Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1004: Chapter 48: Is There Really a Path to Immortality in This World? (10)

A sense of extraordinary pressure was spreading toward Mo Mo, which even reminded him of the duel with Prince Baihu Huang Baifu not long ago.

Could this seemingly frail girl before him… this girl who looked even younger than him, actually be compared to Prince Baihu Huang Baifu?

Mo Mo nervously gripped the peculiar black wooden sword given to him by the Lord of Ghost City, Xiao Shengmo—his only equipment at the moment.

Without talismans, the Taoist Master was essentially deprived of half of its combat power.

But how did this white-haired girl appear here? Mo Mo only remembered her from before his duel with Huang Baifu.

At that time, he even asked Captain Ling Feng of the Management Bureau to investigate a theft. Unfortunately, after the duel with Huang Baifu, he fell unconscious, and upon waking, he immediately joined the exploration of the Mysterious Cave Mansion. Later, Zhan, by chance, obtained the Imperial Edict and took Zhan away… making Mo Mo almost forget about the event of the theft that day.

“The Demon and Daoist Realms have clear rules prohibiting mutual slaughter… Are you openly breaking the agreement?” Regardless, Mo Mo calmed down and attempted to probe the reality of this white-haired girl with his words.

“Oh? What agreement are you talking about?” The white-haired girl nonchalantly said while chewing gum, “But it doesn’t really concern me; I’m not one of them.”

The strange long sword was dragging on the ground, making a sharpening sound that made Mo Mo break into a cold sweat. At his level of cultivation, his perception of the environment and danger was far beyond that of ordinary people.

At that moment, Mo Mo felt there was nowhere to escape—as if the space around him had been completely locked by numerous terrifying auras.

It was like ice cones shooting up from the ground, completely locking him in place, sending a penetrating chill through Mo Mo.

The white-haired girl’s smile became more radiant.

But Mo Mo, at this moment, let out a low growl. His vigorous mana erupted from his body, fiercely pushing away the chilling sensation. He held the mysterious wooden sword wrapped in cloth and breathed steadily.

“Oh, much better than that big white cat just now, probably quite valuable.” The white-haired girl’s lips curled slightly upward.

The tension was palpable!

Unexpectedly, the white-haired girl’s nose twitched as if she smelled something, and the intense pressure that made Mo Mo extremely tense suddenly disappeared.

This caught Mo Mo off guard, but he saw the sweet-looking yet ruthless white-haired girl suddenly approach him, tiptoeing to sniff at him.

This one… is behaving like a cat.

“Such a familiar perfume scent…” The white-haired girl frowned, then seemed to suddenly realize, “Did you recently meet a terrifying woman?”

“A terrifying woman…” Mo Mo subconsciously looked at the white-haired girl before him, not knowing why her attitude changed so drastically, but if one were to say terrifying woman—wasn’t it her right in front of him?

The white-haired girl said, “Golden hair, always smiling, but very dangerous, very dangerous, right?”

Golden hair, always smiling… could it be that maid in Senior’s shop.

“You… you know Senior?” Mo Mo blurted out in surprise, “And that lady?”

“Calling her Senior?” The white-haired girl squinted her eyes, giving Mo Mo a once-over, then suddenly asked, “Are you one of the store people?”

Mo Mo shook his head.

The white-haired girl asked again, “Have you ever bought anything from the store?”

Mo Mo still shook his head.

Suddenly, the white-haired girl’s eyes twinkled with a smile, “What do you say? Are you interested in teaming up with me to make some money together? We could go wild farming nearby; there’s plenty of small coins around!”

“…Huh?”

“I’m hungry; let’s go get a drink first!” The white-haired girl swung the long sword in her hand, sending a gust through the dark alley. After that, she sheathed the sword directly into the painting tube on her back.

Then she began walking toward the alley’s exit.

“W-wait a second!” Mo Mo hurriedly secured his wooden sword and chased after her… this strange girl seemed to know a lot about the Senior.

