Realizing he had been rash, the middle-aged Cultivator said, “Fellow Daoist, this….” Even as he began to speak, however, Meng Hao’s eyes shone with even more ferocious iciness.
The man’s face fell. He and his companions turned into beams of prismatic light that shot away into the distance. When they were far away from Meng Hao, they finally came to a stop and exchanged glances.
“That guy is just too aggressive. Where did he come from? Elder Brother, let’s report him to Master. Master will surely dispatch some people to apprehend him!”
“Correct. Elder Brother, this is Blood Demon Sect territory. Can we really allow that guy to just run amok?”
“Shut the hell up!” growled the middle-aged man, his face dark and unreadable. “He’s young, and with just a single sweep of his hand, look at what he did to us. Do you really think he’s just some random person? He’s obviously not a Cultivator of the Solitary Sword Sect. With war brewing between our Sect and the Solitary Sword Sect, we can’t afford to provoke the wrath of additional Sects! He’s obviously just passing through and doesn’t want to make enemies, that’s why he went easy on us. All of you, shut your mouths. Forget about what happened here. There will always be friction among Cultivators like us. There’s no need to report some trifling incident like this to the Sect.” Having made his decision, he continued on into the distance, his fellow Cultivators in tow.
After they were some ways away, the vines on the ground beneath them that they hadn’t noticed this entire time, burrowed into the earth and disappeared.
Back in Meng Hao’s location, Meng Hao stamped his foot onto the ground. The soil seethed as the dark red vines emerged to sway back and forth in front of him. Moments later, they transformed into a small, dark red fruit, which he placed into his bag of holding. Finally, he turned his attention to the hat on his head.
“You can’t do that! It’s wrong. If you let them go, you should trust them completely. You can’t secretly dispatch something to follow them. That’s wrong. That’s immoral. Eee? I just remembered something. You cussed at me just now!!
“Cussing is wrong. It’s immoral. My granny never did anything to offend you. Why did you have to bring her up? It’s very strange. What relationship do you have with her? Unless…” Suddenly, the meat jelly’s pedantic voice filled with a strange tone. “Unless the two of you….”
Meng Hao ignored it. He slapped his bag of holding to produce a set of clothing. He ripped off some strips of fabric and stuffed them into his ears. Immediately, the meat jelly’s voice became quieter. But then, the meat jelly gave a dry cough. It started to talk, and this time, its voice could be heard directly inside of Meng Hao’s head.
Meng Hao’s expression was somewhat haggard. He stared off into nothing for a while, then finally sighed and tossed the strips of cloth away.
“Now I know why people call you Ultimate Vexation,” he said. Immediately, the meat jelly began to tremble with excitement.
“Why? Why?! This name was given to me a very, very, very long time ago by an old friend. I asked him about it many times, but he would never tell me what it means.” The meat jelly’s full and undivided attention was now focused on Meng Hao.
Meng Hao didn’t say anything. Instead, he pondered why the person who named the meat jelly wouldn’t explain the meaning of the name. Then he thought of the meat jelly’s long-windedness, and he shivered. He understood. By providing an answer regarding the name, it would give the meat jelly a conversation topic that would certainly last for months.
The thought of that made his scalp go numb. Anyone who had no experience dealing with the meat jelly couldn’t comprehend the nature of the torment it brought. He decided to change the topic.
“With you looking like this, we really can’t proceed onward,” said Meng Hao. “Is there any way you can take some form other than a pile of hats?” He was careful in his wording, fearful of agitating the thing. He could only imagine what it would look like if it decided to become a mountain of green hats perched on top of his head. What would happen then?
His tone was non-argumentative, but inside, his heart was filled with helplessness. He thought of the Blood Mastiff, and suddenly missed it terribly. Unfortunately, it was sleeping now.
Actually, Meng Hao’s words seemed to excite the meat jelly. “Eee? If I’m not a hat, then what shape should I take?” Meng Hao was used to this, so he didn’t say anything at first. He sat cross-legged within the mountain forest and retrieved the Time-refining jade page. He cast his Spiritual Sense into it and began to study the contents.