Chapter 129

Wei Zhengdao?

"Is he still alive?"

If Wei Zhengdao were still alive, Li Zhuiyuan would be quite disappointed. This was because every individual he had seen who had transcended the limits of human lifespan had, without exception, become neither human nor ghost. The one in the Wanjiang Underground Palace, Yu Xuzi from Zhengmen Village, and even 'it' who was speaking to him now—all were like this.

The young man had read Wei Zhengdao's books and admired his style of writing. Wei Zhengdao was a very narcissistic individual, unrestrained by rules and fond of treading dangerously close to forbidden boundaries. Li Zhuiyuan wouldn't admit to idolizing him, but he couldn't deny that he greatly admired him. He was willing to gradually uncover Wei Zhengdao's story, explore the paths he had walked, and reveal his life.

However, the young man did not wish to see him alive, living a wretched, squalid, and twisted existence. He should be dead; only a Wei Zhengdao who had died a natural death would be perfect. This feeling was similar to how Xue, Zheng, and Zeng, the three disciples, viewed their master Yu Xuzi: only the Yu Xuzi who had sacrificed himself to seal the demonic creature was the master they truly respected and admired.

It said, "I don't know..."

"You don't know if he's alive, yet you ask me to kill him?"

"But I am still alive, aren't I?"

"But your survival doesn't mean he's still alive."

"What if he is...?"

"Don't you think your 'what if' sounds ridiculous?"

"You've certainly grown up, daring to speak to me like this now..."

"I'm just speaking the truth."

"Is it the 'river-walking' that gives you this confidence, or those two broken family tablets...?"

It knew about the Qin and Liu families. It and the Qin and Liu families were not from the same era. However, ever since the Water Monkey incident, it had broken its slumber, opened its eyes, stirred, and indirectly become the 'land god's shrine' guarding this place, preventing other malevolent spirits from approaching or even manifesting. Therefore, it was impossible for it not to have sensed the Qin and Liu family members living in the same village. Presumably, Grandma Liu also knew of its existence. One was self-sealed, waiting for time to completely wear itself away, while the other lived in seclusion, seeking some good fortune to heal her granddaughter. Indeed, there was no reason or need for conflict between them. They didn't even need to communicate; having sensed each other's presence, there was no need for further interaction.

Moreover, it truly didn't want to cause trouble. It wasn't that it couldn't, but that it was lazy. It had skinned nearly twenty people in the Water Monkey incident; if it had glanced up one more time back then, he and Runsheng would likely have ended up as boiled shrimp on a plate. That's why, upon his return, Li Zhuiyuan was willing to perform a sacrifice for it on the Big Beard's family embankment.

Before Li Zhuiyuan could answer, it spoke again: "If I weren't ridiculous, how could he have deceived me... I'm just a ridiculous fool... A hopeless idiot..."

Li Zhuiyuan asked, "Do you want me to try and comfort you?"

"You can try..."

"Thank you for bringing peace to this area."

"Are you thanking me for cleaning up your mess...?"

"You could say that."

Because of the Oriole incident, he had seen another side of this world, and then by finding those books in his great-grandfather's basement, he had formally begun his training. Li Zhuiyuan had once studied the theory of 'dirty things' congregating. Stopping 'river-walking' required re-lighting the lamp and admitting defeat, and Grandma Liu's special method of reclusion required constant vigilance to avoid karmic entanglement. At the time, while studying and researching with his great-grandfather's fortune influencing him, 'dirty things' kept appearing in waves in the vicinity. During that period, it felt like Nantong was full of the fallen dead and malevolent spirits, too many to even salvage. So, its statement about cleaning up his mess was indeed not wrong. Because back then, he didn't know how to conceal himself or understand karma; he was like a child holding a real gun.

"Help me kill Wei Zhengdao..."

"If he's still alive..."

"I told you you're very much like him, and you've also studied his black book..."

"If he's still alive, the river will push you two closer together..."

"Precisely because I am still alive, I don't wish for him to be..."

"I hate him..."

"But I don't want him to live as ugly as I do..."

Hearing this, Li Zhuiyuan suddenly understood its intention. Because, to some extent, its intention resonated with his own. It hated Wei Zhengdao, but it didn't want the Wei Zhengdao it hated to become depraved and squalid. Li Zhuiyuan could only marvel inwardly: Wei Zhengdao's charisma was indeed powerful. Even someone who had intensely hated him for nearly a millennium wished for his image to remain complete and untainted.

"If I encounter him, I will kill him, but not to help you; in fact, it will have nothing to do with you."

"Thank you..."

Li Zhuiyuan turned around and looked behind him. A man stood there, but his face constantly shifted, changing forms. At first, it was the faces of village uncles and aunts, then mad, laughing, cold, idiotic... It had chosen to suppress itself beneath the peach orchard, knowing it was a curse. Perhaps many times, it would forget who it was. Yet, it still remembered Wei Zhengdao.

"As thanks, I can become one of the 'waves' before you are called Dragon King..."

"Waves can be arranged like this?"

As he asked this, Li Zhuiyuan already had an answer in his heart. It should... be possible to arrange them this way. Wasn't it a clever move within the rules to preemptively find and deal with the fallen dead and malevolent spirits before the 'waves' arrived? The Heavenly Dao was merciless because it only required a result. If you had the ability to kill a great malevolent spirit, even if you persuaded it to willingly commit suicide, it was still a testament to your eloquence and skill. If Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva could persuade a ghost king to turn over a new leaf and enlist it, that was also a great Buddhist power. Even Yin Meng's cooking could make malevolent spirits enjoy food to an explosive degree. The way of thinking, in fact, could be opened further and further.

The entity beneath the peach orchard genuinely qualified as a 'wave,' and a significant one in the later stages. Once he surmounted it, becoming the Dragon King would truly not be far off. Applying his 'examiner' mindset, it was equivalent to simply completing all the preceding questions, leaving a major bonus question for the end. Li Zhuiyuan suddenly realized that he had further stripped away a layer of mystery from 'river-walking,' making it even more mundane.

It said, "What he was best at back then was making the eerie river water and mysterious Heavenly Dao seem utterly uninteresting..."

Li Zhuiyuan: "..."

The man began to retreat, his figure withdrawing from the crowd and walking