Li Huowang faced the trapped Xu Nian. He took to the air with his six tentacles and legs.
He raised the bronze coin sword up high and roared, "Die!"
The next moment, the sharp tip of the sword pierced through the left eye socket on the human skin, and it easily emerged from the back of Xu Nian's head.
Li Huowang didn't forget the taboo mentioned by Zhuge Yuan. He pushed hard with both hands on the sword hilt and sent himself flying away before landing gracefully on the ground.
However, Xu Nian remained standing, even though the bronze coin sword was sticking out of her head.
Li Huowang's expression became extremely ugly at the sight.
Li Huowang found that his left foot had been pierced by a red spike at some point, and it had become old.
Clearly, Xu Nian was far more intelligent than he initially thought. She even knew how to exchange injuries for injuries, as well as set up traps to prevent him from using the spine sword to escape.
What is this thing made of? A sword specifically made to combat evil has been inserted into its head, but it doesn't react at all!
Li Huowang firmly took off the red Daoist robe on his body and threw it on the ground, then pulled out the flint from his pocket.
Xu Nian, pierced by the sword, stood still in place and did not charge at him. Instead, her face covered by the human skin looked to the left.
Her huge beast body lowered slightly as a low beastly growl came from under the human skin.
Thump, thump, thump!
All of a sudden, the familiar heavy and chaotic footsteps echoed once again, but they had gotten even closer. The noises sounded so close that they sounded ear-piercing to Li Huowang.
He tilted his head slightly. In the chaotic darkness, he saw a hill-sized object moving towards him along with the footsteps.
It had gotten very close now. With his excellent eyesight, Li Huowang managed to see the appearance of that thing clearly in the dark.
Lanterns, dragon flags, round jade, rings, bells. There were various old and dusty decorations densely covering this towering wooden building before him.
There were four pillars painted with red clouds and dragons, wrapped around with black and blue satin ribbons. Curtains made up of black clouds and dragon feathers hung between the pillars, which held the entire wooden structure together tightly.
The heavy and chaotic footsteps came from beneath this wooden structure, with various tattered eunuch figures that resembled skeletons. Their heads were tightly wrapped in white cloth strips, and they pulled forward on the ropes just like mules.
Although everything on this wooden building was very dilapidated, filthy, and even decayed, Li Huowang still saw at a glance that this thing was the imperial chariot of the emperor of Great Qi!
He never thought that the noise he had just heard was actually the little zombie emperor of Great Qi!
Li Huowang sensed a strong gaze from the wooden building that was deadlocked on him.
He glanced at Xu Nian in the distance, then at the emperor's chariot, which approached him with an overwhelming presence, and he cursed inwardly. This damned place! I've never had any luck here!
There was no need for words. Li Huowang opened his mouth wide and spat out Li Sui. Then, he slashed the spine sword at her to send her back to the Great Liang. Immediately afterward, he raised the flint and swiped it at his own skin.
Boom!
Li Huowang burst into flames. He became a blazing torch that illuminated everything around him.
Li Huowang glanced at Xu Nian through the dancing flames before rushing toward the huge imperial chariot.
Compared to the mysterious and unpredictable Xu Nian, the emperor seemed to be easier to deal with; he looked more flammable, too.
Li Huowang heard other noises aside from footsteps as he got closer to the chariot.
"Long live my emperor... Thanks to the Lord's kindness... Blessings to the emperor..." These words were repeatedly uttered mechanically by the wooden-like eunuchs while pulling the chariot along with them.
The next moment, as Li Huowang raised his right hand, the eunuchs instantly caught fire and became living torches.
Li Huowang's feet were injured, so he couldn't move that quickly. However, he had many tricks up his sleeves.
Boom!
Peng Longteng smashed down heavily beside Li Huowang. The giant palm grabbed the ablaze Li Huowang and threw him towards the highest point of the imperial chariot.
As Li Huowang crashed into it, the cloud-patterned curtains caught fire and burned to ashes. Li Huowang saw the little emperor of Great Qi amidst the flames.
He was a child that was only six or seven years old. He was wearing a large dragon robe and sat on the even larger dragon throne, looking extremely out of place.
Even more mismatched was his appearance. He had heard that the little emperor of Great Qi was already dead and was a zombie. But he only saw a chubby child with innocent-looking eyes.
In the next moment, this unusually normal child began to rise while the dragon robe under him rose higher and higher.
When the dragon robe was fully lifted, the Dragon Vein stacked underneath was finally revealed.
Who would have thought that this little emperor of Great Qi was not alone and that he had already connected to the Dragon Vein while he was still alive?
A fierce wind roared as the entire Dragon Vein coiled in the air. At the top, the little emperor opened his chubby hands and clapped while he giggled with joy.
A powerful aura pressed down, which even suppressed the flames on Li Huowang's body from surging upward.
Swoosh! Li Huowang gripped the spine sword and slashed forcefully toward the sky. The crack flew over but had no effect on that thing at all!
Since acquiring the spine sword, it was the first time that he saw this gap that cut through two timelines had no damage at all.
The body of the Dragon Vein suddenly shook. An afterimage flew across and struck Li Huowang heavily.
He spat out blood as he was knocked out of the flaming imperial chariot. The flames on his body extinguished instantly while everything around him blurred. Shangguan Yuting or Zhuge Yuan all became intermittently bright and dark.
As he was about to fall to the ground from a great height, he suddenly closed his eyes and felt himself plunge into icy cold lake water.
He struggled to swim to the surface, then opened his eyes again. He found that half of his body was buried in the soil.
"Brother Zhuge, are you all right?" Li Huowang asked anxiously as he climbed out of the soil.
Zhuge Yuan said something with urgency, but Li Huowang couldn't hear a thing.
He saw Zhuge Yuan pointing towards the imperial chariot, and he turned his head to see the Great Qi Dragon Vein. It was like a real dragon that charged down towards him with immense pressure.
An angry roar caused the Dragon Vein to stop abruptly in mid-air as it started to coil and intertwine its head and tail together.
Li Huowang turned towards the source of the sound. He saw that it actually came from Xu Nian. Her hair bristled with anger at the appearance of the Dragon Vein.
Li Huowang looked down at his injured leg. Give it a try! I'll take advantage of their conflict and return to Great Liang first!
He immediately took action, and he raised the spine sword to slash out a crack and dashed forward.
The next moment, the Dragon Vein swept down and instantly shattered the crack into fragments.
It seemed that the Dragon Vein was strongly repulsed by the appearance of these rifts in the two timelines. It ignored Xu Nian's provocation and headed straight for Li Huowang.
The overlapping Dragon Vein moved extremely quickly and with great force, crushing half of Li Huowang's left shoulder in one fell swoop.
Li Huowang stabbed the Dragon Vein from behind with his purple-tasseled sword, but this injury was not much different than a mosquito bite.
This was the first time Li Huowang had faced such a powerful enemy, and he felt like even going all out was going to be useless against such a powerful foe.
Chapter 551 - Year
"Haha." Blood flowed down from the wound on his forehead. It flowed across his scar and into his mouth before overflowing and dripping down onto the ground from his charred chin. The blood slowly seeped deeper into the earth.
