Chapter 142: I Choose the Path I Walk 2

Xie Lian blocked himself between the two of them, "I think, we should all sit down and talk. Look

at this child My Lord, doesn't he look like..."

"Your son, right?" Jun Wu smiled.

"...Ha, haha, hahahaha..."

Xie Lian laughed awkwardly for a bit, "How did My Lord know what I was going to say?"

Jun Wu finally moved his eyes off of Hua Cheng, lightly patted Xie Lian's shoulder, and

wordlessly turned around to sit back at the table. Xie Lian understood that this meant there

wasn't going to be any confrontation for now, and unconsciously sighed a breath of relief.

If Jun Wu intended to kill anyone, just how terrifying he was after unsheathing the sword was

something Xie Lian had witnessed himself. Under no circumstances did Xie Lian ever want Hua

Cheng to face Jun Wu head on.

However, Hua Cheng's eyes never left Jun Wu, and still watched him warily. Jun Wu pushed the

teacups forward, "Although this isn't the first time I've met your excellency, but it certainly is the

first time we are at such close range of each other. Since it's a peaceful occasion, why not take

tea for wine, and smooth over this situation.

Xie Lian cleared his throat lightly, and tried to appear as casual as possible as he pulled on his

outer robes, asking as he pulled on his boots, "My Lord, how are things at the Upper Court?"

"..."

Jun Wu put down his teacup and turned his head away, gazing outside of the window to watch

the moon, sighing, "I do not wish to talk of it."

"...Alright. I won't." Xie Lian said.

It seemed things really are really bad. However Jun Wu turned his head back and said with a

straight face, "I kid. Even if I do not wish to talk of it, I must. Xian Le, leave your little friend for

now and follow me outside for a moment."

It appeared there were things to be communicated that shouldn't be heard by bystanders. Xie

Lian was about to comply when he heard Hua Cheng say leisurely behind him, "Your Upper

Court is in complete pandemonium, it's not a secret. Even little country bumpkin ghosts know

that the gathering of ghosts couldn't be stopped this time and are howling nonstop in

excitement, so why speak outside?"

He climbed off the bed too and languidly came to the table, picked up the teacup and played

with it for a bit, looking like drinking the tea was of no interest to him, A moment later, the three

all sat by the table. Hua Cheng's appearance right now was young, but his expression and

manners almost made one forget that fact. Jun Wu replied gently, "Nothing could deceive the

eyes of his excellency."

It was tea poured by Jun Wu after all, due respect must be given, so Xie Lian drank it, and

asked as he did so, "Isn't there still some time before the official opening and sealing of Mount

TongLu's gates? Or is it confirmed now?"

Although Feng Xin had mentioned this before, but Xie Lian had always thought he might've

exaggerated and never fully took his words to heart. However, Jun Wu confirmed, "Indeed, it

couldn't be stopped anymore."

"It seems your original plan was like all those times before; send all the martial gods to seal off

every road leading to Mount TongLu and stop the demons en route." Hua Cheng commented,

"But Mu Qing broke out of prison and escaped, his whereabouts unknown, so now there's

suddenly a breach in the south."

Xie Lian inquired, "Did Feng Xin return to the Heavenly Court? How is he? Did he say

anything?"

"He's returned, but not in a good condition." Jun Wu replied, "Nan Yang returned wounded and

gave a hurried report of the truth, pleading for me to give the orders to all the heavenly officials

not to touch the female ghost Lan Chang and her son. He had wanted to descend again after

reporting in, but his injuries were not optimistic, his right arm could barely move, so I buckled

him down in the Heavenly Court to recover. However, with that, the southern blockade is now

full of holes."

If this was any other matter, like if they needed someone to go kill a monster or steal spiritual

pills or something, Xie Lian would instantly volunteer. But something like leading troops wasn't

something so easily done by just charging ahead alone. One man could break through an army

of millions but he could not defend against an army of millions alone. Xie Lian had long since

understood that leading people and leading armies wasn't something he was good at. Rather

than going forward bold-headedly, it was best if someone else more suited for the position be

nominated, so he wasn't quick to volunteer himself. Instead, he asked, "Is there no other martial

god that can take up the task?"

