From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 360 Disposal
It was getting dark, but the afterglow of sunset still lingered above the valley.

Dugu Kang's face was pale, and he seemed to have lost weight, but his eyes were exceptionally clear.

"Junior brother, congratulations on breaking free from your cage!" Jie Kaiping was no longer the submissive and obedient monk he had been just moments before. Instead, he exuded a sense of liberation and his excitement was palpable. He was no longer the high monk he once was.

Dugu Kang clasped his hands together and bowed to Jie Kaiping, saying, "Senior Brother."

He bowed to Suxin and Suwen again, saying, "Senior Sisters."

Dugu Kang finally looked at Mingyue and Meng Yuan, and bowed with a smile.

Back in Songhe Prefecture, although Dugu Kang had shaved his head early on, he was bound by the rules of Buddhist propagation, so he pretended to be celibate and even faked a reputation for purity.

Only during the Laobiekeng Poetry Gathering could Dugu Kang show his bald head. Now, Dugu Kang truly seemed to be free, and he was quite elated.

Su Xin and Su Wen were both honest children, and they obediently returned the greeting to Dugu Kang.

Jie Kaiping seemed to meet an old friend in a foreign land, and even hugged Dugu Kang, while keeping looking at Meng Yuan.

He had just realized that while Master Qingguangzi's Great Light Seed Method was indeed powerful and ordinary people could not remove it, Meng Yuan was able to use Starfire to dispel the thought that Master had left in Dugu Kang's heart and even force out that piece of Buddha bone. This showed that Starfire was extraordinary, not only having the ability to calm the mind but also to remove evil spirits.

At this moment, all the flames in the valley had disappeared, the endless dark clouds in the sky had vanished, and Qingguangzi, who had descended through the influence of others, had also disappeared without a trace.

The slaves of Xiangji Kingdom, who had been prostrate in the mud, got up one after another.

The old man led the way again, coming to Meng Yuan's side as if he wanted to kneel down, but seemed reluctant to do so.

At this moment, Meng Yuan's clothes were tattered, his hair was disheveled, and all the wounds on his body had disappeared, not even a trace of blood could be found.

The exposed skin on his body was exceptionally smooth, as if it had been forged in fire, containing countless possibilities, or as if it had always been like this.

The slaves noticed that Meng Yuan's hair was shorter than Mingyue's, but at least he had hair. As for the other four, needless to say, they were all bald.

Meng Yuan looked at the old slave man but remained silent.

When the old slave met Meng Yuan's gaze, he felt that the eyes of the Flying Yuan True Monarch were deep and unfathomable, like a bottomless pool, yet they seemed to reflect a flame.

The flames were tiny, yet they seemed poised to burst forth from the pupils at any moment, scorching the heavens and earth.

"Greetings, True Lord Feiyuan." The old slave dared not scrutinize him any further, feeling that since this person had the ability to create the world, he must also be a god-like figure.

Since that's the case, there's no need to dwell on the length of their hair; they're bound to be people from the top two families anyway.

Sure enough, as the old slave bowed, the slaves behind him also knelt down one by one, chanting the name of True Lord Feiyuan.

As the sun was setting, the afterglow lingered, still illuminating the surrounding land, bathing everything inside and outside the canyon in red.

The slaves shouted and knelt, their chants not very uniform, and they repeated them over and over again, but they were quite imposing, startling the distant sound of monkeys howling.

Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang also looked at Meng Yuan. Su Xin was tugging at Su Wen's sleeve, whispering something in Su Wen's ear.

"What's your name?" Meng Yuan asked.

The old slave knelt on the ground, his forehead smeared with mud, but he remained silent.

Meng Yuan remembered clearly that the man had spoken fluently and had some courage, which showed that although he was a slave, he must have served a nobleman.

"True Lord Feiyuan asks what your name is." Su Xin had lived in the library tower of the Xiangji Kingdom for a long time and had a lot of contact with these slaves. She understood what the old slave meant: lowly people should not speak with those of higher status.

Sure enough, the old slave immediately replied, "This old servant is called Old Stone."

In the Kingdom of Xiangji, apart from the thirteen surnames, the other slaves were not entitled to surnames. Therefore, there was no set method for naming them. They were either named after whatever they saw when they were born, or simply called whatever they wanted. In any case, they were all lowly names.

The slave, Old Stone, gave his name but dared not raise his head, showing that the rules of the past thousand years had truly been like a plague, deeply engraving the distinction between superiors and inferiors in people's hearts.

"He said his name is Old Stone." Su Xin looked at Meng Yuan, who had come to relay the message again, clearly taking over the work of the eleventh disciple.

