976 The Glorious Past of Ancient Times
The old man’s face was filled with grief and indignation, and his tone revealed grievance. It would have been fine if he didn’t speak, but once he did, he wouldn’t stop.

In fact, in the end, he didn’t even need the captain to cooperate. He continued to vent the depression in his heart and only finished complaining after a long time.

He then took a deep breath as if releasing much of the inner tension.

The captain’s eyes revealed sympathy.

“Then you’re quite pitiful. Have you found who did it?”

“I’ve been recalling who might be behind this, and I’ve narrowed it down to three potential enemies. Especially that Cripple Tian; I strongly suspect he’s the one behind it!”

The old man gritted his teeth and determination appeared in his eyes. After that, he took out two storage bags and handed them to the captain before looking at Xu Qing.

“It’s fate that we met. I know that the two of you aren’t simple. I know the rules and won’t talk about you outside. It’s just a small token of respect. Let’s be friends.”

The captain laughed and took the storage bags. With a sweep of his divine consciousness, he discovered that there were many good things inside. Hence, he smiled brightly and spoke enthusiastically.

“We’re already good friends. Remember to stick an incense stick in front of my temple later.”

“Definitely!”

The old man said solemnly and cupped his fists toward Xu Qing before bidding farewell.

Looking at the old man’s back view, the captain weighed the storage bags in his hand in satisfaction.

As for the scene of the Red Moon Shrine cultivators in a daze that the other party saw, the captain wasn’t very worried about the possibility of being exposed.

After all, with the old man around…

At the thought of this, the captain winked at Xu Qing and spoke in a low voice.

“Little Qing, do you think I should continue to accept some missions? This is too convenient…”

“If you don’t want to vomit blood all the way back to the Bitter Life Mountain Range, I advise you not to continue.” Xu Qing shook his head and calmly replied.

Up until now, he had interacted with the ruler’s heir and had some understanding of this Soul Accumulation elder. He gave him the feeling that the other party actually didn’t have any good or evil intentions.

Unless he encountered some important arrangements, whether he would make a move or not depended on his mood.

This time, he chose to help, but it didn’t mean that it would be the same next time.

The captain felt some regret. However, when he thought of how he had vomited blood from the other party’s gaze on the Sacrificial Yin River, he felt that it was better not to take the risk.

Although he had a lot of blood…

“Sigh, I’m too weak in this life.” The captain sighed. After that, the scenes of the old man complaining earlier appeared in his mind. Hence, he glanced at Xu Qing and put on a spurious smile, as though he had guessed everything.

“Little Qing, you poisoned him, right?”

After saying that, he paid close attention to Xu Qing’s expression.

Xu Qing looked into the captain’s eyes and spoke seriously.

“That’s right. I did it. I sold it to him.”

The captain was shocked and asked.

“You also entered the Moon Rebel Hall?”

This was what he was most concerned about.

When Xu Qing heard this, his expression remained serious as he nodded.

“I entered long ago. To be honest, I’m your best friend, Master Pill Nine.”

The captain was originally surprised but when he heard this, he couldn’t help but laugh.

“I almost fell for your act, Little Qing. You’re quite clever now, but you’re still too green. I recognize that serious expression; every time you wear it, it’s a facade. When it comes to boasting, you’ve got some work to do. I’ll teach you later.”

Xu Qing blinked and didn’t say anything as he walked forward.
The captain hurriedly followed behind. As he walked, he couldn’t help but speak.

“Little Qing, is what you said true?”

“It’s true,” Xu Qing said calmly.

“Then give me a curse-resolving pill to prove that you’re my best friend!” The captain looked into Xu Qing’s eyes.

“None left.” Xu Qing shook his head. He hadn’t refined pills on Li Youfei recently, so he didn’t have any on him.

When the captain heard this, he laughed again.

“What a coincidence that it’s gone. I knew you were bragging, Little Qing. Alright, alright, you are him.”

With that, he began to count the items in his storage bags. After distributing half of them to Xu Qing, the two of them walked out of the cave where the altar was located and returned to the sun.

Along with them were the temple’s cultivators and the blood-red giant eye. The temple’s cultivators, including the divine envoy, who had lost consciousness, were all shifted here and lay scattered around.

Looking at this, Ning Yan, Wu Jianwu, and Li Youfei felt more and more reverence for the heir. At the same time, they also instinctively felt a sense of security.

As the artificial sun shone, everyone left the White Cloud Mountain Range and headed toward the Bitter Life Mountain Range.

The captain’s judgment was correct. The cognition of the old man who had fought against poison for more than two months was indeed affected. As he sped through the mountains, another story had taken root in his mind.

This story was the same as what happened, but there was no Red Moon Shrine.

At the same time, in the sun, the captain, who was extremely satisfied with his harvest this time around, was pondering over the authenticity of Xu Qing’s words. As the heir raised a hand, his heart suddenly hung in his throat.

The heir who had transformed into an old man was holding an eyeball in his hand and playing with it. From time to time, he would pinch it, causing the captain’s expression to change repeatedly.

Xu Qing also looked over.

Back then, he had been curious about the origins of the huge heart where the Red Moon Shrine was located above the Heavenly Fire Sea. When he thought of the blood-red eye with another branch of the Red Moon Shrine and the captain’s expression, he fell into deep thought.

“Xu Qing.”

The heir calmly spoke.

“Do you know why the Red Moon Shrine is always on some organs when they go out?”

