Chapter 21

"Daoist Qingsong..." Guan Huchen subconsciously tugged on the reins, and the Red Smoke Steed immediately slowed down.

After hesitating for a short while, he ultimately didn't turn his horse's head to go find the Daoist boy Qingsong immediately.

"Where did you see him?" he asked.

"In the corridor outside the West Garden gate; there were many people behind him."

Xiao Yu described those children with concise yet precise sentences.

She just didn't mention the Daoist boy Qingsong praising her as "clever" or saying that if Danzi listened to her teachings, he could live a few more years.

"Hmm, they should be the 'Hidden Dragons' found from other feudal states," Guan Huchen said with a look of sudden realization.

From the fact that the Daoist boy Qingsong ran to the sand dunes overnight to find him, one could see how busy he had been recently and what he had been busy with.

Xiao Yu said, "They all have more glamorous clothing than Danzi; many of them don't look like ordinary people at all."

Guan Huchen thought for a moment and said, "They are probably descendants of the old royal families."

The so-called "old" only referred to the time before the Alliance of the Thirty-Six Kingdoms was swept away by the Marquis of Lieyang.

Xiao Yu really wanted to ask: Isn't Great Qin extremely cruel? As long as the blade hasn't dulled, they keep hacking; if the blade dulls, they dig pits and bury people. Could it be that even the pits for burying people are full, so how could they leave behind descendants of the royal families?

Of course, even if Xiao Yu wasn't a liberal arts student, she remembered that the people the Qin army buried alive in her past life were all commoners, while most of the grandsons and sons of the six kingdoms were preserved.

They were relocated to Xianyang to continue living as upper-class people who were slightly inferior to the Qin nobles but far superior to ordinary people.

"There are also some ordinary children... some aren't even children," she said.

"Ordinary children... they don't even spare the borderlands of my Great Shu, but~~ hmph!"

Guan Huchen pursed his lips tightly, a slight look of anger on his face.

The look of indignation didn't last long; he just kept a cold face and didn't continue speaking.

Xiao Yu added another question in her heart but tactfully didn't open her mouth.

The next morning, in the backyard of the Guan family's herbal medicine shop.

Guan Huchen jumped off the Red Smoke Steed and said to Guan Zhong with a dark face, "Arrange for someone to wait at the gate of the Prefectural Mansion; as soon as you see the Daoist boy Qingsong return, come and notify me immediately."

He had just returned from the Prefectural Mansion.

After resting for a night, taking a bath, and changing into clean casual clothes, he intended to visit the Daoist boy Qingsong at the Prefectural Mansion, but after entering the gate, he didn't even see a shadow of the other party.

"This humble servant has inquired; last night the Prefect wanted to host a banquet for the Envoy of the Central Kingdom, but couldn't find anyone, and even after searching the entire Prefectural Mansion, Daoist Qingsong was nowhere to be found.

They said the Daoist used immortal arts and Daoist techniques, coming and going like a ghost, leaving no trace," Guan Zhong followed closely behind Huchen, saying with a look of difficulty while walking.

There were warriors and sorcerers in the Prefectural Mansion, and even they couldn't detect the coming and going of the Daoist boy Qingsong, so what was the use of arranging ordinary people to watch the gate?

Huchen sneered, "If it were just him alone, even if I went there personally, I wouldn't be able to discover him.

But no matter how exquisite his Five Elements Escape Technique is, he can't carry many people.

These past few days, he has been wantonly plundering 'Dao Seedlings' in the north of my Shu Kingdom."

"Dao Seedlings... are they good seedlings for cultivating the Dao?" Guan Zhong asked in surprise.

"They aren't just seedlings for cultivating the Dao; in China, there might be those with innate Dao bodies or immortal bodies. In our remote countryside, we can't raise geniuses who are too spiritually intelligent and brilliant."

Huchen stopped in the main hall and subconsciously raised his hand to touch his own brows and eyes, "They are mainly those with innate miraculous powers!"

