Chapter 583: Imprisonment

"Is this for me?" Staring at the Vermilion Fruit inside the Brocade Box, the greed in my eyes slowly faded, leaving my expression perfectly calm.

Xu Yan, seated in the center, nodded. "I have been observing you since you walked in. Your predestined lifespan is nearing its end. The affliction poison has seeped into your marrow, and you have very little Yang Lifespan remaining. But Heaven cares for every living thing, and we just so happened to meet here. It also happens that I am carrying a Thousand-Year Vermilion Fruit capable of neutralizing your affliction poison. This is fate. Since fate has arrived, the item must naturally be given away."

Xu Yan's words were incredibly tempting, but I knew things couldn't be that simple. All that talk about Heaven caring for every living thing and fate arriving was total bullshit. I wasn't wearing the Good and Evil Asura Mask; no matter what I did, Heaven would target me and misfortune would plague me. Why would someone foolishly hand me an incredibly precious Thousand-Year Vermilion Fruit at a time like this? Good fortune? No, trouble had definitely come knocking!

That thought instantly calmed me down. I stared at the Vermilion Fruit in the Brocade Box as if it were a vial of lethal poison. "One shouldn't accept a reward without merit. I have never believed in fate."

Maintaining my composure in the face of a Thousand-Year Vermilion Fruit—this cautious act made Lu Jingxiu, the mountain guardian of the Lingbao Sect, give a slight nod.

It was his first movement since entering the private room. Until now, he had sat as still as a statue, entirely indifferent to everything, resting with his eyes closed.

Hearing my answer, Xu Yan said, "You heard everything Lu Chen said earlier. The Ghost Mother is a ghost from the Underworld; her very presence in the Yang Realm is a mistake. We cultivators comprehend the will of Heaven, so we must eliminate her. You are the Ghost Mother's husband in the Yang Realm. With your help, our chances of victory can reach as high as ninety percent."

"Hold on. You know perfectly well that I'm the Ghost Mother's husband, yet you still want my help to kill her? Are the minds of you cultivators really this bizarre?"

Perhaps my phrasing was too modern, because Daoist Master Xu Yan didn't seem to understand. He merely gave an imperceptible frown. "Humans and Ghosts Walk Different Paths. You are currently hovering at death's door with your predestined lifespan exhausted; this is likely the result of your deep entanglements with the Ghost Mother. If you want to live a few more years, you had best choose to help us. The laws of Heaven are clear, perfectly distinguishing gratitude from grudges. You will also earn a share of the merit from slaying the Ghost Mother. When the time comes, I will personally help you refine the Vermilion Fruit and assist you in neutralizing the affliction poison."

"From the sound of it, you'll only give me this Thousand-Year Vermilion Fruit if I agree to help you kill the Ghost Mother, right?" I looked at the Vermilion Fruit in the Brocade Box, countless thoughts racing through my mind.

"Not help—full cooperation. You must do exactly as we say." Xu Yan revealed a domineering side at this moment. He had to; he was the overall leader of this operation, and the Celestial Masters and Daoist priests under his command were elites from various sects. The death of even one would be a tremendous loss, so he had to ensure this was foolproof.

"I'm sorry, but I'm used to being undisciplined and free. I wouldn't want to fail and end up dragging you down instead." I tactfully refused. To my mind, I had phrased this very politely.

Sitting to the north, Leng Qingxuan winked at me desperately, signaling me to hurry up and agree.

Before I could figure out what was going on, the faint smile vanished from Daoist Master Xu Yan's face. "Slaying the Ghost Mother is to bless the common people of this region and comply with the will of Heaven. Everyone should contribute their share of strength."

"Comply with the will of Heaven? If Heaven had any feelings, there wouldn't be so many natural disasters and earthquakes in the world. Wouldn't it be better to have favorable weather every year? I don't understand why you submit to a heartless, ruthless Heaven. If one day it told you to march to your deaths, would you do it willingly?" As soon as I finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room instantly grew tense. Even Leng Qingxuan lowered his head, not daring to answer, as if my words had violated some grave taboo.

"Outrageous!" After a brief silence, Wei Wenming, the senior disciple of the Golden Mountain Sect, spoke first. "A mere ant dares to speak of Heaven?"

Sharing the same breath and branches, the other Golden Mountain Sect disciples immediately spoke up to support their senior martial brother. I paid them no mind. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that the one truly making the decisions here was Qingcheng's Xu Yan.

Since I didn't talk back, they found it pointless to continue. With cold snorts, they sat back down.

