From slave trader to the Immortal Lord of Ten Thousand Laws

"Father!"

Xu Qingyue cried out in pain, covering her mouth as she looked at her father lying in bed below the stage, almost unable to hold back her tears.

Seeing this, Zhao Jiaren looked smug.

He wanted to embarrass the Xu family and exploit Xu Qingyue's weaknesses, and now... he has succeeded in doing just that.

"hateful!"

"That Zhao Jiaren is utterly despicable!"

Qiao'er glared angrily.

She stood right beside her young mistress, watching as her master's carriage was violently dismantled with a flick of his sleeve. She watched as her mistress nearly shed tears, yet she was powerless to do anything about it.

She hated her own powerlessness.

So he turned his head and looked at the man in the blue robe beside him:

"Young Master Jiang, Zhao Jiaren's face is utterly vile! Why don't you quickly punish him?"

"No rush, let's see what the messenger does."

Jiang She replied quirkily, gazing at the high platform in the distance.

On the high platform, Dong Yunqi sat upright and solemnly.

He lowered his eyes, his gaze calmly sweeping over the crowd below the stage, staring at the dense mass of heads for a while.

A breeze blew from above, causing Dong Yunqi's clothes to flutter.

The wind carried up the surging discussions from below the stage in waves.

"Why hasn't the messenger started yet?"

"Are you perhaps waiting for some auspicious time?"

"Tsk, I think it's just a charade!"

"Shh! Keep your voice down! Don't offend the immortal!"

"..."

The sound was intermittent, yet clearly audible.

Dong Yunqi listened without changing his expression, as if the noise and chaos around him had nothing to do with him.

Suddenly, I heard a voice.

"Look! Patriarch Zhao is making a move!"

Following the sound, they saw Zhao Jiaren straighten his clothes, slowly rise from his seat, and then bow to the white-clad figure on the stage. His voice was clear and resonant, as if he deliberately dragged out the melody so that all the thousands of people below the stage could hear him clearly.

He said:

"Please, messenger... take action."

"it is good."

Dong Yunqi nodded slightly. His voice was not loud, but it resonated directly in everyone's minds.

"!!!"

The crowd fell silent.

The people who were whispering and gossiping just moments before now seemed to have their throats gripped by an invisible hand, their mouths agape, their eyes wide, utterly speechless.

Immediately afterward, before anyone could recover from the shockwave in their minds...

Then Dong Yunqi slowly raised his right hand, his five fingers spread wide, and pointed at the azure sky above him.

"Boom—"

A muffled thud, followed by a bolt of lightning striking the sky.

Then the sky suddenly changed color.

The sky, which had been a clear, bright blue, suddenly darkened.

Vast swirling dark clouds appeared out of nowhere, rolling and gathering, and in the blink of an eye, they covered the sky and the sun.

Dark clouds swallowed up the shadows of the people.

In an instant, the entire market was shrouded in heavy dark clouds, dark and gloomy.

Countless people looked up at the sky, their faces filled with horror and awe. Some even knelt down involuntarily, kowtowing repeatedly to the white-clad figure on the high platform.

"The world...the world has changed!"

"It was a spell cast by the messenger!"

"A sage! Truly the work of a sage!"

Exclamations, gasps, and sounds of kneeling mingled together, like boiling water bubbling in a frying pan.

Dong Yunqi acted as if he hadn't heard a thing.

He still raised his hand, maintaining that pose, his gaze fixed on the large mass of dark clouds he had summoned. After a while, he lowered his eyes and looked down at the audience.

Below the stage, Mr. Xu was emaciated, his face ashen, lying on his sickbed with his eyes closed and his limbs immobile.

But her lips were trembling.

Dong Yunqi watched for a while.

His gaze was clear and serene, like cold water, sweeping over Master Xu's sunken eye sockets, high cheekbones, and dark brow, as if he were observing Master Xu's condition.

But as he looked at it, Dong Yunqi suddenly frowned.

He had previously examined Master Xu's illness in the Xu family's bedroom and said at the time that the illness could be cured.

But unexpectedly...

Only a few days had passed, but Master Xu's face had become much more withered. His cheeks were thin, almost devoid of flesh, with only wrinkled skin covering his bones.

Most alarmingly, Mr. Xu's chapped lips were unconsciously twitching slightly, and he was uttering a series of incoherent murmurs:

"Mother...it hurts so much...it hurts so much..."

The voice was intermittent, but the tone was incredibly childish.

It sounded like the voice of a five- or six-year-old child.

"This is troublesome..."

Dong Yunqi's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

He saw two dark figures appear in front of Master Xu: one with a bull's head and a human body, holding a steel fork, tall and burly; the other with a horse's face and a human body, wielding a chain.

The two were shrouded in a faint black aura and were walking step by step toward Old Master Xu on his sickbed. The chains dragged on the ground, making a screeching sound as they plowed through it.

However, these things are not known to outsiders.

Qiao'er was also completely confused and asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why isn't this fake messenger moving?"

"He's moving."

Jiang She glanced around, then his gaze fell heavily on the couch.

