The Immortal’s Poison-Chapter 227 - Red Faced

Chapter 227: Red Faced

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After they boarded the car, Wen Leyang felt considerably more steady now so he turned to ask the Rainbow’s leader behind him, “Are you and your brothers the immediate superiors of the Four Heavenly Sects?”

The Rainbow’s leader nodded as he answered in a natural and righteous manner, “That is, of course, the Four Heavenly Sects are only a setup, everything is decided by us brothers.”

The old demon rabbit had once said that there were no clearly distinguished boundaries between the Four Heavenly Sects. The lesser members do not even know which Heavenly Sect they belonged to. The organization of the World Sect was utterly just a heap of loose sand, a disunited mess.

Unless, above the Four Heavenly Sects, there was still a big boss. In this way, in a large-scale system was still fine if the small area’s boundaries were blurred. Even though the situation might appear chaotic, they could still effectively confuse the Mountain Sect and would bring more advantage than disadvantages in comparison.

“Moreover, think about this yourself. After the Wind, Cloud, Lightning, and Thunder, wouldn’t it be about to rain?” The Rainbow’s leader suddenly mentioned something which sounded irrelevant.

Wen Leyang nodded. He was feeling a little confused when the Rainbow’s leader laughed and said, “When the sky has turned clear after the rain, then the rainbow would appear! That’s the origin of the Rainbow Brother’s nickname!”

The people in the car laughed. The Rainbow’s leader had not needed Wen Leyang to ask before he had confessed everything entirely.

The seven brothers were the supposed leaders of the World Sect. When they had first met Wen Leyang on Mount Emei, that green-robed and favus-headed old man who was known as ‘Father’ to them was their loyal valet servant. However, due to the World Sect’s decline, they had picked up another job with their ‘Father’ under the recommendation from Painting Town. They helped Fifth Brother Hanba to capture demons and in return, they were paid with the Painting Town’s exotic flowers and herbs which had been accumulated over millenniums.

Their ‘Father’ possessed a swift and forceful cultivation method. He had a high-order position in the organization which killed demons and extracted their primordial energy. His initial plan was in case World Sect had to fight against the organization, he could receive protection from Hanba but as a result, he had not expected that he would die tragically on Mount Emei in an accident. The seven fat men appeared honest and foolish to outsiders on most days so no one would regard them as harmful people. Wen Leyang too had been naturally tricked by them.

At this point, the Rainbow’s leader suddenly switched the topic of conversation, “About ten years ago, Tian Yin had found us… Don’t ask me how he had found us, I don’t know that as well!”

The Rainbow’s seven fat men were extremely secretive in their identity. However, based on Tian Yin’s ability, if he was to put some effort into searching for them, it was really not a difficult task for him to capture them.

Tian Yin showed some of his skills and managed to completely subdue the Rainbow Brothers. After that, he went straight to the point and proposed that the World Sect must make great efforts to search for the ‘big flat cake, broken gong, and dog’. However, Tian Yin had no idea at all whether these were actually three items, persons or signs.

However, Tian Yin did provide a clue for them. He informed them that was in order to crack this riddle, they would need to find the person who had first spoken of this riddle and that person was Wei Mo’s Master’s brother who had rebelled against the Heaven Teller Sect. This person was capable of performing a disguise spell so even a profound master cultivator could not tell who he was.

The two parties made an agreement that after the World Sect has helped Tian Yin to locate these three items, Tian Yin would help them to kill the supreme leaders of the Five Blessings and the first ten best master cultivators in those sects. Finally, Tian Yin passed down the method which could break the magic disguise spell. He also left behind a wooden bell which they could use to call him anytime and from anywhere before he floated away.

The Rainbow’s leader cautiously took out the wooden bell which had been stuffed with cotton from his chest pocket. This form of communication magical instrument could be seen anywhere in the cultivation sects so it was not considered as a rare item.

Wen Leyang’s expression was terrified. He widened his eyes as he asked the Rainbow’s leader, “So, is Tian Yin aware that Wei Mo Martial Uncle was hiding in the Red Leaves Forest?”

The Rainbow’s First Brother hastily shook his head. He laughed as he said, “We’ve not contacted him since then so don’t worry!”

