"I’m being considerate, right..."
As dusk fell, Yang Ge sat by the fire pit poking with a branch and dug out two mud eggs the size of watermelons from underneath: "I only called you down once the chickens were done."
Crouched across from him, Zhang Xuansu’s face was darkened with anger, and he didn’t utter a sound.
Yang Ge glanced at him sideways: "Not eating?"
Zhang Xuansu still wore a grim expression: "Eat!"
Yang Ge smiled, cracked open one of the mud eggs with the branch, and carefully peeled back the lotus leaves inside, releasing the aroma of cooked chicken in an instant.
He picked up two fresh lotus leaves, carefully cradled the beggar’s chicken in them, and handed it over to Zhang Xuansu with both hands.
Zhang Xuansu accepted the offered beggar’s chicken, unconcerned about the heat, and tore off a plump chicken leg before ripping a large mouthful of meat, mumbling with a burnt mouth: "Offering help when none is needed, you are either a thief or a crook!"
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Yang Ge cracked open the other mud egg, peeled back the lotus leaf, and also tore off a chicken leg to take a big bite: "What I’m doing is called diplomacy before force."
"Is this your idea of diplomacy?"
Zhang Xuansu asked indignantly, waving the chicken leg bone in his hand.
Yang Ge replied helplessly: "I did want to offer something else, but given your wealth and stature, I really couldn’t think of anything more sincere to give you than this."
Hearing this, Zhang’s expression lightened a bit... Not for anything else, but because the young man was willing to speak some kind words to him today, and that alone made him feel much better.
He silently concentrated on devouring the beggar’s chicken in front of him.
Seeing that the old man wasn’t taking the bait, Yang Ge took the initiative and said: "You should know what brings me here this time, right?"
Zhang Xuansu didn’t even bother to lift his eyelids: "No idea!"
Yang Ge laughed, then said earnestly: "I had no choice, going there alone. I really wasn’t confident about taking down that old monster. If you could join me, I’d feel much more certain... Don’t worry, you wouldn’t need to engage in combat. As long as that old monster doesn’t escape, you could simply stand by and watch."
At his words, Zhang Xuansu’s eyelids twitched, and the speed at which he devoured the chicken leg involuntarily slowed down...
He obviously knew who Yang Ge was referring to as that old monster.
Because he knew, he was shocked!
Against that old monster, he didn’t even have a hope for a draw.
Yet Yang Ge, on this occasion, was only worried that the old monster might run away if he couldn’t beat him?
Doesn’t that mean if Yang Ge wanted to act against him now, he would hardly have a chance to escape?
Everyone is a land immortal, how come you, kid, get stronger with every fight, as if you have no bottlenecks or limits at all?
Aren’t you the monster here?
He pondered this puzzle for a long while and suddenly thought that perhaps only such cultivation was worthy of this little monster’s character!
He had been young once, too, full of high spirits, had fought against the currents, and once believed... that the world was his.
But compared to this little monster’s deeds, his big, earth-shattering accomplishments from back in the day now seemed petty.
This little monster’s character, except for being slightly too merciful at times, was saintly enough!
Seeing that he wasn’t speaking, Yang Ge didn’t urge him, quietly continuing to deal with his own beggar’s chicken.
After a while, Zhang Xuansu finally sighed: "If you just want to suppress that old monster, I don’t mind joining you for once. It’s precisely because you’re going to fight that old monster that this matter is tricky... You know I have a large family and significant responsibilities, the consequences of any mishap would be endless!"
Yang Ge understood his concerns, but there really was no flexibility with this matter: "I understand your situation, so I’m only asking you to back me up. You can stay completely anonymous, and if I fail, the hatred will be aimed at me, not related to you at all."
Zhang Xuansu: "Do you think being alone makes you invincible? If he can’t get to Yang Erlang, can’t he get to the Emperor? Can’t he get to the courtiers? Can’t he get to your Lu Ting? You must think this through, an arrow doesn’t return once it’s fired!"
Yang Ge nodded: "I’ve thought it through. That’s why I’m asking you to come out of retirement and cover me so that nothing can go wrong."
Zhang Xuansu:
How did the topic circle back again?
His mind was wordless, yet a part of him felt an inexplicable urge.
Ever since Nan Jia Lama and Taoist monk Dao Dan passed away, the balance of power between the central plains and the grasslands had already been broken...
’Now is indeed an excellent opportunity for a one-time solution!’
The old Taoist thought flashed through his mind, and the next second, it was replaced by strong resentment and indignation.
Why should it be me?
I’m perfectly content with my Taoist cultivation and alchemy on the mountain, so why should I go out and fight to the death for the Zhao Family?
"How many lives do you have, kid?"
The old Taoist asked bemusedly, repeating a question he’d posed before: "You can protect the Zhao Family now, but can you protect them forever?"
The last time, Yang Ge hadn’t directly answered his question.
This time, Yang Ge responded: "I’ve never been protecting the Zhao Family; I’ve been protecting all the people in the world."
The old Taoist was stunned, a light suddenly dawning in his heart.
He exclaimed in shock: "Do you really see yourself as a sage?"
Yang Ge replied with a smile: "I don’t have such grand ambitions..."
Old Taoist: "Your ambitions aren’t big?"
Yang Ge thought for a moment and answered earnestly: "There’s a saying in your Taoism that goes, ’Refusing a single benefit for oneself to aid the world, and not taking from the world to enrich oneself. If everyone does not take this much, everyone would not benefit themselves, and then the world will be in order’."
The old Taoist nodded: "Rule by doing nothing."