Sunshine Boy glanced at his hand. He had four stalks of Mugwort left. He took out two and handed them to Wang Laoshu.
"I think Hao Yunsheng is a better fit for catching the ox!" Sunshine Boy said.
"Sunshine Boy!" Hao Yunsheng growled, his voice low and suppressed. He glared, teeth clenched, veins bulging on his forehead.
Wang Laoshu beamed, just as before. He tucked one stalk of Mugwort into his robes, wrapped the other around his finger, and pointed it at Hao Yunsheng.
"You, go catch the ox."
Panic finally flashed in Hao Yunsheng’s eyes. He reached into his clothes and grabbed the Yin-Yang Fish Dragon Jade Pendant from around his neck. The eye of its white dragon glowed gold, while the eye of its Black Dragon shone a brilliant yellow.
The Yin-Yang fish and dragons slowly rotated, their positions swapping, and a crack split down the middle.
Hao Yunsheng’s heart ached. ’This is my last life-saving treasure.’
Wang Laoshu moved his arm and once again pointed at the designated ox-catcher. "You go."
"Are you insane? You want to take me down with you?!" Hao Yunsheng growled, his voice low.
Sunshine Boy glanced at the designated chicken-catcher, sheep-catcher, and ox-catcher. After a long silence, he said slowly, "My abilities are limited. I can’t save everyone, but I want to do my best to save as many as I can."
"Save who you want, but why are you dragging me into it!" Hao Yunsheng snarled.
"Don’t you know perfectly well why?" Sunshine Boy said, looking at Hao Yunsheng.
Hao Yunsheng fell silent.
Sunshine Boy picked up the last two stalks of Mugwort and held them out to Wang Laoshu.
A chill ran down Hao Yunsheng’s spine, and a wave of unprecedented panic flooded his eyes.
’If this happens one more time, the Yin-Yang Fish Dragon Jade Pendant will shatter completely, and I’ll lose all my means of survival!’
The most intense life-or-death crisis he had ever faced washed over him.
Hao Yunsheng’s voice was strained as he said, "I was wrong. I swear, I won’t come after you again! Can we... solve this together?"
Sunshine Boy’s expression was resolute, but when he saw Wang Laoshu give a slight shake of his head, he sighed inwardly. ’This is as far as I can push him.’ He slowly pulled the Mugwort back.
As if granted a pardon, Hao Yunsheng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Weren’t you asking for a refining fee for the Life Substitution Wood Child? I’ll pay it! I have part of a Great Inheritance from a certain Fate Sect!"
Sunshine Boy remained silent.
「Celestial Destiny Mountain.」
Atop Eagle’s Beak Cliff, an old man with white hair and a white beard performed a divination with his fingers, his brow furrowing slightly.
"How strange. The Yin-Yang dragon fish has actually cracked. How could Ye Han’s Fate Grid be so precarious? Has that Deceitful Mother had some other fortuitous encounter? If she doesn’t appreciate my leniency, then I, this old man, will have no choice but to present her with the Great Cutting Sword and send her on her way!"
After speaking, the old man stood atop Eagle’s Beak Cliff and closed his eyes, his wide robes whipping in the wind.
「Fangyuan Village, Five Goddess Temple, West Courtyard.」
Wang Laoshu left with the three Night Guards.
Inside the hall, Sunshine Boy was alone.
Outside the threshold, only seven people remained.
Five were on the left, and one was on the right.
The Captain was slightly off to the right.
After a long silence, Sunshine Boy turned to look at the black curtain.
He now looked like a child of seven or eight.
"Mother, may I go for a walk outside?"
"But Mother worries about you..." The Deceitful Mother’s voice was filled with melancholy.
"Rest assured, Mother. I won’t wander off."
"Then you are not to leave the temple," the Deceitful Mother said.
"Please don’t worry, Mother. I promise I won’t leave the temple, and I’ll be back soon," Sunshine Boy said.
"Fine. Go out and play. Remember, you’re not allowed in the tower, and do not play with Hao Yunsheng." The Deceitful Mother’s voice started out soft and frail, but turned icy cold by the end.
Hao Yunsheng shuddered and lowered his head.
Carrying his book box, Sunshine Boy stepped over the threshold and walked slowly outside. The one called Glutton took the box from him, and the others followed.
"Book Listener, Glutton, you two, come with me." Sunshine Boy led them to the deserted East Courtyard on the east side of the White Tower.
"How are you doing?" asked Book Listener.
