APTnovel Chapter 838 Tao
Chapter 838 Tao
The huge change in Yang Linger's state of mind also posed a huge problem to the Little Emperor.
Do you want to choose her?
If she is chosen, what will happen to the Ghost Sect that slaughtered the entire Yang family and secretly fanned the flames? How will the ending of the Witch and Wumeng be written?
If she is chosen, what will happen to the families of the four city lords who buried 20,000 soldiers and armors in Luoshen Mountain and planned to kill Mr. Yang?
Can the Little Bad King expect Yang Linger to be "magnanimous" enough to resolve the blood feud and put aside the past grudges with these people after she comes on stage?
This is impossible and goes against human nature.
The most important thing is that he has no right to ask Yang Ling'er to do this.
These ancient families that have deep roots in the Five Cities of Xianlan and have even existed for a thousand years, as well as the private soldiers of the Long family's Li Gui Sect, absolutely cannot coexist with Yang Ling'er.
Do we need to eradicate the problem once and for all for the future of the five cities?
But how is this different from Long Yuqing's style? Just how much grass must be cut to be considered decisive and wise as a hero?
If we don't wipe out the roots and only choose to use tough measures to disperse the four major families and exile the Ghost Sect, then these people will either leave with hatred or be deprived of all their wealth and glory. Will they leave behind hidden dangers and make a comeback out of unwillingness?
But if we don’t choose Yang Ling’er, who should we choose?
Who is the wise leader who is truly suitable to rule the five cities of Chaolong City?
A witch, huh?
The four city lords, right?
He's just a little kid in his teens, right?
None of them are...
Perhaps his abilities, ideals, and ambitions are worthy of being the master of the Five Cities, but the Tao in his heart is incompatible with Ren Ye and the "park spirit."
In fact, after the Little Bad King returned to Chaolong City, he waited for him for a long time and asked twice, but he did not get an answer that he agreed with.
Therefore, today's ending is what he least wants to see.
The Little Bad King was standing in the inner hall of the government office, feeling extremely confused and heavy in his heart.
Yang Linger was sitting on the throne in front of her, and he was the person on the throne.
What he holds in his hands now is the supreme authority that was once only possessed by the immortals in heaven. This authority seems to allow him to act arbitrarily and according to personal preferences, but for a person with good intentions, the word "Human Emperor" is too heavy a burden.
Only now did Ren clearly sense the lingering power and afterglow of Senior Jiang Yu's sword that had annihilated the immortals... Just how terrifying was it? How unsettling it was!
He was pushed above the nine heavens by that sword, in charge of the future of the five cities, and even guiding the future of Jiuli. Every choice, if he wanted to be consistent with his heart and the way, and if he wanted to be worthy of the four words "clear and bright heaven and earth"... was too difficult.
……
On that day, Ren Ye did not give any response to Yang Ling'er, nor did he meet the four city lords on time. He even did not meet Li Yan, the young marquis and others who were responsible for controlling the witch.
For three whole days, Ren neither returned to the Renjian Inn nor mingled with his close friends. He simply buried Long Yuqing in the Long family's ancestral tomb himself, and then wandered around the bustling city of Wucheng.
When he was tired, he would find a restaurant to rest for a while. After eating and drinking, he would continue to travel or sit in a corner of the long street and watch the people coming and going...
The five cities are still in chaos. The news of Long Yuqing's death has not yet spread completely, and the 400,000 soldiers and horses in the four cities are in a dilemma. It is not right to fight, and it is not right not to fight. The four city lords can't figure out what the descendant of the ancient emperor is thinking. In a state of anxiety and panic, they begin to get angry, and start to urinate frequently, urgently, and have to wait to urinate.
The people of the five cities were also in a state of panic. Whether it was Chaolong City, which was under pressure from the army, or the other four cities that held the initiative, apart from the powerful and wealthy, and the groups waiting to share the benefits, no one in their hearts hoped that the battle would start quickly...
They are pitiful because the power of "choice" has never been theirs.
After walking for three days, the feeling of confusion in Ren Ye's heart gradually dissipated; the belief in his heart also became stronger in the lights of thousands of homes at night.
He has always been sticking to his own path, so he has new choices under this path.
……
After returning to Chaolong City from Dongxuan City, Ren also found Li Yan.
This wolf brother understands the little bad king just like the earth understands his father. He knows that the other party has not had an easy time these days and is feeling "confused" about the choices in his heart, which may be even more complicated than the relationship between him, the little singer, and Lao Liu.
So, he looked at the other person and said directly and decisively: "I can do what you mentioned earlier, and I have done it."
"Thank you, brother." Ren Ye clasped his fists perfunctorily.
"Do you know why everyone will help you once you say it?" Li Yan asked with a smile.
Ren Ye was slightly startled and waved his hand, saying, "Brother, I'm already in a mess, please don't praise me."
"Because you are not 'him', this is crucial." Li Yan kindly warmed Ren Ye's "Tao": "Oh, especially for a businessman who is obsessed with money, it is even more crucial."
Ren Ye came back to his senses and said with a smile: "Oh, I am best at using businessmen."
"boom!"
Li Yan said no more, only summoned the Hunyuan Golden Bowl and said simply: "She is inside. I have removed the Dragon Rope and the suppressing force."
"Let her out." Ren nodded.
As soon as Li Yan thought of it, the rich aura emitted by the Hunyuan Golden Bowl disappeared in an instant.
"brush!"
A moment later, a woman with disheveled clothes, disheveled hair, and a ghost mask on her cheek flew out of the golden bowl, staring at Ren Ye with murderous intent.
