Chapter 52 Counter-策

"Elder!" Zhang Yuanqing greeted respectfully.

Elder Gou nodded slightly, maintaining his seated posture, and looked at the Demon Eye sealed in the tree, saying, "The person you want to see has arrived. I hope you can fulfill your promise."

The Demon Eye Heavenly King looked at Zhang Yuanqing, raised the corner of his mouth, his face full of pleasure: "I want to have a private conversation with Yuanshi Tianzun."

Elder Gou shook his head, "You know that's meaningless." In the zoo, the plants were his eyes and ears.

The Demon Eye Heavenly King grinned: "This humble one just doesn't like having riffraff around when I'm talking."

Riffraff, Fu Qingyang, raised his eyebrows.

Elder Gou pondered slightly, looked at Zhang Yuanqing, and said, "No matter what he says, you must not take off the band on his forehead."

Zhang Yuanqing asked with some concern, "Can the Bewitching Demon's eyes also release skills?"

"Don't worry, his abilities are sealed, no different from ordinary people." After Elder Gou finished speaking, he left with Fu Qingyang.

Suddenly, only Zhang Yuanqing and the Demon Eye were left in the cell. The Demon Eye Heavenly King, only showing his upper body and head, smiled and said, "We meet again, Yuanshi Tianzun!"

"In fact, I don't want to see you again." Zhang Yuanqing said expressionlessly, his tone low, "Say what you have to say, Demon Eye Heavenly King, although I don't think we have anything to talk about."

The Demon Eye Heavenly King maintained his bright smile: "At first, I just wanted to eliminate you, an ant, and avenge Li Xianzong. Li Xianzong, although cruel, bellicose, and bloodthirsty, he has one advantage that I appreciate. Compared to most Bewitching Demons, his bottom line is slightly higher."

"So I planned to train him into a capable assistant to help me cleanse the world, but unfortunately, you killed him. Of course, you were acting for the heavens, I don't deny that."

*Can we skip the small talk and get to the point…* Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself.

The Demon Eye Heavenly King continued, "You know I have rules when killing people, I never kill the innocent, so after coming to Songhai, I ordered people to investigate your criminal record. Unfortunately, you have never done anything that triggers the law, no embezzlement, no abuse of power, no raping of women, no killing of the innocent. I really can't find a reason to kill you."

… Zhang Yuanqing couldn't hold back, reminding him, "Heavenly King, do you think there's a possibility that I just haven't had time to do these things yet?"

The Demon Eye Heavenly King nodded, "My subordinates reminded me, but how do you explain the Bronze Sparrow Tower case? Your gains and risks in this case are not proportional. What prompted you to risk your life to destroy the Bronze Sparrow Tower? Don't answer me, just ask your own heart."

Zhang Yuanqing was speechless and said helplessly, "You wanted me to see you, what exactly do you want to say? What do you want to do?"

The Demon Eye Heavenly King answered irrelevantly, sighing, "My life has been very unsuccessful. When I was young, I struggled to survive, my life was as cheap as grass. When I was young, I was filled with impotent rage against those corrupt officials, and I could only be obsequious to those villains who bullied the weak."

"After I became a Bewitching Demon, I faced the very people I hated the most. Sometimes, I have to endure them, but I am powerless."

"I want to cleanse the world of sin, to stop killing with killing, to control violence with violence. The people of the Orthodox faction say that I am extreme, a madman, and deserve to die. People in the evil camp say that I am sick in the head."

*Isn't he?* Zhang Yuanqing listened silently.

"I finally found a Li Xianzong, who could barely be considered a companion. Until I understood you…" The Demon Eye Heavenly King's eyes suddenly became fervent, and he said, "Yuanshi Tianzun, there are many people who abide by the law, but those who are willing to risk their lives for righteousness are rare, and you are the only one I have seen who is willing to risk their lives for righteousness, and has this ability, and has great potential."

"Yuanshi Tianzun, follow me and cleanse the world together. This world is sick, it needs treatment."

*He found me in the middle of the night just to recruit me?* Hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing felt both absurd and that this was exactly what the Demon Eye would do.

He wanted to mock the other party for being a lunatic, but looking at the Demon Eye's excited expression, serious eyes, and the fervor of a martyr when he talked about cleansing the world, Zhang Yuanqing was silent.

