“I also don’t accept.” Gu Mengmeng was incensed. “I just want you to lead me up the mountains. I am interested in something in the mountains, but have no interest in you at all.”
“I told you. The peak is the sacred grounds of the vultures. We can only bring outsiders up when bringing new partners to pray for blessings. Since you and I have no intention of becoming partners, I cannot bring you up.”
“Eh, why are you being so particular?” Gu Mengmeng asked. “Who sealed off that sacred ground? The previous Messenger of the Beast Deity?”
Who sealed it off…
Gregory was stumped by her question. Since the day he was born, he had been guarding the Motou mountain range, facing the harsh and cruel weather conditions day in day out. The sacred grounds had always been the sacred grounds. No one told him why it was sacred or when it had become sacred.
But this was not important.
The reality of it was that the vulture race had been guarding the grounds for generations. Rules were rules, and they must be adhered to.
He was the leader of the vulture race, so all the more he could not willfully break the rules.
“If it was a rule set down by the previous Messenger of the Beast Deity, then I should be able to abolish it, right? After all, we are both the same rank. She is a Messenger and so am I. If my rank is still not high enough, how about I go seek the Beast Deity himself? After all, you vultures are the most loyal guardians of the Beast Deity. If it was the Deity himself who passed down the order? Will it override your stupid rule?” Gu Mengmeng intoned that as a second-generation immortal, what better time than now to bank on the name of her father?
Gregory remained resolute. He stood firm. “This is the rule of my vulture race. Even the Messenger herself cannot force us. If the Beast Deity wants to abolish our rule, the entire race has no choice but to perish. We cannot have our loyalties divided. Only in death will our race not break the rule and not go against the Beast Deity.”
One word kept flashing across Gu Mengmeng’s mind: Pedantic.
But Gregory’s tone was not threatening. He was just stating the facts. As such, Gu Mengmeng realized that if she tried to force his hand using her father’s name, Gregory would really rather annihilate his whole race than yield.
Damn, if the vulture race went extinct because of this—she could just forget about ever attaining the Love of the Sky.
Gu Mengmeng asked again, “How about… can you get some other vulture to come discuss this with me?”
“Only the leader of the vulture race, after receiving the orders of that great lord, can descend the mountain.” Gregory glanced at the mark over Elvis’ heart again. He then said, “Now that the great lord is no longer around, no one from the vulture race will ever descend the mountain again after I return.”
Damn, just who is this great lord?!
“What if this great lord asked you to bring me up? Will you do so?” Gu Mengmeng probed.
Gregory snorted. “You don’t even know who that great lord is, but want to use such ridiculous words to fool me?”
Gu Mengmeng smiled. “You have been secluded high up in the mountains for years, so you probably don’t know that apart from being a Messenger of the Beast Deity, I am also the Beast Deity’s daughter. So I can also go ask my father about this so-called great lord. I may not know what I have forgotten, but my father will. How about… you stay here for a while? I need to go talk to my father and find out—apart from giving me the Heart of the Desert, did this great lord tell me anything else?”