Think on the Bright Side

Chen Zhou glanced at Net Purity, who was still panting heavily.

His paper body trembled incessantly, but Plague Rat held him down firmly, preventing him from lunging forward again.

Chen Zhou turned back to Wan Xiu and asked bluntly, "What are you doing here?"

"What a question, Fellow Daoist. I naturally came to see who made such a commotion that they disturbed these little toys I raised."

He pointed to the remains of the hundred corpse patchwork on the ground.

"I raised them for a thousand years, finally managed to grow a few big ones, and more than half were burned away by Fellow Daoist's fire."

"It breaks my heart."

Though he spoke of heartbreak, his face showed not a hint of it, remaining ever-smiling.

Chen Zhou did not respond.

He was thinking about something else.

Wan Xiu was Qing Lu's creation.

Qing Lu was one of the Sky-Monitoring Four-Direction Envoys of the Central Province.

He had previously sacrificed Zhu Pan's divine sense, offending him.

Logically, as fellow Sky-Monitoring Four-Direction Envoys, Qing Lu could not be unaware of this.

Yet, looking at Wan Xiu's current reaction, he seemed oblivious to Chen Zhou's background, treating him only as a powerhouse drifting in from another province.

"Did your master Qing Lu not tell you how Zhu Pan died?" Chen Zhou tested.

Wan Xiu paused slightly, then shook his head with a chuckle. "Zhu Pan? That crude fellow who only knows how to play with torture instruments?"

"There is no need for testing, Fellow Daoist. I only care about the mission entrusted to me by Lord Qing Lu."

"This Tianchi Province will eventually belong to Lord Qing Lu and become the most perfect place of return in the world."

The corner of Chen Zhou's mouth twitched. Sometimes, a non-answer was an answer in itself.

Chen Zhou had deliberately claimed Zhu Pan was dead, and Wan Xiu had avoided answering. It seemed he was truly unaware of the internal situation of the Sky-Monitoring Office, or perhaps the office was not a monolith.

After speaking, Wan Xiu's figure began to blur, and he spoke with a hint of annoyance.

"The recording stone's grade is too low, and the energy is running out. What a pity."

"But since Fellow Daoist is here, I shall offer a reminder."

Chen Zhou raised an eyebrow. "Speak."

Wan Xiu said, "Tianchi Province is destined to belong to Lord Qing Lu."

"Once Fellow Daoist has had enough fun, leaving early would be best for everyone."

Chen Zhou casually flicked a clump of Hatred Fire, igniting the remaining corpses of the hundred corpse patchwork. As the heat rose, Wan Xiu's face appeared somewhat distorted within the flames.

Conversing with a recording stone was indeed meaningless, and Chen Zhou felt a sense of boredom.

Sooner or later, he would find this fellow who hid his head but showed his tail and slaughter him.

Since Wan Xiu was so cautious, Chen Zhou became more certain of one thing.

Besides his natural disposition, Wan Xiu must have some reason that made it inconvenient for him to appear in person.

Wan Xiu waited for a moment, and seeing that Chen Zhou remained unresponsive, he did not mind and continued to smile.

"Of course, if Fellow Daoist wishes to stay, I will not stop you."

"Only, when the time comes, do not blame me for poor hospitality."

"Fellow Daoist, may we never meet again."

The flames completely swallowed his figure.

But at the final moment, his voice still drifted through.

"By the way, Fellow Daoist, I forgot to tell you."

"The hundred corpse patchwork you just burned had a dozen more recording stones in its belly."

"The things I said, they will say as well."

"So, there is no need to try again."

The green smoke gradually vanished, and the massive form of the hundred corpse patchwork melted within the Hatred Fire, but all the human-face sores were still crying out.

"Net Purity... Net Purity... Net Purity..."

"Net Purity... Net Purity... Net Purity..."

Over and over, until they were completely reduced to ash.

Net Purity knelt on the ground, weeping uncontrollably as he looked at the human-shaped mark left behind after the hundred corpse patchwork vanished.

Plague Rat stood beside him, scratching his head, unsure of what to say.

He wanted to offer some comfort, but his tongue was too clumsy. After thinking for a long time, he managed to squeeze out, "Old man, stop kneeling. Do your knees not hurt?"

Net Purity did not react.

Plague Rat clicked his tongue, thought again, and said, "That... look on the bright side..."

He stopped halfway, stuck.

Plague Rat scratched his head until it was sore but could not think of any kind words.

Chen Zhou took over Plague Rat's words, stating calmly, "Look on the bright side. Although Duke Wu's physical body was refined into a hundred corpse patchwork, his soul is also being tortured in Wan Xiu's hands."

Net Purity: "..."

He did not know what to say. Was the fact that both soul and body were suffering something worth being happy about?

Wu Gou watched from the side and could not help but chuckle.

Plague Rat glared at him. "What are you laughing at? If you're so capable, you say something!"

Wu Gou coughed lightly, stepped forward, and pressed his palms together.

"Benefactor Net Purity, actually, the Lord means that Duke Wu's soul still exists."

"Those just now were only the residual obsessions within the flesh. The true soul is still in Wan Xiu's hands."

"For an ordinary person to return from the dead, they would need to reach the eighth-stage Siming."

"But is our Lord an ordinary person?"

"You have been dead for a thousand years, with only a wisp of a remnant soul left, yet you are now alive and well."

"Once we eradicate Wan Xiu and rescue them, it won't be long before you can meet again."

Net Purity listened. After a long while, he slowly stood up and bowed deeply to Chen Zhou and the others.

"Thank you, my Lord."

He understood the truth in his heart.

Everything Wu Gou said was just to comfort him.

He only had two months left.

In two months, he would completely vanish and return to heaven and earth.

Even if Wan Xiu were truly eradicated and the souls of his former subordinates were rescued, he would have no chance to see them.

But he did not expose this.

He did not want to waste this kindness.

Moreover, being able to hear Duke Wu say he did not blame him and seeing those familiar faces one last time made him feel he could die without regrets.

Those children had followed the wrong person back then.

Following him, they ended up with no whole corpses and their souls imprisoned.

Now, if they could follow that Lord from Gloomlight Province, if they could live honorably once under the Lord's command...

Net Purity looked up at Chen Zhou's back and suddenly felt very at peace.

Plague Rat looked at him and suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, old man, that Wan Xiu said a lineage of the Royal Capital still has seeds alive, hidden beneath the Eternal Scars. Where is that place?"

Net Purity snapped out of it and shook his head.

"I do not know either."

He frowned, trying hard to remember.

"I have lived in Tianchi Province for a thousand years, but I have never heard the name Eternal Scars."

"Duke Wu probably did not know back then either, otherwise he would have told me."

Plague Rat scratched his head. "Then how did he know?"

Wu Gou interjected, "Perhaps he only found out after death."

Net Purity fell silent.

Found out after death...

That meant that after Duke Wu was refined into the hundred corpse patchwork and before his soul was imprisoned, he had discovered something.

Then he hid this information within his obsession, waiting for a thousand years, finally waiting for someone to come and listen.