Chapter 2957: Uneasy About the Unknown
Chapter 2957: Uneasy About the Unknown
Zu An was stumped. Why does that mean? She created Zhang Jiao and his siblings?
He looked at Ni Huang. Zhang Bao is right here, and she is the Asura race’s princess. How could Ling’er have created her?
Sensing his doubt, Xie Daoyun explained, “When I first arrived in this world, I saw the officials oppressing the populace, causing them to lose their homes. I sympathized with them, so I tried my best to help them.
“I offered them porridge and used runes to cure their illnesses, but even if I worked without rest, there were only so many refugees I could help. So, I created a few helpers. I am a Memory envoy, and the Deity of Memory has bestowed me with some special abilities.”
She turned to Zu An and said, “The Deity of Memory’s nemesis wields an ability called ‘Conjured Existence’, which allows them to conjure entities that don’t exist in the world. Using that as inspiration, the Deity of Memory developed a similar ability, but as the path of Memory seeks to record the truth objectively, my ability is to create entities based on reality.”
This nemesis must be referring to the Deity of Chaos and Enigma. Come to think about it, I was only able to enter this world as Liu Bei thanks to that ‘Conjured Existence’ ability.
Xie Daoyun continued, “After some thought, I figured that my three talisman papers were the most suitable medium to create new entities. I used the High Firmament Talisman to create Zhang Jiao, the Heaven Heart Talisman to create Zhang Bao, and the Emperor’s Suppression Talisman to create Zhang Liang.”
Zu An was shocked. He turned to Ni Huang. Did I sleep with a talisman paper other than the Jing Teng sisters?
Ni Huang shrugged nonchalantly.
Xie Daoyun explained, “The other two talisman papers worked fine, but the Heaven Heart Talisman has the effect of summoning heroic spirits. An accident happened while I was creating Zhang Bao, and I unintentionally summoned big sister Ni Huang.”
Ni Huang finally spoke up. “Back then, I...”
She shot a glance at Zu An before continuing, “I was training in one of the Asura race’s legendary dungeons, hoping to grow stronger. I fell into danger and nearly lost my life. Just then, I felt something summoning me, so I accepted the summons and was transported here. I didn’t expect her to be the summoner.”
Xie Daoyun also thought that fate was amazing. “I’m delighted to meet familiar faces in this foreign world.”
Zu An breathed a sigh of relief. Looks like Ni Huang preserved some of her traits; she isn’t just a mere talisman paper.
“The three of them are very capable. They gathered a lot of worshipers and created the Taiping Sect. Zhang Jiao was revered as the ‘Great Teacher’ and the Celestial Duke General, Zhang Bao as the Earth Duke General, and Zhang Liang as the Human Duke General. They wanted to revere me as the Saint Mother, but they are so old that I don’t want to be their mother.”
Xie Daoyun looked slightly embarrassed. “In the first place, a Memory envoy shouldn’t be interfering with the trajectory of a world. My creation of them already violates that principle, so there is less reason for me to reveal myself. So, I took on the identity of Zhang Jiao’s daughter, Zhang Ning. No one other than the three siblings should know my true identity, but perhaps because the three talisman papers belong to me, the entire Yellow Turban Army goes into a zealous state when they see me.”
She heaved a sigh.
Zu An understood where she was coming from. She had already violated her principles as a Mirror Scribe, so she wanted to maintain a low profile wherever possible. Just then, he thought of an issue and asked, “Are you taking in the power of faith right now?”
Xie Daoyun nodded. “I can sense the power of faith. My strength is growing faster than before.”
Zu An was familiar with this. In the Order Ceremony, his blood offspring had taken the place of someone else to become the Qing Dynasty’s emperor. That allowed Zu An to siphon away the luck and faith that ought to have belonged to the original emperor. Thanks to that, he’d been able to receive a ceaseless stream of faith from that dungeon. Even without cultivating, he’d continued to become stronger with each passing second.
That principle was why the universal deities went around the Myriad Worlds establishing their Divine Palaces and spreading their faith.
“How did the Yellow Turban Army end up rebelling?” Zu An asked. The Yellow Turban Army’s deeds greatly violated the principles of the Memory path.
Xie Daoyun sighed. “I founded the Taiping Sect to save the suffering populace, but as it grew, things spiraled out of control. A lot of the higher-ups in the Taiping Sect grew ambitious. Even Zhang Jiao and the others began harboring other thoughts. They didn’t want to just save others using talisman water. They wanted to overthrow this unjust world and establish a new order.
“I could negotiate with big sister Ni Huang thanks to our ties with you, but she wasn’t opposed to what Zhang Jiao sought as she was from the Asura race...”
Zu An asked, “You’re saying that Zhang Jiao and Zhang Liang grew ambitious?”
Xie Daoyun shook her head. “Not exactly. Many higher-ups in the Taiping Sect are ambitious, but Zhang Jiao and the others are truly selfless. They still retain their lofty ideals; it’s just that we have diverged in our viewpoints as to how those ideals should be realized.”
Zu An nodded. There was a saying that all sins originated from the failure of the execution, and not a mistake in the principles.
“As more people in the Taiping Sect aligned with his ideals, I wasn’t able to stop them. Instead, I watched from the side and faithfully recorded everything,” Xie Daoyun said. “Who knows? They might be the right ones here.”
Ni Huang sighed. “But big brother Zu says that they are fated to fail.”
Taken aback, Xie Daoyun turned to Zu An, who told her everything he knew.
“How can this be?” Xie Daoyun was in disbelief. “While I disagree with what Zhang Jiao and the others are doing, the Yellow Turban Army is powerful now. It can stand its ground even against the imperial court’s elites. How can it fall in defeat in a single year? Not to mention that Zhang Jiao was conjured by the High Firmament Talisman; how can he die of illness just like that?”
Zu An wasn’t sure if this world would follow the trajectory of history, but upon learning that Zhang Jiao was actually the High Firmament Talisman, he suddenly felt a wave of unease. It was unthinkable for the High Firmament Talisman to die of illness; if anything, he was supposed to live longer than most people in this world.
But what if Zhang Jiao didn’t die of illness?
Many thoughts rushed into Zu An’s mind. He shot to his feet and exclaimed, “Where is Zhang Jiao? We need to meet him. He needs to be careful!”