Pursuit of the Truth
chapter-169

Among these long arcs were Yan Luan, the Elder of Tranquil East, the five Transcended Berserkers from Han Mountain City, and many other people from the three tribes. Han Cang Zi and Han Fei Zi were among these people. However, none would be able to find anything.

Unless Su Ming wanted to go out of the mountain cave, because of the half layer within the four dimensional layer created by Han Kong that not even left preceptor Zhou from Freezing Sky Clan had discovered, no one would be able to find him.

They searched for him for several days before all of them left silently. They did not find any clues in the place. To them, the mysterious Berserker who attained completion in the Blood Solidification Realm had already left.

During the month after the incident happened, everything about the identity of the mysterious person who had attained completion of the Blood Solidification Realm gradually became the main topic among the people in Han Mountain City. All sorts of speculations rose up, and some were so ridiculous it was unbelievable. That unknown person became the same as the mysterious Mo Su, remembered by all those in Han Mountain City.

Gradually, he became more and more talked about, and due to the mysteriousness surrounding him, his fame surpassed the original five Transcended Berserkers in Han Mountain City and was already as brilliant as the sun at noon.

Some theorized that Mo Su and the mysterious person who attained completion of the Blood Solidification Realm were one and the same, but it was only a theory. The leaders of the three tribes and the five Transcended Berserkers from Han Mountain City did not think so. Some among them had come into contact with Su Ming before, and once they compared notes, they dismissed this theory that appeared simply because it was far too easy to link both people together.

It was two months since the appearance of the deity statue of Transcendence in the sky. As nothing else had happened in the hidden grounds of Han Mountain City, some people grew bold and went to the place once more to search for possible serendipities or herbs that no one had discovered.

However, these people were few and far in-between. Nonetheless, people started appearing once again in the canyons hundreds upon thousands of feet beneath Han Mountain after it remained in deathly stillness for two months.

Qiao Da was one of the few bold people. His hair might already be flecked in white, but he harbored great interest in searching for treasures. He had already visited the hidden grounds of Han Mountain many times in the past, and he was using the chance when there were few people in the place to come once again.

This time he was not alone. He brought a boy with him. The boy was a little dense, but he listened to Qiao Da’s every word. These two people ran quickly in between the valleys. Sometimes they would stop to search a place carefully to see whether there were any secrets lying around that had not been discovered.

"Uncle, there’s nothing here."

"Uncle, there’s nothing here either."

"Uncle, there’s still nothing here."

Every single time they searched through a valley, that dense boy would whisper out these words.

"Uncle, there’s…"

The boy was about to speak at the entrance of a valley, but Qiao Da, who had not been able to find anything for several days, turned around and shouted at him.

"What? Do you only know how to talk about nothing? Shut up!"

"Uncle, there’s…"

The boy scratched his head, but the moment he spoke, his words were cut off, just like before.

"Stop talking… If I knew, I wouldn’t have brought you here. If treasures lay at every corner of this place, would there even be a chance for us? This is an exploration. Exploration, do you get it? Boy, remember this, we’re not searching for treasure, we’re experiencing the journey!" Qiao Da said sternly.

The boy widened his eyes. That dense look on his face made Qiao Da think that he was talking to himself just now and he could not help but rub the center of his brows.

"That attitude of yours is wrong. Let me tell you this. Searching for treasure itself is an interesting thing. Don’t keep thinking about the treasure. The process is very important. Did you think I came here to search for treasure? Then let me tell you, I came here to enjoy the process!" Qiao Da decided to enlighten the younger member of his clan. "Do you understand?"

"…Uncle, there’s…"

The boy blinked, but the moment he opened his mouth, Qiao Da immediately laughed bitterly. He knew exactly what the boy wanted to say, so he shook his head, decided to ignore him, and walked forward.

"Uncle, I understand. We’re here for the process."

When he saw that Qiao Da was ignoring him, the boy seemed to have understood his words and he quickly ran after. On his way, he mumbled under his breath while twiddling with his fingers, "Even if I just saw a treasure just now, you’re also uninterested in searching for it. Okay, I get it now. We’re here for the process…"

Qiao Da stroked his beard and nodded as he listened to the boy.

"That’s right. That’s exactly it. Even if you found a treasure, I still…" As he continued onward, his footsteps suddenly faltered and he turned back in one swift motion, his eyes wide-open. "What..? What did you say? Treasure? You saw a treasure?"

The boy pointed at the valley they just left with a dense expression on his face.

"It’s over there. I wanted to tell you just now. There was a spot glowing over there."

The moment he finished speaking, Qiao Da charged towards the valley incredibly quickly, leaving behind a whooshing sound. The boy scratched his head, unable to wrap his head around it.

His uncle should have been uninterested in treasures. Why was he not enjoying the process now? He thought it was a very profound question and he could not understand it, but he still ran over quickly.

The moment he entered the valley, he saw Qiao Da looking all over the place incessantly.

"Where is it? Where’s the glowing spot?"

"It’s over there. That’s the glowing spot I saw."

The boy took a few brisk steps forward and pointed towards a spot on the wall of the valley, but the moment he touched it, his finger went right through.

This scene immediately filled Qiao Da’s face with ecstasy and excitement. He quickly looked around himself. Once he was certain that nobody was around, he charged towards the boy. He took a moment to observe the wall and once he did so, he lifted a hand and placed it on the wall. Like the boy’s, his hand went through.

"Haha! I’ve finally found a secret location!"

Qiao Da grabbed the dense boy excitedly and charged into the wall. His whole body went through.

