“What do you think this old man is?” Zi Luo asked again.
“A lonely madman!”
At this moment, the old man was increasingly disappointed with Xiao Bu Dian and the others.
Although these few things seemed tireless, continuously attacking the old man, they were merely tickling him from beginning to end.
Over time, the old man began to lose patience.
He raised his hand, and Xiao Bu Dian and the others immediately became like withered leaves in the wind, tumbling in the air for a few rounds before falling to the ground.
“No, no, if you can’t kill me, don’t waste my time here,” the old man roared.
Mo Qi had no choice but to put away Xiao Bu Dian, Xiao Xue Ren, Jin Jiao Jian, and Huo Mo.
The old man, in a fit of rage, came to Mo Qi’s side and looked at him, “You’ve already refined the pill for your wife, and she’s recovered. Can you help me now?”
Zi Luo said with a mournful face, “We can’t, please let us go.”
Mo Qi, while tending the furnace, said calmly, “Do you truly wish to die?”
The old man raised an eyebrow, “Of course, I do. Would I lie to you?”
Mo Qi said calmly, “Alright, then I’ll help you.”
The old man’s face broke into a smile, “How will you help me?”
Mo Qi pointed at the furnace, “What I’m refining now is a poison that can instantly kill any living being, called ‘Smiling Into the Nether’. Whether you can realize your dream depends entirely on it.” Da Feng Novel Network
The old man immediately became excited, staring at the furnace and swallowing his saliva, “What do you need me to do? I will cooperate with you fully.”
Mo Qi said calmly, “Go and tidy up those skeletons, and give them a proper burial.”
The old man suddenly understood something, and a sinister smile appeared on his face, “You brat, you’re tricking me. You want to be a good person, to help those lonely souls, but to help others, you must have strength yourself.”
Zi Luo’s heart immediately sank, “It’s over, it’s over. We’ve angered this madman. I wonder what we’ll have to endure.”
Mo Qi’s expression remained unchanged, and he said with a calm demeanor, “You’d better do as I say. You know yourself that it’s very difficult for you to die, but this is an opportunity. If you want to give up, I’ll extinguish the fire immediately.”
As he spoke, Mo Qi prepared to put out the furnace fire.
The old man immediately relented, “Alright, alright, I’ll go, I’ll go, won’t I?”
With that, the old man turned and entered the river valley to tidy up the skeletons.
Zi Luo turned to look at Mo Qi, “You’ve handled it well.”
Mo Qi nodded, “Thank you for the compliment.”
“But I feel like you’re playing with fire.”
“Yes, I feel that way too. But since we’re all going to die anyway, playing with fire before death is a way to regain some balance.”
“Then do you have any confidence?”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
“…”
After a long while, the old man dug up the skeletons, dug individual graves, and reburied them.
The old man came to Mo Qi’s side, “I’ve given them a proper burial. Is your pill ready?”
At this moment, Mo Qi deliberately suppressed the furnace fire, so the pill was not ready.
“It’s not ready yet, because your work isn’t finished. Once you’re done, mine will be ready,” Mo Qi said calmly.
The old man’s mouth twitched, and anger burned in his chest, “Isn’t my work finished? What’s not finished?”
“The graves aren’t built!” Mo Qi said simply.
The old man stared at Mo Qi, and the air seemed to freeze.
Zi Luo, frightened, grabbed Mo Qi’s hand and watched the old man nervously.
The old man let out a long sigh, “Fine, I’ll build the graves, I’ll build the graves. After I finish building their graves, if you still can’t kill me, I’ll build graves for you. No, for the two of you. Do you two want to be buried together?”
Mo Qi glanced at him impatiently, “Hurry up and go, don’t talk so much nonsense. By the time you’re done, if you still haven’t finished your work, I’ll just throw the pill away.”
“You…”
The old man was furious, yet helpless.
He suddenly realized that he couldn’t suppress Mo Qi.
Threatening him with death didn’t seem to work!
He thought about his own situation and understood. Could it be that Mo Qi was also someone who wanted to die but couldn’t?
The old man turned around again to build mounds for the deceased. He used his techniques, which made it not too difficult.
Soon, new graves were erected one after another along the riverbank, rising from the ground.
Zi Luo looked at the old man’s obedient demeanor, feeling both scared and amused.
“You actually have him completely under your thumb!”
“Personal ability has come into play,” Mo Qi said calmly.
Zi Luo glanced at him, “Hmph, can you guarantee that you can poison him?”
“No,” Mo Qi shook his head, “That’s why I’m desperately stalling for time. The longer I delay, the longer we live. You too, breathe as much as you can while you still can.”
Zi Luo coughed dryly, “He just said he wanted to bury us together. What do you think? We’re enemies!”
“It doesn’t matter, we’ll continue fighting down there!”
“Pfft…” Zi Luo looked at him with a resentful gaze, “Can we not fight?”
“Yes, if we’re buried together, then we won’t fight anymore.”
Zi Luo’s eyes glistened with tears. She suddenly tilted her head and kissed Mo Qi on the lips.
Mo Qi turned his head to look at her, but she turned her head away.
“No rush, if we’re buried together in the future, there will be plenty of time for kisses,” Mo Qi said.
