Xu Qing’s pupils constricted.

He recognized this lamp. It was a hellspirit bloodwing lamp! Back when he was in Holytide territory in disguise as a Nightshade, he had acquired one of these lamps, and currently had it inside of him as one of his dao souls. However, the lamp he currently had was the left wing, which provided a boost to speed. In front of him now was the right wing.

Many thoughts were running through his mind as he looked up at Marquis Yao.

Marquis Yao looked back at him with a meaningful expression. Smiling, he lifted his cup and took a sip of tea. He didn’t speak.

Xu Qing likewise didn’t say anything. He knew that in Sea-Sealing County, both the governor and the palace lords were all complicated people. Considering that Marquis Yao was one of that group of five people who were considered the most powerful in Sea-Sealing County, he was just the same.

All in all, not just anyone could befriend so many nonhumans, and earn their trust. Nor could many people keep the truth about themselves hidden for so long, only to reveal it right at the perfect time. Even more telling was that, in the end, he had identified all members of his clan who truly preferred nonhumans over humans, and he had purged them with blood.

Whether it was in terms of his thinking ability or his methods, Marquis Yao was among the best of the best. It was no coincidence that he was giving Xu Qing this specific lamp.

Back during the battle at the altar, I revealed my life lamp umbrellas. I guess that was a bit of a slip-up…. Of course, it wasn’t as if he’d had much choice in the heat of the moment.

Xu Qing was right: Marquis Yao had noted his life lamp umbrellas, then used a secret identity of his among the Holytides, plus other connections, to secure the matching lamp.

Upon seeing Xu Qing’s thoughtful expression, Marquis Yao smiled. He could only hope that this lesson would help Xu Qing to be a bit more thoughtful in the future, and thus grow up a bit faster, at least in terms of thinking ability. The lesson had been emphasized enough, so Marquis Yao put down his cup of tea. .

“Although it might not be obvious to someone paying attention to the war, the Holytides actually suffered losses as significant as our own. For example, most of the small nations around the Ten Entrails Tree were destroyed. And many of their Black Guard cultivators died.”

Having reached this point, Marquis Yao stopped talking for a moment and looked Xu Qing in the eyes.

“Some died before. Some died in the last half a month. During the transfer of the Heavengale Imperial Palace, many records were lost. Emperor Heavengale is very apologetic about it.”

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Xu Qing, given your current status, you have the right to know a few things. For years, the governor, myself, and Brother Liangxiu were working on a complicated plan to earn the trust of the Holytides. My job was to deal primarily with Emperor Heavengale, to convince him to desert the Holytides and rejoin humankind!”

Marquis Yao’s words caused Xu Qing’s heart to start pounding. Considering that the Holytides on the northern front had been the forces of Emperor Heavengale and Emperor Moonmist, it explained how Marquis Yao had managed to somehow avoid getting killed.

“I got about eighty percent of the way to achieving my goal. If I’d had ten more years, I could have succeeded…. Unfortunately, things changed. In the fighting on the northern front, Emperor Moonmist was such a menacing force that we even suspected he had human traitors working for him….” Marquis Yao’s eyes turned cold. “The deaths of Brother Hengxin and Brother Rongyu are not as simple as they seem. When Emperor Heavengale held his hand and allowed me to escape, Seventh Prince arrived and took control. Given that he showed up out of nowhere to save me, I had my suspicions about what was going on. But I had no choice other than to start working for him.”

Xu Qing picked up his cup and looked at the tea swirling inside.

Marquis Yao kept talking. “Xu Qing, I’m telling you all of this so that you can hopefully see the bigger picture. Right now, you’re more than just a swordsage.

“You have status. But you’re also like a game piece on the board. What assets you have, you need to use. Based on what I’ve heard, Emperor Heavengale is currently representing their ancestral emperor in the negotiations with Seventh Prince. One of the things they’re haggling over are territory rights.

“We’re going to be taking over several counties. Plus, we need to expand Sea-Sealing County….

“On the surface, the Holytides have cut their ties to the Nightshades. But given how long I’ve dealt with them, and everything I’ve come to learn about how Holytides think and operate, I don’t think there’s any way they’ll really isolate themselves in that way. They’re definitely going to keep some secret connections to the Nightshades.

“For example, in the negotiation party from the Kingdom of Heavengale are members of their nobility, in other words, people in the top two levels of their caste hierarchy. From what I’ve heard, one of them received a caste promotion from a Nightshade godchild.”

Marquis Yao’s eyes glittered as he looked at Xu Qing. It was very rare for him to speak so openly with other people.

Xu Qing’s facial expression remained the same as ever. Inside he was thinking that, after everything that had happened, he could trust Marquis Yao. What was more, there didn’t seem any reason to hide things from him. After some more thought, Xu Qing put down his tea cup, took out a jade slip, released some of his violet moon aura, then handed the jade slip to Marquis Yao.

“Mu Ye.” 1 𝘪𝘦.𝘤𝑜

Marquis Yao took the jade slip and studied it for a short time.

“Xu Qing, although I have a general idea of what you accomplished as the ‘Nightshade godchild,’ there are obviously a lot of details I don’t understand. Do you think you can trust this Mu Ye?”

“I can kill him with a thought,” Xu Qing replied softly.

Marquis Yao smiled and nodded. Next, he went on to explain to Xu Qing what he had learned about the ‘light from beyond the heavens.’

“As the name implies, this type of light comes from beyond the Revered Ancient mainland. More specifically, they’re a mysterious type of light beam that exists in the void. No one knows where they come from, and they’re extremely rare. It’s highly uncommon for them to reach Revered Ancient, and it’s very hard to capture and preserve them.