"Innate miraculous powers..." Guan Zhong looked up and quickly scanned Huchen's "Immortal's Pupil," and understood in his heart.

"This humble servant doesn't quite understand why Daoist Qingsong is working so hard, day and night, to collect Dao Seedlings for my Shu Kingdom?

This humble servant knows that the Shu Kingdom was attacked by the Alliance of the Thirty-Six Kingdoms, soldiers were lost, and national power greatly declined, but the Daoist is too diligent, ignoring even the Prefect's invitations."

Guan Zhong said while pouring a cup of tea for Huchen, who was sitting in the master's chair.

Huchen took a sip of "Great Qin Longjing" and sneered, "You understand a fart; you're just a muddled egg! That thief Daoist Qingsong is draining the essence and blood of Great Shu to feed Great Qin.

Now the Dao Seedlings are being raised in the Prefectural Mansion, and once the Marquis of Lieyang returns, he will inevitably take them all away, along with the 'Hidden Dragons,' and bring them back to the Central Plains of Great Qin."

Guan Zhong was stunned and flattered, "This humble servant is shallow! The Master is wise, seeing the whole from a single leaf."

Huchen shook his head and said, "I'm not as wise as you say; I just know more than you do.

The Daoist thieves of Great Qin haven't been doing this kind of heartless thing for just one day.

In the past, every three to five years, a border-patrolling envoy would cross the Liusha River and secretly patrol our various Western countries.

At that time, the border-patrolling envoy wouldn't stay in the Shu Kingdom, but would specifically drain the blood of more 'outward-facing' and powerful feudal states like Xilu, Giant Elephant, Tianfeng, and Chechi.

If it weren't for the continuous draining of blood by the border-patrolling envoys, with the brilliance and martial prowess of the past Lu kings, and the prosperity of Lu's culture and the height of its martial path, how could they have only produced the 'Ten Great Human Immortals of Western Lu'?"

Guan Zhong asked in surprise, "Over so many years in the past, so many border-patrolling envoys have come, yet this humble servant has never heard of it."

Huchen put down his teacup and sighed, "Even Prefect Zhang, who masters strange arts, can't see the shadow of the Daoist boy Qingsong, so how do you compare to the Prefect?

It is true that that group of thief Daoists is ruthless and poisonous, and it is also true that they can calculate, possess profound Daoist arts, and have vast miraculous powers.

If it weren't for the fact that Great Shu has the Tianmen Town Western Sand Ferry, and everyone coming to the West must pass through the ferry, I wouldn't know about this kind of thing either."

Guan Zhong endured it several times, but this time he ultimately couldn't hold back and said, "Master, this humble servant understands your loyal heart for Great Shu and understands your regret for the loss of 'Dao Seedlings' and the decline of national power.

But you must also think for yourself.

Since you know that Daoist Qingsong 'can calculate,' you shouldn't be calling him 'thief Daoist' or 'little Daoist boy' indiscriminately.

You must be careful that the Daoist with vast miraculous powers might sense something and start calculating!"

He was about the same age as Guan Huchen and was a family-born servant who had served Huchen since childhood, so he naturally understood his master's nickname, "Guan Old Duck."

Before, when he heard Huchen calling them "thief Daoist" indiscriminately, he knew it was wrong, but he also knew this was the nature of "Guan Old Duck," so he didn't say anything.

But now that "Guan Old Duck" had explicitly stated that the "thief Daoists" could calculate, he couldn't help but remind him.

Guan Zhong was very loyal, and Huchen understood his loyalty, so he didn't change color or flare up, only saying faintly, "I don't have a fart's worth of loyal heart for the country.

If the Shu Kingdom's national power were strong, the Li family themselves would be terrified, worrying about attracting Great Qin's vigilance, and it would be even more impossible for our Guan family to have any benefits.

The Shu Kingdom's talents are withering, so it's easier for the Guan family's heroes to obtain high positions.

As for the thief Daoists' calculations, you are worrying for nothing.

Divination is of course real, but even if it were a Heavenly Immortal, don't even think about sitting at home and deducing everything in the world."

