Chapter 1538: No Joke, Dao Xuanji Patience is Limited, Love All Living Beings

“Dao Qiong Cang, what nonsense are you up to now?”

The storyteller had been watching for a while but couldn’t hold back any longer.

The journey to Xu Yue Hui Gong was dull and tedious, especially without Dao Qiong Cang’s antics.

Sure enough, the spectacle of the Zhong Yu Sword Immortal battle had just ended, and this guy couldn’t sit still—he was already starting something new.

He was now fiddling with whatever was in his hands…

“This is what I call the ‘Xiao Lian Mian Ju’.”

Dao Qiong Cang didn’t hesitate to introduce his proud invention to others; he believed that the desire to share was a sophisticated one and shouldn’t be suppressed.

After tinkering for so long, seeing that someone finally showed interest, he handed over the object. “Want to try it on?”

What was this thing? It wasn’t a mask at all. What Dao Qiong Cang held was clearly a hood, or more like a helmet!

“No.”

The storyteller rejected it outright and with clear disdain, yet he couldn’t help his curiosity. “What’s it for?”

Dao Qiong Cang gripped his helmet and said nothing. He pushed up the flesh on his cheeks, pursed his lips into a line, and began to smile.

“Heaven…”

“Forget it if you won’t say!” The storyteller cut off the incantation first.

“This is the Tian Ji Mian Ju,” Dao Qiong Cang said, lifting the helmet in his hand as he explained himself. “As long as you wear this magical ‘Xiao Lian Mian Ju’, no matter your cultivation level or the angle you’re viewed from, the wearer will always be smiling… Even if you’re looking at the back of my head, I’ll have a face there, smiling away. Impressive, right?”

The group came to a sudden halt.

In a flash, they all hurried forward again, as if eager to escape being held back.

The storyteller’s red lips parted several times, but in the end, he decided not to ask.

As long as they avoided this topic, the showy old Daoist wouldn’t be able to continue.

His brother had been right—this guy’s rebellious phase had arrived late, hitting him after he was over fifty.

“You really want to try this mask!” But just as he fell half a step behind, Dao Qiong Cang caught up, trying to shove the helmet into his hands.

“No!” The storyteller bolted toward his brother.

“You have so many questions you want to ask.” Dao Qiong Cang circled around Ba Zun An and started chasing.

“No!”

“Ask away, it’s fine. I’ll answer them all one by one. This mask is really fun…”

“Get lost!”

After being shaken off and feeling bored, Dao Qiong Cang put the helmet on his own head.

The eerie laughter from behind made everyone’s scalp tingle.

But no one turned back this time; they walked faster, afraid the topic would be picked up again.

That laughter echoed once more.

It was as if it whispered right by your ear, like a cold wind blowing while laughing, making you shiver uncontrollably.

“Don’t…”

The storyteller couldn’t resist glancing back.

And what he saw made him jump in fright.

Dao Qiong Cang had somehow started walking backward, showing his backside, while scuttling side to side like a crab, swinging his arms wildly and stepping quickly—to keep up with the group.

Even so, his back of the head now had a real face on it.

That face had a nose for a nose and eyes for eyes—it was vividly lifelike, except for the forced smile at the corners of its mouth. Combined with his gaze, no matter the angle, it stared at you with a smile. It was downright creepy.

“Are you sick?!” The storyteller nearly slapped him.

“Hee hee, Xiao Lian Mian Ju.”

“Huff, endure… just endure… If you don’t want to play with me, then don’t follow!” The storyteller tossed his head, stamped his foot, and strode away quickly.

A breeze stirred up behind him.

The storyteller’s hair stood on end as he spun around and threw a punch backward. But Dao Qiong Cang, who was walking backward, was actually several steps away from the group.

“So, what’s its function?” Ba Zun An didn’t even turn his head; he pulled the storyteller aside and asked the question someone clearly wanted asked.

The back of Dao Qiong Cang’s head lit up with a smile. “As I said, Xiao Lian Mian Ju means no matter the angle, I’m all smiles.”

Ba Zun An glanced back.

Dao Qiong Cang bowed to him, his head unmoving while the rest of his body turned in a circle. Even then, his head still sported a smiling face.

“Hee hee, impressive, right? Want to try it?”

“…No, thanks.”

Ba Zun An couldn’t take it anymore and nudged Gou Wu Yue with his elbow.

Gou Wu Yue turned around and saw Dao Qiong Cang walking with his body tilted, a smiling face where his ear should be.

To be fair, Gou Wu Yue stared intently for a while and couldn’t spot any flaws, even scanning with his spiritual sense…

No matter how he probed, it was a full 360-degree view with no blind spots—he could only see Dao Qiong Cang’s smiling face, nothing of the back of his head.

