Chapter 367 - Fairy Tale
Chapter 367: Fairy Tale
After a moment of silence, the foreign species in the tavern immediately turned their heads and used their trembling hands to pick up the wine cups in front of them. They began to drink while trembling in fear.
They were all intelligent people.
They knew that the best thing to do at this moment was to play along.
However, fear was still unavoidable.
The world of transcendent being was incomparably cruel!
Even in the shadow of the Federal Empire and the Blackguard…
Killing others, robbing their treasures, even extracting souls to refine pills and soul-snatching to refine medicine were still happening incessantly!
To this, the only thing the Blackguard could do was to ‘seek justice for the dead’.
But the problem was…
The dead were already dead, and even their souls had been refined.
Of what use was this justice?
As strong as the Blackguard were, they weren’t entirely omnipotent.
The Blackguard’s official website’s bounty list was proof of that.
On the Red wanted list, the top ten vicious men and powerful demons had taken hundreds or even thousands of lives.
But they were still alive.
Although the Blackguard had sworn to bring them to justice even if they had to go to the ends of the Earth, they were still alive!
This was the era of transcendent beings.
The powerful who could enter the heavens and break through the earth were literally not restricted by any rules.
Even the mighty Blackguard would be able to do nothing much against these fellows who were intent on escaping.
After all, these people’s viciousness was unparalleled at the general level!
If they could not beat the Blackguard, they could still run away.
Liu Qingqing’s hands were practically trembling as she mixed a new soul cocktail.
Then, she handed it over. “Young Master Xiong, please enjoy…”
Black Bear looked at the cocktail that was handed over, and then turned to the seemingly harmless, ordinary and smiling young man beside him.
He closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and drank the cocktail in his hand in one gulp.
The cocktail entered his throat.
Just as he said, it was sweet!
But…
After the sweetness, it was a gradual numbness that seeped out from his soul.
In this numbness, Black Bear’s consciousness wobbled.
He felt as if his body was on fire.
To be more precise, it was as if his psionic power was boiling.
It was burning hot.
Putting down the bronze wine cup, Black Bear felt that his state of mind had become all muddled up.
He was losing his sense of direction, and his vision was beginning to blur.
Yet, he started to become excited in the midst of the numbness.
“Good wine!” Black Bear said unsteadily.
After which, he threw his head backwards.
With a thud, he fell onto the wooden floor, making a muffled sound.
Ling Ping’an looked at all of this in surprise.
From his perspective, this strong-looking, fully-bearded man clothed in leather actually passed out right after drinking a cocktail!
He shook his head and thought, “Was he already drunk before?”
“That should be it…”
Thinking back, this person seemed to have shown signs of being drunk earlier.
Which was why his words were a little aggressive.
Thus, Ling Ping’an turned to the few men sitting in front of the counter, who all looked flabbergasted.
“Aren’t you guys going to help him?”
Ling Ping’an was very shocked. These people clearly knew Black Bear from before.
Why didn’t they go help when they saw their companion pass out?
Were all fair-weather friends so pragmatic?
His words fell into the ears of those few people, like an iron hammer striking at their hearts.
They immediately stood up and clumsily hoisted up Black Bear, who had already collapsed onto the ground. Then, they hurriedly carried their ‘companion’ to an empty cubicle at the side of the tavern.
They weren’t stupid!
They could tell that this strangely mysterious and powerful man was telling them to scram!
However, they did not dare to leave for real.
They could only carry Black Bear to the empty cubicle in the tavern and throw him on a bench, before turning to look at the bar counter uneasily.
They had no choice!
Other than the generals of the Blackguard, the stronger the other powerful people were in the wild, the stranger their personalities were.
There were even some lunatics who would break the other party’s neck simply because they thought the other person was silently criticizing him from just a glance.
After that, they would feel that if they didn’t silence him, their crimes would definitely get exposed.
So they would then go all out and kill everyone present.
There was also a person cultivating in the mountains who couldn’t achieve a break-through.
He then attributed this failure to him having too many wordly attachments.
So in order to be free from these attachments, he returned to the foot of the mountain and killed every single one of his relatives from all three tribes.
He also killed everyone he remembered on the way.
To these crazy people, be it humans or foreign species…
They were all dogs!
Among them, there were university graduates, and some were even professors!
These people had come up with a set of heretical theories.
In their eyes, they were future immortals!
Everything else except them were trash that would be eliminated!
Just like dogs, cows, and sheep.
Humans killed these animals, ate their flesh and skinned them. So of course, they could use the souls of humans and foreign species to refine pills for consumption
Therefore, in the face of such a strong man, they didn’t dare to take any chances.
If they made him feel unhappy, he could just casually crush them to death.
