"Daddy... Nezha's hungry..."
The group rode hard toward the capital. Chen Qing's constitution naturally could not withstand it, and after two days of riding, he was utterly exhausted. They could only rest at a relay station for a day.
Yuchi Peng came from a ducal household. Though he held only the post of garrison commander, that was enough to make the stationmaster fawn over him. A table was laden with every sort of rich fish and meat dish, and Ghost Child ate until his belly was round. Yet in the still of the night, he still stared eerily at the passersby outside and said he was hungry...
Chen Qing's expression grew grave, and he gave Ghost Child a stern look.
Naturally, he knew Ghost Child was not truly hungry. Rather, the desire to eat humans within his body was growing difficult to suppress.
Human blood and flesh held a powerful attraction for demons and ghosts, much like fine wine and cigarettes did for humans. They were not necessities, but they were intensely tempting...
Ghost Child had been imprisoned for a thousand years. With the increasingly strong human presence he had been exposed to lately, the desires within him would naturally awaken.
In the original plot, the traveling merchant had failed to restrain Ghost Child in his pursuit of profit, secretly feeding him flesh and blood. But Ghost Child was a high-level ghost general. Once his appetite for flesh and blood awakened, how could secretly eating a person or two satisfy him?
In the end, he ate more and more people, and the court sent investigators. Unable to cover it up any longer, the traveling merchant abandoned Ghost Child and tried to flee!
But how could Ghost Child, who could see through human hearts all along, really let him escape? The moment he decided to abandon Ghost Child, he had already been marked as food. Without the traveling merchant, his false daddy, Ghost Child completely unleashed his desires, devouring nearly a million people and finally becoming the fourth ghost king!
"No!"
Chen Qing knew the plot. Naturally, he could not let Ghost Child take that path!
"But Nezha's hungry!" For the first time, Ghost Child showed defiance.
"No!!" Ignoring his fierce expression, Chen Qing stared sternly at him. "If you're hungry, eat Daddy!"
"I..." Ghost Child froze. His fierce expression instantly vanished, replaced by an utterly aggrieved look. To give credit where it was due, if one ignored his imposing lower body and looked only at his face, that adorable, aggrieved little face would make anyone feel sorry for him...
"Crying won't change anything!" Chen Qing warned him with utmost seriousness. "And you're not allowed to eat people in secret, either. If you dare, Daddy won't acknowledge you anymore!"
"Daddy's mean!" Ghost Child turned away in a huff, presenting his magnificent back muscles to Chen Qing...
"Be good, Nezha..." Chen Qing sighed and stroked Nezha's hair. "Bear with it for a while. Once we reach Qi County, Daddy has a way to keep human flesh from tempting you."
Ghost Child froze. Having lived for a thousand years, he naturally knew that eating human flesh would make humans hate him. After all, Daddy was human too.
But it really was so tempting...
Daddy had a way to make him stop liking human flesh?
As though seeing through Ghost Child's thoughts, Chen Qing smiled. "Don't worry, Nezha. Daddy isn't fooling you. Once we get there, Daddy really can help you break those demonic habits..."
That truly was no lie. Now that he had the Mirror Demon, once the turmoil in the capital passed and he took up his local post, he could begin the path he had envisioned: the Divine Path!
There were many routes by which humans could grow stronger in this world, but practically none could do without demons and ghosts. Warriors relied on their bloodlines, spellcasters relied on the spiritual power of dead demons and ghosts, and the divine smiths, runemasters, and ghost immortals later developed by players all depended on demons and ghosts as well.
Essentially, humans had to rely on the power of demons and ghosts to obtain strength.
But every one of those routes only obtained a portion of their power. Among all the paths, there was one that could bring out all the power of demons and ghosts, and even evolve them!
That was the Investiture Divine Path School!
It was the hardest path in the game's design, with the highest entry requirements and the longest period of early accumulation. But once it came together, it was also universally recognized as the most comprehensively powerful path!
"Daddy..." Just as Chen Qing was considering his future plans, Ghost Child barely managed to suppress his bloodlust and turned back to look at him. "Daddy must have obtained a spellcaster's inheritance in that cave, right?"
"Yes..." Chen Qing nodded.
"Then why isn't Daddy learning it?" Ghost Child asked curiously. "Are you afraid Nezha will hate you? Nezha hates the spellcaster who kept me pinned down for so long, but if Daddy inherits that power, Nezha won't hate you..."
"Daddy has plans..." Chen Qing smiled and stroked Nezha's head. "Daddy won't become a spellcaster."
"Not becoming a spellcaster? Are you joking?" A strange voice suddenly rang out, making both of them frown at the noise.
"That's the Azure Dragon Inheritance!" The speaker was none other than the Mirror Demon Chen Qing had just acquired.
"You young fellow, do you know what the Azure Dragon Inheritance means?" The Mirror Demon's voice was filled with extreme displeasure. "The Azure Dragon is one of the thirty-six Heavenly Gang, as well as the leader of the Four Saints, and it even has a dragon bloodline. Put all that together, and even that damned puppet's dual techniques can't compare!"
Chen Qing rolled his eyes at him. I'm the damn designer. You think I know less than you?
Seeing that he still looked unimpressed, the Mirror Demon was stunned. "You don't seriously mean to turn it down, do you? Young fellow, think this through. This is a heaven-sent fortuitous opportunity!"
In his eyes, Chen Qing's luck was unremarkable. For him to obtain the Azure Dragon Inheritance, it was not merely smoke rising from his ancestors' graves-the graves were on fire! Once he obtained it, his fortunes would change completely. Which spellcaster of the four great sacred spirits of High Antiquity had not stood at the very pinnacle? Even the kings and lords of that age had treated them with the utmost courtesy.
