"Help with a small favor, retrieve the City God Seal? You must be crazy," I thought to myself.
What was the City God Seal? It was the sole proof of being a City God. If a City God lost the Judge's Brush and the Register of Life and Death, it was merely troublesome. But if the City God Seal was lost, it was far more than just troublesome.
The City God Seal was proof that the City God governed this region. If the seal was lost, his tenure as City God would be over. Whether he would be sent to the eighteen levels of hell or have his soul scattered was up to the City God above him to decide.
"Cough, cough..."
Seeing that all three of us remained silent, the skinny monkey coughed and said, "I know you all still doubt if I am the City God, but I can tell you clearly, I truly am the City God of this place. It's just that some time ago, I don't know who, using forbidden magic within my jurisdiction, summoned a ghost king. While I was suppressing it, some scoundrel took the opportunity to steal the City God Seal..."
I didn't pay much attention to the rest of his words. When he mentioned "using forbidden magic to summon a ghost king," my heart skipped a beat. Could it be such a coincidence?
Qingfeng Mountain usually had few visitors. If there was anyone who had recently used forbidden magic to summon a ghost king, it could only be me. I had summoned a Yin soul according to the birth date and eight characters given by Li Zuoquan. Could the ghost king he spoke of be the mountain god that Fifth Princess had suppressed in the valley?
I subtly glanced at Zhang Dabiao. He had already expelled all the cold Yin energy from his body and was sitting on the ground, his brow furrowed, seemingly pondering if it was because I had summoned the Yin soul.
"Lord City God, do you know who summoned the ghost king?"
"If I knew who let out the ghost king I painstakingly sealed, I would beat him into hell! Do you know how difficult it was for me to seal him back then!"
Just as I was considering whether to probe further into the matter, Zhang Dabiao suddenly spoke, "Brother, let's go! We can't get involved in this mess."
Zhang Dabiao's complexion was still somewhat pale, but much better than when smoke was rising from his head. This was due to his profound Yang True Qi. If I had taken such a hit, I would have been lying on the ground long ago.
"Kid, you have no say here. Don't make trouble for yourself." The skinny monkey, who had been smiling, heard Zhang Dabiao trying to stop him and showed displeasure, but he didn't act as directly as before.
"The winner takes all, the loser is the bandit. The one who stole your City God Seal is naturally peerless in strength. You ask us to help you steal the City God Seal, which is asking us to walk to our deaths. Why should we agree to you?"
I knew a lot about trickery and shady dealings, but when it came to matters of the underworld, I was not as knowledgeable as Zhang Dabiao. Although my master had spoken to me about the Underworld, he would only mention it in passing, as if he had unspoken difficulties. Fearing my master's "tyranny," I never dared to ask, mainly because I was afraid.
Now, hearing that one could actually seize the City God Seal and become a City God, I couldn't help but become curious. Did a City God who lost his seal cease to be a City God?
Could I become a City God if I possessed the City God Seal?
Faced with Zhang Dabiao's question, the skinny monkey's face first flushed, then darkened. His eyes widened like those of an ox, as if he wanted to devour Zhang Dabiao.
Perhaps due to my presence, or perhaps the skinny monkey had other considerations, he did not attack Zhang Dabiao this time. The strangeness on his face lingered for a moment and then disappeared.
He first looked at me, then turned to Xu Yi, and finally fixed his gaze on Zhang Dabiao.
"They both agreed to help me with this small favor, and you are still obstructing? Do you want to get information from me for free?"
As the last word left his mouth, the skinny monkey's aura changed. A visible frost emanated from him. Frost spread rapidly from him on the ground, turning the small courtyard where we were into a world of ice and snow. With a breath, he exhaled a cloud of ice crystals that fell to the ground.
"What? You can't force a cow to drink water if it doesn't want to? Don't think you're so great just because you were once a City God. Now you're just a lonely ghost with considerable cultivation. You can kill us, but don't forget there are gods three feet above your head. Have you ever thought about what kind of retribution you will face?"
"I... you..."
The skinny monkey deflated like a leaky balloon. His furious demeanor vanished without a trace under Zhang Dabiao's few words. He stood there dejected, as if Zhang Dabiao's words had hit his sore spot.
"You all go. It seems it's destined for me to lose my position as City God."
After a long silence, the skinny monkey spoke again, his expression incredibly dejected, with a hint of pain on his face.
"Don't stand there, hurry up and leave."
Zhang Dabiao showed no sympathy for this. He pulled me towards the door, his face filled with urgency, as if he didn't want to stay there for another moment.
After we walked out of the courtyard gate, I realized Xu Yi hadn't followed us. I turned back and saw that he was talking to the skinny monkey.
Since his back was to us, I couldn't see Xu Yi's expression, but I could see that the skinny monkey's dejected look had eased. In the end, he even nodded slightly, and then Xu Yi came out with the pug-like little tiger.
"Brother Xu, what did you say to him? You didn't agree to help him, did you?"
Xu Yi smiled and shook his head. "Brother Zhang, if you didn't agree to help him, how could I? I just said a few other things. Let's go find Fang Huixin." After saying that, he walked towards the City God's mansion that the little tiger had found earlier.
Zhang Dabiao and I exchanged glances. I whispered, "Did this guy sell us out?"
Zhang Dabiao shook his head. "Probably not. This is the City God City, where all are ghosts. If he sold us out, he wouldn't be able to leave alive himself. It's a fool's dream for him to take Fang Huixin and the others away by himself. However, we still need to be wary of him, lest he trick us."
I nodded in agreement.
After leaving the skinny monkey's place, Xu Yi did not return to the City God's mansion that the little tiger had found. Instead, he turned and headed west of the city, as if he already knew where Fang Huixin and the others were.
Although I believed Xu Yi wouldn't betray us, I was still a little worried. I quickened my pace to walk alongside him and said softly, "What did you say to him just now? He was so dejected, but after you spoke to him, he changed completely."
"I didn't say anything. I just told him that someone would return the City God Seal."