We Are People of Moral Character

In the barren mountains, Zou Bugui did not know whether he had encountered a chance to save his life or the grim reaper come to claim it.

Sensing those two wisps of Yao Qi that made his heart tremble, his face turned pale, then purple.

If Zhang Zhong and Lady Yourong had not been taken into the Ten Yin Holy Son's ranks, he had a vague suspicion that something far more terrifying had happened.

Yao could eat humans, and humans could naturally eat Yao.

But Zou Bugui could not imagine a supreme Yao like the Ten Yin Holy Son being eaten.

Not only was the Ten Yin Holy Son powerful in his own right, but the power he represented was also a first-rate holy land.

It was not much different from the crown prince of the Great Han Dynasty being eaten by a Yao.

A chill shot straight to the crown of his head, and he understood why the Golden Toad Dharma King had flown into a frenzy and attacked at the slightest provocation.

As a trusted Yao general under the Ten Yin Holy Son, the Golden Toad Dharma King had lost his master. That was indeed enough to leave him frantic with worry.

If the Ten Yin Holy Son had been the supreme ruler, the Golden Toad Dharma King could at worst have struck out on his own after losing his master. But standing behind the Ten Yin Holy Son was a supreme figure who towered over the three realms and all the heavens. That was the source of the Golden Toad Dharma King's fear.

The dead would not hold anyone accountable, of course, no matter how fearsome the Ten Yin Holy Son had been in life. But the living would not let him off easily.

Zou Bugui looked at the couple with traces of the Ten Yin Holy Son's Yao Qi still clinging to them. One moment he wanted these two gods of pestilence, who would drag him into trouble, to leave at once; the next, he wanted them to help him escape this dangerous place.

"Get rid of the Ten Yin Holy Son's traces on my parents, and we'll take you back to the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple!"

As Zou Bugui's thoughts raced and he worked a few things out, the young man who had wanted to run away spoke up about the matter as well.

"What traces of the Ten Yin Holy Son?" Zou Bugui muttered.

"Get on with it and help," Zhang Xuezhou said. "Otherwise, we'll give you a quick death!"

Zhang Xuezhou showed him no courtesy. After all, it was rare to encounter a great cultivator in dire straits.

He was now utterly, positively certain that Zou Bugui had been gravely wounded, almost to the point of losing consciousness.

Perhaps it was the Golden Toad Dharma King's poison, or perhaps something else, but Zou Bugui had forcibly suppressed it by some means.

Although Zou Bugui was a great cultivator, his options were limited at the moment. Not to mention that pursuers were on his heels, so he could not possibly use his trump cards on them.

Zhang Xuezhou flicked the Wind-Breaking Saber. Its faint ring brought a bitter look to Zou Bugui's face.

The king of hell was easy to dodge, but little demons were hard to shake off. He felt he had run into a troublesome little demon who had not only seen through his condition at a glance, but also understood much of what was going on.

He wanted to avoid the Golden Toad Dharma King, and the other party wanted to stay alive too.

If they fell out, they would all die. Only by working together might both sides survive.

But the price of cooperation was steep, enough to make even Zou Bugui's heart ache.

"This saber is sharp, and my neck isn't made of iron. Don't push it any farther!"

The cold gleam of the blade stung his skin. Zhang Xuezhou was so quick to settle the matter that Zou Bugui barely had time to think of a way to turn the tables and strike back.

"Ordinary people can't see the traces on them... Wait, don't do it! To resolve this, they may have to forcibly wear away that wisp of the Ten Yin Holy Son's Yao Qi by attempting Realm Entry, or they can only mask it with a stronger presence... I'll stop talking. I have four Body Fragrance Pills in my pouch. Take two out and have each of them swallow one!"

"What do Body Fragrance Pills do?"

"They're fragrances commissioned by several nobles in Chang'an City. Taking one makes the body carry a delicate scent for nearly half a year. I spent a fortune refining them, and this time I'll lose every last-why are you taking all four?"

