The Tale Never Ends Chapter 183 Another Fool's Errand

We hurried back from Inner Mongolia to Wu Zhong and my first stop was home. I needed to ask Father what was going on. Naturally, he refused to divulge anything too. But that hardly dampened my thirst for answers. "Why did you not tell Godmother the truth about her sister? You knew what happened to her all along? And how did the Dragon-slaying Blade go missing when you were supposed to be watching it? And how could Master Six not realize that you had achieved full immortality?"

Father threw me a sideways glance, his narrowed eyes studying me for a second before he took a puff of smoke from his cigarette. "Why are you asking all these suddenly?" I slammed a fist into the table. "Father! There are people hidden in the shadows whose eyes are fixated upon the lost Blade and you! They believed that the Blade is not lost, in fact, they suspect that you are still keeping it! But they know they have no way to deal with you, not with your great powers and abilities. So they are targeting me! You might think it's all OK for you, but I definitely do not think so!" But instead, Father gave me a mere lackadaisical and dismissive wave of his hand. "There are chapters best left unpublished and stones best left unturned. Knowing the truth will not only won't help, rather, it could also well be your bane."

Still, no matter how hard I tried, Father remained adamant to not say anything else. With no other options left, I had only one last person to turn to: Master Six. It was unlikely that Master Six knew nothing at all, and he could well be the last person who could tell me anything I need to know about Father!

I returned to the Center the next day and I spoke to my friends about my decision to seek out Master Six. But both Lin Feng and Chongxi believed that a demigod like Master Six would never show himself needlessly to any human mortals. It'd only be a fool's errand, they insisted. But the need to know the truth was like an itch that needed to be scratched; there was no way I would let the matter of Father and the lost Blade go and in the end, my companions relented to help in whatever way they could.

After a lengthy discussion, we finally decided that if there was anyone who could make contact with the immortal, it could only be Lao Tao! Lao Tao must have regular channels of communication with Master Six, especially since the demigod had relegated the care of a weasel to the care of the Mountain Deity of Yellow Soil Ridge when we first met him!

We traveled at once to Yellow Soil Ridge and came to the entrance which would lead to the underground village. But this time, the rocky face of the cave yawned opened for us on its own even before we made any attempts to call and we plunged into the darkness of the cavernous passage.

Needless to say, Lao Tao was not Taotie, one of the Four Perils of Chinese myths, despite both names sharing the same "Tao." The name of "Lao Tao" itself was most likely a nickname which was commonly used to denote a person's insatiable appetite, although we never knew why the Mountain Deity of the Ridge was so called.

We went passed the passage and reached the subterranean settlement of demons where we went to Lao Tao's residence. In one of his reception halls, I immediately asked, even before tea had been made and set ready, "Lao Tao, do you know how to establish contact with Master Six?" "Why do you need to reach out to him, Master Shiyan?" the old mountain deity asked dubiously. Just with his reaction, I was certain: He indeed had ways to contact Master Six! I immediately related to Lao Tao about my plight and stressed that he was the only one who could help me and how important it was for me to speak to Master Six.

But to my dismay, Lao Tao's face turned hesitant when my tale ended! A dread began looming overhead me as I feared the worst!

"Master Shiyan, I'm afraid that I may be the Mountain Deity of the Ridge, but when it comes to Master Six, I fear I hold as much authority as even you too. I do not seek him, only he seeks me. For I do not command the same omniscience he wields to find out where an immortal like him is!" Lin Feng immediately interrupted hotly, "Wait a minute! The last time, Master Six sent a weasel here to your care. That clearly shows you have a channel of communication with him!" Lao Tao shook his head and smiled weakly. "You do not understand, Master Lin Feng. Master Six's former incarnation was an actual celestial being; he wields powers so great that the likes of us can barely comprehend. With just a simple hoot from him, all Mountain Deities around him would instantly hear him. There is barely any need for him to show himself to us."

Thus ended our trip to Yellow Soil Ridge; a fool's errand indeed, just like what Chongxi said. Not even Lao Tao could help us, for no one finds Master Six except himself.

Dejected and morose, we returned to the Center. The disconcerted quadruple of us balked at our bowl of noodles as we raked our minds for solutions to no avail. Night came later and a group of people pushed past our doors into the Center. It was Xiao Qi and the Sisters. When they saw our sad and sorry state, Xiao Si slapped on my shoulder and guffawed. "Come on! What's wrong with you guys! Why the sad face as if somebody's dead! Heh heh heh! In some ways, you remind me of myself! Like a person who's dead by hanging!" I stared at her. Did she know that she was just jabbing at herself?! Chongxi scowled, "Leave us alone, Xiao Si! We're already worried enough as it is!"

