Tome of Troubled Times-Chapter 743 (1): Jiuyous First Appearance

Yuxu smiled faintly. “Worth over a thousand gold. How do you find it?”

Zhao Changhe took another sip and shook his head with a slight smirk. “Not as good as my homemade rice wine.”

Yuxu also shook his head. “You lack the tranquility for proper brewing. At best, you’d make a jug full of crude vulgarity, void of any elegance.”

“Seeking tranquility is easy enough.”

“It only looks easy to outsiders.”

Their back-and-forth had the air of familiarity yet was laden with hidden meanings.

Dai Qingge finally began to notice something peculiar. He glanced at the two of them, then silently lowered his head and decided to enjoy his tea and refrain from interrupting them. He might be a playboy, but anyone who could make it onto the Ranking of Hidden Dragons was no idiot. At this moment, he began contemplating whether he should find an excuse to step out and leave them to their private conversation.

But in truth, whether he left or not made no difference.

The real reason Zhao Changhe and Yuxu could not speak plainly had nothing to do with Dai Qingge’s presence. It was that they could not be sure whether the Dao Lord was observing.

With Zhao Changhe’s current level of sensory perception, he could overlook an entire city. If the Dao Lord was only at the first layer of the Profound Control Realm, that would be one thing. But if he was at the second layer? That meant Yuxu’s every move was already under surveillance. And was it even possible that the Dao Lord was only at the first layer? Absolutely not. If he were, Yuxu have been in such a difficult predicament.

A second-layer Profound Control divine being... That was trouble not just for Yuxu. Zhao Changhe himself had to worry about being crushed like an insect in an instant.

And in a situation like this, Blindie isn’t going to lift a finger to help...

But the Dao Lord and his surveillance did not really matter. What mattered was confirming whether Yuxu’s attitude toward him remained unchanged. And now that he had confirmed it, Zhao Changhe could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

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As expected, Yuxu was someone who could still be won over. This was the man who had personally traveled north to observe Timur’s movements during the dragon-slaying battle; there was no way he wanted to be entangled with factions that colluded with the northern barbarians. He had simply been forced into this position, like a duck driven onto a perch with no choice but to stay. Since they had now made contact, the next step was seeing if he could help Yuxu remove some of his misgivings.

Still, there was another issue.

How had this old Daoist recognized him with a single glance?

Was it because of how he had once disguised himself as Wang Daozhong? Or was it because the way he controlled wind had traces of his old friend Ye Wuzong?

And if Yuxu had recognized him, then what about the Dao Lord?

Zhao Changhe sipped his tea, contemplating for a moment, before deciding to probe from another angle. “That Master Kong Shi today... Something felt off about him. Toward the end, he seemed intent on harming the bystanders just to disgrace you, Daoist Yuxu. Regardless of whether he possesses some hidden, non-Buddhist abilities... anyone who can even entertain such thoughts is already more demon than Buddha.”

“There are no true Kong-generation monks left in this world. And even if one did exist, there’s no way they would suddenly emerge at such a high level without already being on the Rankings of Troubled Times,” Yuxu replied with a slight smile. “I have fought with Yuan Cheng for many years and understand Buddhist affairs nearly as well as they do themselves. On this, I can be certain.”

Zhao Changhe knowingly played along. “Then where did he come from?”

Yuxu glanced briefly at Dai Qingge before smiling. “They’re most likely an ancient god or demon. The so-called Buddhist monk is nothing but a disguise”

Dai Qingge choked on his tea, nearly gagging. A god or demon? A sense of unease washed over him. It suddenly felt as if he had stumbled into a conflict far beyond what his family should be involved in. No wonder he had found the monk suspicious from the very start. Perhaps it was time to advise his father and uncle to immediately withdraw from this mess.

“So, this god or demon intends to use Buddhism as a front to pursue his own goals,” Zhao Changhe mused. “But right now, Buddhism is in a weakened state. In other words, it likely doesn’t serve his needs. Hence, he tried to use this match against you to rekindle the influence of the Great Wild Goose Temple. If he were a true Buddhist monk, he would have taken his time debating doctrines with you. But he was in too much of a hurry. He went straight for a martial challenge.”

Yuxu nodded. “That is most likely the case. So what do you feel about this, young brother?”

“I am neither Buddhist nor Daoist. I have no inherent preference for who wins or loses. I support whichever teachings make the most sense to me,” Zhao Changhe said casually. Then, after a slight pause, he observed Yuxu’s reaction carefully.

His meaning was clear.

If you were in my Great Han, you could also spread your teachings just the same.

Yes, the Four Idols Cult was the state religion, but no single religion could take up all believers of an entire empire. And now, with Yuan Cheng moving to Xiangyang, Yuxu had to be aware that the battlefield was no longer confined to Guanzhong. Everyone had an equal playing field, so why stay shackled to this small, contentious domain, forced into something he did not even want?