Zi Luo turned back and punched him hard, “You’re sometimes so annoying.”
At this moment, the old man ran over again, a smile on his face, “Alright, I’ve finished building graves for all of them.”
Mo Qi just glanced back and immediately frowned, “You call this finished? There’s no more perfunctory work than this. Where are the tombstones? Where are the epitaphs? You’re testing my patience!”
“Uh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’ll fix it right away.” The old man nodded repeatedly, then looked troubled, “But what should I write for the epitaphs? I don’t even know them!”
“This… can’t you use your brain? Do I have to teach you everything? Have you lived all these years in vain?”
The old man was scolded so badly that he felt a bit short of breath.
“I’m truly very dull… I really don’t know how to do this…” the old man said aggrievedly.
“Idiot, Nameless Number One, Nameless Number Two, Nameless Number Three… You don’t even know this. You’re so stupid you should just die… Sigh, if only you could die from stupidity.”
The old man’s eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly, “That makes sense, that makes sense, I’ll go do it now.”
With that, he turned and left dejectedly.
Zi Luo watched his retreating figure, couldn’t help but smile, and then stared at Mo Qi in a daze.
Seeing that she hadn’t spoken for a long time, Mo Qi turned his head to look at her. Seeing her staring intently at him, he coughed dryly, “You’re not thinking of kissing me again, are you?”
“You wish!”
“What are you thinking about the most at this moment?” Mo Qi asked, seeing that the pill was almost ready and stopping the fire to cool.
Zi Luo blushed slightly, “Of course, whether I’ll die soon.”
“Do you know what I’m thinking?” Mo Qi asked.
“I don’t want to know.”
“I’m thinking about how to kill your father.”
“You’re incorrigible. Even when facing death, you’re still thinking about revenge. Is revenge meaningful? Aren’t you reborn? Perhaps all your clansmen are also reborn, so what are you still pursuing? You’re truly obstinate.”
“What you said makes some sense, but we are always on opposing sides. If I want to rebuild the Red Leaf Kingdom, I will inevitably have to pass through your father. Unless your father is willing to surrender to me.”
Zi Luo breathed a sigh of relief. At least he had taken a step back!
It seemed her efforts over the past few days had not been in vain. All that remained was to go back and persuade her father to surrender to him.
“Then I’ll go back and persuade my father!”
“You’re thinking too naively. Can such things be persuaded?”
“Sigh, we’re both thinking too far ahead. Let’s get through this immediate crisis first. Perhaps, we won’t have to worry about all the future matters.”
At this moment, the old man had erected tombstones and carved epitaphs before the graves. Then, he impatiently walked over, “Is my pill ready?”
Mo Qi shook his head, “Whether you can die mainly depends on your sincerity. You killed those innocent people. If you sincerely kowtow before their graves and apologize, gaining their forgiveness, I think you will succeed in dying.”
The old man looked troubled, “It’s not that I’m unwilling to kowtow, it’s that I cannot kowtow.”
“Why can’t you kowtow?”
“Have you ever seen an elder kowtow to a junior?” the old man retorted.
Mo Qi looked disdainful, “We’re strangers, who are you pretending to be an elder for?”
The old man sighed, “Fine, I’ll kowtow. I won’t be responsible for any consequences.”
With that, he turned and headed towards the new graves.
Mo Qi snorted, “Who are you pretending to be an elder for?”
Zi Luo, however, looked solemn, “Looking at this old man’s appearance, he’s at least millions of years old, perhaps tens of millions. If he says he’s an elder, it’s not entirely unbelievable. Moreover, he always wants to die, saying that living is too tiring. Have you ever thought about who he really is?”
“I don’t care who he is,” Mo Qi said carelessly, taking the pill out of the furnace.
“Could it be Hongjun?”
“No, I’ve seen Patriarch Hongjun,” Mo Qi shook his head decisively, then asked, “Why would you think it’s Hongjun?”
“Legend has it that Pangu split the chaos, forming the star worlds, and planted a green lotus tree by the Milky Way. The green lotus tree then propagated, forming countless tree worlds, connecting the star worlds. After Pangu’s death, Hongjun traveled through various star worlds, ruling people with techniques and passing down the Dao, allowing the various star worlds to prosper for generations. Many say that Hongjun is Pangu’s reincarnation, and his age is immeasurable. Therefore, if he wants to die, it’s understandable,” Zi Luo spoke fluently.
At this moment, the old man knelt before the first grave and bowed without hesitation.
With this bow, the wind and clouds changed, the heavens and earth shook, and the ground instantly cracked open with countless fissures, continuing to tremble up and down. It seemed as if the sky had also cracked open, and water mixed with mud poured down…
Mo Qi and Zi Luo both lost their footing and fell to the ground.
The furnace rolled into the cracks with a bang, falling into the bottomless abyss.
Zi Luo let out a gurgle and rolled down the fissure. Mo Qi, with quick reflexes, lunged forward, his body hanging on the cliff, and grabbed Zi Luo, pulling her up.
At this moment, the old man was about to bow again.
Mo Qi quickly shouted, “Stop bowing, stop bowing! The pill, the pill is ready.”