Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 59 The ninth adopted son—Zhao Lingyun!

At the dock, the bodies of the Taoist priests from Baiyun Temple were piled up one by one.

The Owl Guards carried down barrels of wine from the giant ship and moved them to the side of the pile of corpses. Then they opened the stoppers of the barrels and poured the contents onto the corpses one barrel at a time.

However, what was in the barrel was not fine wine, but dark slime, and something that gave off a pungent smell.

This black mucus is called "red fire glue". It is a combustion aid developed by skilled craftsmen for the Zhao family to smelt steel. Although it is mostly used for steelmaking, "red fire glue" occasionally has some special uses.

For example now.

The Owl Guards skillfully poured red fire glue over each corpse, then brought in straw, wood, and torches and threw them in.

"call!"

The fire immediately swelled, with the river breeze blowing the flames up to more than three meters high.

Under Zhao Qi'an's orders, Cang Baizi's body was burned separately.

He personally took the torch and threw it into the pile of firewood. The fire quickly burned fiercely and devoured the Taoist's body.

The little Taoist boy stood beside him, watching quietly.

The young face was still calm.

Only the firelight was reflected and dancing in his pupils.

For some reason, some scenes from the past emerged in his mind.

……

"Little kid, where are you from and where are you going? Where is your home? You have no home... There is a place where you can have enough food, will you go?"

"You have to call me Master. It's no harm to call me Master. I will make you the most handsome sword!"

"My little disciple, my master doesn't have much ability, and my master's master doesn't have much ability either, but you will become the most capable person in the world in the future! What? What if someone is more capable than you? Then you can worship him as your master, learn his skills, and become more capable than him!"

"When you have finished tempering your bones, I will take you to eat sour jujube cake, okay? You ask what sour jujube cake is? Uh... Anyway, for a kid like you, it is the most delicious thing in the world!"

In my memory of the Baiyun Temple, the old Taoist priest always spoke nonsense, and his rough and wrinkled hands always liked to touch the head of the silent young Taoist priest beside him.

After causing the young Taoist priest to slap his hand away with a cold face, he would then burst into laughter as if he didn't care.

……

The little Taoist boy didn't know why these images kept appearing in his mind.

He looked at the blazing flames, his small hands gently covering his heart, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

He pulled Zhao Qi'an who was beside him.

Zhao Qi'an turned sideways and asked softly, "What's wrong?"

The little Taoist boy looked up at him and said seriously, "I'm sick."

There was a hint of doubt in Zhao Qian'an's eyes, but he still reached out his hand and touched his forehead with his finger.

Spiritual power was like a trickle, slowly flowing from his fingertips into the little Taoist boy's body between his eyebrows.

Zhao Qi'an quickly withdrew his spiritual power and looked at the little Taoist boy with a complicated expression.

Of course he could find out that the little Taoist boy was in good health and had nothing wrong with him.

Zhao Qi'an gently stroked the little Taoist boy's head and said, "He is sick. The river breeze is cold, and he has a slight chill."

The little Taoist boy frowned: "That's not how colds work."

"There are many kinds of wind chills... too."

"Oh."

His brows relaxed, as if the doubts in his heart had been resolved. He turned around and continued to watch the bonfire burning without asking any more questions.

Zhao Qi'an said nothing more and watched with him.

After watching for a while, the little Taoist boy asked again: "Are you the most capable person in the world?"

Zhao Qi'an was slightly startled, then responded with a smile: "Not now, but in the future... maybe."

The little Taoist boy turned his head and looked up at him: "Can I follow you in the future?"

"Will you be my adopted son?"

"Hmm." "In that case..."

Zhao Qi'an gently touched his head, staring at the blazing fire, as if promising: "From now on you will be my ninth adopted son—"

"Zhao Lingyun!"

……

It took two hours to burn Cang Baizi's body.

The guards collected the ashes, put them in a white porcelain urn, and presented them to Zhao Qi'an with great respect.

Zhao Qi'an handed the white porcelain urn filled with ashes to Zhao Lingyun and asked, "Is it heavy?"

Zhao Lingyun shook his head and asked, "My sword?"

"A wooden sword. Do you still want it?"

"want."

Zhao Qi'an gave Xiao Wei a few instructions, and Xiao Wei quickly brought the small wooden sword over.

Blood had already seeped into the small wooden sword and could not be wiped off.

But Zhao Lingyun didn't care at all. He put the white porcelain jar on the ground, tied the small wooden sword back around his waist, and then picked up the white porcelain jar again.

Zhao Qi'an watched quietly from the side, and when he finished, he said, "Let's go, I'll take you back to Dean An."

"Ah."

……

When Zhao Qi'an brought his newly adopted son to the market, it was already dawn.

Many shops in the market town have not yet opened for business, but outside the market town are filled with vendors' stalls.

The vendors in the west of the city all knew that Zhao's Market was bustling, but they were not allowed to set up stalls at will in the market. These vendors could only gather here early before the market opened to sell breakfast and snacks.

In the market town, there are some businesses that are only open at night.

The drinkers in brothels, gamblers in gambling houses, servants in shops, and dock laborers who got up early to go to work were all the customers of these peddlers.

Although it was still dark, the entrance to the market town was bustling with activity.

There was hot smoke coming out of the breakfast shop, and vendors selling pancakes were carrying their poles and shouting as they walked through the streets.

Zhao Qi'an walked through the streets without attracting anyone's attention, blending into the bustle.

Behind him, the petite Zhao Lingyun was holding a white porcelain jar and following him closely.

Since Zhao Qi'an had promised Dean An to let Zhao Lingyun learn chess with him for five years, he naturally had no intention of going back on his word.

Being able to learn chess from President An... this is a great opportunity.

What you learn is "chess", and what you pass on is "intention".

Just when Zhao Qi'an was about to go directly to the Treasure Pavilion, he found that Zhao Lingyun behind him had stopped.

"what happened?"

He looked back and saw Zhao Lingyun holding a white porcelain jar, but his little head turned to the right side of the street, staring at a vendor.

Zhao Qi'an followed his gaze and saw that it was a stall selling sour jujube cakes.

He walked forward, took out a few copper coins from his pocket, and bought two copies.

Zhao Qi'an handed a portion to Zhao Lingyun, opened his own portion, took a bite, and immediately frowned.

The one made here is a bit too sour...

He looked at Zhao Lingyun, but found that Zhao Lingyun seemed not to notice the sourness and silently ate his portion bite by bite.

The portion of sour jujube cake, which was not large to begin with, was quickly finished.

"Is it so delicious?"

"Ah."

Zhao Lingyun silently swallowed the last piece of sour jujube cake, then nodded and said, "It's the most delicious... in the world."

(End of this chapter)