Now, let's talk about the evening of Su Yuqing and Xie An's last meeting.
A peculiar red bird flew out from the Water Lantern Town's branch.
This red bird flew extremely fast, much faster than a falcon.
In just a few hours, the red bird arrived at the main gate of the Demon Suppression Bureau in Nanyang Town.
Li Chaosheng, who was in his room reviewing files, suddenly heard a peculiar bird call. He immediately turned his head and saw a red bird perched on the windowsill.
Li Chaosheng was overjoyed.
"It's the Chief's messenger red bird!"
He rushed over, and the bird was not afraid of him. Instead, it chirped at Li Chaosheng.
Li Chaosheng removed a small bamboo tube tied to the bird's leg, opened a small mechanism, and pulled out a small roll of paper from inside.
This was a special communication method of the Demon Suppression Bureau. The small bamboo tube had a mechanism installed so that those who were not proficient in the mechanism's switch could not open the tube. If someone forcibly broke it with external force, the bamboo tube would self-destruct.
The paper had a line of text on it: "Go find the Dean of the Tai'a Taoist Academy, the plan is starting."
Without saying a word, Li Chaosheng gripped the paper tightly, rushed out the door, ignoring the shocked gazes of countless Demon Suppression Guards. He went to the stables at top speed, led out a fine Ferghana horse, and rode out, heading straight for the Tai'a Taoist Academy.
…
The summit of Mount Tai'a.
A secluded residence.
This residence was meticulously built, adjacent to the cliffs of Mount Tai'a. Outside the courtyard were cliffs and precipices, without any surrounding walls, which was quite frightening to behold.
Next to the cliffs was a pavilion.
An old man with white hair and a burly man wearing a fur coat were playing chess.
Outside the pavilion, a man and a woman were discussing martial arts.
The woman held a four-foot-long sword, wielding a powerful sword dance. The sword's light, like a rolling river, swept towards a young man holding a spear opposite her, forcing the spear-wielding youth to retreat step by step.
The woman thought she had victory within her grasp, and raised her eyebrows. "Heh, so-called one of the Four Young Masters of the Capital, nothing more than an empty reputation."
The young man became angry, holding his spear horizontally to block the long sword, switching from defense to offense. "Zhao Qing'er, you're just a mere woman, don't be arrogant in front of this young master. Just now, I saw that you were a woman and gave you some face, that's why I held back everywhere. You actually took it seriously, didn't you?"
"Wei Haoran, how dare you call this county princess by her name directly, I'm not done with you."
Zhao Qing'er pinched the sword technique with her fingers, her blood surging. Suddenly, a green light burst out more than thirty feet, carrying the sound of a dragon's roar and a tiger's howl, like a torrential river, rushing and sweeping towards the young man opposite her.
"Good, you actually dare to use the Great River Sword Technique that the Eldest Princess taught you, risking your life, are you? Does this young master not have any unique skills?!". The young man, called Wei Haoran, flew into a rage and did not show weakness.
He clenched the ten-foot silver spear in both hands, shaking it in the air, releasing a rolling heat, stimulating an ear-piercing gun roar, and raised the great spear over his head, slashing down towards Zhao Qing'er with a monstrous heat flow!
Suddenly, the spear and sword collided, like a cannonball exploding, cracking the ground, cutting off the giant rocks on the cliff, and falling into the abyss. The splashing dust shot in all directions.
The two inner force masters were fighting with red eyes, desperately fighting each other.
It was a pity for the surrounding pine and cypress trees, which had grown with great difficulty and had taken a hundred years to mature… but they were all stripped bare.
"Annoying!"
A loud roar suddenly came from the pavilion.
It seemed to be a light roar, but it was like a lion's roar, shaking the sky. Zhao Qing'er and Wei Haoran were so shocked that they couldn't control themselves, and they dropped their weapons and covered their ears, their faces showing pain.
When the lion's roar ended, Zhao Qing'er and Wei Haoran became obedient.
Although the two people didn't fight, they pointed at each other with their fingers.
"Zhao Qing'er, today Senior Brother Chen spoke up, consider yourself lucky."
"Yo ho? Threatening me? Come again if you have the guts."
"Come if I come!"
Saying that, the two people went to pick up their weapons again, wanting to fight another three hundred rounds.
The burly man in the pavilion supported his forehead, very speechless. "The Eldest Princess isn't here, you are becoming more and more lawless. I have to go and talk to the Eldest Princess about it later."
Whoosh!
When Wei Haoran and Zhao Qing'er heard the three words "Eldest Princess", it was as if they had heard a very terrible demon, and they immediately dropped their weapons and squeezed out a smile towards the pavilion.
