"So many?" Xiao Wu's eyes lit up as she looked at the glittering little mountain of gold on the table.
"This..." Ah Rou's expression was somewhat unnatural.
"Don't let him go hungry, or he won't have the strength for future Sacrifice," Xuan Ming said.
"Don't hold back your desires to eat or do whatever you want. Try to satisfy your cravings, because you might not have the chance to do it again."
Xiao Wu looked at her strangely, "Can you please stop bringing this up all the time?"
"That's how I talk. If you don't like it, you won't hear it again." Xuan Ming stood up.
"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we probably won't see each other for a long time."
I hope you have a pleasant stay here.
"Um..." Xiao Wu raised her hand nervously.
"Something wrong?" Xuan Ming stopped in his tracks.
"Can you teach me how to do my hair? Like this hairstyle?" Xiao Wu asked.
"I want to braid my mom's hair; it will look really pretty."
Xuan Ming paused, then looked at Ah Rou, "Sit down, I'll demonstrate for her."
Ah Rou paused for a moment, then sat down nervously, letting her hair fall loose.
Xuan Ming walked behind Ah Rou. "Watch carefully, I'll only teach you once."
Xiao Wu nodded, "I have a great memory, I'm sure I can learn it!"
"..."
"Um... could you do it again?"
"..."
"This is the last time! I promise!"
They kept fussing until dark, Ah Rou's hair was almost ruined before Xuan Ming finally taught Xiao Wu all the hairstyles he knew.
Since it was getting late, he had a meal before leaving.
" Xiao Wu, are you... still afraid of him?" Ah Rou gently patted Xiao Wu, who was lying on her lap.
"I'm afraid of the way he seems to be emitting cold air," Xiao Wu said.
"He's not that scared anymore, as usual."
"Mom, I feel... he's a good person."
"Why?" Ah Rou asked.
"It feels like," Xiao Wu said.
"He doesn't want to kill us, he just wants us Sacrifice."
When Xuan Ming exudes coldness, he looks down on them, as if he wouldn't care if he could easily crush them.
But usually, although he's a bit cold,... I always felt he was somewhat lonely.
After leaving Nuoding City, Xuan Ming began his journey towards Holy Soul Village overnight.
Tang San has arrived at the Nuoding Academy, Tang Hao should be in Nuoding City now. Tang San will go hunting for Soul Ring tomorrow, Tang Hao will definitely follow.
On a dark and windy night, when thieves and thieves are most likely to commit crimes.
Now is the best opportunity for him to steal the Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone.
There is a special connection between Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and its corresponding Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. Therefore, after obtaining the Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone, he had to leave Nuoding City. Before completely fusing the Soul Bone, he had to stay away from Tang Hao to avoid trouble.
"Brother, have you developed feelings for those two little rabbits?" the Ice Dragon King suddenly asked.
"I am human, and compassion is fundamental to being human," Xuan Ming said.
"If I don't even have this most basic compassion, then I can't be considered human."
Mencius said, "He who has no compassion is not human."
Those who lack a sense of shame and aversion to evil are not human.
Those who lack the spirit of humility and deference are not human.
One who lacks a sense of right and wrong is not human.
The most basic requirement for being a good person or a bad person is that they are, first and foremost, a human being.
If someone isn't even considered a human being, how can there be a distinction between good and bad?
"Brother, are you perhaps insulting me?" the Ice Dragon King asked strangely.
She felt no pity for the two little rabbits; the law of the jungle prevails, and that's the only rule for beastmen.
"You are the Dragon King, not a human," Xuan Ming said.
The Ice Dragon King paused for a moment, "That's true, but something still feels... off."
"There's nothing strange about it. You're not human, so it's normal for you not to have it. Don't force yourself."
"Are you sure you're not insulting me?"
"I wasn't insulting you."
Chapter 87: Keeping Promises
At dawn, in a valley dozens of miles away from Holy Soul Village, surrounded by mountains and verdant hills, there is a magnificent waterfall connecting heaven and earth.
This is the border between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire, a desolate and sparsely populated area. The surrounding mountains and forests are home to some Thousand-Year Soul Beast, making it even less likely for anyone to approach.
"Is what you're looking for right here?" the Ice Dragon King asked, somewhat puzzled.
Could such a godforsaken place really contain Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone?
"Behind that waterfall," Xuan Ming pointed to the waterfall in the distance.
"Alright, give me your body." The Ice Dragon King once again took over Xuan Ming's body, leaped into the waterfall, and flew into the waterfall.
She was both the Ice Dragon King and the Water Dragon King. Although she was dead, she could still perceive her environment by manipulating water.
"There really is a secret chamber?" The Ice Dragon King, carried by the water, arrived at the middle of the waterfall. With a wave of his hand, he dispersed the water flow, and with a gentle tap, a perfectly fitted rock caved in, clearly a man-made stone door.
With a flash, the Ice Dragon King arrived in the cave and returned his body to Xuan Ming.
The cave is very damp, about three meters high and two meters wide, and extends inwards.
