Chapter 220

These words of Zhu Zai had been hidden in the bottom of his heart for many years.

If it weren't for today's life-and-death matter, and it just happened to be mentioned here, Zhu Zai would probably have taken these words to the grave.

After a while, Li Miao laughed softly.

"Commander, you finally asked."

Zhu Zai nodded.

"I have always wanted to ask, but I have always been afraid to ask."

"I was afraid that after asking, you would leave."

"If it weren't for today's matter, I wouldn't have asked you this question until I died."

Zhu Zai let out a long sigh.

"Actually, you knew I would be suspicious, right?"

"Your Wu Gong, your comprehension that is beyond ordinary people, your root bone that is extraordinary, and those unheard-of remarks you spout casually."

"You didn't think about hiding it, and I have always been pretending not to see it."

"I am not a fool, just pretending to be muddled. And you have also been pretending to be muddled to coax me."

The room was quiet for a time.

After a while, Li Miao laughed softly.

"Fine, I didn't think I could hide it from you anyway. But this matter, even if I told you, you wouldn't understand."

"Just treat me as a god reincarnated."

Hearing Li Miao personally admit it, Zhu Zai let out a long breath as if relieved of a burden.

"So, is this how gods look at us mere mortals? Heaven and earth are not benevolent, treating all things as straw dogs?"

"No, no, no, Commander, not necessarily."

Li Miao waved his hand.

"The so-called gods on my side are actually just ordinary people who dress warmer, eat fuller, and walk further. My arrogance is just the arrogance of a forerunner looking at a latecomer."

"However, I admit, I was indeed a bit immature back then."

Li Miao said with a light laugh.

"When I first came to the Great Dashuo, I only felt this was a dream. Everyone in the dream was just a puppet in my dream; their life, death, love, and hate didn't matter."

"But I have already been in the Great Dashuo for thirty-five years, even longer than the days I was a god before. I already know very clearly that the Great Dashuo is not my dream, and the people living in the Great Dashuo are living people, not playthings born for me."

"I know what you mean."

Li Miao looked at Zhu Zai with a smile.

"You think I am a god, looking down on the affairs of mortals, so you say you are different from me. You think I shouldn't get involved in this matter and delay my cultivation."

"You want me to leave, and you stay behind, right?"

Zhu Zai did not deny it.

Li Miao shook his head.

"You thought wrong."

"I am a human, not an immortal. I do want to become an immortal, but I don't want to turn myself into a heartless stone."

"The so-called gods of my previous life were just a group of 'people' who struggled and rolled in the mud for thousands of years before they managed to climb out with their own hands."

"The reason I was cold and indifferent was, first, because I didn't have much sense of belonging to the Great Dashuo at the beginning, and second, because my previous life didn't go very well, which fostered this temperament."

Zhu Zai frowned.

"Gods can also have a bad life?"

"Why not?"

Li Miao laughed softly; this was his first time being truly honest with someone, and he couldn't help but show a relaxed smile.

"Lost my parents in childhood, struggled and crawled my way up, blinded in one eye, broke a leg, and only then did I save up some family property. As a result, in my youth, I was plotted against by a 'friend' and stabbed in the waist, leaving a chronic illness."

"After that, I dared not trust others and walked alone, instead gradually rising; seeing some improvement, but because of that stab, I was bedridden at twenty-nine and died of depression at thirty-two."

"With such an experience, how could I not be cold and indifferent?"

"But, Commander."

Li Miao looked at Zhu Zai seriously.

"That was only before the twenty-fifth year of my time in the Great Dashuo."

"Before I brought Xiao Si home, I indeed didn't have much affection for the Great Dashuo. Even after I brought her home, I still just practiced Wu Gong on my own, as if I was just afraid the house was too cold and lonely, so I just picked up a living thing to raise."

"But watching her gradually grow up, gradually growing to my waist, later her hair getting longer and longer, no longer gloomy, starting to speak, and having someone prepare meals for me after I came home."

"I was also gradually changed."

"Later, I gradually tried to get closer to you, listening to you scold me, but never stopping me from taking money from your private treasury, calling me over to eat every New Year. Always scolding me for being rotten mud that can't be supported on the wall, getting so angry that your veins popped every time, yet always trying every possible way to get me promoted."

"Only then did I suddenly feel that I am a person living in the Great Dashuo, not a lonely ghost living in a dream."

"So, don't talk about letting me leave alone again."

Li Miao laughed.

"I seek freedom, and freedom is not violating one's own heart. You can't leave, but I run away alone; what freedom is there to talk about?"

"Although I am naturally sinister and cold, I acknowledge you, and I acknowledge the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"This is my home. Whoever wants to run wild, whoever dies."

"Let's talk about this second path."

Zhu Zai was silent for a while, quietly raised his sleeve to wipe the corner of his eye, cleared his throat, and said as if nothing had happened.

"Ji Tianrui."

"That's right."

Li Miao wrote the word "Rui" slowly on the table.

"The Jianwen Emperor's calculations, the Ming Sect's calculations, and the Emperor's calculations are all on the table. Only her calculations are still unclear."

"She is the daughter of Ji Tianrui and the Miao King; looking at her previous actions, she clearly holds hostility toward Ji Tianrui. Therefore, she is not on the same path as the Emperor."

"Given her background, it is also hard to imagine that she released the Jianwen Emperor truly wanting to be loyal to him."

"And from the attitude she showed earlier toward the Ming Sect people, she doesn't have any feelings for the Ming Sect either."

"When it comes to having no lord, no father, and no regard for the law, she is far more thorough than I am."

Speaking of this, Li Miao suddenly sneered.

"Today's events, she is the black hand who connected all parties. In my opinion, everyone is trapped in her plan now, even me."

"Although I don't know what she really wants, and I will definitely kill her in the future, but right now, the source of everything is in her."

"The method to break the situation is in her hands."

After saying this, Li Miao stood up slowly.

"Commander, you just stay here with peace of mind. Before seeing the Jianwen Emperor, the Emperor shouldn't target the clan members; staying by his side now can instead avoid the Jianwen Emperor taking action."

"Everything as usual tomorrow; you just follow the Emperor to worship the ancestors."

Zhu Zai looked at Li Miao.

"What are you going to do?"

Li Miao said with a light laugh.

"Return to the Embroidered Uniform Guard first and explain some things."

"Then go to the Imperial Mausoleum and find Ji Tianrui to chat."

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Tianshou Mountain, Imperial Mausoleum.

Ji Tianrui stood by a small stream, humming a tune without a melody, looking into the distance toward the capital.

"Lord Li, why haven't you come yet?"

(End of chapter)