“At least, that was the situation before the broken face of the god arrived. After the face arrived, they virtually disappeared. They can indeed be used to integrate life lamps, but the cost is immense. You have to spend some of your own life force.”

Xu Qing sighed inwardly. It sounded like getting light from beyond the heavens would be as hard as fishing a needle from the sea. In fact, it seemed almost impossible. After chatting for a bit longer, Xu Qing bid farewell to Marquis Yao. By the time he left Yao Mansion, it was evening.

Once out in the open, he heard Ling’er’s voice.

“Big Bro Xu Qing, you need to be careful around those two female cultivators! There was something very strange about the way they were looking at you. Especially the one who spilled the tea. There’s something very fishy about her. You absolutely, positively have to be careful, Big Bro Xu Qing. I fear they might be trying to hurt you!”

Ling’er seemed very sincere.

In response, Xu Qing thought back to the situation as a whole. Considering what happened with Zhang Siyun, it seemed entirely likely that Yao Yunhui might be plotting against him. He nodded. In contrast, he wasn’t sure what to make of Yao Feihe. However, he decided to keep an eye on the situation.

Ling’er was very pleased that Xu Qing seemed to agree with her. She felt very useful at being able to help him keep an eye out for dangers. Thus, she flew out from Xu Qing’s sleeve and coiled up on his shoulder next to his ear.

“Big Bro Xu Qing,” she whispered, “I can actually be very useful. Once I can take human form again, which will be soon, I can even do housework! Oh, right. I can sing too! You see, I’m a very quick learner, and some of my Wood Spirit friends taught me. I’m pretty good! Can I sing a song for you?”

Ling’er seemed so happy that Xu Qing couldn’t help but smile and nod.

Ling’er started to sing in a voice like a misty rain, which reached all the way to Xu Qing’s heart.

“The moonlight, diffuse.

“Sunlight on the trellised rail, abstruse;

“Rain falls, light and loose;

“Heartbreak ebbs and flows, but never is reduced.

“Say not you’ll join me in your next life, just say we’re fated to meet again like before….

“I have no regrets in this life, I just hope the flowers will bloom for you evermore.

“In the next life, I’ll look back, smile, and wait millions of years for the fated encore….”

Ling’er’s young, tender voice seemed to flow right to Xu Qing’s heart.

As the sun slowly sank toward the horizon, he walked the streets of the capital, keeping his aura concealed, and hiding any trace of his passage. He passed the people, and he passed the clamor, and he felt calm. As the wind blew past him, he listened to the song, and his hair drifted along with the lyrics.

When the red light of sunset arrived, the little white snake almost looked like a young woman, her face flushed as she softly sang.

***

Some distance away in the Lieutenant Governor’s Mansion, Master Seventh stood in a building looking down at the street. His gaze fell on Xu Qing, and he smiled. Marquis Yao stepped out of thin air to join him. They stood together.

Master Seventh sighed. “How wonderful to be young.”

Marquis Yao laughed softly. “Couldn’t have said it better myself. How nice to be young.”

“Exactly.” Master Seventh looked at the marquis. “Now, considering that my apprentice saved your clan and cleared your name, you have to keep a close watch over him and keep him safe. If you don’t… if your heart turns cold… then no one will step out to say they object to what happens.”

“You still don’t trust me, do you?” Marquis Yao asked quietly.

A very meaningful look appeared in Master Seventh’s eyes. “Something occurred to me recently. When everything happened the other day… if I hadn’t said something, would you have stepped in?”

Marquis Yao looked at Xu Qing off in the distance, and took a moment to think seriously about the question. He even visualized the situation that played out half a month ago.

“I probably would have.”

Master Seventh didn’t respond for a while. After looking at the sunset for a time, he said, “How did the discussion go with him?”

“He gave me a name. I’ll have my people connect with this person, and we can use him to keep Seventh Prince in check. The three prefectures we lost haven’t been returned yet. Sea-Sealing County isn’t strong enough to be a threat to anyone right now.” Marquis Yao turned to look at Master Seventh. “Any progress with the puppet corpses of Brother Hengxin and Brother Rongyu?”

Master Seventh shook his head. “They’re the next generation of the experimental god body. I haven’t even been able to restart them yet. But I have some ideas. I’ll be heading back to Seven Blood Eyes soon to retrieve my other research material. In fact, I plan to move Seven Blood Eyes here to the county capital.”

Marquis Yao nodded. He didn’t have any issues with Seven Blood Eyes being moved to the capital. Having no further questions, he turned and left.

After Marquis Yao was gone, Master Seventh looked down at his hands. Visible on his palm was a magical symbol formed from god vitality. It was a unique little thing he had been researching, and it had one purpose. It detected lies. Normally speaking, gods were supposed to be omniscient and omnipotent. Although that was only true relatively speaking, what it did mean was that gods were much more easily able to tell the difference between what was true and what wasn’t.

As Master Seventh looked at the symbol, it flickered. He nodded.

He was being completely sincere, but at the same time, not totally honest. Well, people’s hearts can change. Since Sea-Sealing County is supposed to belong to Fourth Sib… it will be his.

Master Seventh’s eyes shone as he thought for a moment, then took out a jade slip to send a voice message to Xu Qing.

“Fourth Sib, in three days I’m leaving the county capital. I’m taking a trip back to Seven Blood Eyes. It’s been a while since you’ve been back. Want to come along?”

1. We learned Mu Ye’s name in chapter 445, but he was originally introduced in 441. In 458, we learned he had become a godservant. ?

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