Chapter 281 - The Wangqiang Platform
Chapter 281 The Wangqiang Platform
Wang Bugui turned around and said, “Changge, Lyu Hao, you go to Zilong Temple.”
“That’s exactly what I want!” Zhao Changge clapped his hands cheerfully.
Wang Bugui then looked at Feng Tianming and said, “Tianming, you’re familiar with the arrays. So I’ll have you bring Chihiro, Fatty, and Yiyi with you to go find Kongming’s tomb.”
“All right.” Feng Tianming agreed with a nod.
Wang Bugui then turned to Leng Yueyan and Ning Zhe. He said, “You two, go check out Guan Yu’s Statue.”
Seeing the two agree, Wang Bugui turned around and said, “Fifth Brother, you and I will split up to check out all the Great Walls.”
After he had arranged everyone properly, he said goodbye to Yun Jinghong and Leng Shuangrong.
“Other people would be surprised to see how fast those kids have grown into Big Capables. It has been barely a year since they came back from the West.”
“Yes. The future will be the stage for them to perform on. It’s time for us old-timers to quit the show,” Leng Shuangrong replied.
“That would be great. I need a hostess in my Yuxu Palace.”
Yun Jinghong turned away with a smirk. He lifted his arm to pinch Leng Shuangrong’s soft cheek. Leng Shuangrong slapped his hand heavily and scolded him. “What an old playboy!”
“You’re right I am. Let’s go, my hostess. I’ll show you around the Pure Land!”
Yun Jinghong hugged Leng Shuangrong and carried her in his arms. The woman was protesting with a blushing face, but he ignored it. The two gradually disappeared in the Pure Land. One was in white, and the other was in gray.
Seen from a distance, the two looked so refined and graceful, like those perfect couples in pictures.
Outside the field, in a bleak area, Zhao Changge and Lyu Hao were waiting. They didn’t sneak into Zilong Temple until midnight.
“He used to be a great general. He deserved more than such a shabby and dusty temple.”
Zhao Changge was a little upset. He had idolized Zhao Yun when he was a kid. He kept asking his master to tell him stories about Zhao Yun. The more he found out about Zhao Yun, the more he respected him.
When General Zhao was trapped in Changban, he almost bled to death, but he made it out of the siege on his horse. He served his master and the young master for 42 years in total, which was why he earned his reputation.
When he was in Dangyang, his armors were dyed by his blood, but nobody dared to challenge him. Getting out of the siege and saving was what made his name spread over this country.
He was such a wise and brave man. And he was indifferent to fame and wealth. That was why Zhao Changge thought that the loyal general deserved much more than a shabby and dusty temple.
Lyu Hao stepped forward and patted Zhao Changge’s shoulder. “Don’t be so sad. If he knew this, General Zhao wouldn’t blame us for it. He told you last time that, after all he had been through in his life, his only wish was to protect his country.
“General Zhao couldn’t care less about this. You don’t need to get upset.”
“I have to visit his tomb and pay my respects to him, but the tomb without Deity Monument in it must be a fake one.” Zhao Changge shook his head and sighed.
“Then let’s see if we can find any clue to trace the whereabouts of the Deity Monument,” Lyu Hao rolled up his sleeves and said.
“Well, I’ll search for it in this place. Why don’t you go ahead and look for it in the tomb?” Zhao Changge proposed.
Lyu Hao patted him on the shoulder and rushed over like a gentle breeze. Zhao Changge activated his sense field to search. He did it more than 10 times, yet not a single clue was found.
“Whoo!”
After a while, Lyu Hao was back. He shook his head as soon as Zhao Changge saw him.
Zhao Changge frowned. He touched his jaw and asked himself, “If the Deity Monument isn’t here, where else could it be? We don’t know where it has gone, and we’ve got no one to ask.”
“Why don’t we used the Tracing Spell?” Lyu Hao suggested.
“That’s a good idea, but General Zhao was much more powerful than either of us. We’ll have to work together to trace him!”
The two immediately moved and covered the place with their powerful spiritual strength. They chanted the old spell and sent out white light at the same time.
The light merged in the heavens above, weaving into a huge screen. They could see what had happened here on the screen.
On that screen, there was a white monument, on which many ancient and complicated characters were covered. The characters were hard to read because they looked so fuzzy.
The monument was giving out silver light. A great power was covering it. Neither of the two knew where the monument came from. It was constantly circling above Zilong Temple.
The silver lights fell from heaven above and activated some strange spiritual strength lying underground. That strength rose into the air and was then absorbed by the monument, which later flew to the tomb to absorb the strength of people’s faith.
Finally, it shot into heaven in silver lights and disappeared.
“Well…”
Zhao Changge and Lyu Hao looked at each other. They didn’t know what to do next.
“Shall we go find it or just go back searching?” asked Lyu Hao.
