Uncle Jiu: I am Chen Yulou, the leader of the Xiangling gang

Chapter 85: The Thief's Heart Remains

Chen Yulou suddenly understood, as if the clouds had cleared and the sun had appeared.

Uncle Jiu narrowed his eyes slightly, carefully taking a look at the dragon ball that was emitting a mysterious light, and continued slowly, "The dragon energy contained in this dragon ball is like a panacea for those who practice Taoism. It can greatly assist in cultivation, allowing one's cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds in a short period of time, like a leap forward."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yulou couldn't help but feel a surge of surprise. He opened his mouth slightly, thought for a moment, then looked at Uncle Jiu with a determined gaze and said sincerely, "Master, since the dragon energy in the dragon ball is so effective for cultivators, if I use it, wouldn't it be a waste? Why don't you keep it for yourself? Your cultivation is more important. I'm still young and have more time to slowly accumulate."

Uncle Jiu looked at Chen Yulou's sincere eyes, a gratified smile appeared on his face, and he said in a gentle voice: "I am deeply pleased that you have this kind thought."

"However, since this Dragon Ball has been given to you, you should accept it with peace of mind!" Uncle Jiu's tone was filled with an unquestionable firmness. Then, with a sigh, a look of regret appeared on his face. "Master has now encountered a huge bottleneck in his cultivation path, like being blocked by a thick wall, difficult to break through. This Dragon Ball is not of much use to Master at the moment. If he can break through this bottleneck, then this Dragon Ball will be just icing on the cake for Master, not worth mentioning."

Chen Yulou was filled with doubts. He glanced at the dragon ball in his hand again, thought for a moment, and then asked, "What about Uncle Simu and the others...!"

Uncle Jiu immediately shook his head, frowning slightly, "They don't know about the existence of Dragon Ball."

Chen Yulou looked at Uncle Jiu in surprise, feeling puzzled. He was a little surprised that Uncle Jiu had not told Taoist Simu and others.

Seeing this, Uncle Jiu smiled slightly, as if he saw through Chen Yulou's thoughts. He then asked with a smile, "Do you think your master is selfish? Why did you hide this from them?"

Chen Yulou was shocked and quickly shook his head, explaining anxiously: "No, disciple has absolutely no such intention. Master's decision must be reasonable."

Uncle Jiu laughed heartily, his voice filled with open-mindedness. "Haha! Even if you feel that way, it doesn't matter! Master is not a saint, but an ordinary person, so it's natural for me to have a possessive desire. Besides, this dragon ball is so precious, and there's only one of it, so it's understandable that Master would hold back."

Uncle Jiu smiled calmly, his eyes revealing a profound depth. Then, he looked sternly at Chen Yulou and solemnly warned, "Yulou, you must remember that practicing Taoism isn't about becoming a saint. The path of Taoism involves a struggle against heaven and earth, and even against fellow Taoists. These include fellow Maoshan disciples, fellow apprentices, and even me, your master! We must constantly strive and fight on this path to secure limited resources."

"Because although the Great Dao can be practiced by everyone, the resources of this world are limited, destined to make only a very small number of people able to truly master it. And these people will definitely fight against the heavens, compete with the earth, and compete with their fellow teachers."

"As long as we maintain our integrity, that's all that's fine!"

Chen Yulou listened carefully to Uncle Jiu's words, and was deeply touched. He nodded immediately and said firmly, "Yulou will remember Master's teachings!"

"Master, please rest assured. Yulou would never dare to think that you are selfish. I also know that joy, anger, sorrow, greed, hatred, and ignorance are human nature. We must learn to control them, rather than let them control us and lose our integrity!"

Maoshan values ​​following one's own will, pursuing inner freedom and truth. They don't cultivate a ruthless path, so naturally, they don't require everyone to be a saint. Furthermore, Uncle Jiu's concealing the Dragon Ball and giving it to him was a testament to his trust and expectations of him.

What's more, everyone says that Uncle Jiu is selfish, except him.

Upon hearing this, Uncle Jiu nodded in satisfaction, a smile of appreciation on his face. He patted Chen Yulou's shoulder vigorously and said with satisfaction, "That's right! We must learn to control our emotions, including joy, anger, sorrow, greed, hatred, and ignorance. We can compromise on small matters, but we must never lose our way on big things. We can lose the small things without losing the big ones!"

"Master, is it easy to refine this dragon ball? What kind of conditions are required?" Chen Yulou looked at the dragon ball in his hand carefully again and couldn't help asking curiously.

Uncle Jiu frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and then slowly shook his head. "The Dragon Ball is condensed from the energy of national destiny. Refining it requires extracting national destiny. Extracting national destiny is like cutting flesh from the foundation of the country. It will inevitably damage the entire country's destiny and greatly shorten the emperor's lifespan. Such an act is tantamount to self-destruction. Who would easily attempt it?"