The world was a boundless place and to search for one person in the midst of billions of people, especially if that person was under a magic disguise spell, was not an easy task! The World Sect’s members investigated the whereabouts of this Heaven Teller Sect’s Martial Uncle as they paid close attention to the fluctuations of spiritual vitality in the world. Whenever the sign of an extraordinary treasure appeared in reality, they would immediately rush over to investigate. This resulted in the elites of the Wen and Luo families being trapped in the Great Mercy Temple, as well as the wicked witch of the Miao stockade village who had visited the Nine Peaks Mountain in secret and all sorts of other events.

It was only until a few years ago that the World Sect finally found out that the Heaven Teller Sect was cultivating obscurely on Mount Emei. The Rainbow Brothers then lingered for days and nights on Mount Emei as they simultaneously schemed against the giant pangolin Po Tu. They had forced the pangolin to escape by burrowing underground so that they could look for the Heaven Teller Sect.

Wen Leyang knows about the events which had taken place after that. The Rainbow Brothers’ main work and sideline had been carried out together; they were searching for the Heaven Teller Sect while they also killed demons and extracted their primordial energy. They then spent their free time to create an even higher economic value for themselves yet somehow, they had provoked the big and small demon rabbits which had then drawn in Chang Li and Wen Leyang as well. Third Brother Wei and the favus-headed man had perished altogether and that group of people, as well as Wei Mo, were then trapped on the mountainside.

Wen Leyang frowned as he asked the Rainbow’s leader, “How about the One Word Palace then?” The reason why they had met Wei Mo was because the One Word Palace’s Third Brother Wei had made an appointment to meet Wei Mo on Mount Emei.

Wei Mo had also mentioned that the One Word Palace was also searching for the whereabouts of his Martial Uncle.

The Rainbow’s leader shook his head, “The One Word Palace is one of the Righteous Path’s Five Blessings. What they do is not related to us at all so whether they are looking for Wei Mo’s Martial Uncle to do fortune-telling or for the three treasures, I do not know.”

When they were on Mount Emei’s mountainside, the seven fat men were already aware that Wei Mo does not have the slightest idea of the whereabouts of his Martial Uncle. However, after they had freed themselves, they still decided to follow Wei Mo to make certain. After all, the Heaven Teller Sect’s divination skills and calculations were miraculous so perhaps Wei Mo could calculate the whereabouts of his Martial Uncle. At the very worst, they would only pester Wei Mo to recalculate the three treasures after he was finished with his calculations of small-numbered worldly affairs.

Thus, the seven brothers had gone from adventure mode into development mode as they lurked on the Nine Peaks Mountain along the way.

At this point, Wen Leyang interrupted and asked out of puzzlement, “But why was there a necessity for all of you to hide on the Nine Peaks Mountain? You could have just seized the opportunity to abduct Wei Mo…”

The Rainbow’s leader laughed bitterly as he shook his head, “How could it be that simple? The moment we had rushed back to the mountain with you we were just in time to witness Qing Niao creating trouble on the mountain. This was then followed closely by the arrival of that old demon rabbit. Fu*k, he had stayed there all the while and had only left a few days ago! The old demon rabbit’s abilities were far superior to us brothers. We dared not act rashly even when he had been exhausted and was healing from his injuries. Moreover…” The fat man paused for a moment, “Wei Mo had started to calculate the moment he had arrived at your home. When he mentioned that the Wen family village was incalculable, we had begun to feel suspicious but anyhow, as long as Wei Mo was still alive, he will be the same no matter where he is. Also, your family’s meals are quite impressive…”

The seven fat men had lingered in the Wen family village because of Wei Mo. It was only a few months after Wen Leyang had remolded his poisonous bones that the Gongye family had come to the mountain to refine the Ning Jiao’s corpse. At that point, the entire Wen family and Wei Mo were already aware that his Martial Uncle was hiding at the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death. The Rainbow Brothers were still acting innocent and foolish on most days and they were very familiar with Wei Mo then so they had easily tricked him to reveal the truth. However, as the old demon rabbit Bu Le was still guarding the Nine Peaks Mountain, they had not been able to take any action.

