First, Blend In

Little Fatty wove through the city at a moderate pace, but he was slippery as an eel—after just a few turns down a couple of streets, he vanished without a trace. Steward Qiu led his men, two Foundation Establishment Experts personally tailing him, yet when they arrived, all they found was one of Little Fatty's robes.

Steward Qiu's face darkened. He stared at the robe for a few moments, then suddenly broke into a laugh.

"Not bad, truly some real skill. A little brat at the Qi Nourishing stage managed to shake us off. Seems what he said has some credibility. Capable, shameless, willing to sell out his own Senior Brother—this kid's future is boundless."

The middle-aged man beside Steward Qiu, clutching a Compass, kept his face as still as water. He packed away the Compass without a word and nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. That Little Fatty is cautious enough to evade my tracking. His Senior Brother must be no simple character either—no wonder he could captivate the Dole Ghost King's most beloved daughter. Little Fatty's prudence is only fitting. Now it's up to him. But Steward Qiu, are you really bringing that Little Fatty along?"

"Bring him, bring him. Slippery as he is, he's still just at Qi Nourishing. Even we are nothing but ants before that one's Seated Transcendence Land, if we slip up even slightly. I only regret that the news can't be contained any longer, forcing us to take desperate measures and probe boldly. If we could wait another month for the Commerce's senior experts to arrive, even the Dole Ghost King couldn't stop us!" Thinking of this, Steward Qiu ground his teeth in fury...

If not for that little thief that day, they wouldn't have been forced onto this tightrope.

"Don't get worked up. The Purple Firmament Dao Lord—what a figure he was! Five thousand years ago, he shook the world. If he hadn't vanished suddenly, even the great figures behind the Commerce today wouldn't have the right to look up to him. Sending more experts means nothing to a Dao Lord—they're just ants. This might not be a bad thing..." The middle-aged man remained composed, his demeanor magnanimous.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Little Fatty shook off the two men and returned to the small courtyard. He knocked, got no response, slipped inside, and found only a note left on the table.

"Junior Brother Zhang, I've found a crucial lead and am going after that person. Meet me tomorrow outside the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb."

Little Fatty held the note, his expression shifting. After a long pause, he stomped his foot, gritted his teeth, and turned to leave.

Elsewhere, at the entrance to the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb, Qin Yang was surrounded by dozens of Ghost Soldiers. Before long, a Ghost Soldier strode forward, his Ghost Body so dense it seemed solid, his face steeped in Sha Qi, fangs jutting from his mouth.

"You know who Imperial Concubine De is looking for?" This Ghost Soldier was ferocious, his Sha Qi so thick that just his approach made Qin Yang's breathing feel scorching hot.

But that was an illusion—the Yin Qi and Sha Qi were too intense, and inhaling them had damaged his lungs...

The gap was too vast. This fierce ghost was at least equivalent to Foundation Establishment Late Stage!

"That's right, it's my Junior Brother, Zhang Zhengyi. I know he came to the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb before, and after he left, he secretly sold off over a hundred Ghost Soldiers!" Qin Yang endured the burning sensation in his breath, answering calmly.

"Where is he?" At these words, the Tusked Ghost Soldier's already dense Sha Qi surged violently, his aura turning into a black smoke pillar shooting into the sky. Qin Yang was flung backward by the blast...

"Is this how the Dole Ghost King teaches his underlings to conduct business?" Caught off guard and sent flying, Qin Yang couldn't help but flare up.

He reached out, and a foot-long scroll appeared in his hand. Faint spiritual light flickered across it, spiritual energy surged, and the surrounding dense Yin Qi was stirred by an invisible force, whipping into a howling gale. A dangerously ominous aura suddenly emerged...

At once, the Tusked Ghost Soldier halted mid-step. He glanced at the scroll in Qin Yang's hand, and his expression slowly returned to normal.

"You came to deliver news—we'll follow the rules. What do you want?"

"Simple. I just want to know why the Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce and the Boundless Dao Academy suddenly took an interest in the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb."

"Hm?" The Tusked Ghost Soldier's pitch-black eyes locked onto Qin Yang. After a long silence, he spoke slowly: "If you give us the answer we want, we'll give you the answer you want."

"My Junior Brother, Zhang Zhengyi, is right now in Green Forest City with the Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce people. Barring surprises, they'll come here tomorrow. He's carrying a Magical Artifact that hides his appearance. When the time comes, just look for a very kind-faced Little Fatty—that's my Junior Brother, Zhang Zhengyi. Since he's lucky enough to earn Imperial Concubine De's favor, I, as his Senior Brother, naturally can't let him be a Heartless Man. Maybe we'll even become in-laws someday..." Qin Yang spouted nonsense, his tone righteous and stern...

Little did he know that Little Fatty, on his end, was using the same Senior Brother-Junior Brother routine to bolster his credibility...

Hearing this, the Tusked Ghost Soldier was mostly convinced. So many details—no one but the real parties would know them. Looking at Qin Yang again, the Tusked Ghost Soldier couldn't help but feel contempt.

Another sycophant clinging to power, willing to sell out his own Junior Brother just to latch onto the Ghost King's thigh...

"The reason those cultivators want to enter the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb is just to get deeper inside. The deal is done. Go rest now. Whether what you said is true will be verified tomorrow."

The Tusked Ghost Soldier didn't want to say more. He was already ninety percent convinced and didn't doubt Qin Yang's motives. After all, the Dole Ghost King was the overlord of the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb. Though he didn't expand outward and only cultivated here in peace, his strength was undeniable. Plenty of people wanted to curry favor...

The best way, naturally, was to marry the Ghost King's precious daughter. If he couldn't do it himself, letting his Junior Brother marry her was just as good...

Qin Yang was led away by several Ghost Soldiers. They followed a narrow path forward, and the further they went, the more ghosts there were. Barren hills were dotted with wild graves. Looking ahead, two mountain peaks rose, covered in at least a thousand ghostly burial mounds.

"Brothers, where are you taking me?" Qin Yang asked casually.

"To the Ghost King Mansion, naturally," a nearby Ghost Soldier replied bluntly, looking at him with mocking eyes.

Qin Yang narrowed his eyes but said nothing, following obediently. Inside, he almost laughed out loud.

The Ghost King Mansion—that was deep inside the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb. If he had come alone, the odds of sneaking in were terrifyingly low.

Now, seeing the wild graves on the ridges and passing three checkpoints in a row, he was even more certain.

After walking for nearly half an hour, a cluster of pitch-black buildings suddenly appeared in the center of the surrounding mountain peaks. Every structure was uniform in color, somber and solemn. Above the buildings, Ghost Qi and Yin Qi condensed into clouds, blotting out the sky—an awe-inspiring, terrifying sight.

Qin Yang's gaze swept past the buildings to the rear. There, two mountains pinched together into a One Line Sky, with a rushing river cascading down as a white thread of falling water.

He recognized this place. This was the entrance marked on the map.