Pursuit of the Truth

Compared to Hu Zi being so excited that he could not hide his emotions and bawling as he hugged Su Ming, even drenching Su Ming’s robes with his tears, his flower-like second senior brother walked down from the ship with calm. There was a smile on his face, and in was filled with joy and relief.

He stared at Su Ming. He disregarded the unfamiliar face and looked to be looked straight at Su Ming’s own face.

“It’s good that you’re safe. I did say that even if our youngest junior brother was sent to an even more dangerous place, he would still grow miraculously, like a weed.

“What Barren Lands of Divine Essence, even if it was an even more dangerous region, as long as it is one of us from the ninth summit, we will definitely survive and will live even better.

“I have to say that sometimes, I am very envious of our Master. His level of cultivation might be nothing extraordinary, but when it comes to his talent in taking in disciples, there is no one who can compare to him in the universe.”

Second senior brother smiled faintly. He flipped open the fan in his right hand, let out a few fake coughs, then raised his head to stare at the galaxy as if he was composing something.

This expression took his eldest senior brother aback.

“I just reunited with second senior brother as well. This person no longer changes his personality at night and plays around with flowers and plants while thinking that someone is stealing his herbs. He now has another quirk. He… He likes to recite poetry…” Hu Zi quickly explained, updating Su Ming and his eldest senior brother.

“This is a beauteous moment, when all of us brothers from the ninth summit have reunited. Ah, I suddenly feel an urge to create poems. I would like to recite a poem to all of you from the ninth summit.”

Second senior brother let out a fake cough and swept his gaze past Su Ming and the others. He suddenly swung the fan in his hand a few times, and his eyes brightened.

Hu Zi immediately put on a long face. He looked resigned. Their eldest senior brother sensed that something bad was about to happen, so he took a few steps back.

Su Ming stared at his second senior brother’s current demeanor in a daze. He had never heard his second senior brother recite poetry before, and in fact, he was a little unclear as to what exactly was poetry recitation. He was ignorant to all of it.

“Ah!”

When Su Ming prepared to listen somewhat seriously, his second senior brother suddenly shouted. This shout caused Hu Zi to take a few steps back and eldest senior brother to regain his murderous aura, a telling sign that he had been shocked.

Su Ming felt his heart thump against his chest. The shout had been too sudden, and there was even a hint of a forlorn tone to it, causing Su Ming to almost instinctively send his divine sense outwards…

“Ah! Ah! Ah! O ninth summit!”

Second senior brother shook his head, looking intoxicated. He had his eyes half shut and looked like he had been so edified by his poem that he was savoring the endless aftertaste that came with it.

Su Ming was taken back. His eldest senior brother was clearly also stunned. Hu Zi blinked, and a bewildered expression came onto his face.

This time, even the beautiful women who disembarked with second senior brother and were now behind him as well as the person who was once his second senior brother’s Master but had now turned into his woman hesitated for a moment. No one spoke for a moment.

“Ahem… Second senior brother, what’s next?” Su Ming coughed dryly. He did not want to disturb his second senior brother while he was intoxicated in his own satisfaction, but he could not help but ask.

“Hmm? What do you mean what’s next? There’s nothing else. I’ve already finished reciting my poem! Can’t you feel the appeal of it? Don’t you sense the emotions contained in the poem? Did you truly not sense my fond remembrance towards all of you and the ninth summit..?”

Second senior brother looked like a person at the top of the world and lonely because of it. He looked a little sentimental, a little resigned, and a little lonely because he could not find a bosom friend who could understand his poem.

Eldest senior brother was silent. He instinctively seized space with his hand, and a battleaxe appeared in his grip.

Hu Zi cast a glance at Su Ming, then at their eldest senior brother, and a ferocious smile suddenly appeared on his face. He clenched his fists.

Su Ming fell silent. With a wry smile, he stared at his second senior brother who was like a flower. He was currently intoxicated and looked like he was asking for a beating. He suddenly had a feeling that his second senior brother who had loved turning his face sideways while he was under the sun so that the light could shine on his side profile because he thought that it gave him a very sunny disposition, made him look very manly, and could attract a lot of gazes from opposite sex was much easier to handle than the narcissistic person before him.

“Good poem! Sir, it is such a good poem!”

“That’s right, this poem is filled with great emotions. It’s definitely nothing ordinary…”

“That’s right, this poem should only exist in the heavens, the mortal world…”

“This poem…”

The women behind second senior brother quickly spoke, but as they continued, they noticed Su Ming’s strange gaze and could not help but turn red. They swiftly lost their ability to continue.

It was quiet all around them… At that moment, a ray of black light suddenly flew out from Su Ming’s storage bag. Once it turned into the bald crane, it stared at second senior brother with an expression of idolization. With a voice like a drake, it screeched loudly.

“Good poem! This is definitely a good poem. It’s been so many years since I heard a poem filled with such emotion. That first exclamation should be a sigh of seeing your eldest senior brother. The second one should be due to the surprised delight that you managed to think of such a poem, and the third exclamation is clearly slightly lower in tone. You must have done so because you thought Hu Zi wouldn’t understand it. The fourth one is filled with joy because you saw Little Boy Su.

“The final three words, o ninth summit is the highest form of art! It’s the highest form of art!” The bald crane shuddered while screaming in excitement.

