Chapter 59 Attendants Twenty-Four
No one mentioned the marriage alliance again. Since Feng Kingdom showed no sincerity, the greatest "sincerity" that Nian Kingdom could offer was to ignore it.
The envoy from Feng Kingdom was driven out of the border without a single reply, and in the end, he could only leave in disgrace, even his horse was confiscated.
The matter of returning to the capital was put on the agenda, and the heavy responsibility of defending the borders was naturally handed over to the generals. Most of them left the temporary camp to build up their forces in various cities, creating or taking over regular military camps.
The temporary camp began to be dismantled gradually, shrinking its area.
Shinjuku also began packing his bags. Although he had a lot of miscellaneous items, he still had one night to go, so there was only so much he could pack.
King Zhen was still extremely busy, frequently traveling between various military camps and towns. There was no need to fight now, and King Zhen, who used to love taking Masakatsu with him wherever he went, was now ordering him to stay obediently in the main camp.
Shinju felt that the King of Poison was distancing himself from him, so he got up early in the morning.
Could it be that he discovered he had stolen the dragon's energy? But if he discovered that the Poison King was a cultivator, would his attitude be so calm, still keeping such a dangerous and suspicious being by his side? Given the Poison King's meticulous style, he would most likely have directly taken him into custody and interrogated him thoroughly.
However, before leaving the camp, the King of Zhen personally instructed the imperial chefs to prepare more local specialty desserts, as he himself did not have a sweet tooth; the one with a sweet tooth was someone else. Furthermore, the King of Zhen had specially chosen a particularly docile and adorable ponies so he could take them out for a stroll in the surrounding grasslands when bored. He also left a large number of guards with him, and even arranged for four Silver Scorpion Shadow Guards, all of whom remained hidden in the shadows. If the King of Zhen hadn't possessed divine sense, he most likely wouldn't have noticed them.
Thinking of this, Zhen Su clenched his five fingers, and the python pattern on the hem of his robe immediately crumpled into a ball.
No matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem like it's guarding against me, but rather that it has some kind of reservation... wanting to keep its distance from me.
Could it be that... the King of Poison can't accept what he looks like when he grows up?
Shinjuku recalled the fleeting look of distress on the King of Venom's face that morning and realized he couldn't completely dismiss the possibility. That alone infuriated him, yet he hadn't considered why he should care about the King of Venom's opinion.
Finally, as if in a fit of pique, Shinjuku walked out of the royal tent, mounted his ponies, and galloped across the grassland. He was so fast that even the guards behind him couldn't catch up, including many skilled horsemen and elite cavalrymen who rode even faster steeds than the ponies. Yet, none of them could outrun Shinjuku.
Fortunately, Shinjuku only ran laps around the camp and didn't run around randomly. The others gradually gave up the chase and just stared at the figure with fluttering clothes riding freely in the wind, unable to take their eyes off him.
The meadow, which had just been bathed in a sun shower, was still damp in the wind. The cool moisture hit his face, and beads of water trickled down his cheeks, making Masakatsu's mind much calmer.
He pondered that if he hadn't been drunk, he wouldn't have lost control of his dantian and been able to steal the crimson dragon energy from the Poison King.
Before he could ascertain whether the dragon energy would have any other effects on his true immortal body, he needed to remain clear-headed and prevent his dantian from absorbing dragon energy on its own. Therefore, keeping his distance from that person suited his wishes perfectly.
After repairing the dantian, the next step is to transform it into a completely poisonous dantian, devoid of any other components and constructed solely of poison. Currently, the dantian has just been repaired, and there are still traces of patching and fragments of the old dantian. These need to be removed with poison and replaced with new poison until only the purest toxins remain in the dantian.
To achieve this goal, a massive amount of poison is required, but fortunately, he already has enough stored within his body, though most of it remains unrefined. If he doesn't quickly temper his body and forge a golden body, he fears his appearance will change again. If he reverts to his original form, recognized by the demon, he might be instantly found after leaving this world. At that point, forget revenge; he'd likely be killed instantly. With the demon's cultivation level, most disguises cannot fool his divine sense.
Even in his current state, he is dangerous enough.
But what's done is done, and resentment is pointless.
Masakatsu lay prone on his horse's back, continuing his cultivation without stopping. Since his dantian had been repaired, he no longer felt pain when using his internal energy, but the pain from refining the poison still lingered. However, Masakatsu intended to use the pain to forget those turbulent thoughts, so he focused entirely on refining the deadly poison in his body, a flash of red demonic light flickering in his golden eyes, yet he himself was unaware of it.
The pony wasn't tired at all; it just felt exceptionally light today, as if it were being supported by its new master. Its golden-brown eyes gleamed with excitement. Beating so many big horses made it even more excited, and it ran with even more abandon.
.
The next day, Langshan.
Xi Shun's burial is today. The white procession is moving through the mountains. The men are responsible for carrying the coffin. Except for little kids like Xi Luo, who are not allowed to go up the mountain, everyone else has followed.