For everyone here who could finally cultivate their human forms after much hardship, who could they cry about this to?
Thus, they could only position themselves far, far away.
And watch on fearfully.
Akin to looking on at lambs waiting to be slaughtered!
Ling Ping’an saw the few of them carry the drunk man to a chair in the cubicle and remained there. Then, they looked at him as if they were a little afraid.
He frowned slightly. “Do I have the aura of a bastard?”
He laughed at the thought.
If only I had the aura of a bastard!
Then the bookstore’s business wouldn’t be so bad!
So…
What the hell were they doing?
Ling Ping’an didn’t quite understand, so he had to turn to the woman at the bar counter for help.
“Shop owner…” Ling Ping’an asked, “What’s wrong with them?”
Liu Qingqing looked up, all the while with a fiercely pounding heart.
“What’s wrong…? They’re afraid of you…”
But did she dare to say that?
No!
She could only force a smile. “Young master, please don’t take offense… They’re like this…”
“They’re always afraid when they’re drunk…”
“I heard it’s something like a taboo…”
“Oh…” Ling Ping’an nodded and finally felt relieved.
“Shop owner… You sang well!” Ling Ping’an felt that the atmosphere had turned a little awkward, so he changed the topic with a smile.
Liu Qingqing’s face instantly turned a little pale.
She, sang well?
How could she not understand the meaning behind those words?
“Young master, you must be joking…” Liu Qingqing swallowed her saliva. She didn’t have the courage to either decline or accept.
Because…
If such a strong person was really someone who didn’t have any scruples…
Then ethics, morality, and the law were all empty words to him.
Protect the fairer sex? Such a thing didn’t exist!
When one’s strength reached a certain level, and the person had already lost respect for law and order and morality…
Then, everything would not be worth mentioning in the eyes of such people!
For example, in the Blackguard’s Red wanted list, there were several lunatics who did things without any limits!
“I just casually sang…” Liu Qingqing looked at the person in front of her nervously.
Ling Ping’an shook his head. “Shop owner, you’re too modest!”
“I think you sing better than those social media influencers!”
This was the truth!
Did those influencers call singing, singing?
That would be more of selling their looks!
Although, it was difficult for Ling Ping’an to understand this matter.
But everyone on the Internet said so.
Liu Qingqing’s face turned even paler, and her pretty face was drained of all color.
Social media influencers?
Who didn’t know that social media had another synonym?
A worktool!
A tool of money!
And also the tool of fans!
His implied meaning, in Liu Qingqing’s opinion, was already as clear as day.
Girl, the lord has taken a fancy to you!
Liu Qingqing quietly put her hand on the alarm device installed by the Blackguard inside the bar counter.
Once she pressed that alarm device, the Blackguard would immediately coming rushing over!
But she didn’t dare.
Because, pressing it meant that she would shed all pretense of cordiality with this powerful man.
At that time, the entire tavern would probably be soaked in blood.
But…
What could she do if she didn’t press the button?
Liu Qingqing took a deep breath. She was thinking about how to handle this situation.
But Ling Ping’an was starting to say, “You don’t believe me? Let’s try it!”
“Isn’t there gonna be a talent show soon or something?”
“If you were to register, you’ll be popular for sure!”
Ling Ping’an was absolutely confident about this!
This was because his ears were as sensitive as his tongue. He could clearly distinguish between what was good and what was not.
And of course…
The reason he said that was because he wanted to get closer to this woman who might be the owner of this tavern.
Because he saw something.
Liu Qingqing raised her head in disbelief and looked at the person sitting in front of her.
A talent show?
What the hell?
Didn’t he want to do something to me?
But…
To participate in a talent show?
Liu Qingqing didn’t understand anymore.
Wouldn’t having a transcendent being, and especially a foreign species, participate in a talent show be a blow to the dimension?
Other things aside, the vocal cords and facial features of transcendent beings weren’t something that those celebrities from the assembly line could compare to.
In the inner circle, there were naturally people who were celebrities.
But…
That was also because they had set their sights on that field, alright.
She could only laugh and say, “Young master, my ambition doesn’t lie on that path!”
Ling Ping’an nodded. He felt the same way.
It was just such a pity!
If this shop owner were to join the talent show industry, she would probably be the real demon king.
With her singing, she could easily write-off a bunch of so-called girl groups.
However…
He wasn’t really serious about persuading this woman to join the talent show.
He was just trying to get close to her.
His real goal was…
“By the way…” Ling Ping’an pointed to an object placed at the corner of the bar counter and asked, “Shop owner, can I take a look at that thing?”
Liu Qingqing looked in the direction his finger was pointing at.
It was a small doll.
A doll made of wood.
She became suspicious and asked, “Young master, do you want to see it?”
Ling Ping’an nodded.
