In order to become a Heroic Spirit, I had no choice but to cause trouble in history.

"In the end... I am still guilty."

"You..."

"With so many causes and effects in the world, how can there be any talk of guilt or innocence? You simply followed your own will, and if the final outcome is beyond your control, then there's nothing you can do about it." Gently stroking the blood-stained tiger fur, Siji chuckled. "But even so, the wish itself is beautiful. If we define a beautiful wish as evil simply because of the bad ending, when did wishes become so cheap?"

The mountain lord did not speak, but his eyes were already closed.

Siji was taken aback, and the hand that was stroking the mountain king's head paused for a moment.

Siji's slightly open mouth trembled twice. She lowered her head and patted Shanjun's head again.

"You..."

The mountain king was unable to reply.

After a long while, Siji stood up and turned to look at the Xiang brothers, Xiang Yu and Xiang An.

He waved and said, "Come here."

The two brothers exchanged a glance, and finally walked over and sat down in front of Siji.

“You…you must be the offspring of that child Ji Chao, right?” Si Ji said with a smile, looking at the two burly young men.

Xiang Yu and Xiang An remained silent, but nodded together.

"It seems that Ji Chao's backup plan was just awakened by my own. Fate is truly a mysterious thing." Si Ji couldn't help but chuckle as she spoke.

Shaking his head, Siji said, "I am your father's teacher, you can call me Master."

"Master." Xiang Yu and Xiang An bowed together, showing no doubt about what the Taoist priest Siji had said.

"Now it seems that the foreign tribes have been completely pacified, and the Central Plains... will be free from worry for a thousand years."

“But… is this fair to the Mountain Lord?” Xiang An couldn’t help but ask, his eyes still fixed on the Mountain Lord’s body behind Daoist Siji. “He was clearly a benevolent deity, yet he was tricked into committing such an evil deed by those damned alien races.”

Master Siji was taken aback, seemingly not expecting Xiang An to ask this question.

After a moment's hesitation, he sighed.

"Perhaps... it's somewhat unfair."

---Aside---

RNG won! I'm so happy!

------------

Chapter 810 Sending off the Mountain Lord!

Xiang Yu turned his head slightly and glanced at Xiang An.

Xiang An looked indignant, his gaze fixed on the mountain lord.

The mountain king is dead, without a doubt.

Although Xiang Yu and Xiang An also sustained some injuries, the most fundamental cause of Shan Jun's death was that he nearly exhausted his life force in order to force out the alien will that had completely permeated his soul, and then, in a state of extreme weakness, he enraged and completely obliterated the alien will, leaving him with no way to replenish his life force.

"This was his own choice, so... let's show him some respect." Daoist Siji turned his head slightly and glanced at the lifeless Mountain Lord. "At least... he chose a dignified way to die."

"...Dignity?" Xiang Yu's eyes darkened slightly as he murmured the word.

"In a little while, you should return to the form where your father sealed your memories. Is there anything else you want to ask me?" Daoist Siji hesitated for a second, but finally reached out and patted the two brothers' heads. "The dissipation of the spirit body I left here signifies the return of your seals."

"...I'm just wondering why Father sealed away my and Xiang An's memories." Xiang Yu looked up at Si Ji and asked.

"Brother, are you stupid?" Xiang An turned to look at Xiang Yu.

Xiang Yu: ?

"Think about it, what kind of life did we live outside the Great Wall before, and what kind of life are we living in Kuaiji now?" Xiang An withdrew his gaze, looked at the ground, and casually picked up a branch that was still wet with rain from the side.

“If we continue as if we were still outside the Great Wall…” Xiang An didn’t finish his sentence, but the meaning he expressed was already very clear.

"I understand now." Xiang Yu had also figured it out.

Those living beyond the Great Wall, though they have human appearances and speak human language, can absolutely not be called human; they are merely machines developed for the purpose of killing.

The behavioral and thought patterns carried by those memories would make it difficult for the two brothers to navigate human society. Therefore, Xiang Chao, as the "father," chose to personally seal away the memories of his two "children."

“He must really treat you as his own children, otherwise, based on my understanding of him, he might not be the kind of person who would do such a thing?” Siji smiled. “People who practice divination techniques like mine generally try to avoid developing feelings.”

"We are like withered leaves floating on the water, choosing to abandon everything for that vague and uncertain future."

Rice Ball Exploration

"But your father is different."

Siji sat cross-legged and sighed softly.

"The emotions he harbored were greater and heavier than anyone else's, whether it was towards the Central Plains, towards the First Emperor, or... towards you two brothers."

