Chapter 274: Fate Weaving Conspiracy
— A Few Days Later —
At the campsite, Wei Chen sat in his office with Alfred by his side, listening to the reports from his people about the search results.
And they had, of course, failed.
By this point, that Ximen Ren guy could probably have run all the way to Mexico already. Figuratively speaking, of course, if Mexico even existed in this world.
The contrast was rather amusing. His office was only a tent flap away from the living area, where Mo Xingyao, Dream Butterfly, and Song Wan were playing Uno together, while the little troublemaker Ningning happily munched on the Korean-style fried chicken he had made for her.
But seriously, where had this girl found such a huge chicken with meat that was so tender and juicy? He still hadn’t asked her about it yet.
"What do you think, Alfred?"
"It’s Zhang Niu, sir," Alfred calmly corrected.
"I think that Ximen Ren guy has already escaped. It’s been a few days now, and he’s a cultivator with excellent movement and escape techniques, not some ordinary mortal," Wei Chen commented.
The warrior in black armor who had come to deliver the report immediately tensed up. Was this going to turn into a long grilling session? Or worse, would it affect his salary?
Wei Chen looked at the man. He was merely the representative sent to report the results. Besides, Wei Chen also had a feeling that if they couldn’t find Ximen Ren on the first day, then the chances that he had already escaped were extremely high.
Just then, Wei Chen’s phone rang. He took it out and saw that Ximen Hao was calling.
"Yo. What’s up?" Wei Chen answered the call.
"Did anything happen on your end after that bastard Ximen Ren went there?" Ximen Hao’s voice came from the other side. He sounded genuinely confused.
"Huh? Yeah, something like that happened here. We discovered that the guy was a demonic cultivator, and one with extremely dense demonic qi at that. Why do you ask?" Wei Chen replied.
"Ah... So the bastard really was a demonic cultivator, huh? No wonder I never liked the look of his face." Ximen Hao let out a long sigh, as though all of his questions had just been answered in a single sentence.
Hearing that, Wei Chen couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
"Okay, so why are you calling?"
Ximen Hao chuckled before replying. "That bastard is making a huge fuss over here, saying the Underworld Palace is unrighteous and wants to rule over the Ximen Clan. Despite the fact that he came bearing gifts, he claims you guys ambushed him because he discovered your secret. Now he’s saying you’ve detained and tortured Song Wan over there."
"Detained? Tortured?" Wei Chen glanced at Song Wan, who was currently being bullied by both Mo Xingyao and Dream Butterfly. Her hands were full of Uno cards.
If being detained meant she hadn’t stepped outside since morning, and being tortured meant she was about to lose her mind from getting ganged up on in Uno, then... yeah, the guy was technically right, Wei Chen thought to himself.
"What a load of crap. What does that guy want anyway?" Wei Chen asked.
"How would I know? But if I were you, I’d come over here and clear things up," Ximen Hao advised.
"Why? Did he just pull some kind of evidence out of his ass that the Underworld Palace is some kind of demonic cult?" Wei Chen snorted.
"Yeah, something like that. He produced a bunch of so-called evidence, including artifacts that demonic cultivators usually use, just to smear your name."
"And people actually believed him?"
"Not me personally, but you need to understand that even though the bastard is a hypocrite, he has plenty of idiots who believe him. He’s good at wearing a mask. I’ll give him that."
"And... people have started associating you guys with me. It’s become quite a hot topic over here. I know my reputation still stinks, but haven’t I changed? What more do they want? My head?" Ximen Hao replied as the conversation gradually turned into a venting session.
Wei Chen rolled his eyes. Maybe those guys really do want your head, you know.
"Yeah, I get it. You want me to bring Song Wan over there and clear up this mess, don’t you?" he asked.
"Hey! Not for me. It’s for you guys. You know as well as I do that having a bad reputation around here is a pain. There are plenty of idiots who want to prove their righteousness by beating us up while taking our stuff," Ximen Hao said.
Hearing this, Wei Chen let out a sigh. He didn’t want to admit it, but Ximen Hao was right. That was exactly how things worked around here.
"Fine, fine. I get it. I’ll go, okay?"
Immediately, Ximen Hao’s jubilant voice came through the phone.
