Chapter 584: Precise Calculations
Chapter 584: Precise Calculations
For millennia, the Upper Palace and Wen clans had never intermarried their direct descendants until now...
Yet their child, who should have had the backing of two prominent families in Qianzhou, had fallen victim to schemers and was facing such immense danger.
Sadness flashed in the eyes of the palace-dressed woman, as if she had grieved to the point of disrupting the meridians and Qi flow in her body.
The man felt her pain and reached out to comfort her, only to be pushed away.
"And then?" she asked coldly.
The man reluctantly withdrew his hand and sighed, "It was Gu... Changhuai. He found a clue about Yu'er and followed it to a restaurant dozens of miles outside the city, where he encountered a group of child traffickers with only the early Qi Refining stage of cultivation..."
"But..."
The man shook his head bitterly. "Yu'er was taken away again..."
"Again?" The woman was taken aback.
"By another group," the man said hoarsely.
"They used an ambush formation and killed with spells..."
"...a hidden and powerful formation, casting ordinary fireball spells with precision and leaving no traces behind."
"And among the child traffickers, one of them practiced the Golden Severing Sword Manual."
"Golden Severing Sect..." The woman clenched her teeth.
The man smiled bitterly, "Unrelated to the Golden Severing Sect, most likely a renegade disciple. The sect wouldn't dare or be foolish enough to use such a distinctive sword technique associated with them."
"I don't care!" The woman snapped, "If they can't find Yu'er, the Golden Severing Sect will pay the price!"
"Alright..." The man could only agree, knowing that this wasn't the time for reasoning.
The man in ornate clothing sighed and continued, "The Golden Severing Sword Manual is a metal-based sword technique for flying swords, specializing in offensive attacks with immense power. It seems the child traffickers encountered a formidable foe and were desperate, resorting to using this sword technique as a last resort."
"But..."
The man's pupils trembled, "This foundational-level sword technique, known for its power, failed to inflict even the slightest injury on the enemy."
"The sword didn't draw a drop of blood, and the enemy's skin remained intact."
"This indicates that the opponent's cultivation level far surpasses that of these child traffickers."
"Golden Core, or perhaps even... Soul Transformation?"
The woman scoffed, "So many people have their eyes on Yu'er. He's just a four or five-year-old child. What has he done to be so memorable?"
"First, it was the scheme of a powerful being who understands heaven's secrets, and now, another master of heavenly calculations has interfered?" She questioned her husband with a mocking tone.
Lowering his head, the man replied helplessly, "This time... it's similar."
The woman paused, then asked angrily, "Do you take me for a foolish woman, Shangguan Yi?"
"When did heavenly calculations become so worthless?"
"You claim it's a powerful being, then a master. How many masters can there be?"
"In this world, how many cultivators are truly proficient in heavenly calculations? Are they so idle that they all conspire against my Yu'er?"
The man smiled bitterly, "Wan'er, I'm not lying to you. I asked Elder Mei, an expert in heavenly calculations from the Valley of Mysteries, to make some deductions."
"What did he deduce?" The palace-dressed woman asked coldly.
"He..." The man found it difficult to continue, "...he went insane."
The woman was stunned.
The man sighed, "Elder Mei... At first, he couldn't deduce anything. He said that heaven's secrets were obscured, and he was lost in a haze, unable to find any traces."
"Then I begged him repeatedly..."
"Elder Mei couldn't refuse any longer, so he exhausted his essence and blood and used the Valley of Mysteries' inherited heavenly calculation technique to make some deductions."
"At first, he did manage to pierce through the haze and saw a vague, watery, and misty small figure..."
"But when he looked again..."
The man paused.
"What happened then?" The woman asked angrily.
The man sighed, "He... was terrified, spat out blood, his whole body turned cold, and his sanity faltered. He went insane."
"He kept muttering about the terror of cause and effect, the mountain of corpses and river of sins, and how he was bitten by the 'sin-fiend.' He claimed he would turn into a zombie soon and kept shivering uncontrollably."
The woman's expression changed, but after thinking about it, she became angry again.
"What nonsense is this? Mountain of corpses? Sin-fiend? How can you believe such absurdities?"
"What do these things have to do with Yu'er?"
The man was speechless.
He didn't know how Yu'er could be involved in such matters of cause and effect, but what happened to Elder Mei was indisputably true.
He had indeed gone insane...
"Was that Elder Mei really from the Valley of Mysteries?" The woman asked again.
"Yes."
"Where is he now?"
"Elder Mei... His sanity is gone, and it seems his sea of consciousness has been damaged. He was sent back to the Valley of Mysteries for treatment."
The woman's eyebrows furrowed, and she said coldly, "So, without any evidence or witnesses, you're trying to deceive me with this fictional Elder Mei?"
