Chapter 1172: Madman

These sounds, both hauntingly intrusive and gently soothing like a spring rain, permeated the young master Danzhu's heart. Naturally, they subconsciously evoked a sense of repulsion and wariness in him. He abruptly opened his eyes and looked around, his jade-like pupils glinting with an unusual luminescence.

The night was deep and dark; there was nothing to be seen around him. Danzhu slowly sat up, a deep frown on his face. The vague voice from his dream still faintly echoed in his mind:

“Tomorrow at Xu-hour, Danyang Mountain, northwest fork, the Divine Lord’s guidance—”

“—Dispel your confusion, and become—the hope of the Danque Tribe—”

Danzhu pondered for a moment, then reached for the bell by the table and rang it. A crisp sound resonated.

Outside the dwelling, the two Golden Core elders on guard were instantly startled. They dropped their half-roasted meat and hurried inside, finding Danzhu sitting fully clothed. Urgently, they asked, “Young Master, what’s happened?”

Danzhu’s emerald eyes gazed at his two personal attendants. He was about to relay the cryptic message he had heard in his dream. But the words died on his tongue. Danzhu remained silent for a moment, then asked, “Did either of you notice anything unusual outside the dwelling?”

The two guardian elders exchanged glances and both shook their heads. The burly elder confidently assured him, “Young Master, rest assured. With us guarding outside, not even a mosquito could fly in.”

Danzhu nodded. He deeply trusted these two elders, who had served as his personal guards since his childhood.

“Young Master—has something happened?” the other guardian elder asked with a hint of concern.

Danzhu hesitated for a moment before finally shaking his head. “Nothing, perhaps I’ve had too much on my mind, and the dreams last night were a bit unsettling.”

The burly guard’s brow furrowed slightly. The other guard, with a worried expression, added, “Young Master, your status is noble; you must take care of yourself and not overexert your mind.” It is said that deep affection often shortens life, and extreme intelligence invariably brings pain. The Young Master is not only an exceptionally gifted prodigy with innate compassion, but he also bears too many burdens on his mind. He genuinely feared that something untoward might befall him.

Danzhu replied, “I understand. You may go and rest now.”

Seeing this, the two elders could only sigh softly before bowing respectfully and taking their leave.

After the elders departed, Danzhu’s heart remained unsettled and uncertain. “Were the words I heard in my dream just now someone trying to deceive me?” he wondered. “Or was it truly a revelation from the Divine Lord?”

Danzhu remained silent for a long time, still unable to find an answer. Thanks to Mo Hua’s intervention, his confusion only deepened, and his mind became even more burdened. Unable to calm himself enough to sleep, he could only pick up the book he was holding and continue reading. Then he looked at the map of the Danque Tribe nearby, his brows tightly furrowed.

He sat reading like this until dawn. When the morning sun rose, his divine sense inevitably felt a degree of weariness. Cultivators possess strong physical bodies and robust vital energy, allowing them to remain awake without rest for even ten days or half a month without significant harm to their bodies. However, lack of sleep can cause considerable depletion to their divine sense. Humans are one with heaven and earth, rising with the sun and resting with its setting. Cultivating during the day and sleeping deep into the night is the means by which cultivators restore their divine sense. For ordinary cultivators who do not walk the path of divine sense and cannot cultivate spiritual sense, it is also one of the primary methods for stabilizing their sea of consciousness and replenishing their divine sense. Sleeping well stabilizes the mind. Poor sleep, while not significantly harming the physical body, can lead to a depletion of divine sense, low morale, and a diminished spirit.

Danzhu was diligent, hardworking, highly talented, and prone to deep thought, often burdened by worries in his heart. Consequently, insomnia was a common occurrence for him. Especially, the “whispers” Mo Hua had imparted to him during his sleep left him particularly unsettled.

Facing the morning sun, Danzhu meditated for a while, cultivating as was his custom. Vast spiritual energy flowed into his meridians, eventually converging in the Golden Core within his dantian, where it shimmered with the crystalline light characteristic of the Golden Core stage.

