Chapter 470: Warrior and The Sage
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Upon hearing this voice, Gao Peng instructed the Skeleton Dragon to descend.
The roots of the cherry blossom tree tightly gripped onto the mountain, with some of its thick vines visible on the mountainside. On the rooted part of the cherry blossom tree sat a temple with red roofs and white walls.
A monk dressed in a gray robe was quietly sweeping fallen leaves in front of the temple. When the monk saw Gao Peng landing on the back of the Skeleton Dragon, he calmly placed his broom against the wall, then bowed to Gao Peng and said, “Please wait for a moment, sir.”
After a while, another monk dressed in a red robe appeared to welcome Gao Peng, so Gao Peng took Dumby and Desolion along with him into the temple. The patio had a picturesque view. In a serene garden full of trees laid a stream of white sand that passed through more than half the courtyard, some pebbles adorning it.
The monk looked at Gao Peng with a smile on his face, put his palms together, and bowed to him. “Welcome to Nihon.”
Gao Peng also put his palms together, paying his respects to the monk. “Sorry for disturbing, Master.”
“Yuan Yi, carry on with your cleaning,” the monk in red robes whispered to the gray-robed monk. Yuan Yi quickly nodded and left the patio.
The red-robed monk paid his respects to Desolion, who was on Gao Peng’s shoulder, and also to Dumby, who was standing behind Gao Peng. “We didn’t know it was the Heavenly Highness of the Undead Catastrophe. It’s such a shame.” The monk sighed with deep emotions.
He seemed to be in his fifties, with wrinkles around his eyes and an auspicious, peaceful composure. He had the look of a distinguished monk.
However, Gao Peng was still in doubt. At first, he had thought that this monk was a wooden puppet of the cherry blossom tree, but the monk’s attributes proved him wrong. He was just a normal human with no signs of being seized or manipulated.
Could he have been the cherry blossom tree’s monster trainer? If he was its trainer, then he would be a King-tier monster trainer who was yet to be discovered.
“I am a believer of the Almighty Cherry Blossom Tree,” the monk said earnestly, as if he was able to read Gao Peng’s mind. “This world is already full of disasters. Thus, we need peace.” The monk expressed his thoughts sincerely, and then muttered under his breath, “Peace is truly essential, as so many people have already died.”
Gao Peng agreed, “You’re right! Many people have died. I also long for peace.”
How awesome life would be with the presence of peace. We could laze around at home watching television or playing games while enjoying happier times.
The red-robed monk’s eyes brightened; Gao Peng’s reply was seemingly beyond his expectations. “We have lots of common in terms of our thoughts.”
“Hmm.” Gao Peng nodded with a straight face.
“Our master hopes to be able to maintain World Peace along with you,” the monk said, beaming.
“In what way do you mean ‘maintain’? Even for me, I don’t dare to claim that I have the ability to maintain World Peace.” Gao Peng shook his head.
A vigorous and firm voice was heard from the top of the temple. “Humans are naturally greedy, so we need to take the initiative to control them.”
The big tree behind the temple suddenly opened its eyes. The two black holes in the tree were similar to the Devil’s Nest. The whole mountain peak trembled with its voice.
“The Almighty Cherry Blossom Tree.” The red-robed monk immediately knelt on the ground to worship the tree.
“Can I ask you a question? I’m just curious… Of course, I don’t doubt you, but I’m just curious—why do you hate killing?”
The Almighty Cherry Blossom Tree lapsed into silence and replied after a long while, “Because killing comes with death, and death is something extremely merciless.
“A long time ago, there was a girl called Sage who was smart and kind. Her mother used to tell her that the cherry blossom trees were the symbols of love. When she was thirteen years old, she fell in love with a warrior and planted me on this mountain.” The Cherry Sky Tree sounded low-spirited.
“She started chasing after the young warrior, and they both fell in love. Those days were her happiest. Her smile looked as pretty as the sunflowers at the foot of the mountain.
“And then the war started, and the warrior left for battle. Since then, she would stand at the peak of the mountain praying for the warrior’s safety every day, anticipating his return. When she finally heard from him, it was his dead body and the news of his death. She buried him under my feet. After that, she never smiled again. Eventually, they lost the war. The enemies kept killing and made their way to the village at the foot of the mountain. They killed and burned, even looting mercilessly. Sage ran to the top of the mountain, holding me while wailing in grief. Sage said that her life started from the moment she opened her eyes and saw her mother, and it would end when she could no longer see the love of her life. Then she jumped off the cliff. At that moment, it felt like she was flying towards a place where no one could find her.”
The Cherry Sky Tree was in complete silence. The pink cherry blossom petals fell from the tree as though it was raining.
Gao Peng could sense that the tree was sobbing, but he thought again, It might be an illusion.
“It was a very touching story,” Gao Peng replied earnestly. “However, not only humans kill. Murder is a universal ongoing action, as it is what all living things do. Hunters hunt their prey, and the stronger ones eat the weak, just like how jackals hunt for lambs, lambs survive on the grass, and grass extracts nutrients from the earth.”
The Cherry Sky Tree didn’t answer him. All it did was sway gently, and more cherry blossom petals fell off and drifted slowly.
“So how do you plan to control them?” Gao Peng asked.
The cherry blossom petals stopped falling off when the Cherry Sky Tree stated stubbornly, “I will do it my way.”
“By turning all of them into your puppets?” There was no reply from the cherry blossom tree, which was an admission by default.
“Well, then I don’t think we can work together. By doing so, you won’t bring peace. You’re turning them into your puppets, and that’s no different at all from the others.” Gao Peng shook his head.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense. Gao Peng wasn’t even 300 feet away from the King-tier Cherry Sky Tree. However, he retained his composure and patted the Desolate Frost Lion’s smooth head comfortingly. After some time, the tense atmosphere eventually subsided.
The red-robed monk who had been kneeling on the ground raised to his feet and started gasping. Gao Peng smirked and left the mountain with Dumby and Desolion, riding on the Skeleton Dragon.
While sitting on the back of the Skeleton Dragon, Gao Peng turned around and looked toward the Cherry Sky Tree. The tree resembled a crown, and the mountain represented armor. It looked like a warrior standing upright on a huge piece of flat land.
One day later, Gao Peng arrived at Xijing, a magnificent, huge city that was located on the horizon ahead of them.
There was a 300-foot-tall city wall surrounding the city with cannons on the walls. There were two different regions behind the walls. On the left were low-built houses with streets in between them. Many vendors filled the streets, while monster trainers disguised as warriors could be seen walking around.
Meanwhile, on the right was a modern city. High-rise buildings made of concrete revealed the contemporary beauty of the city. On the right side, an extremely dark shadow covered the upper part of the highest building, as if integrating into the building.