Plague Rat's New Lackeys

As Plague Rat spoke, a hint of exhaustion flickered in his red eyes beneath the mask, but it was quickly replaced by a gleam of pride.

"But rest assured, Lord!"

"In this battle, this rat really gave it his all. Fortunately, I did not fail your command and held the Eastern Region for you."

Chen Zhou looked at the lingering traces of festering on Plague Rat's body and nodded, his tone gentle and affirming.

"I know. You've worked hard."

"I have always trusted you."

Hearing this, Plague Rat felt all his fatigue vanish instantly.

He turned his head away and said somewhat awkwardly,

"As... as long as you know."

After a moment of hesitation, Plague Rat suddenly remembered there was one more thing he needed to report.

"Lord, there's another matter..."

Chen Zhou asked, "Is it urgent?"

Plague Rat thought about it and scratched his head. "It seems... it's not very urgent."

That old fossil Jing Hui was still wheezing inside his mind.

However, Plague Rat's cultivation had surged significantly. Even if that remnant soul of Jing Hui wanted to cause trouble, he could handle it himself.

Besides, the old ghost Jing Hui seemed quite well-behaved lately, even offering pointers for his cultivation inside his head; he didn't seem to have any malicious intent.

Moreover, was the Lord someone just anyone could see whenever they wanted?

Shouldn't there be an offering of benefits first, followed by Lord Rat checking his mood to pick an auspicious day, and finally seeing if the Lord had the time for an audience?

Thinking of it this way, it really wasn't an urgent matter.

"It's not urgent," Plague Rat shook his head.

Chen Zhou remarked, "Then we shall discuss it after returning to the City of the Wrongfully Dead."

"There are too many eyes and ears here. Since it's not urgent, wait until we're back."

Then, Chen Zhou pointed at Huo Dou and Little Pig, who were fighting fiercely and tearing things apart nearby.

The two of them had already leveled half of the palace ruins, and the commotion was growing louder.

"Go," Chen Zhou said to Plague Rat. "Go keep an eye on them."

"They are both your new lackeys. Don't let them take their play too far."

Plague Rat was still pondering the matter of the old ghost Jing Hui, but the moment he heard the words "new lackeys," his ears perked up instantly, and his crimson eyes erupted with an amazing light.

"New... lackeys?!"

Plague Rat's voice rose involuntarily as he asked urgently, his tone filled with anticipation, "Which rank? What rank do the new lackeys hold?"

Chen Zhou replied casually, "Xugou and Haizhu—eleven and twelve."

"You are still the boss."

Boom!

Plague Rat felt as if a firework had exploded in his mind.

Eleven! Twelve!

He was still the boss!

Plague Rat immediately perked up, his entire spirit lifting significantly as he put on a smug expression.

He turned around with an air of majesty and waved toward Poison-Wing in mid-air.

"Little Ten, come here quickly! you have lackeys now too!"

"Hurry up and follow Big Brother Rat! Let's go lay down the law for the newcomers!"

Poison-Wing was circling in the sky. Hearing this, he immediately flew over eagerly.

Poison-Wing felt he could finally hold his head high. He was finally no longer the lowest-ranking one.

"Ahem, ahem!"

Plague Rat coughed heavily, putting on the airs of a boss.

"Little Eleven! Little Twelve!"

"Both of you, stop right now for Lord Rat!"

"Who gave you permission to brawl privately?"

"Everyone come over and kowtow to your big brother! Line up properly and listen to Big Brother Rat's lecture!"

Huo Dou and Little Pig, who were in the middle of a heated battle, stopped simultaneously and turned to look at this arrogant rat.

The next second.

"Beat it!!"

The dog and the pig roared in unison, turning together to bite at the meddling rat.

"Oh, for heaven's sake! You're rebelling!" Plague Rat flew into a rage. "Poison-Wing, go! Scrub them!"

In an instant, the attempt to break up the fight turned into a group brawl, making the scene even more chaotic.

Watching this, Chen Zhou sighed silently.

Was having so much vitality really a good thing?

However, the matters in the provincial capital were settled. With Cangming and the others in the Eastern Region, there shouldn't be any major problems.

The Northern Region was being watched over by Zen Master Wu Hai's disciples.

In that case...

Only the Western Region remained.

Chen Zhou's gaze began to search through the crowd, passing through the cheering commoners and believers.

Soon, he found two figures standing in a corner.

Su Xue had just finished applying medicine to a commoner whose arm had been scratched; her movements were gentle and efficient.

Meanwhile, Piao was squatting on the ground, stuffing scraps of the black spots monsters slain by the crowd into her mouth, eating with great relish.

Chen Zhou walked over.

The surrounding clamor seemed to quiet down at that moment, as everyone's gaze subconsciously followed the figure in the black robe.

"Lord."

Sensing Chen Zhou's approach, Su Xue quickly stood up and performed a refined bow.

The stray hairs on her forehead were damp with sweat, and her expression carried some post-battle exhaustion, but her eyes remained clear and gentle.

Chen Zhou nodded and got straight to the point. "How is the Western Region?"

Su Xue tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and began her report. "Reporting to the Lord, we have found the source of the black spots in the Western Region."

Chen Zhou's brow twitched slightly. "Speak."

"The Lord's guess was correct; the black spots indeed originate from the corpse change of the divine remains."

"When we arrived at the Western Region, the desertification was severe, and black spots monsters were almost everywhere."

"The only living Grave-keeper left is Tuoba Feng."

"Through Tuoba Feng, we found the god's tomb and saw the true body of the divine remains."

Su Xue paused, appearing to choose her words carefully. "The situation with the divine remains... is somewhat special."

Chen Zhou did not interrupt, signaling for her to continue.

"The divine remains developed its own consciousness," Su Xue sighed.

"She occupied the remains of that deity, but she does not seem to have inherited the deity's memories or power."

"For a thousand years, she has actively stayed inside the god's tomb, using the blood of the Grave-keepers to maintain the seal and prevent the black spots from spiraling completely out of control."

"Did the black spots spread from within her body?" Chen Zhou asked.

"Yes," Su Xue affirmed. "Those black spots are essentially a part of her body, like a power of filth produced after the divine remains underwent a corpse change."

"However, these powers are not entirely under her control. She has been trying hard to suppress them, but..."

Su Xue's eyes dimmed slightly. "But the effect was limited."

"The Grave-keeper clan sacrificed themselves generation after generation for this. In the end, only Tuoba Feng and his daughter, Xiaoyun, were left."

She briefly narrated their experiences in the Western Region, including how Xiaoyun developed black spots and eventually died in the god's tomb.

Tuoba Feng was grief-stricken and attempted to take his own life.

The divine remains disguised herself as Xiaoyun to deceive Tuoba Feng, giving him the will to live on.

And finally, the divine remains revealed the lie and, with the help of Su Xue and Piao, actively recalled all the out-of-control black spots monsters, bringing the source of pollution back under control within her body.

"...It was thanks to her active cooperation that we were able to clear most of the black spots in the Western Region so smoothly."

Su Xue concluded at last, "Otherwise, relying solely on Piao and myself—even with the life and death reversal of the Myriad Herbs Life-Death Realm and the devouring ability of gluttony—it would have been very difficult to purify such a vast desert in a short time."