Chapter 51: A Humble Character. What Was All That For?

Looking at the bewildered Bairang, Ji Yaoguang did not let down his guard. His gaze swept around the grand hall, sensing every ripple of spirituality and corruption.

Around Bairang, a large portion of the hall had reverted to the appearance of ancient times when the Martial God lectured, except that the ceiling above was not so high and still bore the decorations of the Di State Academy. The people around were still discussing the Fifth Shaman God and the Divine Capital of Xuanwu, but after losing the cognitive alterations inflicted by that bizarre force, their words were filled with chaos. One moment they spoke of the Fifth Shaman God, and the next they rambled about blood sacrifice methods. Generally speaking, they looked sick, yet they were as crazily animated as normal people.

Bairang rubbed his head, finally regaining his composure as he stood up and said calmly, "It's fine. It's just a temporary cognitive disorder when coming into contact with the 'Origin'. It will recover in three to five days. This isn't the first time encountering such a thing."

Lin Zhao was startled: "This isn't the first time you've encountered this, and you're still not dead?"

Bairang thought for a moment, gathering his words: "My elder brother has been messing with this 'Origin' thing for a very long time. According to him, even if he dies, his divine soul leaves an imprint in the land of 'Origin'. Before that imprint is completely depleted, his divine soul will be summoned back to the land of Origin upon death, and it will take some time to reshape flesh and be born anew. Any Origin-ghost that leaves an imprint is a true Origin-ghost. The attacks of the 'Origin' against us are weakened and reduced. As long as we don't get too close, we basically won't fall into mortal danger."

Lin Zhao immediately became displeased: "That is going too far! You guys are already so powerful, how can you still resurrect? How are we supposed to fight this, we righteous and upright people?"

Bairang said weakly: "We are actually very weak too. Look at my brother, he is considered one of the strongest among us, doesn't he die very easily?"

Lin Zhao thought that made some sense, but their summoning arts were simply heaven-defying. If they weren't careful, they would summon some big shot over. How was anyone supposed to fight that?

So, he enthusiastically asked, "Then where is your brother now? I want to have a chat with him."

Bairang looked around left and right: "Over there..."

He pointed, and a young man with a very impatient expression was pressing his hand on the head of an approaching guest. After a few seconds, the guest's eyes cleared up, and after expressing his gratitude, he began maintaining order, letting the remaining guests queue up one by one in front of the youth to receive pacification.

"What is he doing?" Lin Zhao was surprised.

"Cleaning up the aftermath," Bairang quietly took a bite of cartilage meat, speaking somewhat indistinctly. "With so many guests coming, if they can't recover and our reputation drops, it will be very troublesome to invite people in the future. Of course my brother needs to clear their memories and purge the cognitive alterations brought by the 'Origin'."

Looking at the queue of people waiting, Lin Zhao took pleasure in their misfortune: "I'm afraid he's going to be busy all night long."

"There's no help for it," Bairang said matter-of-factly. "For the great cause, my brother is not afraid of hardship."

"What is he even after?" Lin Zhao could not understand.

"In the past, my older brother was a researcher in the Great Shanthu Shaman-Doctor lineage, and he was squeezed so hard he could only rest for one hour a day," Bairang exposed his older brother's background without any bottom line. "Later, the Shaman-Doctor lineage was banned, and the Dao of Origin was established. My brother continued to work under his mentor, who always told him that once the great cause was accomplished, he wouldn't need to work anymore. My elder brother came to do great things carrying this hope."

"But isn't he still working right now?" Lin Zhao was instantly left speechless.

"..." Bairang was momentarily choked for words, then lowered his voice and said, "You mustn't mention this in front of my brother. He is magnanimous about everything else, but on this single matter, he holds a grudge. It's the kind where he remembers it for as long as he lives."

Lin Zhao couldn't be bothered to dwell on the matter and patted the ancient tree: "Where are the Lord of the State and the others?"

Hearing this, Weisheng Wu, who had been lying on the ground like a corpse, suddenly struggled like a carp out of water: "Let me go! I want to see the Lord of the State! Let me go! I want to see the Lord of the State—"

His voice was so loud that even Bainian not far away heard it. However, seeing that the madman was a parasite of the "Origin," Bainian rolled his eyes and didn't even want to spare him a second glance. The "Origin" was a weapon that caused eight hundred injuries to the enemy while inflicting a thousand to oneself. After studying it for so many years, he had never been able to control it; instead, he was constantly controlled by it. It was the kind of thing that made him angry just looking at it.

His only remaining superior was also elusive, never managing anything and only knowing how to issue tasks, yet those tasks couldn't even be declined.

In this world, it might as well just be destroyed sooner!

-

"Brother, what should we do now?" On the distant Great Wall, Si Jin was cracking melon seeds while asking his older brother who stood quietly beside him.

Although they were quite far away, with a Heavenly Shaman's perception, the scene over there was no different from descending in person.

In their line of sight, the location of the academy had just produced a blind spot, cutting off their perception. But this blind spot did not last long; within mere seconds, it was reversed by a terrifying force, interrupting the corruption and sacrificial process without requiring the two of them to intervene at all.

Nor could they intervene.

Si Li's beautiful face was carved from white jade in the sunlight, showing no response.

