Taotie Joins the Fray

Upon arriving at the palace that Li Wuxian had arranged for the two of them, Qin Yi closed the palace door and sat inside with Li Qingjun to examine the fur ball.

Qin Yi held the Black Fur Ball in the air and examined it. The fur ball drooped down, looking utterly hopeless, and didn't struggle at all.

Li Qingjun found it amusing, and her somewhat gloomy mood was lifted. "Is this really a Taotie?"

The gluttonous beast muttered, "Just assume it's whatever you want..."

Li Qingjun poked twice with her finger and laughed, "Aren't you Ancient Fierce Soul?"

"Yes," Taotie said listlessly, "But some things from High Antiquity were far more ferocious than you mere mortals could understand..."

The Liusu floated out; I stared at them.

The Taotie shuddered and fell silent.

Liusu said, "This thing was forcibly separated from its original soul when you knocked it back to its original position, so it doesn't have the strength of the Taotie you fought. Right now, it's just at the Cloud Soaring level... But it has all the abilities that a Taotie should have. It just depends on whether its strength is enough to unleash them."

Qin Yi, however, was quite approving. "Those whose Soaring Cloud Souls can be seen are all incredibly powerful!"

Liusu:"..."

That's true. It's usually invisible, and its Liusu and the ferocious beast Taotie... No, that's ambiguous. Liusu aren't ferocious.

Li Qingjun said, "So that means it actually has the ability to devour food? Wouldn't that be very dangerous?"

Liusu explained, "It has the ability, but it can't use its current amount of soul power, just like me... But it might recover quickly; it could recover by consuming anything."

Qin Yi hesitated for a moment. "Let's roast it."

With a flick of his wrist, Red Lotus Tribulation Fire erupted.

"Wait! Wait!" The Black Fur Ball struggled violently.

Qin Yi moved the fire a little away and asked curiously, "You're not going to go out anyway. Once this part burns out, you can just go back to the sculpture and wait for the next summon. Why are you so scared?"

Taotie sighed, "If you were sealed away for tens of thousands of years and finally managed to come out for a moment, you wouldn't want to go back."

Qin Yi's hand trembled slightly as he looked at Liusu.

Liusu covered her hands with her hands and pursed her lips without saying a word.

"This puts me in a difficult position, Dog," Qin Yi sighed. "If I let you stay, I can't trust you; you could turn on me at any moment. If I let you go free, countless people will be killed by you. To show mercy or compassion to a vengeful spirit like you would be cruel to others..."

Taotie said anxiously, "With Liusu here and the difference in soul power so great, what can I do?"

"My Great Staff doesn't have time to keep an eye on you. What will you do when you're out fighting, waiting for me to turn around and bite you?"

"My... home? Awesome?" Taotie stared wide-eyed.

Liusu smashed a bone on its head. "Why did you have to talk back!"

Taotie felt incredibly wronged. He called you "Bangbang" and you were fine, but I got beaten up just for repeating it?

The infamous Ancient Fierce Soul, so violent and cruel, devouring everything in its path, terrifies everyone who sees it. Here, it has been suppressed and turned into a dog.

Taotie was secretly gritting its teeth, plotting when to take revenge, but Liusu turned to Qin Yi and said, "It's only natural that it would want to come up with this idea."

Qin Yi was quite surprised. "Bangbang, you actually developed empathy?"

This Stinky Stick has become more and more humane in recent years; his arrogant and cold demeanor from his early days seems to have diminished considerably.

"It's alright, it can't escape my grasp. I have some soul-controlling techniques, it's hard for it to turn against me." Liusu said, "The main thing is... it also has some methods that are useful to us, maybe we can really use them."

Taotie was quite surprised. Judging from this, it seemed that Qin Yi was still making the decisions between Qin Yi and Liusu.

Its eyes darted around, and it said with a fawning smile, "Yes, yes, as long as you let me stay, I'll do whatever you ask, using any means necessary..."

Qin Yi was speechless, knowing that this kind of evil spirit was definitely not acting pitifully; it was just feigning it. And its submissive demeanor wasn't solely a result of being suppressed by Liusu; it was also asking for something.

Otherwise, it could just run away on its own, why would it stubbornly stay here?