Li Huowang was in a bad spot. Everything has been useless so far. His talismans, his spine sword capable of creating a rift in between timelines, the bronze coin sword capable of slaying evil beings, or even his purple-tasseled sword that could cut through steel like butter. All of it was useless.
More importantly, even his techniques as a Sitting Oblivion Dao and the Ao Jing Sect were useless.
This was the first time Li Huowang had met such a troublesome opponent after coming to this crazy world.
He finally understood why Zhuge Yuan told him that the Sitting Oblivion Dao would not try to fight the Dragon Vein.
He had one more technique, the Cang-Qiang Ascension. It could work, but he had no idea where to find the utmost mental pain.
The familiar sound of air ripping came again. He saw a massive shadow lashing out to his head.
His body would disintegrate if he was hit by it.
Bam! Peng Longteng's large body appeared in front of Li Huowang and caught the shadow.
The shadow was none other than the Dragon Veins made from the past emperors of the Qi Kingdom.
The emperors appeared to be glued together by nothing, but the impact suggested that the Dragon Vein was as strong as reinforced steel.
Numerous dragon claws pierced into Peng Longteng's chest, but she was not afraid.
But no matter how strong she was, the Dragon Vein was leagues above her. The Dragon Vein compressed and expanded rapidly before batting Peng Longteng away.
Li Huowang took this chance to retreat out of the Dragon Vein's attack range.
He was stuck in a grueling situation, but he did not give up. He was not alone, after all.
A lion-like roar came from the other side, which distracted Dragon Vein from attacking Li Huowang.
It was Xu Nian. Now that they were both in danger, they had no choice but to work together to survive.
The human-faced beast leaped onto the Dragon Vein and decapitated the heads of four emperors!
The Qi Kingdom's emperor at the top of the Dragon Vein and opened his mouth, revealing a single front tooth as he cried out, "Uwaaaaaaaa~"
As the veil on his head jingled, the Dragon Vein moved swiftly and wrapped around Xu Nian like a snake.
Xu Nian continued to attack the emperors, but they were already old to begin with. Xu Nian could not plunder any more lifespan from them.
Xu Nian was gradually getting squeezed into a tube when Li Huowang held his spine sword and catapulted himself to the Dragon Vein's head with Peng Longteng's help.
Even though Xu Nian had tried to kill him just now, Li Huowang had to save her at all costs. Otherwise, the Dragon Vein would be able to focus all of its wrath on Li Huowang. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
When Li Huowang was close enough to see his own reflections in the young emperor's eyes, the Dragon Vein finally moved. Numerous heads of the past emperors blocked Li Huowang's vision.
Li Huowang focused, causing Peng Longteng's body to crash into the Dragon Vein and charging toward the young emperor.
But several hands reached out and grabbed Peng Longteng before tossing her to the ground.
The Dragon Vein also attacked at the same time by launching its massive body toward Li Huowang.
Li Huowang's legs were been injured, and he had to come up with something fast!
Suddenly, the Sitting Oblivion Dao's illusion materialized in front of Li Huowang. The Sitting Oblivion Dao stared in shock and horror as he became the meat shield for Li Huowang.
Li Huowang never expected his attacks to work, but thanks to his distraction, Xu Nian managed to escape the Dragon Vein's coil.
Li Huowang panted as he pushed away the Sitting Oblivion Dao that had been reduced to meat paste as he checked his wounds. He shouted at Xu Nian from afar, "You and me! We fight together or we both die! We don't have a deep grudge in between us so there's no need to fight to the death!"
Xu Nian removed the human face on her head and nodded at Li Huowang.
"We kill the young one," Xu Nian said, surprising Li Huowang.
The Dragon Vein pounced on Li Huowang once more and he had no choice but to retreat.
"All right! You deal with the old one, and I will kill the young one!" Li Huowang exclaimed.
Xu Nian nodded and stared at the Dragon Vein that was chasing Li Huowang. She raised her front paws and stomped the ground.
Her red fur grew bright as it started growing, making her body look like a lion dance.
The red furs spread out everywhere in the darkness as if they were looking for something. The darkness retreated with her standing in the middle of it.
She maintained that state for almost half a day. Li Huowang shouted out of desperation and anger as he was being attacked by the Dragon Vein. "What are you doing?! Stop spacing out!"
Li Huowang no longer looked like a human. Half of his face was torn away, one of his arms was broken, and a huge chunk of flesh on his abdomen was gone.
If it hadn't been for the "immortal" Peng Longteng tanking most of the attacks, he would've died.
But that was his limit. Li Huowang's head was pounding, signaling that he could no longer maintain Peng Longteng's materialization.
He had just shouted when Xu Nian moved. Her movement was beyond bizarre. She was charging toward the Dragon Vein, but there was still an afterimage of her at the original location.
But that was not all. Everywhere she moved, she would leave behind a red afterimage. The images linked together to form a single red line.
Li Huowang didn't know what it was doing, but he knew that this was her ultimate move. Their survival depended on her attack.
Li Huowang sheathed the spine sword on his back, and Peng Longteng grabbed his injured figure.
When the Xu Nian clashed with the Dragon Vein, Peng Longteng threw Li Huowang toward the Dragon Vein.
Two beasts, one yellow and one red, clashed together. Bizarre changes occurred in everything that collided with the red light.
Li Huowang's wounds healed rapidly before decaying the next moment.
However, Li Huowang wasn't the only one affected. The barren soil grew grass, and the stars in the skies started moving.
The same phenomena affected even the Dragon Vein. The ancient bodies of the past emperors regained their youth.
However, this was bad news to the Dragon Vein. Their bodies shivered as if they would separate at any time.
Chapter 552 - Death
The Dragon Vein resisted Xu Nian's profound attacks and struggled as it tried to coil Xu Nian's afterimages.
Li Huowang almost reached the Dragon Vein, but it was already on guard. Ten dragon claws swiped toward Li Huowang.
But their attacks phased through Li Huowang's illusion. Peng Longteng suddenly appeared and threw the invisible Li Huowang toward the young emperor of the Qi Kingdom.
It was definitely a 'young' emperor, as the baby had turned into a blob, becoming what looked like a fist-sized fetus.
Li Huowang extended his hands and unsheathed his purple-tassel sword to slash the young emperor.
"Junior Li! You can't kill it like that! You have to sever his connection to the Dragon Vein first!"
Hearing Zhuge Yuan, Li Huowang moved his sword three inches to the side.
With the sound of tearing flesh and spraying blood, the back of the young emperor was separated from the Dragon Vein.
He then flicked the sword and stabbed the embryo in the chest.
The ugly-looking embryo howled in pain and scratched at the blade to dislodge it, but ultimately he lost his strength. His head went limp and stopped moving.
Li Huowang still had the young emperor's corpse stuck to his sword as he fell downwards when the 'decapitated' Dragon Vein started expanding its body.
Thick blood, strange organs, messy scales, and dragon horns sprouted out from its body.
The eyes of the past emperors glared at Li Huowang with eternal hatred.
All of them revealed their dragon claws and charged at Li Huowang, or more accurately, the corpse of the young emperor on Li Huowang's sword.
"Junior Li! Be careful! The Dragon Qi will revive the young emperor! Do not let them touch him. Throw him into the Liang Kingdom!"