"Senior Brother Chen, I was just exchanging a few moves with Wei Haoran, with no malice. Don't tell on me."
"That's right, that's right, I'm still considering my fellow discipleship with Zhao Qing'er. It's just ordinary sparring."
Senior Brother Chen smiled, looked at the chaotic chess pieces on the chessboard, and said to the white-haired old man: "Dean, look… the chess game has been disturbed by these two boys. We can't play anymore, I'll come back another day to ask for advice."
The white-haired old man snorted coldly, "The chess pieces on this chessboard were clearly blown away by your lion's roar… hey, young people nowadays can't afford to lose."
Hiss!
Senior Brother Chen's face was full of embarrassment, and then he frankly admitted: "Dean's eyes are as sharp as torches, nothing can be hidden from your discerning eyes. The main reason is… it's too stressful to play chess with you. It's been so many years, I haven't won once… please forgive me, Dean."
Eh.
The Dean sighed boringly, "Seeing that you are so difficult, I will not argue with you this time."
Senior Brother Chen breathed a sigh of relief, "The Dean is generous."
The Dean stroked his long beard with satisfaction, "You few young fellows from the capital are young and energetic. Letting you stay in this mountain all year round to accompany an old man like me is also difficult for you. When the Eldest Princess completes her great task as soon as possible, you should hurry back to the capital."
At that moment, the sound of hurried hooves came from a distance.
Giddy up!
After the horse approached, Li Chaosheng immediately dismounted and rushed into the pavilion at top speed, handing over the note, "Dean, a letter from the Eldest Princess."
Hearing this, everyone present stood up, their faces solemn.
Even the white-haired old Dean was no exception. He took the note, opened it and looked at it, his face suddenly sank, "Good, I have been staying here for twenty years, and it is finally about to begin.
Chen Tie, Wei Haoran, Zhao Qing'er, listen to the order!"
Whoosh!
The three people who were named stood straight, waiting for the order.
The Dean solemnly ordered, "You three, immediately rush to Qingwu County to assist the Eldest Princess.
Li Chaosheng."
"Here."
"You allocate a hundred elite soldiers and give them to Chen Tie to take to Qingwu County."
"Yes."
Zhao Qing'er asked: "Dean, what about you?"
The Dean said, "I have to go to Nanzhou City."
This Senior Brother Chen, called Chen Tie, was obviously older than Zhao Qing'er and Wei Haoran, and his temperament was much calmer. At this moment, after receiving the order, he did not forget to ask, "Dean, this matter is of great importance, is there anything to entrust?"
The Dean thought for a while and said: "The Eldest Princess has bet her reputation of half her life and the prospects of the rest of her life, wanting to break the century-old deadlock in Nanyang. This is a heroic and magnificent feat. However, the court's forces are intricately intertwined. Apart from the Prince of Huainan, the court does not know how many eyes are staring at the Eldest Princess's every move.
Once the Eldest Princess fails to break the deadlock, this group of people will pounce on her like mad dogs and devour her. Our Tai'a Taoist Academy has sided with the Eldest Princess and cannot be immune.
Therefore, you must assist the Eldest Princess and handle the follow-up affairs. Once the Eldest Princess tears open a gap, the pack of wolves will come.
The upcoming Qingwu County, and even Nanyang… will not be peaceful."
…
Now, before Xie An left, Yuhe took the initiative to dress Xie An up.
Then Xie An saw that his appearance in the mirror had changed, and he couldn't even recognize himself.
In fact, Yuhe didn't do anything, she just used a long, round needle to prick seven or eight acupoints on Xie An's face.
His appearance changed greatly.
No wonder Yuhe could lurk in the Great Yin Mountain for many years without being discovered… she actually had this trick.
Yuhe stared at Xie An's face for a while, then suddenly pursed her lips and smiled, "Master looks like this, if I didn't know, I wouldn't recognize him either. It just looks… a bit older? Fiercer… it fits the image of a demon from the Great Yin Mountain."
Xie An didn't like this appearance very much, so he said, "Master, I don't care much about appearance. Let's get down to business."
The phrase "get down to business" made Yuhe unable to tease Xie An's appearance, and instead felt that Xie An seemed to not care about his appearance at all.
Leaving the branch through the back door, the two rode their horses along the mountain road, heading straight for the Great Yin Mountain.
The night of late autumn, the cold dew was very heavy.
Especially after entering the Great Yin Mountain, the temperature became even colder. A layer of frost and dew stained the hair of the two.
When they reached the middle of the mountain, Xie An felt the cold mountain wind blowing around him, like ghosts crying and wolves howling. In the depths of the forest, pairs of green eyes could be vaguely seen.
