Liu Xian’an refused to give it a try, he was already very drowsy and wanted to sleep. But fortunately, His Royal Highness Xiao Wang only said that he didn’t want to prove how physically worthy he was. After all, there was still a mess in the city at this time and it was really not suitable for talking about romance, so he just slept peacefully through the night with the other’s arms around him. When Liu Xian’an woke up at noon the next day, Liang Shu had already gone out and A-Ning was dozing on his stomach at the bedside.

“When did the prince leave?”

“Early in the morning.” A-Ning yawned. “The prince is really capable, he doesn’t seem to need to sleep very much.”

“It isn’t that he doesn’t need to sleep, but that there are too many things to do and no time to rest.” Liu Xian’an sat up. “We must finish Song-xiansheng’s act quickly so that the prince can sleep peacefully for a few days. How far have the rumors in the city gone now?”

“Everything is going according to plan.” A-Ning said, “In two days, Song-xiangsheng will ‘resurrect from the dead.’”

It was true that he had to “live” quickly, because if he didn’t come back to life, the people in the city would likely be driven crazy by the sound of hammering iron all night long. The entrance of the government office was nearly blocked by the crowd, and under the questioning of the people, the government finally relaxed a little and implicitly admitted that the blacksmith’s shop had indeed been “a little abnormal” recently.

“What does ‘a little abnormal’ mean? Could it be that Song-xiansheng is forging iron?”

The government official replied vaguely, ah, something like that, something like that.

“Then what should we do next?”

“What should you do? Song-xiansheng is not a murderous ghost, what are you afraid of?”

It was true to say so, but he couldn’t be clank clank-ing every night. It was too noisy to sleep, ah. The common people had dark circles around their eyes and were all miserable.

“Persist for just two more days, two more days,” The government officials reassured everyone. “After two more days, Song-xiansheng will be able to work during the day.”

As soon as these words were uttered, the entire street was in an uproar. Hearing this stance, was it true that this person was slowly gathering yang energy to resurrect? It was so bizarre that few people in the city would believe it, and everyone spent another two nights with the sound of clink, clink, clank, clank. In the early morning of the third day, before full light, everyone surrounded the door of the blacksmith’s shop and held their breath, waiting to see if Song Changsheng would really appear.

“The prince and Young Master Liu are here too!” Someone shouted at noon.

Liu Xian’an hadn’t woken up much, and his eyelids were presently drooping, but unlike the sleepiness of the common people, he was not disturbed by the noise, but was harassed by His Royal Highness Xiao Wang and could not sleep at all.

Liang Shu had his own explanation for this. You sleep, I touch, we don’t disturb each other.

Liu Xian’an looked up at the sky and sighed.

Local officials also accompanied Liang Shu, and the public’s discussions lowered in tone. Nobody dared to ask what happened, but there was no need to ask further, because not long after, the closed door opened in front of them with a squeak.

A person slowly walked out, and upon closer inspection, it was Song Changsheng. All of the rumors were confirmed at this moment. Heavens, he was actually alive?

Because of the presence of His Royal Highness Xiao Wang, the common people did not flee in all directions, but still had the courage to approach tremblingly and ask: “Song-xiansheng, these few days……where have you been?”

“I walked to the gates of hell.” Carrying a long sword on his back, Song Changsheng cupped his hands and bowed deeply. “Thanks to the help of the prince and Young Master Liu, I was able to return to the world.”

The sun shone warmly on his body, his whole face glowing with color, and there was also a shadow. No matter how you looked at it, he was indeed a living person. But he had vomited blood and died a few days ago. At least a dozen doctors were present when his pulse stopped, so it was absolutely impossible for the diagnosis to be wrong.

The hearts of the common people were anxious and unsettled as they watched Liang Shu and Liu Xian’an personally collect Song Changsheng and leave.

“What does this represent? It represents that Song-xiansheng was not fated to die, ah!” A notoriously unpleasant-voiced man in the city analyzed plausibly.

Who was Song-xiansheng? He was a warrior who sacrificed his life to blow up cultists. Even if he inadvertently followed the dao of the Baifu Sect and was poisoned by the demon girl, how could the King of Hell accept him? Hadn’t he still sent him back with all his hands and feet? Look, not only did this person return, but all the poison had disappeared, and he was full of vigor. The three-foot sword on his back shone like water, with a cold, sharp edge. Presumably, it was a new sword forged for the purpose of eradicating the Baifu Sect and avenging his dead wife!