Once the private room quieted down, Xu Yan finally spoke. "Your name is Gao Jian, right? 'Heaven cannot be spoken of.' Consider those words a gift from me. Keep them deep in your heart; they will bring you nothing but benefit. This is the first time, so I can overlook it as an unintentional mistake. But if there is a second time, I might just have to carry out the Way on behalf of Heaven."

He carried an invisible aura. Sitting in the main seat, his elderly body felt to me like a towering mountain range.

'Xu Yan's Daoist magic is unfathomably deep. It's best if I don't provoke him, lest I expose my potential to become a Fate Usurper.' My thoughts spun rapidly, and I remained silent.

The Orthodox Sects held complete initiative. Inside the private room, over a dozen people had united against me, leaving me struggling to handle the situation.

"This time, you will help whether you want to or not. We've already captured your brother, and your child will be brought here tomorrow. Think about it carefully. Is it worth making so many of your friends and family in the Yang Realm suffer just for a Ghost Mother?" Wei Wenming said, sipping his tea at a leisurely pace.

"Are you threatening me?" When the soft approach failed, they resorted to the hard one. The carrot and the stick, coercion and bribery—these Daoists must have finalized their plan before I even arrived at the banquet. Everything I was seeing now was merely them going through the motions.

"Do we even need to threaten you? Besides, do you even have the ability to resist?" Wei Jianming, who had long since taken a disliking to me, chimed in.

"Whether I have the ability to resist or not, you won't know until you try." I reached out and touched my Ghost Ring. These people from the Daoist sects had a tyrannical attitude, pushing me again and again. It was truly bullying too severely.

"Arrogant and conceited! A mere Ghost Cultivator dares to spout such nonsense in front of us." Wei Jianming immediately turned his head and asked, "Senior Martial Brother, why don't you let me step in and teach this Ghost Cultivator a lesson? Once we suppress him, his attitude might just change."

"Don't be rude." Wei Liangming, the second senior disciple of the Golden Mountain Sect, stepped forward to smooth things over. He had an elegant, scholarly temperament and profound eyes; out of the four Golden Mountain Sect disciples, he was the one I found hardest to read. "Why should we hurt our harmony over a ghost?"

He stopped his junior martial brother with a shake of his head. Flicking his gold-trimmed sleeve, he stood up and said to me, "The Ghost Mother doesn't recognize family or kin. One day, she will go mad, and when that time comes, she won't recognize you at all. I'm afraid she might even eat her own flesh and blood. It would be a living human tragedy. Do you really have the heart to watch such a scene unfold?"

"I'm not sure if the Ghost Mother will hurt her own child, but I know for a fact that you people will." I swept my gaze over everyone in the room, knowing full well that this matter wouldn't end peacefully today. If I didn't agree, I likely wouldn't even have the chance to leave. Thinking of this, I decided to feign compliance. "I can help you, but you must release my brother and my friends. They are innocent."

"Once the Ghost Mother is executed, they will naturally be allowed to leave safely. When that time comes, I might even bestow some fortuitous encounters upon them." Xu Yan reached this conclusion after exchanging glances with several other Daoists, leaving me no room for argument.

Now I finally understood. These Daoists from prestigious orthodox sects appeared gentle and refined, speaking with the air of ancient scholars, but in reality, their ambitions were higher than the sky. Every single one of them was arrogant to the bone, utterly looking down on ordinary mortals.

They would never tolerate anyone opposing something they had already decided. Calling me here was solely to keep a firm grip on me, an unstable factor, in their own hands.

How laughable that before I came, I still harbored a sliver of hope, foolishly trying to persuade them that the Ghost Mother wasn't some ordinary evil spirit, and that she had deeper reasons for killing.

They didn't care about a single word I said. Perhaps in their eyes, I was simply beneath them.

Since communication was impossible, I didn't bother wasting my breath. On the surface, I agreed. "I consent to cooperate with you fully. However, the affliction poison has entered my body, and I fear my life won't last much longer. You must give me this Thousand-Year Vermilion Fruit right now."

Infiltrating their ranks would make it easier for me to sabotage them from the shadows and assist the Ghost Mother at the critical moment. As for why I demanded the Thousand-Year Vermilion Fruit, the reason was even simpler: how could I push away a benefit delivered right to my door?

"Once the banquet is over, I will have someone deliver the Vermilion Fruit to your room." Xu Yan waved a hand at Xu Wugui, calling him back.

"Deliver it to my room? What do you mean?" I felt a bad premonition.

"I don't mean anything by it. It's already dark out. Don't go running around blindly tonight; just stay safely in the hotel."