Xiao San seemed to realize that we were seriously distressed and something seemed wrong. She came to Edelweiss, held her hands and asked her softly, "What's wrong?" Despite her usual taciturnity and poker face, Xiao San seemed to be fond of Edelweiss and they had grown to like each other like sisters.

Edelweiss then began to disclose to Xiao San about our fruitless visit to Yellow Soil Ridge. The six Sisters looked at each other at the end of the tale. This was the first time they heard about Master Six and they clearly could not comprehend the significance of seeking him out. But at last, Xiao San whispered something into Xiao Qi's ears and the latter bellowed cheerfully, "Come on! Let's not fret! Let me speak to our Big Sister! She's the most knowledgeable out of the Seven Ghostly Sisters! She might be able to help!"

With a minuscule sliver of hope for us to tether on to, we waited until the next morning where Aunt Fen came to the Center with her husband, Mr. Zhang.

As soon as we made them tea, Mr. Zhang immediately asked, "Who is this person that is so hard to find?" I took out a cigarette and offered it to him. "An immortal-like person. No, wait. He's in fact one!" "Huh?! An immortal? How's he if compared to your father?" I paused. It was a question I had hardly thought of before. I pondered for seconds and said, "Well, I would believe that they are on par in powers and abilities. Honestly, I have only seen them talking to each other and he is the only person who would dare speak in equal terms to him. Like how common peers speak to each other." Mr. Zhang shook his head wearily and sighed. "I see... With powers on par with your father, then he must be some sort of legendary figure himself! You mustn't take him seriously! For all we know, he might only be a figment of imagination!"

"No!" Chongxi interjected, "We've met him before! He's not some 'figment of imagination!'" But instead, Aunt Fen, when she heard Chongxi saying that it was a true person who wielded the same levels of power and magic as Father, grew interested. "Tell us more about him!" I took a swig off my cigarette. "It's quite a long story. But he was introduced to us by an old man who is nearly a century old. So it began when..." Mr. Zhang stopped me with a loud "WAIT!" and a wave of his arms. "Wait. Let's find a quiet place to talk and eat! I have long wanted to talk to you young people too, to remind myself I am young too," the childish story-loving Mr. Zhang exclaimed. We stared at him and burst into laughter the next second, exchanging devilish smiles amongst ourselves. Aunt Fen scowled at us, "Naughty ones you are! With you guys, there is always no short of mischief!"

We crammed ourselves into Mr. Zhang's luxurious sedan and we went to a restaurant. Unlike normal eateries, this was a joint for exotic food. We walked into the entrance and found ourselves in a garden of peach blossoms, blossoming handsomely as if to welcome us. The stewards led us through the halls which were all furnished like a tranquil countryside and brought us into a private room. We skipped the small talk, immediately ordered some dishes and filling everyone's glasses with liquor and began our tale, starting from how we went to Chen Yixuan and what happened with Master Six thereafter (kindly refer to Chapters 15-19 of Volume 2: Probation). Aunt Fen, Mr. Zhang, and Edelweiss were all fascinated by our story and Mr. Zhang asked immediately, "What happened to that three joss sticks!? Do you still have it?" We shook our heads. We had all but completely forgotten about the joss sticks when Master Six appeared. For all we knew, it could still be at the motel.

Aunt Fen heaved a long breath. "You unseasoned boys really lack experience... You should have kept it. It could be a memento of your adventures together! You're just like a child leaving his fishing pole after getting his first catch!" Edelweiss nudged me and asked, "What fishing pole?" But Aunt Fen heard her, despite her best attempts to keep her voice soft. She giggled, her laughter thick with happiness and bliss. We stared at her at first, then we remembered: the love shared between Mr. Zhang and Aunt Fen began when they met each other catching loaches by a river! If not for the little truck that escaped Tangshan after the earthquake, Aunt Fen would not have traveled until the river where she met Mr. Zhang and they fell in love. It was her first love, the most tender affection a girl could ever feel in her rosy years. A love story that could have moved the hearts of many. And even after her death, Aunt Fen had remained a ghost who watched Mr. Zhang for thirty years and even keeping him from harm. It was fortunate that their love story ended joyfully that she was about to be resurrected and they even got married. It was a love story transcending life and death that many soft-hearted lasses would have died for!

"You young lads just love to exaggerate!" Mr. Zhang roared with laughter. But through his eyes, we could see that he too, was swimming in the sweet memories of his reminiscences. He stopped and began telling us his story.

Chapter end