Chapter 143

Xiong Shan’s expression froze for a moment, then he gave a bitter smile. “Congratulations.”

Li Zhuiyuan replied, “My condolences.”

Earlier, when they had found Second Brother and Third Brother, Tan Wenbin had hesitated, wondering whether they should notify Xiong Shan right away. But Xiong Shan knew how to get out of this place, so if he had found anyone, there would have been no reason for him to hide it.

As for Lin Shuyou, Yin Meng, and Brother Hu’s trio, that made five people in total. In the pond before it burned, they should have counted as a fairly noticeable target. Yet somehow, neither side had managed to find a single one of them.

Of course, there was still a chance they had simply been missed, but that chance was actually very low. And before going underwater, Lin Shuyou had been able to open his eyes, turn his head, and mouth words, clearly showing that he was still self-aware. So the far likelier possibility was that they had indeed come here, but had left again before Li Zhuiyuan’s group arrived.

As for where they had gone—

Li Zhuiyuan turned and looked at the damaged stone gate.

His group was obviously supposed to be the first wave. The other two had been left behind as the second wave. Yet now the second wave had somehow gotten ahead of the first.

At that moment, Xiong Shan took a deep breath and said, “Second Brother and Third Brother were probably set up by the Xie Clan and the Bu Clan.

“And if those two clans made their move, there’s no reason they wouldn’t have joined hands with the Wang Clan.

“I’m starting to think that if not for you all, if Lihua hadn’t set out early with you and come here ahead of time, she and the child might well have ended up the same way as Second Brother and Third Brother.”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “That was their own good fortune protecting them. It had little to do with me.”

That was what he said, but what the boy was thinking was:

So if I hadn’t led the group here early, you, Xiong Shan, would already be all alone?

You, struggling by the lakeside to suppress the outbreak of Corpse poison, suddenly see your wife, child, and brothers brought down here by a Corpse Retriever team. Then you dive down alone to save them, and just after waking your wife, before you can even break the restraints, you watch your wife, child, and brothers burn, melt, and explode right in front of you.

You might even have been so dazed you delayed too long, and with the Corpse poison affecting you, failed to escape the pond’s range in time, ending up buried directly in this ghost-eye sea of fire.

So in the version of events that should have happened, your entire side would have been wiped out in this wave?

It was true that he had arrived early at an examination hall where the exam had not yet ended. But maybe he was not waiting for the next test and a new paper. Maybe everyone in the hall had already died at their desks, and he had simply sat down, picked up the unfinished bloodstained paper lying beside their corpses, and continued working on it.

“Little brother, what’s wrong?”

“I was thinking...” Li Zhuiyuan pointed toward where the ghost eye had been before. “Those three clans are getting ready to move. Earliest, sometime today. Latest, the first half of tonight.”

Since those three clans had gone to the trouble of bringing in thunder talismans and corpse oil to destroy all the corpses here, they clearly had no intention of giving the Corpse Retrievers here another chance to bring people back and replenish the lamp oil.

“I think so too,” Xiong Shan said. “And that leaves me in a deadlock. If I keep going and try to find a chance to seal that general, wouldn’t I just be doing those three clans a favor?”

Li Zhuiyuan nodded.

“There’s something I hope you can forgive, little brother. I will take you out of here, and if we happen to run into your people along the way, I’ll help save them if I can. But I won’t deliberately go looking for them, and I won’t try to seal that general again.

“I’m going to leave here alive and go find those three clans for revenge.

“They dared to use my people as sacrifices, so they have to pay the price!”

In truth, Xiong Shan had hinted earlier that he wanted to use the people from those three clans as cannon fodder.

But pain only truly hurts when it lands on your own head.

Standing off to the side, Tan Wenbin rolled up some paper into a ball and stuffed it into his bleeding nostril. Hearing Xiong Shan’s words, he could only sigh inwardly:

Little Yuanhou really is softhearted. Either he does nothing, or once he acts, he goes straight for the whole household register and settles every grudge on the spot.

But Li Zhuiyuan’s thoughts went a level deeper:

Maybe Xiong Shan was also using this as a way to justify giving up on the lamp-lighting challenge, to find a proper excuse, one enough to soothe his own heart.

He was no longer going to continue on this river road. He was going to focus on avenging his brothers.

Li Zhuiyuan said, “I understand. But I am definitely going to save my people. Lead the way for now. When the time comes, we can split up.”

“Fine.” Xiong Shan pressed his lips together. “Little brother, I’ve wronged you. I owe you a favor.”

Xiong Shan had said that before, but Li Zhuiyuan had not taken it to heart then, and this time was the same.

