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Chapter 308 In the Mirror
If Zhou You were still here, he would surely sigh: How ridiculous it is to be deferential at first and then obsequious.

But now there are only two people in this tent.

The soldier had already lost his mind, as for this General Zuo...
At this moment, he felt not a trace of shame, only a sense of honor.

—What's that old saying again? It depends on who you're serving. Serving as a dog for ordinary officials and nobles is humiliating, but serving as a dog for a prince is something many people dream of but can't achieve!

The old man, whose skin was as white as tree bark, looked at him and suddenly laughed.

"Zuo Wen, do you know why, out of so many capable men under my command, I chose you to be the supreme general commanding all the troops in the prefecture?"

"Of course, it's because I'm loyal to Your Highness."

The old man gently shook his head.

"No."

"That means I am somewhat related to Your Highness."

Upon hearing this, the old man's lips curled into a sarcastic smile.

“I can kill my own nephew without hesitation, and you and I are already beyond the fifth degree of kinship. How could I possibly favor you because of something like this?”

After being rejected twice in a row, General Zuo was covered in sweat.

"Um, please enlighten me, Your Highness."

"Well, that's because you're disgusting enough." The old man in the water mirror spoke casually, but his words were extremely insulting. "I've lived for over two hundred years and seen plenty of disgusting people, but someone as disgusting as you is truly rare. That's why I kept you by my side to see just how much fun you can provide."

All the fawning smiles froze instantly.

But just a few breaths later, a bright smile reappeared on that chubby face, even more ingratiating than before.

"It is my great honor to be able to amuse Your Highness. Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will do my best to find even greater amusement for you in the future."

The old man gazed at General Zuo's plump body with great interest for a long time before leaning back in his chair.

"You know what, this is the only thing I dislike about you, and that is that you are too pragmatic—alright, enough of this small talk. Every time this water mirror is activated, it costs over a hundred lives. Although I don't care, wasting things is always shameful, cough cough cough cough cough!"

The old man suddenly coughed halfway through his sentence.

It started as a slight cough, but it quickly turned into labored wheezing, and eventually the sound was so loud that it seemed as if the patient was coughing up their internal organs.

"Your Highness, what's wrong?"

Before General Zuo could finish his feigned concern, a stunningly beautiful woman emerged from behind the old man, draped only in a sheer veil. The old man didn't even glance at her; instead, he reached out his withered hand and grabbed the woman's neck as if she were a chicken.

then.

Seeing the other person's expression of relief, he viciously bit down on that jade-like neck.

As the woman's vitality faded, the old man's pale face became slightly rosy—but anyone with eyes could see that this rosy color was a sickly red, and it was even fading away at a speed visible to the naked eye.

After a while, the old man exhaled a breath of stale air and tossed the beautiful woman's corpse aside as if discarding a piece of trash.

"The Bloodthirsty Technique of Guangying Palace isn't very useful anymore. When will the Thick Earth Sect finally finish? Forget it, I won't waste any more words. I'm asking you, how's your work on suppressing the rebellion going?"

General Zuo's gaze was unfocused, but the old man didn't notice it because of the water mirror.

"Your Highness, I've killed almost all of my men; only the cleanup is left."

But before he could finish speaking, the prince interrupted him without any politeness.

"Then hurry up and finish this, and then bring your bunch of good-for-nothings back as soon as possible. Although those guys are all useless, at least through your force I can mobilize the troops of the entire prefecture."

Hearing that irritating voice, General Zuo immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

"Yes, I definitely will, I will definitely speed things up!"

Hearing this, the old man's expression softened slightly.

"Besides this matter, I need to entrust you with a few other things."

"Your Highness, please speak, and I will do my utmost."

"First thing, listen to me carefully: don't get too close to the Thick Earth Sect. You've already been corrupted by their methods, and if you get any closer, you'll easily fall into demonic possession—it doesn't matter if you die, but don't delay my important business."

"Yes, I understand!"

The old man coughed a few more times and then spoke.

