Chapter 770 - 367: Master’s Voice (Part 2)

"Venerable... they are merely mortals... just like the snow grass, which grows again every few years. We’ve come through all these years in the harsh land of Beiao Continent. Whether a few die or fewer die, they can’t all be wiped out..." Li Ming advised earnestly, words sincere from the heart.

Yet, as soon as the genuine words were spoken, the figure of the Arcane Venerable suddenly blurred, as if blending into the air. In the next instant, he appeared behind Li Ming, lightly waved his hand, and an immense force exploded, smashing Li Ming’s head into pieces. Blood scattered like blossoming red flowers on the white snow, and Li Ming’s body fell helplessly, void of life.

All this happened too suddenly for anyone to even let out a scream. When they came to their senses, the Arcane Venerable had retracted his hand, his face cold as if he had become another person.

"Thank your master for the ’gift’, this—is my return gift." The Arcane Venerable’s voice was as cold as ice.

The ’gift’ was naturally no gift, but a show of power.

Qi Tai looked at Li Ming’s corpse on the ground, filled with unprecedented fear and despair. He knew there was no longer any chance for reconciliation between the Arcane Venerable and his master. And he, this insignificant pawn, was destined to be swept along helplessly.

The Arcane Venerable did not stop there, slowly approaching Qi Tai, each step seemingly treading on Qi Tai’s heartstrings, making him feel increasingly suffocated and heavy.

"Venerable Master... our Shuocheng has not evaded taxes, you cannot execute punishment on your own..."

The trembling City Lord attempted to awaken the Arcane Venerable’s reason, as no matter how powerful a cultivator, they couldn’t casually kill local officials, one of the iron laws of the Divine Mountain Law.

"Mr. Qi," the Arcane Venerable resumed his warm smile, giving a harmless impression, which slightly eased Qi Tai’s heart.

"Your Snow Village Tea comes from this secret realm, but this secret realm was built by evil spirits. As a Feather Transformation Realm cultivator from the Divine Mountain, you should know the process for inspection and reporting after discovering a secret realm. Yet, you did nothing, obviously knowingly concealing it. As City Lord, you lead the way, seeking evil fruits from the Evil Nest to sell to the common people, I have every reason to suspect collusion with the evil spirits. From now on, your position as City Lord is void until someone from the Divine Mountain comes to investigate, and I will temporarily assume your position." The Arcane Venerable smiled as he patted Qi Tai’s shoulder.

Qi Tai trembled all over, his lips shivering, "Venerable, isn’t this too much... how could I know if this secret realm is an Evil Nest... at most, I just wanted to embezzle the secret realm, isn’t that a minor crime... Aren’t there quite a few like that? Heh, Venerable, don’t scare me, Mr. Qi."

Now the evil spirits had been purged, and the secret realm no longer existed, so whether it was an Evil Nest could naturally not be proven, and this was the basis of Qi Tai’s quibble.

"Dabang, take out the talisman and show him so he can understand his fate." The Arcane Venerable casually ordered.

You Su stepped forward and spread out the Communication Talisman previously given to him by the Arcane Venerable.

Qi Tai then despairingly realized that it was not a Communication Talisman at all, but a precious Ink Retention Talisman.

On the talisman paper, there was a pool of wriggling black blood, irrefutable evidence left by the black jellyfish in the cave.

...

At night, the City Lord’s residence.

You Su sat in the room from before, while Bai Ze lay on the tea table, bored and rolling around.

Unlike before, today You Su opened the window, looking at the bright stars and moon outside.

"Why did you open the window? Aren’t you afraid of the cold?" Bai Ze, being the spirit of the snow mountain, was naturally not afraid of the cold, so it didn’t care about whether the window was open, just curious.

"You’ve been cooped up in the room all day, it’s filled with your musky smell, I’m airing it out." You Su pretended to pinch his nose.

Bai Ze bared its teeth in anger, "Don’t talk nonsense! I don’t smell!"

You Su found it amusing. Although Bai Ze could speak, it seemed not to have loaded a profanity module. Hence, each time it seemed clearly angry, its rebuttal was unconvincing, quite interesting.