Subsequent news from the government also proved this point. Once the fact that Song Changsheng was resurrected from the dead was confirmed, all kinds of discussions about the Baifu Sect in the city took a new direction. The common people were anxious and afraid to speak out in the past few days, but they changed their attitudes and began to talk openly again about this matter. They talked extensively, clamoring to arrest the cult—because even if they died, they would be credited with a meritorious service by the King of Hell and released again, so what was there to be afraid of?

In the end, the government had to come forward secretly to quell public opinion, lest there really were some fools who rushed into the demons’ nest alone. The announcement repeatedly stated that the garrison would take care of cleaning up the cult. Everyone just needed to be vigilant and live their normal lives, don’t be too nervous, don’t be too excited, and don’t run around!

One spread to ten, ten to a hundred, and the story of Song Changsheng quickly spread all over the country. The content became more and more fantastic, until in the end, Song-xiansheng was no longer a human being, but a sword fairy, an exorcist appointed by the heavens who had come down to earth to assist His Royal Highness Xiao Wang in eradicating the Baifu Sect.

“Didn’t you see that when Song-xiansheng came out of the blacksmith’s shop, there was a golden light? Anyway, I still can’t keep my eyes open to this day!”

The people in other places were very envious. Why didn’t Song-xiansheng come to earth in their towns, look at Raven City’s pride.

Inside the government office, Song Changsheng said in shame: “I didn’t do anything but go along with the plan and pretend to be dead. I can’t bear the great kindness of the common people.”

“How did you not do anything, didn’t Song-xiansheng blow up White Crown? To destroy the Baifu Sect’s decades-long plans by yourself, I think that no matter how great the kindness is, you can afford it.” Liu Xian’an said, “Taking a step back, even without mentioning White Crown, Song-xiansheng’s scene alone has made countless believers start to whisper in their hearts.”

Betraying the Buddha Mother and beheading the Holy Envoy, in the reincarnation doctrine of the Baifu Sect, it would not be too much for such a traitor to die a hundred or a thousand times in ways tragic enough to match the crimes committed. But now, not only was Song Changsheng not dead, he was also living better day by day. To live and become famous, wouldn’t other people secretly have these thoughts?

“However, it is impossible for the Baifu Sect to stop here, and they will definitely mount a frantic counterattack.” Liu Xian’an said, “The prince says that we must rush back to Garrison City as soon as possible.”

“He wants to go to war?”

“That’s about right,” Liu Xian’an said. “We can’t continue to allow the heretical cult to be arrogant. Now is a good opportunity to lure them out of the cave.”

The folk customs in Raven City were surging, and everyone was singing songs about fighting against the cult. Liang Shu and his party were sent off as they left Raven City, and Chang Xiaoqiu and Song Changsheng also walked with the large group — along with that butcher. Since his status in the Baifu Sect was not low, he should be able to spit something out under severe torture. Or even if he wouldn’t spit it out, hanging him from the city gate and beating him every day could also have the effect of deterring the cult.

His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was not like those civil servants who were particular about kindness and generosity. His logic in this aspect had always been simple and crude. If one came, kill him, if a hundred came, kill them, ten thousand, one hundred thousand, it was all the same solution.

The butcher knelt on the ground gasping for breath, cursing Liang Shu that sooner or later he would be tortured in hell’s sea of flames. Liu Xian’an didn’t want to speak to him at first, but after hearing the man’s cursing grow louder and louder, he opened the door and entered the courtyard. The butcher looked up and saw him coming, adding a new curse: “You also won’t escape!”

“Why should I try to escape?” Liu Xian’an regarded him with some annoyance. “You’re right, the prince is going to your sea of hell tonight, so that he can completely wipe out that strange fiery realm as soon as possible. After wiping it out, he will quickly behead a group of Baifu Sect followers and send their souls to build houses and bridges, doing bitter work to atone for their sins.”

The butcher may have never expected such a strange way of cursing back, and was a bit stunned for a moment.

Liu Xian’an continued: “There are still tens of thousands of brave and loyal soldiers wandering in the heavens above Dayan, waiting to live in new houses. At present, there is an extremely short supply of manpower for rebuilding in the afterlife. I see that you are as strong as a cow, so how about you go work alongside them!”

Hearing what he said, the two guards who were there for protection immediately stepped forward and shook out soft whips from their sleeves. One held the person down, and one strangled his neck. Standing by the side and watching, Liu Xian’an reminded, don’t cut the head off, he needs to keep his eyeballs, or there will be no way for him to build walls and make tiles when he goes down.