When it spoke, the wry smile on Su Ming’s face became even wider. Eldest senior brother slowly raised his battleaxe and rubbed it a few times against his leg. Only Hu Zi stared at the bald crane dumbly, like he was deep in thought, as if… as if he was truly mulling over the meaning of the poem.

Second senior brother experienced a full body shudder and turned his body sideways to scrutinize the bald crane. A long while later, excitement appeared on his face.

“A bosom friend! This is a bosom friend! My fellow Daoist, you have great literary talent, you… you actually managed to help me think of the appeal and meaning in the poem, which I haven’t even thought of…

“It is difficult to find someone who understands you in your life. This won’t do, I must break the rule of reciting at most one poem every single day. I must recite another one to celebrate meeting a bosom friend here!” second senior brother said with great excitement.

Ever since he learned how to recite poems, he thought that it was much better than having the sun shine on the side of his face, and his interest in it grew stronger. He had never met someone who could match up to him, but he was also happy just amusing himself, though he did feel a little regretful about it in his heart.

On that day, however, when he heard the bald crane’s words, he felt his spirits lift. He also had a sense that his literary talents had become much greater at some unknown point in time without his knowledge. With great delight, he quickly began composing another poem.

“Hu Zi, youngest junior brother, let’s help wake him up. It’s been years since we met second, and what does he do, he chatters nonstop. Reciting poetry? Reciting poetry, my foot!”

Eldest senior brother let out a cold harrumph and took a step forward. Second senior brother had his eyes closed with an intoxicated look on his face as if he was about to finish composing another poem after much difficulty. When he opened his eyes and was just about to open his mouth to speak, eldest senior brother took another step forward and kicked him.

A ferocious smile lit up on Hu Zi’s face. He quickly ran over, raised his leg, and stepped on him while explaining his actions.

“Second senior brother, you can’t blame me for this. I don’t want to hit you either, but eldest senior brother has already made the order. I-I-I… I have to obey him! Who asked you to recite poetry?! Who asked you to recite poetry all the way here?!” Hu Zi rolled up his sleeves with excitement on his face.

Su Ming blinked, then cast a glance at his eldest senior brother, Hu Zi and his screaming second senior brother. He was also itching for action in his heart. With a dry cough, he imitated Hu Zi’s speech.

“Second senior brother, you really can’t blame me for this…” As he spoke, he quickly walked over and kicked him.

“You can’t blame me, second senior brother, eldest senior brother asked us to do this. Our Master isn’t around, so I have to listen to eldest senior brother, you know?”

“Ah… even if you hit me, I will still recite my poem. Ah… bald crane, ah… it’s been a long time since we met…” Second senior brother still struggled to speak, acting like he would absolutely not admit defeat.

The bald crane shuddered, then quickly took a few steps back, feeling its skin crawl as it stared at the four brothers. It suddenly felt that it was an incredibly dangerous act to get out of Su Ming’s storage bag, especially when it heard that second senior brother was still planning to recite his poem.

It immediately took a few steps back, but this didn’t feel like enough for it to draw a clear line between itself and the second senior brother. Thus, it raised its right claw and swung it, transforming into fan. It then quickly ran over to Su Ming and the others to circle them while fanning them.

“Sirs, please go on ahead and hit him. I will help you dry your sweat. Huh? Sir Hu Zi, that one kick of yours is too incisive. The long arc drawn from the kick shakes the sky and earth. Ah, eldest senior brother, that was a good punch. It was full of greatness. It’s definitely nothing ordinary.

“Oh, how astonishing. Sir Su, that one finger strike of yours can shake the universe. The elegance and charm of that one finger strike is enough to make the others cultivators want to learn it, but they would only comprehend the surface of this attack after learning it for ten thousand years…”

After the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn…

A table was added to the field. Su Ming and his senior brothers sat around it. The bald crane poured wine for them in a show of great hospitality with an obsequious expression on its face.

Second senior brother had a bruised and swollen face, looking like he was on the verge of being disfigured, and it made the bald crane nervous. Once it finished pouring wine, it quickly returned behind Su Ming and turned into a small black kitten, revealing an incredibly adorable look to avoid suffering the same end as second senior brother.

“Once all of you hit me, my mind has become much clearer. I won’t recite any poems now. Youngest junior brother, I’m happy that you could come back from the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. Let’s drink!”

A gentle smile was on second senior brother’s face. He did not bother with his badly battered body and picked up his wine cup before taking a big swig from it.

Once he drank from it, second senior brother’s face started squirming. He raised his right hand and patted his head. Black smoke immediately rose from him. When it disappeared, his face had already returned to normal. He smiled at Su Ming, Hu Zi, eldest senior brother, then suddenly lifted his left hand to swing it behind him. The beautiful women swiftly walked up.

They formed seals with their hands and pushed their hands forward,. The seals turned into rays of white light that gathered on top of second senior brother’s head. It turned into a pillar of light that was akin to sunlight, and it shone on the side of his face.

Second senior brother raised his chin and looked at the group with a smile on his face.

“What do you think of me now?”

Eldest senior brother let out a long sigh and patted his pot of wine. The wine in it was immediately drained completely. Hu Zi rubbed his eyes. He was stunned for a moment, then respect appeared on his face. He respected his second senior brother that was seriously too unique.

Su Ming laughed. On that day, he laughed more than he had done in the last one thousand something years. But just as he was about to say something, his expression changed. A brilliant light shone in his eyes, and he cast his gaze to the east.