Li Huowang swung his sword, and the corpse of the young emperor fell into the red line made from Xu Nian's afterimages.
He then swung the spine sword and transported the young emperor into the Liang Kingdom along with part of the red line.
Li Huowang was already very close to the ground when he finished doing that.
He took a deep breath and imagined himself to be falling into a pool of water.
He felt the cold water splashing past his skin, but rather than swimming upwards, he swam sideways and tried to escape as far as possible.
He swam until he couldn't hold his breath any longer before surfacing. He felt his brain pounding and the water slowly becoming thicker until the pressure around him was barely tolerable.
Bam!
Li Huowang broke through the surface of the earth and spat out chunks of dirt. He ignored his wounds and turned to look at where the Dragon Vein was located.
However, the ground trembled before he could see anything. Earthquake?
Sand and stones flew everywhere in the darkness, and the sky changed. There was nothing Li Huowang could do due to his injury. All he could do was sprawl out on the ground and wait for the earthquake to pass.
An unknown amount of time later, the earthquake stopped, and his wounds had scabbed over as well.
He used his sword as a support and stood up before looking around.
Wait, why is it so bright? Is the Natural Disaster gone? Li Huowang carefully looked up and saw that the darkness covering the skies was gone.
However, he didn't even have the time to celebrate when he saw something wrong with the sun. Rather than being a normal ball of light, some black spots had blotted out parts of the sun.
"Oh no. The Heavenly Dog has eaten the sun." The old monk's illusion used his right hand to cover his eyes as he looked at the strange phenomena.
What's wrong with this world? Is it real? Li Huowang immediately realized the mistake that he had made. NO! I can't doubt myself! I'm a Strayed One! I cannot doubt myself or something bad will happen!
Li Huowang slammed his fists don't his head.
After pounding his own head a few times, Li Huowang stopped, not because he wanted to, but because there was danger.
Slam!
A thick claw struck the ground and blew the cloud of dust away. Xu Nian's figure then emerged from the dust.
Xu Nian was also heavily injured from the battle with the Dragon Vein. Most of her red fur was gone, and there were cracks on her face. Still, her injuries appeared better than Li Huowang's injuries.
Li Huowang held his sword tightly and stared at the woman's broken face. "You still want to fight me? Since you can understand me, you should also know that we don't have any grudges between us, right?" Li Huowang showed no fear as he gritted his teeth.
Xu Nian didn't respond. Instead, her face revealed a complicated expression as if she wanted to say something to him.
However, Li Huowang wasn't going to wait for an answer as he stepped back slowly. Just as Xu Nian was about to disappear into the cloud of dust, a female voice filled with yearning came from within her.
"I wish to write to my loved one, but the mountains are vast, and the seas are endless. How will I ever find him?"
ONE?! Had she realized that I'm a Strayed One?! Li Huowang immediately raised his weapons out of reflex.
However, he soon realized that Xu Nian was gone for good, and he could have misheard her as well.
"She said loved one' right? Senior Zhuge, what was she talking about?"
Zhuge Yuan stared at where Xu Nian had disappeared before speaking in a hushed tone. "Xu Nian copies the words of others, so it's probably nothing. Junior Li, you should probably go back and rest. You're heavily injured, after all."
Li Huowang looked at him and then at his own broken leg. "How can I chase after the rift to go back to the Liang Kingdom? It's best if I stay here and rest for a while."
Li Huowang held his sword and wore his red robes again. Then, he found a boulder and leaned against it.
Soon, the dust settled, and something unexpected appeared in front of him.
What was once the plains was now a cliff. He was sitting at the edge of a cliff.
What's happening? Li Huowang looked down at the chaotic scene beneath the cliff and then looked up at the sun covered in black spots. His brain started hurting, and he felt like he was in a dream.
Zhuge Yuan looked at the scene and shook his head. "I don't know what's going on."
Chapter 553 - Departure
On a dirt path hidden by the dense trees, Li Sui was orbiting the same clearing, seemingly looking for something.
The dirt path was covered in claw marks. Clearly, she had been looking for that something for a very long time now.
She had been looking for Li Huowang, but she hadn't been able to find him.
Li Sui got more and more anxious as time ticked by. She had gotten so used to living with Li Huowang that she became extremely anxious at the thought of losing him forever.
Just as tears rolled down from the edges of her eyes, a rift appeared on her left, and a heavily injured Li Huowang popped out of the rift.
"Dad!"
Li Sui pounced at Li Huowang and licked the bottom of his chin with her tentacles.
"You're heavy! And I'm too injured to carry you! Get off me!" Li Huowang used a lot of strength to push Li Sui away.
"Dad. Why did you throw me away? I thought I'd lose you forever," Li Sui asked, circling around Li Huowang.
"I was afraid that you would burn while in my body, so I threw you to safety. It's all right; everything's fine now," Li Huowang said, patting her head.
Feeling safe again, Li Sui placed her white skull on Li Huowang's palm and rubbed against him. "Dad, can we go back now?"
"Not yet. We still haven't found Shangji Guankou. Let's go back and recover first."
Li Huowang looked at the dense forest around him before staring at the sunset with a perfectly normal sun.
He felt weird. The Great Qi was essentially in ruins, but the Great Liang was at peace.
It was hard to believe that both sides were so close to each other.
He had no idea what it meant to him, but he didn't care. There were too many unexplainable things here in this world, and there was no reason for him to find the answers to all of his questions.
Now that he was back in the familiar Liang Kingdom, his heart relaxed completely. At the same time, the accumulated fatigue finally struck him.
"Dad, are you alright?" Li Sui extended her tentacles to hold him. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"
"It's alright. I can survive this. Just take me to the side and let me rest." Li Huowang endured the pain as he looked down at the hole in his abdomen. He pushed his organs back into his torso before they could fall out of him.
Li Sui's tentacles entered through the hole and soon she completely disappeared as she filled Li Huowang's body with her tentacles. The wounds closed up too.
"Dad, are you feeling better now?"
Hearing her voice inside of him, Li Huowang patted one of the tentacles and said, "Much better. On second thought, we don't have time to waste. We should back to the Qi Kingdom and find Shangji Guankou as soon as possible."
"Are you sure? Aren't you afraid that you will die there?" Shangguan Yuting said, sounding worried as she stared at the heavily injured Li Huowang.
"No need! It's better to finish this quick!" Li Huowang took out the spine sword again and unwrapped it.
"The Great Qi's Natural Disaster has finally passed, so we need to seize that opportunity. Who knows how long the peace would last over there? The opportunity would be wasted if we wait for too long, and the Great Qi disappears."
Li Huowang took a deep breath and swung the spine sword. A spacetime rift manifested in the distance, and he charged decisively into it.
He had just entered the rift when a carriage ran past where Li Huowang had been moments ago. The carriage was heading toward Shangjing.
The one driving the carriage looked at the dense pawprints on the ground before shouting into the carriage, "We'll rest once we get back home! There are too many giant insects around here."
A woman sounded dissatisfied as she remarked, "That's not what you said earlier! Ah... go slower. This carriage is bouncing so much that it's hurting my butt." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
"Why are you so ungrateful? If it wasn't because of the gentleman pitying us, we wouldn't even have the chance to sit in one."
