Chapter 95 The Treacherous Minister III
Suddenly, King Zhen felt that everything was unreal.
Upon further reflection, he was almost overjoyed. If Shinju wasn't a projection, then Shinju wouldn't be affected by his Purple Mansion and wouldn't disappear inexplicably. And did this mean that Shinju's lifespan wasn't like that of mortals, and that he could accompany him for a very, very long time?
Even the King of Poison could never have dreamed of such a wonderful thing.
But then a question arises: if Shinjuku isn't a projection of that powerful senior, then could he... be that senior himself...?
At this moment, the man in black, who had not yet received a response from the King of Poison, deliberately flicked the hem of his clothes, but in the darkness, he still did not attract the King of Poison's attention.
"My lord?" The man in black could only risk defying his lord by communicating telepathically with the King of Poison.
Unexpectedly, a deep, complex emotion echoed in his mind: "Step back."
Even though the man in black was worried, how could a king share his troubles with others? He immediately obeyed the order, and a cold wind suddenly rose from the ground, leaving only the figure of the Poison King perfectly blending into the night in the room.
.
Shinju's confinement had actually been lifted, but for some reason, the King of Venom was busy with something and didn't come to the Scorpion Shadow Palace to look for him for most of the day, nor did he summon him back to serve him. Shinju figured that since the King of Venom could send Xiaodunzi to do things for him anyway, it was better to continue staying at home so as to distance himself from his plans along the way.
Lying in bed, waiting for someone to come and have their way with him, Masaya himself felt a bit like he was being kept hidden away, and couldn't help but chuckle.
Speaking of which, after so many "dual cultivation" sessions with the Poison King, only one petal of the tattoo on his body, which was caused by his demonic possession, remains.
Everything was proceeding according to his plan.
Perhaps next time, the lotus tattoo on his back will fade completely, and then he should disappear from this little world.
Things were progressing so smoothly, and the day of leaving this realm was fast approaching, so the True Elder of the Anti-Cult wanted to slow down. But he couldn't. The people outside the realm might launch another attack at any time. In his opinion, those two sect disciples had absolutely no connection with the demon, yet they were instigated to invade this realm. He dared not imagine how high the demon had risen in the sect and how many people admired him.
Thinking of this, Mayu couldn't help but punch the bed, and with a "boom," the bed collapsed.
Masatsu, who was lying on his side amidst the splinters of wood from the canopy bed, immediately suppressed the fierceness in his eyes. He reluctantly got up, brushed off the splinters and wood chips on his body, and then calmly walked out of the wing room that had "trapped" him for several days.
Intelligence travels faster than people; just as Shinju was heading towards the Seijin Hall, the King of Poison had already learned of it from his secret guards.
The King of Zhen immediately dismissed all those who were discussing matters with him. Then he had a palace servant bring him a bronze mirror, straightened his dragon robe and crown, rinsed his mouth with tea, and stood behind the table, staring intently at the door of the main hall.
His Adam's apple bobbed as he listened intently to the extremely familiar footsteps approaching from afar, and a scene from hundreds of years ago flashed through his mind—
That was his first time making a name for himself in the cultivation world. Although his family, the Zhenlong Clan, called themselves a dragon clan, in reality, no true dragon had appeared in the cultivation world for nearly two thousand years. Even he, the most anticipated junior of the family, was not a true dragon, but merely a scorpion dragon from a branch. Therefore, no one expected him to win the top spot on the Heavenly Origin Ranking.
The Heavenly Ranking in the cultivation world is a list of achievements for Nascent Soul stage cultivators in their debut battles, held once every hundred years. Reaching the top is the sole goal of all cultivators.
Therefore, as a junior member of a declining family, his ascent to the top of the Heavenly Origin Ranking caused a huge uproar among the Dragon Clan and even in the cultivation world.
His family members all practiced the path of emperors, and any one of them was richer than a country. Naturally, they held an extremely grand celebration banquet for him.
That celebratory banquet marked his first meeting with True Lord Jiqing.
Everyone at the banquet knew the name of Jiqing Zhenjun. Some even talked about Jiqing Zhenjun's heroic demeanor in the Tianyuan Ranking back then, and where his reputation as the "Jade-faced Nine-sectioned Wolf" came from.
Back then, the fledgling True Monarch Jiqing was the youngest among all the Nascent Soul cultivators, barely eighty years old, and had just entered the early Nascent Soul stage before joining the battle. And in the most brutally competitive of those battles, who would have thought that True Monarch Jiqing would stand out among so many prominent figures!
Many people reminisced at the celebratory banquet, recalling that the top three from that year would undoubtedly have won the championship in every subsequent Tianyuan Battle. The strength of that year was so overwhelmingly superior.
As for Ji Qing Zhenjun, the champion of that year, his fame spread along with his strength, as did his appearance. It is said that he often appeared in public dressed in a red sable collar, with a spirited and harmless smile, bright golden eyes, a high nose, red lips and white teeth, and a face with a touch of baby fat. This charming young man was actually a supreme powerhouse who surpassed all other geniuses, displaying perfection in every aspect, making it hard not to fall for him. Thus, the nickname "Jade-faced Nine-sectioned Wolf" became known to everyone.
King Zhen never expected that his celebratory banquet would actually welcome the very person at the center of gossip.
Hearing that a shocking and devastating event had occurred not far away, a war launched by the demonic path, which alarmed even a great power like True Lord Jiqing, he was about to rush there when he saw a gathering of experts here, so he decided to take the opportunity to gather those with similar aspirations.
