☆ Chapter 35: The First Step in Clearing the General Ledger

Shen Qingqiu didn't know when he got back to the Jinzi Weapon Shop. He went upstairs and entered his room, still in a daze. He collapsed onto the bed, feeling as if his brain, stomach acid, and blood were churning. Something was crawling along them, and he tossed and turned.

The blood of the ancient demon can still be controlled by the bloodline inheritor even after leaving the body. If someone else drinks it, the consequences are not necessarily only death; there are many worse possibilities.

For example, in the original work, after Luo Binghe gained complete control over his blood, its uses included poison, human parasitic blood worms, tracking and locating devices, physical brainwashing tools, sex toys, and so on.

Shen Qingqiu was covered in cold sweat, half-asleep, and only fell into a deep sleep at dawn. He hadn't slept for long when he was abruptly awakened by a series of earth-shattering cheers.

He stumbled and rolled off the bed. Since he had lain down fully clothed that night, he didn't need to put on any clothes. Just as he was about to open the door, it suddenly sprang open by itself, and a bouncing boy burst in.

Yang Yixuan exclaimed excitedly, "The city gates are open! The city gates are open!"

Shen Qingqiu: "What?"

Yang Yixuan shouted, "Those red monsters have all been captured! The city gates are open! Jinlan City has finally survived!" Tears welled in his eyes again as he thought of his father's death. Shen Qingqiu, confused herself, felt compelled to comfort him, thinking: So fast, they were all captured in just one night?

With the city gates open, cultivators from various sects who had been observing from miles away poured into the city and gathered in a spacious square, where Mu Qingfang distributed the prepared pills. The once lifeless Jinlan City was now filled with joy.

A total of seven living seed sowers were captured and isolated within the barrier of Zhaohua Temple.

Seeing that Liu Qingge seemed lost in thought, Shen Qingqiu walked up to her and whispered, "What happened last night?"

Liu Qingge glanced at him: "What's wrong with your apprentice?"

Shen Qingqiu: "What did he do?"

Liu Qingge slowly said, "Last night, he caught five, and I caught two." He looked at Shen Qingqiu: "What exactly happened during the years that Luo Binghe disappeared?"

To be able to steal a monster from the master of Hundred Battles Peak, and to make matters worse, to win, is truly a disgrace to the disciples of Hundred Battles Peak!

Furthermore, can this data be verified? In terms of combat strength, the current ratio is Luo Binghe: Liu Qingge = 5:2...

Suddenly, the disciples nearby all quieted down and made way for them. Not far away, the leaders of several sects slowly approached. Yue Qingyuan and the Palace Master of Huanhua Palace walked side by side, followed by Tianyi Temple and Zhaohua Temple, each going their own way.

Luo Binghe stood beside the Palace Master of Huanhua Palace.

The early morning sun shone on him, making him look refreshed and radiant. Shen Qingqiu compared himself to him and felt depressed.

Lian Yueqingyuan approached, looked at him for a while, and said with concern, "Junior brother, you look terrible. I really shouldn't have let you come."

Shen Qingqiu chuckled dryly, "I just didn't sleep well last night."

When Mu Qingfang returned after distributing the pills, she was also shocked: "Senior brother, why did things turn out like this overnight? Did you take the medicine I left in your room?"

Shen Qingqiu hurriedly replied, "I ate, I ate." Please don't ask him again if he took his medicine today!

Suddenly, a commotion arose from the other end. Shen Qingqiu turned his head and immediately wanted to turn away in dismay. He saw a middle-aged man dressed in mourning clothes, leading a large group of men and women, who insisted on kneeling before Luo Binghe. It was none other than the city lord of Jinlan City.

Overwhelmed with emotion, he exclaimed, "I am deeply grateful to all the immortal masters who risked their lives to save my town. I have no way to repay this kindness. If you ever need my help in the future, I will gladly risk my life for you!"