The man said in a low voice, "Wan'er, when have I ever deceived you..."
There was a hint of pleading in his words.
"Fine, then I'll find Yu'er myself!"
The palace-dressed woman turned and took a step, determined to leave.
The man panicked and immediately pulled her back, "You must not leave Qingzhou City!"
The woman took a deep breath and suppressed her anger as she asked, "Why?"
"I'm worried about you..."
"What are you worried about?"
There was a hint of coldness in the man's voice, "By marrying you, I broke the rules of some families and went against the teachings of the Upper Palace Family. Many people are watching us..."
"They might harm Yu'er, and they might also target you..."
"Now that Yu'er is missing, I'm afraid of losing you too."
The woman said coldly, "Will staying in Qingzhou City guarantee our safety?"
The man insisted, "Qingzhou City is within the boundaries of Qianzhou. Our ancestors laid down formations here, making heaven's secrets clear and transparent. Outside the city, heaven's secrets are chaotic, and anything could happen."
The man's expression was extremely solemn.
In the cultivation world, there were great terrors.
Some truly fearsome cultivators understood the Great Dao and possessed many unpredictable and heaven-defying means.
Some even set up grand schemes to nurture fiends.
The closer one got to the pinnacle of cultivation, the more one understood the truth of the world, and the more one realized how terrifying the world and the human heart could be.
"So?" The woman asked coldly, "You want me to hide in this city and ignore my child..."
"Wan'er, please don't get involved..." The man pleaded, his voice soft and gentle, almost begging, "This matter involves too much cause and effect..."
And it was too terrifying...
The one who plotted to kidnap Yu'er was profound in the secrets of heaven and left no traces...
The one who took Yu'er away carried within them a heaven-defying killing intent.
While Wan'er had studied formations and was considered proficient, it was only in the general sense.
Being hailed as the pride of heaven and receiving praise and admiration were merely indicators of being 'good' by worldly standards.
It was a goodness that was confined within the norms set by others.
She had no idea what truly profound formations and advanced spiritual sense were.
Those formations that far surpassed the understanding of ordinary cultivators, defying their cultivation levels, the ever-changing ways of heaven, and the unbound Dao that lay beyond human rules, were unfathomably profound and terrifying.
The palace-dressed woman, Wan'er, did not understand these things. She simply looked at her husband, her eyes shifting from anger to a gradual resignation and despair.
"Have you... already made up your mind?" she asked.
The man remained silent.
"If..." Wan'er paused, her voice trembling as she forced the words out through her pain, "If we can't find Yu'er, what do you plan to do?"
The man avoided her gaze, not daring to meet her eyes. He lowered his voice and said, "Father's intention is for us to... have another child..."
Wan'er's face turned deathly pale, and her entire body trembled as infinite sorrow and hatred filled her eyes. She hated her husband, and she hated herself.
"Shangguan Yi, how could your heart be so cruel?" she said through her tears. "Fine! Very well! If you want another child, go find another woman to bear it for you!"
"I, Wen Renwan, will only have Yu'er as my child in this lifetime!"
"Yu'er... He is so obedient and kind. How could he possibly..."
Yu'er's smiling face floated into Wan'er's mind, and her heart ached as if it were being pricked by needles. Suddenly, her heart trembled as if, in the depths of her soul, she could feel Yu'er waiting for her somewhere...
Her child was waiting for her...
Wan'er's heart was filled with anguish, and she turned to leave, disregarding everything else.
"Wan'er, it's too dangerous..." Shangguan Yi tried to stop her again.
Wan'er's eyes turned icy as she replied, "If you won't go, I will. If I can't find him, I will search for the rest of my life!"
"Even if it means death, I will die together with Yu'er."
"You can just stay here and wait to become the head of the Shangguan family. Go find another woman to bear you another child."
Having said her piece, Wan'er, her eyes filled with tears, turned and left with a flourish of her sleeves.
Shangguan Yi wanted to stop her, but as he reached out, he found that he couldn't grasp anything.
His face turned pale, and he sighed.
After a moment, a young servant entered and respectfully said, "Young Master, the head of the family requests your presence..."
Shangguan Yi stood there in a daze for a while before finally responding in a powerless voice, "I understand..."
He was the young master of the Shangguan family, the heir to the position of the family head.
However, he felt less like a "master" and more like a "servant" who was at the mercy of others' whims. Yet, within the vast family, he didn't know to whom he was truly a "servant".
Shangguan Yi sighed deeply and made his way to a study room in the Gu family. He stood respectfully for a moment before a deep voice invited him in.
"Come in."
Shangguan Yi entered and greeted, "Father."
The study was elegant and luxurious.
Seated in the center was a cultivator with a profound aura, exuding an air of authority. He appeared majestic, but his temples were tinged with white, and faint wrinkles could be seen at the corners of his brows, remnants of his youthful good looks.