Having important business to attend to, he only briefly met with True Lord Jiqing. At that time, True Lord Jiqing had shed his naivety and was completely different from the image he had just heard in the old news. When surrounded by the crowd, his arrogant figure and the demeanor of a great power at the Great Perfection of the Integration Stage made his aura extremely terrifying, no matter how much he suppressed his cultivation, making people dare not look directly at him.
At that time, he was young and ambitious, and with his sharp edge fully exposed, he looked at Zhenjun with the mindset of scrutinizing his opponent.
After receiving a cold glance from the True Lord, the other party immediately led dozens of powerful elders away on a celestial ship without looking back.
That glance filled him with resentment and bitterness. But later, after being trapped in history books for many years, he was no longer the fearless young man he once was. Whenever he recalled that glance, his mindset gradually changed. Regret, self-mockery, helplessness, anticipation, and relief—a complex mix of emotions accompanied him for quite some time. Even though it was buried in the dust of time, he never forgot it.
The thought that Zhen Su might be Ji Qing Zhen Jun himself made Zhen Wang unable to suppress his excitement, and he was also quite unsure of how to face him.
That person, so virtuous and upright, actually had such an intimate relationship with him.
When Shinjuku's figure appeared at the entrance of the Shōnin-den, the King of the Poisonous King's chest trembled. After a long while, he raised his eyes and met Shinjuku's gaze.
"Greetings, Your Majesty," said Shinju as he stepped over the threshold and walked directly toward King Zhen.
The King of Zhen did not respond immediately. Normally, he would have already led her away or held her on his lap. Even after they got up, the King of Zhen still hadn't changed his habit of holding her. Therefore, Shinju looked at the King of Zhen with some curiosity, but he couldn't see anything unusual on the King of Zhen's face.
The King of Poison felt as if he had been struck by a magic acupoint, his body becoming somewhat out of control. He turned his back somewhat awkwardly and asked, "Why did you come over here?"
Why has he suddenly become so distant? It's as if the person who was making love with him in bed just the day before wasn't him at all.
Shinju moved closer to the King of Hell, following the King's somewhat evasive gaze, and asked in confusion, "Your Majesty?"
After a moment, the Poison King could no longer escape, so he turned his unfathomable dark eyes to Zhen Su and slowly asked, "Are you a cultivator?"
To his utter bewilderment, Shinju stared blankly at the King of Poison. He vaguely sensed that the King of Poison was speaking to him, but he saw no movement of the King of Poison's lips and heard no human voice.
"Your Majesty?" Shinju repeated.
The King of Poison felt a chill run down his spine, realizing that this was a restriction placed upon him by the "Heavenly Dao." It most likely meant he was forbidden from mentioning anything related to the cultivation world.
Therefore, King Zhen's eyes sharpened, and he tried several different rhetoric before finally asking a question that was overheard by Shinju.
"True Lord Jiqing, is that you?"
Shinju's golden eyes widened instantly, so different from that half-closed glance back then, yet it made the King of Poison no longer certain—it was indeed him.
The King of Poison trembled as he reached out to touch Shinju's face, but his hand froze in mid-air, unable to actually make contact. His expression was even more incredulous than Shinju's. Shinju's mind raced, his eyes slightly lowered, as he rapidly pondered how much the King of Poison knew, where he had slipped up, and how he had learned his former Daoist name.
However, to his surprise, the King of Poison did not come forward to question him about how much he had concealed or what his purpose was in lurking by his side. Instead, he frowned and asked him, "Has something unexpected happened?"
Suddenly, Zhen Su felt that the look of heartache in the eyes of the King of Poison made it difficult for him to face him. After hesitating for a long time, he lowered his eyelids, nodded gently, and replied: "His cultivation has been scattered, his golden body has been broken, and he can no longer cultivate... His lifespan is no different from that of an ordinary person."
The King of Poison's pupils shrank, and he looked at Shinju in disbelief. "What did you say?" His hand unconsciously touched Shinju's face, and in a moment of loss of control, a red mark was left on the side of his face.
Shinju said sadly, "I am no longer a True Lord. After becoming a cripple, I stumbled into this world by chance. I only wish to live a peaceful life in a corner of the world and spend these last few decades..."
King Zhen was shocked, but he also keenly sensed a contradiction in the matter, so he asked, "In the underground of the Fujing Taoist Temple, it was you who resolved the issues between Fuyin and Wenbi, wasn't it?"
There had been no word from the wanted posters for these two men, and the secret guards he sent out had also come up empty-handed; it was clear they were long dead. He had initially thought they had simply left because they believed he wouldn't survive, but now it seemed that wasn't the case. His opponents were seasoned veterans of the martial world; in a life-or-death situation, they wouldn't leave him any hidden dangers and wouldn't deliver the finishing blow.
Therefore, his survival was not a fluke, but most likely the work of Shinjuku.
So how did Shinshu arrive at the Taoist temple in such a short time? The King of Poison prefers to believe that Shinshu simply didn't trust him, so he chose to conceal the truth that he still possessed cultivation, rather than truly becoming a mortal.
Little did he know that Shinju's words would completely shatter his hopes.
"Yes, I used my spiritual energy to teleport to His Majesty's side, but that was my last bit of spiritual energy."
The sense of loss emanating from Shinju was entirely genuine, and even the King of Poison could not find any flaws in his words.
King Zhen closed his eyes tightly, pulled Masakatsu into a tight embrace, and kept repeating, "It's alright, it's alright, I'm with you." It was unclear whether he was trying to convince Masakatsu or his own wavering self.
A strong sense of reluctance flashed across Shinju's eyes. Hesitantly, he loosely wrapped his arms around the waist of the King of Poison, but did not touch him for a long time.
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Author's note: Happy Dragon Boat Festival everyone! [heart emoji]
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