SES Chapter 58 Part 1

Chapter 58

Ro Ren couldn’t help but admire it: to speak so bluntly, with no room for politeness, was something. Honestly, the world was still a rough place. For this so-called mystic to have roamed far and wide for so many years, speaking with such recklessness and complete lack of charm—and yet still survive till now—was, in itself, a marvel of the times.

He asked, “If we weren’t the chosen ones, then how did we all end up matching perfectly?”

The mystic replied, “Isn’t it obvious? You four just happened to be there at the time, so one task got slapped on each of you. Simple as that.”

Ro Ren sucked in a sharp breath. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Like pulling random people off the street? Just grab whoever happens to be nearby?

He asked again, “Then how do we find the fifth element—‘fire’?”

“If more than one person was involved when you tackled the second cursed slip, then it’s the extra one. If there was no extra person, just drag someone in—whoever it is becomes the fifth.”

Ro Ren was torn between laughing and crying. Was this a joke?

But the mystic suddenly turned serious.

He said, “Little Radish, you’ve probably read too many of those fantasy novels. You think everything is fate, that you were all chosen because you have some extraordinary talent, and that the Phoenix Luan Lock investigated your ancestors back eight generations to bring you together. You’re overthinking it—if you ask me, it was random. Completely random.”

He added, “If I had made it to Xiaoshang River that day, I probably would’ve ended up being the fire.”

Ro Ren found it absurd. “How can something this important be left to chance?”

The mystic laughed. “You think it’s random? I think it makes perfect sense.”

“Back then, the situation was this: after waiting for ages, a person of great virtue, Laozi, finally appeared. He drew the seven fierce energies into seven cursed bamboo slips, then sealed them with the Phoenix Luan Lock.”

“The Phoenix Luan Lock and the bamboo slips—those are material objects. You get that, right? They’re tangible things.”

Ro Ren rubbed his forehead in exasperation. What did material objects have to do with any of this?

Mu Dai could tell the call wasn’t ending any time soon and went inside the cabin to eat.

The mystic continued, “Even before Laozi, those material things could’ve been made. Hell, you could manufacture a whole bunch.”

Ro Ren was starting to get the picture. What the mystic meant was: the Phoenix Luan Lock and the bamboo slips existed before Laozi. But the reason they failed to seal the fierce energy back then was because the key element wasn’t the lock—it was Laozi himself. Or maybe both were needed, but Laozi was the more critical piece.

The mystic said, “Finding someone like Laozi in modern times? Nearly impossible. That’s why I get the feeling the Phoenix Luan Lock is now relying on manpower.”

“It’s like there are five empty spots that urgently need to be filled. The lock doesn’t care who fills them or what kind of people they are. It just needs someone to carry out the task. Character, morality, talents—it doesn’t matter. It just needs the vacancies filled.”

Then he sighed. “It’s not entirely true to say you guys aren’t special. You are, in the sense that you were probably the first ones to stand up and fight the cursed slips.”

That part was true. Before them, the cursed slips just kept causing harm, transferring from Zhang Guanghua to Liu Shuhai, and then to Luo Wenmiao. People who knew about them only looked on with curiosity, discussed the cases as oddities, but no one tried to connect the dots or take action.

That time at Xiaoshang River, they had gone up against a cursed slip. Not only that, they even managed to trap it and create a box based on the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Even though the box stopped working not long after.

So… was that how they got “chosen”?

Ro Ren laughed. “Fine, chosen it is. Either way, my goal from the start was to find all seven cursed slips and seal them—if that’s the way to cure Pingting.”

For once, the mystic didn’t respond right away.

His silence unsettled Ro Ren.

“What’s wrong?”

The mystic hesitated.

“Little Radish, I’ve seen a lot of things like this. Don’t assume that the cursed slips are purely evil and the Phoenix Luan Lock stands for justice and righteousness. It’s not so black-and-white. To achieve a goal, the process can be ruthless.”

From inside the cabin came the sound of cheerful laughter. Ro Ren glanced over instinctively—Cao Yanhua was for some reason lying across the table, and Mu Dai was tugging him upright with visible irritation.

Ro Ren turned back around and lowered his voice. “What do you mean?”

“I’m just speculating, but I have a strong feeling… Once you fill those five spots I mentioned, you might not be able to step down.”

“In other words, once you’re chosen, you don’t get a say. And once you’ve joined in, there’s no walking away.”

A chill ran down Ro Ren’s spine. He suddenly grabbed the ship’s railing tightly.

What did that mean?

Even after the open conversation he’d had with Mu Dai earlier, he still had plans—he didn’t want her getting dragged into something this dangerous and bizarre. Sure, she might volunteer, but that’s different from being unable to leave at all.

It reminded him of that cursed fairytale about the red shoes—once you put them on, you couldn’t take them off. Not until you were dead.

So he asked, “Until we die?”

The mystic replied, “Once someone dies, a new person will take their place. This goes on until the whole thing is over.”

Got it.

Ro Ren hung up the phone in silence.

If what the mystic said was true, then the Phoenix Luan Lock didn’t need them specifically. It just needed bodies to fill the roles.

The five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, earth—they weren’t tied to any one person. They were symbolic masks. Anyone could wear them. If someone couldn’t handle the job, they wouldn’t be allowed to quit—they’d die in the role. Then someone else would be slotted in.

To the Phoenix Luan Lock, the five roles always had to be filled. It didn’t care if the person was a man or a woman, or whether their surname was Luo or Mu. As long as someone was there.

He, Mu Dai, Yiwansan, Red Sand, and Cao Yanhua—they were the first batch.

Too many dangers and unknowns. At any point, any of them could be replaced.