Chapter 1307: Tugging the Heart, Arousing the Emotion

Chapter 1306: Tugging the Heart, Arousing the Emotion

“What kinds of prodigies are there?” Mo Hua couldn’t help asking.

“Those… there are many…” Administrator Huangfu said. “From all the provinces, some even from the Dao Province. But exactly who they are isn’t within my duties as a director, so I rarely ask about it…”

The Dao Court held immense authority, and the Seven Pavilions were vast in scale, with extremely fine divisions of labor.

Those who served within the Seven Pavilions each attended to their own responsibilities; just handling one’s assigned duties was already busy enough.

Other matters didn’t necessarily leave them the leisure to concern themselves with.

What’s more, these scions of great clans—these prodigies—were proud and aloof, with complicated backgrounds, and they were tempering themselves on the front lines.

Administrator Huangfu on the other hand, was responsible for coordinating affairs in the rear.

The two sides had almost no interaction, so naturally he knew little about them.

Mo Hua nodded.

He now understood why, when he previously told True-Person Huá that he had lost his way during training and accidentally entered the Desolate Wilderness, True-Person Huá and the other nobles hadn’t harbored much suspicion.

Because indeed, many disciples of great clans and sects were training in the Great Wilderness.

A sect disciple becoming separated during training amid chaotic warfare and mistakenly entering the Desolate Wilderness was nothing unusual.

Even at this very moment, there might be sect disciples on the front lines, battling the Great Wilderness’s Royal Court.

This was war, anything messy could happen.

After thinking for a moment, Mo Hua asked again, “Now that the great clans have joined the war, has there been progress?”

Administrator Huangfu nodded. “The Dao Court is unified and the strongest force. But the major clans and sects are also regional giants, with deep foundations. Once they respond to the Dao Court’s mobilization and assemble together, their combined strength is extraordinary.”

“Under the Dao Court’s fury, with the great clans encircling and suppressing them, the Great Wilderness Royal Court couldn’t withstand such overwhelming momentum and has been retreating again and again. Our main forces are pressing forward, now it looks like we’re about to attack the Royal Court’s territory.”

Mo Hua was startled. “So right now, we’re outside the Great Wilderness Royal Court?”

“Not exactly,” Administrator Huangfu shook his head. “We’re still several thousand li away, separated by several mountain realms. But judging by the overall momentum of the advance, in less than half a year, we should be able to charge into the Royal Court and personally slay the rebels…”

Mo Hua’s heart trembled, and he fell into thought.

Seeing Mo Hua like this, Administrator Huangfu suddenly realized he might have said a bit too much without noticing.

There was nothing he can do about it, chatting with this friendly and easygoing Junior Brother Mo, he had unconsciously gotten carried away.

“I can’t say any more…” Administrator Huangfu sighed. “There’s a mountain of affairs waiting for me. Being an administrator means a life of toil, you can’t escape it.”

Mo Hua also knew he shouldn’t further interrupt Administrator Huangfu’s official duties, so he said, “Senior Brother Huangfu, you’ve worked hard.”

After a brief thought, Mo Hua added, “Another day, when you have time, I’ll treat you to some good tea.”

Administrator Huangfu nodded with a smile. “All right.”

If Mo Hua invited him for tea, as long as he had time, he’d be quite happy to go.

“Oh, right.” Administrator Huangfu added another reminder. “As for the wild grasses you wanted, I’ll have someone find them for you. Don’t go out yourself. Outside… it’s not that safe.”

Many people were watching this junior brother of unclear origins, harboring who knows what intentions.

Administrator Huangfu didn’t say much more, only lightly hinting at it.

Mo Hua nodded. “All right, I understand. Many thanks, Senior Brother Huangfu.”

…

After that, the two went their separate ways. Mo Hua returned to his guest room to rest.

And Administrator Huangfu, worthy of his position as an administrator of the Heavenly Authority Pavilion, handled matters efficiently and methodically. In less than half a day, he had people deliver more than a dozen storage pouches filled with wild grasses to Mo Hua.

He didn’t know exactly which wild grass Mo Hua meant.

So he had gathered large amounts of every kind.

Mo Hua selected the appropriate grasses and began, day and night without pause, to weave the Great Wilderness Straw Dogs.