After his cultivation, Danzhu rose and left the dwelling. The two guardian elders were already waiting outside the door. One was a burly elder, wrapped in wolf fur, exceptionally robust. The other was unremarkable in appearance, understated and steady.

Danzhu asked, “From where shall we return to the main tribe today?”

The burly elder replied, “From Dafeng Mountain, we head north, take the Kashgar Ancient Road, and return to the main headquarters to report to the Tribal Chief. If we move quickly, we can still reach the main Danque Tribe before the grand banquet.”

Danzhu subconsciously asked, “Are we not taking the Danyang Mountain path?”

The other ordinary-looking guardian elder looked somewhat surprised: “Young Master, we customarily do not travel via Danyang Mountain—” He then explained, “That path only appears slightly shorter on the map. In reality, the mountain trail is too winding, filled with more demonic beasts, and it actually takes longer.”

Mo Hua, who was secretly listening from a distance, felt his heart skip a beat upon hearing this. *A miscalculation...* The Danque Tribe was vast, encompassing many mountains, and Mo Hua was not familiar with its terrain. He had indeed only consulted the map, and seeing Danyang Mountain as the shortest route, he had assumed they would surely pass through it. However, the actual situation proved to be vastly different. The path that he, the supposed “Divine Lord,” had predicted was completely wrong.

“Had I known, I should have calculated such a minor detail beforehand. Now this is troublesome—” Mo Hua frowned. They weren’t even heading in the same direction. Consequently, Danzhu might not follow the path he had envisioned. And he might be even less inclined to believe the guidance from him, the “Divine Lord.” This slight miscalculation could significantly damage the Divine Lord’s prestige. “I’ll have to find a way to make up for it later—” One cannot deliver too many messages through dreams, or there will be too many loopholes. Furthermore, once Danzhu returns to the main headquarters, if I can’t infiltrate it, I won’t be able to “deliver dream messages” anymore. Mo Hua sighed inwardly.

Danzhu didn’t say much, merely nodding. Throughout the entire morning, Danzhu was occupied with delegating tribal affairs. Around noon, he set off with the two elders and a group of Foundation Establishment realm Danque Tribe guards. They departed from the small tribe under their jurisdiction and began walking towards Dafeng Mountain.

Mo Hua, holding onto the faint hope, followed for a short distance. But he eventually confirmed that Danzhu and his party were not taking the “Danyang Mountain” path he had indicated, but rather Dafeng Mountain on the other side. Mo Hua sighed. He, this “charlatan,” had given the wrong “guidance” on his very first attempt. Mo Hua was truly speechless. Finally, he thought to himself, “So be it. If it’s wrong, it’s wrong. No one is born a master trickster; one is bound to take some detours and experience a few failures.” If you want to “manipulate” others, you must accept the possibility that they won’t fall for your “manipulation.”

Mo Hua gradually regained his composure. Despite the setback, he didn’t get discouraged. Instead, he decided to continue following young master Danzhu. As the saying goes, “It’s not the thief’s act of stealing you should fear, but their persistent gaze.” As long as he persisted in his intentions and schemes, one day, young master Danzhu would surely become his for the taking.

On the mountain path of Dafeng Mountain, Danzhu and his entourage proceeded grandly ahead. Mo Hua, concealed and with his hands clasped behind his back, followed leisurely from a distance.

After walking for some time, Danzhu suddenly remembered something. He periodically turned his head to glance at the mountain path on their right, his expression conflicted. It seemed that, deep down, he still couldn’t let go of the “Divine Lord’s” revelation. A slight realization dawned on Mo Hua.

After another ten li, Danzhu suddenly stopped. The guardian elder asked, “Young Master?”

Danzhu pondered for a moment, then, as if having made a sudden decision, declared, “We’re changing our route. We’ll go via Danyang Mountain.”