“What he means is, what’s the point of making a Xiao Lian hood like this?” Gou Wu Yue hesitated for a long time before asking on Ba Zun An’s behalf.

“Hee hee, it’s Xiao Lian Mian Ju,” Dao Qiong Cang corrected the terminology first, then continued, “A smiling face brings constant good luck.”

“Just that?”

“Hee hee, isn’t that enough? In life, do we have to do everything for a purpose? Can’t we just do something pointless?”

This left Gou Wu Yue speechless.

“Sick.”

“Not mildly.”

“What a thing…” Even Wei Feng couldn’t stand it.

Amid the chorus of mutterings, Dao Qiong Cang walked ahead of the group, singing loudly on the sandy ground and dancing like a graceful swan.

“Oh oh oh, joy is priceless, I say. You all act so serious all the time—that’s like wearing a mask. But I, wearing a mask like this, am actually taking it off… Ning Hong Hong, want to taste the joy?”

“Get lost! That crappy mask—whoever wants it can have it. I don’t!”

“Yay yay yay, joy forever, Wei Feng senior. You’ve never let loose in your life, right? Actually, you at the entrance of the Zhan Shen Guan ruins—that was the real you. Want a mask to play with?”

“Back off. I’d die before wearing your mask!”

“Oh, old Gou…”

“Excuse me, make way.”

“Yay, little Ba…”

“Have you offended someone?” Ba Zun An used four fingers to stop the spinning head in front of him.

Dao Qiong Cang paused, pulled his head out of the hood, and spun back elegantly, spreading his arms wide with a smiling face. “No, why would you say that?”

With a smack, Ba Zun An tossed the limp hood back onto his face. “Nothing, just thought of a saying.”

“What saying?”

“Don’t hit a smiling person.”

Dao Qiong Cang’s smile didn’t change; he chuckled and put the hood back on. “Funny, oh, little Ba. How could you have such a naive idea?”

“Here’s hoping I’m the naive one.”

Dao Qiong Cang selectively ignored this boring guy and twirled a few more circles to stand in front of Wei Feng, gesturing to his Xiao Lian Mian Ju. “Want one? It’s really joyful.”

Wei Feng’s face was expressionless as he pointed a finger upward.

“What do you mean?”

“Only if the sky falls.”

The atmosphere in Sheng Huan Dian grew tense, as if the sky were about to collapse.

Bei Bei, Xi, and the others kept their eyes down, not daring to make a sound, afraid any noise would draw the attention of Ai Cang Sheng.

“I’m afraid…” Dao Xuan Ji saw no one else speaking, so he stood up on his own, pausing to choose his words:

“You don’t know, in the time you were away, a lot happened in Sheng Shen Dian Tang.”

Ai Cang Sheng knew a lot had happened, of course.

Sheng Huan Dian had changed, and the people here felt different too—a glimpse was enough to see that.

If nothing was wrong, that person wouldn’t have had Wei An protect him, repeatedly charging into the battlefield and forcing Ai Cang Sheng to give up the chance for the Ancestral God’s fate.

He wouldn’t have ended the battle with Shen Yi early and returned from the ruins by self-inflicted death.

So, something huge must have befell Sheng Shan.

Ai Cang Sheng didn’t bother exchanging with others only to get a pile of lies and then verify with Dao Qiong Cang.

He just wanted to see that person first.

He trusted no one but Dao Qiong Cang!

“The sky has fallen—bring Dao Qiong Cang out to see me first.”

Ai Cang Sheng spoke bluntly, showing no regard for everyone else in the hall.

Yu Lao’s eyes narrowed into slits, not daring to laugh, his dead-fish eyes darting toward the main seat.

Dao Xuan Ji took a deep breath and said straightforwardly, “Dao Qiong Cang has defected from Sheng Shan!”

The hall fell into dead silence.

Ai Cang Sheng’s mind went blank for three breaths before he processed what that meant.

His lips curled up, about to speak.

Dao Xuan Ji knew his reaction would be off, afraid he hadn’t understood, so she added:

“I’m not joking—Dao Qiong Cang colluded with the Sheng Nu, allied with ghost beasts, killed the Tian Ti judge, and fled in fear of punishment. He’s now wanted by Sheng Shen Dian Tang—anyone can kill him!”

The hall plunged into silence again.

Ao Sheng, Fang Fang, and the others were on edge, unsure how Ai Cang Sheng would react to all this.

This time, Ai Cang Sheng’s smile froze on his face for over ten breaths before his mind returned.

This guy, who usually sat silently in his Gui Mu wheelchair, curled his lips again, still smiling.

Everyone sensed something was wrong.

How could he still smile?

Back then, Ai Cang Sheng had been personally invited by the Dao master to guard Sheng Shan—they were like iron brothers. How could he smile upon hearing this?

