"Tapi... dan kalu..."
"Kalau memang memangnya adalah Pegawai Pavilion? Lalu apa niatnya?"
Mo Hua mengerut kening, memikirkan kembali. Tiba-tiba hatinya tertegang. Tak bisa menahan diri ia teringat, sewaktu dulu ia memakai Perhitungan Rahasia Surgawi, ia pernah sedikit demi sedikit menghitung sebab-akibat dari Formasi Pembaru Kayu ini.
Lalu, di balik kabut, sosok master-nya muncul di depinya.
Genggaman berdiri di antara langit dan bumi, sombong dan tidak tertib di atas segala sesuatu.
Namun setiap kali ia menatap Mo Hua, ekspresinya akan lembut, kening dan matanya menggigit sedikit senyum, sekaligus terlihat sangat enggan untuk berpisah.
"Master..."
Formasi Pembaru Kayu ini terikat dengan sebab-akibat sang master.
Bisakah... berarti Pegawai Pavilion juga tahu hal ini?
Deras sejuk menyelam ke dalam hati Mo Hua.
Bisakah... justru karena ia mengetahuinya, itulah lagi-lagi sebabnya Pegawai Pavilion Pavilion Heaven Shu menaruhkan Formasi Pembaru Kayu sebagai imbalan dari Konferensi Diskusi Pedang?!
Mungkin seluruh ini sudah pernah ia hitung sebelumnya!
Mo Hua tarik napas dalam-dalam.
Jika dulu, mungkin ia tak akan berpikir seperti ini; ia takkan berpikiran sebesar diri hingga percaya seluruh dunia mengincarnya.
Berapa banyak para ahli yang lebih tinggi lagi sedang merencanakan sesuatu terhadap sangketa kecil seperti dirinya.
Tapi karena kejahatan takdir yang menimbulkan, setelah dialami kerugian besar di tangan Kakek, Mo Hua menjadi lebih waspada.
Saat memohon sebab-akibat, justru sebab-akibat yang sedang memohon dirinya.
Sangat mungkin, setiap langkah yang ia ambil sudah lama terlihat oleh orang-orang tertentu di level yang lebih tinggi.
Hanya dirinya sendiri yang tak pernah menyadarinya.
Namun...
Pegawai Pavilion? Merencanakan terhadapku?
Mo Hua merasa dirinya agak "berlebihan."
Itu adalah Pegawai Pavilion Heaven Shu Pavilion; bagaimana orang sekaliber itu bisa bersembunyi melawan dirinya?
Apa yang ada padanya, seorang Foundation Establishment rendahan seperti dirinya, yang layak untuk Pegawai Pavilion merencanakan sesuatu?
Mo Hua menggoyangkan kepalanya.
Di samping itu, pada akhirnya ia tak pernah bertemu dengan Pegawai Pavilion Heaven Shu Pavilion, tak tahu seperti apa rupa dan sifatnya; bagaimana bisa...
Pada pikiran ini, hati Mo Hua tiba-tiba melonjak, dan seorang lelaki tua dengan rambut putih seperti salju muncul di benaknya—seseorang yang sepertinya akan tertidur kapan saja.
Dulu ketika keluar dari Kota Cloud Crossing di Perbatasan Negara Qian Xue, ia pernah bermain catur dengan kakek ini.
Keduanya adalah lawan yang seimbang, bermain dengan senang.
Mo Hua membeku.
Tidak mungkin...
Apakah kakek ini... adalah Pegawai Pavilion?
Mustahil...
Mo Hua menggoyangkan kepalanya berulang kali.
Seseorang yang bergengsi sebagai Pegawai Pavilion, ada waktu luang untuk turun ke pelabuangan sekedar bermain catur dengannya? Bagaimana bisa?
Mo Hua sama sekali tidak percaya.
"Tapi... dan kalu memang benar?"
Hati Mo Hua sedikit berdebar.
Artinya ia benar-benar berada di dalam pandangan Pegawai Pavilion.
Segala sesuatu yang ia lakukan di dalam Perbatasan Negara Qian Xue, sangat mungkin selalu berada di bawah Penglihatan Pegawai Pavilion.
Lebih jauh lagi.
Segala sesuatu yang ia lakukan telah "dibiarkan" oleh Pegawai Pavilion.
Rangkaian konflik yang ia picu, dan transformasi struktur Perbatasan Negara Qian Xue, juga semuanya berada di tangan Pegawai Pavilion.
