I Am Your Natural Enemy

Coming to the Mazu Empress is the most suitable, and if the Mazu Empress could help ask the True Martial Great Emperor for me, that would be even better.

According to the information Wen Yan has now, this Great Demon who’s so good at running for his life was once brutally beaten by the Power of the True Martial Great Emperor back in the day, and almost got wiped out.

Muttering to himself, Wen Yan roughly stated what he was thinking, then gripped the divination blocks in his hand and tossed them out.

The first throw was a Holy Grail.

Wen Yan was a bit surprised; he hadn’t expected it not to be a laughing cup.

He continued to cast the blocks; twice in a row, and both times they were laughing cups.

Wen Yan lifted his head and said honestly,

”Empress, I think you overestimate me. My Fourth Great-uncle Master says I’m illiterate. I can’t read this.”

Wen Yan still wanted to keep casting, but the Temple Keeper, who was seated not far away, hurriedly stood up and waved him over.

”Eh, didn’t you say you couldn’t interpret it for me?”

”Times change.” The Temple Keeper spoke with a straight face, thinking to himself that Wen Yan’s casting was different from other people’s. The first cast was a Holy Grail, the next two were standard results. Three as one, from the positions to the outcomes, all in standard formation. Very clearly, the Empress was afraid he wouldn’t understand.

”Then I’ll trouble you.” Wen Yan’s expression grew solemn at once as he asked for guidance.

”The hexagram verse is: ’A bright and shining moon, its green light spreads across the seas; the general patrols the coasts and mountains, all bandits scatter at the wind and waves; follow the upright and it is auspicious.’”

Wen Yan said nothing, waiting for the explanation.

”It means, if what you’re going to do is on the right path, then go do it. Auspicious stars will illuminate the road ahead of you.”

”I’m instructed. Many thanks for interpreting the hexagram.” Wen Yan cupped his hands politely in thanks.

”You’re welcome, it’s part of my duties.”

When he left, Wen Yan donated a bit more incense money to this little temple. He no longer just felt that the temple itself wasn’t simple—he felt that this Temple Keeper was really not simple.

The Temple Keeper watched Wen Yan leave, still somewhat puzzled in his heart. When someone like Wen Yan, an Impart Teaching holder, came to cast lots, the Empress always gave laughing cups. Why was there a Holy Grail this time?

That hexagram verse was indeed stock phrasing; when ordinary people came to ask for a reading, he’d say the same thing.

After all, it was basically like the answer ”as long as you do good deeds, you’ll definitely be rewarded.”

But the nature of it was different. Wen Yan’s hexagram meant that if necessary, then even if the lucky stars are off duty today, they will specifically come in to work overtime and give you a shining auspicious star overhead.

Very clearly, that already involved other big shots. Only after consulting other big shots would a Holy Grail be given.

Time passed, and in the evening, Su Mu received a small delivery. When she opened it, inside was a very ordinary-looking key, the kind she’d seen at key-cutting stalls, the most basic, lowest-quality sort of key.

She looked at the key and drew a light breath.

From the moment that Great Demon found her, she’d had no choice anymore.

Back then, she still clung to a bit of wishful thinking, figuring that after a wave of intimidation, everyone could mind their own business—no rivers encroaching upon each other’s wells, no one provoking anyone else.

What happened afterward made her understand that wishful thinking doesn’t work.

If it hadn’t been Wen Yan she met this time, but someone else, she could forget about living peacefully. If that Great Demon stirred things up a little from the shadows, gave things a small push, it wouldn’t be all that hard to set her at odds with the Scorching Sun Department.

She picked up the key and held it in her hand.

The next day, Su Mu went around Virtue City with her mother.

Her mother was very optimistic about the future development of the northern part of the city, but Su Mu looked at the ornaments hanging from the streetlights and firmly opposed buying a house nearby.

They went to look in the northeast direction, checked out a few new developments, and more or less settled on one they liked.

That night, Su Mu’s mother once again pushed her to go back to school. The weekend was already over, and she’d taken two extra days off.

This time Su Mu only agreed on the surface, looking reluctant, and booked a ticket for the next day.

Once they got home, Su Mu dutifully went back to school, while her mother stayed very invested in the plan to buy a house in Virtue City, which Su Mu’s father also strongly supported.

Her father knew a bit of inside information: since the temporary full evacuation of Virtue City earlier this year, not only had more funding been allocated, but major companies from Yu State had also made sizable donations.

On top of that, the university city had been under construction for years and would basically come into use next year. Its future development would definitely be good.

Right now the housing prices here were at rock bottom—per-square-meter prices were about ten times lower than the average in Yu State, and more than twenty times lower than some parts of Yu State. There really wasn’t much to hesitate about.

Since Su Mu’s father put it that way, her mother agreed, and the next day she bustled off to Virtue City to sign the contract.

Left alone at home, Su Mu took out that key. Her pupils instantly dilated, filling her irises, and then in the next moment returned to normal.

She put the key away and simply sat there quietly waiting.

On the other side, in the Mountain City, the Great Demon wearing an N95 mask and tea-tinted Glasses turned back to look in the direction of Xiao Xiang County.

He had sensed that his fellow kindred over there, whatever they’d just gone through, had suddenly lost composure a bit and let a trace of Divine Essence leak out.

It was like a point of light suddenly flickering once in the darkness.

He didn’t know whether that kindred had been discovered by the Scorching Sun Department and was already fighting them.

The Great Demon gloated, waiting to watch the show.

He’d run to the Mountain City now because he’d heard that parts of the city had previously vanished, and there might be some small side entrance or little crack left behind.

He came here to look for a way out, so that if anything went wrong, at the first sign of trouble he could immediately run.

He could feel that the Power of the Tuoba Martial God in Nanwu County was becoming more and more outrageous. Just the scattered thought the other day had already made him feel scorched.

And last time, that Tuoba Martial God had actually forced the open portal completely shut. That was not something a Martial Artist as he understood it could do.

Better to stay far away.

By the next day, when several days passed and the Great Demon still hadn’t sensed anything happening, he started to get restless.

There was no new news from Xiao Xiang County, so he began to ponder what exactly could have made Su Mu lose control and accidentally reveal a flaw.

Su Mu was extremely good at enduring. After so many years, the first time he discovered her was when the portal had fully opened and Su Mu hadn’t managed to hold back, leaving a flaw. He caught the trace and tracked her down to her door.

If it wasn’t a fight with the Scorching Sun Department this time, then what was it?

It had to be something extremely important.