This man was Shangguan Yi's father and the true head of the Shangguan family—Shangguan Ce.
"In a few days, I will be leaving, so you will have to handle the matters here yourself." Shangguan Ce's voice was low and indifferent as he continued writing.
"Yes, Father," Shangguan Yi replied respectfully.
Shangguan Ce lifted his head to glance at his son, his expression neutral as he said, "You shouldn't have married Wen Renwan..."
"She's too impulsive and acts on her emotions without considering the consequences. It's hard to say whether the Wen family taught her poorly or if it's just her nature..."
"As a daughter of a noble family, she can be willful before marriage, but once she's married, she represents the face of the family and must act in its best interests. Even if she's upset, she must learn to endure and act appropriately..."
"Father..." Shangguan Yi's voice rose slightly, interrupting Shangguan Ce.
"Wan'er... She's a good wife. It's understandable that she's distraught and acting out of grief with Yu'er missing. Anyone would be in such a situation..." Shangguan Yi defended his wife.
Shangguan Ce looked at his son, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. After a moment, he slowly spoke, "How is Yu'er?"
"We're still searching," Shangguan Yi replied.
Shangguan Ce sighed. "Yu'er is kind-hearted and a good child, but he won't make a good family head..."
Shangguan Yi cut in, "Father, Yu'er is my only son."
Shangguan Ce's eyes turned slightly cold. "I've told you that if..."
"...then the next family head will still be my child with Wan'er," Shangguan Yi finished.
Shangguan Ce gave a cold smile. "She might not be willing..."
"I will wait until she changes her mind..." Shangguan Yi insisted, his head lowered and his body bowed, but his tone was resolute and left no room for argument.
Shangguan Ce's eyebrows twitched, but he ultimately said nothing more, merely replying, "I understand..."
The atmosphere in the study grew stiff.
Shangguan Yi didn't want to linger, so he stood up to take his leave.
"Yi'er..." Shangguan Ce called out to his son, hesitating for a moment before continuing in a slightly softer tone, "You should know that being the head of the family is no easy task..."
"In a cultivation family, the clan comes first. You must understand the benefits and harms, the gains and losses. Being indecisive and sentimental won't do."
"A cultivator's life is long, and no matter how much you love, the passion will fade over time, and people's hearts will change..."
"As the head of the family, you must know what is most important in the long run and what is most beneficial."
"You must also be ruthless and make difficult decisions. Only then can I convince the ancestors to pass on the Shangguan family, which has endured for tens of thousands of years, to you..."
Shangguan Yi remained silent, merely replying, "I understand, Father."
Shangguan Ce needed only a glance to know that his son didn't truly understand at all.
He felt a sense of frustration but managed to suppress it, sighing as he said, "Think carefully about it. Yu'er is your child and a direct descendant, but he is also just one of the many disciples of the Shangguan family. You must weigh the importance of each."
Shangguan Yi's face was filled with pain, but he didn't say anything. He bowed and respectfully took his leave.
Shangguan Ce lowered his head to look at the jade slip, and after a long while, he lifted his head to gaze at the spot where Shangguan Yi had been standing. Thinking of his son's worried expression, he felt a mix of anger and disappointment.
"I, your father, have had countless romantic encounters, but my heart has never been truly touched. Yet the son I sired is... such a sentimental fool..."
"He looks like a talented and capable man, but he has no spine. All he does is think about his wife and child..."
Shangguan Ce's eyebrows furrowed, his expression filled with dissatisfaction.
At this moment, lines were being sketched out, and after being calculated with a compass, they transformed into profound heavenly patterns, yet they had no beginning and no end, with no indication of where they originated or where they led.
Only a faint, wild, and ancient aura remained.
This was the handiwork of those who abducted Yuer.
Shangguan Ce's gaze turned solemn, his face as still as water, and he murmured:
"From the arranged marriage, birth, to death... were they all calculated?"
"What kind of person has such a grand scheme?"
"To even dare to use the only direct descendants of the Shangguan and Wen families as sacrifices, going against the wishes of their elders..."
"What are they trying to offer sacrifices to? What kind of life and death situation are they trying to reverse?"
Shangguan Ce felt a bone-chilling coldness in his heart...
...
In the Gu family's courtyard.
Wen Renwan, dressed in palace attire, had Yuer constantly on her mind, but once she stepped out of the door, she was at a loss again.
"How... how do I find him? Where do I even start looking?"
Yuer had been kidnapped, and it was very likely that he was no longer within this state, or even Qianzhou...
A sense of hopelessness and powerlessness filled her heart.
The cultivation world was vast and boundless.