The group of guards exchanged bewildered glances. “Young Master, but this—”

Danzhu offered no explanation, simply stating, “We will go via Danyang Mountain.” After speaking, he disregarded the others, took a step, and began walking towards Danyang Mountain on the right.

“Young Master!”

“Young Master! You—”

The group wanted to stop him, but Danzhu was the Young Master, and they couldn’t dissuade him. In the end, they could only sigh in resignation and follow him towards Danyang Mountain.

Mo Hua, who was tailing them from behind, was momentarily taken aback. “This Young Master—he’s willingly walked right into my trap.” Mo Hua was momentarily unsure whether to attribute it to the young man’s naivety or the overwhelming power of his own “revelation” as the Divine Lord. Nevertheless, this was a good thing. Mo Hua’s eyes lit up.

Meanwhile, Danzhu led his entourage, trekking over mountains and across rivers, traversing the rugged peaks, and turning from Dafeng Mountain towards Danyang Mountain. They continued walking until they reached a fork in the road at the southwest corner. Danzhu stopped and examined his surroundings, confirming that this mountainside was likely the place the voice had described to him in his dream.

The burly guard whispered, “Young Master, are you—”

Danzhu replied, “I’m a bit weary; let’s rest here for a while.”

“Rest…”

Young master Danzhu was a Golden Core cultivator with strong vital energy; why would he need rest after walking such a short distance on a mountain path? Everyone exchanged confused glances, not quite understanding. Danzhu, however, had already sat cross-legged and begun to meditate there. The others had no choice but to form a protective circle around Danzhu, remaining vigilant.

Time passed slowly. From approximately You-hour (5-7 PM), Danzhu sat motionless in place. Until the sun of the Great Wilderness gradually began to set in the west, the horizon turned blood red, and the clouds, like burning fire, radiated a brilliant splendor. Only then did Danzhu reopen his eyes, gazing towards the southwestern fork in the road.

But at the fork, there was no one in sight. “Was it wrong?” Danzhu frowned and waited a while longer, but still nothing happened. It was now Xu-hour (7-9 PM), and he was indeed at Danyang Mountain, yet the “revelation” from his dream had not manifested. For some inexplicable reason, Danzhu silently breathed a sigh of relief.

“Indeed, in this world, where is there any true ‘Divine Lord’? And why would such a being easily grant revelations?”

“It was all just a dream. As expected, I was overthinking it—”

Yet, for some reason, a faint sense of disappointment inexplicably arose in Danzhu’s heart. His heart was indeed confused, in need of someone to clear his path of uncertainty. It was truly in disarray, and he needed someone to guide him. And while the Danque Tribe appeared powerful, most ordinary cultivators within it had indeed endured considerable hardship. He genuinely wished to offer the Danque Tribe a beacon of hope.

Danzhu had feared that the “revelation” from the deity in his dream would actually come true. If it had, he wouldn’t know if it was real or fake, whether to believe it or not. Yet, if the deity’s “revelation” turned out to be nonexistent, Danzhu’s heart would still feel a sense of loss and pain.

As the sun gradually descended and dusk approached, the burly guardian elder said, “Young Master, it’s getting late. We should depart.”

Danzhu sighed, then nodded and said, “Let’s go.” He stood up, ready to leave, but a flicker of hope lingered. He turned back for one last look. In that instant, Danzhu’s pupils constricted. He saw a faint, indistinct figure appearing at the distant crossroads.

It was a very indistinct figure, holding a wooden staff, approaching from the east, bathed in the glow of the setting sun. Behind him, the setting sun blazed like fire, and colorful clouds filled the sky, creating a magnificent spectacle. Strangely, no one knew when this figure had appeared or from where it had come. It was as if he had materialized from thin air, appearing out of nothing into their collective sight. Simultaneously, his figure seemed to merge with the red sun, appearing more like a “deity” stepping out of the fiery glow of the setting sun on the horizon.