He had just said that when the curtains opened up. A hand with a silver wristband grabbed the driver's ears. "Say it again if you dare! You think you are the king of the house after I got married?"
"AIYA! Ouch! Big sis! I'm still driving the carriage. Stop it! Everyone would laugh at us."
Gao Zhijian sat in the carriage as he looked at the siblings bickering.
Even though he appeared to be staring at them, he was actually thinking about what to do once he reached Shang Jing.
He actually didn't really want to think about his past, no matter how chaotic it was.
He loved Cowheart Village. He wanted to live the rest of his life there, and it'd be great if he ended up marrying Xiaoman.
However, he had also seen how steep the price Li Huowang had paid to defend them during their travels.
He could never ignore Li Huowang now that the latter was in trouble.
If Puppy couldn't find the two of them, Gao Zhijian had no other choice but to rely on the strength of an emperor. The emperor was the ruler of everything beneath the heavens, after all.
Gao Zhijian wasn't entirely sure about his past either. His hazy memories could be fake, but he still needed to try hs best.
I'm an emperor. They should recognize me, right?
Since I used to be an emperor, I'm technically part of the imperial family. I think it wouldn't be hard for them to find me, right?
It should be fine even if I'm not an emperor. I have some memories as a general. Maybe I used to be a general? I should go and look for the army, then.
Gao Zhijian's head throbbed with pain; his memories were too scrambled as if they were haphazardly stitched together.
When he snapped back to reality, he realized that the carriage had stopped. The siblings had disembarked as well.
"Dear sir, we are there. Thank you for your carriage. Our village is just at the front. Do you want to come and have a meal with us?" The man driving the carriage asked Gao Zhijian courteously.
Gao Zhijian shook his head and returned the greeting. He took the reins and started his journey on the dirt path again.
"He's such a good man, and he's big too. If I weren't married, I would choose him as my husband," the sister said with a sigh.
The brother shook his head. "Yeah. He definitely has the strength of two cows to work in the fields, but it's such a shame that he can't speak."
Chapter 554 - The Great Qi
Li Huowang followed Zhuge Yuan's guidance as they traversed the ruined Qi Kingdom. He walked up several mountains just to find Shangji Guankou once again.
They were currently on a mountain, or what was left of it. The mountain was split in half, and there was a ravine in the middle of the mountain.
Rocky spikes grew from the walls of the ravines, making it look like two large rows of teeth.
Li Huowang thought he was reaching his destination soon but the Feng Shui of the entire Qi Kingdom was in disarray due to the Natural Disaster. Zhuge Yuan needed some time to confirm Shangji Guankou's location.
Thankfully the journey here has been peaceful after the Natural Disaster had ended. He didn't encounter any dangers this time."
"Junior Li, let's rest a little. Shangji Guankou will only change locations once the time is right. We need to wait for two hours here."
Li Huowang and Li Sui sat underneath a tree. He took out some rations and started eating it voraciously.
"Dad, I don't like this. I like meat."
"Stop complaining and eat what you have. We can't afford to be picky now."
Li Huowang frowned and looked towards the left side of the forest. He had sensed movement.
He grabbed his sword before he saw a young girl covered in dust stagger out of the woods.
She was roughly five years old. Her dusty face had two streak marks made from her tears, and her nightdress was in tatters.
She hobbled toward Li Huowang, grabbed his bag of torture tools, and started pulling him toward the forest.
However, she lost her grip and fell to the ground. She sprawled out on the ground with her mouth opening and closing as if she were crying, but no voice came out of her mouth. Her voice had long left her, as she had been crying for such a long time.
Li Huowang carried her and walked into the woods under her lead.
The woods weren't large, and they soon reached the base of a mountain.
The little girl escaped his hands and started pulling at a hand with a silver wristband buried underneath a boulder. Li Huowang understood what she wanted him to do.
He looked around and saw that it was not just her house. The entire place used to be a village.
When the mountain was split in half, it completely buried the village. The young girl was the only one alive.
She ran to Li Huowang and pointed at the arm jutting out from underneath the boulder. She kept pulling at his red robes.
Li Huowang's heart ached a lot. He suddenly lost the courage to look into her pleading eyes, even though he was fearless in battle.
He wanted to avoid thinking about how many people had perished due to the Natural Disaster.
However, the scene before him made him realize that the people of the Qi Kingdom had truly been dealt a miserable fate.
This was just a small corner of the kingdom. There were even more unthinkable scenes throughout the Qi Kingdom.
Li Huowang picked the girl up and whispered in his heart. Zhuge Yuan, do you think you could still use your techniques? Can the Great Qi be saved?
Zhuge Yuan had his back turned against Li Huowang. He sighed and said nothing.
Li Huowang looked at the girl in his embrace. He gently placed her on the ground. He was determined to save her.
When the little girl ran toward the arm sticking out of the boulder, Li Huowang held his spine sword and swung it at the little girl. A large rift enveloped her.
"Junior Li, it's useless. She's someone from the Great Qi. She cannot travel to the Great Liang." Zhuge Yuan's words were like cold water splashing on Li Huowang's head.
"What? Then how come I can enter the Qi Kingdom?" Li Huowang couldn't tolerate leaving someone that young in this hell.
"I've told you before. The Great Qi is real, while the Great Liang is fake. Those from the Liang Kingdom can come here but not the other way around."
Li Huowang held the spine sword tightly. He swung it again and rescued the little girl from inside the rift.
He took her back, but now, he wasn't sure about what to do.
Find a good family for her? Almost everyone is dead here. Who would want to have a deadweight following them? What if she followed me? But I'm heading back once I find Shangji Guankou...
"Hong Zhong, it's useless. You can't save her. Just throw her away. She's not the only unfortunate person throughout the Qi Kingdom, and you can't save them all," the Sitting Oblivion Dao member taunted.
The old monk and Jin Shanzhao's illusions walked up to the Sitting Oblivion Dao member.
What if I turned her into an illusion and made her stay by my side? Li Huowang thought, but even he was surprised by his own thoughts. No, I can't! What if she didn't become an illusion? I would have just killed her for nothing then!
In the end, Zhuge Yuan proposed a solution. "Junior Li, follow my instructions and draw a talisman. I will notify my friend to take her away. She might survive by then."
"You think your friend is still alive?"
"They're still alive."
"Alright then." Li Huowang followed his instructions. He placed the talisman that was glowing with a gold light on the little girl. She immediately stopped moving as if she was a log.
He then used the spine sword to shave out a cavity in the mountain and stuffed her in.
After giving her some food and water, Li Huowang sighed and left. He still had his own issues to handle.
Two hours later, he found Shangji Guankou once again. This time, they were sitting in a small shrine dedicated to the Lord and Lady of the Land.
The shrine was in ruins, and the two statues had fused into a single statue with an abnormally large eye on its forehead.
Li Huowang found what he had been looking for, but he wasn't happy at all.
"A secret for a secret." He heard the familiar voice. Li Huowang then looked at Shangguan Yuting.
"Senior Er, you are really amazing. To think that you can find it in such a remote location. I wouldn't be able to do the same if I were in your shoes."
