Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way - Chapter 193: A Change In Attitude (2)

“But…our sects are our legacy. How could we…” Zhan Wuchang realized what Gu Suihan was driving at and immediately began to hesitate.

“Who’s more important? You or others? You’re willing just to continue creating new frontline soldiers for the empire and do a job that’s even worse than what ordinary people call menial labor?” Gu Suihan sneered. “You’re willing to put in all this work and let the empire reap all the benefits?”

The faces of the sect leaders began to change dramatically, as though they were peeling different masks off their faces as they went through various emotions. The indignation, hatred, anger, and helplessness hidden deep within their hearts were finally revealed.

“Actually, all of you could have had control over your own fates, but you didn’t know how to think flexibly, so you ended up becoming nothing more than a bunch of slaves,” said Gu Suihan without mincing his words. “You just need to sacrifice some trash that has nothing to do with you, those who are merely lowly fellows, and you could change your destiny. I can’t believe you’re hesitating despite having such an amazing chance. It’s true that you can’t sculpt a piece of dead wood, I see.”

“Even if we’re willing to abandon our sects, what about our families? Do we just leave them to their own devices?” Zhan Wuchang was beginning to get a little upset with what Gu Suihan was saying.

“Great Elder Lu has a secret realm on hand…Once everything blows over, he could let your families out again. Wouldn’t that work out perfectly?”

Gu Suihan’s persuasive voice was like the tempting murmur of a devil as it slowly echoed in his listeners’ ears.

“Ohhh…” Everyone exchanged glances and gasped.

“As for whether Great Elder Lu wants to help you or not, I think…this matter can be resolved easily. Isn’t that so, Mr. You Hantian?” Gu Suihan threw You Hantian a knowing smile.

“That’s right.” You Hantian wasn’t stupid. Since Gu Suihan was working so hard to help him gather a bunch of loyal subordinates, he was happy to cooperate. After all, the one thing he lacked most right now was people he could trust.

He looked at the unsure faces of the sect leaders, cleared his throat, and said in a deep voice, “In the past, cultivators would sign a pact with each other when they formed alliances. Pacts are the gathering of the laws of nature and connecting them to the Way of karma, so even powerful people of the past dared not break their pacts too easily because the price to pay was simply too high. If you agree to be loyal to me, we can sign a pact with each other and make our mark in the empire. We might be able to accomplish a thing or two. Basing ourselves in the empire would definitely be more reliable than being in any of the other worlds.”

Once he had said that, the sect leaders glanced at one another. They could see that all of them were itching to agree.

They had heard about this pact thing before, just that they didn’t know exactly how it was done. Now that You Hantian had offered them something like that, it was hard for them not to feel tempted.

“Once they’re done discussing, your side of things…will come naturally,” said Gu Suihan as he held a cup out to Marahu next to him. This devil seemed nearly as large as a small mountain.

“That’s a good plan, alright.” Marahu grinned widely after stopping to think for a while and finally took the teacup from Gu Suihan’s hands.

“So now, we need to think about how we can explain things and how we’re going to cover up some other things.” Gu Suihan seized the chance to keep going and slapped the unconscious Huangquan Evil Ghost awake.

“There’s still one more major problem here.” You Hantian suddenly frowned. “The will of this world here has been dispelled by you, Mr. Gu, and its’ spirit has been destroyed. The empire will notice this.”

“Don’t worry. We still have this fellow.” Gu Suihan pointed at the Evil Ghost, who had just woken up, and said in a mysterious manner, “They’re all test experiments, so…there must be some similarities between them.”

Everyone leaned forward and stared at Gu Suihan as they waited for him to explain what he had just said.

“This fellow was created by the empire and isn’t naturally a ghost in the first place. It shares some similarities with certain legacies, is covered by flesh, has a mixture of elements, and has both entrapped and merged a soul into this body. That will of this world is a little simpler in comparison. It is the merger of a sentient soul with the laws of nature, and trapped within a particular area.”

Gu Suihan smacked his lips and continued, “Mr. You, if you don’t mind, we could do a little switcheroo.”