Such a person may be a lunatic, or should die, but should not be mocked. Zhang Yuanqing thought for a while and said, "Demon Eye Heavenly King, my ideals are different from yours. My grandfather once said that nine out of ten officials are corrupt, and the remaining one is corrupt enough. Officials, those in the system, those who start companies, those who are leaders in large enterprises… Anyone with power will be corrupt, who won't seek personal gain?"

"Greed is human nature, not being greedy is against human nature. The saints in this world only exist on the internet, in reality, everyone wants all the benefits in the world to belong to them."

"Therefore, we must face the nature of humanity, face the dark side. While punishing evil and promoting good, we must also learn to harmonize with the world."

"Your ideals are too extreme. Is the world you envision a cleansed world? No, it's slaughtering all of humanity."

"So?" The Demon Eye stared at him.

"So I can't be on the same path as you." Zhang Yuanqing said in a deep voice.

The Demon Eye Heavenly King was silent. After a long time, he slowly opened his mouth, "I understand your thoughts. Then, Yuanshi Tianzun, I will curse you. One day, when you see the darkness of human nature, when your grievances cannot be redressed, when justice is forced by power, when the weak become lambs, I curse you to become like me."

In the low voice, Zhang Yuanqing's heart suddenly ached, as if an invisible hand had grabbed his heart fiercely.

*Whoosh, whoosh!*

At that moment, two vines sprang over, wrapped around Zhang Yuanqing, and emitted a gentle but strong emerald green halo.

A few seconds later, the vines retracted, and from within the trunk of the camphor tree, Elder Gou's dignified voice came out, "No curse, and not bewitchment, Demon Eye, what did you do?"

The Demon Eye smiled brightly, "I didn't do anything. My words are only useful to those who have the same ideals." He looked deeply at Zhang Yuanqing and grinned, "My purpose has been achieved. Yuanshi Tianzun, you will eventually walk the same path as me."

Zhang Yuanqing didn't say a word, summoned the Demon Subduing Pestle, and stabbed it fiercely into his thigh.

A dazzling golden light erupted, and his pupils lit up with a bright golden light.

The next moment, the golden light dissipated, and Zhang Yuanqing looked puzzled. Elder Gou was right, he was not cursed, not bewitched, and his body and soul were not affected by any external negative influences.

The Demon Eye's words seemed to be just an ordinary declaration, with no practical meaning.

*But why does my heart hurt?* Zhang Yuanqing muttered to himself.

"Don't play these little tricks," Elder Gou's slightly displeased voice came, "Demon Eye, you should fulfill your promise."

"Of course!" The Demon Eye raised the corner of his mouth, his face full of pleasure, "I keep my word, I will tell you the information I know about the Chu family massacre case." After a pause, he said, "The ones who led the cult to massacre the Chu family were Extermination and Ghost Blade. They were acting on Shura's orders."

"It's actually Shura?" Elder Gou's tone became astonished, "Why would Shura massacre the Chu family?" Shura was the strongest of the evil professions, and was also touted by the evil professions as the number one Lingjing Xingzhe. This person had been living in seclusion for many years and rarely appeared. Although the Chu family was a Lingjing family, it was completely unreasonable for Shura to specifically order the massacre of the Chu family.

The Demon Eye "heh" said, "Of course it was the Night Rose who wanted to destroy the Chu family. The real purpose of the Night Rose was to seize the Chu family's rule-type item. I don't need to say more about what it does, right?"

Elder Gou was silent for a long time, and asked, "Resurrection… Who does the Night Rose want to resurrect?"

Without waiting for the Demon Eye to reply, Elder Gou understood, "Resurrect the leader of the Night Rose…" He understood, no wonder the Demon Eye said that before the Chu family was destroyed, the Night Rose had no leader.

The Night Rose at that time was not yet strong enough to destroy the Chu family, so they conspired with the Soldiers Teaching Sect, but if that was all, the Night Rose only needed to contact the Heavenly King level high-level. How could Shura care about these things? Not to mention personally giving orders.

"Shura would care about these trivial matters?" Elder Gou asked puzzled.

The Demon Eye Heavenly King said, "This is not a trivial matter. You must know that the leader of the Night Rose is a Night Wanderer, you dog thing. With your status and authority, you should know the Light Compass's prophecy, or at least have heard of it. I don't know the Light Compass's prophecy, I can only tell you that the Grand Guardian of the Night Rose reached a certain agreement with Shura."