"That’s great, brother! This time, I’ll take you on a tour of our Ximen Clan territory, including the jewel city of the clan, Cloud City!"
"Oh, by the way, that Yun Feng guy told me he’ll also be coming to Cloud City for an auction. He said he needs some resources to continue his cultivation. We’ll meet up with him there and see whether his cultivation has improved or not."
Huh? That guy? Yun Feng, the one with the ring grandpa? Wei Chen remembered him.
"You said he’s coming. Don’t tell me there’s some kind of one-in-a-thousand-year auction about to happen in your city."
"Oh, you’re close, all right. It’s actually a once-in-ten-thousand-years auction! There’ll definitely be something amazing there! Aren’t you excited!?"
Wei Chen was startled.
One in ten thousand?
Very well... He just hoped there wouldn’t be some kind of beast tide attacking the city too.
The two chatted for a while before Ximen Hao hung up with a hum. It was a great day for him. His good brother had agreed to come to his clan!
On Wei Chen’s side, he slipped his phone back into his pocket.
"You guys can stop searching. Ximen Ren has already escaped. Right now, he’s at the Ximen Clan stirring up trouble for us," Wei Chen informed his warriors.
"Sir, what kind of trouble is he stirring up over there?" Zhang Niu asked.
"Oh, it’s nothing. He’s just accusing us of being a demonic cult."
"What? That bastard dares to use his own crimes to accuse us?" It was Song Wan’s voice. She walked over after hearing that Wei Chen had called off the search for Ximen Ren.
"Yeah, he also said we detained and tortured you," Wei Chen added.
"Well... he’s right about the torture!" Mo Xingyao’s voice chimed in from the side as Dream Butterfly giggled at the sight of Song Wan’s hands being full of Uno cards.
"You two ganged up on me! That wasn’t fair!" Song Wan retorted.
"Chenchen, are you going somewhere? Can I go with you?" Little Ningning asked, setting the chicken leg in her hand back onto her plate.
Wei Chen stood up and walked over to the living area to look at Little Ningning.
"Huh? Why do you want to come with me? Don’t you want to stay with your mom?"
Little Ningning shook her head.
"Fourth Mama is busy. Third Mama is also busy. She’s helping Papa with something. As for Second Mama, who’s usually free, she seems to be on patrol all the time lately."
"What about your First Mama?" he asked.
"My mama’s cooking is bad. If I stay with her, I’ll have to eat her cooking. I don’t want to get an upset stomach," Little Ningning answered bluntly.
Hearing the reason, Wei Chen couldn’t help but feel that he and his wives had started to resemble a daycare for his boss these days.
"Ugh... Okay, fine. Let’s go together," Wei Chen relented.
"Yay!" Little Ningning cheered before continuing to enjoy her meal.
With that, Wei Chen brought only the minimum number of people needed to operate the flying ark.
He then went to see Youqi to explain what had happened and let her know that Little Ningning would be coming with him, which she agreed to, as she was extremely busy here.
The gate needed to be completed as quickly as possible, so she couldn’t afford to divert her attention elsewhere. She had to remain here and guard against the Fate Weaving Sovereign.
— Meanwhile - Immortal Realm —
Inside the Fate Weaving Sovereign’s cavern, the Fate Weaving Sovereign gazed into a water basin. This basin had been created specifically to contact and communicate with people in the Lower Realm.
Within the basin, the water reflecting his golden mask began to ripple before revealing the image of a woman wearing a black hood.
"My Lord... Wei Chen has already departed from the area," the hooded woman said.
The Fate Weaving Sovereign remained silent. He simply closed his eyes as hundreds of threads of fate appeared within his mind.
He waved his hand, attempting to move the threads. At first, they resisted. No... they didn’t even move. But after several attempts, they followed his movements like obedient children.
With that, the Fate Weaving Sovereign opened his eyes and nodded at the hooded woman.
"Very good. You have kept your end of the bargain. Now I’ll keep mine."
The Fate Weaving Sovereign began weaving the threads of fate once again.
He continued weaving for some time before finally stopping.
"Now go. The three hidden ancient clans will definitely listen to you and join your cause this time."
"Thank you, My Lord." The hooded woman bowed before her reflection disappeared from the basin.