After that, Wen Leyang had visited the Miao stockade village then went on a long distance trip to the highlands, the Rainbow Brothers could not wait anymore. They decided to summon the World Sect to ambush the Five Blessings in order to draw away the Great Mercy Temple’s master cultivator who was residing on the Nine Peaks Mountain. Still, they were in big trouble this time as the few of them had spent the entire year ‘not paying attention to political affairs’. In addition, the situation of the Four Heavenly Sects had been chaotic since the beginning. For the purpose of launching an all-rounded plan, they would need to assemble all the manpower they could get…

Wen Leyang was dumbstruck, it took him a long while before he burst out laughing, “So what you’re saying is that it has taken you more than half a year to assemble your manpower in an orderly manner?”

The Rainbow’s leader gave a heavy humph in reply, “The people below me are all useless good-for-nothing…”

By the time they had assembled their manpower, Wen Nine and Wen Thirteen had turned into master cultivators. The combination of these two persons’ power was no less inferior than the small demon rabbit Shan Duan’s. Moreover, Wen Leyang was almost on his way home so the Rainbow Brothers had complained incessantly. They then contrived the trick which deceived the two silly uncles and also destroyed hundreds of cell phones in the Wen family village. The plan was only officially launched yesterday night.

The Rainbow Brothers were rather merciful towards the Wen family; they had some scruples towards Wen Leyang and they even more terrified of Chang Li. This was why they had left an appropriate margin for unforeseen circumstances in their plan. Their only intention was to seize Wei Mo’s Martial Uncle. To a normal person’s thinking, if that time bomb who was significant to the destiny of the righteous and the evil path of the cultivation world were to leave his house, not only would that not be a bad thing, they should celebrate with a meal of noodles instead.

No matter how much they thought about it, they never anticipated that ‘the big flat cake, broken gong, and dog’ would become the Wen family’s and the world’s lifeline. If they had truly seized Wei Mo’s Martial Uncle, the joined efforts of many master cultivators and forces would wipe away the World Sect. There was utterly no other ending.

The Rainbow Brothers had been a little selfish when they thought of a plan to seize Wei Mo’s Martial Uncle. Since these three items were imperative even to a master cultivator like Tian Yin, certainly these items would be exceptionally important to the world. If the Rainbow Brothers had found these items and it was not useful to them, the two parties would then keep to their promise. However, if they were to realize that these items were really some powerful treasures, they would then reconsider whether they would want to fulfill the exchange with Tian Yin. Therefore, before they had found those items, they would not reveal any information to Tian Yin. It was also because of this selfishness that Tian Yin does not know about the whereabouts Wei Mo’s Martial Uncle in the Wen family’s Red Leaves Forest.

The Rainbow’s leader finally finished explaining the long sequence of events which had taken place and exhaled a long breath. He felt a cold sweat on his back as he realized that he and his brothers had been doing tasks for Xiang Liu’s true soul all along and that they were unknowingly dealing with the evilest creature in the entire world.

Wen Leyang considered the entire sequence of events once again and he could finally thoroughly understand the events from the beginning to the end. He felt relieved as well and laughed, “To rein in one’s horse at the brink of a precipice; you’ve avoided imminent disaster at the last minute.”

Qin Zhui, on the other hand, inquired closely from the side, “What about your actual powers? In the past, the actual power of the seven of you combined is still not as strong as that fat subordinate of yours, Tu Mi.”

The Rainbow’s leader chuckled, “We have the treasured weapons which had been passed down from our ancestors for generations which are capable of shielding our life vitality. There’s always a good reason why we pretend to be slightly foolish on most days!” He had not answered the question directly for that actual power was a skill which could protect one’s life, especially since they were the leaders of the World Sect who were hated by everyone. It makes sense that they would be reticent to reveal that to anyone else. The fact that he was even willing to discuss this matter was because of their close friendship.

Qin Zhui sniggered but he did not inquire closely anymore. The seven brothers had tarried for a few years on the Nine Peaks Mountain and had dreaded the old demon rabbit, Bu Le, all the while so their ability was still limited after all.

At the moment, based on Wen Leyang’s current level of power and his understanding of the cultivation world, other than a few top demon immortals, he has almost no other opponents who could match his abilities. His situation was similar to that of Guo Jing’s in the Legend of the Condor Heroes; other than someone like Dong Xie and Xi Du, the masters of the martial art world like Sha Tong Tian and Peng Lianhu were of no match for him. As for Po Tu, his position was at most akin to Mei Chaofeng. Guo Leyang still had space for improvement while Mei Po Tu would remain stagnant over there forever.

