Sixty, Inquiry into Crime Must Be Exhaustive

  Mount Sumeru, by the pond of merit, Jizang and Zun Ti sit facing each other. Jizang wears a light yellow robe with his right shoulder exposed, his hands as if plucking flowers, his face anxious and bitter. Zun Ti has her hair tied back in a Daoist bun, wearing a grey Daoist robe, her hands placed on her legs, her face showing bitterness.

  In the pool of merit, golden lotus flowers bloom one after another, with a radiant glow and misty vapors swirling around.

  Zhun Ti had been uneasy since his failure to obtain the treasure from Xun Daozi, and after returning to Mount Sumeru, he finally managed to dispel the energy of the Tongtian Sword. His injuries were healed after some time spent recovering, but his heart remained anxious and fearful, as if disaster was looming. These past few days had been even more terrifying, with no peace to be found, so he informed Jie Yin.

  Listening to this, my heart is filled with bitterness. This younger brother of mine is good in every way, but he's just too stubborn. He wanted to revive the Western faction, yet it brought about such a great disaster. I don't even know what to do anymore. All I can think is: bitter, bitter, bitter!

  His heart was even more bitter: he hadn't expected that this time, he would be bitten by the snake instead of killing it, and his attempt to seize the treasure would end in him being injured by the Tongtian sword energy. What he least expected was that Xun Daozi, a small Taiyi Golden Immortal from the Taoyi Golden Immortal Realm, would have such powerful abilities, and even after his full-strength attack, not only did he survive but also managed to injure him in return. That one sword of his actually contained the power of yin-yang wu-xing jue lei (a mysterious and ancient power), which was truly strange. At that moment, he failed to notice it and suffered an injury, and when facing the Tongtian sword energy, he couldn't defend against it with all his might, and ended up being injured by it. If not for this, even if the Tongtian sword energy was formidable, he wouldn't have been afraid of it if he had used all his strength... Alas! Now that disaster is looming, how will he get through it?

  Zhun Ti still has one worry: he himself is busy running around in the Western world, unable to focus on cultivation and enlightenment. The last time he saw Lao Zi, Yuan Shi, and Tong Tian, they had already made great progress in their Daoist practices, elevated their spiritual realms, while he himself had not made any progress for many years, stuck in the Da Luo True Immortal Realm without advancing, unable to grasp even a hint of the Da Luo Golden Immortal Realm. He has fallen behind by too much. His senior fellow disciple's guidance and assistance from the Hong Meng Purple Qi allowed him to barely catch a glimpse of the Da Luo Golden Immortal Realm's Daoist aura, but he himself is still far away. He doesn't know when he can explore even a hint of it. Let's just get through this current hurdle first!

  At that time, when Indra and the others were suffering in the midst of their bitter confrontation, a colorful cloud was rapidly approaching Mount Sumeru. On the edge of the cloud stood four people and one beast, with solemn faces and not a word spoken among them.

  The colorful cloud was extremely swift, and soon descended on Mount Sumeru. As the cloud head just descended, Jieyin came out to welcome them. Jieyin stepped forward, paid his respects and said: "Fellow Taoist friends have come to my humble abode on Mount Sumeru, I'm afraid this mountain is not worthy of your presence, but it's a pleasure to meet you all. Please forgive me for the late welcome, fellow Taoist friends please enter." Jieyin had a smile on his face, his words were sincere and his attitude was warm and friendly, making people feel like they were basking in the warmth of spring. Zhunti also stood by with a smile, accompanying them.

  "My humble self and others have come uninvited, and we must have caused much offense. We've heard many times that the Western Mustard Mountain is one of the few blessed lands in the vast wilderness, but unfortunately, we haven't had a chance to visit until now. So today, I've brought my two brothers and nephew to pay our respects and make up for past regrets. If there's anything we've done wrong, please forgive us!"

  Yuanshi said, "I've long heard that Xumi has a victorious landscape, and the desolate wilderness is hard to find. There are many treasures that are not born in this world. I came here specifically to search for them, to see if there's anything with affinity for me in the East, so I can take it back to my Eastern land. If I disturb any of you fellow Taoists during this time, please forgive me!" After Yuanshi finished speaking, his face returned to calmness.

  Tongtian Guixiao said with a smile: "I have calculated many times, and indeed calculated that there are many things in Mount Sumeru that are related to me in the East. This time I came to collect them, please help me, two fellow Taoists." With a look on his face that says "it's up to you".

  Xun Daozi stood quietly beside Yuan Shi, without saying a word.

  The two guides and the host heard Laozi's words, their faces changed dramatically. The guide smiled wryly at the crowd: "Fellow Taoists, you're joking! This Xu Mi Mountain is a barren land, how can it produce anything worthy of the rich Eastern Land? The scenery is mediocre, unworthy of your refined eyes. If we talk about scenic treasures, where in the vast wilderness can compare to the blessed land of Kunlun Mountains? It's rare for fellow Taoists to come here, please come in and sit down, let's discuss 'Tao' and 'Fa'. I've long admired you all! Today, I'll make sure to ask for your guidance. I hope you won't be stingy with your teachings! Please follow me!" After finishing speaking, he took the lead and walked forward, guiding the way.

  Zhun Ti's face changed color beside him, but he didn't say anything. He just made a gesture to invite the person inside and stepped aside himself.

  Zhun Ti's heart knew that Lao Zi and the other two had already made it impossible to end well, and Shixiong's repeated show of weakness was just an attempt to resolve some of Lao Zi's anger and strive for a relatively gentle solution. But is this possible? His heart was even more desolate.