Shen Qingqiu's lips twitched. It was the standard plot: after defeating the monsters, he recruited followers and collected the rewards. And in these situations, only the protagonist always gets all the spoils, while everyone else who helped becomes background noise. Even if he didn't say it himself, at least two of them were captured by Liu Qingge, and Mu Qingfang was just distributing medicine there.

Luo Binghe's response was also very standard, humbly saying, "City Lord, please rise. Jinlan City has safely weathered this calamity thanks to the concerted efforts of all factions. One person's strength alone could hardly reach the heavens."

His words and actions were both sincere and proper, which made the other factions feel a little better, and their own glory was not diminished. The city lord praised him again: "Last night I personally witnessed this young master subdue these harmful things with all his might. His cultivation is remarkable. Truly, heroes emerge from the young, and great teachers produce outstanding students! Your Excellency has a worthy successor."

When Luo Binghe heard the words "a great teacher produces outstanding students," his smile deepened. He glanced over at Shen Qingqiu, his gaze lightly touching her cheek like a dragonfly skimming the water.

Shen Qingqiu unfolded her fan to avoid the situation.

The old palace master looked at Luo Binghe with approval mixed with affection. Others might not understand, but Shen Qingqiu understood perfectly: this was the gaze one would give to their future successor and proud son-in-law.

The seven seed sowers, trapped in a circle, were croaking and making a fuss, which was quite unsettling. Someone asked, "What should we do with these filthy creatures?"

Yue Qingyuan asked, "Qingqiu, do you have any ideas?"

Shen Qingqiu pondered and said, "I have read in ancient books that sowers fear high temperatures. It seems that it was mentioned that burning them with fire is the only way to completely remove the corrosive and infectious properties of their bodies."

It's very easy to understand; disinfection requires high temperatures.

One cultivator exclaimed in shock, "This... how can this be allowed? Isn't this method just as barbaric and cruel as that of the demons?"

His voice was quickly drowned out by the angry shouts of the surviving citizens of Jinlan City.

During this period of rampant plague, countless innocent lives have been lost in the city, their deaths gruesome and mutilated. A once bustling commercial metropolis has been reduced to this horrific state. At this time, expressing sympathy for the sowers and demonstrating humanitarianism would be tantamount to becoming an enemy of the entire city of Jinlan. The few cultivators soon found themselves surrounded by an overwhelming chorus of shouts: "Burn them!" "Anyone who opposes us will be burned too!"

The seven sowers within the barrier mostly bared their teeth and cackled, showing no sign of weakness. Shen Qingqiu suspected they might still consider themselves heroes who had brought a bountiful harvest to their race. Only the smallest sower wept bitterly, burying his face in his hands.

Seeing this, some people began to feel sorry for him again. Qin Wanyue bit her lip and approached Luo Binghe, saying, "Young Master Luo, that weak seed sower looks so pitiful."

Luo Binghe smiled at her but did not respond.

In Shen Qingqiu's opinion, the girls' reactions were really perfunctory and should be considered failing. According to the original work, shouldn't he have taken this opportunity to express his sympathy with gentle words? How come Luo Binghe's leveling speed has increased, but his skills in picking up girls have decreased?

Unfortunately, he had a face that looked gentle and elegant from any angle and with any expression. Qin Wanyue was momentarily distracted, forgetting what she had just said, and continued to watch with great satisfaction.

"They look so pitiful"—but are they as pitiful as those who inexplicably contracted the plague and died with their bodies rotting?

As Shen Qingqiu was inwardly complaining, something far beyond his expectations happened.

The skinny seed sower lunged forward, crashing into the edge of the barrier with a thud. His scarlet face contorted even more grotesquely with his wailing cries, and he cried out, "Immortal Master Shen, please don't let them burn me to death! I beg you, Immortal Master Shen, please save me!"

In that instant, Shen Qingqiu felt as if a string in his mind had snapped.

Who the hell are you?!