These were all fierce beasts in the mountains.
Usually, the herbalists and hunters who entered the mountains only dared to stay in the hills near the foot of the mountain, and did not dare to reach the middle of the mountain.
This was also the first time Xie An had crossed the boundary.
Fortunately, both of them had achieved success in martial arts, and their blood was strong, scaring away the surrounding beasts. They only dared to hide in the dark and stare with greedy eyes, growling lowly. But they did not dare to rush up.
Yuhe took the initiative to drive her horse closer to Xie An, giggling, "Master, don't be afraid. I often travel this road. Just releasing my qi and blood will keep the beasts away. If they dare to mess with you, Master, I'll make them regret it!"
Speaking of the last part, Yuhe even clenched her fist and gestured towards the beasts in the forest a few times from afar.
Although Xie An felt that Yuhe was overthinking things, he still felt comfortable listening to her, so he said "Okay."
After traveling more than ten miles on the mountain road, they arrived outside a large mountain depression. Yuhe took the lead and dismounted, then tied the horse to a tree trunk on the side.
"The village of the Corpse Refining Hall is ahead. Riding is not allowed at night, so I'll lead Master to walk over. But in a while... I need to trouble Master a little." Yuhe twisted her fingers embarrassedly, "Master needs to disguise himself as Yuhe's subordinate for a while."
Xie An had already prepared himself for this, so he agreed.
Yuhe was worried, "Master, are you angry?"
"Is your Master such a petty person? It's no big deal."
Seeing that Xie An said it so freely, Yuhe breathed a sigh of relief, with a giggling smile on her face, "Then Master, walk behind me, and don't speak for a while. Leave everything to Yuhe."
"Okay." Xie An agreed readily, then walked behind Yuhe, looking at the slightly petite figure in front of him, feeling very warm in his heart.
It had been four years since Xie An joined the White Feather Hall, and he had spent three years with Yuhe. In addition, Yuhe had been serving by his side all year round, so the time they spent together actually far exceeded the time Xie An spent with Lin Yun, Zhang Lin, and Wang Xiang.
Only when facing Yuhe did Xie An have the kind of relief and ease he once felt when facing his two beloved disciples.
The night was deep, and the forest roared.
The cold wind blowing from the mountains ruffled Yuhe's long hair.
Gradually, Xie An felt that the aura on Yuhe's body became much colder, with the fierce energy of a demon.
After walking for two miles, the entrance to a very impressive mountain village came into view. The entrance was built with high stone walls, seven or eight feet high and one or two feet thick. Guard posts were also set up on both sides, with torches lit for illumination.
From a distance, Xie An saw two withered old men guarding both sides of the gate, holding crutches in their hands, looking sickly.
Xie An, with his extraordinary aura perception, immediately realized...
Silver corpses!
Silver corpses, capable of fighting against Five Viscera Realm martial artists, were just gatekeepers here.
As expected of the Corpse Refining Hall's lair.
Xie An immediately became vigilant, opening his five senses to carefully check every move around him.
Yuhe looked back at Xie An at this time, gave him a reassuring look, and then walked to the gate in a carefree manner, took out a dark golden token, and the two old men took the initiative to let her pass after seeing it.
Xie An quickly followed, but was stopped by the two old men with their crutches.
Yuhe glared at the two of them, and directly slapped each of them in the face, "Dare to stop my people?"
The two silver corpses drooped their heads aggrievedly and dared not stop him again.
Xie An didn't say a word from beginning to end, and followed Yuhe into the village.
Yuhe explained while hurrying on:
The leaders of the Corpse Refining Hall, like the corpse puppets, are divided into five levels.
Corpse puppets are divided into: Green Wood Black Corpse, Bronze Corpse, Silver Corpse, Gold Corpse, and Crystal Corpse.
The leaders correspond to them, divided into Black Token Leader, Bronze Token Leader, Silver Token Leader, Gold Token Leader, and Crystal Leader.
And Yuhe is a Gold Token Leader.
The Corpse Refining Hall has strict levels, and subordinates must never disobey their superiors. Otherwise, superiors can arbitrarily beat and kill subordinates without reporting.
After hearing this, Xie An secretly clicked his tongue, only feeling that the demon's grading system was indeed crude and direct.
But he had to admit that it was very useful.
No wonder Yuhe directly slapped the silver corpse in the face just now, and they didn't dare to resist.
A higher rank crushes people to death.
What's more, this higher rank official can arbitrarily beat and kill subordinates.
However, what surprised Xie An was that Yuhe had actually risen to the Gold Token Leader, which was considered a high-ranking official in the Corpse Refining Hall.
Xie An felt that Yuhe's strength was probably more than the Five Viscera Realm.