Wen Leyang was starting to have a headache, the possibility of aliens conquering the earth was too small yet they could not even walk out of a market without turning into penniless vagrants…

It was unknown whether he was acting friendly intentionally or because he had managed to vent about his thoughts which had been oppressed in his stomach for years and got it off his chest. The Rainbow’s leader was very excited as he joked with the two silly uncles during the trip. The three of them appeared very intimate.

Guo Huan suddenly spoke and asked the two silly uncles, “Since we are about to return to the Nine Peaks Mountain, are the both of you afraid?”

Wen Nine and Wen Thirteen were stunned simultaneously, “What’s there to be afraid of?”

Guo Huan laughed, “The family elders will be punishing you both for the sin of stealing!”

The two silly uncles gazed into the eyes of one another in astonishment before they spoke in unison once again, “You mean the number one master cultivator would be punished as well?”

The sky has turned dark before Wen Leyang’s group finally reached the Nine Peaks Mountain. First Uncle Wen Tunhai led a group of disciples with the two rogue cultivators, Ji Fei and Shui Jing, as they went down the mountain and welcomed the group personally. They chatted and laughed all the way but kept a brisk pace and soon arrived at the village. They then went straightaway to the new village chief’s house to pay a formal visit to the four grandfathers.

There were a lot of people in the big house; Chang Li was imitating the First Grandfather by sipping her tea smilingly while Fourth Grandfather was sitting on the side without a smile on his face. When he noticed that Wen Leyang has returned, he only nodded his head gently and squeezed out a smile from within his wrinkles.

Second and Third Grandfather, on the other hand, were not in their seats. Their seats have been occupied by Crow Ridge’s two Luo elders. The Miao family’s Second Mother and little Chi Maojiu were there as well, it seems that the crowd had been waiting for Wen Leyang to return.

The Rainbow’s six brothers were squeezed in a corner of the room and were signaling to one another with their eyes. When they saw that their Eldest Brother has returned, a gloating expression could be seen in their gaze.

Mumu was not in the big house. According to their ancestor’s custom, a couple was not allowed to see each other after the engagement and before the wedding. The moment Mumu had heard that Wen Leyang was returning to the mountain, her little face blushed as she ran away.

Wen Leyang paid his respects to the crowd before he began to explain the entire course of events and his encounters during this highland trip. He talked about the matter of the small town of Tu’er, the Kunlun Sect, Master Ranjung, the tragedy of Black and White Island, the dog-headed eagle, Xiang Liu’s true soul, the Hua family, Zhui Zi, the firecrackers and the ‘heavenly water spirit’. The listeners felt uneasy but Chang Li’s eyes occasionally smiled until they turned into crescents and occasionally widened while they filled with gloomy iciness…

Xiang Liu’s matter has apparently exceeded everyone’s expectations. After Wen Leyang had finished his explanation, the crowd did not speak for a long while. Chang Li was the first one who broke the silence, she realized that everyone was frowning and pondering so she spoke softly, “There’s no use for us to think too much on this matter, we ought to find out what is the ‘big flat cake, broken gong, and dog’ is first.” Her voice was lowered as if she was afraid that she would startle them. There was a glimmering glow in her eyes, enticing and silky soft.

Wen Leyang noticed that the rest of the six Rainbow’s fat men were on the scene. He wanted to ask about the Red Leaves Forest when Guo Huan suddenly coughed once in the jade knife.

Chang Li did not wait for Guo Huan to speak as she laughed and said, “In three months’ time, I will bring you to locate your immortal’s cave. I will then help to return your soul to your split body! If you were to succeed in your cultivation in the future, feel free to look for me for revenge at any time!” Upon saying that, she paused for a moment, “You can count that on me as well on the enmity of Mi Xu for destroying your human body, there’s no need for you to look for Hanba to vent your anger.”

Guo Huan’s voice was hard and rigid, it sounded lofty and in high spirits, “Forget about it, I’ll thank the heavens and the earth just for not killing me!”

Wen Leyang had not expected that Chang Li would make a promise to Guo Huan so easily. He was puzzled but Guo Huan sniggered and said to him, “Young lad, Chang Li had promised to help me all because she knows that I had saved your life on multiple occasions. I’m not boasting here, I can’t tell if we would be friends or foes in the future but you ought to understand Chang Li’s intention in protecting her young.”

