Chapter 4 Taking the Common People as His Responsibility "But he is your master."...

Fu Yusheng had been waiting for a long time, holding the baby Pixiu.

He was the most promising disciple of Nanyu Mountain. At a young age, he managed all the affairs of the Luduan Sect for Nanyu Mountain and taught many disciples. Even his appearance was exceptionally outstanding.

Her willow-leaf eyes were sharp and affectionate, her face was adorned with spring-like hair, and her waist was exceptionally slender, like a woman's—that was a joke from years ago, but since Fu Yusheng took the position of sect leader, no one has dared to mention it.

Seeing Heng Qichun leading Hua Jiuyao in, he gathered his sleeves and bowed, his slender eyes flashing with a dark blue light for a moment, "Master, God, Your Majesty the Mermaid Emperor."

"Now you can speak," Hua Jiuyao sneered, glancing sideways at them. "What exactly caused my son's death? Why don't you punish that wicked disciple!"

Nan Yushan's face was ashen. After entering the hall, he only glanced at the Pixiu in his arms before turning his gaze away and snorting coldly, "You refused to hand over Lou Yan when asked, so explain it yourself."

He was actually talking to Heng Qichun.

Heng Qichun said, "Okay."

He always possessed a kind of compassionate divinity. Even though he was extremely cold-hearted, his clear eyes could always see through people and carried a kind of inexplicable humility.

He said, "Qi Chun cannot truly understand the pain of the Mermaid King losing his son."

"But the Eighteen Realms have the responsibility to protect all living beings. All the disciples under their command take it as their duty to eliminate demons and protect the righteous path. Your son has attracted a ghost into his body. If this is not stopped, it may bring disaster to all living beings."

"What did you say? Inviting a ghost into your body..." Hua Jiuyao glared angrily, "How could my son do such a thing!"

She frowned and looked at Heng Qichun, quickly guessing, "Who knows if the God Venerable fabricated such a lie to cover up his disciples?"

"I'm not making excuses." Heng Qichun's face was extremely pale. As he spoke, he had to reach out and press his heart meridian. His spiritual power was sealed, and his body was even weaker than that of an ordinary person.

He cleared his throat before continuing, "The young Pixiu under the Lu Duan sect can tell the truth."

Fu Yusheng dared not say another word, and waited until Heng Qichun finished speaking before stepping forward and bowing again, "Your Majesty the Mermaid Emperor."

“The Pixiu is an ancient mythical beast that does not lie to humans or demons. It was on that mountain when your son had the accident.”

He opened his hand and handed over the Pixiu from his arms.

The cub's eyes were already brimming with tears, its scales eroded by the tears. It struggled incessantly in Fu Yusheng's hands, as if it had suffered a great injustice.

Fu Yusheng looked a little embarrassed, and with an "uh," he looked up and asked the Mermaid King, "Do you need me to translate?"

"No need, let it speak."

Although the Merfolk are of the righteous path, they were once considered demons and are proficient in animal languages.

Then no one spoke in the hall anymore, except for the pitiful cries of the little Pixiu.

"Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh whoosh!! Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!!"

After the little beast finished whimpering and saying its piece, Fu Yusheng finally took pity on it and let go.

The Pixiu pawed twice on the ground, then rushed to Heng Qichun's feet with teary eyes, hugging the man's robe and wiping away its tears.

—Fu Yusheng was covered in the aura of various ferocious gods and beasts, and it was already terrified.

Heng Qichun squatted down, his jade-like fingertips emerging from his sleeve to gently stroke the back of the Pixiu's neck.

The frightened little beast was quickly calmed down, and with two "whoosh" sounds, it opened its mouth and tried to let the handsome deity choose a piece of gold.

Heng Qichun didn't pick up its gold. Instead, he held the Pixiu by the back of its neck and picked it up, looking at Hua Jiuyao, who was still in shock.

"The Mermaid King should know that once the demon is successfully brought into the body, the mermaid will fall completely into the demonic path. Even if its cultivation greatly improves, it will be of no use," Heng Qichun said. "No one can resist the erosion of demonic energy. The demonic path will make people no longer like humans."

Hua Jiuyao was still in shock. After a long while, she turned her head away, her eyes instantly turning red, and choked out, "I know..."

She was able to lead the Merfolk out of the Demon Realm and establish their own place in the Immortal Sect, so she was certainly not someone who acted indiscriminately.

But she is also a mother.

After a moment of stunned silence, the woman's spiritual energy dispersed, and water droplets rose into the air, splashing and crackling as they broke apart.

Hua Jiuyao closed his eyes and said in a hoarse voice, "It's a pity that it didn't have time to cultivate into a human..."

Heng Qichun paused for a moment and put the Pixiu cub down.

Nan Yushan saw through his intention at a glance and called out in a cold voice, "Heng Qichun."

Heng Qichun ignored his senior brother, straightened up, and lightly gathered his sleeves, his tone still indifferent.

"Although your son's physical body is no longer here," he looked up at the Mermaid King who was asking for money with a look of deep sorrow, "he still has a wisp of his soul."

Heng Qichun spread his hands. He had no spiritual power at the moment, and forcibly drawing out the soul of the mermaid would only damage his own cultivation. A fine layer of cold sweat immediately appeared on his forehead.

Nan Yushan finally couldn't hold back any longer. He gently raised his hand and pointed, helping Heng Qichun to draw out the soul of the mermaid.

The soul rose up naturally, and although it had no physical form, it could still be seen that it was a small shark with a pale blue luster.

It lay quietly in Heng Qichun's palm, without making a sound, with only its back rising and falling gently.

Hua Jiuyao's fingertips trembled, and his spiritual power spread uncontrollably. After a long while, he finally reached out with trembling hands to grab the soul, two lines of blue tears streaming down his face.