"As for why the royal zombies have dragon balls, there's no way to know!"

Chen Yulou nodded in thought, his face filled with confusion. Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind, and his eyes lit up as he asked, "Master, do you think Emperor Xuantong has the ability to change the fate of the nation?"

Yes, he thought of Puyi.

Why did Puyi send someone to transport a royal zombie from Guangxi to the capital?

And this zombie also carries a dragon ball?

Uncle Jiu looked at Chen Yulou in surprise, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. After a while, he slowly said, "Before last year, Emperor Xuantong, as the nominal emperor, did have the ability to mobilize the country's destiny. His existence still had a certain impact on the country's destiny."

"But that's no longer possible. Last year's events have completely altered his position. He no longer has the ability to influence the nation's destiny."

Chen Yulou hurriedly asked, "Is it because Emperor Xuantong was expelled from the palace?"

Although the Qing dynasty forced Puyi to abdicate in 1911, it wasn't until the previous year, 1924, the 13th year of the Republic of China, that Puyi and the Qing dynasty were driven out of the Forbidden City by Feng Yuxiang, officially ending his reign as emperor. During these 13 years, while Puyi lacked the power to rule, he remained emperor in name only. Therefore, before last year, Puyi did have the power to influence the nation's destiny.

"Yulou, do you mean that this dragon ball was refined by Emperor Xuantong by drawing on the national destiny?" Uncle Jiu asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Master, I think this is very likely."

Chen Yulou nodded solemnly and continued his analysis, "Otherwise, why would this royal zombie have a dragon ball inside of it? And why would the deposed Emperor Xuantong go to such great lengths to transport a royal zombie back to the capital?"

"You know, it's five thousand miles from the Bagui area to the capital!" Chen Yulou added.

Especially with the current warlord infighting and the Japanese invasion looming, is it possible that all this chaos is a series of sequelae caused by Puyi's extraction of national destiny?

After hearing this, Uncle Jiu fell into deep thought.

After a long while, he looked up at Chen Yulou and nodded in agreement: "You do have some truth in what you said. The current warlords are fighting each other and the people are suffering. It does seem like the result of the country's fortune being damaged."

"But, what use can a royal zombie actually have?"

Uncle Jiu frowned, "Is it to restore the country? Even if the royal zombies can evolve into flying zombies, or even wandering zombies, zombies are still zombies after all, unless Xuantong intends to turn the entire city of Beijing into a zombie city!"

These were just speculations. Chen Yulou didn't want to make any more unnecessary inferences and said directly, "The deposed Emperor Xuantong must have had a purpose for transporting this zombie thousands of miles. Moreover, I believe that the deposed emperor may truly have the intention of restoring his country."

He was not aimless. Although Puyi was expelled from the Forbidden City, he was still actively engaged in restoration activities. In particular, in 1934, this guy fled to the Northeast and, with the help of the Japanese, restored the puppet state of Manchukuo as Emperor Kangde, which was enough to show that he had not given up his evil intentions.

Uncle Jiu nodded, then smiled and changed the subject: "Well, these national affairs are not something we cultivators can influence, so we should not worry too much about them."

"Also, you just woke up, so get up and move around quickly. After all, you've been sleeping for three days."

"Yes, Master." Chen Yulou put aside his thoughts about Puyi and agreed.

He quickly threw back the quilt and prepared to get out of bed. Uncle Jiu immediately stepped forward and carefully supported him.

"Master, no need. I can do it myself. I've just been lying in bed for three days. I'm not disabled." Chen Yulou refused with a smile.

"Okay then." Uncle Jiu smiled and said, "I'll be out first."

"Yeah." After watching Uncle Jiu leave the room, Chen Yulou began to put on his clothes and shoes quickly.

After putting on his clothes, he stretched his body and the initial soreness soon disappeared completely.

In the lobby, Taoist Simu and others who were drinking tea and chatting saw Chen Yulou coming out and had recovered, and they all smiled with relief.

After washing up, Chen Yulou came to Uncle Jiu, Taoist Simu, and Taoist Qianhe, and respectfully poured a cup of tea for each of them. He first served the tea to Uncle Jiu and said respectfully, "Master, please have some tea."

"Okay." Uncle Jiu nodded with a smile and took the teacup.

Then, Chen Yulou served tea to Taoist Simu and Taoist Qianhe respectively, and said gratefully: "Two uncles, I am sorry that you two were worried during the three days when Yulou was in a coma. Please have some tea."

"Hahaha!!"

"You little brat, you're so thoughtful!" Taoist Simu took the teacup and smiled at Chen Yulou.

Taoist Qianhe took the teacup and immediately said, "Please sit down in Yulou!"

(End of this chapter)