"Cloud Leaf Grass! There’re so many Cloud Leaf Grass here! One Cloud Leaf Grass can be sold for 100 stone coins, I’ll be rich! Rich!!"

The moment Qiao Da came in, his eyes lit up. He stared at the spot where herbs grew located not too far ahead of him, and he rubbed his hands excitedly.

"Uncle, there’s…" the boy’s foolish voice traveled into his ears.

"I know, I know. There’re herbs here. These herbs are treasures."

Qiao Da took a few brisk steps forward and arrived at the place where the herbs grew. He crouched down and grabbed the herbs happily.

"Uncle, there’s…"

There was a slight hitch in the boy’s voice.

"I know, you want to ask me why I’m not enjoying the process, right? Let me tell you, the process is important, but the treasure is more important. You must remember this well!"

All Qiao Da’s impatience was forgotten in the face of his joy. As he explained himself, he quickly collected many herbs.

"Uncle, there’s…"

The boy’s voice trembled even more, and there was even a hint of terror in it. It was a pity that Qiao Da’s full attention was captured by the herbs and he did not notice it.

"Eight, 10, 13… I’ll be rich. I’ll definitely be rich this time… 14, 15… What did you just say? Didn’t I just teach you?"

Qiao Da licked his lips as he quickly gathered the herbs.

"He wants to say that there’s someone here."

A cold voice suddenly reverberated through the air. That voice appeared too suddenly, causing Qiao Da’s hand to stop picking that 16th shrub and his head to whip back with a look of shock.

Standing beside the boy was a person. He was dressed entirely in black and had a clean and handsome face. There was a faint scar underneath his eyes. He was looking at Qiao Da coldly.

"Uncle, he’s right. I wanted to say that there’s someone here…"

The boy let out a huge breath. Nervousness crept onto his face as well.

Qiao Da’s heart pounded against his chest and killing intent appeared in his heart. The value of these herbs was too great and conflict was unavoidable between them. Yet the boy was right beside him, and this made Qiao Da hesitate. Just as he hesitated, he suddenly noticed that the chill in the man’s eyes as he looked at him had seemed to turn physical, making Qiao Da’s body tremble, as if it was instantly encased in ice, making him turn pale from head to toe.

"Se… Senior… Senior, please have mercy!"

Qiao Da shivered and fell to his knees, quickly begging for mercy. He might not know the man’s level of cultivation, but the man could make him feel as if he had been encased in ice with just one glance. This was not something a person in the Blood Solidification Realm could do. He had also just realized that he could not even manifest his blood veins before this person. This made him both shocked and terrified.

That man was Su Ming!

During these two months, Su Ming had gradually managed to suppress his blood veins. This was the day he came out of isolation. He had intended to find out how he could leave the hidden grounds of Han Mountain, but the moment he stepped out of the half dimensional layer, he appeared in this mountain cave. He was about to leave when he discovered an old man and a boy entering the place.

That old man did not see him. He went straight to the Cloud Leaf Grass that Su Ming disregarded. Only the boy stood there looking at him dumbly.

Su Ming stared at the old man with a contemplative look in his eyes.

‘Did something happen after Han Kong died? The old man’s power is only around the seventh level of the Blood Solidification Realm. How did he manage to take a child in here..?’

Qiao Da’s heart raced even more quickly. He was feeling incredibly nervous. A large amount of sweat formed on his forehead as Su Ming stared at him.

"Tell me all the major events that had happened in Han Mountain City in the recent years. If I’m satisfied, I’ll let you have all the herbs here," Su Ming stated slowly.

Qiao Da did not dare wipe away the sweat on his forehead, neither did he try to guess why this person asked such a question. Once he heard it, he quickly spoke with a respectful tone, telling all that he knew of the past few years.

When he said that the canyons were no longer sealed and people could come as they pleased, Su Ming’s expression remained calm, not a hint of change was seen on his face.

"… This Mo Su still remains as a mystery… There’s the even more mysterious Berserker who attained the completion in the Blood Solidification Realm…"

Qiao Da’s voice quivered as he spoke about all the topics discussed in Han Mountain City, the Berserker who had attained completion in the Blood Solidification Realm, and the strange phenomenon in the sky. Yet as he spoke, his body trembled even more harshly. As he looked at Mo Su, he began to form speculations in his head.

Su Ming stood silently for a while before he cast his eyes on the boy by his side.

"What’s your name?"

"I’m Qiao Song."

The boy still had a dense expression on his face.

"All the herbs here are yours."

The moment Su Ming finished speaking, he cast a look at the boy before he turned around and walked out, disappearing without a trace.

Only then did Qiao Da dare to wipe away the sweat on his forehead with a look that said his heart was still pounding from lingering fear. He pointed at Qiao Song and started scolding him.

"You! Why didn’t you tell me that there was someone here sooner?"

"I did say… but you wouldn’t let me finish my sentence…"

There was a look as if he had just suffered injustice on the boy’s face.

"You… you… you’ll be the death of me! Remember this. I’m telling you now, next time when you speak, say everything that you need to say in one breath. Don’t bother about other people breaking up your sentence, say everything in one go and don’t stop!"

Qiao Da wiped off the cold sweat on his forehead once again looked at the herbs on the ground, delight resurfacing on his face.

"I’m going to be rich! Rich!"

"Aye.I.remember.it.now.uncle.don’t.worry.I.won’t.care.about.other.people.interrupting.me.I’ll.say.all.I.have.to.say.without.stopping.in.one.breath…" the boy mumbled, and once he finished speaking, he gasped for breath.