He hesitated, looking back at the corpse of the White Tiger Clan member, frowning… ultimately, Mo Mo decided against dealing with the body.

There should be other demons around; they’ll find this place soon and handle it. It’s best to leave it to the Yao Association and Management Bureau, as he’s still a public enemy now… why muddy the waters?

He told himself: to see injustice… perhaps he was too naive.

So he clenched his fists, grit his teeth, and quickly caught up to the white-haired girl.

…

Soon after, two shadows flickered within the dark alley. The shadows quickly approached the White Tiger Clan monster’s corpse.

The appearance of these two shadows gradually became clear, one being a man in his thirties wearing a black suit, and the other, a bearded man wearing only a vest despite the severe cold.

These two were from different backgrounds; the suited man was a pure human from an ancient sect called Yun Hui.

As for the bearded man, he came from the Greedy Wolf Clan of the Siberian plateau, preferring to be called Old Wolf.

Despite that, both currently belonged to a special department: the ‘Special National Land Administration Bureau.’

The two were on duty nearby when they sensed a flux of demonic power, including a peculiar aura, prompting them to come to this location—though it seemed they arrived too late.

“It’s the White Tiger Clan.” Yun Hui frowned while observing the scene’s environment.

In the meantime, Old Wolf sniffed on the ground and quickly stood up, shaking his head, “No way, not a single scent left; it seems the killer was very cautious.”

Yun Hui, heavy-hearted, said, “Over the past few days, demons have been disappearing one after the other, and just yesterday, we received reports of disappearances within the Taoist realm as well. Found a body today… Old Wolf, what do you think?”

Old Wolf pondered, “The ones who disappeared before have not been found yet, likely meeting ill fate, and adding this corpse to it… it’s probably all the doing of one person, but we just don’t know what their motive could be.”

“First, notify Captain Ling about this matter.” Yun Hui nodded. “I’ll set up an inner border to prevent the public from wandering in and causing panic… You go call the special squad to clear the corpse.”

“Alright.” Old Wolf then picked up the phone.

As for Yun Hui, he directly reported the situation to Captain Ling Feng, who was stationed at Wolong Mountain Villa.

After waiting a while, the department’s designated special squad arrived and began handling the murder scene.

Old Wolf leaned against the wall, feeling a bit bored, smoking a long smoke gun. Yun Hui walked over and suddenly asked, “After work, do you want to take a trip to Kun Peng Mountain Villa?”

Old Wolf glanced at Yun Hui.

Yun Hui chuckled, “After all, your Young Master of the Greedy Wolf Clan has arrived. Don’t you want to meet him? Although we are serving in the Management Bureau due to the agreement, we initially came from different places, didn’t we?”

“We’ll discuss it later.” Old Wolf shook his head calmly, “Honestly, there’s not much to see… If possible, after this term ends, I might apply to stay on.”

“Ha…” Yun Hui opened his mouth in surprise but said no more.

Once the special squad cleaned up the scene, Yun Hui and Old Wolf left together.

…

…

Mr. Blind hadn’t set foot in Wolong Mountain Villa for many years.

He remembered the first time he came, Wolong Mountain Villa didn’t have the current rules. In earlier times, there wasn’t even a Wolong Mountain Villa, just some rough huts built by Taoists attending the conference.

At that time, he was just a junior in the sect… Mr. Blind walked into the courtyard prepared for the Clothed Daoist with some nostalgia.

He only spent the time of a tea session with Lai Caisheng but already felt the child was extraordinary. He didn’t know whether his senior had entrusted Heart of Heaven to Lai Caisheng.

In fact, the inheritance of the Clothed Daoist had two major abilities: the Heavenly Eye, which sees through illusions, and the higher-level Heart of Heaven… Heart of Heaven wasn’t something purely attainable by cultivation. Strictly speaking, it was an inanimate object, passed from one generation to the next… His senior inherited Heart of Heaven from the previous sect leader.

“This room is cleaned up.” Miss Gong said politely, “If Daoist Master Qingxiazi needs anything, just instruct me. I’ve also arranged your two attendants in the next room. But please, Daoist Master Qingxiazi, restrain them; after all, they aren’t part of this place… Entering the Way with martial arts is too difficult.”