  The three of them didn't even look back, and followed the guide into the depths, Xun Daozi closely following behind Yuan Shi's body, silently walking along. The three-eyed Snow Lion beasts also squeezed in beside Xun Daozi as they entered.

  Zhun Ti saw no one paying attention and followed behind him into the house.

  A group of people arrived at the edge of the Gongde Pool, and the host invited everyone to sit down. Zhunti also sat down on one side. A young boy brought over some fruit and spiritual tea.

  Laozi smiled and picked up the spiritual tea to take a sip, saying: "Who says that Mount Sumeru is barren? This tea is much better than the tea from Kunlun Mountain." After finishing speaking, he took two more sips.

  Tongtian also said: "Yes, how can this Mount Sumeru be called poor? Look at the golden lotus in the pool, they are all good treasures! To say that the Western Pure Land is poor, it's just nonsense."

  Yuanshi then sank his face and didn't speak.

  Jie Ying smiled and said: "Fellow Daoist is joking, this Xumi Mountain only has this pool barely counted as a treasure, but it's also hard to enter Fellow Daoist's eyes. If Fellow Daoist really likes the golden lotus in this pool, I'll give it to Fellow Daoist, how about that?" After finishing, he also looked at Tongtian with a sincere face.

  With a loud laugh, he said: "This golden lotus has nothing to do with me. We came here to find something that is related to us, not something that has nothing to do with us. How can I take this thing that has no relation to me?"

  He forced a wry smile.

  The person next to him had a gloomy expression.

  Jieyin smiled wryly and said: "Fellow Taoist friends, please tell me what is the connection between Mount Sumeru and you?"

  Yuanshi sank his voice and said, "Before this, my brothers and I calculated together on Mount Kunlun. We figured out that there are two items in the Western Mustard Seed Mountain that have a connection with us, so we came to collect them. I hope you will help us, fellow Taoist!" After finishing speaking, he looked at the guide calmly.

  Jie Ying smiled wryly again and asked: "I don't know which two items you are referring to?"

  Yuanshi Dao said: "According to my brothers' and my calculations, there is something on this Mustard Seed Mountain called the 'Seven Treasures Marvelous Tree', which has a deep affinity with our sect's disciple Xun Daozi. We have brought him here to collect it. There is also another thing called the 'Green Lotus Treasure Color Flag' that has a profound connection with my two brothers and me, so we will take it together. I hope you can tell us where these two things are now, so we can go and collect them."

  A face full of bitterness and hardship, unable to smile again.

  Zhunti's face turned bright red, his veins bulged violently, his lips curled up, and his eyebrows danced wildly as a fierce aura burst forth from his body.

  Tongtian looked at Zhunti Dao and said, "Zhunti Dao friend, what's going on? Don't tell me you know where these two items are? If you do, please let us know, we'll be eternally grateful."

  Zhun Ti's eyes widened in anger, his finger pointed at the sky, and he shouted: "How dare you bully me like this?!"

  After arriving, he could only point his fingers at the sky and shake them wildly, unable to speak.

  Yuanshi sternly said: "How could we deceive you? How did you treat our sect's disciple Xun Daozi? Today, I really want to take back those two items that have a destiny with us. If you took those two items that have a destiny with us, please return them to us. Otherwise, don't blame us for taking action." After finishing speaking, he coldly stared at Zhuanti Daoren.

  The old man beside him also had a cold expression.

  "Y-y-you......y-y-you........."

  The face of the introducer had already turned sour to the point where it couldn't get any worse, and he opened his mouth to say: "Fellow Taoists, this time Quan Ti has indeed made a mistake first. I hope you will be magnanimous and let him off this one time, what do you think?"

  Laozi said: "To introduce a fellow Daoist doesn't require many words, since Guan Ti has already done this deed, he still needs to give an account to us."

  Jie Yin said again: "How should we hand it over then?"

  Tongtian Dao: "Just hand over the two treasures you mentioned earlier and this matter will be settled."

  "Who dares to deceive me like this?" Zhun Ti suddenly burst out. A ray of light flashed, and the 'Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree' appeared in his hand. Behind him, a magnificent figure with twenty-four heads, eighteen arms, holding various divine objects such as the tinkling jade, umbrella, flower spear, fish intestine, golden bow, silver halberd, divine mallet, precious awl, and golden vase, emerged. On its head, a small blue flag emitted a soft blue light, slowly rotating, and a vast aura descended from the sky.

  At the beginning, he let out a "hmm!" and above his head appeared auspicious clouds, like waves rolling in, with golden lanterns following one after another, unending. In his hand was a grayish-white cloth banner, emitting a vast and severe aura, a magnificent and majestic aura shot up into the sky.

  An old man has a delicate pagoda on his head, with mysterious and yellow air hanging down. Under his feet is a golden bridge that breaks through the sky and earth, and the profound and magnificent aura fills the world.

  A brilliant green light shines above the head, with sword energy crisscrossing everywhere. A chart hangs in mid-air, its radiance illuminating the sun. In hand is a long sword, sharp and cold, with a fierce killing aura piercing through the void.

  The Buddha's head shook as if he wanted to cry, and three beads of relics appeared on his head, shining brightly, rotating rapidly. Underneath him were twelve kinds of golden lotus flowers with glittering golden light. He held a precious banner in his hand, with a magnificent aura spreading throughout the empty space.

  Xun Daozi and San Yan Xue Shi beast hid behind Laozi's three bodies, watching silently.