bookrebus Chapter 419 Shen Gongbao: Senior Brother, You've Grown Old
Chapter 419 Shen Gongbao: Senior Brother, You've Grown Old
Chapter 419 Shen Gongbao: Senior Brother, You've Grown Old
Yang Jiao pulled a mosquito aside and secretly followed them.
A yellow moon had already risen in the sky.
Shen Gongbao descended Jinji Ridge and waited by the river. The churning water constantly washed over the yellow soil on the cliff, making the water both upstream and downstream extremely turbid.
He seemed oblivious, scooped up a handful, drank it all down, and then looked behind him and said:
"Since you're here, why not show yourself?"
Yang Jiao leaned against a large, long-dead tree, its tangled branches providing excellent camouflage in the darkness.
She didn't move.
After Shen Gongbao finished speaking, rustling footsteps sounded under the tree.
A figure in white robes with a long beard stepped into the moonlight.
The yellow moon was like a mirror, elongating the shadows of the two people.
Jiang Ziya looked at Shen Gongbao, no longer maintaining the image of a Taoist immortal or a prime minister of national importance. He sat down on the ground, looking like an old man.
"Ouch." He sat down on the ground, patting the dirt around him with his wrinkled hands. "Should I call you Imperial Advisor or Junior Brother?"
Shen Gongbao snorted and turned his head away: "Whatever." Although his words were cold, he still sat down next to Jiang Ziya without delay: "Once we leave Jinji Ridge, the war against Shang will truly begin."
Jiang Ziya looked at the moon in the sky, and suddenly grabbed Shen Gongbao's hand.
Anxiety was evident on his sagging face.
"Junior brother, you see, Heaven is going to follow the natural order. It's not too late to back down now. Don't continue to go against Heaven."
Shen Gongbao looked at his own hands, their skin glossy, and the stark contrast between them and Jiang Ziya's thin, aged hands made him feel somewhat glared at.
He didn't answer, but looked at his senior brother's full head of white hair. He was only in his seventies, yet he looked so old. He asked in return:
"Senior brother has cultivated in Jade Void Palace for forty years, how come he has aged so much?"
The wrinkles are almost crushing my eyes.
Clearly, those who cultivate the Tao live longer and healthier lives; the word "aging" shouldn't apply to them.
Jiang Ziya paused, then awkwardly withdrew his hand, saying seemingly unconcerned, "Being caught up in worldly affairs and unable to cultivate is fine; it will be the same once I'm conferred the title of god."
"As for you, you should have just listened to me and assisted King Zhou in the matter of the Investiture of the Gods. Why did you insist on going to the Shang Dynasty to be a national advisor?"
When Jiang Ziya spoke, his eyebrows twitched with anger.
Seeing that Shen Gongbao remained silent, he gave him another push, "Speak!"
Shen Gongbao leaned back, lazily using the force of Jiang Ziya's push to brace himself with his elbow, his eyes fixed on his senior brother's back. He seemed to have thought of something amusing and said:
"Senior brother, do you still remember how diligent you were in your cultivation back in Jade Void Palace? Anyone who disturbed your cultivation would anger you."
At that time, the two of them were just outer disciples. Jiang Ziya was not outstanding among the disciples at the foot of Yuxu Palace Mountain, but he was the most diligent.
He would not be pleased with anyone who disturbed his practice. At that time, he was full of vigor and believed that diligence could make up for his shortcomings, so he dared not delay even a little.
Jiang Ziya, who was willing to spend twice or even twice as much effort as others in his cultivation, was an inflexible and stubborn man who could not tolerate anyone disrupting his practice. When Shen Gongbao was being ridiculed for his stutter and isolated, Jiang Ziya suddenly stood up from his meditation, coldly pulled him away from the crowd.
From that time on, the two of them isolated the entire outer sect disciples of Jade Void Palace.
Cultivating magical arts and meditating to gain enlightenment are things only he and he do.
Jiang Ziya chuckled and said, "Yes, back then I was determined to become an immortal and attain enlightenment. Alas... who would have thought that I could only find another shortcut and get this job of bestowing gods upon me? In the end, it can be considered a complete success."
"Go back to Chaoge immediately and dismiss that damned Imperial Preceptor, severing all ties with the Shang Dynasty. Then come with me back to Yuxu Palace to properly apologize to your master and renounce worldly affairs before you can continue your cultivation." Jiang Ziya glanced sideways at Shen Gongbao's unrestrained and arrogant posture, which showed no trace of a cultivator's demeanor, and angrily exclaimed, "You are the one with the most potential to cultivate into an immortal, what are you doing stirring up trouble in this Investiture of the Gods?!"
Shen Gongbao heard this long-unheard tone of voice, which seemed to be accusatory but contained hidden concern.
He comfortably changed his posture, put his arms behind his head, looked at the moon in the sky, and finally smiled.
Yes, he was the most likely among those disciples to become an immortal.
Ironically, Jiang Ziya was the least capable of becoming an immortal.
He reached out and grabbed Jiang Ziya by the back of his collar, pulling him backward.
"Ouch!"
Caught off guard, Jiang Ziya was pulled backward and fell down as well.
Shen Gongbao felt that tonight's moon was similar to the moon from decades ago.
They're all round like this, and the same color.
The difference is that they no longer talk about the path of cultivation, and there is no longer the scene of the senior brother chasing after him for guidance because he lacks the comprehension.
Shen Gongbao turned his head, looked at Jiang Ziya's wrinkles, and sneered:
"Cultivating immortality, cultivating immortality, those who have the least affinity for immortality are the ones who most want to become immortals."
Jiang Ziya kicked him back, and was about to scold him again when the person beside him suddenly disappeared into the ground.
He was left alone lying on the ground. For some reason, Jiang Ziya suddenly remembered the days he had spent at the foot of Yuxu Palace Mountain, and began to talk to himself:
"Little stutterer has grown up, no one will laugh at you anymore..."
He watched as his kick missed its mark.
In the end, his eyes darkened.
"You can't bully your senior brother either."
During his decades of cultivation at the foot of the mountain, how could Jiang Ziya not know that he had fallen far behind his junior brother?
However, because he had difficulty speaking, he only befriended himself.
Every time Jiang Ziya advised Shen Gongbao to talk to people more, Shen Gongbao would remain unmoved, which would infuriate Jiang Ziya so much that he would kick him.
At that time, Shen Gongbao would deliberately pretend that he couldn't avoid it.
Jiang Ziya suddenly covered his eyes, not wanting the moonlight to blur his vision, and focused intently on observing Shen Gongbao's every change.
Everything Shen Gongbao experienced was seen and talked about by others, while Shen Gongbao, who had lived and eaten with him for many years, never truly understood it.
Suddenly, some truth began to emerge.
Yang Jiao followed behind Shen Gongbao, feeling that his back view became even more resolute.
After a while, a clear and melodious voice drifted away into the night.
他 说:
"Senior brother, you've gotten old."