After everyone left, only Fu Congzhao and Jin Shanyao remained in the empty wilderness.
Seeing Jin Shanyao staring intently at the fire with a serious expression, his heart leaped into his throat. "Grandma, has something happened?"
"No..."
Fu Congzhao, puzzled, "Then why are you staring at the fire?"
"I'm afraid of a fire."
Fu Congzhao:...
No, you were so Divine Ability just now, saving countless souls with a wave of your hand, and now you're telling me you're afraid of a fire???
Fu Congzhao was stunned and speechless, and could only pick up the branches to check the fire pits one by one.
"Put this branch down..." Jin Shanyao suddenly spoke in a cold voice, startling Fu Congzhao. "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with this branch?"
"Use your dagger to pry..." Jin Shanyao, "
No, how long is the dagger? How long is the branch...? Why would he use the dagger to slash?
Jin Shanyao calmly withdrew her gaze, closed her eyes, and silently mourned for a moment the vegetation that had been burned by fire and eaten by animals.
Fu Congzhao stood to the side, looked at the branch he was holding, threw it aside, picked up a dagger and began poking at the fire until all the sparks were extinguished.
The two walked towards the camp together, with Fu Congzhao always half a step Jin Shanyao, carefully watching the path to prevent her from slipping and falling.
Jin Shanyao gazed at his profile, thought for a moment, and comforted him, "Want a hug?"
Fu Congzhao didn't understand and looked at her blankly.
Jin Shanyao her arms wide and said generously, "When Anzhi and Anci are sad, they always let me hug them. Do you want a hug?"
The sorrow hidden deep in Fu Congzhao's heart was suddenly exposed, and a wave of bitterness surged up. He stopped and looked into Jin Shanyao's eyes.
Her voice was muffled, "Grandma... I want to cry."
Upon hearing this, Jin Shanyao somewhat embarrassed. She had just changed into these clothes this morning, and if his snot and tears got on them... Her lips twitched almost imperceptibly.
Lowering his dangling arm, he patted Fu Congzhao's shoulder lightly and said seriously, " Congzhao, the boss can't cry. The boss has to stand up for his younger brothers and fight for them."
You are a junior general serving the people and soldiers. You can't cry. If you cry, they'll panic. Listen to me, hold back your tears. Turn your grief and anger into motivation, and slaughter them without leaving a single survivor."
As soon as she finished speaking, she had already walked several steps away. Fu Congzhao's bitterness was abruptly swallowed back, and he felt greatly encouraged instead.
He quickly caught up with Jin Shanyao, "Grandma, I think you're right, a man doesn't easily shed tears."
Jin Shanyao glanced at him quickly and, seeing no sign of him crying, breathed a sigh of relief. She thought to herself: There's no problem with how to coax a child, just don't let him cry. Once he starts crying, it goes on and on, and it's so annoying.
It was late morning when they returned to the military camp.
Jin Shanyao sat cross-legged, and countless golden rays of light surged towards her from all directions, converging into her Dantian, where layers of Merit accumulated.
She closed her eyes and concentrated, inhaling deeply. Her body gradually became lighter, and she even floated into the air without any Spiritual Power. Her limbs, bones, and flesh were all re-tempered by the Merit.
After an unknown amount of time, a surge of powerful Spiritual Power suddenly erupted from her body, illuminating the tent as bright as day, before returning to silence.
In the deepest part of the Nine Nether Underworld, the Houtu Palace suddenly trembled.
The Lady Houtu slowly opened her eyes, her gaze reflecting the soaring golden light from the mortal realm. "Such profound Merit... it can even activate the Six Paths meridians."
She got up to check, just as a messenger from the underworld came to report, "Your Majesty... Taishang Laojun has arrived."
Lady Houtu was puzzled as to what this old man was doing here. She got up and went to the main hall, where Taishang Laojun greeted her with a smile.
"Oh my... how long has it been since we last saw each other? A year or half a year?"
The Lady Houtu was confused by him. "Didn't we just see each other at the Peach Banquet the day before yesterday?"
Taishang Laojun slapped his forehead, "Look at my memory, look at my memory."
