Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 875 – South Stream Temple’s Martial Grandaunt?

“Senior Sister, it’s them!”

The two girls looked at Tang Thirty-Six and resentfully said, “I don’t know where these evildoers came from that they are so presumptuous as to force their way through the mountain gate!”

Tang Thirty-Six stared. There were quite a few familiar faces amongst these girls, especially that delicate girl leading them.

“Oh, Ye Xiaolian, it’s you.”

He didn’t expect to so quickly encounter an acquaintance, and happily stepped forward.

The two girls were startled and subconsciously hid behind Ye Xiaolian.

Ye Xiaolian had also not expected for the crazy fellow that her junior sisters told her about that dared to force their way through the mountain gate to be Tang Thirty-Six.

The disciple of South Stream Temple that the people of the Orthodox Academy were most familiar with was Ye Xiaolian. Without even bringing up that earliest story, the two sides had interacted with each other for a long time on the journey from Mount Han to the Orthodox Academy.

Surprised, she asked, “How could it be you?”

Tang Thirty-Six did not notice the strangeness in her expression. Smiling, he recounted what had happened earlier.

As he spoke, the two girls grew more and more confused, thinking, why is Senior Sister not one bit angry? Why is Senior Sister also smiling?

Does Senior Sister actually know this crazy person, and is even friends with them?

After listening to Tang Thirty-Six’s tale and comparing it with the words of her two junior sisters, Ye Xiaolian understood what had happened. She tersely said to Tang Thirty-Six, “Didn’t they just ask you a few questions? Why’d you scare them like this? Didn’t you see how young they were?”

Tang Thirty-Six very earnestly replied, “Shouldn’t you know how gentle my personality is?”

Of course, this was sarcasm. Everyone knew what sort of person he was, and none more than Ye Xiaolian. Several years ago, when she was about the same age as these two junior sisters, just when had this scoundrel ever pitied or spared her? He was truly a shameless thing.

When she thought about how she had been scolded into tears by this scoundrel on the Divine Avenue, she couldn’t but feel somewhat humiliated. She glared at Tang Thirty-Six and spat.

Tang Thirty-Six naturally knew why she did this and smiled. “I say, what sort of attitude is this? I happen to be a guest today.”

“I certainly don’t remember inviting you.”

With this brusque remark, Ye Xiaolian ceased to pay him any attention. She turned to Hu Thirty-Two, her smile fading as she serenely said, “Third-generation disciple of South Stream Temple, Ye Xiaolian.”

Hu Thirty-Two replied, “Previous Archbishop of Wenshui, Hu Thirty-Two.”

On the side, Tang Thirty-Six noted, “This is a cardinal of the Orthodoxy, and he might even enter the Hall of Announcements in a few days. By no means should you neglect your manners.”

These words simultaneously teased the both of them.

Ye Xiaolian was first angry, then surprised.

As a disciple of South Stream Temple, she naturally knew that the position of Archbishop of the Hall of Announcements had been vacant for three years now. If she had not misunderstood Tang Thirty-Six’s meaning, this rather ordinary-looking individual would become a Prefect of the Orthodoxy in a few days? But Tang Thirty-Six didn’t have much of a relationship with the eminent figures of the Orthodoxy, so why had they come to Holy Maiden Peak together? Could it be…

She thought of a possibility and looked at Tang Thirty-Six.

Tang Thirty-Six nodded.

Ye Xiaolian’s eyes became exceptionally bright. She seemed very happy, but her mood was also somewhat more complex than that.

There was delight, some relief after exhausting oneself for a long time, and there was also unease and confusion.

Suddenly, a voice came from the mountain path behind them.

“Just who are you that you dare to intrude on a holy land?”

This was an ice-cold voice, but also one of incredible majesty, like some high official of the Imperial Court, and also like the iron laws of the Hall of Drifting Clouds, imbued with an aura of unshakable might.

As this voice rang out, the sea of bamboo once more raged, and Ye Xiaolian’s expression turned much gloomier.

A Daoist nun appeared on the mountain path. It was difficult to identify a specific age, but from her temperament, she was probably middle-aged.

She wore a black temple uniform, her sleeves drifting in the wind imbuing her with a transcendent aura. However, her level brows also gave her an extremely composed feeling.

Several dozen South Stream Temple disciples followed behind her.

Upon the arrival of this black-clothed Daoist nun, the disciples who had arrived first hurriedly bowed and said, “Martial Grandaunt.”

