Revenge? Still planning to be buried in the Ancient Yin River Dao?
Upon hearing Zuo Zixiong's words, Xu Qing's previously cheerful face immediately changed!
Your life was saved by me, and you still get to choose your own way to die?
"General Zuo, it's not up to you!"
Xu Qing said solemnly, "Without trust, there can be no standing. I've already promised the Eight Banner Marshals to persuade you to return, and I cannot go back on my word."
Zuo Zixiong dismissed it lightly, "The brotherly bond of saving my life, Zuo keeps it in his heart. If I have the chance, I will surely repay it, but to ask me to defy the royal command and leave the Ancient Yin River Dao is something I cannot comply with!"
"Royal command? Isn't it just an order to send you and your comrades to die? Now your comrades are nearly all dead or wounded. If nothing unexpected happens, you'll also be buried at this Desolate Bones Post."
"Which royal command do you still need to follow?"
Xu Qing stood up and said, "From the moment General Zuo stepped into the Ancient Yin River Dao, there was no longer a General Zuo in this world. Do you not understand?"
Zuo Zixiong's face changed drastically upon hearing this and said, "Stop with the nonsense!"
"Zuo was able to come to the Ancient Yin River Dao because the Holy Emperor trusts me, which is why this great task was entrusted to me. While Shopkeeper Xu has been kind to me, it does not allow you to slander the Holy Emperor's judgment!"
Just as Xu Qing was about to drag the corpse back to the True Monarch Temple, he suddenly stopped, turned his head, and said, with a tone both calm and thunderous:
"Back then, when General Zuo was ordered to protect Crown Prince Zhao You, did you know Zhao You was harmed by the current Holy Emperor? Aside from Zhao You, the Second Prince's Soul Loss Syndrome, the Fifth Prince's sudden death... Could it be General Zuo knew nothing?"
"..."
Zuo Zixiong suddenly stood up, his brows furrowed, and glared coldly, "Such rumors must be spread by the traitorous Celestial Heart Sect. How can Shopkeeper Xu believe such tales so lightly?"
"Were it not for your kindness, Shopkeeper Xu, just these treacherous words alone would warrant punishment as a traitor!"
A traitor? Who, me?
Xu Qing was both amused and infuriated by the black-faced man in front of him.
"Alright, alright, I won't argue with you, but I want to tell General Zuo one thing, consider it an opportunity for you."
"What is it?"
Xu Qing chuckled, "I know someone who has deep enmity with Emperor Jingxing. Once he emerges from the Ancient Yin River Dao, he will surely head straight to the capital to take the Emperor's blood to soothe his grievances. If the General wishes to protect the Emperor, you have only two choices."
"First, leave the Ancient Yin River Dao early, and perhaps you'll meet that dragon slayer someday."
"As for the second, if within today, the General can defeat me in battle, I will tell you this person's information."
Zuo Zixiong's expression shifted back and forth, finally resolutely saying, "Brother Xu just fabricated an excuse out of thin air to deceive Zuo into leaving the Ancient Yin River Dao, but such tricks cannot fool me."
"..."
Xu Qing stared at the black-faced general like an iron tower in front of him, finding himself at a loss on how to handle him.
"Does General Zuo believe he has a keen eye for people?"
Zuo Zixiong glanced at Xu Qing, whose words held deeper meaning, and said in a deep voice, "I dare not claim to be an excellent judge of character, but at least I understand the principles of law and ethics. Just like this Ancient Yin River Dao, do I still not see who is human and who is a demon?"
Xu Qing blinked and suddenly asked, "Then let me ask the General, is the Eight Banner Marshals a human or a demon?"
"..."
Zuo Zixiong was silent for a moment, then argued, "The marshals were human when they were alive, different from demons, as distinct as humans and livestock."
"When I was in the capital, I once heard of a hunter named Zhao who was good at raising tigers. The Holy Emperor found it strange and ordered me to bring the hunter with the tiger to the capital."
"The hunter, in front of the palace, shared a cage with the beast and deliberately put his head inside the tiger's mouth, rubbing against it, the tiger's saliva covering his face, without a scratch."
"The Emperor was amazed by the beast's intelligence and rewarded a thousand gold."
Zuo Zixiong's eyes flickered, his tone indescribable, "The Emperor is busy handling state affairs daily, yet unaware that the hunter still lived in the capital making a living by 'playing with the tiger' for more than two years.
One day, at the gatehouse, the hunter again put his head into the tiger's mouth as a trick, not expecting the fierce tiger to suddenly unleash its savagery and bite the hunter's neck off."
Zuo Zixiong agreed deeply, "This shows that beasts and demons can never be trusted. Therefore, in the Ancient Yin River Dao, I don't need the wisdom to discern people, only the ability to distinguish humans from demons and ghosts."
However, Xu Qing, after listening, seemed to have heard the biggest joke of the century.
"Why does Brother Xu laugh?"
"I laugh because you're rigid, unable to tell humans from demons, nor right from wrong."
Xu Qing explained as well, "If you want to hear, I'll tell you about the story of the Five Shadows Daoist and the shamaness of Guanmen Village raising tigers..."
During their conversation, Xu Qing dragged Sun Faping's corpse into the True Monarch Temple constructed of bones, followed by Zuo Zixiong, who also brought back Qiu Yunlong's body.
By now, the Bone Temple had been restored to cleanliness, and the previously scattered corpses had been properly arranged by the Straw Spirit Papermen.
Inside the Bone Temple, Xu Qing lit several incense candles, bowed to the True Monarch, then sat down cross-legged and began recounting past experiences to Zuo Zixiong.
"That Li Family's child, because he didn't get to eat roasted and candied sweets, falsely accused his own mother of innocence, leading to his own mother's death, resulting in two shadows taken in by the monster daoist..."
"And that scion of the Gao Family, who killed his entire family for no reason, leaving only a twin brother, whom he turned into a Walking Corpse to ward off disasters for him."
"That foolish boy, being his twin brother, what enmity did he have with him?"
Xu Qing chuckled lightly, "If these still don't explain it, why then did the two tigers raised by the old granny of Guanmen Village, one become so benevolent and the other so vicious?"
Zuo Zixiong furrowed his brow, increasingly feeling that the stories Xu Qing mentioned about the Gao Family's scion and the Five Shadows Daoist who brought him onto the Ancient Yin River Dao were somewhat alike.
The Five Shadows Daoist had a strange daoist beside him, who looked just like him but behaved like a walking corpse.
"Are what you say all true?"
Xu Qing nodded, "All witnessed with my own eyes, none are false."