The straw dogs could block calamities for him.

With each additional straw dog, the risk of his Core Formation would decrease by a fraction.

Thus, the more straw dogs, the better.

Yet during the process of weaving the straw dogs, Mo Hua often felt his causal threads in a state of constant fluctuation.

Ever since he had been ambushed last time, his perception of causality seemed to be growing increasingly sensitive.

It was as if, in the shadows, many people were stirring restlessly. Many pairs of eyes were fixed tightly on him, trying to pry out his secrets.

But these “eyes” only dared to hover outside his Fate Pattern, as though wary of something, unwilling to swarm in, unwilling to truly step into the “forbidden zone” and devour his secrets whole.

These people seemed to realize as well that Mo Hua’s karma could only be coveted from afar.

But once truly tainted by it, death would be inevitable.

Still, in this world, there was no such thing as a wall that let no wind through.

One can guard against thieves for a thousand days, but one cannot guard against thievery for a thousand days straight.

On this day, just as Mo Hua was leaning over the desk, deftly weaving a straw dog with his nimble hands, his heart suddenly stirred, and his gaze sharpened.

He sensed that his karma had been touched by something…

Or perhaps it was being drawn by something, causing a trace of it to leak out…

…

The Privy Chamber.

The originally busy Administrators Huangfu and Shangguan had gathered together once more. Seated with them was True Person Zhuge.

Before them lay a jade slip.

Within the jade slip were written several pieces of information:

“Mo Hua…”

“Little Senior Brother of the Great Void Sect… rumored to be a rogue cultivator from Li-Province, but in truth very likely the ‘illegitimate son’ of some Old Ancestor.”

“Using the identity of a rogue cultivator to conceal himself, he entered the Great Void Sect… After joining, he quickly received personal instruction in formations from Ancestor Xun of Great Void, enjoying extreme favoritism…”

Below this was a line of small, messy annotation, the handwriting sloppy, as if the writer were seething with resentment:

“Who are you fooling? If he’s a rogue cultivator, I’ll eat my own life-bound sword…”

The main text then continued:

“This child is a tyrant of the Great Void Sect. Under the banner of ‘Little Senior Brother,’ he behaves like a crown prince, acting wantonly within the sect, utterly lawless.”

“Elders of both the inner and outer sects are unwilling to offend him. Disciples of the same generation must all obey him, subject to his commands, daring not to defy him…”

“And this child’s greatest achievement is becoming the Formation Dao Champion at the Qianxue Dao Debate.”

“It is rumored that he monopolized this championship twice, with hidden, unspeakable machinations involved.”

“And during the clashes of the Sword Debate Assembly, many fellow sect geniuses—such as Linghu Xiao, a prodigy of Chongxu Sword Dao, and Ouyang Xuan of the Tai’a direct lineage—served as his vanguard. With all stars revolving around the moon, this child’s own performance was also exceedingly outstanding…”

“However, there seemed to have been a massive upheaval during that time. Even now, ten years later, whenever the elders of Dao Debate Mountain mention this child, their expressions change drastically…”

“Moreover, this child is arrogant and domineering, with despicable methods and extremely poor relations, having made many enemies across the Four Great Sects and Eight Major Schools.”

“In private, people often say: one may lose the sword debate, but Mo Hua must die! Kill Mo Hua once, and die without regret! Such is the depth of his sins, truly outrageous…”

…

True-Person Zhuge and the two Administrators stared at the jade slip, then looked up at one another, their expressions complicated.

“This… is talking about Mo Hua?” one asked.

“It should be. The name’s written right there…”

“Truly, one can’t judge a person by appearances…” True-Person Zhuge muttered. “So this kid is actually this bad?”

Administrator Shangguan sighed helplessly. “They’re just rumors. How can you take them seriously?”

“These ‘rumors’… where did they come from?” True-Person Zhuge asked. “Weren’t all the records sealed? Even we couldn’t find anything.”

Administrator Huangfu said, “I was worried someone might be trying to harm our Junior Brother Mo, so I had some subordinates keep an eye on the movements of the great clans. That’s when we discovered that the aristocratic side seems to have dug up some information about him.”

Administrator Shangguan also sighed. “Besides, what’s sealed are written records. You can’t seal people’s mouths.”