Shangguan Yuting bowed to Li Huowang before walking up to Shangji Guankou. She stepped on an invisible stairway and entered Shangji Guankou's shadow.
When Li Huowang thought everything had ended, the clay statue suddenly cracked, but an unexpected change occurred. A voice echoed from the shadow where Shangguan Yuting had melted into.
Chapter 555 - Shangguan Yuting
Li Huowang made a deal with Shangji Guankou before so he knew something was wrong. Shangguan Yuting hadn't come here to make a deal with them!
The surroundings shifted as a cold breeze flew out from the clay statue. The breeze seemed to contain indecipherable whispers as it flew upwards in a spiral.
Li Huowang recognized what the words were—it was Shangji Guankou themselves! Li Huowang also saw that it was composed of secrets.
Shangji Guankou wanted to escape, but the Surveillance Bureau would never let it happen. At some point, the skies had become like a mirror, reflecting the ground.
Shangji Guankou floated upward to escape, but they collided against the reflected "ground" and sank into the shadow of the clay statue. The clay statue's shadow in the sky shrank and expanded numerous times.
"They are not exchanging secrets, but rather the Surveillance Bureau is trying to rob its secrets," Zhuge Yuan explained. His words had yet to finish echoing in the air when the shadow of the clay statue expanded, revealing a myriad of eyes.
The space around them shifted, and Li Huowang felt he was somehow returning to the hospital.
Realizing that something was wrong, he quickly retreated to avoid getting caught in the strange technique. He had suffered it once and did not want to suffer it again.
He also had no intentions of helping Shangji Guankou. Shangji Guankou wasn't going to affect his plans, so there was no reason for him to do so.
When Li Huowang left, the temple crumbled. Several illusory worlds flashed intermittently before Li Huowang, and he felt his head pounding just from staring at what was happening.
He finally understood that the Surveillance Bureau never had any intentions to make a deal with Shangji Guankou. Instead, they were here to rob the secrets for themselves.
"Can they really just forcefully grab the secrets like that?" Li Huowang asked Zhuge Yuan.
Zhuge Yuan looked at the scene with hesitation before sighing. Li Huowang's question was answered without a word.
"A normal person might not even be able to touch Shangji Guankou, but the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau can probably do it. He's a master of illusion techniques, after all. I also think he's an extremely special figure."
"He has a strange illusion technique capable of dragging unsuspecting people into illusions, and he could also project an illusion to someone's side without them noticing it. Senior Zhuge, what do you think about the Chief?"
"I fear that he's not using any regular illusion techniques. I fear that it's Unspeakable."
"Unspeakable? Again? Not even a name?"
Zhuge Yuan looked at the chaos in front of him and shook his head. "No, that is the name. Unspeakable. The true name cannot be spoken with our language nor could we write it, so we call them Unspeakable."
Unspeakable? Li Huowang slowly ruminated on those words.
"I know only a little bit about them. When I was out on the seas, I once found a half-rotten bamboo slip and read about it from it. It was said that Unspeakable was born from the void and lived on the boundary of life and death. If we want to meet them, we have to quite literally be either on the edge of death or crying on a grave to the verge of collapse. Only then would we catch a glimpse of them. It's incredibly hard to even catch a glimpse of them, much less learn something from them. The Chief probably had an extraordinary fortuitous encounter long ago."
Li Huowang looked at the flashing lights and hesitated, "Is Unspeakable a Siming? Which Heavenly Dao does it control? I've never heard of something so bizarre."
Zhuge Yuan shook his head. "I've only managed to scrape a small bit of info from that bamboo slip. They are generally unknown."
"So the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau obtained his position through his sheer strength. That's great. We now have a great chance at defeating Shai Zi."
While Li Huowang was conversing with Zhuge Yuan, the sounds from afar slowly grew soft. A large shadow with unblinking eyes slowly extended from the broken temple.
There were hundreds of eyes, and Li Huowang recognized them. The eyes looked the same as the eye on his forehead.
The scene made his scalp go numb, but what happened afterward almost made him think that he was going crazy.
Shangguan Yuting walked out from the shadow as if she were walking up onto invisible stairs.
But this time, she looked different. Her figure looked the same, but her head was covered in blinking eyes.
Li Huowang thought that he was staring at a kaleidoscope of eyes, and he instinctively found it repulsive.
Shangguan Yuting nodded with her head covered in the eyeballs. Her soft voice echoed from beneath the eyes. "Senior Er, I'm done here. Let's go back."
"Why do you need so many secrets? Are there really so many things you need to know?" Li Huowang averted his gaze and took out his spine sword.
Shangguan Yuting laughed, and her laughter sounded like chimes. "You have to ask the Chief to know the answer to that question. I'm just here to do my job. I don't care about the other details."
Li Huowang nodded. He was done here, so there was no reason for him to stay in the Qi Kingdom. He carved open a rift and entered the Liang Kingdom again.
The scenery peeled away, and Li Huowang found himself in the middle of a golden wheat field with workers busy harvesting the wheat. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
The sight was so surreal that Li Huowang thought he had traveled through time.
"Can you let the Chief know that our mission is done?" Li Huowang asked Shangguan Yuting with his back facing her.
The Chief of the Surveillance Bureau was the only thing left he needed to kill Shai Zi.
"Don't worry. Just head to Shangjing. I'll find a way to notify him. He will be back once he's finished with his business."
Once I'm done with Shai Zi, I could probably go and look for Shangji Guankou again to find out where Bai Lingmiao is located. Li Huowang hastened his steps as he walked into the village.
He reached the village and bought a horse from a wealthy family.
He didn't bring much money with him, but thankfully, he still had the jade pendant that he had taken from the Zephyr Temple.
He didn't know how much the jade pendant he had taken from Xuanyang was worth, but the people who had sold him the horse were more than eager to accept it.
Unfortunately, Li Huowang was still suffering from severe injuries. His charred skin was showing signs of recovery, but it was only thanks to Li Sui inside of him that his body had yet to cave in.
Li Huowang dragged his injured self onto the horse and rushed back to Shangjing.
Chapter 556 - Return
"Mom, I'm really fine. It's just that I don't have a lot of time to become coherent again. Don't worry; my situation will improve as time goes on," Li Huowang consoled his mother while he was strapped to the bed.
Sun Xiaoqin shook her head and smiled. "Mom isn't worried. Come, have an apple."
"Mom, I can't eat anything right now," Li Huowang said.
The smile tugging at Sun Xiaoqin's lips disappeared.
Li Huowang hurriedly explained, "Mom, if I want to eat something next time, I will just shout when I'm hallucinating. You can feed me an apple, then. How about that?"
Sun Xiaoqin nodded and smiled. "Whatever you want, my son."
Li Huowang relaxed and started chatting with his mother when he saw Yi Donglai standing outside the door and staring at him through the small mirror.
Seeing that Li Huowang had noticed him, Yi Donglai pushed his frameless glasses upward and entered the room.
He first asked Sun Xiaoqin to leave the room before conversing with Li Huowang in a friendly tone. "How is it? Did you find Bai Lingmiao?"
Li Huowang was silent.