Of course, it's for the Other Shore Flower.

Since he has something to gain, can Liusu really keep him in check? Qin Yi looked at Liusu, Liusu understood and suddenly pointed a finger at Taotie's brow.

Taotie was stunned for a moment, but did not resist.

In fact, it is completely powerless against the Liusu, so it might as well save its energy.

Liusu said, "This is the Wrath Soul Curse. If it has a negative backlash against us, we will feel the pain of being pierced by thousands of needles and be unable to move."

Qin Yi immediately felt relieved and shook his head at Taotie's pathetic state.

This is a greedy soul, not an absolutely rational being, but a manifestation and aggregate of worldly greed. It may not have much of a high moral character. Although its appearance is surprising, it is not incomprehensible.

Its greed for the Other Shore Flower has reached the point where it can't wait to stare at it all the time and feels uncomfortable if it leaves, or it can get some benefits just by being near the Other Shore Flower.

This serves as a cautionary tale: extreme greed leads to being controlled by others. It verbally expresses regret, but if given the chance to do it again, it would likely act no differently—this is determined by the very nature of its being.

Thinking of this, he said, "If that's the case, then you may stay, but you are not allowed to lay a hand on anyone without my permission."

No way! This is the capital of a country, and the Imperial Palace at that. If someone were bitten by such a malevolent spirit, they would be doomed.

Taotie said with a fawning smile, "Of course, you've already taken the Wrath Soul Curse, you should be at ease now... From now on, you'll be a minor official under the Qin family, and you can bite whoever I tell you to bite."

Qin Yi couldn't help but laugh, "Then how about I give you a name? It's inconvenient for others to hear you as Taotie."

Taotie said, "You can call me whatever you want, the name doesn't matter."

"Then let's call him Blackie."

"?"

Liusu objected. "That sounds awful. 'Taotao' would be so much cuter."

Li Qingjun immediately said, "Call him Tao Tao."

Taotie smiled ingratiatingly, "Sure, sure."

"..." The art style suddenly changed.

Looking at the gluttonous beast with its eyes gleaming, Qin Yi sighed inwardly, knowing that it was still harboring thoughts of stealing the Other Shore Flower. He wondered what use that thing was to it... He would have to be careful in the future.

"Um..." Taotie said cautiously, "Where did you get your Other Shore Flower? They were very hard to find back then, and even dogs would be beaten to a pulp if they found them... With your strength... uh..."

The implication is that it's simply unbelievable that they obtained the Other Shore Flower.

Liusu said, "The Other Shore Flower grows in the Netherworld and was extremely rare back then. Now, the Netherworld has collapsed for tens of thousands of years, and the elements are missing, so it no longer has the conditions for the Other Shore Flower to grow naturally, and it may have become extinct. So, unsurprisingly, there are only a few that we know of now, some of which are in the hands of powerful beings without form, and the only one is here."

Taotie paused for a moment, then remained silent.

Liusu said calmly, "I can roughly guess what you want the Other Shore Flower for... It's nothing more than to break free from the cage, reach the other shore, and perhaps from then on be free from the seal, truly immortal and free. But I think there are many steps missing, and it can't be achieved just by eating a flower."

Taotie was silent for a moment. "Indeed, quite a few steps are missing. In fact, I've eaten the Other Shore Flower before... Anyway, I did feel it was beneficial after eating it. Maybe eating more would make a difference?"

"You're just being mindlessly greedy," Liusu said. "You kinds of malevolent spirits are eternal; if you could easily attain ultimate freedom, the world would be in chaos..."

The Taotie, its previous obsequious smile gone, said expressionlessly, "We were born because of your greed, ferocity, dishonesty, and treachery. If you say we are greedy and that we are a chaotic world, you should ask yourselves."

The next moment, the little bone tapped it on the head. "Talking back! Talking back!"

"Hey, let's talk this out. We're on the same side now!"

"Who's on your side?!"

The two balls chased each other, and Qin Yi and Li Qingjun looked at each other, both having a lot to say but not knowing how to express it.

We still don't know what to do with that problem girl, Wu Xian, and now we have another problem old man, Qiu. Life is getting more and more interesting...