This was not considered Yuhe's concealment, after all, the Five Viscera Realm was what Yuhe said a few years ago. At that time, Xie An and Yuhe were not too familiar, so it was reasonable for her to hide something.
What's more, a few years have passed now.
Practicing martial arts is not comparable to health cultivation. If the talent is good and enough resources are given, great achievements can be made in a few years.
Entering the village, Xie An saw fields planted with crops, vegetables, and fruits. Some vegetable gardens also had scarecrows to drive away birds and beasts, and farmhouses stood around the fields, with lights faintly visible.
It was a rural field style, and it didn't look like the base of a cult demon no matter how you looked at it.
Yuhe seemed to see Xie An's doubts, and explained while leading the way on the field埂: "These are the family members of the Corpse Refining Hall demons. Most of them were kidnapped and cannot escape. So they reclaim wasteland on the periphery, on the one hand to maintain their own living needs, and on the other hand to provide some ingredients for the Corpse Refining Hall."
So that's how it is.
After walking two or three miles, passing the fields.
Xie An immediately felt a gloomy wind coming from the front, which was very uncomfortable.
Yuhe said, "The Corpse Refining Hall is ahead. Tonight, the High Priest was led elsewhere by the young lady, and only four Crystal Leaders are stationed here. But the Crystal Leaders should not be underestimated, they are all Fourth Level Martial Masters, and their strength is similar to that of Crystal Corpse Puppets. Master, follow me closely."
Xie An nodded and didn't say anything more, following closely.
Soon, Xie An saw rows of impressive buildings, lined up closely together, with walls painted with blood-colored paint that were particularly eye-catching.
Ordinary people put stone lions in front of their doors to ward off evil, but the houses here are decorated with gargoyle statues, also painted with red paint.
Xie An, with his extraordinary five senses, felt that... these paints were probably not ordinary paints, but blood. The strong smell of blood hit his face, making him nauseous.
Fortunately, Xie An had seen many bloody scenes so far, so he could adapt.
Yuhe walked to the gate of the Corpse Refining Hall, showed her token, and the guarding bronze corpses took the initiative to let her pass.
Entering the inner courtyard, Xie An saw many bronze corpses doing housework, mopping the floor, pruning flowers and plants, and fiddling with bottles and jars. At a glance, there were hundreds of them.
This was the first time Xie An had seen so many bronze corpses.
Passing through the front yard, Xie An saw silver corpses practicing martial arts, reading books, and writing. There were sixty or seventy of them in total.
When entering the backyard, he even saw six or seven gold corpses, knocking on wooden fish, worshiping Buddha, and learning etiquette.
Gold corpse!
Really golden skin, like gold.
At first glance, it was the kind of fat sheep that was so fat that it was dripping with oil...
All undead qi...
Large swathes of undead qi.
Even if Xie An's mind was steady, he couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised by this wave of undead qi resources.
However, Xie An still warned himself to calm down first.
Xie An didn't care about silver corpses.
But gold corpses are comparable to Inner Strength Martial Masters.
And there are six or seven of them.
If they fight... it's very troublesome.
Don't worry, take your time...
However, the gold corpses immediately became much more enthusiastic after seeing Yuhe show her token. The leading gold corpse who was knocking on the wooden fish even came up enthusiastically, "This is an important place, why are you here?"
Yuhe said, "I'm looking for Commander Hengyan, I have something important to report."
As soon as they heard the words Hengyan, the gold corpses around who were busy with their work seemed to have heard something terrifying, and they all put down their work and turned to look at Yuhe and Xie An.
The gold corpse knocking on the wooden fish said, "Commander Hengyan is stationed at the ancient pagoda all year round and does not manage external affairs. Today, the High Priest is not here. If you have something, you might as well tell me."
Yuhe shook her head resolutely, "No, it's because the High Priest is gone and no one is in charge that I want to find Commander Hengyan. It's a matter of life and death. If something goes wrong, none of you can afford it."
As soon as these words came out, the gold corpses were indeed under great pressure.
The gold corpse knocking on the wooden fish hesitated for a while, then gritted his teeth and said: "If that's the case, come with me."
"Thank you."
Yuhe thanked him, then took Xie An and followed the wooden fish gold corpse, leaving the hall through the back door. In front was an open square, and at the end of the square was a very impressive palace, behind which was a nine-story ancient pagoda.
At the top of the ancient pagoda, a large bronze bell was hanging upside down!
The bronze bell was actually three stories high, hanging upside down on top of the ancient pagoda, showing a magnificent and grand sight.
Xie An was stunned.
Is this the big bronze bell that Su Yuqing was talking about!?