“I have lived for hundreds of years, and he is the only one I have ever seen.”

"Perhaps that is why he was able to shoulder such a responsibility."

As he spoke, his body became sluggish.

A hint of understanding crept into his expression.

"Looks like it's time."

The two brothers were silent for a moment, then bowed in unison.

"Respectfully seeing off the advisor."

"Remember to live happily, you two lovable little ones." The last trace of Daoist Siji's existence in this world vanished into nothingness with a smile.

The two halves of the tiger jade fell out of the brothers' clothes, and had lost their luster.

The brothers' tall figures have also returned to normal.

......

Xiang Liang, Zi Shu, and the brothers Xiang Yu and Xiang An all stood beside the corpse of the mountain king.

In addition, there was Liu Ji, who had previously helped settle the rescued Tiger Lords, as well as the surviving Tiger Lords and some of the surviving villagers of Zijia Village.

Everyone remained silent, their gazes fixed on the enormous corpse of the mountain lord.

“I can testify to this.” Unable to bear the silence any longer, Xiang An turned around, his eyes blazing with anger, and said, “The culprit is not your Mountain Lord; he has always been your protector!”

Xiang Liang stood beside Xiang An, holding the little girl that Xiang An had brought out from the ruins of Zijia Village. He couldn't find the little girl's family among the surviving villagers, and no one was willing to raise her, so he could only keep her with him for the time being.

“I fought against your mountain king and witnessed him exhaust his life force to find the real culprit, tearing the culprit to shreds while shedding tears of blood!”

"you--"

Before Xiang An could finish speaking, the villagers, including the Tiger King's servants who had witnessed the Black Mountain Lord killing people, suddenly knelt down in unison.

Tiger King's Chamberlain, Yang Yi, the only survivor among the three village heads, was in tears. He took the lead and kowtowed heavily to the stone of the Mountain King.

“People of Pangshan——————” he shouted, his voice trembling.

“Send away the tiger!!!”

"People of Pangshan—Send off the Mountain King!!!" The surviving villagers, whether injured or having lost family members, all kowtowed heavily together.

Xiang An was stunned.

“They know.” Xiang Yu grasped Xiang An’s shoulder and nodded slightly.

"Their god was never an evil god."

Xiang An paused for a moment, then nodded as well.

“I have already contacted the prefect, and I believe they should be here soon to assist the last village head, Yang, with disaster relief.” Xiang Liang walked to the two brothers’ side, but his gaze remained on the mountain god. “It’s a pity that such a gentle deity met such an end.”

"It's okay." Xiang An clenched his fist.

"At least... he didn't abandon his dignity."

"...Is that so?" Xiang Liang nodded, turned around, and walked away into the distance. "In that case, let's go."

"Go back?"

“Hmm.” Xiang Liang stopped and turned his head to take one last look. “This is a scene of farewell, the farewell between the people of Pangshan and the gods of Pangshan. We outsiders will only cause trouble if we stay here.”

"And what about this little girl?" Xiang Yu leaned closer and asked.

After a brief silence, Xiang Liang sighed, "Nobody wants to take it, we can't just throw it away."

"So, from today onwards, you two have a younger sister."

Xiang Yu and Xiang An stood still at the same time.

"ha----!?"

......

Liu Ji wandered aimlessly through the ruins of Zijia Village alone.

He looked at the desolate scene, and occasionally he could see people searching for something in the ruins.

"How...tragic..."

"Hmm?" He noticed that there seemed to be several people trapped under the walls of the ruins ahead.

He rushed over and found that the couple had already stopped breathing. Liu Ji sighed in frustration.

In the end, were there really no other survivors...?

Um?and many more!

He cleared away some rubble and found a little boy lying there, his chest rising and falling!

------------

Chapter 812 Four Siblings

At Xiang Liang's instruction, the governor of Kuaiji Prefecture joined forces with several wealthy merchants to provide disaster relief to the area surrounding Pangshan, which had suffered a severe disaster. At the same time, they submitted a memorial to the imperial court requesting more support. Among the wealthy merchants who participated in the disaster relief was Liu Jin'an.

The Pangshan earthquake and the resulting mudslides caused the deaths of hundreds of people in three villages. Dozens of people survived in Zijia Village, while a dozen or so people survived in Yangjia Village and Wujia Village combined.

Yang Yi, the only surviving village head of the three villages, led the remaining villagers to bury the mountain god at the original site of the mountain god temple. Then, he led the villagers away and chose to rebuild a new village far away from Pangshan.