You just pounced on me like that, and you even have this 'Master Shen Xian' name?! I really don't know you at all!!!

Thousands of eyes across the square immediately focused on Shen Qingqiu.

The sower continued to wail, "We only follow your orders, we never said we were to be burned!"

WTF!!!

This unexpected turn of events, this blatant and blunt accusation! Shen Qingqiu was utterly dumbfounded.

What made him even more intoxicated was that the old palace master of the Illusion Flower Palace said, "Shouldn't Immortal Master Shen offer an explanation for what this thing is saying?"

But people actually believe such a low-level trick!

Immediately, someone else chimed in, "That's right!"

And it wasn't just one person!

The Twelve Peaks are united with each other, so this statement clearly targeted a specific group, causing displeasure among many Cangqiong Mountain Sect cultivators. Yue Qingyuan's face turned even colder.

Qi Qingqi sneered, "Anyone with a brain should be able to see that this thing is just unwilling to accept its impending death and wants to drag someone down with it. It's a complete frame-up. All the villains in the demon realm are like this. It's ridiculous that someone would fall for it!"

The old palace master said calmly, "Then why not frame others? Frame Immortal Master Shen alone is something worth considering."

Shen Qingqiu was impressed by his logic.

Luo Binghe remained silent, still maintaining his gentle and handsome appearance, staring intently at them with a perfectly measured expression of surprise.

However, Shen Qingqiu was absolutely certain that his dark, star-like eyes were full of smiles.

In the original work, the point of hatred that made Shen Qingqiu's crime unforgivable was that he harmed his fellow disciples and personally killed Liu Qingge. However, right now, Liu Qingge is standing right next to him. If anyone tries to beat him up, Liu Qingge might even lend a hand. The charge is completely unfounded!

If a stain isn't enough, then use slander to make up for it?

Very well. Luo Binghe, you're ruthless!

Suddenly, a disciple from the Illusion Flower Palace stepped forward. He had a few freckles on his face and was the same disciple who had mocked Shen Qingqiu in the abandoned building that day. He bowed and said, "Palace Master, I have just discovered something, but I don't know if I should say it."

Shen Qingqiu said expressionlessly, "Speak your mind. Since you've already opened your mouth, why say 'I don't know whether I should speak or not'? Isn't that just contradicting yourself?"

The disciple probably didn't expect a senior to challenge him. His face turned red and white, and even his pockmarks seemed to change color. He didn't dare to retort, so he could only glare fiercely at Shen Qingqiu: "Yesterday, this disciple and several fellow disciples noticed that Senior Shen had a few red spots on his arm. We could see them very clearly, but today, the red spots have all disappeared!"

"Senior Mu of the Cangqiong Mountain Sect personally stated that the pills distributed in the city earlier would take twelve hours to take effect. Young Master Luo took the antidote in front of us, yet the red spots on his hands have not faded. Why is it that only Senior Shen has recovered so quickly, with the red spots completely disappearing? In any case, this disciple believes that this is highly suspicious!"

Shen Qingqiu sighed inwardly: He knew that Luo Binghe wasn't really that kind of person to help him remove the rotten seed.

Yue Qingyuan slowly said, "My junior brother is stationed at Qingjing Peak. As the peak master, he has always been a role model for the sect. His character is noble and pure, and everyone in the sect knows him. You all are too gullible to believe such nonsense."

Shen Qingqiu's face flushed red. "Senior brother, please don't be like this. Are you serious? If you're making me lie like this to protect me, I'll feel terrible!" Whether it's the original or the readily available, it probably doesn't even come close to being "of noble character." Oh wait, at least the original might have a hint of that.

The old palace master said, "Is that so? This is quite different from what I heard."

Shen Qingqiu's heart sank.

It seems he's destined to be dragged into this today.

Author's Note: Phew, finally finished posting...

Hopefully, this time we won't get stuck in a situation that makes everyone want to kill someone.

Thank you to everyone who bought V! (bows)