- Gu Yue Village -
The Toad Caravan had arrived at Gu Yue Village, and as soon as they set foot on the land, both Gu Masters and mortals busied themselves erecting tents and setting up shops.
In one of such tents, the entrance had two pillars with two lines of oppositional couplets carved on them.
The left side wrote, "Small display of courage; obtain good fortune during the four seasons."
The right side wrote, "Large display of skills; obtain good prosperity in all four directions."
At the center, the words "Luck changes with time" were engraved strongly.
This is the entrance to a gambling den.
...
Observing Fang Yuan standing before a counter, a female Gu Master who was positioned closest to him strolled over with a smile. Her voice carried a gentle tone as she addressed him, "Young master, which Gu worm are you in need of? Each of the stones on this display is priced at ten primeval stones. If this is your initial attempt, just for the sake of trying, you might want to visit the counter on the right. The stones there are sold at a mere five primeval stones. However, if you're seeking a more exhilarating experience, the high-end counter in the middle offers stones at twenty primeval stones each."
Giving a nod to the female Gu Master, Fang Yuan's expression remained unchanged as he began to scrutinize the collection before him.
In his recollection, this particular rock gambling den had the item he was searching for.
Nonetheless, five centuries had elapsed, a considerable span of time. Much of what he once knew had become indistinct, especially given the massive expanse of five hundred years' worth of memories. Fang Yuan found it difficult to recall with precision.
He could only vaguely summon memories of a bygone era, like the time when, during this very year, on the first night the caravan arrived, a fortunate individual had invested ten primeval stones to procure a fossil adorned with a purple gold luster.
Upon cracking it open then and there, they unearthed a Mudskin Toad. This toad Gu was subsequently sold to another party, allowing the man to amass a small fortune in primeval stones.
After observing for a while, Fang Yuan's brows furrowed.
On this counter, fossils with a purple-gold glow were numbered up to twenty. In which rock was there a hidden Mudskin Toad?
Priced at ten primeval stones each, Fang Yuan currently held a total of ninety-eight primeval stones, allowing him to purchase as many as nine pieces.
However, a realistic assessment was required rather than mere numerical calculations when faced with risk and uncertainty.
Fang Yuan was no longer a naive novice, unlike those reckless gamblers who believed themselves favored by fate. Those who believed they were chosen by fate were often the very ones who found themselves ensnared by the tricks of fate.
These memories summoned echoes from Fang Yuan's past.
During his first life, in his early days of cultivation within the clan, Fang Yuan never so much as heard someone utter the word "Xiong." He didn't find out about the Sealed Lips Gu contract until much later. The Xiong clan allegedly used the pact to make sure the disaster caused by an early Wolf Tide that was blamed on them would vanish from history.
Eventually, the Bai clan enlisted the expertise of a Tie clan member. It was then revealed that the orchestrator behind the Wolf Tide was a mysterious Gu Master. Investigating further revealed that this person had disappeared during a hunting expedition with several other Gu Masters from the Shang clan.
Beyond this point, the finer details eluded Fang Yuan's memories.
Regardless of whether the Xiong clan had employed the Sealed Lips Gu to eventually erase all knowledge of the event across time or if they had used the Sealed Lips Gu as a diversion from the truth, it remained uncertain. What remained certain was that the Xiong clan had consistently suffered the fewest losses during every Wolf Tide thereafter. This circumstance hinted at the possibility that they indeed held a method to manipulate the Wolf Tide. Should such a method be within the grasp of the Xiong clan, Fang Yuan was determined to acquire it. And if the reason for its lack of use was because it came with too much cost, then he would just have to leave it.
Fang Yuan's reasoning was sound; however, his lack of knowledge on the Xiong clan from his first life was simply too lacking. It wasn't as if Fang Yuan was a fool; just a few months ago he was the shameless leader of the Blood Wing Demon Sect, an Enslavement Path Master. His current knowledge and skill set pointed him to these thoughts. Of course, while others would get blinded by the gold at the end of the road, he would restrain his greed so as to be aware of the other paths. If Xiong clan wasn't using some grand method to control the Wolf Tide, then he would simply go on and walk a different path.
Sadly for Fang Yuan, Xiong clan's reduced losses were due to both Fate Gu undoing the harm that had been done to them and the hunting skills they had acquired from Xie Ling.
By all accounts, with all evidence pointing towards Enslavement Path, no one would assume something that wasn't even a path—hunting.
- Tie Clan: Throne Room -
The walls held hundreds of paintings, each one showing the face of a Demonic Gu Master captured by the Tie clan over its many years as one of the leading forces against the Demonic Path.
When a clan is built upon capturing and killing Demonic Gu Masters, they start to build unique traditions, so much so that the walls of their throne room didn't hold any paintings of their current or past leaders; instead, they only held the paintings of Demonic Gu Masters.
Some of the Demonic Gu Masters held chains around their bodies, signifying their capture.
And other paintings showed their corpses.
Few of the pictures depicted their former appearance before their deaths because the corpse was simply too mangled for a painting to properly depict who had been slain.
The elders of the clan sat in seats on either side of the walkway rolled out from the entrance.
A red carpet with a pattern of chains sewn into it was atop the walkway. And at the end of the walkway was a throne.
Most thrones depicted in stories would be placed high and atop some stairs to show how the ruler is above all his subjects, not the Tie clans. The only grand things about Tie Mu Bai's seat were the words, "A man is made by their choices," etched on the head of the chair.
Looking at the words, Xie Ling raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself, "Is that a paraphrase of the words, 'Man has a choice and it's a choice that makes him a man.'" He then quickly shook his head at the insanity of such a notion. Just because this world lacked the great philosophers of Earth, doesn't mean that the inhabitants couldn't come to similar concepts.
Interestingly enough, the Chinese tale, 'The Frog of the Well,' is inside this world's most ancient book, the Tales of Ren Zu, albeit slightly modified and instead changed to 'the mini-man of the well.'
Tie Mu Bai was about to reprimand the elders for making a mockery of the clan when Xie Ling's next words brought a smile to his face: "Man has a choice, and it's a choice that makes him a man."
Xie Ling paused to give everyone a brief moment to tune into his words. "Just as a child learns from their parents, so does a child become exactly what they act out. This reminds me of what my now-gone master has taught me."
"Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny."
Xie Ling has first thought of saying, "What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create." However, since it was a quote made by Buddha and the people of this world speak Mandarin, he opted for a different quote that the people of this world would less likely know.
"Wise words, Gu Master Xie Ling. Would you perhaps be interested in having a tour around Tie Clan?" Tie Mu Bai showed a smile as wide as the world. Many have tried to speak flattery over the words etched upon his seat; however, none have ever tried to express the depth of the words, in fear of offending Tie Clan.