Danzhu was utterly captivated, momentarily lost in awe. The other Danque Tribe cultivators also felt their minds stirred. “This is…” They didn’t know who this silent, eerie figure, seamlessly blended with the red sun, truly was, or what his purpose might be. The Golden Core elders’ expressions turned grave, and they began to activate their magical artifacts. Some of the guards also dispersed, forming a protective perimeter around Danzhu. The atmosphere around them immediately grew tense.

Danzhu, however, remained stunned and motionless. The Danque Tribe’s elders and guards, too, dared not make a move, only watching as the figure approached them step by step. The atmosphere, like the lingering embers of the setting sun, was tense and smoldering.

In this tense atmosphere, the figure within the red sun gradually approached the group, revealing a countenance as fair as a painting and startlingly young. This was a young man. A young man who, aside from eyebrows as refined as a gentle breeze and a face as clear as a bright moon, was otherwise entirely ordinary. Naturally, he wasn’t tall, appearing fair-skinned, innocent, and utterly harmless, inspiring no sense of caution whatsoever. The Danque Tribe elders and the group of guards couldn’t help but sigh in relief, a hint of irritated embarrassment bubbling up within them. A mere youth, whose cultivation was only at the Foundation Establishment stage and whose vital energy was remarkably faint, had managed to make Golden Core elders and seasoned guards treat him as a formidable foe, reduced to such a state of tension. It was truly shameful.

Danzhu looked at Mo Hua’s appearance, his own expression clearly showing a hint of disappointment. Nevertheless, he asked, “You—who are you?”

Mo Hua’s expression was serene, his tone indifferent. “You may address me as—Master Wu.”

Upon hearing this, the elders and guards who had just let down their guard were instantly startled again, their expressions once more turning grave. In the barren lands, “Master Wu” was no simple appellation. This youth, who dared to call himself “Master Wu,” was certainly no ordinary person.

Danzhu also frowned. “Are you a shaman of the Great Wilderness Royal Court?”

Mo Hua shook his head, correcting him. “A shaman is the Divine Lord’s shaman, not the Great Wilderness Royal Court’s shaman.”

The guardian elders frowned, their eyes filled with surprise. Danzhu’s heart, however, gave a sudden leap. “‘The Divine Lord’s shaman’—this youth is connected to the Divine Lord, meaning he is linked to the revelation in my dream?”

Danzhu asked Mo Hua, “Do you recognize me?”

Mo Hua’s eyes, dark as obsidian, calmly met Danzhu’s emerald-like gaze for a moment. Then, without batting an eye, he asked, “Who are you?”

Danzhu replied, “My name is Danzhu.”

Mo Hua nodded, an indifferent expression on his face. An inexplicable sense of disappointment welled up in Danzhu’s heart. *This youth, he doesn’t even know who I am. Could it be that the Divine Lord’s revelation was wrong? Or perhaps, I am not actually the one chosen by the Divine Lord?* Danzhu frowned deeply.

Mo Hua’s eyes flickered faintly. He said gently, “A chance encounter is also a form of destiny; perhaps this too is the Divine Lord’s will. I must now continue my journey and cannot stay long. I hope we shall meet again if fate allows.”

After speaking, Mo Hua nodded to Danzhu, then, leaning on the wooden staff he had just fashioned from a nearby mountain tree, he walked past Danzhu, his gaze resolute as he continued forward. Mo Hua’s gaze was resolute, yet his steps were not quick; in fact, he deliberately slowed them. At the same time, the wooden staff in his hand tapped rhythmically against the ground, producing a steady sound. The sound of the wooden staff seemed to reverberate in Danzhu’s heart, as if reminding him of something.

Danzhu’s heart inexplicably tightened. Just as Mo Hua’s steps were about to fade into the distance, Danzhu suddenly called out, “Wait!”