"Secondly, I heard that you have two masters and disciples from Maoshan. Remember to keep a close eye on them and don't let them cause any trouble. Their birthday is approaching, and the Maoshan leader is known for holding grudges. I don't want any accidents to happen because of this."

Seeing that the other party hurriedly agreed, the old man continued.

"Now that I've finished speaking, is there anything else you need?"

General Zuo suddenly remembered the Taoist priest with divine swordsmanship from earlier and was about to report it—but he immediately remembered his unfinished work and swallowed the words back.

"No, absolutely not, Your Highness, please rest assured, I will finish this job quickly and be back soon."

But before he could finish speaking, the old man, as if he had exhausted all his strength, closed his eyes heavily.

Ripples appeared in the water mirror again, and the image was about to shatter. Suddenly, the old man raised his head with difficulty, as if he had suddenly remembered something, and said in a hoarse voice.

"The leader of the Thick Earth Sect mentioned a person of destiny to me the other day. If you have time, then forget it. With your character, you probably won't even get to see him."

The old man fell asleep, and General Zuo wiped the cold sweat from his forehead as he watched the water return to its clear state.

"My goodness, every time I see the prince, he scares me to death. Oh right, after this incident, I just remembered, what about those two good-for-nothings from Maoshan?"

The soldier who had been silent finally spoke.

"They're still waiting in the camp. The older one among them repeated his previous request, hoping we could disband the militia members serving forced labor and let them go home."

General Zuo simply scoffed.

"If I send them home, who am I supposed to dig that thing up from? Am I supposed to lower all my soldiers to their level? These two are really getting in the way. Hey, go find a few people and kick them all out."

"But His Highness just said to be cautious."

The General patted his greasy belly and laughed.

"You don't understand, do you? Who has His Highness ever been afraid of all these years? Even if the leader of Maoshan Sect is powerful, would he dare to run rampant in our Songzhou? I've known His Highness for so many years, and I know very well that he just wants to teach me a lesson, but..."

His face immediately turned sorrowful again.

"How am I supposed to gather the remaining rebels? Although that Taoist priest Zhou seems like a formidable fellow, what about the things in the village... wait a minute!" He suddenly seemed to have thought of something—he paced back and forth a few times, his smile growing wider, and finally he couldn't help but clap his hands.

"Goodness, it's been so long, how come I didn't think of such a good idea?"

General Zuo turned around and patted the brainless soldier hard on the shoulder.

"Later, gather the whole army and tell them I'm going up the mountain to suppress bandits. Also, to celebrate my cleverness, let's slaughter a pig first—let me think about it, this one will do."

A fat pig was lifted up, its ears being pulled, accompanied by a pitiful scream.

"I think this is your wife or your daughter? Never mind, it doesn't matter. We've been raising her for so long, it's about time she's ready for market. Tell the kitchen to prepare a whole pig feast for me today."

The soldier, showing neither joy nor sorrow, simply nodded and dragged the howling beast away.
-
The mountains and forests are lush and green, and the air is extremely fresh and cool, probably because of the recent rain. The early spring breeze rustles through the leaves, bringing with it a melodious and pleasant birdsong.

"I ask you, Master, where did you learn your swordsmanship? I've been in Maoshan for almost a year, but I've never seen your swordsmanship so fast."

"."

"I say, Master, your performance before was truly impressive. You killed hundreds of sentient zombies all by yourself."

"."

"Master, did you see that fat man's face at the time? It turned pale. It's only because he was afraid of your swordsmanship that he didn't dare to make a move."

Listening to the rambling words, Zhou You helplessly rubbed his forehead.

—Am I cursed? Why is every young person I meet such a chatterbox?

He turned his head and saw Fu Yu riding on the donkey his master had brought him, his face full of excitement for the unknown adventure.

—This story needs to be told from the beginning.

Just a few days ago, Zhou You had barely left the camp when he sensed someone hanging behind him from a distance.

He initially thought that General Zuo's rival was distrustful and had sent a spy as a precaution. He was looking for a secluded spot to kill the guy when he realized that the person following him was actually Yu Daoren's disciple, Fu Yu.