Dao Xuan Ji found it absurd too.

At that moment, Ai Cang Sheng’s smile was more painful than crying.

But Ai Cang Sheng was indeed smiling. After smiling, his eyes turned cold, scanning everyone in the hall mercilessly, down to their sleeves, collars, and skirt linings…

Then he looked at the carvings on the beams, the cracks in the walls, and the pearls on the ceiling…

Finally, he glanced at the rotten flesh beside him…

As if searching, as if identifying something?

“Stop messing around.”

After a pause, Ai Cang Sheng spoke lightly, addressing the empty air: “I don’t have time for your games. Come out.”

In an instant, Xi broke into a cold sweat on his forehead.

He felt like he understood, but it was better not to, like Fang Fang—he thought Ai Cang Sheng believed the Dao master was still on Sheng Shan and joking with him?

Dao Xuan Ji’s brows shot up, her expression shifting from nearly crying to laughing, then settling into calm as she repeated:

“I’m not joking.”

Ai Cang Sheng seemed to touch a sensitive nerve, scrutinizing this self-proclaimed “master” Dao Xuan Ji from her faint eyebrows to her prominent chest, to her dust whisk, to her black boots…

Not a single flaw!

And that, my friend, is exactly your flaw!

Ai Cang Sheng sneered: “Always cross-dressing for fun?”

Ah? Xi’s eyes widened.

What did that mean? Wait, that sentence packed a lot.

But it was precisely this instinctive reaction that made Xi regret it, as Ai Cang Sheng suddenly shot him a cold glance.

“Uh…” He turned into a big goose, words stuck in his throat.

Ai Cang Sheng said nothing, just stared straight at him, as if trying to stare through him, break him, stare him to death!

Outsiders might think the Dao master position was sacred and dignified, but Ai Cang Sheng didn’t see it that way—at least, Dao Qiong Cang wasn’t like that.

The nickname “showy old Daoist” that his generation gave Dao Qiong Cang wasn’t for nothing.

Dao Qiong Cang was serious on the outside, but internally, he was extremely repressed, loved jokes, was clumsy yet playful, always full of wild ideas and tricks… a clown!

With enough tries, he always succeeded—Ai Cang Sheng had been successfully pranked too many times; he was tired of it.

This time, after decades away from Sheng Huan Dian, the showy old Daoist would absolutely welcome him back in some outrageous way.

Ai Cang Sheng had already prepared for that at the Ran Ming ruins.

Even that person who kept urging him to self-inflict death and return to the mountain—Ai Cang Sheng thought that might be part of the prank.

Now, Sheng Huan Dian was decorated like this, and everyone acted so strangely. Aside from Yu Lao, who might be a genuine spectator… no, not even that for sure.

In short, everyone could be Dao Qiong Cang in disguise, playing along in his self-directed farce!

So, Ai Cang Sheng stared hard at Xi, trying to find a clue.

But as usual, nothing.

He fell silent.

A completely flawless… Tian Ji puppet?

“I’m sorry!” Xi couldn’t handle the pressure and apologized. “Ai Cang Sheng, I didn’t mean to…”

“Is that all?” Ai Cang Sheng said coldly.

What more do you want?

“I know you want to apologize to me,” Ai Cang Sheng grew impatient, “but is this way sincere enough?”

Ah?

Sincere?

What more sincerity?

Xi was stunned. I was just shocked at how elaborate your games are. An verbal apology for my subdued reaction is already good, right? Do I have to… kneel?

“Enough!” Dao Xuan Ji saw through it and knew what Ai Cang Sheng had misunderstood.

As a junior watching, as the new master of Sheng Shen Dian Tang, and as the one who needed to ask Ai Cang Sheng for help…

For both emotion and reason, she couldn’t let him continue and make a fool of himself; she had to interrupt:

“Like you, I value my time and don’t joke around.”

“The fact is, Dao Qiong Cang has defected from Sheng Shan, and I’m temporarily taking the master’s position.”

Ai Cang Sheng frowned, reaching out while his eyes unconsciously flicked to Yu Lao…

Yu Lao trembled like a leaf.

Ai Cang Sheng pondered.

His gesture was clearly stopping Dao Xuan Ji from spouting nonsense, but soon, he shook his head with a smile, slowly flipping his outstretched hand to reveal his palm:

“Never mind, go on.”

Yu Lao scratched his head desperately, his face flushing red, not uttering a word.

How amusing!

What a rare sight, how amusing!

Dao Xuan Ji’s mouth twitched twice; she felt utterly speechless and her voice weakened:

“I really am not joking…”

“I, Ai Cang Sheng, know that Dao Qiong Cang not only defected from Sheng Shan but also took Gou Wu Yue and Wei Feng with him, released the ghost beast Tan Shen to attack Yu Jing, forcing Fang Lao and Zhong Lao to descend the mountain to protect the city.”