“With a mouth, people will say anything.”

“Junior Brother Mo’s files were most likely deliberately sealed by someone higher up. But no matter how important he is, it’s not to the point of killing people to silence them.”

“As long as you find related acquaintances, you can still inquire into quite a bit.”

“It’s just that with so many voices and opinions, and in a place like the Great Wilderness, gathering information about Qianxue takes a lot of time and effort…”

True-Person Zhuge pondered. “Then these rumors… do they actually have some basis?”

Administrator Shangguan replied, “Other things are hard to say, but the Formation Dao Champion title, and his outstanding performance in the sword debates, are probably not false.”

Judgments of a person’s good or evil might carry subjective bias.

But specific titles were relatively “publicly acknowledged.”

What’s more, they had all once studied at the Great Void Sect. They knew the extraordinary significance of the title “Champion” at the Qianxue Dao Debate, it was not something that could be mistakenly spread.

“As for the sword debate, let’s set that aside—for Junior Brother Mo’s cultivation foundation, we can still judge that clearly. It really is… somewhat lacking…” Administrator Huangfu said tactfully, then continued, “But his formations… two-time Formation Dao Champion, is it true or false?”

Administrator Shangguan frowned and shook his head. “Logically speaking, it shouldn’t be… Has Qianxue’s formation standard really declined this badly over the past hundred years?”

One person winning the championship twice in a row?

Back in their time, that was something they wouldn’t even dare imagine.

This was the Formation Dao Champion, not cabbages from the market.

In their day, cultivating painstakingly for nine years just to debate once, anyone who won a single Formation Dao Championship was already bringing immense honor to their ancestors. The whole clan would sing your praises; your name would be gilded in the genealogy.

And now someone could win twice?

Had the talent pool of the Qianxue region really withered so badly over the past century?

The key point was that they had all met Mo Hua. Though he was a good person and very likable, he didn’t seem like the kind of peerless formation genius who could “shake heaven and make ghosts weep.”

True-Person Zhuge said, “Must’ve pulled strings…”

Administrator Huangfu sighed helplessly. “Don’t put it so bluntly… he’s still our junior brother, after all…”

“If he hadn’t pulled strings, there’s no way he could’ve participated in two Dao Debates. Back in our time, each person could only take part once.”

“He probably… used some connections.”

Huangfu and Shangguan fell silent, but in their hearts, this seemed to be the only explanation they could come up with.

But then another problem arose…

“Does our Great Void Sect really have that much clout, to pull such massive strings?”

“Indeed… this was the Qianxue Dao Debate.”

“Aren’t we already the number one sect in Qianxue? With such great authority, wouldn’t it be easy to package a ‘formation genius’ with a rogue-cultivator background?”

“By the timeline, this happened before the merger of the Three Sects. At that time, the Great Void Sect wasn’t yet the number one sect.”

“Then could it be… that Old Mister Xun has an exceptionally massive influence?”

“That doesn’t seem right either… Is Old Mister Xun really that kind of person?”

The three frowned, thinking it over again and again, yet none of it felt quite reasonable.

As for the description of “victory in the sword debate,” it looked even more dubious, they didn’t even know from what angle to interpret it.

“Alright, let’s put this matter to rest here…” After a moment, Administrator Huangfu put away the jade slip and sighed. “Don’t tell Junior Brother Mo. No need to upset him.”

“Everyone understands things like pulling strings, no need to say them out loud.”

“Who told him he’s our ‘little ancestor’…”

“Besides, he’s just a disciple. In many matters, he doesn’t really get to decide things himself.”

“Junior Brother Mo is a good person, kind to others, which is enough. Everything else is just empty titles and idle gossip. No need to take it seriously…”

True-Person Zhuge and Shangguan both nodded slightly, deep in thought.

“Speaking of which, there is a serious matter,” Huangfu suddenly turned to True-Person Zhuge. “Have you checked on the golden needle in Junior Brother Mo’s head?”

“That’s right,” Shangguan also looked at True-Person Zhuge. “Don’t tell me you’ve gotten too used to your leisurely life and slacked off again, not taking Junior Brother Mo’s matter to heart?”

True-Person Zhuge’s expression darkened.