“I want to find out everything about General Zhao. I want to know about his life. As one of his inheritors, I think I should pay my respects to him before his tomb,” Zhao Changge said and looked up into the sky.
“Let’s go. I’ll go with you!” Lyu Hao smiled and said.
“Buzz!”
Zhao Changge was suddenly gleaming with silver lights. He summoned the Dragon Gut Silver Spear and saw it shine with blinding lights. A stunning force was coming out it.
“Whoo!”
The gentle breeze solidified into a human figure. A handsome man in white armor showed up. He looked very decisive, holding the Dragon Gut Silver Spear in his hand.
His white cloak was fluttering in the wind. He was exactly General Zhao Zilong whom the two had been looking for.
“General Zhao!” Zhao Changge yelled excitedly.
Then Lyu Hao and he saluted with cupped hands.
Zhao Yun looked at Changge and said, “There’s no need to salute. I’m here to take you to the place you wanted to go.”
Then he looked at Lyu Hao and said, “As for you, you can’t go with me. There is another person waiting for you beside some grave.”
“Who?” Lyu Hao looked up and asked.
“You’ll know when you get there. I’ll telepath the place to you. You should set out now.”
Silver light popped out of General Zhao’s eyes. He transferred the thought into Lyu Hao’s mind. Then he carried Changge away and the two disappeared in the sky.
Lyu Hao was so confused about what Zhao Yun just said, but he had no choice but to follow his instruction. He then set out for the destination in his mind.
Above the clouds, two silver lights were shooting forward shoulder-to-shoulder. The sea of clouds beside them was receding.
“General Zilong, why didn’t you take Lyu Hao with us?” asked Zhao Changge.
“First of all, you’re the only person allowed in that place. That place could only accommodate one spear and one person. Besides, he had someone waiting for him. It will be a great opportunity for him.”
“I see.” Zhao Changge nodded.
The rest of the journey was silent. They later arrived at a platform on a mountain. The mountain was located to the north of Dayi County. The mountain was called Jinghui, and at the top of the mountain, there was a platform called Wangqiang. Changge had heard of it before.
Legend had it that General Zhao’s army once camped here. They build rough walls to prevent the invaders of the Qiang Ethnic Minority from coming in. Some people also claimed that Zhao Yun was buried here by his young master, Liu Chan. Liu Chan had also built a tomb and a temple here.
Zhao Changge remembered that the tomb and the temple were at the foot of Yinping Mountain, which was one km away in the east of Dayi City. There was a well-kept temple in that place.
All that Zhao Changge could see in this place were clasping walls, broken wood, and tiles that could be rubbed into powder with one’s fingers.
“General Zhao, what’s special about this place?” asked Zhao Changge.
Instead of answering that question, Zhao Yun looked down on the ground. Then his eyes grew teary. He shook his head and said, “This used to be the place where I protected our country from Qiang invaders.
“We didn’t have enough power back then. The Qiang invaders were much stronger than us. They had a sufficient food supply and a powerful man who was backing them up.
“I took my soldiers and build a rough wall. We caved array lines on it to make the opponent believe that we had prepared for a protracted battle.”
“What happened next?” Zhao Changge asked curiously.
He found Zhao Yun’s story so inspiring no matter how many times he heard it. He was even more excited this time because General Zhao was going to tell the story on his own.
Zhao Yun said with a sigh, “Then the war broke out. I had my people fight with ordinary Qiang soldiers; at the same time, I intruded on the opponents’ territory alone and killed all their cultivators by myself.
“At last, I fought more than 300 rounds with their powerhouse and skewed him with my spear. I wasn’t even injured!”
“Impressive!” Zhao Changge exclaimed.
But Zhao Yun shook his head and said, “That’s no big deal. My cultivation level was higher than his. I seized the opportunity to lure him into the attacking range of my spear.
“That made things so much easier. It would have been shameful for me if I had been injured by him, who had a lower cultivation level than me.”
Zhao Changge said, “You were just a little bit higher than him in cultivation level. Moreover, they had more people.”
“There weren’t many sages at that time. I didn’t care even if they all fought against me together. The powerhouse from the Qiang Ethnic Minority was the only worthy opponent of mine. I was nearly injured by him.” Zhao Yun shook his head as he recalled.
“Anyway, you’ll always be the invincible, experienced, and flawless general in my heart.” Zhao Changge laughed.
“I stopped caring about my reputation a long time ago when I discovered that too much caring would affect your mind. A man should be confident in himself, but he should never be arrogant after rising to fame. That works for both ordinary people and cultivators.”
Zhao Yun’s reply made Changge felt ashamed. He said, “You’re right. I’ll bear those words in mind, and never get arrogant.”
Zhao Yun nodded to him and added, “Only those with an ordinary mindset are able to make extraordinary achievements. OK, it’s time for us to get right to the point now.”