Upon hearing the patriarch’s words, the Captain immediately felt a bit excited. He turned to look at Sir Bloodsmelter, his eyes brimming with glittering tears. To him, Sir Bloodsmelter was a towering and mighty figure who also overflowed with warmth and kindness. The truth was that he really was the subject of a lot of malevolent gazes from millions of cultivators from two prefectures. For the patriarch to forthrightly speak up for him went to show how much the patriarch approved of him. It instantly turned all of the Captain’s feelings of humiliation into pride. All of a sudden, he realized that there really was such a thing as truth and warmth in the world. It was his Grand-Master that had always loved him the most. And he had always been the most beloved of the grand-apprentices. With that, he forced his eyelids up, causing his head to tilt slightly so he could give Xu Qing a look.

Xu Qing’s face remained expressionless as he lifted the Captain’s head up high so he could see what was going on. Then Xu Qing turned to the grand elders from Emperor-Receiving Prefecture and Injustice Prefecture and said, “Based on the Secretariat Division’s Summary Intelligence Report #A-379, I found out that the chaos in the two prefectures was caused by the Holytides. Then, Classified Dossier 214 confirmed that they were trying to awaken Forbidden by the Garment.

“In addition to that, the sealing in Injustice Prefecture was clearly going more smoothly than in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. By combining information I received from both prefectures, I confirmed that backup wasn’t immediately required in Injustice Prefecture. All Injustice Prefecture required was about a month to complete the work. Emperor-Receiving Prefecture needed more.

“I had my suspicions about what was really going on, even when I was back in the Secretariat Division. Originally, I thought that sealing the godly door in Forbidden by the Zombie was simply a more difficult task. But now, thanks to Chen Erniu’s efforts in Forbidden by the Garment, I can see that the two events are actually connected.”

The Captain was getting even more excited. He nodded vigorously. That, combined with his haggard complexion and scraggly beard, made him seem unusually tragic, and as a result, quite convincing. However, the most convincing voice came from some distance away.

“The chaos in Forbidden by the Garment has nothing to do with this human child. In fact, he’s been of immense help to my people.”

Everyone turned to see a host of garments flying out from atop the giant shroud. Once in the air, they transformed, becoming extremely colorful. They were, of course, Garmentfolk. However, there were clearly much fewer living Garmentfolk than there were dead ones. The person who had just spoken was a garment that resembled the robe of an empress. Behind her were a host of garments that looked like those of an imperial guard.

The local cultivators all clasped hands respectfully. The Garmentfolk had paid the steepest price to carry out this sealing of Forbidden by the Garment, and the words spoken by this empress’ robe clearly carried a lot of weight.

When the Garmentfolk appeared, the Captain suddenly made something of a retching sound. Looking somewhat uncomfortable, he said, “Little Ah Qing, help me out.”

Face completely expressionless, Xu Qing pulled open the Captain’s mouth, fiddled around for a moment, then pulled a glove out.

It was hard to say how the Captain had managed to hide that glove in his mouth. It was all crumpled up into a ball, and was very wrinkled. But after it was out in the open, the Captain exhaled sharply into the glove, causing it to expand to its normal shape.

It was none other than Lady Fivefingers. Having just awoken, she looked around, seemingly confused. Then she flew a few unsteady circles around the Captain’s head. After sending out some emotional fluctuations of joy, she waved to the Captain and flew back to her people.

Xu Qing noted the way the Captain looked at the glove, and something about it seemed suspicious. His gaze seemed too warm. It was a look Xu Qing had never seen in the Captain’s eyes before. Knowing that now wasn’t the time to pry, he said nothing.

The sealing of Forbidden by the Garment was essentially complete at this point. The black funerary garment was completely covered by the white shroud.

Things had gone according to plan. Two hours later, Injustice Prefecture’s Swordsage Court had already organized the human cultivators to join the forces of Emperor-Receiving Prefecture to head to the front lines of the war.

In majestic fashion, the armies began the process of leaving Forbidden by the Garment via the teleportation portal. 𝓇𝘦𝑎.𝒸ℴ𝓂

As the armies started entering the teleportation portal, Qingqin looked at Xu Qing and gave a caw. From the look in his eyes, it was obvious he was getting ready to part ways. He had helped Xu Qing because his Eldest Brother had asked him to. But that didn’t mean he would just blithely follow along and fight to the bitter end. He had his own ideals. Though he didn’t feel any malice toward humans, he didn’t love them either. What was more, he didn’t want to directly participate in a war between two major species. That was the main reason he’d refused Palace Lord Kong’s original request for help. He was more than willing to help Xu Qing as a personal favor. But he didn’t want to do favors for the species as a whole.

For the entire time, Qingqin hadn’t used any divine will, and had only used his physical voice. That said, Xu Qing could tell what he meant, and he understood the decision.

“Many thanks, Senior Qingqin!” Xu Qing said from aboard the huge flying ship. Clasping his hands, he bowed.

Qingqin soared through the sky, looked at Xu Qing with his three heads, then circled around.

“CAW! CAW! CAW!!”