Yuxu studied him for a moment, then suddenly changed the topic. “I heard that since Yuan Cheng moved to Xiangyang, he has been in constant conflict with the Blood God Cult... Aiyah... The path of preaching is difficult indeed.”

To Dai Qingge, this sounded entirely unrelated. But Zhao Changhe immediately grasped the underlying message, and he grinned.

“On my way to Chang’an, I heard that someone had been secretly instigating a conflict between the Blood God Cult and Yuan Cheng. But as luck would have it, King Zhao happened to pass by and resolved the situation. Now, Yuan Cheng has been developing steadily in Xiangyang. Speaking of King Zhao, though he’s a lecherous and shameless scoundrel, I hear he’s quite the handsome fellow. No wonder he has so many beauties flocking to him. I can’t help but wonder just how dashing he must be. If I ever get the chance, I’d love to compare looks...”

For the first time, Yuxu lowered his head and silently sipped his tea, suppressing the urge to splash it directly onto Zhao Changhe’s face. To reach his current status and still remain this utterly shameless... He’s probably the first in history. Then again, at least he’s willing to openly admit to being a lecherous scoundrel.

But more importantly, the subtext of Zhao Changhe’s words was quite intriguing.

If Zhao Changhe had not passed through Xiangyang and had not intervened in time, then the news reaching Guanzhong would have been that the Four Idols Cult and the Blood God Cult were fiercely rejecting outsiders and barring others from spreading their teachings.

Had that happened, Yuxu himself would have had no choice left but to remain in Guanzhong.

These people... their chessboard is far too vast.

But the more they tried to maneuver him into a corner, the more Yuxu felt an overwhelming urge to curse.

Do they really take me for a fool?

To put it plain and simple, Zhao Changhe was now formally inviting Daoism to spread its teachings within the Great Han. Or, at the very least, assuring him that once the Great Han Empire unified Guanlong, the Daoist sects would not lose their standing in any way. Given how figures like Gui Chen were already thriving, his argument carried considerable weight.

And if Gui Chen and the others could propagate Daoism freely, Yuxu himself could simply retreat to his three cottages by the stream, brew his own rice wine, and live in seclusion. He was supposed to be a reclusive sage, so why was he wading through this cesspool in the first place?

Yuxu pondered for a while before slowly responding, “Truthfully, this Master Kong Shi can scheme however he pleases. It doesn’t concern this old Daoist... because no matter what he does, I will continue to suppress Buddhism in Chang’an.”

“Oh?” Zhao Changhe raised an eyebrow. “You don’t strike me as the type to be so ruthless. You’d really deny them even a single bowl of rice?”

“Heh...” Yuxu sipped his tea leisurely before saying, “Li Boping relies on drawing power from both Buddhism and Daoism just to avoid being reduced to a servant of the barbarians. And it is only by keeping Buddhism and Daoism at odds that he prevents himself from becoming a servant of me... or of Buddhism. His balancing act is impressive, but the unfortunate reality is that none of us are interested in playing by his rules. I don’t know what Kong Shi’s true intentions are, but for me, it’s simple: as long as I suppress Buddhism and establish myself as the sole dominant force, I can force Li Boping’s hand. Either he severs ties with the barbarians, in which case I will support his ambitions to rule. Or he chooses to remain their servant, and I will step aside and let him deal with the consequences on his own.”

Zhao Changhe chuckled. “So it was you who quietly orchestrated the ostracization of Yuan Cheng, pushing the narrative that he was destined to be the next Gui Chen. With that, you drove him out without shedding a drop of blood.”

Yuxu responded calmly, “It may have been a bit underhanded, but avoiding direct bloodshed is the best possible outcome. Unfortunately... Kong Shi has now appeared.”

“Isn’t the solution quite simple?” Zhao Changhe grinned. “You’re the number one figure in the divine land now. Just go beat him up.”

Yuxu shook his head. “I may have prestige, but prestige is a double-edged sword. Unlike Kong Shi, I cannot simply go knocking on someone’s door and publicly use force to suppress them. That would be far too unsightly.”

“That’s just because you care about appearances,” Zhao Changhe scoffed. “Go ask Xia Longyuan. Ask Timur. Those were true top-ranked figures of the Ranking of Heaven. When they decided to beat someone down, did they hesitate over trivial concerns like this?”

Yuxu merely smiled faintly and remained silent.

1. This is rather difficult to translate cohesively. Simply put, though, the surname Qín (秦), the qín (擒) that means “subdue,” and the qìn (寝) that means “sleep (in/with)” all sound similar, and the latter two can be taken as verbs expressing ways to deal with said underworld. Again, the underworld part is also just implied through the mention of Jiǔ (九), which is a reference to the name Jiuyou (九幽)—which, as explained, refers to the underworld. I suppose this explains Dai Qingge’s reaction in the next paragraph as well. ☜