He wanted to send this clueless kid back home, but who would have thought that when he raised his head, he would speak so confidently.

First, he had his master's permission to come out this time. Not only did he have a handwritten letter from his master to Zhou You, but he also managed to smuggle out the donkey.

Secondly, although he had not been ordained, he was still a member of the Maoshan sect, and the things in that ghost village were closely related to their Maoshan sect. Although he did not know the true situation of those things, he could at least point Zhou You in the right direction.

But Zhou You was not the kind of person who was easily fooled. He immediately grabbed Fu Yu by the ear, intending to hand him over to Old Master Yu—but after seeing the letter, he suddenly stopped.

The letter was very simple, only saying that he was really sorry that he could not go with them in person, and mentioned that his disciple had learned some Maoshan magic, which might be of some use, and he was at the disciple's beck and call, and he only hoped that his disciple could take care of him.

Zhou You only needed a few seconds to understand the meaning of the letter.

However, Master Yu felt that he had lost his armored corpse and was now powerless to protect his disciple, so he wanted to take advantage of Zhou You's influence to take care of him for a while—anyway, even if they really entered the ghost village, given his personality, he would definitely not let the kid be in danger.

This old man only likes to play tricks at times like this.

At the time, Zhou You didn't think much about it; he just felt that the interests were aligned, so after thinking about it, he casually brought the kid along.

In the end, all he feels now is regret.

I feel genuine and deep regret.

If he had the chance, he would definitely kick that blabbermouth away, then pat the roe deer's rump and run as far away as possible!

However, Fu Yu was completely oblivious to his feelings and continued to look around as if it were something new and interesting, saying this.

"Master Zhou, this is my first time going on a proper business trip, and this feeling is just different."

Zhou You untied the wine flask, took a sip to clear his head, and then replied.

"Hey kid, you and your master have been out doing work quite a few times already, haven't you? Why are you saying this is your first time going on a business trip?"

"Daoist Master, it's 'the first time you've been serious,'" Fu Yu corrected earnestly, then sighed heavily. "Daoist Master, you have no idea, my master is a complete scoundrel. Every time he goes out to work, he's extremely cautious. Even when facing a worthless fox demon, he has to plan carefully for days. As for the money he gets, he donates most of it. Unlike you, Daoist Master, you're quick and decisive, and quick to settle scores."

Upon hearing this, Zhou You simply shook his head slightly.

"I think you'd better not talk about your master like that. In some ways, I'm actually not as good as him."

Fu Yu burst out laughing.

"Master, aren't you just lying through your teeth? My master, who always loves to take advantage of others and whose greatest hobby is picking up chicken butts to eat, can he compare to you?"

Zhou You did not answer this time.

Although he hadn't known Old Man Yu for long, he could still clearly see what kind of person he was.

Unfortunately.

Young people often think that being glamorous and glamorous is good, but they can't see what is truly worthy of admiration.

However, Zhou You wasn't really in the mood to explain—besides, the person who was going to explain probably wouldn't listen anyway—so he just casually changed the subject.

"Hey Fu, you and your master visited this ghost village once before, right? Do you have any impressions of it?"

Upon hearing this, a hint of fear finally appeared on Fu Yu's face.

"To please inform the Daoist Master, I truly don't know much about this either. My master only took me for a few walks around outside the village, and then he lost the armored corpse he had nurtured for over ten years. The only thing I'm clear about is that the village seemed to be alive; the entire village could move, and every time it appeared..."

"Each time it appears, it is accompanied by a thick, black mist like kerosene, and the surrounding scenery begins to distort?"

"Eh, Taoist Master, how did you know?"

Zhou You sighed.

"Well, kid, looks like we've arrived—get ready."

".What?"

Fu Yu looked up in surprise.

But all they saw was black mist spreading beneath their feet, and the surrounding mountains and forests quickly lost their color, turning into countless strange, withered branches.

Looking again.

The sun was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a deep red blood moon.

Now, it was showing him a maniacal smile.

(End of this chapter)