"Shura placed his bet on the leader of the Night Rose."

*The prophecy of the Light Compass?* Zhang Yuanqing was outwardly ignorant and calm, but inwardly he was in turmoil.

The last time he heard the prophecy of the Light Compass was in the audio of the Devil Lord, from that mysterious Void Profession.

The prophecy of the Light Compass involves the Night Rose and Shura? Even Shura, who is known as the strongest in the evil organization, cares so much… Shura destroyed the Chu family in order to help the Night Rose resurrect their leader, which is also equivalent to investing in the Night Rose… And the Goddess Association, that mysterious Void Profession, also invested in the Devil Lord….

*I don't know what secret is hidden in the Night Wanderer profession…* A variety of thoughts flashed through Zhang Yuanqing's mind.

The cell fell into a long silence, so long that Zhang Yuanqing thought Elder Gou had fallen asleep, when Elder Gou's voice came from the trunk of the tree, "I understand, Yuanshi, you can leave now."

*Phew…* Zhang Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief, didn't leave immediately, but said, "Elder, I feel that the Demon Eye's words are strange, this trip was a loss, I request compensation."

"But you didn't suffer a curse or bewitchment… Forget it, what do you want?" Elder Gou wasn't in the mood to argue at the moment.

"I want to tell these intelligence to Palace Master Zhisha."

"You may!"

Zhang Yuanqing happily turned and left.

Pushing open the door of the cell, Fu Qingyang was standing under the street lamp on the roadside, his posture upright, his face expressionless, truly standing like a pine tree. Seeing him come out, Fu Qingyang nodded slightly and turned to leave.

Zhang Yuanqing followed suit and told Fu Qingyang exactly what the Demon Eye had said just now. Fu Qingyang slowed down his pace, listening very carefully. After he finished speaking, he said in a deep voice, "Without Elder Gou's permission, you easily told me such important intelligence?"

Zhang Yuanqing's expression was serious, "Once a White Tiger Guard, always a White Tiger Guard. This subordinate's life belongs to Centurion, and his death is Centurion's ghost."

Fu Qingyang glanced at him, "It's not that serious!" Then he added, "But I am very satisfied with this awareness. Well, the specifications of the house allocated to you will be increased by five million."

*So generous, then I will have a house with a specification of 25 million…* Zhang Yuanqing's mood suddenly brightened.

Fu Qingyang murmured to himself, "The prophecy of the Light Compass…"

Zhang Yuanqing's ears perked up and he asked, "Does Centurion know?"

Fu Qingyang retracted his thoughts and thought for a few seconds:

"I don't know, but your words today reminded me of something from my childhood. About twenty years ago, the Marshal of the White Tiger Soldiers died in an accident. During that time, the elders of the Fu family were quite panicked, fearing that the influence of the White Tiger Soldiers would decline and become a second-rate force."

"I once unintentionally heard about this thing called the 'Light Compass', but at that time I was ignorant and didn't take it to heart."

"Oh, I know about this. The Marshal of the White Tiger Soldiers died in that turmoil, and the Five Elements Alliance was established as a result…" Zhang Yuanqing was quite disappointed that he couldn't get any information about the prophecy from Fu Qingyang.

A dozen minutes later, the two left the fork in the road, returned to the main road, and headed towards the entrance of the zoo.

Just as the two were about to walk out of the zoo gate, Zhang Yuanqing's back felt cold. That feeling of being watched from the dark descended again.

*It's that feeling again. Who is spying on me?* Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but quicken his pace.

"You've finally come to see me…"

In his ears, the ethereal whisper echoed again.

*It's that voice again!* While speeding up his pace, Zhang Yuanqing whispered, "Centurion, do you hear anything?"

"No!" Fu Qingyang stared ahead with a stern face, "Remember what I said, ignore it." As he said that, the ever-confident Fu Qingyang also quickened his pace, as if wanting to leave here as soon as possible.

The whisper continued:

"You've finally come to see me, Zhang Zizhen."

Zhang Yuanqing's body stiffened, and he stopped abruptly.

Zhang Zizhen was his father's name!

PS: Typos will be corrected later.