"Senior Sister." Suwen tugged at Suxin, indicating that there was no need to relay the message.

Meng Yuan ignored Su Xin and looked at the kneeling slave, Old Stone, and commanded, "Raise your head and speak." Soon, Old Stone raised his head, but he trembled, completely unlike how he had been when he was assessing Meng Yuan's status.

Meng Yuan gripped the hilt of his sword and said, "Today I have slain the demons from beyond the realm, and I am worthy to be the ruler of Xiangji Kingdom."

His voice was firm and unquestionable, and it immediately resounded throughout the canyon.

Sure enough, the old slave, Old Stone, took the lead and called out to the Flying Yuan True Lord in this mountain.

After the initial uproar subsided, these slaves from the Xiangji Kingdom found a new master.

“Since there’s a new master, there should be a queen!” Su Xin was terrible at picking her timing. “My junior sister is staying, so let’s just make it a queen!”

Suwen couldn't stop her; her face was flushed, and she didn't dare look at Meng Yuan, not knowing what to say at all.

"That's great!" Jie Kaiping immediately agreed. "One isn't enough for me, let's go back and hold a grand selection ceremony for a concubine!"

"Wonderful! Wonderful!" Dugu Kang exclaimed, clapping his hands in praise.

Meng Yuan glanced over, then immediately withdrew his veil and concealed his true intentions. Dugu Kang shut his mouth, and Su Xin dared not speak again.

Once the shouts subsided, Meng Yuan then asked, "Are all the nobles who came on this trip dead?"

The old stone's face immediately turned pale, and he quickly lowered his head before remembering to look at Su Xin.

Su Xin crossed her arms, about to deliver a message, when Su Wen stopped her.

“I ask you, you answer.” Meng Yuan stepped forward, not letting the slave Old Stone stand up, and said, “From now on, when the people of Xiangji Kingdom communicate, they will no longer need others to relay messages! This rule will no longer apply from this day forward.”

Upon hearing this, the old stone raised his head tremblingly. Seeing Meng Yuan's words, he hesitated for a moment before kneeling down again and saying, "Three are still alive, but they are severely injured. Most of their internal organs have been devoured, and they are unlikely to survive."

On this trip to the canyon, most of the people from the Xiangji Kingdom came, along with more than 10,000 slaves and several hundred people from the thirteen clans.

After the poisonous rain incident, the thirteen noble families who had come with the army were nowhere to be found, and many of the slaves had also died.

Meng Yuan didn't have time to pay much attention to that at the moment, and simply asked, "How many of the thirteen surnames are still in the city?"

The old stone was very respectful, not daring to meet Meng Yuan's eyes, and replied, "I don't know."

Meng Yuan gripped the knife, his body alighting on faint flames.

The sun had long since set, but the afterglow of the sunset lingered in the sky for a long time.

Within the canyon, only Meng Yuan, bathed in firelight, shone brightly, as if guiding the future path of the slaves of Xiangji Kingdom.

Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang huddled to one side, whispering to Meng Yuan as if discussing the strangeness of the Transformation Fire.

Su Xin and Su Wen were close together, and the firelight reflected off their bald heads.

Mingyue, with her heroic bearing, stood beside Meng Yuan like a female protector.

Sure enough, upon seeing this strange phenomenon, the slave Old Stone was dazzled and immediately knelt down and shouted.

The other slaves followed suit, some even shouting that gods had descended to earth.

Seeing this, Meng Yuan immediately shouted, "I have slain the evil spirits of the outside world. The destiny of heaven and the stars are in my hands. I now order the thirteen noble families to be stripped of their noble status!"

Upon hearing this, the slaves were bewildered, each feeling as if something was missing. They then shouted the name of True Lord Feiyuan, but there was little joy in breaking free from their cages, and no hope for the future.

“This plague has indeed caused endless harm.” Dugu Kang, being the kindest of the kind, observed from the sidelines and found it quite reasonable. “Meng Feiyuan cured the plague, but they are unaware of it and still think that a new plague has arrived.”

“It’s all the same, a chaotic mess where one person finishes their act and another takes the stage.” Jie Kaiping chuckled. He also made a lot of sense. “Meng Feiyuan is a member of the Ying family and acts in the style of the Ying family. Naturally, he wouldn’t become a local king. But Xiangji Kingdom is too small. Even if things change for a while, in ten or a hundred years, it might become like it is today again.”

At this moment, Suwen and Suxin felt that the Xiangji Kingdom had changed. Suxin whispered excitedly to Suwen, clearly very happy.

The sky was ablaze with endless rosy light, yet countless stars had already appeared.

(End of this chapter)