Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 269: The Difference Between a Righteous God and a Demon

If they had heard the name Ying Ruoli under normal circumstances, Xiao Ling and Duan Muwan would definitely not have reacted.

But just when they mentioned the Tongtian River Goddess Ying, they saw such a big reaction from this woman, and now she was showing such a supernatural change. In addition, her surname was Ying. Xiao Ling and Duan Muwan couldn’t help but naturally have a thought flash through their minds — ‘Could she be the River Goddess? ’

It was particularly strong as the woman in front of them not only had an extraordinary aura, but her appearance was also much closer to what they imagined the River Goddess to be, and far more divine.

“You… are the River Goddess?”

Xiao Ling spoke more respectfully than before. Although he was already flustered before, he was still holding onto his pride. However, faced with the powerful oppression of the Dragon Daughter, he was unable to resist her crushing majesty.

The Dragon Daughter looked at Xiao Ling indifferently.

“You have good discernment, but you knew that the talisman was evil and still kept it. You even claimed that it was the Goddess of the River who helped you, even though you doubted the other party. It seems you are an individual with evil thoughts. As a small punishment, I will take away ten years of your vitality!”

The Dragon Daughter just raised a hand and hooked a finger, and spots of white light appeared on Xiao Ling’s body, then gathered in the palm of the Dragon Daughter’s hand.

At the same time, Xiao Ling seemed to have lost all of his strength. His legs softened and he knelt down with a pale face. During this whole process, his body kept losing temperature, feeling extremely painful. This pain penetrated deep into his soul and was unbearable. He couldn’t even cry or shout.

Duan Muwan, who was beside him, wanted to support Xiao Ling as he fell down, but she was too weak to hold him, so she could only accompany him in losing her balance.

“Bang…”

Xiao Ling fell to the ground, his face pale and blue, his body cold and continuously shivering.

“Minister Xiao! Minister Xiao! Are you okay? Don’t scare me!”

Duan Muwan was so panicked that she shook Xiao Ling, but got no response. She could only hug him to help keep him warm.

“Don’t scare me, Minister Xiao, say something!”

After shouting a few times, Duan Muwan seemed to have suddenly realized something. She turned around, knelt in front of the Dragon Daughter, and kowtowed repeatedly.

“Lady River Goddess! I know we were wrong, and I also know that we mistakenly believed in a demon and used things that shouldn’t be used. This matter started with me, and the mistakes we made committed together. I do not ask of you to let Minister Xiao go, I just hope that we can share the responsibility and I can share half of his pain!”

The woman’s head banged against the wooden floor of the restaurant’s second floor until her forehead was swollen. Although Xiao Ling next to her was in so much pain that he couldn’t move, he grit his teeth and tried his best to reach out and grab Duan Muwan.

The Dragon Daughter looked at the two-person scene in front of her, frowned slightly, and did not speak, but turned her head and glanced sideways at Ji Yuan and the Dragon Son behind her.

Ji Yuan looked at Xiao Ling and Duan Muwan’s state, then at the Dragon Daughter’s reaction, and essentially understood.

“Alright, River Goddess, please calm down. Miss Duan’s words are not without reason. Let’s deal with it as appropriate.”

As if she was waiting for those words, the Dragon Daughter turned around and bowed slightly to Ji Yuan, then turned back to Xiao Ling and Duan Muwan again. With a single thought, Duan Muwan was no longer able to kowtow or hit her head against the floor.

“You, Xiao Ling, are very lucky. Uncle Ji has spoken for you, and you two have some sincere feelings…”

Ying Ruoli looked at Duan Muwan carefully.

“In that case, I will fulfill your wish!”

Xiao Ling was cold, weak, and turning purple. He could only keep breathing heavily as he tried to catch Duan Muwan.

The Dragon Daughter glanced at him and spread out her right hand again. Points of white light flew back into Xiao Ling’s body, which had collapsed to the ground. At the same time, some points of white light also emerged from Duan Muwan’s body and flew into the Dragon Daughter’s hands.

After about two breaths, all the light disappeared, and the Dragon Daughter closed her hand and tucked it into her gorgeous wide sleeves.

Xiao Ling felt that he had regained his strength. Although his body was a little weak, he was no longer so weak that he could not stand. Seeing that Duan Muwan was swaying beside him, he immediately stood up and supported her.

“Wan’er, why are you so stupid! Why should such a weak woman like you bear such pain…”

The Dragon Daughter looked at them, nodded in the direction of Ji Yuan and the Dragon Son, and took a step back, indicating that she would no longer care about this issue anymore.

Ji Yuan looked at Ying Ruoli with an inexplicable expression. She did not hold back the first time, but the second time, she did not really let Xiao Ling and Duan Muwan split the burden, but returned 90% of the vitality and only symbolically took another 10% from Duan Muwan.

Otherwise, with Duan Muwan’s physical fitness, she would have been unable to hold on and would have collapsed. Five years of vitality¹ could not be simply converted to five years of predestined lifespan.

There was no Book of Life and Death² in this world. Even the underworld could only see the changes in their records when a person was about to die. It was impossible to change a person’s lifespan just by drawing it out. Ten or five years of vitality drew out the vital energy of the human body, which was a fundamental aspect. Years were just the measurement method. If an accident happened during recuperation, it would be easy for evil Qi to enter the body and breed serious illness.

Ji Yuan stood up from the stool in front of the table, walked around the table, and came to the two who were sitting on the ground hugging each other, which caused Xiao Ling and Duan Muwan to look up at him.