"We have some good sunshine today. Want to go out and have a stroll?" Yi Donglai opened Li Huowang's straps but he didn't move.
Yi Donglai raised his eyebrows inquisitively as he pushed the wheelchair near Li Huowang. "Why aren't you moving?"
Li Huowang looked at him with a cold gaze. "I'm on a horse. If I move carelessly, I'll fall."
Yi Donglai nodded in understanding and pushed the wheelchair away. "I talked to Wang Wei before I came here."
Li Huowang was intrigued. "Why was he admitted into the hospital?"
"What kind of illness do you think it is if he were to be admitted here? But his documentation was incomplete, and he was admitted here through some connections. The director of the hospital has sent him away. While his symptoms were light, we somehow managed to come up with a treatment plan for you while I was conversing with him. I never tried it before, but we might as well try it since the regular treatments haven't been working on you."
Li Huowang smiled. "Sure. It might work."
Both worlds were real, and he was stuck in both worlds. Does Yi Donglai really think that he can cure me? It'll be great if can cure me.
"It's not that simple. There is a ton of paperwork to do, but I think they're more than happy to approve the plan. They are all itching to cure you so that they can send you away."
"If you have nothing else, you can go back now. I finally have some time to rest."
Yi Donglai turned serious as he stared at Li Huowang through his green-tinted glasses.
"I know you don't trust me, but I assure you that I'm a stubborn person. I am confident that I can cure any patient through my stubbornness and dedication. Even if I can't cure them completely, I'm confident that their symptoms will be reduced to the minimum! Since you are my patient, I will do everything in my power to cure you, no matter what!"
"Thank you. You are a good doctor, but I don't think you'll be helpful to me. Don't waste your time." Li Huowang closed his eyes after saying that.
In the darkness, he heard Yi Donglai's voice. "Is that so? I don't believe it. Your illness is not as incurable as you would've thought. Rather, I've found a pattern revolving around you. I know what to do to disrupt it."
Li Huowang was then woken up by thunder. He found himself back on the horse. Tentacles sprouted out from his red robes to hold onto the reins tightly.
It was raining. Li Huowang took out the straw hat and wore it.
"How long have we been traveling for?" Li Huowang asked Li Sui.
"I don't know. You've never taught me to count time."
Staring at the muddy road, Li Huowang bit his index finger and used his blood to draw a talisman before slapping it onto the horse's back.
The tired horse was suddenly invigorated, and it ran twice as fast as its original speed.
We should reach Shangjing soon. Li Huowang looked around and saw he recognized some of the scenery.
The horse never stopped running. They finally arrived at Shangjing's massive wall late at night. There was a thunderstorm looming as lightning flashed everywhere.
Li Huowang raised his identity plate high in the air and entered the city without issues.
There was another lightning bolt. Li Huowang suddenly realized that something was weird. Why is the lightning hitting the same location again and again?
He ran past the silent street before finally realizing which direction the lightning was striking. He immediately ran towards the lightning.
The sky was dark, but a fire was burning bright in the city. It was Princess Anping's palace!
Li Huowang ditched the horse, which was dying from fatigue, and ran into the palace with his sword. He saw a mound of heads in front of the burning palace.
"Oh~ You must be Er Jiu~" A Daoist chuckled as he walked out of the shadows.
The Daoist was wearing a tattered Daoist robe with patches everywhere. He wasn't even wearing shoes, and his hair was tied with a red thread that had a moldy green bead.
Li Huowang was not attracted to his weird look but rather focused on the head that the Daoist was holding in his left hand.
"Er Jiu~ Why are you here only now? Our Lord is disappointed in you. To think that you would take so much time just to deal with the weakest princess. I did it all by myself~"
The tattered Daoist placed Princess Anping's head on the top of the mound.
Princess Anping's beautiful face was filled with despair. Her mouth was open as rainwater dripped into it. Clearly, Princess Anping's true body had been found, and she was dead.
Now that Princess Anping was dead, no one else was eligible to become the emperor. In other words, it meant Ji Lin was now the emperor. Shai Zi's goal was achieved!
The tattered Daoist swaggered past Li Huowang and sighed, "Haiya~ Some people really don't have the foresight to think for themselves. Our Lord is more than happy to reward those who had decided to help him in his time of need, but he'd never waste his time on those who'd only come to his aid once the crisis is over."
Li Huowang clenched his fist in the rain. No! I cannot let him ascend to the throne! Not while Shai Zi is still alive!
The tattered Daoist was about to leave when Li Huowang grabbed his spine sword and swung it.
The rift almost swallowed the Daoist's head, but his entire head had retracted into his robes as if it were a tortoise returning to its shell.
The tattered Daoist's head popped up, but his face was backward. "You dare attack me?!"
"You killed Princess Anping, but no one else was here to witness it! I just have to kill you, and everyone will think that she's still alive! Ji Lin will never be able to ascend to the throne then!"
Li Huowang then pounced at the Daoist with Li Sui's tentacles in tow.
Chapter 557 - Emperor
The rain poured down incessantly. Li Huowang twitched uncontrollably as he kneeled on the ground and panted.
His wounds had reopened, and he was covered in more wounds. Li Sui had to further expand within him.
Princess Anping's murderer was indeed powerful. Where did Ji Lin find someone as strong as Dan Yangzi?
The tattered Daoist's lightning attacks were lethal. Thankfully, Li Huowang had gotten even stronger as well.
Peng Longteng grabbed a bloody boulder and lifted it high in the sky before slamming it down on the dying Daoist.
The Daoist was crushed, and his limbs scattered in all directions.
However, Peng Longteng was still hungry for more. She grabbed the same boulder and smashed it down again and again on the corpse.
She did it a few times until a large crater appeared in front of her. There was no longer a body as the flesh and bones had scattered everywhere from the repeated impact.
"Enough... ENOUGH!" Li Huowang had just shouted when the boulder phased through her body and crashed onto the ground. She was a hallucination once more.
Li Huowang stood up while breathing in ragged pants He opened his mouth and spat Li Sui out. "Suisui, please be nice and help me."
Li Huowang approached the mound of dead bodies and took Princess Anping's head. "The Black Taisui excels at parasitizing its victims. Can you control this head?"
"Let me try." Li Sui extended her tentacles and entered the head.
Soon Princess Anping's head stood up with tentacles beneath her neck. She could blink too.
"Is it like this?" The beautiful face of Princess Anping was being held up by numerous tentacles as she smiled at Li Huowang.
Li Huowang was actually thinking of using his own skin to make a doll with his techniques as a Sitting Oblivion Dao member. Thankfully, the Black Taisui was really great at her job
Staring at her smile, Li Huowang nodded with approval. "Good. Just show yourself in front of others, and they will think that Princess Anping is still alive. She has already perished, but let's help her anyway. Li Sui, I know you're tired, but we only need to wait just a bit longer until the Chief is back."
Li Huowang brought Li Sui into the palace and soon found Princess Anping's corpse. Li Huowang dug out her organs, and Li Sui entered the hollowed-out body to become Princess Anping.
Li Sui washed the blood off her body and wore a dress with golden stitches. The wide dress allowed her to hide her tentacles beneath it.