Bahkan hasil akhir Array Pengorbanan Darah pun mungkin sudah ada dalam perhitungan—atau setidaknya... sesuatu yang membuatnya senang?
Dan saat berpisah, Pegawai Pavilion datang untuk melihatnya, sebenarnya ingin secara pribadi memastikan kondisi mental "bidak catur" yang telah menyelesaikan ancaman Dewa Jahat ini?
Dirinya sendiri sebenarnya... adalah "bidak catur" yang digunakan Pegawai Pavilion untuk mengendalikan situasi Qianxue?
Mo Hua menghubungkan semuanya, dan merasakan sesuatu yang mencekikikan di tulangnya.
Udara di Istana Batu tampaknya menjadi lebih sejuk seiring perubahan suasana.
Namun, setelah merenungkan beberapa lama secara pribadi, Mo Hua perlahan melepas napas.
Dirinya merasa bahwa ia agak berlebihan sekali "memikirkan orang lain sebagai sindir tangan."
Tak perlu memikirkan hati orang lain begitu "kejam".
Pegawai Pavilion pasti sangat sibuk.
Duduk di ketinggian yang begitu sejuk, ia pasti mengawasi Sembilan Negara dan menangkap situasi secara keseluruhan, butuh melihat segalanya. Mustahil baginya untuk benar-benar memberikan perhatian penuh pada seorang Foundation Establishment kecil seperti Mo Hua.
Mungkin ia tahu tentang Mo Hua, namun paling-paling hanya sebatas tahu.
Untuk "mengincar"nya, mungkin hanya sekadar sesekali melakukan Perhitungan.
Untuk menjadi "bidak catur," mungkin hanya sekedar seiring dengan situasi, melemparkan "umpan" untuk menariknya; setiap orang mendapatkan keuntungan.
Pegawai Pavilion pasti tidak bermaksud jahat padanya.
Jika memang begitu, pada saat itu di Kota Cloud Crossing, ketika Mo Hua hendak meninggalkan Perbatasan Negara Qian Xue, Pegawai Pavilion tidak akan datang sendiri untuk bermain catur dengannya.
Tentu saja, Mo Hua tidak tahu bahwa Pegawai Pavilion tidak pernah berencana untuk "muncul", dan tidak pernah bermaksud untuk "menemaninya" dalam sebuah permainan catur.
Itu adalah Mo Hua sendiri yang "nekat mendekati", datang untuk menantang Pegawai Pavilion bermain catur.
"Selain itu, semuanya hanyalah spekulasi...
"But... what if?"
"What if it really is the Pavilion Elder? Then what is his intention?"
Mo Hua frowned and thought back again, when his heart suddenly jolted. He couldn’t help recalling that back then, when he used Heavenly secret Calculation, he had once slightly calculated the causality of this Wood Revitalization Formation.
And then, in the haze, his master’s figure surfaced before his eyes.
Proud between heaven and earth, insolent and unruly beyond compare.
Yet whenever he looked at Mo Hua, his expression would soften, his brows and eyes carrying a hint of a smile, and a deep reluctance to part.
"Master..."
The Wood Revitalization Formation was tied to his master’s causality.
Could it be that the Pavilion Elder knows of this as well?
A chill rippled through Mo Hua’s heart.
Could it be... precisely because he knows of this matter, that the Pavilion Elder of Heaven Shu Pavilion set this Wood Revitalization Formation as the reward for the Sword Discussion Conference?!
Was all of this something that Pavilion Elder had already calculated out?!
Mo Hua drew in a sharp breath.
If it were before, he might not have thought this way; he wouldn’t be so self-important as to believe the whole world is targeting him.
That so many lofty experts were scheming against a small fry like him.
But because of the fateful evilness, having suffered a huge loss at Uncle’s hands, Mo Hua had grown an extra layer of caution.
When you pry into causality, causality is also prying into you.
Very likely, every move he made had long been noticed by certain high-level figures.
Only he himself remained utterly ignorant of it.
Yet...
Pavilion Elder? Scheming against me?
Mo Hua kept feeling that he was being a bit "overly sentimental."
That is the Pavilion Elder of Heaven Shu Pavilion; would someone of that level scheme against him?
What is there in a little Foundation Establishment like him that’s worth a Pavilion Elder scheming for?
Mo Hua shook his head.
Besides, in the end, he didn’t even know who the Pavilion Elder of Heaven Shu Pavilion was, nor what he looked like; he’d never had any contact with him. So how could...
