitched uncontrollably at these words.

Bai XiaoSheng also understood Mo Hua's intent and couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath:

"I think your guts, boy, are truly something else..."

Join the rioters, become a rioter, lead the rioters, is that it?

When the Dao Court's army arrives and sees you leading the masses in "rebellion," they'll probably cut you down first as a sacrifice to the heavens.

...

Translator Notes:

大爷 (dàyé) = eldest/first master; a respectful title for a senior male member of a family. 

(End of Chapter)