After speaking, he smiled and looked at Lady Houtu, making her feel a chill run down her spine. She turned her head suspiciously, then looked back, "What brings you here?"
"Oh, it's nothing, I just came to see you... Aren't you going to say anything more? I missed you."
Lady Houtu rolled her eyes, got up to check who was performing the rites of deliverance in the mortal realm, and a figure flashed before her eyes, and the wrinkled old face of Taishang Laojun was right in front of her.
Forced to take a half-step back, she demanded, "What are you doing?"
"Ah... it's nothing."
"You're fine, but I'm in trouble..." Lady Houtu was usually calm and composed, was so angry at him that she wanted to overturn the table.
She stopped abruptly as soon as she stepped out of the main hall, her Spiritual Power completely dissipated. She took a deep breath and turned around to see Taishang Laojun walking out leisurely.
Where are you going?
"Return to the Tushita Palace..."
Didn't you come to see me?
"Hmm. Finished reading..." He then strode away...
The Lady Houtu watched his retreating figure, wishing she could kick him, and said to the underworld official, "Go and summon King Yanluo."
In the main hall, the Lady Houtu asked King Yanluo, "Just now, a large number of wronged souls poured into the Underworld, their resentment vanished, Merit swept through the Six Paths. Who was it in the mortal world who performed the rituals to deliver them from suffering?"
King Yanluo bowed deeply, daring not to conceal anything.
"Your Majesty, it was a cultivator from the mortal realm named Jin Shanyao who performed rituals to help the souls of those who died unjustly in the war over the past decade or so. Although he did not follow the usual procedures of the underworld, his good Merit and did not disrupt the order of life and death. Moreover..."
King Yanluo paused for a moment, then continued, " Taishang Laojun once spoke to me privately, saying that this person acts with discretion and instructed me not to be too strict with him."
Houtu remained silent for a moment, then said calmly, "Since Laojun has given his permission, then so be it. But if there's any more of this happening, you must inform me in advance."
"Yes..."
Instead of returning to the Tushita Palace, Taishang Laojun broke through the void and appeared directly in Jin Shanyao's room. As soon as Jin Shanyao saw him coming, she ran away, not expecting that Taishang Laojun had set up a barrier around the room.
In a flash, she recalled the scene of Xiao Huzi getting beaten up, and said warily, "Um... old man, listen to me..."
"I'm listening... I'm listening to what you have to say," Taishang Laojun said, his face ashen. His whisk instantly transformed into a pointer, and he raised it to strike the Jin Shanyao.
He beat and scolded, "I'll make you go crazy, I'll make you pray for the afterlife... Normally, if you pray for one or two people, the King of Hell will just turn a blind eye and let it pass."
You've suddenly conjured up thousands of people for me, even digging up ghosts from over a decade ago and sending them to the Underworld. Do you Underworld is a mass grave where nobody cares?
Jin Shanyao, clutching her head, ran around the room frantically, "Old man, listen to me... I just thought, whether I perform a ritual for one person or two, it's all the same... It's just a convenient thing, isn't it?"
"I let you do it for me... I let you do it for me... I told you to hide your gratitude and repay it, and you've forgotten all of that, haven't you?" Taishang Laojun chased after Jin Shanyao and beat her. The whip struck down, making the furniture in the room crackle, but it never landed on her.
Jin Shanyao covered her head and screamed, "Go ahead and kill me... Anyway, I'm just a wild tree without parents, and nobody's there to back me up."
If you kill me, no one will know that your drinking led to your downfall and delayed my ascension; no one will know that you have deliberately delayed the arrival of a supreme god. Come on... if you have the guts, kill me."
Taishang Laojun was so angry his heart was pounding. "If I don't help you, Lady Houtu will have come looking for me long ago."
"You heartless bastard, spit out all the elixirs, spiritual water, and peaches I fed you! I'll feed them to the dogs!" Slap slap slap Another lash of the cane fell.
"You stay right there and don't move, or I'll beat you to death today."
Jin Shanyao inwardly. "You wicked old man," she thought, "You want me to execute you on the spot? Dream on..."
As a thousand-year-old tree, she has little else to offer but many feet...