Mo Hua inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Then, with a calm expression, he turned around, his gaze as unyielding as a mountain rock. Under Mo Hua’s steady gaze, Danzhu suddenly felt a mix of unease and reluctance. He hadn’t expected that this person, who might be the Divine Lord’s messenger or guide, would simply leave like this. And almost without saying anything of substance.

Yet Danzhu also feared that if this youth truly had an extraordinary background, then once he let him slip away, he might never encounter him again. What Danzhu didn’t realize was that this concern was entirely his own overthinking. It wasn’t the thief’s act of stealing he should fear, but their persistent gaze. He had already been targeted by Mo Hua, this “thief.” If he didn’t encounter him at this crossroads, he would surely encounter him again at the next one. If not today, then perhaps in a few days, in some other tribe within his Danque territory, he would “unexpectedly” encounter Mo Hua again, guided by the Divine Lord. Danzhu had not considered any of this. Although his cultivation was one major realm higher than Mo Hua’s, his level of cunning was utterly incomparable to Mo Hua’s. Not to mention, Mo Hua had also cultivated cause and effect, possessing strong computational power with his divine sense, and numerous strategies.

“Young Master Danzhu, is there something you need?” Mo Hua asked softly, feigning ignorance.

Danzhu’s heart was conflicted. After hesitating for a moment, he finally spoke, asking, “Master Wu, judging by your appearance, you seem—not to be from the Great Wilderness, are you?”

Mo Hua devoutly replied, “I belong to no realm, no race, no faction. My entire life’s flesh, blood, and spiritual essence have all been dedicated to the Divine Lord.”

Danzhu asked, “The Divine Lord you speak of—”

Mo Hua replied indifferently, “The Divine Lord is simply the Divine Lord; a being that cannot be spoken of and cannot be fully known. Fools are unaware of its existence. Only to those with profound blessings and a heaven-sent mandate will the Divine Lord bestow revelations.” Danzhu’s heart skipped a beat, but his face remained impassive.

He then asked, “Master Wu, may I inquire about your age in cultivation?” Danzhu looked at Mo Hua, who seemed even younger than himself.

Mo Hua’s expression shifted as he offered a faint smile. In that instant, his eyes were filled with the profound vicissitudes of one who had witnessed all human joys and sorrows, who had seen the world and its people change. Such a poignant and complex gaze instantly filled Danzhu with profound respect. This “Master Wu,” he thought, must be a person with an exceptionally rich past. These stories, all refined by the passage of time, lay hidden deep within his eyes, not to be spoken of to outsiders.

And indeed, Mo Hua said no more. An expression of world-weariness settled on his young face, his gaze peaceful, as he turned to leave.

Danzhu immediately called out again, “Master Wu!”

Mo Hua looked at him.

Danzhu seemed to have made up his mind, speaking slowly: “To be frank, I am Danzhu, the Young Master of the Danque Tribe. May I invite Master Wu to be our guest in the Danque Tribe? I would be honored to extend my hospitality.”

Mo Hua feigned hesitation.

Danzhu earnestly urged him, “My Danque Tribe is a large, ancient tribe in the Great Wilderness, possessing considerable influence and formidable strength.”

Mo Hua’s expression remained serene, seemingly uninterested.

Danzhu added, “I earnestly ask Master Wu to visit my Danque Tribe. To be frank, I, Danzhu, have some doubts and would like to seek your counsel.”

Mo Hua asked, “You have doubts?”

Danzhu replied, “Yes.”

Mo Hua gazed at Danzhu with clear, limpid eyes. Danzhu, in turn, looked at Mo Hua with sincere eyes.

Mo Hua offered a slight smile, seemingly quite pleased with Danzhu. He nodded and said, “Very well, then it would be disrespectful not to accept your generous offer.”

Danzhu sighed in relief, and a faint smile appeared on his previously worried face.

Three days later, Mo Hua, the mysterious “Master Wu,” was personally invited by Young Master Danzhu and entered the heart of the Danque Tribe, its most central and vital encampment.