She didn't know how to perform calculations or understand the secrets of heaven, so finding Yuer was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
She also deeply hated herself for not begging the elders to teach her this profound and abstruse method of cultivation.
Otherwise, she could have used her own abilities to calculate Yuer's karmic relationships...
Even if it exhausted her spiritual sense, even if it dried up her sea of consciousness, even if...
Wen Renwan stood there in a daze for a while before she snapped out of her trance, her eyes scanning the surroundings in a daze. After a moment of contemplation, she called for the Wen family's guards and asked them to prepare a carriage to take her out of the city.
Regardless, she would leave Qingzhou City first...
Outside the city, she might be able to find some traces of Yuer...
Wen Renwan secretly made up her mind.
If she couldn't find him in a month, she would search for another month.
If she couldn't find him in a year, she would search for another year.
If a year wasn't enough, she would search for ten years, a hundred years, until her lifespan was exhausted.
"I must find Yuer, and I want to see him alive..."
She didn't dare to think about the last four words, afraid to see Yuer's cold and lifeless little face, afraid to know that her precious child was no more...
This was even more painful than killing her as a mother.
Wen Renwan felt as if her heart was being pierced by needles.
The carriage left the Gu family, passed through the main street, and made its way through the marketplace. After about an hour, they approached the city gate.
Wen Renwan was determined to go outside the city, and she didn't notice that in a noodle shop near the city gate, two little cultivators were slurping down their noodles.
After waiting for several days, tired and hungry, Mo Hua and Yuer were also too busy eating their noodles to notice that a low-key but luxurious carriage was silently making its way out of the city...
The city gate was bustling with people and vehicles coming and going.
As the carriage passed by the noodle shop, Wen Renwan suddenly paused, as if for a moment, she felt a mother's intuition. She seemed to sense that her son was nearby, perhaps very close to her...
But she knew that Yuer was no longer by her side...
Her obedient and sensible son, she didn't know who had taken him, whether he was alive or not, or if he had been abused and mistreated.
Wen Renwan's heart ached even more.
The carriage continued on its way out of the city.
However, as the carriage traveled further and further away, Wen Renwan's heart became more and more anxious, and she even had a premonition.
It was as if the distance between her and Yuer was growing, and once she passed through this city gate...
She would be separated from her son forever.
She would never see him again in this lifetime!
A cultivator's intuition was rarely wrong.
Wen Renwan felt anxious and uneasy.
She immediately ordered, "Stop the carriage!"
The carriage came to a halt, and she quickly got out, looking around in a daze. After a while, her peripheral vision caught sight of a distant noodle stand...
Wen Renwan's entire body trembled as if she had been struck by lightning.
At the noodle stand, there were two little cultivators.
One was a bit older, with brows like painted clouds and a clear and gentle aura.
The other was small, about four or five years old, looking very similar to her Yuer...
Wen Renwan's body trembled, and she could barely breathe.
She wanted to speak, but her emotions were overwhelming, and for a moment, she couldn't find the words...
Mo Hua was in the middle of eating when he suddenly sensed someone looking at him. He looked up and saw a beautiful and elegant woman in the distance, her face stained with tears, staring at him with a look of disbelief.
This woman was both a stranger and somewhat familiar.
Although Mo Hua had never met her, he had a vague impression of her from some obscure karmic relationships.
Mo Hua realized who she might be, and he gently tapped Yuer beside him.
Yuer was imitating Mo Hua, burying his head and slurping down his noodles, but when Mo Hua reminded him, he looked up and saw a distant figure. His little face froze, and the chopsticks in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter.
Yuer's eyes were instantly filled with tears.
"Mother..."
Although the surroundings were noisy, the word "Mother" still reached Wen Renwan's ears clearly.
The overwhelming joy of finding her lost child made her chest tighten, and she struggled to breathe.
Her tears blurred her vision, and she couldn't see Yuer's face clearly, but she still rushed towards him without hesitation.
She seemed to forget that she was a Golden Core cultivator, forgetting her own cultivation, only remembering that she was a mother.
Yuer's eyes were also filled with tears as he took small steps towards her...
The two of them embraced.
Even though her vision was blurred by tears, and she couldn't see Yuer's face clearly, Wen Renwan still hugged Yuer tightly to her chest.
She dared not let go.
She was afraid that if she let go, her child would disappear again.
Even if it was just a dream, she hoped that it would last a little longer, allowing her child to stay in her embrace a little longer...
...
Yuer and his mother hugged each other and wept.
Mo Hua nodded with relief.
Although it was a "confused" and rough calculation, it seemed that his prediction was quite accurate.
Now that Yuer had found his mother, he should be safe.
Mo Hua could finally rest assured.
Next, he could go to Qianxuezhou and pay his respects to the Qianshi Sect's mountain gate!
(End of Chapter)
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