Chapter 1849 — True Identity: West Star Mountain Village
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Mo Kongwu took his leave of Old Man Wei and made ready to depart.
True, at Old Man Wei's earnest urging he had lingered a few more days, sharing several rounds of wine with him—but what must go must go in the end.
His task here was done; he had succeeded in helping Wei Zhao through his tribulation, and now it was time to return and resume his seclusion, to assault that barrier once more…
"Old friend, I'm off. Take care of yourself!" Mo Kongwu said with a faint smile to Old Man Wei, who stood at the head of the village.
"This time… the road ahead belongs to little Yi alone." Old Man Wei sighed. "I don't know what those two were thinking, setting you to guard little Yi's safety. I can't say it'll all be smooth sailing, but at the very least the hidden clans won't be able to make quite so much trouble for him…"
Hearing this, Mo Kongwu could only smile bitterly. The only person who dared call those two "things" was Old Man Wei, who had once faced life and death at their side—he himself would never dare.
"The master and he must have their own considerations. You know the saying—iron unworked makes no steel, jade uncarved makes no vessel!" Mo Kongwu said. "And before he reaches that level, there is a limit on how many times I may act each year… once it exceeds two, I'll have no way to answer to the master… Besides, some forces have already slipped beyond our control. Thirteen years have passed… you and I, for reasons of aptitude, have made no great breakthroughs, but the ancient sects and hidden clans keep producing talent—especially the hidden clans, which in recent years have suddenly brought forth several Heaven-rank experts. That worries me greatly…"
"Yes, your worry is mine as well. The hidden clans are faintly showing a tendency to slip the leash—though that was inevitable. With those two things gone, we two old brothers alone cannot overawe those Heaven-rank experts, especially since I… cannot leave this place…" Old Man Wei smiled bitterly.
"Still… the master and he must have had their reasons for arranging things this way…" Mo Kongwu sighed. In truth, even he could no longer divine Wei Zhao's fate. It was just as the ancient records described: once one cultivates the ancient secret manuals, one's fate is altered—and the more exquisite the manual, the more erratic the cultivator's fate becomes, a hair's breadth of difference stretching into a thousand miles of error. Mo Kongwu had not believed it before, but his very first attempt to divine that Wei Zhao was in danger had failed—by then Wei Zhao had already perfectly advanced to the Profound rank, much to Mo Kongwu's astonishment.
And from that time on, not one of Mo Kongwu's divinations of Wei Zhao's fate had ever been accurate—so he had simply stopped trying.
After their farewell, Mo Kongwu vanished in the blink of an eye, and Old Man Wei, not the least surprised, turned and walked back the way he had come…
When Mo Kongwu returned to the place of his cultivation and saw the communicator in the room, his expression shifted ever so slightly!
Not daring to delay, Mo Kongwu sat cross-legged upon a diagram of the eight trigrams and began to divine… After a long while he opened his eyes, and the result sent a chill of dread through him!
At once Mo Kongwu placed another call to Old Man Wei.
The last time, at West Star Mountain Village, had been their first contact since parting, made through the communicator; this time, however, he called directly on his phone.
"Old friend, you've returned to the place of your cultivation?" Old Man Wei asked.
"Old friend Lin, there's trouble…" Mo Kongwu said, his expression grave.
"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" Old Man Wei asked, slightly taken aback.
"The hidden clans… may be about to stir up a storm!" Mo Kongwu said.
"The hidden clans? How would they stir up a storm? So long as no Earth-rank experts emerge, no one can shake little Yi now, with his skills and the friends around him!" Old Man Wei said, puzzled.