They’d known each other for over a hundred years, and now these two were calling Mo Hua “Junior Brother Mo” every other sentence, while trusting him so little.

As expected, the Seven Pavilions were not a good place, people became worldly and fawning.

True-Person Zhuge snorted coldly to himself, grumbled inwardly a bit, but didn’t take it too much to heart.

And in truth, this matter was indeed quite thorny.

True-Person Zhuge frowned. “I haven’t found anything yet. The needle the Huá Clan used seems somewhat unusual.”

Huangfu and Shangguan exchanged looks. “Even you can’t find it?”

True-Person Zhuge was about to say more, but after thinking it over, he said instead, “Forget it. I’ll speak once I’ve found something.”

The two Administrators’ expressions grew solemn as well. They nodded. “Alright.”

“If this golden needle truly can’t be removed, and something happens to Junior Brother Mo, we really won’t be able to answer to the Old Ancestor.”

True-Person Zhuge’s gaze grew heavy. “Indeed…”

…

After returning to his temporary cave dwelling, the usually carefree True-Person Zhuge reclined on an elegant greenwood chair and once again began leafing through the Zhuge clan’s treasured catalogues and manuals of magical artifacts, searching for an item similar to the golden needle embedded in Mo Hua’s mind.

Though laid-back by nature, once he truly set himself to a task, he became extremely meticulous.

Amid curling incense, he buried himself in reading for three full days. At last, within an ancient, timeworn scroll, True-Person Zhuge found a name…

Staring at that name, his brows knitted tightly together.

“How could it be… this thing…”

…

“The Heart-Tugging, Emotion-Arousing, Desire-Falling Golden Needle?”

Inside the Privy Chamber, not only was Mo Hua stunned, but even Administrator Huangfu and Administrator Shangguan wore expressions of incredulous shock.

True-Person Zhuge nodded.

Mo Hua couldn’t understand. “How could it be this thing?”

Just hearing the name sounded improper.

And besides…

“The Huá Clan used this needle on me… for what?” Mo Hua asked blankly. “Are they sick in the head?”

True-Person Zhuge pondered for a moment, then said, “You’ve heard the phrase ‘desire is an abyss without end,’ haven’t you?”

Mo Hua nodded.

True-Person Zhuge spoke slowly. “So-called ‘desire’ blends into emotion, arises from the heart, controls the mind, and guides one’s actions… containing both good and evil, righteous and depraved intertwined, chaotic and indistinct… this is human desire.”

“All human actions originate from muddled, unclear desires.”

“And of those desires, what can be perceived on the surface is only the tip of the iceberg. Most desires lie hidden in darkness, like a chasm within human nature, deep and unfathomable. This is what is called the ‘desire abyss.’”

“When you were sealed by the golden needle, the heavenly chasm-like, abyssal thing you sensed was precisely the manifestation of that ‘desire abyss.’”

“Once the human heart is cut off by the ‘desire abyss,’ one sinks into desire, and reason and conscience gradually wither away.”

“The ancient ancestors said: preserve Heavenly Principle, extinguish human desire.”

“Conversely, if human desire is preserved, then Heavenly Principle is extinguished. The more rampant human desire becomes in the world, the more Heavenly Principle fades.”

Mo Hua frowned. “But… what does all this have to do with me?”

True-Person Zhuge said calmly, “Heavenly Principle, conscience, rationality, put another way, they can also be called… ‘divinity.’”

“The more one seeks Heavenly Principle, laws, and the Great Dao, the stronger the divinity within the heart becomes.”

“Thus, by stimulating human desire, one can instead cut off that ‘divinity.’”

“The Huá Clan used this ‘Heart-Tugging, Emotion-Guiding, Desire-Falling Needle’ on you precisely to erect an unfathomable, unfillable ‘desire abyss’ within your heart—severing your rationality, throwing your mind into chaos, confusing your emotions. In other words… forcibly cutting off your divinity.”

“These things may sound simple, but they are in fact an extremely ancient and profound ‘theory of the mind’ in cultivation.”

“And this golden needle is no ordinary treasure. For the Huá Clan to be willing to use it on you, it means they were basically certain…”

True-Person Zhuge looked deeply at Mo Hua.

“…that you are… the Divine-Shaman of the Great Wilderness himself!”