Even the Jade Emperor needs the Thousand-Mile Eye and the Wind-Listening Ear to inquire about detailed news.

Could it be that the Jade Emperor, who has experienced ten thousand tribulations, doesn't understand innate divination?

Guan Zhong heard this and relaxed slightly, saying, "Since the Master is not worried about the loss of Dao Seedlings and the withering of national talent, why are you so indignant?"

"You don't even understand this?" Huchen glanced at him and said coldly, "As the saying goes, the flour seller can't stand the lime seller.

Once the Dao Seedlings enter the Great Qin army, how could I, this famous general of Western Shu, still show anything special in terms of status?"

The Emperor is not a bandit; he cannot just keep hacking and burying people.

Combining kindness and prestige is a basic skill mastered by every person in power.

The Marquis of Lieyang has already demonstrated the majestic prestige of Great Qin to the Thirty-Six Kingdoms, and next, there will inevitably be favors bestowed to soothe the hearts of the "Western nationals."

With Great Qin investing more resources in the Dao Seedlings of Western Shu, Guan Huchen's "great future" under the Marquis of Lieyang might not necessarily decrease.

But just as Huchen himself said: the flour seller can't stand the lime seller.

To tell the truth, lime only looks like flour and has no real competitive relationship with the flour shop.

Guan Old Duck purely had a narrow mind, and he himself understood this point.

He understood it, but he didn't care.

Because he was just saying strange things behind their backs to make himself feel physically and mentally comfortable, which didn't affect his humility and obedience when facing the "Chinese nobles" at all.

Guan Zhong thought for a moment and understood his master's complex mood.

He nodded and said, "This humble servant really understands now. I won't watch Daoist Qingsong, but will specifically watch the 'Dao Seedlings' appearing outside the gate of the Prefectural Mansion."

As he spoke, he walked outside the main hall, beckoned a clever and capable clerk, and whispered a few words in his ear...

Returning to the main hall, seeing that the master was still drinking tea, Guan Zhong asked suspiciously, "Master, are you in such a hurry to find Daoist Qingsong?

This humble servant reported to you yesterday that in about three to five days, the Marquis of Lieyang will return to Tianmen Town or Luodu from Feixian Ferry.

At that time, Daoist Qingsong will inevitably appear.

Since you are traveling with the Marquis of Lieyang, why worry about not meeting him?"

Guan Huchen shook his head and said, "It's best to find Qingsong before the Marquis of Lieyang returns.

I can tell that that kid Yu Yu looks down on me a bit.

The 'Nine-Turn Bone-Changing Pill' in Qingsong's hands can purify my bloodline, improve my tendons and bones, and raise my Immortal's Pupil by more than one grade."

Yu Yu... that kid...

Guan Zhong's forehead broke out in a sweat.

Even knowing that his master was a "Guan Old Duck," he never expected that he would dare to edit the Marquis of Lieyang so recklessly.

Not only calling him by his name, but also "that kid"... it's not that the Marquis of Lieyang looks down on you, it's that you look down on him in your heart, right?

"Master, aren't you overthinking it? Such a great miraculous power as the Immortal's Pupil is something even immortals crave.

Anyone who awakens the Immortal's Pupil has at least the fruit status of an immortal as a foundation.

Even if they die as an ordinary person, they will be recruited by the Yama of the Underworld, or enfeoffed as a ghost god, or sent to some immortal blessed land to watch the gate for a Zhenyuan Daxian... cough, cough, I mean, to be a staff member for a Zhenyuan Daxian.

That's why there's the saying that the Thousand-Mile Eye is an 'Immortal's Pupil.'

Doesn't the Marquis of Lieyang understand the significance of the 'Thousand-Mile Eye' to the Fire Crow Army?

For example, in the recent Rebellion of the Thirty-Six Kingdoms, with you in the ranks, no enemy plot could escape your eyes.

Only then could the Marquis of Lieyang be like a hot knife through butter, sweeping away the entire army." Guan Zhong looked at his master with a look of incomprehension.