Jun Wu replied, "The other martial gods already have their own domains and missions to take

care of and have no liberties to take on more. There was Pei Su from the Palace of Ming Guang

that could've been borrowed, but he's long been exiled. As for Qi Ying, he's the same as you, a

madman who likes to charge alone in the world, doing as he willed. Besides, his whereabouts is

also currently unknown, and that child never answers spiritual communication. The head

heavenly official of the Palace of Ling Wen is also lost on top of that. There's a temporary head,

but the other civil gods, while they're certainly skilled in the arts, but in terms of passing

communication, making decisions and coordination management, they are completely

incapable. These past few days..."

Listening to him, it sounded like in the past few days, the Upper Court was going to fall apart.

Xie Lian couldn't bear to listen and his sympathies grew, "I remember My Lord once said, even if

the gathering of ghosts couldn't be stopped, there was another way to remedy the situation?

What can be done?"

"Remedy?" Hua Cheng said, "More like suicide, probably."

Jun Wu gave him a look and sighed, "I've also said, unless absolutely necessary, I didn't want to

take that step."

Xie Lian's heart tightened, "Could it be...?"

Jun Wu replied slowly, "That's right. Right now, the only way to remedy the situation was to send

a martial god to infiltrate the gathering of ghosts in Mount TongLu."

Since the start of slaughter couldn't be stopped, then make sure at the end of the slaughter, not

a single one is left!

Xie Lian crossed his arms into his sleeves and knitted his brows, "I'm not too familiar with Mount

TongLu, and I don't really know how the rules work, so how should this be done? Kill every last

monster and demon that enter the mountain?"

But that was something inconceivable. To infiltrate Mount TongLu, identity must be hidden, and

not too many helpers could come either, otherwise, if the ghosts should discover there were

heavenly officials mixed in, they would for sure surround and destroy. Mount TongLu was also

an extremely evil place; a heavenly official's spiritual powers would be significantly restricted,

much more so than when they were at the Black Water Demon Lair.

However, Jun Wu said, "No, there's no need to exert that much effort."

"I'm familiar with Mount TongLu. Gege, look outside." Hua Cheng said.

Following where he was pointing, Xie Lian looked out the window. Beyond the window below

was a large field planted with some flowers or grass, and there was also a small flower pot in

the corner. Hua Cheng hopped onto the window sill and pointed at that flower pot, "At the heart

of Mount TongLu is a giant kiln."

Just as the words left his lips, that little flower pot suddenly fell over and rolled to the centre of

the field before standing upright by itself. Soon after, with it as the heart, the once flat ground

suddenly rumbled and rolled in waves, rolling into mounds of various sizes all around.

Hua Cheng continued, "All around the 'Kiln' is a mountain range encircling it. This entire area is

all within Mount TongLu's perimeters. It's as big as seven city states."

Xie Lian was amazed watching this, and he leapt up lightly, hopping out of the window. As he

stood among the field full of little earth mounds, it gave him the illusion of being a giant looking

down below.

Hua Cheng continued, "The slaughter of ghosts begins from the outer edges of the mountain

range, and continues on towards the 'Kiln' in the heart."

He gave a wave of his hand, and many tiny objects on the ground started agitating. Xie Lian

crouched down to watch closely and discovered it was many weeds and small leaves twisting,

like a small person crossing through the mountain range. He remarked, "Which is to say, the

closer to this 'Kiln' in the centre, the ghosts are also stronger?"

"That's right." Hua Cheng said, "Because the weak weeds will have all been annihilated at the

edges."

Another light wave of a hand, and breeze brushed by, and the weeds were completely cleaned

away by the breeze. The empty little earth mounds suddenly became desolate, looking rather

sad. However, the little flower pot in the centre suddenly emitted a red light, truly looking like a

tiny, fire blazing Kiln. Xie Lian stared at it and noticed there was a tiny little red flower, and a few

unremarkable weeds that jumped onto the little flower pot, spinning around the sides of the pot

like little people dancing. That little red flower danced the wildest. Hua Cheng crouched down

next to him, "Finally, only a handful of ghosts at most can enter the interior of the 'Kiln'. And

then, the 'Kiln' will close."