Upon reaching the innermost part, everything around suddenly lit up. Looking up, a stone hole appeared at the top of the cave wall, revealing a stone chamber of nearly ten square meters.
Directly below the stone hole, there is a small mound of earth, on which a slender Blue Silver Grass with fine golden veins sways in the wind.
" Blue Silver Emperor?" The Ice Dragon King's expression changed slightly.
"You know him?" Xuan Ming asked, puzzled.
"Of course I know it. Among plant-type Soul Beast, it's the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast with the most terrifying Life," said the Ice Dragon King.
"Even those Soul Beast with hundreds of thousands of years of cultivation wouldn't be able to kill it."
"However, what's wrong with this Blue Silver Emperor...?"
"She Sacrifice." Xuan Ming stepped forward and forcefully struck the surrounding stone walls. Suddenly, a mechanism was triggered, and a black box fell from the top of the stone chamber, crashing heavily to the ground.
Xuan Ming stepped forward, opened the box, and a gentle energy instantly surged out, filling the entire stone chamber. The originally dormant Blue Silver Emperor was also stimulated and began to sway.
"There really is one?" The Ice Dragon King was a little confused.
How did you know about this?
"I don't want to say." Xuan Ming closed the box and put it into his Soul Tool.
"Alright." The Ice Dragon King didn't ask any further questions.
After carefully storing the Soul Bone, Xuan Ming was about to leave, but looking at the lonely Blue Silver Emperor, he hesitated for a moment, then came back, took out a flowerpot, and dug the Blue Silver Emperor out.
"What are you doing?" the Ice Dragon King asked, puzzled.
"Take her back to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well," Xuan Ming said.
"You..." The Ice Dragon King sighed.
"Your kindness is not suited to this world."
Xuan Ming is essentially a good person, but he is unwilling to admit it because he knows that being a good person requires sacrifice. He can barely protect himself, let alone sacrifice for others.
This is also the root of his stubbornness. He is unwilling to let go of his pride and cannot do anything that disgusts him. He feels that is his bottom line as a human being. If he loses it, then he is no longer human.
She was glad that Xuan Ming had an unyielding sense of propriety, because she couldn't possibly trust someone without any principles. However, his propriety often seemed out of place.
To the world, his reserve was seen as pedantry, inflexibility, and foolishness.
Good people can't survive in this world.
Being a good person comes at a price.
If this kindness is not suppressed, Xuan Ming will eventually pay the price for it.
"Everything has two sides. You can't expect a rational and cold-blooded person to be crazy in love; that's a contradiction," Xuan Ming said.
"If you ask me to do all that situational analysis, then you're the one who'll suffer."
If he had no bottom line, he could have simply knelt down and acted like a dog for Qian Renxue back in Spirit City, without all this fuss. But he couldn't bring himself to kneel.
Everyone has their own way of surviving. He won't force people with no moral compass to believe they should have one, nor does he want those with no moral compass to point fingers at him.
Heaven Dou City.
Several months have passed since Xuan Ming disappeared. For the first month, Xue Qinghe remained relatively calm. However, starting from the second month, he began to activate the intelligence system of the Heaven Dou Empire to search for Xuan Ming's whereabouts within the Heaven Dou Empire. Since there was still no news, he also ordered the Spirit Hall to search for information within the Star Luo Empire.
"Young Master, news has come back from the Spirit Hall of the Star Luo Empire that someone saw a person with a peculiar build on the border last month," said Snake Lance Douluo.
"The border?" Xue Qinghe's expression changed.
"Where?"
"The border between the Balak Kingdom and the Star Luo Empire is already within the Star Luo Empire territory," said Snake Lance Douluo.
Xue Qinghe clenched his fist. "What did the Pope's Palace say?"
Xuan Ming has been missing for several months; the news has long since reached Spirit City!
"He didn't say anything." Snake Lance Douluo paused.
"According to the Elder Hall, the Pope took Chrysanthemum and Ghost to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt Soul Beast. However, when they returned, Chrysanthemum and Ghost were both seriously injured, and the Pope looked very grim. It seems things didn't go well."
"I didn't ask about her; I spoke of Xuan Ming," Xue Qinghe said.
" The Pope hasn't reacted to this at all?"
"There was a reaction, but..." Snake Lance Douluo's expression was somewhat unnatural.
"Speak!" Xue Qinghe said coldly.
" The Pope said that you can't even keep an eye on a child, you're being too... careless," said the Snake Lance Douluo guiltily.
"She's mocking my incompetence!" Xue Qinghe sneered.
"Send word back to the Elder Hall: dispatch two Titled Douluo to bring Xuan Ming back to me, alive or dead!"
"This..." Snake Lance Douluo hesitated.
"Young Master, isn't this a bit too much..."
"Do you think I'm making a big fuss?" Xue Qinghe said coldly.
"Don't you know his situation? The fact that he ran away proves that he still harbors resentment towards the Spirit Hall and towards me!"
"Why not capture him now and wait for him to take revenge on the Spirit Hall later?!"
Snake Lance Douluo nodded. "Young Master is right. Then... should we just kill him?"