Emperor’s Domination

Since everyone only grabbed three to five pieces, there was enough for everyone.

“M-my turn?” An old man appeared out of nowhere and surprised everyone.

He wore a gray robe that has turned white due to age and repeated washing. Unfortunately, it was covered in dirt and mud.

He didn’t have many wrinkles, only a sickly complexion and a dark tan. It seemed that he was malnourished and had a tough life.

Though he tried to keep his sparse gray hair neatly combed, his tough work made it messy toward the end of the day.

When he opened his mouth, people saw that he only had a few teeth left - yellow and some with cavities.

Everyone dispersed, not wanting to be near him. In fact, the smell was so unbearable that Li Zhitian and the others left the tavern, leaving Li Qiye behind.

“Is there any more?” He asked.

“Yes, how many do you want?” Li Qiye smiled.

“All of it.” He answered and took the entire trunk away.

Li Qiye watched his departing figure and said sentimentally: “No desires in life, at least there are some now.”

With that finished, he left the tavern and saw a group loitering outside - those he had met previously.

“Not working?” Li Qiye sat down next to them and asked.

“Sigh, can’t work every day, you know?” The thug shook his head: “I finally got my hand on some money, gotta relax now.”

“Exactly.” The winged man appeared to be satisfied as well. He belched and said: “Regarding this matter, I can’t help but bring up Celestial Court…”

Everyone stared at him and reached into their pocket again, being less aggressive than usual due to their current good mood.

“Stop, stop!” The winged man said: “This is a complaint about Celestial Court. Sigh, we’re all just workers but they push us too far, expecting us to work like oxen and horses. That’s why we need to take a little break and rest right now.”

The group spared him after listening to the entire line.

“This doesn’t come by all the time.” The dragonslayer in crimson sighed and said.

“Relaxing all the time will hurt your balls though.” The adult dragon appeared well-fed and burped before finally releasing a loud fart.

“You are disgusting.” The others complained.

“Disgusting? You all will fart too after a good meal, it’s just that you will do it secretly. I have a large body, where am I going to hide? So what if I let out a big one?” The dragon strongly retorted.

“This is unbearable.” The old fortune-teller shook his head and chuckled.

“There’s an even worse stench.” The young master commented.

Bringing up this topic caused everyone to stare at him with hostile eyes.

“Forget that I said anything.” His neck shrunk as he let out an awkward laugh.

“May I join you?” At this time, a quiet voice asked the group from a distant corner. It was none other than the old man who took the whole trunk.

“No!” Everyone shouted in unison, displaying the same teamwork they had when taking out the slingshots.

“Alright then…” The old man kept to himself in the corner and continued to enjoy his meal.

Li Qiye smiled faintly after seeing this. He lay down and basked in the sun as well.

“I think that when I die, it’ll be nice if I can hang out in this city with everyone.” Li Qiye casually remarked.

“Tsk, that won’t do.” The dragonslayer said: “If you die, everyone else will be dead then. Only ghosts will be around, competing for food.”

“You cannot die or there won’t be a place for ghosts to gather anymore.” The old fortune-teller said.

“Everyone in the world can die, except you. There will be no place to play then.” The youth shook his head.

“Yes, you need to keep on surviving so that even ghosts can enjoy themselves.” The thug said.

“Seems like it’s hard being a human these days, even harder being a ghost. Disliked when I’m alive, unwanted when I want to be dead, what a pitiable situation.” Li Qiye said.

“Just like me.” The old man in the corner spoke again.

“No! There should only be one of you around. No more!” The group said in unison.

“Alright then…” The old man seemed to be sad and lowered his head.

“Death.” Li Qiye stared at the sun and said: “When there is no greed within the heart, death is no longer terrifying.”

“Greed is inevitable, even ghosts are greedy.” The old fortune-teller said.

“Ghosts can learn to let go of it.” The dragonslayer disagreed.

“That’s why it’s good to be small.” The little goblin got up and said: “I can’t be as greedy as you all.”

“Please.” The young man stared disdainfully at the goblin and said: “No one comes close to touching you when it comes to greed, small in size but so greedy. You weren’t this way when you were alive.”

“I’m not talking about my nature, I’m saying that because I’m small, I’m bullied and this prevents me from actually taking too much.” The goblin defended his position.

“Choose your words carefully, no one here bullies you.” The old fortune-teller said.

“I speak for myself when I say that I haven’t bullied him. I don’t know about the others.” The thug said before patting the goblin’s shoulder: “Tell me about these bullies. I’ll protect you from them once you pay the protection fee.”

“No thanks, I prefer being bullied over paying.” The goblin wasn’t interested.

“Everyone is equal under the light.” The ascetic commented.

“Can you stop already? You didn’t believe in the light at the very end, stop spewing this crap.” The dragonslayer said.

“Hahaha, I can testify to that.” The thug gloated and said: “You, who claim to be with the light, were the first to fall.”

“That is false.” The ascetic responded with conviction: “I didn’t abandon the light or join the darkness. It was merely a trial, using my own body to chase away the darkness…”

“Are you guys hearing this?” The youth sneered: “Those are some flowery words for the best backstabber here. I bet you’re hiding a dark dagger right now and thinking about stabbing us.”

“I apologize for my previous sin. That is why I choose not to reincarnate in order to atone for my sins.” The ascetic said.

“What’s the point of reincarnation? Things are fine now instead of experiencing cycles of suffering and hardship. It doesn’t make sense.” The dragonslayer said.

“I agree. I prefer to be here instead of joining the cycle.” The fortune-teller nodded.

“Not necessarily.” The youth said: “It would be nice to be born into a noble family as a prodigal son. Doing nothing all day except flirting with noble girls. That’s my old expertise.”

“And if your family fails in the political struggle, decapitation for everyone.” The goblin poured cold water on his dream.

“Nothing good can come out of a dog’s mouth.” The youth glared at him.

“Well, I do wish to be reborn as a tall and majestic man, destined for greatness.” The goblin said.

“More like destined to cause calamities.” The voice from the corner answered.

“That’s still fine, as long as I survive.” The goblin replied with a mischievous laugh.