Qiao'er followed his gaze, but after looking around her master's bedside for a while, she saw nothing.

"Why can't I see anything?"

The girl turned her head to look at Jiang She.

Jiang She smiled slightly.

"Please close your eyes, young lady."

"Um?"

Qiao'er didn't understand, but she did as she was told.

Jiang She wiped his eyes with his finger.

The next instant, Qiao'er felt a few drops of heat in her eyes, not knowing what Jiang Langjun had done.

She opened her eyes and saw two dark shadows standing in front of her master's bed.

"This...this is Ox-Head and Horse-Face!"

Qiao'er's eyelids twitched in fright.

In an instant, she opened her eyes.

But looking at the ox-headed and horse-faced demons standing before the master's bed, he stammered, unable to speak. After a long while, he finally spoke in a sorrowful voice, as if on the verge of tears:

"Young Master Jiang, how could there be Ox-Head and Horse-Face?"

"Is my master... going to die...?"

Qiao'er looked sad.

She looked at Jiang She, hoping to get an answer from him, but he pointed and gestured for her to look at the high platform.

On the high platform, Dong Yunqi's soul left his body and slowly landed on the ground, behind Ox-Head and Horse-Face.

Just then, Ox-Head and Horse-Face were carrying chains, intending to put them around Master Xu's neck on the bed.

Suddenly sensing someone approaching, the two abruptly turned their heads.

Four eyes, as big as copper bells, stared at the newcomer. They saw that it was the soul of a Taoist priest in white robes, with Taoist aura flowing around him, clearly indicating that he had cultivation.

Bull Head said irritably:

"Hey! Where did this quack Taoist priest come from?"

Dong Yunqi, upon hearing this, did not express anger. Instead, he raised his hands and performed a Taoist salute to the Ox-Head and Horse-Face.

"Amitabha Buddha."

"My lords, why have you gone to such lengths?"

"Ha, you Taoist priest, can't you tell what we've come here for?"

Upon hearing this, Horse-Face chuckled impatiently. He shook the chain in his hand, and the rings clattered together.

"They're here to steal souls, of course."

"A soul-stealing charm?"

Dong Yunqi's gaze narrowed slightly.

He glanced at the ox-headed and horse-faced demons, then at the dying Master Xu on the bed, and pondered:

"You two are saying... someone has died here?"

"Ha, nonsense!" Ox-Head couldn't help but scoff upon hearing this. "You Taoist priest, your words are strange. If no one died, what would we be doing here?"

Dong Yunqi frowned slightly.

He was still hoping to "borrow the tiger's power" and gain some good fortune, but if he couldn't cure Master Xu and instead caused his death, wouldn't his plan have been in vain?

hiss......

That won't do!

Dong Yunqi pondered silently, his gaze unconsciously falling on Master Xu's withered face. Suddenly, he asked, "May I ask you two gentlemen, is Master Xu truly dead?"

"Hey! You scoundrel, how dare you question us!"

Bullhead has a bad temper; he raised his fork to stab.

But they were stopped by the horse-faced demon.

He said:

"If you don't believe me, then I'll let you see for yourself."

Having said that, he suddenly flipped his palm, and a booklet shrouded in a faint black aura appeared out of thin air in the horse-faced man's palm.

Upon opening the booklet, they found that Master Xu's name was not listed.

That's really strange.

"It seems his lifespan hasn't ended yet."

"We almost took the wrong soul."

"So, whose soul should we seduce now?"

The ox-headed and horse-faced demons stared at each other in bewilderment.

Although they were messengers from the underworld, they could not possibly return empty-handed after coming up here.

No matter what, they have to take one soul back to report.

But right now, whose soul should be lured away?

The ox-headed and horse-faced figures exchanged a glance, then simultaneously looked at Dong Yunqi's soul and swallowed hard.

When Dong Yunqi saw the two looking at him, his expression changed slightly.

He was currently just a soul, no match for the Ox-Head and Horse-Face demons. Even if he wanted to escape, he couldn't break free of the soul-snatching chains. So, trembling with fear, he bowed respectfully.

"My lords, please wait a moment."

"Um?"

He reached out and waved to Master Xu on the couch.

Several faces immediately appeared on Master Xu's face.

Their faces were distorted; they were all children.

"My lord, isn't this a spirit?"

"Heh! You Taoist priest, you certainly know what's good for you."

Ox-Head smiled upon hearing this, while Horse-Face flipped through the booklet. "The bodies of these souls have already been boiled into a pot of pills. They are indeed the souls of the dead."

"It would be better to capture these souls than to return empty-handed and suffer the consequences at the hands of Lord Black and White."

As they spoke, they exchanged a glance.

So he raised the chain and hooked it at the distorted childlike faces on Master Xu's face.

"Splash—!"

The chains rattled softly, like pebbles falling into a cold pool.

The next instant, those distorted, childlike, and pained faces were sucked into the chains like smoke and vanished in an instant.

Having taken the soul, the two underworld messengers naturally left.

