"Patriots?" Li Yao asked.
"Here's the thing," Ding Ling Dong said. "According to the briefing of the Secret Sword Bureau today, three snipers were killed in the plaza next to the square of the Federation. They were suspected to be the subordinates of Blood Devil Li Yao, the Children of the Nether World.
"However, one of the bodies looked familiar to me. Come to think of it, I seem to have seen it in a party of the Patriots Partnership more than half a year ago."
"What kind of organization was it?" Li Yao asked.
"It was just a very common discussion group of beliefs," Ding Lingdang said. "At that time, the news about the Flying Star Sector and the Imperium of True Human Beings had just spread out in the federation. The world that we lived in expanded countless times abruptly as if there was a big explosion. You know that every Cultivator has some feelings for home and country. We all want to do something for the country and the people. Regarding the unprecedented changes, many knowledgeable people proposed their own opinions on how to deal with them, which led to a lot of exciting ideas."
"Some supported the idea of the three Sectors joining hands to resist the Imperium, some were suspicious, and some were strongly against it. Those who had different ideas formed many small circles spontaneously.
"The Patriots Partnership was a discussion group that strongly objected to the cooperation with the demon race. The ideology of the organization was that the demon race was absolutely untrustworthy. Cooperating with the demon race was like asking a tiger for its skin. Chances were that the demon race would stab you in the back at the critical moment! Besides, the Federation was a sacred country of pure human beings. How could it be tarnished by the evildoers?
"The only way to deal with the Imperium of True Human Beings was to unite with the Flying Star Sector and conquer the Blood Demon Sector. All the demons would be enslaved and sent to the resource planets of the Flying Star Sector for mining!"
Li Yao secretly clicked his tongue. Jin Tuyi had guessed correctly again. A lot of people in the Federation indeed had such an idea!
"Did you ever believe in such an idea?" Li Yao asked.
"I still do," Ding Ling Dong said. "I still do."
"…" Li Yao.
"Forget it," Ding Ling Dong said. "This is a competition of beliefs. I can't explain it to you for the time being. In short, at that time, the Federation had just been greatly impacted by the Brand New World. All kinds of thoughts are flooding in, and such discussion groups are not rare. "
"What's rarer is that it's the standard to join the discussion."
"The Patriots Partnership does not accept regular Cultivators. It has two requirements. Firstly, you must be above the middle level of the Building Foundation Stage and have a certain level of influence in society, your sect, or the army.
"Second. At least one of their close relatives must have been killed by the demons, and they must have a blood feud with the demons. "
"In other words, this is a relatively high-level discussion group. That's why I joined. After that, it's not a big deal. Everyone just gathers together, chats, and talks freely and makes friends. Right, it was at a party that I saw the Children of the Nether World sniper who died today. "
"My attitude. He was one of the more resolute ones, and he was the youngest in the group. Sometimes, his words were a bit radical. One night, the convener of our group, a professor from the Tiandu Medical College, came to me mysteriously and said that the discussion here was not interesting enough, and that there was a higher-level group. A lot of like-minded fellow Cultivators asked me if I wanted to join the group. " “”
Li Yao's heart was beating fast. "Did you agree?"
"No."
Ding Ling Dong replied. "I don't object to their idea, but I do like the guy. You know that I like to be straightforward and am not interested in such mysterious things. I said that I would think about it.
"The next day, I wanted to join the group. It's not a bad thing to make more friends. I told the convener that I was willing to join, but the guy hesitated and made all kinds of excuses, not allowing me to join. After a while, when everybody was tired of the empty talk and was quite busy, the Patriots Partnership was gone.
"At that time, ideas were running wild. It was normal for such discussion groups to meet and part. I didn't think much of it.
"It was not until today, when I saw the sniper's body, that I realized that the guy was even more fanatical and extreme than I was in the discussion. It is certainly possible that he was a Child of the Nether World in disguise, but is there any other possibility?"
Thinking carefully for a moment, Li Yao shuddered hard. "Are you suggesting that there was once an organization that gathered a lot of experts whose family members were killed by the demon race and who had a bloody grudge against the demon race? After multiple rounds of screening, the most extreme, fanatical, and determined people were selected?"