“At the same time, Xu Xiao Shou led his forces to attack, vowing to slaughter the city and then ascend Sheng Shan. Coincidentally, Sheng Shan was short-handed, so I had no choice but to send someone to the Zhan Shen Guan ruins to call you.”

Dao Xuan Ji had tried to stick to the key points.

She hadn’t expected that after bringing Ai Cang Sheng out of the Ran Ming ruins, the first thing she’d have to do was convince him.

What kind of games had those two men been playing all along!

Was the world of men like this?

Even as her heart ached, Dao Xuan Ji kept her thoughts clear. She skipped over some hard-to-explain details and focused on stating the facts about the enemies:

“Xu Xiao Shou fought one against three, his combat power enough to hold off several semi-saints.”

“Our people were either in the Zhan Shen Guan ruins or taken by Dao Qiong Cang, leaving Sheng Shan completely undermanned.”

“Xu Xiao Shou contracted the ghost beast Tan Shen and comprehended the essence of life…”

“Xu Xiao Shou severed the Dao with blood, aided by the imitator and Ye Xiao Tian, and realized the essence of space…”

“Xu Xiao Shou battled three sword immortals; his delaying tactic succeeded, and he grasped multiple second realms, possibly even the essence of sword Dao…”

At this point, Dao Xuan Ji paused, feeling ridiculous—as if she were the one joking.

But everyone in the hall could vouch that it wasn’t a joke. After a brief stop, she continued:

“Even Yu Jing City, to delay Xu Xiao Shou’s ascent, gave him…”

“Enough.” Ai Cang Sheng didn’t want to hear more; it was unbearable. These excuses and scripts were too sloppy, too awkward, too absurd.

“I’m not joking!” Dao Xuan Ji didn’t know how many times she’d repeated that; she knew what he was thinking and pointed outside. “You have the Dao Dao Eye; look for yourself, down the mountain.”

“Dao Qiong Cang.” Ai Cang Sheng stared at her calmly. “I said, enough.”

“I! Am! Not! Joking!” Dao Xuan Ji suddenly shouted, her face flushing red. “Not!!!”

“Dao Qiong Cang, you’re not funny.”

“Ai! Cang! Sheng! Just look down the mountain first! Look once, then talk!”

“One, dispel your illusion array and apologize; two, I’ll shoot you an arrow—your choice.”

“I don’t choose! You look first! Look!”

The entire Sheng Huan Dian seemed about to shatter; everyone was on pins and needles, terrified.

“Fine.”

Ai Cang Sheng pursed his lips, turned his wheelchair, and looked outside.

In that moment, the Dao Dao Eye activated, and everything in sight showed Gui Zhe Sheng Shan’s protective array fully operational, but down the mountain, Yu Jing City…

Ai Cang Sheng blinked.

Yu Jing City was gone?

In its place were a few Lian Ling masters and ancient sword cultivators.

And they were all there.

Fang Lao had come down too, standing like a puppet watching the show; Zhong Lao was also there watching…

Xu Xiao Shou was indeed present, along with Mei Yi Ren, Ye Xiao Tian, and even Feng Ting Chen… quite a crowd.

But none of it mattered.

Not at all.

Ai Cang Sheng turned his wheelchair back.

“Seen it?” Dao Xuan Ji’s eyes brightened slightly.

Ai Cang Sheng still looked at her calmly, shaking his head wordlessly: “One, dispel the illusion array, apologize; two, I’ll shoot you an arrow, and I’ll apologize.”

“You saw it all!” Dao Xuan Ji was going mad. “You clearly saw it!”

“Yes.”

“Then you saw Yu Jing City!”

“No.”

“No, I mean, Yu Jing…”

“So I said, dispel the illusion array, apologize to me.”

“Ai! Cang! Sheng! What I mean is, Yu Jing City was taken by Xu Xiao Shou! He has a world! He put Yu Jing City… inside it. Even the Xuan Ji array, the Kyoto array, couldn’t stop it!” Dao Xuan Ji pointed at Bei Bei, her fingers splayed like a flower. “The bet! The delaying tactic! Understand?!”

Ai Cang Sheng took a deep breath and stopped talking, turning his head and grabbing the Jiu Da Wu Shang Shen Qi’s Xie Zui Bow from his waist—it was taller than a person.

“Ai Cang Sheng! I’m not joking; all of this is real!” Dao Xuan Ji stepped back quickly.

Ai Cang Sheng raised the bow, pulled his right arm back, and it formed a full moon, locking onto the head opposite:

“Dao Qiong Cang, I can also tell you, without joking…”

“My patience has its limits.”