Chang Li raised her chin. She looked at Wen Leyang in anticipation and her expression was just like a young maiden’s who had just brewed a mug of sweet soup for an adult and was waiting for the adult to praise her.

Wen Leyang was stared in bewilderment, he was pondering whether it was appropriate for him to kneel for her but he was not well-versed in how to express gratitude. In the end, he had laughed shyly and his mannerism was extremely like the Rainbow’s seven brothers.

The people in the big house suddenly laughed. Chang Li frowned as she turned to the side and asked First Elder Wen, “Why do you think that Xiaoyi and Mumu like him so much?”

First Elder Wen has a close relationship to Chang Li since the beginning, he knows that his Grand Master hates feigned flattery so he burst out laughing as he said, “Us six old men have puzzled over this matter for a few years!” He has even included the two elders of Luo family. As expected, the two Luo family elders nodded heavily in agreement.

Wen Leyang hastily diverted the topic of conversation, “Have we found Wei Mo’s Martial Uncle?”

First Elder Wen and Grand Master Chang Li shook their heads in unison. Wen Leyang immediately turned around and looked at the Rainbow Brothers. One of the fat men hastily waved his hand, “No…It’s not that we don’t want to help but there are prohibition spells in the Red Leaves Forest!”

Wen Leyang was furious, he was about to speak when he realized that Fourth Grandfather’s old face was blushing…

First Grandfather sniggered and shook his head, “When you were on the highland, many events have also taken place at home. I’ll explain those to you one by one but First Uncle will first tell you about the Ning Jiao’s poison!”

Wen Tunhai’s face fell as he looked at First Grandfather, “The person that you do not dare to offend, I would not dare to offend even more!” He peering secretively at Fourth Grandfather through the corner of his eyes as he said that.

Wen Leyang was confused as he looked at one person next, he does not understand what was going on.

The two elders from Luo family, on the other hand, were overwhelmed with joy, “The Ning Jiao’s rare poison has been broken down by these old men but they had not broken down the poison completely.” The two elders and the Wen family’s four elders have held grudges against each other for a long time. Since there was now an opportunity, they started to tell the story.

The Ning Jiao’s rare poison was similar to the Poison of Life and Death in Wen Leyang’s body. It seems that its toxicity now should not be more incisive than the Poison of Life and Death but even so, the four elders had racked their minds in order to refine Ning Jiao’s poisonous blood. They had truly spent a lot of laborious effort and time to break down the strong poison at long last. When the old demon rabbit had left the Nine Peaks Mountain, Fourth Grandfather was worried that there could be some unforeseen incidents so he had changed the prohibition spells in the Red Leaves Forest to the Ning Jiao’s strong poison.

Wen Leyang nodded uncertainly as he backed up Fourth Grandfather, “If he had not done so, their World Sect would have already seized that person earlier.”

First Elder Luo burst out laughing, “That’s right, that’s right! However, after this new prohibition spell has been laid down, these elders were unable to break the spell again! They had been discussing earlier on that they would wait for your return then send you to the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death to absorb all the strong poison of the prohibition spell!”

Wen Leyang exclaimed in understanding, he was at a loss of whether to cry or to laugh as he looked at Fourth Grandfather, “You can’t break the spell? W-what do you mean?”

Fourth Elder Wen gave an icy-cold humph and did not acknowledge Wen Leyang.

After the Ning Jiao’s strong poison has been fused into the Red Leaves Forest’s prohibition spell, there was a slight change in the poison’s toxicity. The recipe which had been initially refined in order to break down the strong poison was useless. This time, even the Red Leaves Forest’s prohibition spell was turned into an isolation strip. The people in the forest could not come out and the people outside the forest could not enter as well. Right now, the group had been only able to shout to each other from across the forest. Wen Xiaoyi, who has been staying in the Red Leaves Forest these days, was also now trapped in there as well. Fortunately, there was still plenty of food in the Red Leaves Forest.

Chang Li found the matter to be amusing as well, “I’m not afraid of the Ning Jiao’s poison but if I had charged into the forest forcefully, I would destroy the entire Red Leaves Forest to its root. Your money-grubbing grandfather could not bear to part with the forest so he had said that he would wait for your return and see if you could absorb all the strong poison.”

