The water demons of Qingtang retreated with their faces covered in shame!
Humans might not necessarily have been able to make that decision, but they truly did not dare put it to the test.
The two sides pitted their resolve against each other, testing who was willing to risk more. In the end, the Daoists won.
The demons gathered at Liupan City returned with their feathers clipped, but that did not mean the humans could actually build embankments to hold back the water.
If that threatening posture became reality, it would mean the map had unrolled and the dagger was revealed. Unless one side fell completely, there could be no end to it. Clearly, the time for a showdown had not yet come, so Daoist Chongling no longer insisted that Liupan City build an embankment.
It amounted to each side taking a step back. The Daoist Sect gained face by killing an insignificant shrimp general; the Water Race gained substance by forcing the humans to abandon their embankment plans. As for the shrimp general, there were countless such creatures in the Qingtang River. What difference did one fewer make?
No one would say outright who had gained and who had lost, but each understood it in their own heart.
They could not be called thoroughly disgraced, but they still felt a hollow sense of loss. Daoist Chongling and his party hurried on, with no point in continuing their journey. In fact, the failure at Liupan meant the failure of the embankment project along the Qingtang River. With a gap left in one place, building them elsewhere would serve little purpose.
The four no longer headed for the next city, instead returning straight to the Divine Capital. The various difficulties encountered along the way were already beyond the ability of cultivators at their level to handle. Truly powerful cultivators would have to make the decisions.
The return journey was somewhat awkward, because even that scrap of face the Daoist Sect had retained had been recovered with a criminal's help. This left Chongling and the other two looking bad. Though several levels above him in cultivation, when trouble actually arose, they had proved inferior to a beginner who could not even be called a cultivator. It bruised their pride.
The result of that awkwardness was silence. The Daoists did not know what to say, nor could they release him privately. Hou Niao was equally silent. He was not someone who demanded repayment for a favor, and he did not think he had helped the Daoists, either. He had helped the hundred-odd thousand people of Liupan City.
They spurred their horses onward, traveling by day and resting at night. Even though the Daoists had already been very considerate of him, Hou Niao still found it hard to endure. The Daoists had cultivation methods they could circulate as they traveled, whereas he could only bear it with his body. Even with his robust physique, after more than ten days, he had visibly thinned and looked listless.
He did not complain, because he knew the Daoists could actually have traveled without resting at night. They had already been very considerate of him.
From beginning to end, he had worn neither prison uniform nor shackles. The Daoists had given him ample respect, respect on a spiritual level. He could not ask for too much.
... The Divine Capital was the seat of the Anhe Kingdom's imperial court, as well as the heart of Anhe Dao Prefecture. In Anhe, the ties between the Daoist Sect and imperial authority remained relatively close. This was also the norm in this world. Cultivators found it difficult to sever themselves completely from the mortal world, and there were not so many famous mountains and great rivers where they could withdraw from society to cultivate. The conditions for survival in this world were poor, with far too many beings that threatened humanity.
Cultivators could not distance themselves from mortals, because they had to protect them, unless a day came when those threats no longer existed.
The Divine Capital was a mighty city. Unlike low-walled Liupan, its walls rose more than ten zhang high, capable of holding off both foreign armies and most demonic beasts that could not fly. It was the final barrier protecting Anhe's imperial city.
Xiaosong and Jiyue rode ahead, while Chongling and Hou Niao trailed behind. Realizing that the Daoist had something to say, Hou Niao deliberately slowed down.
Gazing at the towering city walls, Chongling spoke, a rare occurrence over the past ten-odd days. "Have you been here before?"
Hou Niao shook his head. "Never. I was busy with all sorts of matters and had no spare time."
Chongling nodded and pointed with his riding crop. "Take a good look. This might be your last. Do you harbor resentment? You did nothing wrong in the eyes of the law, only acted a little rashly, yet ended up in this predicament. Do you find it hard to accept?"
