Chapter 261: You’re the Real Killing Talent
Chapter 261: You’re the Real Killing Talent
Song Gudao paid Chen Changsheng a visit.
Seeing him bring wine, Chen Changsheng knew it meant Song Gudao had a request.
“It’s Demon Gall Liquor brewed by Du A’niang.”
Song Gudao placed the jug on the table.
Chen Changsheng gave it a glance and asked, “Didn’t you used to call her ‘the old widow’?”
Song Gudao chuckled at that. “They were just jokes…”
Chen Changsheng smiled calmly, then reached over to open the jug and poured a bowl for each of them.
“Nothing happening outside the walls?” Chen Changsheng asked.
“Nothing at all.”
Song Gudao replied, “Just feels wrong not to keep watch, that’s all.”
“I suppose so.”
Chen Changsheng clinked bowls with him. They both took a sip.
Then Chen Changsheng spoke up. “Might as well come straight out with it.”
Song Gudao nodded. “With Rabbit Master gone now, word from the Demon Realm has completely stopped. Everyone’s scared. Some are even starting to want to leave. If this was a sexagenary cycle (60 years) ago, it wouldn’t be like this. From over a thousand down to a few hundred… well…”
It was a case of having completely lost their fighting spirit.
After all, most weren’t guarding this place out of some grand purpose. And with them being weaker now, any slip-up could lead to trouble.
Chen Changsheng thought for a moment. “I’ve always wondered. Most of them aren’t here defending the Mortal World. Besides a bit of faint belief, how do you keep them all in line?”
Song Gudao answered flatly. “Made an example of a couple.”
“Make an example of a couple?” Chen Changsheng asked.
Song Gudao took a sip of wine. “A sexagenary cycle ago, my Master stepped out beyond the wall. He had no choice but to use up all his Essence Blood. He swung his sword twice, sweeping away two Eighth-Realm Great Demons. That stopped the Demon Race chaos back then. The Divine Domain paid a heavy price. Over a thousand became barely two hundred.”
“At that point, the Divine Domain had nearly no fight left. Lots of people began thinking of leaving.”
“Because of the Essence Blood loss, my Master should have died right then. But to hold these people in place… he forced himself to sit, wasting away, for six years.”
“Those six years, I trained with my Master. I took up his sword. As expected, when my Master left this world, chaos broke out in the city. People wanted to flee the Divine Domain.”
“My Master left me a safeguard. He’d stored some bursts of his Sword Qi inside the sword. With those Sword Qi bursts, I didn’t need to worry.”
“At that time I thought, either don’t do it, or do it completely!”
Song Gudao grinned. “So I didn’t just kill the thirty-some who actually made a move. I also killed anyone who’d ever clearly shown they wanted to leave.”
“Seventy-three people.”
Song Gudao emphasized that number. “I didn’t let one get away. I hung their heads on the city tower. I made everyone stand below the wall and watch…”
“No one was not afraid.”
Chen Changsheng set his wine bowl down. “People are thin like paper. If you weren’t ruthless, maybe the Divine Domain would have fallen apart.”
Song Gudao nodded. “Honestly, it all felt… sudden. Abrupt.”
He was silent a moment, then added, “Truthfully, I don’t even understand myself. Sometimes I’m ruthless with them. Yet, when they really die… I regret it. Like with Rabbit Master. Like so many who left before. The words carved on the steps, generation after generation… line over line… It’s… unpleasant to see.”
“Senior, do you think I’m ridiculous?”
A self-mocking smile touched Song Gudao’s lips. “Doing such dirty deeds… yet feeling sorry when some die. It’s really…”
He couldn’t quite find words to describe himself.
Chen Changsheng shook his head. “Those who accomplish big things aren’t laughed at. Right or wrong, your courage and guts aren’t things a regular man can match.”
“Heh, true.”
Song Gudao didn’t act humble. He admitted right out. “In all the Divine Domain, I’m the only one who dared decide to cut the City Platform duties down to once a year. Because of that one choice, close to a million extra have died over this sexagenary cycle!”
He tipped his head back and drank it down in one gulp. But then his voice suddenly softened.
“Sometimes in my dreams, I see countless figures crowding around me. All those who died because of me. Each one died horribly. They live in my dreams. That’s why I haven’t slept properly all these years.”
Chen Changsheng gazed at him. “It’s still like that?”
Song Gudao said, “Still like that. So I rarely sleep. If I can avoid it, I do. I either drink a lot of wine and pass out drunk.”
Chen Changsheng stated, “If it was for a big cause, you probably wouldn’t dream of all those dead, would you?”
Song Gudao thought a moment. “Maybe not.”
He had no grand purpose inside him. It all came from selfish desire.
That person called Jiang Shouyi was the one who kept his thoughts trapped here.
Chen Changsheng asked, “So why did you come today?”
Song Gudao pulled his thoughts back. “I want to find… someone to replace Rabbit Master.”
Chen Changsheng considered. “You mean that young monk…”
“Isn’t his name Gou’er?”
“Calling him ‘young monk’ fits too.”
Song Gudao didn’t push it. He explained, “Right now, everyone in the Divine Domain is a known face. To slip into the Demon Realm alone, I need someone completely clean. Preferably someone no one has ever seen.”
“Didn’t five newcomers arrive?” Chen Changsheng queried.
Song Gudao sighed. “The other four… they reek of killing intent. Nowhere near clean like that dog boy. There’s not a shred of murderous thought about him.”
Chen Changsheng thought it over. “But that young monk isn’t sharp.”
Song Gudao said, “He doesn’t need to be sharp. He doesn’t need to send messages often. He only needs to get a message through at a critical moment. The clumsier the person, the easier he is to hide. The sharper someone is, the faster he gets exposed.”
Chen Changsheng nodded. “Put like that, he certainly seems a good choice.”
“Senior, are you agreeing?” Song Gudao pressed.
Chen Changsheng shook his head. “Honestly, you didn’t need to ask me. What the young monk chooses to do is his own business. You don’t want my opinion either. I can’t decide for him.”
Song Gudao chuckled. “Having Mr. Chen say that is enough.”
Chen Changsheng said, “Do as you see fit. He might be the right person, but that doesn’t mean the young monk will say yes.”
Song Gudao stated bluntly, “He’ll agree whether he wants to or not. I, Song, know plenty of ways to persuade. If reason doesn’t work… well, then we skip the reasoning.”
Chen Changsheng laughed and shook his head again. “You truly are a real Killing Talent.”
Song Gudao put his palms together in salute and grinned. “Senior, you flatter me too much.”