This address made Tang Thirty-Six slightly raise his brows in surprise.

In his impressions, South Stream Temple should have been managed by the second-generation disciples. He had never heard about elders from the previous generations.

Xu Yourong was a second-generation disciple while Ye Xiaolian counted as a third-generation disciple.

This black-clothed Daoist nun had such a high status?

He brushed off the bamboo leaves, tidied his clothes, and prepared to greet the nun.

The Daoist nun didn’t even glance at him, much less give him a chance to explain.

“Ye Xiaolian, why is your sword not raised? You plan on letting outsiders into the mountain?”

The Daoist nun harshly reproved Ye Xiaolian.

Ye Xiaolian was startled at these words and felt thoroughly wronged. Her eyes slightly reddened and she raised her head, intending to argue.

The Daoist nun’s complexion turned even gloomier, her voice harsher. “Do you still not recognize your wrongs?”

“You’ve said enough.”

Tang Thirty-Six pulled Ye Xiaolian behind him and said, “Do you feel proud, disciplining your disciple in front of outsiders?”

When he was unhappy, he did not care if his opponent was some extremely senior Martial Grandaunt of South Stream Temple.

Hu Thirty-Two saw that something was not right and hurriedly stepped forward. Looking to the Daoist nun, he said, “We are attending upon His Holiness the Pope, with no intentions of intruding upon the mountain. I request Senior’s insightful judgment.”

These words confirmed Ye Xiaolian’s previous conjectures. After a momentary surprise, her eyes turned even redder, not because she felt wronged, but because she was excited.

Those female disciples who had gone to Mount Han and were acquainted with the Orthodox Academy looked at each other and smiled, seemingly very happy.

A sudden bout of coughing, suffused with an air of stern authority, instantly caused these smiles to fade.

“You are saying that His Holiness the Pope has come to our South Stream Temple?”

The black-clothed nun coldly asked the pair, “Then where is His Holiness?”

Hu Thirty-Two didn’t know how to reply. Could it be that the Pope had been concerned that South Stream Temple might be in internal strife and so sneaked into Holy Maiden Peak without sending a message?

Tang Thirty-Six was a master at resolving awkward situations like this, because the trait necessary for such a task was precisely a very thick skin.

“The Pope had a burning anxiety in his heart and went first. He should already be on Holy Maiden Peak. If you want pay him respects, you will have to wait a while.”

He pointed at the end of the mountain path as he spoke. There was a cliff there, and behind the cliff was a beautiful mountain wrapped in the clouds.

The Daoist nun ignored the jeering tone in his words. Staring into his eyes, she said, “Holy Maiden Peak is not so easy to intrude upon.”

Tang Thirty-Six felt a powerful pressure and arched his brows. “The Orthodoxy’s north and south come from the same source. Even if they’re the seals of South Stream Temple, how could they harm His Holiness the Pope? So much time has passed, and there’s still no disturbance; it appears that Holy Maiden Peak… has heartily welcomed him.”

Everyone could hear the hidden meaning in his words.

Tang Thirty-Six had just not wanted to lose out in terms of demeanor, but he hadn’t expected his speculations to be so close to the truth.

The Daoist nun’s expression turned even colder. “A person who enters without asking is a thief, and when has a master ever welcomed a thief into their home?”

Tang Thirty-Six raised his brows and questioned, “These words are deeply disrespectful to His Holiness. Do you still persist in acting?”

“Since you’ve entered the mountain without sending a message beforehand, you are not comrades, but foreign invaders.”

The Daoist nun stared into his eyes and said expressionlessly, “Somebody, come and seize these two.”

There were thirty-some South Stream Temple disciples on the mountain path, enough to form a sword array. Xiao Zhang or Liang Wangsun would find it difficult to break through such a sword array, much less Tang Thirty-Six.

If these disciples began to attack, Tang Thirty-Six and Hu Thirty-Two would have no other choice but to flee back down the mountain.

They did not move, because the disciples of South Stream Temple had not moved.

The ten-some disciples that had gone to the Orthodox Academy exchanged glances, their expressions apprehensive, their minds perplexed as to what they should do. Those disciples who had not gone to the Orthodox Academy subconsciously gripped their swords, but then they remembered the stories their martial sisters had told them two years ago and turned to Ye Xiaolian, asking with their eyes what they should do.

The mountain path was absolutely silent.