But Bai Ze’s next sentence almost made You Su break character.

"It’s you who smells! You’re not musky, but you’re fishy! Your bed has a scent of sea fish!" Bai Ze looked suspiciously at You Su, suddenly extending a paw to point at him, "Are you hiding fish from me?! No wonder your pants were bulging this morning!"

You Su was speechless, trying to remain calm, he coughed a few times, "Whatever I have that’s good I give to you to eat, didn’t you hide half an egg thinking I wouldn’t know? Also, it’s not a fishy smell, it’s a sweat smell. When I cultivate, the impurities within are expelled, naturally there’s some smell. I’ll call someone to change the sheets later, and have a hot bath. If you dislike the smell, you can leave the bed and sleep at the corner."

You Su was in a good mood today and didn’t bother to argue with this naive little divine beast.

He had always had a constitution filled with yang energy, and with the help of his junior sisters and senior sisters on Zhongyuan Continent, not only did his cultivation progress rapidly, but his physical state was also stable.

Now that there’s no means to deplete yang energy, but with the ice and snow of Beiao Continent suppressing it, it can still be managed. However, when yang energy is full, even if he doesn’t actively consume it, the body will discharge it from time to time, which is inevitable.

In any case, with better living conditions now, changing the inner garments and frequently washing the body is much easier.

"You closed the window not because you were afraid of cold, but afraid of being seen. Am I right?" Bai Ze jumped onto the windowsill, also admiring the beautiful starry snow scene in the courtyard.

You Su raised an eyebrow, "You do have some human insight."

"Humph." Bai Ze disdainfully brushed off You Su’s compliment, "So you opened the window not because you were hot, but because you’re not afraid of being seen, am I right?"

You Su smiled, "The matter of the City Lord’s collusion with evil spirits is now irrefutable. That fancy Daoist has taken over the City Lord’s mansion in Shuocheng. Using the pretext of investigating evil spirits, he can dig deeper into matters he is interested in, with no one having a reason to refuse. Now in this city, that fancy Daoist is the boss, and by following him, we can be more bold."

"Really?!" Bai Ze turned back excitedly, cat eyes sparkling, "Then can I go out and play?"

"If I find you’ve sneaked out, I won’t want you anymore. You can fend for yourself." You Su threatened.

While You Su’s words were a threat, he was actually telling Bai Ze, if it behaved and followed him, posing as a white cat, it wouldn’t be a problem to wander about given the current situation.

Bai Ze licked its paw, revealing not-so-sharp claws, "I! Am! Not! A! Cat!"

"Whoever meows in their sleep is a cat." You Su shattered the little white cat’s stubbornness.

Bai Ze gritted its teeth in anger, retorting with sarcasm, "What? Are you so reluctant to part with this divine beast? Do you insist on me accompanying you on your journeys?"

"I just think you’re too foolish and too weak. If you act recklessly, you’re more than likely to get caught. Regardless of whether I would want to save you, it would probably be incredibly troublesome to do so, and I don’t like doing troublesome things." You Su drank a sip of cold tea and closed the window again.

"One day, don’t expect this divine beast to save you!"

Bai Ze felt a sudden sense of grievance as it saw itself trapped inside again.

"I beg you, please don’t rescue me." You Su had already gotten up, preparing to meditate for a while. His answer remained indifferent.

However... Bai Ze noticed a large piece of jerky had appeared near its paws, and the little grievance was quickly washed away by happiness.

Having been confined to the room all day, naturally, there was no source of food. It thought it would remain hungry until tomorrow, not expecting You Su to remember to bring back its favorite food.

This feeling was like being a small beast in a nest, while You Su was the chieftain hunting outside... no, the servant!

You Su closed his eyes to rest, looking forward to new abilities from the black jellyfish under the Dream Master, which appeared in his sea of consciousness.

But soon after accessing this golden cerambycid dream, You Su faintly sensed something was amiss.

He faintly heard a sound, like a gentle female voice, mournful as falling petals.

"Su’Er..."