"Big brother, I used to think that once you managed to become a Heavenly Shaman, you had reached the peak," Si Jin sighed. "Life should be smooth sailing after that, but look at now—at every turn, there are Shaman-God-level entities. In front of these things, we don't even have the qualification to get close. How are we supposed to fight this? Why don't we pack up and return to Great Shanthu? I'll go teach, and you can be a mountain-guarding divine beast. The salary might be a bit low, but it has the advantage of being free from wind and rain, making days easy to pass!"

Si Li calmly replied, "People have their own positions. Conflicts between Shaman Gods naturally have Shaman Gods to handle them. You have neglected your cultivation all these years, and your academic theories were surpassed long ago. The Shaman of Shanthu Mountain might not even want you."

The emerald feather on Si Jin's head trembled: "I can open a cram school... Brother, you still haven't said how these things are to be dealt with."

Si Li looked calmly into the distance: "You don't think it's over just like that, do you?"

"That Origin-object has already been sealed, and I could deal with those Earth Shamans with a single claw. What else is there to pay attention to?" Si Jin could not understand.

"This matter won't end so easily," Si Li said flatly. "I always feel that a greater turmoil has yet to appear."

Si Jin couldn't understand this at all. After pondering for a long time, he finally gained some insight: "You mean... the other vassal states? That shouldn't be. Do you have any intelligence channels?"

Their Di State was suffering from internal and external troubles, making it the easiest soft persimmon to squeeze. The Origin-ghost side had even sent out Bainian, their proxy leader; where would they get the energy to target other vassal states?

Si Li replied, "No, just intuition."

Si Jin felt the conversation couldn't go on: "You clearly walk the path of a strategist, so why do you still rely on a beast's intuitive talent? I give up. Fine, fine, I'll go handle it then. Without that Origin, I'll just round them all up. Shall we interrogate them ourselves, or let the Shaman State handle them?"

Si Li replied, "Detain them first. As for the rest, I need to think further."

Seeing his brother toying with a red conch in his hand, Si Jin understood instantly, while also feeling a bit itchy: "Big brother~ Are you going to notify the other vassal states of the matter? If not, let me help you notify them..."

"No," Si Li glanced at him. "Want another beating?"

Si Jin grew angry, instantly transforming into countless little birds that chirped noisily as they flew away.

Like divine beings, endless and coming from all directions, they surrounded the banquet scene, terrifying the cured and uncured guests until their faces turned ashen.

"You are suspected of colluding with the Origin-ghosts," countless little birds raised their claws angrily in the air. "Now, go stay in the underground palace and confess your crimes one by one!"

At that moment, some guests scattered like birds and beasts, others knelt and begged for mercy, and some claimed to come from other vassal states, demanding courteous treatment befitting guests...

The little birds couldn't be bothered to look at them twice. Opening their mouths in unison, they began to chant a ballad.

In an instant, those ordinary shamans had their bodies seemingly taken over by some bizarre entity. They stiffly formed a line and began walking in one direction.

Watching from the side, Lin Zhao clicked his tongue in amazement: "Old Tree, how come Old Bird's skill looks even more villainous than the villains themselves?!"

If this scene of herding living corpses were put into a movie, it could easily be shot as a horror film.

"This is already quite gentle," Ji Yaoguang rubbed the ghost-face totem on his left hand with a guilty conscience. "After all, shamans all have many trump cards. If they aren't controlled immediately, the destructive power of many shamans within a city is extremely formidable. There's simply no helping it."

Lin Zhao thought that made sense. He glanced at Bairang again and asked quizzically, "Your brother went to line up and enter prison, why aren't you reacting?"

"My brother? He's just faking it," Bairang calmly exposed his brother. "I'm fine. Seeing as you all are here, the Vice-Monarch probably just ignored me."

So, Bainian, who had been queuing with a dazed and blank expression, instantly had countless little birds land on his shoulders. His eyes cleared up in an instant. He looked toward Bairang's direction from afar, smiled slightly, shook his head, and followed the direction demanded by Si Jin as he left.

It was just a small failure. He lacked neither Origin nor life, so there was nothing to dwell on or worry about.

Looking at the empty banquet hall, Lin Zhao was somewhat surprised: "So, the matter this time is just ending like this?"

It felt so easy, much simpler than the previous round.

Ji Yaoguang smiled slightly: "It should be over. Are you hungry?"

He lifted up the tightly bound Weisheng Wu.

The youth did not struggle; his gaze was clear and innocent.

Lin Zhao uttered a sound of acknowledgment, reached out and pressed his hand against Weisheng Wu's chest, pulling fiercely until no more Origin could be extracted, before letting go with some regret.

"Not as delicious as yours. He has a large quantity, but the taste..." Lin Zhao pondered, "is impure. It's like two different Origins leaking together, feels like eating sand."

"I'll find you something more delicious next time," a trace of a smile appeared on Ji Yaoguang's face. He untied the vines binding the youth and then said to him gently, "The problems in you are not minor. If you don't want to be corrupted, remember to come find us often."

"Thank you, thank you for saving me, but I..." Weisheng Wu's gaze was somewhat dazed, but he quickly sobered up and said earnestly, "I must see the Lord of the Di State..."

Just how deep is your obsession?!

Lin Zhao couldn't help laughing out loud: "Alright, I'll take you to see the Lord of the Di State. Actually, rest assured, you will definitely be able to go to Great Shanthu."

"Then I must pass the examination to get in." The youth clenched his fists, looked seriously at Lin Zhao, and revealed a hint of a green, naive smile. "Not for Great Shanthu, this is for my innocence!"