Chapter 26

"Then please take good care of my younger sister, brother."

Hearing this, Dugu Bo first looked at Dugu Yan's reaction, but then he heard Changsheng speak again.

"You can tell Yan'er. I left my name in that battle with Spirit Hall, and Spirit Hall will certainly publicize it far and wide. Yan will definitely find out after asking around outside a little. I'll go out first and see what the situation is now."

Dugu Bo nodded. "Take care, brother! I'll definitely protect your sister Ah Yin. If they want to hurt Ah Yin, they'll have to step over my corpse first!"

Lan Chengsheng raised his hand and sent over two stalks of Blue Silver Grass shimmering with golden light. "These two stalks of Blue Silver Grass can instantly heal your injuries and restore your Soul Power. If there's danger, you must put your own safety first. I've left a contingency for my sister. It won't be so easy for Spirit Hall to hurt her."

Only Dugu Yan watched the two of them, wanting to know what secret they were keeping from her.

Lan Changsheng came to the spring, crouched down, and stroked the tender shoots Ah Yin had grown. "Ah Yin, I need to deal with something outside."

Ah Yin had already learned what had happened through the Guardian's Pact. She gently swayed her body. Though she was deeply reluctant to part with him, she also knew her brother would definitely go. This was his responsibility as the Blue Silver Imperial Emperor Grass. "Brother, you must stay safe. Remember, your life no longer belongs to you alone."

After Lan Changsheng left, Dugu Yan looked at her grandfather as though seeking an explanation.

"This brother of mine is a Soul Beast." Dugu Bo's opening words gave Dugu Yan quite a shock. She had never expected this senior's true identity to be something like that.

At the same time, she understood why Spirit Hall had gone to such great lengths to force Lan Changsheng to show himself. A Soul Beast that had taken human form and was at least a hundred thousand years old-its Soul Ring, Soul Skills, and Soul Bone all held enormous allure for them.

"Senior Lan's journey will be perilous," Dugu Yan said worriedly.

"I'll go out and ask around too, see whether I can help Brother Lan. No, I have to stay here and stand guard. Yan'er, you'd better go instead."

"All right, Grandpa. Heaven Dou Empire and Spirit Hall are already at odds, so I should be able to learn quite a bit about Spirit Hall's movements. If there's anything important, I'll tell you right away."

"Good."

After Lan Changsheng went out, he no longer traveled by teleporting. Instead, he flew the whole way, wanting to see what changes Spirit Hall's order had brought to the continent.

For ordinary people, the change was merely that there were more people wearing Spirit Hall uniforms on the streets. But for ordinary people whose Martial Soul was Blue Silver Grass, it could be said that the sky had collapsed.

The people from Spirit Hall went door to door making arrests, carrying Martial Soul awakening registers. Anyone who dared resist was kicked to the ground, their arms twisted behind their backs as they were forced into the line.

Here, a group of more than ten people walked slowly in single file, with two people from Spirit Hall following, one at the front and one at the rear. In Lan Changsheng's perception, all those plainly dressed Soul Masters in the middle had awakened the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.

"Move faster! What useless trash. Out of this whole bunch, only one has a single ring, and his Soul Skill is useless too. Who knows why the Pope ordered them locked up? We even have to feed and house them. What a waste of resources."

These people kept their heads down, not daring to talk back.

Lan Changsheng thought, Since Brother Dugu said to shelter the common people, saving these oppressed people must be right.

Keeping a certain distance, Lan Changsheng followed them out of the city, until they passed through a deserted corner.

With just a gentle wave of his hand, he knocked the two people from Spirit Hall unconscious.

He appeared before the group. "You're free. Head to Heaven Dou Empire. Spirit Hall doesn't have jurisdiction there yet."

The group exchanged looks. One man in his thirties, shabbily dressed but with the shrewdest eyes, stepped forward and looked Lan Changsheng up and down with an odd expression. His voice carried resentment. "You... who are you? Who asked you to stick your nose into our business?"

Lan Changsheng looked at him, his expression questioning and uncomprehending.

"What, was I wrong to say you were sticking your nose into our business?" The man pointed at the two unconscious Spirit Hall Soul Masters on the ground. "Do you know where they were taking us? Spirit City! Food and lodging provided! Sure, we'd be locked up, but that's much better than farming and hunting on my own like before!"

The more he spoke, the angrier he grew, his finger almost jabbing Lan Changsheng. "Do you know what kind of life I lived out here? I went hungry two meals out of every three days! In Spirit City, I'd at least get two meals a day! Now that you've knocked them out, where am I supposed to sleep tonight? What am I supposed to eat tonight?!"

Lan Changsheng looked at him, the questioning incomprehension gradually fading. He would no longer feel hurt or sorrow, but he felt no anger toward these people either, because they were not worth it.

Seeing Lan Changsheng remain silent, the man seemed to think he had proved his point. He muttered a few more complaints about meddling and costing him his meal, then looked at the others around him. "Come on, come on. Anyone else going to Spirit City? We might still make it in time for dinner."

Three or four people actually followed him away.

Lan Changsheng did not stop them. He stood where he was, watching their retreating figures. The system suddenly popped up.

[Human behavioral pattern detected: layered logic of seeking benefit and avoiding harm.]

Lan Changsheng truly did not understand, but perhaps this was simply the choice living creatures made to survive, whatever form it took.

A gust of wind blew past, and Lan Changsheng's figure had vanished from the spot.

Among that group was a young man in his early twenties who had been crouching by the roadside the entire time. He stood only after those people had gone far away. His aura was very weak, and he was also the sole One-Ring Soul Master the people from Spirit Hall had mentioned. In his eyes was something utterly at odds with his cultivation: fervor and excitement.

After leaving, Lan Changsheng continued south. Beside a mountain road, he saw another group of Blue Silver Grass Soul Masters, about seven of them, crouching by the roadside in ragged clothes, looking as though they had walked for a long time.

This time, only one Spirit Hall Soul Master accompanied them. Lan Changsheng considered it, then casually knocked that Soul Master unconscious anyway.

He likewise told those people, "You're free."

But unlike the previous group, none of these people questioned him. They merely crouched there, huddling against one another. No one spoke, no one pointed the way, and no one knew where to go next.

Several of them gathered around him. Not one asked, "Who are you?" "What do you want?" or "Why are you meddling?" They simply looked at Lan Changsheng.

Lan Changsheng asked, "What are your plans?"

Everyone exchanged looks, then shook their heads. They had no plans.

"You can go to Heaven Dou Empire. Spirit Hall doesn't have enough influence there."

After another stretch of silence, a timid voice came. "Could we follow you?"

"What would you follow me for?"

"You saved us. Following you is what we ought to do."

"There's no ought or ought not about it. I just did it in passing, not for anything like that."

Hearing this, the group instead grew fearful and apprehensive, chattering about how they dared not go back, how those people would arrest them again, and how they would be better off following him.

Humans were more complicated than he had imagined.