Those 'little people' jumped around then fell in, swallowed by the black mud. Hua Cheng

continued, "After that, within forty-nine days, a ghost must break out of this 'Kiln'."

That little flower pot trembled violently and exploded abruptly, a blinding red light flashed,

blasting a wave of dust.

Accompanying this 'earth shattering' birth, that little red flower leapt out from within the mud and

raised its two little leaves as if it was shouting to the winds to announce its might to the world.

Seeing this, Xie Lian couldn't help but puffed a laugh.

However, perhaps it was a little too overly excited, and that little red flower slipped on the edge

of that flower pot, about to fall. Xie Lian hurriedly reached out his hands and caught it lightly,

holding it in his palms. That little red flower seemed to have gone dizzy from the fall and shook

its 'head', raising its 'face' to gaze at the one who had caught hold of itself. Xie Lian brushed off

the crumbs of dirt that was splattered onto him and asked, "So this little one is the new Ghost

King birthed from Mount TongLu?"

Hua Cheng nodded, "Correct. The slaughter of ghosts at the beginning was a strengthening

process and cannot be bypassed. If the ghost who entered the 'Kiln' isn't strong enough and

can't break out of it, then it will be suffocated inside, burned to ashes, and become fertilizer for

another."

He rose to his feet and called to Jun Wu still sitting inside, "Your idea is to cut down the mighty

and leave out the weeds. There's only so many with the potential to become ghost kings; once

they're annihilated, the weak ones who remain can't break out of the 'Kiln' even if they enter it. If

they can't break out, then they still wouldn't be recognized as ghost kings."

Xie Lian nodded, "Sounds doable. But does it work? Has this been attempted before?"

Jun Wu approached the window and said, "No. It's never been attempted before. In the past, the

demons had always been stopped before they were able to gather."

Hua Cheng crossed his arms, "I'm afraid it's not doable. To fight under these conditions is no

different than suicide. I suggest you who came up with such a brilliant idea go yourself."

"I've that very intention." Jun Wu replied easily.

Xie Lian was taken aback, "My Lord?"

Jun Wu said, "XianLe, I've descended for this very reason. I will be heading to Mount TongLu. I

need you to return to the Heavenly Court and take care of my duties for the time being."

Xie Lian dropped his hands and leapt to his feet, "That won't do! Have me take your place

temporarily? My Lord, please don't joke, no one will listen to me."

Jun Wu grinned, "Then, this will be a very good chance for them to start."

Xie Lian rubbed his forehead, "My Lord, pardon me but I really can't agree with you this time.

This is too absurd. To use a vulgar example from the mortal realm, an emperor can enter the

battlefield, but have you ever heard of an emperor go infiltrate and assassinate? That the

Heavenly Court can float so high in the heavens is all held up by you. None of the other

heavenly officials can do this, it's all My Lord's efforts. If you're there, the sky won't fall. If you're

not there, then the sky really will fall."

Jun Wu however, answered with his hands clenched at his sides, "XianLe, there's no one in this

world who will fall only because the heaven's collapsed. Once you're used to it you'll find, even

with whoever's lost, life will go on. There will always be new to replace the old. To have a ghost

king be born, it's nothing if it's another Crimson Rain Sought Flower or Ship Sinking Black

Water, but if it's another White Clothed Calamity, then the world will fall into chaos."

He looked Xie Lian in the eyes, "You've seen with your own eyes just how difficult it was to kill a

'Supreme' like him. If it's not me who goes, then there's no other way."

Xie Lian also knew that this wasn't Jun Wu being humble. To be in the weakest state and

trapped with millions of ghosts, and to accurately pick out each and every one of the strongest

to kill or subdue, even if it was himself he couldn't say for sure he could do it. Only Jun Wu had

the biggest chance of success. But, this leave might take up to ten years. What about the

outside world? What about the Upper Court?"

Just then, Hua Cheng spoke up, "Who says there's no other way?"