With a flap of his wings, he rocketed off into the dome of heaven and disappeared over the horizon.

Xu Qing watched him go. After he was gone, he looked down at the Captain, who stood next to him. The Captain was currently as tall as Xu Qing’s knee.

“I never thought so much stuff would happen in such a short time,” the Captain said. The Captain had already grown a tiny body, which was roughly the size of an infant. His plump little hands and feet were very cute. However, when they were combined with an adult-sized head, it made him look very strange.

Xu Qing glanced around to confirm that everyone else was focused on entering the teleportation portal. Lowering his voice, he said, “Eldest Brother, what actually happened back there?”

The Captain sighed. “I really got the short end of the stick. After I teleported away from Ten Entrails Tree, I ended up in Garmentfolk territory. I happened to run into my old friend Little Sis Fivefingers. I asked her if there was anywhere fun to hang out, and as we were going along, lo-and-behold the freaking Forbidden by the Garment started waking up!!

“The waking up part wasn’t so bad. But then Little Sis Fivefingers got devoured by the forbidden ground! It happened right in front of me! She just got devoured! So what could I do? I had to go after her. I went into the depths of Forbidden by the Garment, risked my life and nearly died, all to save her!

“Of course, you know me. Things always go bad for me, right? While I was there, I figured I might as well go in a little deeper. That was when I saw this heart flying along. Looked like it was in the process of waking up. Thinking solely of revenge, I took a bite out of that heart-soul. Well. A few bites.”

The Captain cleared his throat. Clasping his two tiny hands behind his back, he looked up at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing looked back, thinking about how that face had been angrily cursing him. For some reason, Xu Qing got the sense that what happened came down to a lot more than ‘a few bites.’ Xu Qing only believed about half of what the Captain said. However, the incomplete information just confirmed in his mind that the Captain wasn’t the reason behind the disaster.

Based on what he knew of the Captain, it seemed most likely that something heaven-shaking, earth-shattering had taken place in the depths of the forbidden ground. And some unpredictable thing had occurred that not even the Holytides could have guessed was coming. When all was said and done, things worked out, and the sealing was accomplished smoothly.

Nodding, Xu Qing looked down at the diminutive Captain. “In that case, Eldest Brother, when I get back, I’ll make sure to create an official record describing your amazing accomplishment.”

The Captain’s eyebrows shot up, and he laughed heartily. “That’s my little Junior Brother! Hahaha! Here, take this.”

After glancing around furtively, the Captain produced an egg-sized green crystal and shoved it into Xu Qing’s hand. There was clearly something sealed inside, although it wasn’t visible. But once it was in his hand, Xu Qing could sense shocking fluctuations inside. The moment he had it, he felt an instinctive sense of longing coming from his soul.

Even the god’s finger in his D-132 heavenly palace stirred because of it.

Xu Qing was visibly moved. “What is this?”

“Ahem. Want to know why I said that fellow in Forbidden by the Garment is a moron?” The Captain grinned enigmatically, then winked at Xu Qing. Raising his tiny little hand, he pointed at the crystal. “That’s why.”

Xu Qing inhaled sharply and looked at the Captain with disbelief in his eyes.

“What else did you eat, Eldest Brother?”

“Nothing! Really, nothing! That’s just a tiny fraction of the half-god body that fellow was trying to make. With a lot of difficulty, I should add.” The Captain burped haughtily, then looked at Xu Qing in the hopes of getting an envious reaction.

“Half-god?” Xu Qing asked.

“Of course. Ai. Better than nothing, I suppose. It’s not like it was that amazing. You know, little Ah Qing, you showed up just a tad too late. If you’d come earlier, I might not have ended up so stuffed, and you could have had some more for yourself.” The Captain cleared his throat. Though his tone of voice came across as sounding modest, his facial expression made it seem obvious that he was very pleased with himself. “Come on, show a bit of envy for your Elder Brother.”

Xu Qing nodded in agreement, then opened his eyes wide and let his jaw drop as if in astonishment. After, he put the green crystal away to absorb later.

The Captain didn’t look very pleased, though. “Ai, little Ah Qing. That expression wasn’t very good. Come, come. You need to click your tongue in admiration, and add in a gasp too.”

Xu Qing had to admit that it made sense, so he gave it a shot. In the end, it didn’t seem to add much to the effect, though.

The Captain was pleased to see Xu Qing cooperating in this way, but he still shook his head. “Oh, you! You need to practice more!”

With that, he and Xu Qing got off the ship and started walking toward the teleportation portal. As the Captain walked along, he stretched lazily.

“By the way, little Ah Qing, what sort of things have you acquired lately?” The Captain stepped onto the portal.

“Oh, not much,” Xu Qing said coolly, also stepping onto the portal. “I did get a god body, though.”

As the teleportation portal rumbled to life, the Captain spun and said something, except Xu Qing couldn’t hear him clearly. However, the Captain had clearly gasped, and his eyes were wide. What was more, after his gasp, he apparently bit his tongue.

Oh, is that what he means by clicking the tongue? Xu Qing thought about it for a moment.

The light of teleportation flared, covering them and the cultivators from two prefectures.

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