She was the evil witch from the Ghost Sect, Long Qingyan, who was previously captured and controlled by Li Yan and others.
"Zhu Zigui!!! You think Long Yuqing only uses and schemes against you, right?! But do you know? When you were being hunted, when you went to the Tianjiao Festival alone, he even risked his own life to get me back to protect you!"
"Even before your Divine Forbidden Protector appeared, when the fifteen sects had built a dragon viewing platform together and no one in the world could compete with them, and no one dared to support you, he told me several times that the Ghost Sect and the descendants of the Ancient Emperor had long been one and the same. No matter how dangerous the situation, they would stand firmly with you!"
"I just don't understand! The matter has already been settled, and the hidden dangers in Chaolong City have all dissipated. As long as you are willing to nod, this ancient city will usher in the most ideal ending and will also welcome a monarch who truly wants to change the status quo!"
"But you insist on being so persistent and insist on being so serious?! But have you ever thought about it? If you were in Long Yuqing's shoes, would you have a choice? Can you be sure you can do better than him? You didn't see all the dirty work, but he has been planning this for eight years, and I was his eyes in the dark. Among the Yang family generals, there is definitely more than one Yang Mingtang who has thought of killing him!"
"If someone wants to kill me, I'll take action first. What's wrong with that?!"
"What's wrong with him taking back the Long family's thousand-year-old ancestral property?!"
"...!"
The witch's voice was shrill and sorrowful, and the faint aura of a fifth-grade cultivator emanated from her, also filled with murderous intent to avenge Long Yuqing.
Ren Ye stood in front of her and asked calmly, "Let's not talk about me, nor the Yang family. Let's just talk about you. If one day, after decades, the thousand cultivators of your Li Gui Sect all advance to a higher level, the third-grade cultivators become fourth-grade, the fourth-grade cultivators become fifth-grade, and you, the fifth-grade cultivator, become sixth-grade, becoming a powerful force that cannot be ignored, and secretly doing all kinds of slaughter for him, a 'Dark Side Ghost Sect', then do you think that you would be like the Yang family today to him?"
Upon hearing this, the witch froze in place.
"If he also thinks that you are Dirty Face, the dark incarnation that he had to have when he was in the palace; and that these thousand monks are too powerful and too united... then in his anxiety, he wants to eliminate you as a price, what will you do?" Ren Ye asked again sincerely.
The witch was silent for more than ten breaths before she replied simply and decisively, "If there were no Long family, there would be no Long Qingyan today. My life was given by my father. If my brother wants to take it, then give it to him!"
If someone else said this, Ren might not believe it, but when Long Qingyan said it, he had no doubt at all.
Eight years ago, for her and Long Yuqing, the Xianlan Sect was an unstoppable immortal mountain. A few fifth-grade cultivators could crush them to pieces. Yet, under such circumstances, she still chose to remain anonymous, still chose to serve as a stabbing weapon for Long Yuqing in secret, and still chose to avenge her adoptive father...
This behavior is worthy of what she just said.
Although Long Qingyan is a woman, she understands loyalty and gratitude better than many men. She previously sacrificed her life to protect Ren Ye, just to make her brother's all-in bet pay off, so there was no falsehood in her words.
Moreover, in her worldview, the distinction between good and evil in the Jiuli was very vague. Extermination of families and massacres? That was just something that happened every day everywhere. To her, these sacrifices were necessary to reclaim the Long family's ancestral heritage.
Therefore, she does not worry about good or evil, but is just a blind follower who "helps relatives but not justice."
Ren Ye looked at her and said softly, "If you want to kill me for revenge, there's no need to rush. Let's go for a walk. I'll take you to a place that only exists in Long Yuqing's cold consciousness, but has never been seen with her own eyes."
The witch looked at him with shaking hands, remaining silent.
"I'll go with you." Li Yan was afraid that the witch would have a brain seizure and really attack the Little Bad King.
"No need."
Ren also advised: "You should take a rest, Brother Yan!"
"......!" Li Yan nodded slightly after receiving his affirmative look.
……
At night, outside Chaolong South City, in the wilderness.
What caught the eye were piles of random graves, new graves, scattered all over the mountains and covered with ashes.
On the slopes and hills, piles of unburned paper money, paper figurines, and tombstones of varying costs were faintly visible in the night wind.
Families with considerable wealth carved tombstones with regular stone slabs. They looked tall and eye-catching, and one could clearly see the name of the deceased even when standing on the official road. However, families without money could only erect tombstones with wooden boards, and the paper money burned as grave money only had a small circle the size of a watermelon.
The dead don’t know what happens after death; and the living can only remember them to the best of their ability.
The earth does not know whether it is rain or tears falling on it, but it just accepts it all mercilessly and rots all fresh corpses.
This mass grave is also part of the human world, filled with all kinds of life.
Ren Ye walked on the newly trampled winding path, heading towards the hill.
The witch followed behind, her eyes a little dazed, and her cheeks hidden under the mask were also pale.
"You are a local. Were there any mass graves here before?" Ren Ye asked without turning his head.
The witch was silent. She was extremely conflicted about Long Yuqing's death, so she didn't want to follow Ren Ye's guidance and give the "correct" answer.
But she knew where this place was and who was buried there.
There are no big shots with connections here, only cannon fodder and ants who don't even know how they died.
"Actually, I was wrong too...!"
Ren Ye, like an ordinary person, pushed the weeds in the graveyard and said something abruptly.