At this thought, Mo Hua’s heart suddenly skipped, and a figure emerged in his mind.
It was an old man with snow-white hair, looking as though he might doze off at any moment.
Back when leaving Cloud Crossing City of the Qian Learning State Boundary, he had played chess with this old grandpa.
The two had met as evenly matched opponents, playing a delightful game.
Mo Hua froze.
No way...
This old grandpa couldn’t... be the Pavilion Elder, could he?
Impossible...
Mo Hua shook his head again and again.
A dignified Pavilion Elder, with nothing better to do, going down to the ferry to play chess with him? How could that be?
Mo Hua simply didn’t believe it.
"But... what if it is?"
Mo Hua’s heart quivered slightly.
That would mean that he truly was within the Pavilion Elder’s sight.
Everything he did within the Qian Learning State Boundary very likely had always been within the Pavilion Elder’s Insight.
Looking further ahead.
Everything he did had been "indulged" by the Pavilion Elder.
The chain of conflicts triggered by this, and the transformations in the Qian Learning State Boundary’s structure, were also all within the Pavilion Elder’s control.
Even the final outcome of the Blood Sacrifice Array might also have been within the Pavilion Elder’s expectations—or at least... it was something he was happy to see?
And at the moment of parting, the Pavilion Elder came to take a look at him, actually wanting to personally confirm the mental state of this "chess piece" who had resolved the Evil God threat?
He himself was in fact... a "chess piece" used by the Pavilion Elder to manipulate the Qianxue situation?
Mo Hua linked all of this together, and couldn’t help but feel a bone-deep chill.
The air in the Stone Palace seemed to turn cold with the mood.
But after secretly pondering for a while, Mo Hua slowly let out a breath.
He felt that perhaps he really was being a bit "overly sentimental."
It wasn’t necessary to think people’s hearts so "sinister."
The Pavilion Elder should be very busy.
Sitting at that height, where the cold is piercing, he must oversee the Nine State and grasp the overall situation, needing to see everything. It’s impossible that he truly focuses all his attention on a minor Foundation Establishment like Mo Hua.
He might know about Mo Hua, but at most he just knows.
As for "scheming" against him, at most it’s just occasional Calculations.
As for being a "chess piece," it’s likely no more than going along with the situation, tossing out a "bait" to hook him; everyone gets some benefit.
The Pavilion Elder probably never intended to harm him.
If he had, then back in Cloud Crossing City, when Mo Hua was about to leave the Qian Learning State Boundary, the Pavilion Elder wouldn’t have appeared in person to play chess with him.
Of course, Mo Hua didn’t know that the Pavilion Elder had never planned to "appear," nor had he intended to "accompany" him in a game of chess.
It was Mo Hua himself who "brazenly struck up a friendship," going up to challenge the Pavilion Elder to a game.
"Besides, all of this is just my own speculation..."
Mo Hua thought to himself.
That old grandpa who played chess with him wasn’t necessarily really the "Pavilion Elder."
Even if he truly was the Pavilion Elder, he probably bore no malice toward Mo Hua.
This much, Mo Hua could still feel.
Moreover, someone whose chess skill could rival his own—someone like that, just like him, could be at most preternaturally clever, and absolutely could not be a vile and sinister person.
Mo Hua nodded, feeling that this made a lot of sense.
Then he lowered his head and looked at the Wood Revitalization Formation before him.
Everything just now had merely been his "Calculation" based on bits and pieces of clues.
Whether it was true or not, there was currently no way to verify it.
But if by chance it was true, then this Formation was absolutely far from ordinary.
Blood of wood surging, life and death flowing—the Formation not only was closely bound to his master’s causality, but even contained some kind of unfathomable Law of Formations.
He had to study it well, and work it out clearly.
Just by looking at the structure of the Formation Patterns and the Formation Pivot, he couldn’t see much; he still needed to learn by putting it into practice.
Mo Hua thought for a moment, then went to Ba Shan to request a clean stone room, after which he pretended to pray to the Divine Lord, beseeching the might of the Divine Lord.
But there was no "Divine Lord’s" blessing.
Because Mo Hua simply had no "Divine Lord."
He could only rely on his own strength and draw six more Wood Revitalization Formations.
Once they were drawn, Mo Hua had Ba Shan and the others carry in the rest of the wounded and lay them on the Wood Formation for treatment.
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