Liu Qingqing picked up the doll with a strange expression and placed it on the bar counter.
Ling Ping’an looked at the puppet doll on the bar counter.
It was a green puppet. The puppet looked very weird. Half of its face was smiling, while the other half was crying. When he picked the puppet up, its four limbs began to creak noisily. When he flipped it to the back, he saw a line of words.
“Li Shasha’s toy!”
Ling Ping’an took a deep breath and thought, “Just as I expected!”
Other than his late mother, there was no one else who would like such a strange thing.
Thus, he gently pressed on the puppet’s head, and the small piece of wood immediately shrank in.
Following which, a small box popped out from the puppet’s stomach.
Ling Ping’an reached out and withdrew something wrapped in red cloth from the box.
After opening the red cloth, he saw a yellowed page from a book.
Ling Ping’an picked it up curiously, took a look, and realized that it was a fairy tale.
A fairy tale on the Land of Qin.
When he was younger, his mother seemed to have recounted this to him as a bedtime story.
The frog prince.
Ling Ping’an looked at it with a peculiar expression on his face.
“My mother hid this story in this puppet?”
“Then she put it here…”
He felt a little confused.
He folded the page and put it back into the red cloth again.
Then, he pressed the puppet’s head skillfully, and the puppet’s stomach shrank back once more.
At the bar counter, Liu Qingqing watched everything in a daze.
After a long time, she gathered her courage and asked cautiously, “Young master, is your surname Ling?”
Ling Ping’an nodded.
He wasn’t surprised!
His mother must have been a regular at this tavern back then.
Liu Qingqing’s expression in that instant became extremely interesting.
……………………………
In the south of the Nanzhou Kingdom.
Amidst the lofty mountains.
At this moment, it was noon and the sun was shining brightly.
However, in the depths of the dense forest of the New Qinling Mountain, it was gloomy.
The barrier of confusion seemed to be everywhere.
The temperature here was close to zero degrees Celsius.
“Stop hiding!” Situ He descended from the sky. With his hands clasped behind his back, he strode amongst the barrier. “Hu Yanyue! You won’t be able to escape!”
Every step he took was in accordance with the Eight Trigrams and Nine Palaces.
To him, this barrier of confusion seemed to pose no problems at all.
Suddenly, he raised his head and smiled. “You want to run away?”
The barrier of confusion in front of him was shrinking.
The other party was planning to use the same trick again and rely on his treasure to escape far away from this place.
If it was in the past, Situ He would have been unable to deal wih them. These gutter rats that hid in the mountain recesses, great swamps, and even the dense forests of the ridges, were always playing cat and mouse games with the Blackguard.
If too many people went, the rats would have gotten wind of the news earlier and would have run thousands of miles away.
But if too little people came, it would be difficult to stop them in time.
Unless the commander-in-chief personally came, these guys would usually be able to escape.
After all, every one of those scum whose names made it onto the Blackguard’s Red wanted list had several life-saving magical treasures. Hence, they would be even more cunning and would have already set up various escape plans.
Unfortunately…
Situ He squatted down and took out paper figures from his clothes.
“Stars on the terrace, flickers in the ever-changing causatum…”
The paper figures floated up one by one.
Towards the barrier of confusion that was far ahead in the distance.
“Demons be exorcised, spirit be shackled, hunt their souls and bring them to light! ” Flickers of light and shadow started to interweave in his hands.
In the sky, a huge eye suddenly appeared and lit up the Yin and Yang universe.
The paper figures in the barrier of confusion caught fire one by one and transformed into chains.
Situ He exerted strength with both hands and dragged the barrier of confusion towards him like a fisherman pulling in a net.
Amidst the spiritual light of the fiery paper figures, a human silhouette had already been caught onto by the eye in the sky.
This was the ability he had mastered: the Soul Fixation technique.
As long as he could get the hair of the other party, he could cast a spell and use his seven souls to fix his location.
And then use the heavenly eye to monitor the surroundings.
No matter how cunning the rat was, it wouldn’t be able to escape!
“You’re actually still putting up a futile resistance?” Situ He looked at the evil creature that was struggling even though he had already been restrained.
This was a straight path to death!
Situ He gently exerted strength, and the burning paper figures immediately pounced onto the shadow from all directions.
That shadow started burning up right away.
He rolled on the ground and wailed incessantly.
But it was useless.
Because this fire was a fire incantation.
It acted directly on his seven souls!
A short while later, there was only a charred corpse in the dense forest.
It was a wasp that was as big as a calf!
Situ He walked over and shook his head.
The seventh person on the Red wanted list, wasp progenitor Hu Yanyue, was dead!
This foreign species that had escaped for a full fifty years was finally brought to justice and got what he deserved!