Xiong Shan and Lihua walked in front. Li Zhuiyuan led Runsheng and Tan Wenbin behind them.

As they climbed the steps, Li Zhuiyuan deliberately studied the fist pit in the center of the stairs. Even after all these years, the fist marks inside it were still clearly visible.

Runsheng kept comparing his own fist to the imprint.

Once they passed through the broken stone gate, there was no corridor ahead. Wind blew straight at them, carrying grains of sand. The grains were crystal-bright, glittering with an eerie sheen.

Li Zhuiyuan thought, Illusory World Sand?

In places thick with baleful energy and resentment, especially where large numbers had died, there was a chance an Illusory World Sand formation would appear. It was a kind of natural miasma.

Xiong Shan said, “This is Illusory World Sand. It draws out the strongest joys, sorrows, grief, and delight in a person’s memories and magnifies them. Steady your minds. Do not lose yourselves in it.”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “Calming Talisman.”

Tan Wenbin and Runsheng immediately pulled out Calming Talismans and slapped them onto their foreheads.

They could have tried to rely on sheer willpower to get through the Illusory World Sand, but since they had the means, there was no need to suffer for no reason.

Xiong Shan also took out several Chenzhou talismans, first sticking one each on his wife and child. Then he turned back, about to say something, but when he saw the two Calming Talismans, surprise flashed through his eyes before giving way to understanding.

“No wonder you didn’t care about my incomplete Chenzhou talisman scroll.”

“That’s because I’m naturally unsuited to the talisman path.”

“Little brother, you’re always so modest.”

Li Zhuiyuan could not be bothered to explain further.

“Little brother, aren’t you going to use one yourself?”

“I don’t need to.”

“Then be careful to keep your emotions under control.”

“I will.”

Everyone stepped together into the Illusory World Sand. Even with the talismans suppressing it, the rising emotions inside them were still very obvious.

Lihua started crying again. Xiong Shan’s eyes reddened once more with fury. Runsheng and Tan Wenbin were both suppressing the corners of their mouths, though both looked secretly delighted.

Li Zhuiyuan felt almost nothing.

The sandstorm region was not large. After walking forward a while, they all emerged from it.

Everyone except Li Zhuiyuan began breathing deeply, adjusting their moods.

Holding extreme emotions for too long was a tremendous drain on the mind.

Xiong Shan turned his head and looked at the boy beside him, who seemed completely unaffected. His evaluation of the boy gained yet another layer of mystery.

The Illusory World Sand lay at the very outer perimeter. Once inside, what appeared before them was a huge sunken pit, much like a deeply excavated mine, circling down ring after ring, layer after layer, all the way to the bottom.

But that was only how it looked from the outside. In truth, the space below was badly dislocated. What seemed “below” did not necessarily require going downward. This place was a world unto itself.

Li Zhuiyuan raised his head and looked upward.

In the outside world, the sky was one layer. The lake water was another. And this place made a third. Three layers of heaven, a suppression formation, specially made to bury some colossal fiend.

Apparently, when that general had been buried, he had already been treated as a great evil thing. He had been interred here so he could never rise again.

And yet even so, in history, that general had still almost managed to turn the tables.

Xiong Shan said, “The directions here are all dislocated. East, west, south, north—it’s all wrong. Hidden dangers lie everywhere. It’s extremely perilous. I nearly died inside before. Fortunately, later on I found a secluded little path, and that’s how I managed to locate the exit and surface in the lake.”

After the brief explanation, Xiong Shan continued leading the way.

The group followed the edge downward. Underfoot there had once been a proper road, but with the collapse of the surrounding rock, the road was no longer really a road. Still, new excavation marks had appeared in the middle—not a broad carriageway, but a flat strip just wide enough for one person to pass.

For example, when a huge boulder blocked the path ahead, there would be a hollow carved right through its center. The surroundings remained blocked, but a person could pass normally through the middle.

This was a new corpse-driving path opened up specifically for the Corpse Retrievers.

As they walked, the scenery ahead began to change. It was no longer primitive stone pits and caves. Instead, there appeared many ruined pavilions and buildings.

And when they looked deeper into the pit, the pit was no longer below them at all. It was now level with them.

How could it still be called a deep pit? It had clearly become a palace. Only the outer walls had collapsed over a large area, and the interior was likewise in ruins.

The general’s revival, the suppression from history—this place had once been a battlefield.

The road ahead of them also widened. It was still uneven, but it was no longer a cliffside mountain path. And faintly, they began to hear footsteps drawing nearer and nearer.

Xiong Shan raised his hand, signaling everyone to stop.

Then he crouched down and pressed both palms to the ground.

From his body, straw began to extend outward. It was as though it were growing from him on the spot. More and more straw appeared, forming two small piles at his sides.