Seeing Hou Niao remain silent, Daoist Chongling said evenly, "That is because you do not understand the Daoist Sect. For us, the first principle governing our actions is to protect mortals. This is our fundamental ironclad rule, beyond question.
"That is why mortal authorities conduct trials and pass judgment. We only provide the grounds, without carrying out the sentence ourselves, precisely to avoid falling into a state where we kill as we please."
Knowing that this criminal investigator remained somewhat unconvinced, he explained, "I know not every Daoist necessarily abides by such restraints. Beyond our sight, Daoists who commit crimes and evils are everywhere. But within the Daoist Sect's sight, trampling on our principles is absolutely forbidden!
"You killed a man in court. What concerns me is not whether the man you killed was important, or whether he deserved to die, but this dangerous inclination in your thinking. If no one stops you and it develops further, there is no telling how many people will be ruined at your hands!
"In many matters of criminal law, there is no absolute good or bad, right or wrong. Once you develop the habit of killing as your heart dictates, the ultimate outcome is to fall into evil!
"That is why you must pay a price."
Something occurred to him, and he sighed. "At Liupan, when you rashly hacked that shrimp general to death, did you consider that they might not retreat? That instead, their ferocity might be provoked, and they might brazenly slaughter the city?"
Hou Niao answered honestly. "Since they gathered on the water, they meant to intimidate us. If they truly wanted to kill, they could have charged straight in. Why give the humans time to prepare? There is no way in this world to have the best of both worlds. Some risks must be taken..."
Chongling disagreed. "So that was how you came to kill the Wang family's son? You took the risk, and what was the outcome? Far too reckless. Someone like you is simply unsuited to cultivation! You have far too much of a gambler's nature, putting yourself on death's doorstep at every turn. Where would you find so many chances to survive?"
He pointed ahead. "At Liupan City, you resolved our trouble. I am not an unfeeling man, nor would I turn a blind eye to it. Along the way, I gave you plenty of opportunities. I had you exchange horses with the two Daoists ahead, and at night arranged for each of them to share your room and watch you. After more than ten days, have you not drawn even a little closer to them?
"Who do you think you are? That so-called pride of yours is nothing before strength. So you have not been harmed by the Daoist Sect's rules. You have been ruined by your own harsh official's disposition, yet you still think that because your conscience is clear, others ought to humble themselves to befriend you?
"You know perfectly well that we are not master and disciples. What one person can do, three cannot!"
This was the Daoist's way of dealing with the world. Had he been patrolling alone, he might have found some excuse along the way to let Hou Niao escape, in recognition of his resolving the crisis at Liupan. But since three of them were traveling together, he had to secure everyone's tacit consent, or there would be endless trouble afterward.
He was now facing the final hurdle in his attempt to reach Profound Connection, and depended heavily on the Daoist Sect for all manner of resources. He could not permit any slipup that would cost him standing within the sect. That was why he had deliberately given this fellow opportunities to win over his two junior brothers separately. Who could have known the man would be such a wooden block? He could not tell whether he was truly stupid or merely pretending.
Hou Niao shook his head gently. "I will not run! Because the moment I run, twenty years of perseverance will become a joke, and I will no longer be myself."
How could he fail to understand Daoist Chongling's meaning? But if he fled like this, he could only wander about, fleeing for his life to the ends of the earth, hiding here and there all day long. What meaning would such a life have?
This experience had made him understand that his greatest problem was his ability! It was not whether he had done right or wrong, but that what he had done exceeded his abilities. It was that simple!
Never had he craved strength as he did now. To obtain strength, he could only rely on the Daoist Sect. Where could a petty official from a remote little city find the connections to board that great ship?
If he could not seek it in life, then he would pursue it through death!
In the vocation of Daoist cultivation, the older one grew, the fainter one's prospects became. He had no time left. If he became a fugitive as well, there would be even less hope!
By the time his feet trod floating clouds, his body was already old; seeking the Dao and cultivating, he regretted not starting sooner.