Sunshine Boy didn’t answer right away. Instead, he looked toward the West Courtyard.
On the roof of the West Courtyard, tendrils of grayish-yellow mist reached out like tentacles, but they seemed to hit an invisible barrier, unable to escape the courtyard.
Sunshine Boy remembered the Deceitful Mother was still recovering from childbirth.
"I’ve been deeply afflicted by the Deceit. I need to find a way to save myself."
"We’ll go get the Substitute Wood Child Life Materials for you," Glutton said.
"Yes, I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you both."
"It’s no trouble at all. You’re the one who’s been suffering."
Book Listener and Glutton sighed softly. Being a Deceitful Infant might seem all-powerful, but it was, in fact, an incredibly perilous existence.
"Book Listener, what have you figured out? Let’s compare notes."
"Alright. I think the Deceitful Mother’s way of thinking is different from ours. We think having your body cut apart is a huge problem, but she doesn’t. It’s likely she truly sees you as a Deceit, because Deceits don’t have bodies to begin with, so being cut doesn’t matter to them. Also..."
The three of them conferred for a long time. Before they left, Sunshine Boy said, "After you leave, tell Hao Yunsheng to come here."
The two left, and a hesitant Hao Yunsheng walked into the courtyard.
Hao Yunsheng had once been a handsome young man, but now his forehead was dark, his eyes were bruised, his hair was a mess, and his steps were unsteady. The look in his eyes was like a tangled mess of thread.
"If you have something to say, spit it out," the seven-year-old-looking Sunshine Boy said matter-of-factly.
After a long moment, Hao Yunsheng sighed. "I was wrong. I shouldn’t have tried to harm you out of resentment. I hope that after today, even if we can’t be friends again, we can at least go our separate ways."
Sunshine Boy chuckled. ’First, you try to block my path, and when that fails, you come out with "let’s go our separate ways." Another moral and logical mastermind.’
Sunshine Boy said nothing.
Hao Yunsheng’s eyes darted around. "I want to buy a Life Substitution Wood Child."
"A Life Substitution Wood Child requires a Destiny Star, and I don’t have a spare one," Sunshine Boy said.
"Can’t you Fate Masters buy fates? Just take mine. I’m willing, so you won’t suffer a backlash from my Life Mansion," said Hao Yunsheng.
"You’re really willing to part with it?" Sunshine Boy asked.
Hao Yunsheng looked at Sunshine Boy and let out a long sigh. "I’m scared. I know you don’t believe me, but I really am. Not of you, but of the Deceitful Mother. She’s targeting me now. Without enough treasures, even if I manage to break free of the Deceit, I’ll be severely wounded. And you destroyed all my treasures."
His gaze was full of resentment.
"Why is the Deceitful Mother targeting you?"
"I don’t know," Hao Yunsheng said helplessly.
"What will you use to pay the refining fee?" Sunshine Boy asked.
Hao Yunsheng hesitated. "I have some Elixirs I can give you."
"Not enough."
"The Great Inheritance thing was a lie," Hao Yunsheng said, his eyes shifting away.
Sunshine Boy started to walk away. Hao Yunsheng quickly reached out to stop him, yelling, "Why are you in such a rush? Can’t I even haggle a bit?"
"Which Fate Sect’s Great Inheritance do you have?"
"An incomplete one," Hao Yunsheng said.
Sunshine Boy rolled his eyes at him.
Hao Yunsheng hesitated for a long moment before whispering, "The Great Cutting Sword."
"Bullshit!" Sunshine Boy didn’t believe him for a second. That was a Great Inheritance of the Celestial Fate Sect.
Hao Yunsheng retorted indignantly, "It’s true. The person was a traitor from the Celestial Fate Sect who obtained the Refining Method for the Great Cutting Sword, just without the true scriptures of the Great Inheritance."
"I don’t believe you," Sunshine Boy said.
Hao Yunsheng said, "Then I’ll recite it for you!"
As he touched his Qiankun Ring, he began to recite, "Life and death, longevity and early demise, these are called Fate. Prosperity and decline, poverty and success, these are called Fortune. The Great Void conceals the Law, the Grand Pure reveals its trace... Heaven and Earth set the principles, life and death set destiny, family and nation set the count, the Flowing Years set fortune... To sever life is to break destiny, to sever the count is to disrupt the nation, to sever fortune is to disturb time, to sever reason..."
Hao Yunsheng stopped abruptly at the end, raised his chin slightly, and looked down his nose at Sunshine Boy.