"Even someone like you, Ding Lingdang, whose parents were killed by the Demon Clan and who is absolutely irreconcilable with the Demon Clan, such a fanatical and battle-hungry Golden Core expert, was disqualified just because you had to consider for one night and didn't enter the core!"
"In other words, it is very likely that there is a Patriots Partnership right now that has gathered a lot of Cultivators who have a bloody grudge against demons and who are even more fanatical, determined, and strong than you, Ding Ling Dong?"
"I don't know," Ding Ling Dong said. "I only know that when I went to the convener, a professor from the Capital Medical College, later, he said that he was on a long-term business trip because of a secret project in cooperation with the military. I couldn't reach him anymore."
"Hurry up," Professor Mo Xuan said. "I sense that we are about to be locked onto. We have to talk in a different time and place!"
"One last question," Li Yao said. "Speaker Jiang Hailiu, Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao, and Director Lu Zui, of the three big shots of the Federation of Cultivators, did any of them have a family member who was killed by demons?"
Professor Mo Xuan thought for a moment. "Speaker Jiang's brother was killed in a beast tide outbreak more than eighty years ago. The Iron Commander's death is not a big deal. I don't know about his relatives, but I don't think there are any among his family members."
"What about Lu Zui?" Li Yao asked in a hurry. "Is there anyone?"
"Yes," Professor Mo Xuan said.
"Who is it?" Li Yao asked.
"… All of them," Professor Mo Xuan said.
Li Yao gasped hard. "What!"
"Lu Zui is more than two hundred years old," Ding Ling Dong explained. "He does not have any family in the mortal world except for a very loving wife. The two of them grew up together and loved each other dearly. His wife was congenitally deficient and never had a child. The two of them supported each other through two hundred years of storms.
"Unable to have children herself, his wife opened an orphanage more than a hundred years ago and adopted many war orphans as children. She is a well-known philanthropist in the Federation and is known as the 'Happy Mother' for more than a hundred years. They have more than 500 foster sons in total, and many of them are outstanding, shining brightly in various industries. "
"Fifteen years ago. After a beast tide outbreak, his wife went to the Grand Desolate Plateau to search for orphans as usual. But the demon beasts that were hiding in the ruins … tore them into pieces.
"Not counting the foster children, Lu Zui only had one family member, his wife. His wife was killed by the demon beasts. Didn't he lose everything?"
Li Yao was silent for a long time. He took a deep breath, and his fingers began to tremble. "Five hundred foster children, scattered everywhere, distinguished?"
"Yes," Ding Ling Dong said.
"Holy sh * t!" Li Yao said.
…
Three o 'clock in the morning. It started to rain. It was almost dawn. The night was as dark as a curtain, and the rain was pouring down.
Under the No. 2 Public House of the capital city, under a big pine tree with luxuriant foliage, the rainwater splashed onto a small tombstone between the roots of the tree.
The tombstone was very small. It was deeply embedded in the soil and covered in moss. If one did not look carefully, they would not notice it at all.
Hidden under the moss were four small words: Happy Mother.
It was the most environmentally friendly. It was also the cheapest 'tree burial'.
In front of the tombstone stood an old man in a black raincoat. He was silent for a long time.
Huala!
Lightning tore apart the night, illuminating a pale face that was full of water droplets. It was Lu Zui, an admin-type Yuanying Cultivator, the guardian of the black frontline of the Federation, and the director of the Secret Sword Bureau!
Lu Zui lifted a mottled food box and opened his raincoat. He sat down in the mud below the pine tree and took out a few bowls of side dishes. Then, he filled two small wine cups to the brim with the glistening yellow wine.
He poured a cup of wine on the roots of the tree. Lu Zui filled his glass again. Then, he took a sip of the wine and a piece of meat. He slowly ate and drank in the pouring rain.
While eating and drinking, Lu Zui stroked the pine tree that was covered in wrinkles. He said gently, "Old woman, I've been busy. I didn't even have time to visit you during Qingming Festival. Today, I took some time to prepare a few dishes. They're all your favorites."