Xu Qing shook his head.

The heir smiled and looked at the captain with a deep gaze.

“Erniu, do you know?”

“Elder, I don’t know either…” Just as the captain finished speaking, he saw that the crown prince was about to crush the eye with two fingers. He hurriedly straightened his expression and spoke solemnly.

“Elder, I remember now!”

“Oh?” The crown prince smiled faintly.

Xu Qing’s gaze also landed on the captain. As for Ning Yan and the others, they quickly looked over.

The captain took a deep breath with a solemn expression.

“I read about it in some documents before. There was once an extraordinarily heroic and outstanding figure, like a hero, who was compassionate and caring, with a deep sense of empathy for all living beings. Despite having the power to lead a solitary life, he chose to take resolute action in the end!”

“He chose to go into a battle against the Crimson Goddess on the Plain of Gods, all for the sake of the light in his heart, for the justice of his soul, for the future of all things, and to rescue sentient beings from calamity!”

“The battle made a commotion throughout the Wanggu, shook the starry skies, and made the heavens and earth mourn. This extraordinary hero, filled with courage and righteousness, fought against the immensely evil Crimson Goddess for three hundred years!”

“During those three hundred years, the world changed color, the winds raged, and the fluctuations were felt across the entire cosmos. Numerous gods were stirred, and countless beings prayed for him. But the heavens are jealous of great talent. At a crucial moment, his teammates chose to betray him. The great hero ultimately failed with a heart full of resentment. Nevertheless, he still managed to bite off a piece of Crimson Goddess’ flesh!”

The captain sighed with emotion.

“The Crimson Goddess hated him to the core and ordered to tear this heaven’s chosen’s majestic and handsome body into pieces. The organs from him are the ones used by the Red Moon Shrine when they go out…”

Ning Yan’s heart trembled and Wu Jianwu’s eyes widened. It was the same for Li Youfei. They felt that there were too many adjectives in the captain’s words and they were mainly describing his appearance and temperament.

Xu Qing fell silent. He thought of the kidney shown by the clay fox.

As for what the skipper said, he believed the latter part. He didn’t believe in the words ‘fight for 300 years’ at all, let alone those unnecessary adjectives.

“Of course, this great existence is incomparably wise. Hence, before he set off to find the Crimson Goddess, he cut off one of his ears… leaving it for all living beings to remember.”

The captain coughed and winked at Xu Qing.

The previous life body of the captain in the Heavenly Bull Mountain Range appeared in Xu Qing’s mind. Just as he was in deep thought, the heir’s voice slowly rang out.

“Is that so?”

“I’ve also heard of a version of this matter. It doesn’t seem to be what you said.”

The heir calmly spoke.

“It seems that there was once a bold and presumptuous person who coveted the flesh and blood of the Crimson Goddess. Hence, he came from another region and hid here.”

“This person has some ability. He somehow managed to hide from the temple and got the position of the Red Moon’s Grand Ritual Dancer. He even colluded with another god and turned himself into a mosquito.”

“While the Crimson Goddess was in a deep sleep, this person used the illusionary transformation technique and entered reality with the help of the other god. He then bit the Crimson Goddess.”

“However, before he could absorb the divine blood, he was slapped into pieces by the Crimson Goddess.”

“Because of this, the temple endured the anger of the Crimson Goddess. In the end, the divine son gave the order to suppress all the organs and limbs of this person and let him carry the temple forward for generations like a mount.”

The prince’s calm voice echoed in the sun.

Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu immediately had strange expressions. Li Youfei also took a deep breath but he discovered that he could already adapt to the rhythm of these people.

After all, he had already come into contact with the living Soul Accumulation. So, a mosquito biting the Crimson Goddess wasn’t a big deal.

Xu Qing glanced at the captain. Compared to what the captain had uttered earlier, he felt that this version of what the heir had said was more in line with the captain’s personality.

The captain smiled awkwardly and hurriedly changed the topic.

“Little Qing, we’ll arrive at the Bitter Life Mountain Range in half a month at most. How’s the apothecary you opened? Did you give it a name? Do you need me to give you one? For example, call it the Qing Niu Apothecary? Or the Niuniu Apothecary?”

Xu Qing ignored him. He knew that the captain was trying to make him continue the conversation to resolve the awkwardness.

However, although he didn’t respond, Ling’er was unhappy.

“There’s no need. We have a name. It’s Green Spirit[1] Hall!”

During this period of time, Ling’er didn’t dare to show her face. She was afraid of the heir. However, now that she saw that the skipper was about to snatch the name given by her and Brother Xu Qing, she couldn’t care less and hurriedly came out to cease him.

“Green Spirit Hall?” The skipper was overjoyed and hurriedly asked.

“This name is not bad. How’s the business of our apothecary?”

“Business is very good. In the small city, our business is second to none. We have a hundred customers every day!” Ling’er said proudly.

“That’s amazing. Is the apothecary large?” The skipper immediately let out a cry of surprise and asked in detail.

“Very big!”

As Ling’er spoke, the image of an apothecary that was like a paradise was reflected in the minds of Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu. The heir also smiled and listened.

Just like that, time flowed by. The concealed sun continued to approach the Bitter Life Mountain Range. When there were still five days to go, the beautiful small apothecary that Ling’er had described to everyone in the earth city of the Bitter Life Mountain Range collapsed…

[1] Green Spirit is Qing Ling in chinese.