Almost at the very moment those souls were taken away, Mr. Xu, who had been unconsciously moving his lips and uttering painful murmurs on his sickbed, suddenly shuddered.

Those dry, cracked, bluish-purple lips suddenly closed.

No more words escaped his lips.

Mr. Xu's complexion gradually improved.

"So it was hampered by the spirits of the dead. It seems... the Taoist priest who treated him earlier did indeed cure Master Xu's illness, but he had ulterior motives and thus harmed these spirits."

Seeing that Master Xu's complexion was gradually becoming rosy and showing signs of improvement, Dong Yunqi hurriedly returned to his body and pretended to cast a spell, taking credit for the achievement himself.

He raised his hands and made a hand seal in front of his chest.

Suddenly a clear shout rang out:

"disease!"

With a flick of his finger, he pointed at Master Xu.

In an instant, two or three little devils appeared in front of Master Xu's bed, clinging to him, baring their teeth and claws, and letting out mournful howls.

Upon seeing this, the crowd below the stage suddenly stirred.

"Ah! A ghost! There's a ghost!"

"It's an evil spirit haunting Master Xu!"

"The messenger has shown his extraordinary abilities!"

The crowd paled, and gasps of alarm rose from all sides. Many timid people retreated in fear, their faces ashen, unable to utter a word.

On the high platform, Dong Yunqi's expression was solemn.

His gaze was like lightning, locking onto the few little ghosts conjured by magic. With a flick of his hand, a golden light as large as a crescent moon shot out from his fingertip, dazzling and blazing, and struck the little ghosts.

"laugh!!"

Before the little demons could even scream, they were violently twisted and dissolved in the golden light.

In the blink of an eye, it turned into wisps of green smoke, which were dispersed by the wind.

Sunlight pierced through the gaps in the dark clouds, casting a beam of light that fell upon the open ground bathed in golden light.

Clean and peaceful.

There was no trace of evil left.

Dong Yunqi slowly withdrew his stance.

The crowd below the stage fell silent for a moment.

Immediately afterwards, a roar of exclamations, like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing down, suddenly erupted!

"Golden light! It's golden light!"

"The messenger has driven away the evil spirits!"

"He truly is a messenger of the mountain god!"

As the people spoke, they all looked up at the golden pillar of light piercing through the gaps in the dark clouds, and at the white figure on the high platform, their eyes filled with awe and horror.

"thump!"

"Thump thump!"

As the crowd thinned out, the people spontaneously knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly to the figure in white on the high platform.

He said with reverence:

"The messenger is incredibly powerful."

"May the immortals protect us! May the immortals protect us!"

"..."

Faced with the clamor and chorus of worship, Dong Yunqi grinned, unable to suppress a smile.

He was overjoyed, for he had already sensed that within the dense crowd below the stage, there were wisps of yellowish-white energy, barely visible to the naked eye, quietly emerging from the people's worship and devout reverence.

And they gathered above his head, surging toward him.

"No mistake, this is the smell of incense."

"Borrowing the tiger's power... truly a shortcut."

"Now I just need to wait for Master Xu to wake up so I can have more offerings," Dong Yunqi thought to himself, and couldn't help but look at the crowd again.

Suddenly, a commotion arose at the back of the crowd.

"Make way, make way!"

It was the sound of a large group of people pounding the ground.

The crowd was taken aback by the sudden spectacle and turned to look.

Then a young man stepped out from the crowd, surrounded by dozens of attendants, all with swords and knives, their eyes sharp and alert, forming a protective formation around him.

The boy, about sixteen or seventeen years old, wore a robe over his shoulders. He had grown tall and strong, but still retained a somewhat thin and frail appearance.

He stepped out of the protective formation.

He raised his hand and took off his robe.

Then, a dark blue prince's everyday robe was revealed inside. The robe was woven with cloud brocade and embroidered with python patterns in gold thread. It shone with gold light and exuded a golden, noble aura.

On the viewing platform, an official recognized the boy and quickly bowed.

"Your Highness, it's Your Highness!"

"Greetings, Your Highness Prince Xiang!"

Ok?

The King of Xiang?!

The crowd fell silent once more.

Countless gazes turned in unison to that elegant figure in stone blue.

"Thump thump!"

More people knelt down.

The young King of Xiang ignored him, only slightly raising his head to look at the white-clad figure on the high platform, and said:

"The mountain god's messenger has a clever way of doing things."

"But since you are a messenger, why not invite the mountain god to meet you? That would also fulfill my desire to cultivate the Tao."

The boy smiled and looked at Dong Yunqi.

Dong Yunqi looked troubled.

He was ultimately just a fake messenger of the mountain god; how could he possibly invite the mountain god to meet him?

But he didn't dare to kill him.

After all, there is still a Qi Refining Immortal in the Great Qian Dynasty court.

Dong Yunqi was speechless for a moment.

At the same time, as the yellow and white incense smoke gathered above the heads of the people, a line of small characters appeared before Jiang She's eyes:

"Your slave is hoarding magical power. Do you wish to revoke it?"