“Isn’t it said that Emperor Zhenwu entered the Way with martial arts… Is Miss Gong looking down on martial artists?” Mr. Blind said indifferently.

Miss Gong responded calmly, “Precisely so, it makes us understand how difficult it truly is.”

Mr. Blind faced Miss Gong, saying nothing for a long time, and she didn’t have any intention to avoid his gaze. Finally, Mr. Blind nodded, “Understood, I will warn them not to wander aimlessly.”

“Then I won’t disturb you further.” Miss Gong nodded and was about to leave.

But then Mr. Blind suddenly asked, “Besides Lai Caisheng, who else is in the Daoist Association now? I’ve been away too long and am unaware of the current situation.”

This wasn’t something that needed confidentiality, so Miss Gong straightforwardly said, “The current president is still Daoist Bai Jie from Kunlun. The vice presidents include True Person Huanyang from Quanzhen Daoism and Lai Caisheng as a representative. The composition of the other members of the chairman has remained unchanged for thirty years. You should know them, so I won’t enumerate them.”

Mr. Blind nodded, “Hmm… all old acquaintances. You go busy yourself; I won’t chatter you up.”

Miss Gong left respectfully.

As she stepped out, however, she saw an elder with White Eyebrows who had somehow arrived at the courtyard’s entrance.

“Miss Gong, you’re here too?” The elder with White Eyebrows… Daoist Bai Jie asked slowly.

“President… you’re here.” Miss Gong looked at the elderly man with White Eyebrows, surprised.

He was the current president of the Shenzhou Dao Association, with an unknown age, hailed as the evergreen of the Taoism-cultivated field: the Kunlun Hundred Tribulations Daoist!

“Hehe, it’s nothing, just an old friend coming by, so I thought I’d drop by to greet them.” Daoist Bai Jie appeared slow-moving.

Miss Gong was slightly stunned at this and then simply nodded, “In that case, I won’t disturb.”

She wisely chose to leave rather than stay.

After watching Miss Gong smoothly leave Daoist Bai Jie’s side, Mr. Blind slowly walked out. He respectfully bowed to Daoist Bai Jie, “Greetings, Mr. Bai Jie.”

“Hehe, Qingxia Zi, it’s been a long time.” Daoist Bai Jie, with hands behind his back, looked decrepit as he slowly entered the courtyard.

Mr. Blind then paced slowly behind Daoist Bai Jie.

Daoist Bai Jie did not enter the house, but stopped under a tree in the courtyard, looking up — it was an aged Firmiana tree. He suddenly said, “Has this tree grown taller again?”

“I can’t see.” Mr. Blind shook his head.

Daoist Bai Jie exhaled, casting a smiling glance at Mr. Blind, “Is it unseen, or simply not wished to be seen?”

Mr. Blind replied calmly, “Perhaps it’s better not to see.”

Daoist Bai Jie chuckled, “So be it. But since you’re here, aren’t you going to invite me in for tea? Also, tell this old man about the overseas wonders. It’s been over a hundred years since I’ve been out.”

“There are some rare tales, if Mr. Bai Jie doesn’t find them dull, you might like to hear them.”

“Not boring at all, not boring at all.” Under Daoist Bai Jie’s thick eyebrows, an eye slowly opened, and he happily remarked to Mr. Blind, “I’m just too bored, so I want someone to talk to. It turns out living a long life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

“Isn’t longevity a good thing?” Mr. Blind smiled.

Daoist Bai Jie’s eye slowly opened again, “The longer the life, the longer one wishes to live. Even longer still, the wish grows greater. Qingxia Zi, how long do you think our lives can extend? Can they outlast Heaven?”

“Only you, sir, could possibly answer that.” Mr. Blind smiled calmly.

Daoist Bai Jie once more looked up at the Firmiana tree in the courtyard, muttering, “Hmm… it really seems to have grown taller.”