In Sea-Sealing County’s county capital, security was very tight on the Governor’s Mansion in the very center of the city. Swordsages stood guard, but they weren’t alone. There was an entire contingent of the city guard specifically assigned to the Governor’s Mansion as well.

The mansion itself existed in two states. The first state was the part visible plainly in the outside world. But that was only one of the eight majestic palaces that made up the mansion complex. The rest was in a void world.

Teleportation into that void was controlled by the Governor’s Medallion. At that moment, Xu Qing stood in a building in the Governor’s Mansion, looking at a command medallion. On one side of the medallion were the characters Sea-Sealing, while the other side was a map of the county. This was Sea-Sealing County’s Governor’s Medallion.

Xu Qing wasn’t alone. Marquis Yao and Master Seventh were both present, and they were currently playing a game of Go. The Captain stood obediently at Master Seventh’s side, watching the game and looking for opportunities to flatter his Master.

“I already removed my personal branding mark from the Governor’s Medallion,” Marquis Yao said as he picked up a game piece. “All you have to do is send some divine will inside, and it’ll be yours.”

“Xu Qing’s still young,” Master Seventh said. “Don’t rush him, Marquis Yao. Sea-Sealing County still has us around.” Smiling, he put a piece down onto the board.

As soon as the piece clicked down, the Captain’s eyes widened. “Well-played! Very well-played! Master, you’re truly incredible. Even in my dreams I could never have come up with a move like that. Amazing! Completely amazing! I’m going to remember this move!”

Master Seventh’s eyes widened into a glare and he snorted coldly, a clear sign that he didn’t like flattery. That said, his eyes glittered with approval, and he felt wonderful inside.

Marquis Yao cast an expressionless glance at the Captain, then ignored him.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing sent some divine will into the command medallion. At roughly the same time, Master Seventh looked outside into the dome of heaven. Marquis Yao’s expression flickered as he did the same. So did Xu Qing and the Captain.

Outside, clouds seethed in the night sky as the great bird Qingqin appeared. He made a few excited cawing sounds that echoed out in all directions.

Master Seventh’s lips twitched. “This Qingqin…. Xu Qing, while you were gone, the bird remained in hiding. But he flew back out as soon as you came back.”

Xu Qing looked out at, smiled, and clasped his hands in a respectful bow. Harnessing the daybreak light within him, he sent it glittering out to cover him. That made Qingqin even happier, as he also harnessed his life essence light and sent it shining out. After circling over the county capital a few times, he went back up into the clouds to hide.

After Qingqin vanished from view, the night became very still. Inside the building, Marquis Yao carefully placed a piece onto the board.

“Erniu,” he said, “what did you accomplish in Moonrite?”

The Captain cleared his throat. “Noble Marquis, you want to know what I accomplished in the Moonrite Region? Well, I just did a few minor things. For example, I took Little Ah Qing to the red moon to look around, and also casually summoned that son of a bitch broken face. After hē opened hīs eyes and looked at that shrew Crimson Mother, shē died. Oh, I reunited with my ex-wife, and also made some new friends.”

The Captain’s tone of voice remained very relaxed as he related some heaven-shaking, earth-shattering matters.

Master Seventh’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t speak.

Meanwhile, Marquis Yao’s eyelids twitched briefly, and he said nothing for a long moment. When he did speak, he changed the subject. “The god of the Nightshades, Crimson Mother, will shē… come back to life?”

The Captain thumped himself on the chest. “There’s no way! Shē was completely and utterly destroyed. From here on out, the gods do not include Crimson Mother!”

Marquis Yao looked deeply at the Captain, then turned to Xu Qing.

Sensing the look, Xu Qing nodded. “Crimson Mother has indeed perished.”

Marquis Yao’s hand trembled slightly.

Marquis Yao was hesitant to believe things that the Captain said, but his attitude was different with Xu Qing. It was a struggle to control the shock he felt in his heart. He didn’t know how the Captain and Xu Qing had accomplished such an impossible task, nor was he inclined to inquire. Everyone had their secrets, and prying too deeply wasn’t appropriate. Besides, he already had come up with an idea of what might have gone on in Moonrite. Whether it was the ship named Jicang, or the fight in which Xu Qing called for ‘Grandpa Ninth,’ it gave plenty of food for thought.

Struggling to maintain his composure, Marquis Yao stood. “It’s late. I don’t want to interfere with this reunion between Master and apprentices.”

With that, Marquis Yao turned and walked off. Some distance away, he vanished from the Governor’s Mansion and materialized in Yao Mansion.

Once there, he looked back in the direction of the Governor’s Mansion.

Someone who can produce two apprentices like that can’t possibly be some ordinary Master. Master and apprentices alike are anything but simple. And that’s a good thing for Sea-Sealing County.

Thinking back to the news he had just heard about the Moonrite Region, his heart pounded.

There are a lot of unknowns. There must have been someone behind the scenes pulling the strings. Otherwise, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.

Back in the Governor’s Mansion, Master Seventh was alone with Xu Qing and the Captain. Now that there was no one else present, Master Seventh’s expression turned grim and he cast a glare at the Captain.

“You think you’re ready to spread your wings? If you want to go around acting suicidal, that’s your thing. But do you need to drag your little Junior Brother along to die?”

Xu Qing opened his mouth to defend the Captain, but Master Seventh interrupted him.

“Fourth Sib, I know you’re a kind person. But this time, your Eldest Brother acted far too impulsively. Entities like Crimson Mother are not to be taken lightly, especially to people with cultivation bases like the two of you. And you went alone! If you run off like that again, and make even the slightest mistake, you’ll end up killed in body and soul! There won’t be anyone there to save you!”