Xiong Shan crossed his hands. It looked less like a hand seal than weaving.

The two piles of straw slowly rose, taking on the shape of little straw figures.

Tan Wenbin’s eyes widened. He edged over to Li Zhuiyuan and asked, “Brother Little Yuan, what kind of method is this?”

“It has the shadow of witchcraft.”

The two piles of straw transformed into two carrying poles and a straw figure sitting atop each one.

Xiong Shan pasted a black talisman on each straw figure, then cut his palm open with his fingernail and used blood as a sacrifice.

The aura of the straw figures immediately changed. They began to radiate a solemn, profound presence.

Xiong Shan said, “Come. One team takes one. Carry it and keep to the left side of the road. Absolutely do not walk down the middle and collide with them.”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “Do as he says.”

Xiong Shan and Lihua took one pole, one in front and one in back.

On Li Zhuiyuan’s side, the three of them did the same. Runsheng walked at the front, and Li Zhuiyuan grabbed the back of Runsheng’s clothes and followed behind.

This made the lower half of the straw figure sitting on the pole hang down, its feet not touching the ground.

It was an imitation created through witchcraft. It had to be said—Xiong Shan’s personal methods really were impressive.

Of course, Li Zhuiyuan had never doubted the man’s strength.

But once a former wild hero began to entertain thoughts of retreat, the force around him naturally weakened as well.

The two small teams continued onward along the far left side of the road.

Xiong Shan still led in front. He did not take them into the palace, instead circling around the outer perimeter. He had said before that he had gone inside and that it was dangerous.

The dense footsteps came closer, and everyone heard them clearly. In the middle of the road, a troop of soldiers holding torches rushed past, shouting as they ran forward.

From the details of their armor, it was possible to tell they were Yuan soldiers.

It was said that they had been the first to break the peace here, speeding up the general’s revival.

Then came maids and eunuchs, moving in groups.

They even traveled parallel to Li Zhuiyuan’s group for quite a while before turning through a side entrance into the palace.

Xiong Shan even stopped on purpose to let them pass first.

After a moment’s thought, Li Zhuiyuan judged their clothing should be of the Han dynasty style.

But if this was the general’s tomb, maids were one thing—but why would there also be eunuchs?

The lamps on both sides of the road began to rise into view. They had long since been destroyed, and what appeared now were only phantom images. But the lighting effect remained obvious.

“Hyah! Hyah!”

Another group of riders galloped through down the middle.

In short, this road was “completely empty,” yet somehow “lively beyond measure.”

Fortunately, as long as Li Zhuiyuan’s group carried the straw poles and played the role of Corpse Retrievers, “no one” paid them any attention.

Several times, Li Zhuiyuan raised his head and looked at the straw figure on his own side.

This one, with its feet not touching the ground, could be looked at. But the one being carried in the real Corpse Retriever teams could not.

Even now, the boy still did not understand exactly who had endowed “it” with such power.

At first, both he and Xiong Shan had believed those were the general’s patrols, and that the “it” carried by every Corpse Retriever team represented the general’s “gaze.”

But if the general still possessed power that strong, and could project it over such a distance, then why was he still trapped here? Why could he not simply come out?

And if the power did not come from the general, then from whom did it come?

Under Xiong Shan’s guidance, they went almost three-quarters of the way around the outer perimeter of the palace, until an upward fork appeared ahead. At the top of the fork stood a building that was relatively well-preserved.

Compared to the palace, it looked plain and simple.

Xiong Shan said, “I don’t know what it was called in ancient times, but the furnishings inside look like a banquet hall. Behind the hall there’s a small waterfall dropping into an Underworld River. I jumped down from there and returned to the lake surface.”

The group began climbing the side path upward.

Li Zhuiyuan was not in a hurry to leave. He still had to find Lin Shuyou and Yin Meng. But it was necessary to go take a look there, at the very least to watch Xiong Shan and Lihua jump down that waterfall and confirm it really was a proper escape route.

But the farther they went, the more the atmosphere began to change.

A red carpet appeared on the ground. The stone lamps lining both sides of the road were no longer phantom re-creations. They were real, and there was genuine lamp oil inside, feeding their flames.

Xiong Shan said, “Something’s wrong. When I found my way here yesterday, none of this was set up. This is all new. Fall back first!”

When encountering something unusual, it was better to stay on the outside and scout around some more.

But just as they were about to head back down, a crowd of maids and eunuchs appeared on the road below. There were many of them, standing in orderly ranks.

The eunuchs carried lanterns. The palace maids held lotus lamps.

They were phantoms, but this time they were packed so densely that they completely blocked the way down.

