Xie Gou had to speak up for Chen Ping'an. "Why wasn't Wei Bo being stubborn today? He had an iron backbone around our Mountain Lord, but the moment he saw these scholars with some real pedigree, he turned his sail with the wind. He was clearly letting his elbow bend outward."
Piyun Mountain and Luopo Mountain were neighbors separated by only a few steps. Any little stir at the Northern Sacred Mountain Lord's residence could be hidden from others, but not from Xie Gou, who wandered over there whenever she pleased. So she knew that Wei Bo had chosen "Spiritual Marsh" as his divine title. She also knew Chen Ping'an had tried to dissuade him, only to no avail.
Xiao Mo smiled. "When one encounters someone one sincerely admires, everything becomes negotiable. Even the most stubborn person will stop boring into a bull's horn."
He remembered Zhu Lian saying that there were only three possibilities if one wanted someone to heed advice. Either they encountered guidance from someone they regarded as a strong person or a benefactor; or they experienced things personally, took detours and suffered hardship, then realized that some habits or principles simply had to change. The third was reading.
The first depended on luck, the latter on karmic affinity and wisdom. Thus, it was more often the second case, which gave one much to ponder.
Xie Gou chuckled. "Surely Great Mountain Lord Wei doesn't sincerely admire several dozen people?"
Xiao Mo said through inner voice, "Not that exaggerated. At most, enough to count on one hand."
He had once heard Old Mr. Zhu speak of Great Mountain Lord Wei's rough life story. There were many tales. Born into an aristocratic family of officials, the Wei clan enjoyed the reputation of "dwelling by the Yi River for six