"I was in a hurry, and the fish skin is broken. Thankfully, the braised meat is still tender. There's also your favorite lychee honey. Take your time.
Wei Ming has graduated from college and is preparing to study further. Da Gang is doing well in the army and will be promoted to captain soon. Mao Mao is married. Her husband's family grows grapefruits. She brought a basket of grapefruits for you last time, but I forgot to keep them fresh. They're all rotten now. Next time, Mao Mao will bring them to you in person.
"Honey … Yesterday, I did something. If you knew, you would've scolded me again. You always said that I was so anxious about my work that my eyes were bloodshot. Who am I angry with? It's not worth it to be angry with those monsters!
"However, I can assure you that I'm not sulking this time, nor am I trying to avenge you. I just … don't want Wei Ming, Da Gang, Mao Mao, and the others, and their children, and their children's children to live with those stinky monsters."
"Our children are so weak, so innocent, and so kind. They will suffer if they live with the children of the demons who are born brutal. They will suffer great losses!
"Children do not know what they're doing. Old men and old women like us have to keep an eye on them, don't we?
"Alright. Take your time. There are so many dishes. I'm leaving now. I'm going to work.
"In the future … I might not be able to visit you. It's fine. Wei Ming and Mao Mao will come. Their children and their children's children will come to see 'Happy Mother'.
"Give me a few more years. If I'm fast, I might come to you in one or two years. Leave the door open for me!
"Let's go, honey. Let's go!"
Lu Zui rubbed the crumpled tree bark in a daze. Then, with trembling hands, he picked up a handful of moist soil beside his wife's tombstone and stuffed it into his chest along his collar.
When he straightened his body, his eyes, which were as gentle as water, suddenly became as sharp as an eagle's and as cold as a blade!
Covering his chest, he let the cold soil warm his heart that was even colder. Then, he staggered out of the cemetery.
His eardrums were vibrating. With a telepathic thought, the call began.
There was no sound on the other end of the line, only cold breathing.
Lu Zui asked, "What's the matter?"
A tough voice came over. "Don't play dumb. You know that you were supposed to assassinate the spineless Jiang Hailiu. Why did you blow up tens of thousands of innocent people?"
Lu Zui smiled. His teeth were glittering under the lightning. "You are a soldier. This is a war. How can there be no casualties in a war?"
The other end of the line gnashed his teeth. "You've crossed the line."
Lu Zui said, "Yeah. You're going to shoot me?"
The other side replied, "I will. After I'm done, I'll shoot you first, and then I'll shoot myself as a sacrifice to the innocent souls of the dead!"
Lu Zui said, "Do whatever you want."
He cut off the call and walked to the entrance of the cemetery.
Huala! Huala! Huala!
Series after series of lightning filled the darkest night before dawn. It also illuminated the dozen or so statue-like figures in black raincoats at the entrance of the cemetery.
"Dad!"
"Dad!"
Calls came from the men in black raincoats, mixed with one or two "Grandpa!"
Lu Zui picked up the wine pot and threw it over. "This is your mother's favorite lychee honey. She and I didn't finish it. Come, share it!"
The dozen men in black raincoats raised their wine cups in the pouring rain.
Lu Zui looked around and suddenly sighed. "It's been hard on you to follow me on this path of no return."
"Slaying demons and eliminating devils is our duty. Even if we die, we will gladly endure it!"
One of the men in black raincoats shouted.
"Jin Tuyi, the great devil, and Li Yao, the little devil, are working together to lure demons into the Federation. They'll make the mountains and rivers smell of blood. Evil spirits will rise in the magnificent Federation! Our country is in danger. Cultivators like us won't shrink from a battle! "
Another man in black raincoats roared.
"Hahahaha!"
Lu Zui laughed, tears running down his face. "Good, good, good. You are all my good children. You are all the good children of the magnificent Federation! Come! Drink! "
Lu Zui and the men in black raincoats drank the remaining wine in one gulp. The wine cups were smashed to pieces on the hard granite at the same time. In the pouring rain, eight words that could shatter gold and stones were heard.
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