The tombstone has been erected, and the surname engraved on it is still "Xi".
Many people stared at the inscription on the monument, wanting to say something but holding back.
“That was Ah Shun’s request. When he escaped from the tower, he told me, ‘You must have my current name engraved on my tombstone after I die.’ At the time, I didn’t know he had other surnames to choose from, and I just felt confused. Later…”
“He is our Xi family’s Ah Shun, always has been.” Feng Shuo said this with a big smile, but tears welled up in his eyes and fell with bitterness.
Madam Xi and her eldest daughter stood behind Feng Shuo, their arms and foreheads wrapped in plain cloths, scattering paper money in their hands, and sobbing softly.
Xi Chu, carried up in a sedan chair, sat on the floor mat, his empty lower garment trailing on the ground. He gazed calmly at the red coffin that was gradually being buried by earth.
His mother, Xiluo's second aunt, did not come up. She stayed at the foot of the mountain and ordered the servants to bring the forgotten cotton quilt up. "Chu'er can't stand the cold! Chu'er's knees will hurt..." Midway through her sentence, she suddenly remembered something, and her face flashed with sorrow and reluctance. She added, "Anyway, it'll be good to take it up to cover her thighs. Go quickly."
Meanwhile, on the Langcheng watchtower, a very tall figure was gazing towards Langshan.
"Isn't Your Majesty going to take one last look?" the strategist asked.
"I am not qualified to be present."
The strategist's eyes flickered, but he neither responded nor flattered or refuted, his expression remaining stern.
He thought the atmosphere would remain heavy and deathly still until the funeral procession came down from the mountain. Unexpectedly, the emperor in front of him suddenly said, "Someone has gone in my place."
There was a hint of tenderness in her voice.
With eyesight far exceeding that of ordinary people, the King of Zhen stared at the crimson figure that appeared on the mountainside and gracefully dismounted from his dwarf horse.
A liquor stall was set up in the mountain hollow. Xi Luo, who was practicing the Seven Kill Fist in the woods next to it, saw the person coming. He immediately put away his twin swords, walked up to Zhen Su, resisted the urge to perform the apprenticeship ceremony, and clasped his hands and said, "Boss, you've come."
Shinju clasped his hands in a fist salute, and replied, "What brings Xiluo here?"
Xi Luo said, "I don't like seeing them cry. But if you want to go up, I can lead the way."
"Is it because you're too young that they don't want you to go?"
Xi Luo raised an eyebrow and glared at Zhen Su. "I really want to go. Who can stop me?"
"Yes, yes, since you don't want to go, you can stay here. I'll go up by myself."
Shinju turned and left, and Xiluo hesitated for only a moment before quickly following.
Upon arriving at Xi Shun's tomb, Zhen Su saw many familiar faces from the Xi family. They were still immersed in grief and were indifferent to the visitors. However, Feng Shuo, who was in charge of the funeral and was now the head of the Xi family, still glanced over and then greeted him.
"Please accept my condolences. I hereby appoint you as a Gentleman General." Zhen Su nodded and bowed.
"Thank you for your kindness..." Feng Shuo couldn't think of a proper way to address her, so he winked at Xi Luo behind Zhen Su, intending for her to help introduce them.
Xi Luo looked completely bewildered and mouthed "my master".
Feng Shuo was stunned.
Seeing this, Shinju realized that the other party hadn't recognized him. It was all because Xiluo's reaction was too ordinary; he probably recognized him by his aura, causing Shinjuo to forget that his current appearance was quite different from before.
After a moment's thought, Feng Shuo still didn't dare to address the other party directly, and instead tentatively asked, "Is the distinguished guest... Lord Dai Qing?"
Shinjuku was somewhat amused and exasperated, and replied, "I am Keisuke."
"..." Feng Shuo took the opportunity to wipe his sweat and looked at Zhen Su again. After a long while, he suppressed his surprise, nodded, called over a servant, tied a plain scarf around Zhen Su's arm, and led him to the monument to pay his respects.
By this time, the coffin had been firmly sealed underground by the soil. The warbling of orioles echoed through the forest, and beams of light shone through the gaps in the leaves, illuminating the inscription on the tombstone and the white clothes worn by everyone.
Shinjuku accepted the incense offered by someone else, but did not take the cushion. He knelt straight on the muddy ground, his red lips slightly moving as if he were chanting something. Then he kowtowed three times and inserted the burning incense into the already full incense holder.
When Shinju straightened up again, his back was as straight as a bamboo shoot, which, in the eyes of little Xiluo, was just like the determination she had made.
Before the funeral procession left, Xilu followed Zhenju down the mountain, his hand occasionally stroking the hilt of the sword at his waist. It wasn't until he saw the ponies tied to the tree trunks in their entirety that Xilu finally spoke.
However, Masakatsu also spoke to her at the same time.
"Boss, I want to become your disciple..."
"Xi Luo, I'm returning to the capital tomorrow."
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Author's note: My little cub has 50 pre-orders and 50 favorites! Yay!
[Edited] I've done some simple polishing.
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