“Are you saying…” You Hantian’s eyes suddenly lit up.

“That’s right. We can input some false memories into a soul that has its will erased, then stuff it into this Evil Ghost’s body. At the same time, we’ll dig this fellow’s sentience out and merge it with the laws of nature here to form a brand new will of this world.”

“That all sounds very nice, but how do we actually go about doing this, and how do we make this fellow cooperate with us?” You Hantian and the rest turned to look at the silent Huangquan Evil Ghost.

“It’ll agree to this for sure. Unless it’s willing to become an experiment subject for the empire to dismember, reinvent, torture, and analyze all over again!” Gu Suihan’s tone of voice was as calm as ever, but the chilling reality of the things he said felt like a tub of ice water that had been in the freezer for three whole days, and saying them out loud rained this tub on the Evil Ghost and drenched it completely.

“Did you…did you already have all this planned out?” The Evil Ghost paused for a moment, then suddenly spun around to stare at the impossibly indifferent Gu Suihan. Its heart began to shudder in fear.

“Hoho, who knows?” Gu Suihan merely chuckled and did not answer its question as he calmly removed the seals around the Evil Ghost that had trapped it here.

“I can’t kill you, not only because your body and soul are completely merged into one, but the biggest reason is that your consciousness has a connection to the underworld. There are too many possibilities hidden in the underworld, and these waters are too deep. Not even I would dare to go in and take a peek.” Gu Suihan looked at the Evil Ghost as his tone became sterner and sterner.

He paused for a moment, then said, “There’s some headway in your situation, so it’s my turn to state my conditions.”

“Oh?” You Hantian, Marahu, Zhou Lingfeng, and the rest immediately looked up at Gu Suihan when they heard these words, but they all breathed a big sigh of relief in their hearts. If Gu Suihan were to say that he was going to help them out of the kindness of his heart, they were certain that that would be bullshit. They’d never believe it. But now that Gu Suihan was behaving as they expected, they were a little relieved.

“My aim is very simple. I want to go to the Upper World, and you must erase my existence altogether,” said Gu Suihan sternly as he tapped his knuckle against the side of his teacup. “After that, we’ll go separate ways.”

“Don’t you think you’re being a little optimistic here?” You Hantian chuckled. “Su Yuqing hates you to the core. Do you think he’d keep such a secret for you?”

Gu Suihan smirked. “Him? Even if he tells anybody about me, would anyone believe him? Do you think the empire would choose to believe you or believe someone who’s not from this world or the sects here?”

“The larger camp is more likely to be believed…” Zhou Lingfeng exhaled slowly.

Gu Suihan turned his attention to the Evil Ghost, who had managed to sit up. “Now, I’m going to ask you some questions. If you give me answers, you’ll live, and I’ll even give you a big gift. If not, I’ll wipe out all of these memories. Choose one.”

“Go ahead and ask,” said the Evil Ghost in a bitter voice as it shut its eyes.

It had finally caved in. It didn’t have a choice. In order to survive and never return to that place that made its life a living hell, it had to give in to Gu Suihan’s demands.

“How long has the empire existed?”

“Huh?” Even You Hantian and the rest stared at Gu Suihan in surprise. What sort of question was this? You could grab anybody in the streets in the Upper World and get the answer.

“7,600 years,” said the Evil Ghost after it snapped out of its initial surprise.

“How many large and small worlds does the empire control? Or rather, how many large and small worlds does it span?”

“It spans three large worlds and a few dozen small ones. But in order to unite them into one territory, that person has gone all out to use any magical powers and supernatural powers to combine them. He’s amassed power from the entire empire to merge everything together so that they are now one space.”

“I was right…” Gu Suihan’s gaze flickered when he heard this response. “And what’s this workshop place?”

“That person used some supernatural powers to take one of the tributaries of the Huangquan River forcibly and fixed it in the middle of the empire. The workshop uses this as its foundation in an attempt to create creatures that can compare to the ferocious beasts from ancient times, yet have a sentience that will obey commands.” You Hantian was the one who answered this question.