Chen Qing curled his lip. Naturally, he knew the Azure Dragon Inheritance's standing among techniques, but he still thought little of it. Spellcasters had uncanny abilities, but their weaknesses were too obvious, and they were far too fragile. In Chen Qing's eyes, squishy mages like these ranked even lower than ADCs.
Of course, the Azure Dragon Inheritance was still a good thing. Even if he did not use it himself, he could use it to train someone else...
Compared with the Azure Dragon Inheritance, he was more interested in Wang Ye's current condition. He asked curiously, "In Wang Ye's current state, does he still count as himself?"
"How would I know?" the Mirror Demon snapped. "Even I got a fright. That fellow is extremely strange, and his explanation is questionable too. A Reversal Technique? How could there be such a coincidence? You'd better stay away from him."
"You're quite concerned about me, aren't you?" Chen Qing asked in amusement.
"I don't know why Ghost Child likes you so much," the Mirror Demon said evenly. "But since you can treat Ghost Child with such sincerity, you'll surely treat me well too. Besides, I don't know why, but I keep feeling that my own luck has been improving since I started following you..."
"Really?" Chen Qing immediately broke into a delighted smile. The Mirror Demon was extremely sensitive to luck. If he said it was improving, that meant things should go fairly smoothly for Chen Qing from now on.
"But it also seems very dangerous..." The Mirror Demon looked curiously at Chen Qing. "I don't know why you're willing to wade into the capital's muddy waters. The forces behind Painted Skin Mister aren't as simple as you imagine. Ghost Child alone can't protect you!"
"What forces are behind him? Do you know?" Chen Qing asked at once.
"I know a little, but I can't tell you..." The Mirror Demon shook his head. "Mister Miao placed a forbidden technique on me. If I reveal even one member of their organization, I'll die a horrible death. A Li is also a member, so I can't help you with the Thousand-Faced Fox!"
"This really is troublesome..." Chen Qing held his head, looking helpless. "Can't things be a little easier for me?"
"Hasn't that Mister Miao already died? Does the forbidden technique still work?" Ghost Child asked curiously.
"The Azure Dragon spellcaster died, but weren't you still locked up for all those years?" the Mirror Demon snapped. "Once certain techniques take shape, the demonic spiritual power between heaven and earth will keep carrying them out. Whether the caster is dead has nothing to do with it."
"Really?" Ghost Child looked at the Mirror Demon with a beaming smile. "You'd better not be lying to us. Otherwise..."
"Master, do something about him! Aren't you afraid he'll smash me? And you're still letting him hold me..."
Chen Qing could not be bothered with those two clowns. Instead, he considered how he should handle this matter after entering the capital.
As the Mirror Demon had said, the forces behind Painted Skin Mister were immense. The longer he dragged this out, the more dangerous it would become for him. Only by finding the Thousand-Faced Fox as quickly as possible and then promptly leaving the capital, that hotbed of trouble, could he develop safely elsewhere.
He was a late-game build. Every day less spent in a hotbed of trouble like the capital was a day gained.
But the question was, without the Mirror Demon's help, how was he supposed to find the Thousand-Faced Fox?-
"Your Majesty, my unworthy disciple has written back. The matter in Liuzhou has been settled, and he is already heading to the capital with Yuchi Peng and the man named Chen Qing!"
Inside the imperial study, Liu Yu reported the latest developments.
"I miscalculated..." The emperor studied the memorial Liu Yu had submitted, his expression extremely grave.
He had originally thought it was merely a demonic incursion. Never had he imagined that such a vast network of power stood behind that fox demon, one capable of laying a trap for Wang Ye right in the capital and nearly causing him to meet his end in Liuzhou.
Although Painted Skin Mister was now dead, the situation in Liuzhou was a complete mess. Who could have imagined that all the senior officials in a provincial capital in Jiangnan were puppets?
Including the commoners Painted Skin Mister had routinely killed and replaced, rough records already showed over a thousand households affected. With Painted Skin Mister's death, it had all blown up. The impact was so great that even if they wanted to cover it up, they could not!
"Is your disciple's condition all right?" the emperor asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Rest assured, Your Majesty!" Liu Yu said solemnly. "I will examine him thoroughly. If there is anything wrong with my unworthy disciple, I will act immediately!"
"This puts you in a difficult position, my minister..." The emperor sighed helplessly. Wang Ye's condition was far too strange. He had become a wooden puppet. Though he had turned the tables and killed Painted Skin Mister, they had no choice but to remain wary of Wang Ye himself.
"I recommend postponing the selection of a consort for the crown prince!"
The emperor looked at Liu Yu's solemn expression. After a moment's hesitation, he shook his head slightly. "We cannot postpone it. I have already announced the date by imperial decree. A sovereign's words are no jest. I cannot lightly go back on my word!"
Liu Yu sighed at that. He had guessed His Majesty would answer this way. The new dynasty had not been established long, the people's livelihoods were unstable, and most of those following His Majesty had once served the King of Qin. Though His Majesty was also a heroic figure, he fell somewhat short of the charisma the King of Qin had possessed back then.
Moreover, the Xiao Household had unified the realm largely because it had inherited the King of Qin's legacy. Many of the great lineages that had followed the King of Qin alongside the Xiao Household still harbored some discontent.
At a time like this, establishing prestige was very important.
"But perhaps that is just as well..." Liu Yu drew a breath. "In that case, let us use this incident to take a good look at just how many people had a hand in backing Painted Skin Mister!"
At those words, a cold smile appeared on the emperor's face as well. Golden light flickered in his eyes, carrying an incomparable chill.
He had shown those great lineages patience time and again. If they had also taken part in such disloyal acts... heh, then they could not blame him for being ruthless!
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