Master Seventh’s tone of voice caused Xu Qing to shiver inwardly. As of now, he didn’t dare to step in for his Eldest Brother. That said, he got the impression that his Master’s concern was only partly over himself and his Eldest Brother. The other aspect seemed to be… that Master Seventh was irritated they hadn’t brought him along as well.

The Captain shivered as he suddenly got a very bad feeling. He dropped to his knees.

“Master, I missed you so much!” he wailed fawningly.

Master Seventh snorted coldly.

Seeing that, the Captain blinked a few times. Eyes bloodshot, he lowered his voice and said, “Master, my little Junior Brother and I actually had another goal in the Moonrite Region. And that was to prepare a birthday gift for you. That’s why we couldn’t bring you with us. We wanted the gift to be a surprise, of course!” 1

With that, the Captain suddenly produced… two fleshy feathers.

Worried that Xu Qing might blurt out too many truthful details, he quickly continued, “My little Junior Brother and I managed to get four feathers in total. We each took one, and left the final two for you, Master, as a filial expression of birthday well-wishes. Master, we would like to offer you congratulations early. We hereby hope your longevity matches heaven, and that you receive the blessing of becoming an immortal!”

Master Seventh didn’t even look at the two feathers as he continued to glare at the Captain. He was very familiar with how his apprentice operated, and knew full well that two mere feathers could only be a drop of water in the ocean compared to whatever other loot he acquired.

Seeing the look in his Master’s eyes, the Captain cleared his throat.

“Master, we weren’t alone earlier, so it wasn’t convenient to go into much detail about what happened. But rest assured, my little Junior Brother and I accomplished some big things in the Moonrite Region. The most important of all is that, as we always do when we accomplish big things, we made sure to boost our Master’s divine reputation!”

“Oh?” Master Seventh said.

The Captain could sense his Master’s tone of voice softening, so he quickly kept on speaking. “First, we made it very clear that our Master was the one who made sure Crimson Mother was asleep. After making sure your banner was hoisted high for all to see, we woke up the Heir Apparent and his brothers and sisters.

“We told them that our Master is unparalleled under heaven, and that he not only put Crimson Mother to sleep so deeply shē couldn’t wake up, but also, he had sent us on a secret mission to destroy Crimson Mother. Master, you might not have been there, but your name turned out to be our biggest safeguard.

“Am I right, little Ah Qing?”

Xu Qing nodded and earnestly said, “Master, the Heir Apparent gave us a message to pass along to you now that we’re back.”

With that, Xu Qing took a golden jade slip out of his bag of holding and respectfully offered it to Master Seventh.

On the way back, both Xu Qing and the Captain had closely examined that jade slip, only to find it was impossible to pry into the contents without destroying it.

Expression neutral, Master Seventh accepted the jade slip.

Xu Qing and the Captain had been unable to open it, but he opened it with complete ease. After checking the contents, Master Seventh looked surprised. Then his gaze softened, until he finally revealed a look of pride.

When Xu Qing and the Captain saw that, they breathed sighs of relief.

The Captain even crawled over to Master Seventh’s side and quietly said, “Master, in the end, little Ah Qing and I managed to unify the Moonrite Region. We even summoned Imperial Sovereign Li Zihua. I invited a High God to help us, and the amazing little Ah Qing also invited one.”

Xu Qing refrained from adding anything.

The Captain blinked a few times and continued, “Ultimately, a past version of Li Zihua stepped through time, sacrificed himself, and caused the broken face’s eyes to open. The red moon became a god world, and disappeared from Revered Ancient!

“Master, things went very smoothly because of Li Zihua…. Although it seemed like the two of us made everything happen, the reality is that in researching every step of the plan, I found evidence of Li Zihua’s hand. I actually made a deal with him in the past, and got a similar feeling. It was like… he was waiting for me this whole time.”

The Captain’s expression looked very serious.

It was Xu Qing’s first time hearing the Captain talk like this, and it was very thought-provoking.

Master Seventh put the jade slip away and didn’t ask any more questions. He took the two feathers, then suddenly reached toward the Captain and made a grasping gesture.

The Captain shivered as a blue scepter emerged from his forehead and flew over to Master Seventh’s hand.

Next, Master Seventh looked at Xu Qing and made another grasping gesture. The Spike of Misfortune flew out and landed in Master Seventh’s hand.

“I’m going to take these feathers and integrate them into your weapons. It will push them to a higher level, and will also benefit the spirit automatons.” Having said that, Master Seventh stood. “Alright, I’m leaving now. Going forward, you two, remember that when you go on big jobs, you have to be careful. Don’t be impulsive!”

With a final cold harrumph, Master Seventh turned, walked off, and vanished into thin air.

When he materialized, he was in the Lieutenant Governor’s Mansion. He was alone there, and it was very quiet. Standing with his hands clasped behind his back, he looked up into the dome of heaven.

After a while, the wind blew, stirring his hair and robes, and making him feel like he might drift away with the breeze. A very complex expression finally overtook Master Seventh’s face. It almost seemed like he wasn’t even looking at the canopy of heaven over Revered Ancient, but rather, the endless starry sky beyond it.

“Li Zihua did it…” Master Seventh murmured.

1. The specific words the Captain uses for birthday and birthday gift here are sort of unique. They’re not the common word for birthday, but rather, a special term used for the birthday of a respected elderly person. ?

Deathblade’s Thoughts

Many thanks to Heavenly Piyo Emperor and kkaliff for the reviews!