“Are there…demons in the Upper World?” asked Gu Suihan slowly as he chose his words.

“There aren’t just demons. The empire has conquered thousands and thousands of worlds and has left footprints everywhere. The lands they have entered are covered in nothing but burned soil and dead bodies all over the place. There are so many remnants of races. Perhaps it’s because these races have the bloodline of a strong race from ancient times, they often have very outstanding aspects, or you could say they have incredible strengths. So, the empire makes full use of anything it gets its hands-on, and nobody really thinks that other races are plotting against them. Because that man is so oppressive, nobody dares to create any trouble besides some of those powerful sects. They have rather high-level cultivators guarding their sects. They aren’t as powerful as the empire, but they don’t make trouble and follow the rules, so the empire can’t be bothered with them.”

“That sounds perfect…” Gu Suihan let out a hearty laugh to calm his mildly excited heart. He looked intensely at You Hantian. “Is everyone in agreement with my plan?”

“It benefits you and me. We can kill three birds with one stone, and we can even pour shit all over those monks. Why wouldn’t we agree?” replied the others as all of them chuckled and exchanged glances.

That’s what being a cultivator was like. They wouldn’t go out of their way without getting tangible benefits in return, and their relationships were as fragile as paper. As long as they could reap benefits and profit from working together, even the greatest feud and hatred between them would dissolve into nothingness.

In the capital city of the Upper World.

“Your Supremacy, there’s news from the Star Divination Court.” A dark shadow wearing tight-fitting clothes and a black long robe suddenly appeared in front of the man who stood at the highest point in the empire. He bowed, then presented the jade slip in his hand to the other man.

“Oh.” The other man’s voice sounded a little distracted, but the gravity, the authoritativeness, and the dominance it exuded made the subordinate perspire profusely.

“You may be dismissed,” the other man’s voice resounded once more after a few moments. This time, he sounded a little amused.

After the door was shut again, an almost ethereal voice quietly echoed in the room, “Someone with no heart? How…very interesting!”

Author’s note:

2,800 characters. I guess this barely qualifies as a large chapter (it’s about 200 characters more than usual).

Who would have expected that things would turn out this way?

I’ll start to wrap up the book from these chapters onward. I’m not a professional author, and I’m definitely not one of the best web novelists out there. I can’t just dig a hole anytime, anywhere, and fill it up again without leaving any traces behind. So, I can only conclude one arc and try to fill up the holes.

Writing a book isn’t like writing a composition. You guys take less than three minutes to finish reading one chapter, and you could even read a few hundred chapters in a day. But writing two or three chapters a day is really exhausting. More importantly, my memory is very poor. There are times when I’ve forgotten what I’ve written earlier on by the time I get to later chapters, which is probably why many authors get scolded and why the details aren’t consistent.

Looking at this book now, I’ve already hit 500,000 words…

That’s the end of this arc, and the next ones will be centered around the empire, the Upper World, the Qin dynasty, its emperor, etc.

Also, I don’t know if you’ve discovered yet…if you’re not trying to write the trendiest trope in eastern fantasy books like fighting monsters as part of the cultivation training process, winning a bunch of auctions, falling into a trap and finding treasure instead, being poisoned and forced to practice dual cultivation with some pretty lady, get back at rich young masters and insult genius etc etc etc, I simply can’t squeeze extra pointless chapters out… Boohoo….I want to write useless chapters too…for example, the later part of Reverend Insanity is beginning to go down this path, while Strongest Boss System is now nothing but garbage…

I would love to pull this off too. An incident where a character pretends to be better than he really is and gets slapped in the face, in the end, can span more than ten chapters or even 20 chapters…thinking about it makes me feel great…most importantly, such chapters don’t require any thinking. There are so many web novels nowadays, so you just need to copy a few chapters, modify them slightly, and voila! *huge sigh*

One last thing. What the hell? The zhuishushenqi app (another Chinese web novel app) has more than 2,600 subscribers?

Are you serious?