"I have expelled the ghostly energy from its body and am now using spiritual power to help it recover," Heng Qichun said slowly, his face pale.

Hua Jiuyao's tears flowed uncontrollably as she held a small ball of light in her palm, which was still trembling slightly.

She suddenly sighed, as if she had lost all her strength, "The merfolk are also demons. Even if they have spiritual power to cultivate, I'm afraid they... will not be able to grow a physical form again."

Heng Qichun looked at her and said, "It's alright. Just take a drop of my blood every day, and you'll be able to grow a physical body."

The hall fell silent. Nan Yushan and Fu Yusheng looked at him together, as if something was about to fall from the sky and cleave this hot and dry world in an instant, peering into the bewildered hearts within.

Nan Yushan was so angry he almost gritted his teeth. "Heng Qichun! Think about the burdens you bear!"

“Senior Brother.” Heng Qichun turned to look at him, a fleeting light flashing in his noble eyes, extremely humble yet extremely stubborn, “Qichun’s responsibility is to protect all living beings under heaven, and the Merfolk are among them.”

“Even without Lou Yan interfering, I would have done the same.”

Nanyu Mountain is silent.

With a "whoosh," the Pixiu cub clung to the hem of Heng Qichun's robe, whimpering, and the gold and stone in its mouth fell to the ground with a "crackling" sound.

I was so touched.

Fu Yusheng seized the opportunity to pick up the little beast, instantly stopping its crying, and silently stepped aside.

Heng Qichun bowed and coughed for a while, then patted his chest to catch his breath. He then drew a line on the tip of his index finger with his thumb, and a drop of bright red blood immediately appeared.

“My apprentice is impetuous, so I’ll apologize on his behalf.” With that, the drop of blood fell directly onto the mermaid’s soul.

That is the blood of God.

A faint, ethereal soul immediately emitted a brighter, pale halo, and one could even vaguely see the young shark move, looking quite content.

The sundial beneath the Guanyin statue gradually shifted, the light and shadow inch by inch across the deity's face, tracing his cold, stern eyebrows and his still-white hair.

Amidst Hua Jiuyao's relieved sobs, Wei Xiuzhu, hiding behind the Guanyin statue, timidly spoke, "Senior Brother Lou..."

Lou Yan stood with his back against the statue, arms crossed, raising one eyebrow listlessly, his eyes cold. "What?"

Wei Xiuzhu hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice, pointed to the temple outside, and said, "The Mermaid Emperor has left. It seems he doesn't intend to cause you any more trouble."

"She even left her son's soul with the deity. Unexpectedly, the deity was actually willing to take his own blood every day for a mermaid..."

"laugh--"

Lou Yan laughed, interrupting him before he could finish speaking.

That was the last true god in the human realm, who took it upon himself to protect all living beings. Let alone a mermaid, even if an ant died in front of him, he would probably feel compassion and chant Buddhist prayers to help it pass on to the afterlife.

This is how the world sees Heng Qichun.

Lou Yan scoffed at this, got up and left the Guanyin statue, raised his chin at Wei Xiuzhu, and said, "I've had enough of the show, let's go."

Wei Xiuzhu didn't leave. He stood there, gazing longingly at the scene in the hall. He immediately noticed his master Nan Yushan's frighteningly dark face.

“The God…” He was honest and straightforward. He held down the lizard in his arms that was trying to escape and said worriedly, “The God’s favoritism and protection might get him reprimanded by the sect leader.”

Lou Yan let out another sarcastic laugh.

He finally lowered his arms, raised his hand to tease the lizard that was peeking out from Wei Xiuzhu's arms, pressed the little thing's head back, and said nonchalantly, "They are fellow disciples from the same school. Whether I scold them or not has nothing to do with me."

Wei Xiuzhu was stunned for a moment, and suddenly felt that Senior Brother Lou was a bit unfamiliar at this moment.

Before he could figure it out, Lou Yan had already flicked his sleeves, turned around, and left through the small door of the back hall.

The lizard in his arms was eager to escape again, so Wei Xiuzhu had to hold its head down, raise his hand to form a hand seal, and mutter a long passage of immortal incantation.

—The sleeping technique that Fu Yusheng taught me yesterday is simple, easy to use, and always effective.

The lizard rolled its eyes and collapsed into his arms. Wei Xiuzhu hurriedly stuffed the little creature into his sleeve and ran after Lou Yan.

"Senior Brother Lou!"

Lou Yan stamped his foot, his gaze already showing some impatience.

The two stopped on the jade brick ground behind the Tianyin Palace. The midday sun was scorching, and the dazzling light made it almost impossible to open one's eyes.

Wei Xiuzhu felt his mouth was dry and stopped in front of Lou Yan, put his hands on his knees, bent over and kept panting.

After a long pause, he managed to say, "But..."

"But he is your master."

Lou Yan suddenly looked up.

His sharp, piercing eyes pierced through the scorching sunlight and looked straight into the Heavenly Sound Palace.

Only Heng Qichun and Nanyushan remained in the hall.

His spiritual power had not yet recovered, and his face was naturally pale and sickly. He barely managed to maintain the posture of clutching his chest, while his other hand was outstretched upwards—the faint soul of the mermaid was curled up in his palm.

Heng Qichun closed his eyes, forcefully propelled his spiritual energy, and slowly absorbed that wisp of soul into his body.

After doing all this, he looked at his senior brother's gaze, which was as still as water.

“Come with me,” Nanyushan said.

A note from the author:

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See you tomorrow! Update tentatively scheduled for 8 PM tonight, see you then! [kissing emoji]

Comments are welcome! Small red envelopes will be randomly given away!