He took out his tablet and entered the official website of the Blackguard.
He logged in, took a photo, and uploaded it.
The information on the Blackguard site was hence updated.
The seventh person on the red wanted list, the major-general-level foreign species Hu Yanyue, was killed by Situ He in Southern Zhou!
This shook the world of transcendent beings to its core!
A general-level powerhouse was at the top of the transcendent being’s food chain.
Every one of them had countless trump cards. Even if they could not win the fight, they could still run away.
This was especially so for someone as powerful as Hu Yanyue, who had played cat and mouse games with the Blackguard for decades.
However, Situ He was not in the mood to care about this matter at the moment.
That was because the moment he logged in, he had received information from the satellite at the same time.
That person from the metropolitan territory had actually gone out again!
Moreover, he went out this time with a very strong purpose!
What he knew up till now was that after that person had met his ancestor’s old friend, he had secretly made a move to help him break through.
Then, he had left slowly and quietly.
At this moment…
This person had entered a tavern!
A tavern of foreign species!
Situ He looked at the real-time image from the satellite.
A few autonomous drones were floating above a tavern.
Who knew what that person was doing in the tavern? Who was he meeting?
More importantly…
The Blackguard didn’t even dare to check on the customers in the tavern.
They didn’t even dare to ask them, “What is he doing here?”.
Yet of all things, everyone in the Blackguard was extremely curious about this.
Including Situ He, who had seen this image after reading the briefing.
“Why did he go to this tavern?”
“Who did he want to see?”
“Who did he talk to?”
“What did he say?”
“Will he give us more benefits again?”
Situ He felt totally uncomfortable when these thoughts came to mind.
Unfortunately, the Blackguard might never know about these things.
Unless…
Someone was willing to tell them personally.
Otherwise, even if the Blackguard had a gazillion number of guts, they still would not dare to ask.
After all…
He had already given them a lot of face.
If the Blackguard even wanted to investigate the matter of him seeing his acquaintances or old friends…
Haha…
Wouldn’t that be the same as having a death wish?
It should be known, that according to the guesses by the intelligence unit…
The Blackguard could only see what he was willing to show them.
If he did not want the Blackguard to see it, it was best not to pry and snoop around.
Privacy was something that even ordinary people cared about a lot.
So what more an ancient god of such status?
Taking a deep breath, Situ He could only look at the hovering autonomous drone helplessly.
“General Situ…” Song Shihui’s voice came from the tablet. “We have confirmed that the registered owner of this soul tavern is a foreign species in the form of a tree demon…”
“Tree demon?” Situ He frowned. “We don’t usually see them around!”
It was extremely difficult for a foreign species of plants to transform.
The divine tree on Mount Qomolangma, although strong enough to be in the general level, was still unable to do so.
It was not just a matter of strength for a foreign species of plants to be able to transform.
Luck was also needed!
And it was scores and scores of luck at that!
“Hmm…”
“That is a foreign species of a willow tree…”
“The assessment of its strength is major!”
“Major?” Situ He frowned again.
A Major could transform?
What kind of good luck did that willow tree have back then?
Moreover…
Situ He asked, “Has no one investigated it?”
“We did…” Song Shihui said, “The personnel who handled the registration seemed to have no impression at all…”
“The relevant files have only existed and never attracted any attention…”
Situ He immediately reacted.
This was exactly what that ancient god was used to doing.
Invisibility…
An invisibility that wouldn’t have the whole world thinking it was a problem.
Every trace of the ancient god had been recorded from the time he was young.
But no one had paid any attention to him.
He was just like a transparent person, a person who clearly existed but yet didn’t exist.
Someone who would be discovered during the counting process, and then forgotten.
But the problem was…
This tavern was established long before he was born!
So…
The willow tree’s transformation had nothing to do with him?
But…
Who did?
Situ He thought of the parents of the ancient god.
The hero of the Federation who had already died in the line of duty…
Now that he thought about it carefully, with the status of the ancient god…
Who would dare to touch his family?
A crazy thought appeared in Situ He’s mind.
“His parents…”
“Could they also be…”
Once this thought appeared, it immediately got out of control.
All the information that had been ignored in the past were instantly linked together.
The ancestor of this ancient god disappeared from the ancestral land and came to Guangnan, concealing his identity.
It was only until the previous generation when they returned to the ancestral land.
They gave birth to this ancient god there and then brought him back to Guangnan…
The Ling family was also a family that served and worshipped Young master Siming…
In the legends, Young master Siming had an elder brother who directly followed the orders of Tai Yi to control the fate of life and death — Great master Siming!
And Young master Siming himself was the guardian and protector of the baby!
And the masters of Siming were the most worshipped deities in Jing Chu to date!
His parents…
Could they be…
One of them?