Yu Qing: “How many foetal ghosts would have to die? It would cost you too many of your men.”
The woman in white: “I do not care.”
“…” Yu Qing was speechless. He turned back and stared at her.
The woman in white also turned back to stare at him, her gaze deep.
Yu Qing raised the map in his hand and replied with two words, “No rush. I will walk around a bit more to confirm the map.”
The woman in white: “Is that necessary? Whether you can get out safely depends on me, not the map.”
Yu Qing: “Of course it is necessary! Confirming the map is not the goal. In fact, the second condition is not even important. You and I both know what matters most. You and I both know what we came here for this time. Little Cloud Grotto!
You say the location of ‘Little Cloud Grotto’ you told us about is real. That is what you said. What reason do we have to believe you?
So I raised the second condition, which is this map. If the map is real, it proves you truly did not deceive us, and the location of ‘Little Cloud Grotto’ you told us about might then be real. Conversely, if even the map is fake, how can we expect what you said about ‘Little Cloud Grotto’ to be real?
More importantly, we need to prove whether we can trust what you say. We need to prove whether you will really let us leave alive. We need to prove your sincerity!”
He raised the map in his hand again. “So, verifying whether this map is accurate is very important to us. Once we confirm there is no problem with this map, everything is easy to discuss. We will do whatever you ask. We will do anything with peace of mind.”
The woman in white fell silent.
Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie exchanged a sidelong glance. They had previously worried about how Old Fifteen’s so-called “stalling” could drag on until some reinforcements arrived. Now they realised Old Fifteen had long since laid a trap here waiting. He truly intended to stall, and to do so openly and righteously.
The corner of Nan Zhu’s mouth curled into a smirk. He found this little fellow Old Fifteen quite clever.
“How long do you need to verify?” the woman in white suddenly asked.
Yu Qing: “Walking through it according to the map, you should know better than I how long that takes.”
The woman in white swept her sleeve.
“Haa… haa…”
A faint series of rasping breaths suddenly drifted through the quiet space, like beasts lying in wait.
The three men turned to look around. On both the left and right sides of the room, close to the walls, rows of “Puppet Warriors” seemed to be breathing. Faint evil energy flickered in and out from the enveloping root tendrils. Suddenly, two points of blood-red appeared within each cluster of roots. The rows of Puppet Warriors on both sides seemed to open their eyes.
Thud! The Puppet Warrior in the centre, clad in armour, suddenly lifted the long axe in its hand and slammed it heavily into the ground. The floor buzzed and shook.
The root tendrils shrouding the stone walls on both sides swayed. The rows of Puppet Warriors on left and right began to stride out. One by one, they walked out from under the enveloping roots. Each had a green face and protruding fangs. Each had eyes glowing crimson red like demons. Each was shrouded in faint evil energy.
After the Puppet Warriors halted, the one wielding the long axe suddenly surged with great evil energy. It shot forward like an arrow, leaping into the air to pounce, cleaving its axe down at the group from mid-air.
The three martial brothers were slightly startled and dodged aside. They thought the woman in white had turned hostile. Yu Qing’s sword came free of its scabbard as he dodged, and with one stroke he cut the woman in white in two at the waist. Green fluid splattered everywhere.
The Puppet Warrior whose axe had missed spun around and swept its long axe horizontally.
Clang! Mu Aotie blocked it with both hands on his sword, his arms going numb from the shock.
Before the three could strike again, the long-axe Puppet Warrior had already leaped away once more, landing before the row of Puppet Warriors on the other side. It turned around. Thud. The long axe struck the ground. It suddenly went still, motionless, with no further intention to attack.
Yu Qing whipped his head around and stared toward the edge of the cave mouth. He saw a waiting foetal ghost shift its form, and in the blink of an eye it became that woman in white again.
She also looked back at the three men. “Did you not want to verify the map? If you dawdle any longer, I cannot guarantee what they might do.”
The three martial brothers understood. The sudden incident just now had in fact been a warning. This place was not somewhere anyone could intrude upon lightly.
Yu Qing suddenly raised an off-topic question. “Liu Piaopiao’s men split into three groups. Have they gathered now?”
The woman in white paused briefly, seemingly unable to follow his train of thought. After thinking, she replied, “No. Imitating the sounds of their knocking has kept them far apart. They will not be allowed to gather easily.”
Yu Qing nodded. He said nothing more and did not linger. He waved his hand to signal, then led his two martial brothers to leave quickly.
When the three reached the cave mouth, they only looked back once more. The light inside the cave gradually dimmed in their sight. The foetal ghosts piled up at the cave mouth transformed back into a stone wall. They did not see the woman in white emerge again.
“Are you alright?” Nan Zhu asked Mu Aotie with concern, referring to blocking that Puppet Warrior’s blow just now.
Mu Aotie shook his head. “Fast speed, and quite strong too. A small number is nothing, but if they charge in swarms, they could still pose a considerable threat.”
Yu Qing: “If many more foetal ghosts transform into the appearance of these Puppet Warriors and attack together…”
He did not finish his sentence. That scene was more than enough for Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie to imagine. In that case, anyone facing them would inevitably have to treat every foetal ghost as a Puppet Warrior to deal with. They would not dare to relax their guard for a moment.