Her innerwear was pink, and she was sporting a pale blue earring as well. Her intricate hairstyle was held together by an elaborate hairpin. Li Sui truly looked like Princess Anping when she was still alive; the only thing amiss was the white ribbon around her neck, which was concealing the wound that had decapitated her head.
"Alright, let's go! We can just run around the city, and the informants will know that Princess Anping is still alive!" Li Huowang dragged Li Sui into the rain.
It was a chaotic night, but when the rain washed over Shangjing and they woke up again the next morning, everything returned back to normal. The stench of blood had been washed away, and the civilians were out and about doing their own business.
Gao Zhijian entered Shangjing in his carriage and stared at the dense rows of shops on both sides of the street.
He thought that he'd recognize the place if he were the emperor, but he recognized nothing for some reason.
Did I not venture out of the palace last time?
He continued to drive the carriage on the main road. After some time, he saw the familiar red walls of the palace. His memories stirred.
He remembered seeing the same color every time he was carried by someone when he was younger.
He hopped off the carriage and calmed himself down as he slowly walked towards the palace.
The guards naturally noticed a huge man like Gao Zhijian and frowned. Cold glances came from above the palace walls.
Gao Zhijian stopped just a few meters away from the palace door. He stared at the guards stationed there.
A few moments passed and nothing happened. Strange. Do they not recognize me? I used to be an emperor. Even if it was in the past, they should still recognize me.
Gao Zhijian took two steps forward and pointed at his face as he attempted to speak.
"This is the land of the emperor! Who dares to trespass!" A sharp spear pointed at Gao Zhijian, causing him to panic.
As someone who learned how to utilize the murderous aura, he also felt the murderous aura high above the palace wall. The person up there was beyond his level. This was a warning. One more step and Gao Zhijian would die.
He immediately retreated back to his carriage and looked at the tall palace walls. He didn't know what to do. I should be the emperor, right?
While he was thinking about that, someone brushed past him and entered through the side door of the palace.
Compared to the treatment Gao Zhijian received, the guards didn't even look at the man as he entered the palace.
Back in the palace, the man ran as fast as he could, giving the illusion that he was stepping on air. He ran into Ji Lin's bed chamber.
He reached the outside and slowed down on purpose.
Even though he slowed down, he was still hit by an inkstone.
But the man dared not move because the one who hit him was Ji Lin himself.
The man prostrated on the ground as his voice trembled with fear. "My Lord! Princess Anping is still missing."
"Drag him out and execute him!" Ji Lin shouted with rage as he easily signed off on someone's death.
"My Lord! My Lord! Spare me!"
The consorts and eunuchs in the bed chamber were silent. They were afraid that they would be next.
However, one of the old eunuchs displayed not a hint of fear. He held a golden horse-tail whisk as he approached the angry Ji Lin. "My Lord, don't worry. I've made a divination and have ascertained that Princess Anping is dead. Even the others got the same results."
The beads on Ji Lin's crown shook violently as he exclaimed, "I don't care about the divinations! I want to see her true body! What if she used an illusion technique? I want to see her corpse! I want to see her head! That is what I want, you useless bastards!"
Chapter 558 - Luck
Ji Lin was fuming and pacing in the grand bed chamber. He was close to succeeding, but something had gone wrong.
After some time, he waved his large sleeves and exclaimed, "Everyone gets out! I don't care what you do but find Princess Anping's head for me!"
"Yes, my Lord!"
"My Lord, please calm down. This won't take long. Anyone with eyes would know that luck is on your side. It would be bad if you got sick due to the stress."
Ji Lin calmed down a little after hearing that. "Wait, what about Er Jiu from the Ao Jing Sect? Any news from him?"
"The guards saw him entering the city, but we cannot find him anywhere no matter what kind of divination we did."
"Hmph! He's too unpredictable to use. Nevermind then. I will just give him an official title without any real job in consideration of his contributions in the past."
Ji Lin then got ready for the morning meeting. While he was changing, he suddenly had a different idea. Rather than the hall, he walked towards the imperial temple.
This time he was alone. He entered the place and approached the coffin once more. With the sound of rumbling stones, the coffin lid slowly opened.
"Father, I've done what you've instructed me to do. I did all of it." Ji Lin looked at his father lying in the coffin emotionlessly.
"Hahaha! Good! You are indeed my son!" The old emperor laughed as the golden chains binding him rattled.
"My mother had decided to support the eldest prince, so I killed her!" Ji Lin' roared, interrupting the laughing emperor.
"The princes and princesses wanted to betray me, so I killed them, too. Father, you told me that I have to kill even my own family to become someone great!"
The old emperor in the coffin shuddered before speaking again. "Ruthless. I knew I was right."
However, this wasn't what Ji Lin wanted to hear. He kicked the tributes in front of the coffin and exclaimed, "WHY! I'm going to be the emperor soon, so I want to know why! Why am I killing all of my siblings?! I've told you that once I become the emperor, I will not tolerate my children killing each other! I will be emperor soon, so I want to know why I should tell them not to kill each other!"
"Hohoho." The old emperor laughed. "Lin'er, why do you think all of the officials and ministers are obeying us? Do you really think that they obey us because we are grand?"
"It's because we are the emperor!" Ji Lin replied.
"You really think so? Do you think that we can obtain absolute loyalty from those preaching Confucianism or from the military just by using our name? They control everything here, including the palace guards! Do you know why they did not revolt and become emperors themselves?"
Ji Lin didn't know what to answer. He had never thought of that before.
"Because they don't dare to do so! They dared not let their own people kill each other, but we—the Ji family—dare to do so! When the Qi Kingdom fell and the emperor's seat became empty, we—the Ji family—killed each other until only one of us remained. We were not a noble family, but there were still thousands of us. In order to become the emperor, we've killed our own mothers, grandchildren, grandparents, siblings, and even our own fathers! The sole remaining survivor from that bloodbath became the first emperor of the Liang Kingdom. Our family spanned thousands of generations, but we will always only have a single branch in our family tree. The cowards are only going to serve us!"
Ji Lin stepped back from shock. He was visibly shaken by the answer he obtained.
"But why?! Why us?! Why must the Ji family kill each other?"
"Because the heavens have selected us! We're the dragon's chosen ones! Only then can we shoulder the Great Liang's luck!"
The old emperor roared. The dragon roar shook the coffin, and Ji Lin's scale surfaced momentarily before fading.
After some time, the dragon's roar stopped, and the old emperor's tired voice could be heard. "Since you will be ascending soon, let me tell you this: the world is not as peaceful as you think. In the past, humans were raised by the 'Witch' clan. We lived just like how pigs are raised; we were fed nothing but feces. However, some of our ancestors refused to continue living as livestock and escaped. Unfortunately, escaping wasn't enough because they'd soon be caught. We needed to find a safe place to live. Luck was needed to sustain it. The Witch Clan was relentless. They will do everything they can to enter our space and capture us so that they can rear us like pigs again. Our ancestors came up with a plan. They robbed part of the luck in the Witch clan and used it to sustain our own safe lands. That ancestor was the first emperor."
Ji Lin stood still and was confused by what he was hearing.
"It's fine even if you don't understand me. Just think about it upon your ascension. You have to remember that what I told you just now is the truth. If someone were to tell you something like Simings or Immortal Heaven, those are fake. They're used to fool people."