Zou Bugui bitterly regretted putting all the pills together.

Although he had only given access to one compartment of his storage pouch, the Body Fragrance Pills were all in a porcelain medicine bottle in that compartment.

Zhang Xuezhou felt the porcelain bottle holding the pills, then slipped it into his pocket. Clearly, he had no intention of returning them.

"Boy, this Daoist master's pills aren't so easy to pocket... Forget it. I'm giving them to you!"

Feeling the Wind-Breaking Saber return to his neck, Zou Bugui immediately abandoned the matter.

"This Daoist master keeps his word. Put the knife down first!"

Seeing the flicker in Zhang Xuezhou's eyes and the slight tremor in the hand holding the Wind-Breaking Saber, Zou Bugui felt he was looking at the possibility of being robbed and murdered.

The problem of the traces on Zhang Zhong and Lady Yourong had been temporarily resolved. Even if they encountered the Golden Toad Dharma King, he would most likely take them for ordinary passersby and let them go. But Zou Bugui's problem remained unsolved.

As far as Zhang Xuezhou and the others were concerned, they no longer needed him, and helping him would only draw them into danger.

Conversely, leaving him unaided, or even killing him with a stroke of the saber, would serve them better and give them the best chance of avoiding involvement.

Zou Bugui had previously focused all his thoughts on the Golden Toad Dharma King pursuing him. How could he have imagined that his life would suddenly fall into the hands of the youth before him, who had barely reached twenty?

"You can't be so immoral!"

Zou Bugui forced out an appeal to reason.

"You agreed to take me back to the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple!" Zou Bugui said, breathing heavily.

"I said we'd take you back to the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple if you got rid of the traces on my parents. I never agreed to take you back for masking them," Zhang Xuezhou said. "You couldn't do it, so our deal naturally doesn't stand!"

"We're very reasonable and moral people!"

Zhang Zhong had listened for quite a while. Once he understood what was happening, he put in a word.

Compared with his decisiveness in killing, Zhang Xuezhou's handling of the matter was no less effective.

If Zhang Zhong had been the one handling it, once he learned the circumstances, his approach would likely have been even more violent than Zhang Xuezhou's.

When life and death were at stake, humanity and morality hardly mattered. Staying alive was what truly had to be done.

No one wanted to carry Yao Qi that might be discovered, much less vanish without a trace like so many people in Zhang Household Village.

Zhang Zhong had only to think of the more than three hundred people who had disappeared from Zhang Household Village and his family, who faced the same risk, to find himself unable to soften his heart.

Even if Zou Bugui was a Daoist priest of the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple, even if he was a great cultivator, even if he was on good terms with other great cultivators...

Zhang Zhong could not concern himself with all that. Now that he knew the great danger, all he wanted was to remove it and stay alive.

"Daoist priest, if we take you back to the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple and help you shake off your pursuers, will you turn around and kill us?" Lady Yourong asked.

"How could I? I'm a man of high moral character. Anything I promise, I absolutely-"

"Kill him. People who call themselves highly moral are usually morally corrupt!"

Zou Bugui had only just managed to argue back when Lady Yourong's words sent his despair plunging to rock bottom.

"Wait! I've hidden some pills in the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple. Taking them can forcibly push you into Realm Entry. Even if I harbor wicked thoughts, you'll have the strength to protect yourselves then, and they can also help you rid yourselves of the Ten Yin Holy Son's trouble completely!"

There was a gulf in strength between Realm Entry cultivators and ordinary people, and that was the main reason Zhang Xuezhou and the others haggled with him over every needle.

If Zou Bugui wanted their help, he needed to maintain a balance.

That balance required them to be able to walk away from him safely, and it also required him to offer them enough benefits for them to take the risk.

He understood the key to balancing his position with theirs and swiftly put forward a feasible proposal.

In just a few seconds, the proposal was accepted.