Yu Qing’s thoughts seemed to quickly withdraw from that cave. He sheathed his long sword and once again held up the map.
This time he did not wander around aimlessly anymore. He truly began walking according to the map’s route.
After walking a short while, he already had a rough idea of the location of that valley not marked on the map. He found its position.
Before long, he handed the map to Mu Aotie and let Mu Aotie hold it to verify. He himself lit another stick of incense in his hand.
Along the way, when they encountered forked paths, he would occasionally speak up to indicate which route Mu Aotie should take, and he would often urge Mu Aotie to walk faster.
Others could not figure out what he was doing. Only he himself knew that he had been urging their group to move toward the upwind direction.
Seeing this, Nan Zhu the chatterbox could not hold back again. He could not help but grab Yu Qing again and mutter in a low voice by his ear, “What is the rush? Did you not want to stall?”
Yu Qing replied softly, “I said before, there must be other exits in this underground palace. Waiting for reinforcements is just an extra precaution. Even if reinforcements arrive, we would be relying on others. Would it not be better if we could find another exit ourselves?”
Nan Zhu nodded repeatedly and immediately stopped nagging. Only his eyes looking at Yu Qing seemed to light up a little. He found that Old Fifteen was getting more and more sly. The way he obtained this map was ruthless enough. It could both stall for time and allow them to openly wander around the ancient tomb maze, openly looking for an exit.
He set his mind at ease and followed along. Only he suddenly felt a bit bored.
With the woman in white’s instructions, not only would the evil spirits in the underground palace not harm them, they would also not run into those demon cultivators.
The underground palace was very quiet. There was nothing to worry about. Apart from walking, it was still walking. It was indeed a bit boring…
The sky was nearing evening. The mountain scenery was magnificent.
The dowry procession from the Luanzhou Prefect’s mansion had arrived. As expected of the standard for a prefect’s daughter’s marriage, there were over a hundred carrying poles, each draped in red and coloured silk, winding along the mountain road.
Jin Huahai, a司南府 runner disguised as the team leader, constantly observed his surroundings. He found that along the mountain route, demon cultivators were openly and secretly watching their procession.
When he saw the advance scouts signal, Jin Huahai knew they had reached the target location事先 reconnoitred by the司南府.
He quickly walked over and found it was indeed a good spot, right at the corner of a mountain peak. The mountain road curved inward here. The view from below the mountain could not fully see what was happening here, and there was no adjacent mountain peak opposite where observers could watch.
When a box with a marking arrived, Jin Huahai immediately reached out to pat it while shouting, “Those behind, keep up!”
A faint click sounded from beneath the box, and a person in black immediately dropped out.
The person in black rolled on the spot, swiftly rolling into the凹陷处 of the mountain peak. Stopping on one knee, he reached out and directly lifted open a patch of grass along with a board, revealing a pitch-black hole. He threw himself forward and dove in.
Jin Huahai had not participated in the early preparations, but seeing the scene before him, he knew this hole was definitely not natural. To be able to dig a hole here that could hide so many people, one could imagine what great effort the司南府 had put into early preparations.
“Those behind, keep up.” He patted another dowry carrying box with a mark.
Another person in black dropped from beneath the box, rolled on the spot, and swiftly crouched down to dive into that hole.
“Those behind, keep up.”
One after another, people in black dropped, rolled, and disappeared into the hole.
The people carrying the dowries acted as if they saw nothing. They chatted and joked as usual, as if nothing had happened.
When Meng Po, the former司南府司掌, also rolled to the side of the hole, Jin Huahai and he exchanged a nod, an expression that everything could be left to him with confidence.
Meng Po then also钻进了 the hole. Another person in black emerged from the hole, replacing the clump of grass over the opening.
Jin Huahai used his foot to brush the grass on the ground, concealing the traces of rolling. He looked around again before continuing onward with the dowry procession.
The demon cultivators observing around them were still watching openly and secretly, unaware that over a hundred司南府 elite personnel had already silently entered the Jianyuan Mountain.
Great joy sounded on Jianyuan Mountain. The clanging of gongs and drums suddenly rang out, and music began to play.
The dowry was going up the mountain. The bride also descended from the sky aboard a flying bird.
Under the gaze of the crowd, the mountain king Hong Teng, his face glowing red, flashed into the air and personally carried the bride down to the ground.
The bride, wearing a phoenix crown, had delicate skin and tender flesh. Her eyes rippled like water. Her shy appearance was utterly enchanting.
“Oh…”
A wave of cheers and applause rose.
Qin Jue, mixed in the crowd, clapped along with everyone. Cui You muttered to him at his side, “She really is a bewitching, alluring demoness. Even I feel pity for her!”
Qin Jue smiled faintly. He still felt Tie Miaoqing was more beautiful.
He had no interest in this wedding. He would rather guard outside the ancient tomb. But there was no helping it. After learning the celebration was about to begin, he had still rushed here urgently.
You Lingluo, the steward of the Blue Sea Shipping Line, was also clapping in the crowd. However, her gaze swept over the group of people coming up the steps below with the dowry, and the corner of her mouth could not help but curl into a smile.
Although Jin Huahai was in disguise, she recognised him at a glance because she had known him before.