It was only then that Wen Leyang understood why they were still unable to locate Wei Mo’s Martial Uncle. He laughed as he nodded, “It is done, I will try now!”

First Grandfather chuckled as he waved his hand, “There’s no need to rush, we will discuss our family matters first and enter the mountain together next daybreak.”

Wen Leyang nodded honestly and he hastily diverted the topic of conversation away from the Red Leaves Forest. He asked in slight puzzlement, “Where are Second and Third Grandfather?”

The moment he had spoken, First Grandfather has blushed as well as the Fourth Grandfather. The two elders of the Luo family were even more elated and the Second Mother too could not resist anymore as she explained the matter in her crisp voice.

Tuo Xie’s cultivation method has seen the light of day again. Wen Leyang had used his cell phone to record the Grand Master’s words in the jade talisman. He had then returned with the voice recording to Nine Peaks Mountain. For such an important matter, the Wen, Miao, and Luo families would naturally gather on the Nine Peaks Mountain and discuss how to crack their Grand Master’s cultivation method.

The three families’ descendants were all facing the same issues; during the past two thousand years, they had cultivated the foundation skill which had been passed down from Grand Master Tuo Xie into something else.

The Wen family prioritized toxicity and they used the Faulty Punch as a foundation to refine the poisons from the five elements into the body, in the process destroying the balance of toxins in the body.

The Miao clan planted an exceeding powerful fatal move in their birth year spell so that their birth year spell was tainted with malevolent energy and there was no way they could pass this spell to other people.

The Luo family grew corpses but in order to achieve tacit understanding between the human and the corpse, the master and zombie almost never left each other’s side. The current Crow Ridge disciples were almost all tainted with some extent of corpse’s energy. They could only control the corpse but they could never control the autonomy of their meridians like the Wen family disciples.

However, amongst the three families, there were one or two persons there who could fulfill Grand Master Tuo Xie’s cultivation method with great difficulties. Naturally, the two silly brothers Wen Nine and Wen Thirteen were the representatives of the Wen family. They had only cultivated in the Faulty Punch but due to their limited intelligence, they could not cultivate a poison recipe which was suitable for themselves. In the end, they had profited from their misfortune. Little Chi Maojiu from the Miao family had inherited ten percent of Grand Master Tuo Xie’s witchcraft power from the jade talisman and his birth year spell was recently abolished as well. Tuo Xie’s utmost purest witchcraft power then helped him to forge his purest birth year spell once again. The representative from the Luo family was Mumu. As Ah Dan was lovable, she had been willing to sacrifice her power in order to protect the zombie baby. The toddler’s corpse had then gained a sense of humanity somehow and when Ah Dan had turned into a half-dead body afterward, even though Mumu had constantly lived with Ah Dan, she was not tainted by the corpse’s energy.

It was supposed to be a satisfactory conclusion for everyone but the four elders of the Wen family had been unwilling to give up. Tuo Xie had stated that ‘Poison, Witchcraft, and Corpse were born of the same root. They nourish each other and grow together. When the mastery of poison cultivation was achieved, three persons should soar together’. The disciples from the other two families, one was the young Big Dragon’s Root while the other was the direct heir of an inner disciple. However, the Wen family’s chosen ones were two silly men. This was why the four family elders of the Wen family decided to make a risky move after they had a discussion about this.

Other than the two silly uncles, the Wen family also selected five other persons. Each of them had been selected to represent one of the poisons from five elements – Second Grandfather, Third Grandfather, Wen Bushuo, Wen Buzuo and the final addition, Wen Tunhai.

First Elder Wen was the head of the family while Fourth Elder Wen was head of the workshop so they were not part of the formation.

The result was immediately evident; after the Second and Third Grandfather as well as the brothers Bushuo and Buzuo had broken their meridians, they were immediately poisoned by their own poisons in succession. Fortunately, the old demon rabbit Bu Le was still on the Nine Peaks Mountain. Though the Art of Poison of these four elites of the Wen family was of an ordinary level, they were finally rescued in the end. First Elder Wen had witnessed four of his men collapse, he was sincerely convinced so he did not allow Wen Tunhai to seek his doom as well.

During those days, the Wen family village was very busy, buzzing in a chaotic mess…