Ji Lin walked out of the place, stumbling as he walked up the stairs. He was lost in his own thoughts. The skies turned dark and became bright again, but he was still lost in his own thoughts.
If his father did not lie to him, that meant his descendants must do the same thing. They need to kill each other just like how he did.
His family had to put up so much just to shoulder the 'luck' of the Liang Kingdom.
He didn't want to do it. He even thought about letting others do so.
But he had sacrificed so much. He had killed so much just to earn the right to ascend to the throne.
He paid his price. He killed everyone until he was the sole remaining survivor out of the nine siblings. He was this close to becoming the emperor. He would never let others take it just because his descendants had to kill each other next time too.
Ji Lin only snapped out of it once the old eunuch draped the dragon robe on his body. "My Lord, let's go back and rest. You will only tire yourself out like this."
Ji Lin nodded and turned to his bed chamber while recalling what his father looked like. If even the dead can be brought back to life, does that mean my father is immortal?
Ji Lin sprawled out on his bed and started pondering over his next move.
Just then, footsteps echoed from the door.
"What is it?" Ji Lin asked with his eyes closed.
"My Lord! We've found traces of Princess Anping on the outskirts of the city! And she's with Er Jiu!"
"What?!" Ji Lin's eyes sprung wide open as he glared at the informant.
It's him! I treated him so well, but to think that he still ended up betraying me just because of one, single girl!
"Pass down my orders! Capture Er Jiu and his entire family! Once you've captured him, skin him alive and feed his flesh to the dogs!"
Chapter 559 - Huangfu Tiangang
Five Li away from Shangjing, two figures could be seen running in the forest. They were none other than Li Huowang and Li Sui. There were many people chasing after them.
Just then, a man wearing black clothes burst out of a tree and threw a demon-slaying circle covered in sutra toward Li Huowang and Li Sui.
A dark light burst forth as the circle shrouded both Li Huowang and Li Sui. The next moment, their figures crumbled like rotten wood.
Soon the people chasing after them caught up and saw the man holding both Li Huowang and Li Sui's heads.
"Wait! Something is wrong!" A Daoist used two leaves and wiped his eyes with them.
He then tore off Li Huowang's face to reveal the face of someone else with a talisman stuck to it.
"It's an illusion! Chase after them!" The group dispersed immediately and continued their pursuit.
Halfway up a mountain, Li Huowang looked down at the people running around in the forest. To think that the techniques of the Sitting Oblivion Dao are actually so useful when it comes to buying time. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
"Dad, how long should we get chased by them?" Li Sui was lying on the ground with her arms and legs sprawled out.
"That's not up to us. It depends on when the Chief returns." Li Huowang said nothing and tore off his collarbone before using it as an ingredient for his divination.
His target was none other than the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau. Li Huowang knew that it was impossible for him to be able to use divination to find the Chief, but rather the Chief would know that Li Huowang was using divination on him. Li Huowang intended to use it to remind the Chief.
Once he was done, he placed his collarbone back into his body and looked at Shangguan Yuting. "Can you tell me where the Chief is?"
Shangguan Yuting was calm even though she had her entire head covered in her eyes. "I don't know. He didn't tell me. He must have his own reasons for delaying it."
Li Huowang couldn't even get angry at the illusion.
He had no idea where Ji Lin had found so many capable people. They had seamless teamwork, and their divinations were scarily accurate as well.
Of course, Li Huowang was not afraid because he had the spine sword inhand.
Every time he was about to get surrounded, he'd use the sword to escape into the Great Qi before popping up somewhere else.
No matter how strong or how strange their techniques were, they would never be able to travel to another timeline.
Still, the pursuit was taking a toll on Li Huowang.
He took out a bun and gave it to Li Sui. "Eat this. We need to move soon. I think there was one of them who possessed a compass that's scarily accurate."
Li Sui sat up and ate the bun. Her cheeks puffed up as she chewed on it. "Dad, I don't like buns. Can we find some meat in the forest? I saw there were many just now."
"Stop being picky. We are being chased right now. We can't waste time hunting or we would let them know that we are in the area. Just eat this for now." Li Huowang rummaged through his sleeves and tore off a long strip of skin and scab.
Li Sui chewed happily on the skin and scabs. "Thanks, Dad. I really love eating these. They're more delicious than meat."
LI Huowang felt weird seeing the young girl eating his scabs. He had been finding it strange Li Sui had taken over a human body.
Li Sui had become too human-like for her to eat something like the scabs on a wound. I should make her abandon that body once this ordeal is over
Li Huowang reached out to pat her head when he was alerted by something, prompting him to grab his spine sword.
"Li Sui! We need to move now! Someone's here!" Li Sui quickly shoved the scab into her mouth before jumping onto Li Huowang's back.
When he heard rustling noises, Li Huowang immediately swung his sword ahead of him.
Just as he was about to enter the rift, the skies abruptly went, and the rift that he had created with the spine sword shattered—it was cut in half!
Who can do something like this in the Liang Kingdom?! The moment he thought of that question, the answer revealed itself. It was none other than the Imperial Preceptor of the Liang Kingdom!
Compared to how laidback he looked last time on his ox and fishing pole, he was now wearing robes that made him look regal. His Constellation Sword was in his hand as he slowly appeared from the forest. "Ji Zai, what are you doing here?"
Li Huowang shielded Li Sui behind his back. "I'm here to protect my Lord! Have you come here to interfere? I've simply chosen who I think is more suitable to take the throne!"
"You think you can fool me? Anping is dead! The evil being that you're rearing is just using her corpse!" Huangfu Tiangang immediately saw through the farce. "Our Lord has won, so he's the emperor. Who do you think you are? You dare to try to stir up trouble in the kingdom? Those who try to fool our lord must die!"
Li Huowang immediately felt as if a mountain was pressing down on him, and he couldn't move even an inch.
Staring at the Imperial Preceptor approaching him slowly with a sword in hand, Li Huowang hurriedly shouted, "Wait! Since you are so strong, can you not see the illusion made by the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau next to me? This matter is related to the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau!"
The air itself seemed to freeze, but Li Huowang knew that his plan was working, as Huangfu Tiangang's sword didn't fall down on his head.
Li Huowang knew that even though the Surveillance Bureau and the Imperial Preceptor often worked together, they never really shared their plans with each other.
Huangfu Tiangang made an unfamiliar seal with his other hand and pointed it to the ground. He then looked at Shangguan Yuting and greeted her for the first time.
The Imperial Preceptor was shocked to see Shangguan Yuting's head covered in eyes. "To think that they exist! Wait, is he thinking..."
Li Huowang then took this chance to explain Shai Zi's plot.
However, the Imperial Preceptor revealed the same expression as the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau. He remained calm despite hearing Shai Zi's scheme. Actually, he was more interested in the eyes covering Shangguan Yuting's head.
Li Huowang frowned, seemingly thinking about something when he heard footsteps all around him.
Ji Lin's subordinates were here.
They surrounded Li Huowang but none of them moved because Huangfu Tiangang was here as well.
A fat man holding a gold ingot stepped forward and said, "Imperial Preceptor, that man..."
"Go back."