“Cough, coughcough!” The butcher struggled instinctively, seeing that he was about to die. It was His Royal Highness Xiao Wang who entered the courtyard in time to stop the palace guards.

Liang Shu frowned and said: “Did he provoke you?”

Liu Xian’an replied: “It doesn’t count as such, he was just a bit noisy.”

“I say, you disappeared halfway through your afternoon nap.” Liang Shu rubbed his eyes with his thumbs and led him in the direction of the bedroom, then turned back to say coldly, “If you dare to wail and howl like ghosts and wolves again, you will be beaten until you shut up.”

The butcher was limp on the ground. Gao Lin crouched down to look at him, amused: “To be honest, I don’t know if you really believe in that Holy Maiden or if you just wanted to take the opportunity to sneak into the Baifu Sect and make money. But now let’s analyze it, ah. You believe in the Holy Maiden, and she didn’t come to help you just now. If you still believe, you are just unwilling to admit to a mistake. My family’s prince doesn’t have the patience to look at your death-embracing face. After he coaxes Second Young Master Liu to sleep, he will come to interrogate you. If you still persist in not speaking, it is better to slit your throat and kill yourself now, and save everyone a little time.”

The butcher’s mouth opened and closed for a long time, and he squeezed out an extremely dry sentence: “Baifu Buddha Mother…..save……save…..”

“Yes, it seems that you really believe it.” Gao Lin patted him on the shoulder and stood, untying the whip around his waist and throwing it to the guards. “Send him to see the Buddha Mother.”

There was a scream, quickly followed by a “wuwu” sound that should be the man being gagged.

Liu Xian’an stood by the window: “Will he talk?”

“He can only live if he talks,” Liang Shu said. “I don’t have the energy to move them one by one with emotion and reason. These people with broken brains can only be rewarded with a whip. Those who can be beaten sober will be saved, and if they cannot become sober, this is their fate.”

Liu Xian’an reached out to close the window, blocking out the sounds of torture: “So that is why it is widely rumored that the prince is violent.”

“And you, what do you think?” Liang Shu looked at him. He asked the question, but didn’t wait for an answer, saying, “There is only so much silver in Dayan’s treasury, and people all around the country asking for it. As the commander-in-chief, I often have to wait until the end, and take care of my soldiers and the civilians first with the food I manage to dredge up. It makes no sense that my own people are starving to death, but I still have to frugally feed those prisoners of war……if they catch our people, they will not give them a grain of rice.”

He spoke this long paragraph without stopping, as if giving and explanation, but also expressing the dissatisfaction in his heart that he had suppressed for many years. 

“En, I understand.”

“You really understand?”

“I really understand.” Liu Xian’an put his arms around his waist. “There is nothing wrong with benevolence, but it also depends on the occasion. In fact, everyone understands this truth. If you tried to throw those white-bearded old men in the court to the border and let them fight bandits and wolves in person, with a knife at their throats, they would probably not be benevolent.”

Liang Shu smiled: “All right, when I go back, I’ll tell Emperor Brother and do it like this next time.”

“There is no fixed answer to everything. People can only find the most correct path in the current situation,” Liu Xian’an said. “Besides, there is the prince guarding the border so that the royal city can be safe. In my opinion, it is the prince who is a great sage.”

Liang Shu shook his head: “I’m going to be praised to heaven by you.”

“I’m just telling the truth.” Liu Xian’an was firm. “Anyway, that’s what I think.”

And this must be correct, because no matter what old people said, they usually appeared to be very authoritative. And Second Young Master Liu was forty-eight thousand years old, so shouldn’t this be the truth?

At the same time he opened his mouth so sweetly, Liang Shu bit him hard, leaving a red mark on his collarbone. While being kissed cooperatively by him, Liu Xian’an said: “We’re going to Garrison City tomorrow, and Da-ge shouldn’t see this.”

Sure enough, Liang Shu stopped biting, but stretched out the tip of his tongue to lick him lightly. He didn’t have him in his hands yet, and it wouldn’t be good to be too unbridled.

Liu Xian’an continued to analyze: “After we meet, Da-ge will definitely test me over Commander Ku’s eye disease, and if I fail to answer correctly, I will be beaten again.”

“What beating, no more beatings are allowed in the future.” Liang Shu was displeased by these words, and said in a grand way, “I will tell him this myself when the time comes.”

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Chapter Ninety << Table of Contents >> Chapter Ninety-Two