As Li Zhuiyuan and the others drew near, white smoke began to rise from the straw figures above both teams. The straw poles, nowhere near as sturdy as bamboo poles, also began to emit cracking sounds, as though they were about to shatter.

The maids and eunuchs advanced in unison, step by step by step, forcing Li Zhuiyuan and the others to retreat.

“Little brother, I don’t know what’s going on here,” Xiong Shan said, “but the more they try to force us like this, the less we can go along with what they want. Get ready to fight!”

Li Zhuiyuan agreed with Xiong Shan’s judgment.

But behind the maids and eunuchs appeared eight Corpse Retriever teams, all in the standard three-person formation: two carrying the pole, and one in the middle with feet off the ground.

How were they supposed to fight that?

Those eight teams alone—one glance at them would bring backlash to the mind. How could they possibly fight?

Xiong Shan said, “When you’re under someone else’s roof, you have to bow your head. Let’s go along with them for now.”

The two makeshift Corpse Retriever troupes turned around and continued upward.

Perhaps because their earlier “reverse march” had blocked the road, once they resumed heading up, the maids and eunuchs streamed past them from either side.

Unfortunately, the eight Corpse Retriever teams behind them seemed to have genuinely taken the two fake teams as fellow workers. Four fell in on each side, effectively treating them as the leaders.

At that point, turning back was no longer an option. They could not even afford to slow their pace.

The farther up they went, the closer they drew to the banquet hall, and the stronger the hazy sense of brilliant lamplight became.

The doors of the banquet hall stood open. Some of the maids and eunuchs waited outside, while others went in.

Now a new problem arose: as the “leaders,” should Li Zhuiyuan’s side go in, or stay outside?

Fortunately, the maids and eunuchs outside gave them the answer. They bent at the waist and all made inviting gestures.

Apparently, they were meant to enter.

Once inside, it was indeed as Xiong Shan had said—a banquet hall layout, and one of a very ancient style.

At the center stood a square platform about half a person high, clearly the main seating area. Curtains hung there, blocking the view.

Below it on all sides were rows upon rows of low tables. Some were intact, while others had long since been damaged.

At present, the place still seemed empty. Only in one corner, at four tables, people were seated.

Li Zhuiyuan saw familiar faces.

First there were Brother Hu’s three street punks, all with their eyes shut, kneeling there motionless.

Seated right next to the three of them was Lin Shuyou.

Lin Shuyou had been sitting there quietly, but now he seemed to sense something again. He opened his eyes and started glancing around, searching. His mouth moved, saying something soundlessly, but his lip movements were still the same:

“Little Yuanhou?”

Last time by the lake, Lin Shuyou had been inside a Corpse Retriever team, with his perception blocked off, while Li Zhuiyuan and the others had been inside the barrier of the inn on the Path of the shade. He had sensed people, but could not see them.

This time, Li Zhuiyuan’s group was carrying cheap counterfeit gear. Its concealment was far weaker. Lin Shuyou first sensed something, then determined the rough direction, and finally fixed his gaze on where Li Zhuiyuan stood.

At that moment, a gust of yin wind blew through, and the curtain over the main platform was swept aside, revealing what lay within.

On the platform was a seat of honor. On either side of it were two accompanying seats. Naturally, the host sat in the main seat. Anyone seated on the platform beside him would have to be among the four most distinguished people present.

On the seat of honor rested a set of armor. It was scarred all over and gave off a heavy sense of ancient wear, clearly representing that general.

On the lower right seat beside the seat of honor sat a statue.

The statue depicted a man in red robes. Though weathered and damaged, it still conveyed the former grace of the person it had been modeled after.

The clothes on the statue were similar to what Uncle Qin had worn at Li Zhuiyuan’s entry ceremony.

Li Zhuiyuan himself had such robes too. Grandmother had specially had them made for him—two sets, one mainly red and one mainly green. After all, he straddled two traditions, so he needed formal robes from both houses.

This statue should represent that Dragon King of the Qin Clan who had once suppressed the general. Though the general had been suppressed by him, he had still set up his statue and placed it beside his own seat, as a sign of recognition and respect.

Opposite the red-robed statue, on the lower left side of the seat of honor, sat... Yin Meng.

Tan Wenbin and Runsheng both stared in shock at the sight. Why was Yin Meng able to sit in that position?

Even Xiong Shan cast a stunned and questioning look toward the boy.

Just who exactly was your subordinate? Or rather, between the two of you, who was really whose subordinate?

Only Li Zhuiyuan, who had read the complete Yin Clan genealogy, knew that this was not strange at all.

Because this was a longstanding Yin Clan tradition whenever they traveled abroad: freeloading meals.  

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