“Since Young Master Xiao has the wisdom to judge people’s character, it’s best not to choose to ignore some things for the sake of profit. A scholar should have some backbone. You were much better seven or eight years ago than you were two years ago.”

“Seven or eight years ago?”

Xiao Ling looked up at this inscrutable gentleman in green robes, and the doubts in his heart were revealed in his voice.

Ji Yuan nodded.

“Back then, on the Tongtian River in winter, at the stern of the Xiao family’s tower boat, Young Master Xiao and your father had a big quarrel, and it was also because of Miss Hongxiu. In my impression, Young Master Xiao was very ambitious.”

“You…”

“Don’t you remember me?”

Ji smiled.

“Young Master Xiao, you and your father did comment on me that day, but it’s normal for you not to remember a mere commoner who works hard making a living, rowing by on the river.”

Xiao Ling’s eyes widened, and he blurted his words.

“You were the fisherman who rowed the boat back then!?”

“Indeed.”

Ji Yuan nodded and reached out to help Xiao Ling and Duan Muwan from the ground.

Xiao Ling’s expression was a little dazed. He suddenly recalled the moment all the way at the beginning, when he decided to pass the exam and score highly, when he wanted to get a position that even his father had to look up to, there was a moment when the fisherman in the boat turned around and looked back, nodding at him from a distance.

This moment had long been forgotten, but at this moment it was immediately brought back to his mind.

“Seeing that you two are sincere and affectionate, Goddess Jiang has already shown mercy. This is the difference between a righteous god and a demon. One will stop, while the other will give you a talisman that will eventually harm others and yourself. Young Master Xiao, you should act more correctly in the future.”

Hearing Ji Yuan’s words, Xiao Ling and Duan Muwan subconsciously looked at Ying Ruoli. The latter just glanced at them and closed her eyes, tacitly acquiescing to Ji Yuan’s words.

Xiao Ling took a deep breath, bowed with cupped hands to the Dragon Daughter, then gave Ji Yuan a bow as well.

Ji Yuan nodded and held Xiao Ling’s hand, preventing him from bowing too deeply.

“The one who deceived you is a great demon from another continent. Her actions are mysterious and unpredictable. I think she has big plans. I too have been fooled by her. You two are just ordinary people, sometimes you don’t have much choice even if you can see through her. This time, I will treat it as you being helpless.”

Although Ji Yuan said these words, this matter had been handled by him and the Dragon Daughter alone. The underworld of the Capital Prefecture, who was originally unaware of these events, would definitely leave a mark on his record afterwards. If he didn’t accumulate any good deeds in the future, he would still be destroyed after death, but Ji Yuan did not reveal this.

Xiao Ling smiled bitterly, and bowed once again to the gentleman in the green robe in front of him.

“Thank you, Mr. Ji, for your advice!”

At this point, Xiao Ling was certain that the person who had come now was a true immortal. His actions and methods were completely different from the “River Goddess” he had met before. Even his intuition agreed that these people were all virtuous and even gave off a sense of purity and warmth.

“Mr. Ji, I wonder which country she is from? If that monster can make you suffer… will it harm the people of Dazhen? I have held this talisman for two years, what impact will it have?”

Xiao Ling felt uneasy, but he still asked.

“Hah…hahahahaha…”

The Dragon Son couldn’t help but laugh when he heard Xiao Ling’s words. The Dragon Daughter’s expression was a little bit tense, but she only barely maintained her sternness.

Ying Feng nodded to Xiao Ling.

“You… hahaha… Make Uncle Ji suffer? The world is so big, there must certainly be some people who have this ability, but they definitely don’t include that white fox. She was just lucky and from Uncle Ji’s hands. It was also because Uncle Ji has a good temper and likes to take his time with everything. If it were my father…”

“Ahem-hem!”

The Dragon Daughter couldn’t help but let out two coughs, and the Dragon Son hurriedly shut up.

This place was not too far from the Tongtian River, and his father was sleeping. Perhaps he would dream about some fragments of these events after they invoked his name, which would be bad.

Ji Yuan looked back at the Dragon Son. This guy was far more relaxed around him than around the Old Dragon. He thought about what had happened today: should he “accidentally” let these events slip when he found an opportunity to chat with the Old Dragon someday?

Ji Yuan looked at Xiao Ling and Duan Muwan again. Sure enough, the look in his eyes became even awed.

“Young Master Xiao, don’t worry, you are all right now.”

“Sir, since you have such great powers, the other part should be able to surrender even if they are in another country. The people of Dazhen are innocent…”

Seeing that Xiao Ling could still say these words at this time, although he seemed to be making unfounded claims, he still dared to say it, after all, so Ji Yuan raised his estimation of him.

Although the pronunciation of the characters was the same, Ji Yuan understood that Xiao Ling said “country” instead of “continent.”³ He shook his head and explained with a smile.

“Young Master Xiao, the continent I refer to is not one of the thirteen provinces of Dazhen, nor is it a prefecture of Dazhen. This world is much bigger than you know!”

1. 元阳 (yuányáng): Taoist metaphysical concept of vital Yang energy, a more fundamental life force than just time.
2. A book in Chinese mythology that records the birth, lifespan, and destined death of all mortal creatures in the world. Most prominently referenced in Journey to the West, where Sun Wukong erases his name and the names of every monkey he knows from the book, making them immortal
3. 州 (zhōu): state/country, 洲 (zhōu): continent. Pronounced the same, same tones, they even look similar!