Armpit Universe Technique

Armpit Universe Technique: One flower, one world; one armpit, one universe. The universe was heaven and earth, a realm unto itself. Learn this technique, and you would never again suffer the trouble of carrying things.

Qin He took one look and was overjoyed.

This was a spatial spell!

In Journey to the West, with a sweep of his great sleeve, Zhen Yuanzi had tucked Tang Sanzang and his three disciples, horses and all, into his sleeve.

That sleeve formed a space of its own; no matter how Sun Wukong struggled, he could not break through it.

And in the Buddhist realm, Shakyamuni had Buddha Kingdom in Palm.

An entire kingdom rested upon Shakyamuni's palm.

Wasn't that miraculous?

Whether it was a sleeve, a palm, a flower, or a leaf, each was a world.

Only Qin He's was a little off-center.

It had ended up beneath his arm.

Who cared whether it was off-center? As long as it was useful.

Qin He could not wait to learn it. Within a few breaths, he understood the mysteries of the Armpit Universe Technique.

He took a Golden Wound Pill from his pocket and tucked it beneath his arm. Hey, it was gone.

He reached into his armpit and rummaged around. Hey, it came back out.

This was a storage space.

One that could hold things.

Qin He was so excited he nearly jumped up.

This skill was simply far too useful.

No wonder it had been the reward from that white-haired zombie that had taken a day and a half to burn to ash.

Qin He had no idea how large it was inside.

He tucked two Golden Wound Pills beneath his arm. They went in.

He tucked two dolls beneath his arm. They went in.

He picked up the Great Iron Shovel and tucked it beneath his arm. Hah, that went in too.

He picked up the bamboo basket full of dried chilies and tucked it beneath his arm. That went in as well.

He tucked a large water vat beneath his arm. It could still go in.

He tucked the Corpse Purification Platform beneath his arm. Uh... tucked it again... and again... it would not go in.

It seemed this space was not limitless after all.

Still, it was already more than enough.

What Qin He truly needed to store were little things that could not be casually shown to others, such as pills and Corpse Suppressing Nails. The largest would be the Great Iron Shovel.

The time afterward passed bit by bit as Qin He played with his Armpit Space. Inside the Corpse Burning Furnace, the bodies of the two Di Barbarian spies gradually charred.

An hour later, two Shadow Play Performances began anew.

How should he put it? Killing them before burning them had been letting them off too easily. They should have been roasted alive.

These two beasts had been fine before the Di Barbarians raised their army. Afterward, they had done nothing but kill.

First they killed other tribes, then the Liao people; after killing the Liao people, they killed the Goryeo people; after killing the Goryeo people, they killed the Rong Tribe; after killing the Rong Tribe, they turned around and killed the Han people.

They had slaughtered countless villages and towns. Wiping out entire families and leaving no descendants behind came as naturally to them as eating and drinking.

They killed wherever they went, taking pleasure in murder.

The shadow play was bloody and monotonous. Qin He even found his mind wandering as he watched.

The rewards came in a pair.

One gave him the Chaos Army Saber Technique.

The other gave him nine years of Dao Xing.

Chaos Army Saber Technique: Learn this technique, and amid a chaotic army, your saber skills will attain perfection, invincible in every direction.

Qin He did not use a saber, did not like sabers, and had not the slightest interest in military camps, but he learned it anyway.

As he always said, too many skills never weighed one down. Who knew when he might need it someday?

This reward was rather similar to the Street Brawl Technique.

Both were about winning amid chaos. Only one was for fighting, while the other was for battling amid ten thousand troops.

Their methods were naturally different as well. One emphasized nimble movement and evasion; the other emphasized meeting on a narrow road.

When two flowers bloomed, each told of one branch.

This world was just that strange.

By all reason, the Flying Fish Guard had been given a vicious beating by Di Barbarian spies, even losing the "first time" the Imperial Prison had guarded so painstakingly for centuries. The two sides should have been trading blows and fighting to the death.

But they did not.

The Di Barbarians lost An Baogu and lowered their banners. They investigated this way and that, then in the end sent Qin He two snacks.

And the Flying Fish Guard?

They had no time.

Over just these past two or three days, memorials of impeachment had flown onto the imperial desk like snowflakes. Their spearhead seemed aimed at Xu Xianchun, but in truth it targeted Prince Wei, Nine Thousand Years Old Wei Zhongliang.

Wei Zhongliang was frazzled, while Xu Xianchun lived in constant dread.

The Flying Fish Guard wanted revenge?

Forget it. Revenge for what? What bicycle did they want?

After the two sides had clanged and banged through a fight, both discovered, damn it, the enemy was not across from them, but at their side.

The inner Imperial Palace.

Wei Zhongliang sat in the seat of honor while two young eunuchs gently kneaded him. The old lord's head ached.

Below him stood or knelt a hall full of people. His ten most trusted Five Tigers and Five Panthers were all present, whispering among themselves.

Feeling somewhat better, Wei Zhongliang straightened himself.

The two young eunuchs promptly withdrew with tact, and the discussion below fell silent as well.

Wei Zhongxian slowly opened his eyes and said, "Enough. It's time to settle on a plan. Tell this one, what should we do?"

Tian Ergeng, the Flying Fish Guard's Southern Commandery Commandant, was the first to step forward. He and Xu Xianchun each controlled one commandery—one the Southern Commandery, the other the Northern Commandery—and had always been on good terms. Now that Xu Xianchun had become the target of public criticism, Tian Ergeng naturally had to come out and help. "Eunuch, I say we seize a few ringleaders and throw them into the Imperial Prison. Charge them with jointly fabricating accusations and crush their momentum first. Then we can have our own people submit memorials, claiming merit in opposition to them, and muddy the waters."

Wei Zhongliang glared at him. "If it were that easy to handle, would this one still have a headache?"

Arrest people?

Did he not see what time this was?

Those Donglin bastards had all exerted themselves at once. The impeachment memorials before His Majesty were piled higher than a man, and the imperial countenance was displeased. Arresting people at a time like this?

Would that not plainly be retaliation, a sign that they had a guilty conscience?

This idiot either wanted him dead sooner or was simply an idiot.

Confronting them head-on was even less feasible.

The Donglin Faction had far more people; there was no chance of winning, and it would also look far too deliberate.

Whether they won or lost was secondary. Imperial Lord's trust was what mattered most.

So long as Imperial Lord still stood behind him, Wei Zhongliang could not be brought down.

Tian Ergeng had thought his multifaceted strategy perfect, yet Wei Zhongliang rejected it outright. His face reddened, and he could only retreat awkwardly to the side.

"Eunuch, in my view, the only course now is to sacrifice the rook to save the king. Only one retreat and one advance can carry us through this crisis." At that moment, Cui Chengxiu, Wei Zhongliang's foremost strategist, stepped forward.

When Wei Zhongliang saw Cui Chengxiu step out, his brow relaxed. But after hearing him out, he frowned again.

He had a headache precisely because he did not want to sacrifice the rook to save the king. Sacrificing the rook was easy; saving the king was not. The Donglin Party's spearhead aimed at Xu Xianchun was only a test. Once Xu Xianchun fell, the Donglin Party would surely press their advantage and tear into him.

Otherwise, what was one Xu Xianchun? Of his ten grandsons and forty adopted sons, anyone could replace him.

"Then tell this one, how does this method of sacrificing the rook to save the king, one retreat and one advance, work?" Wei Zhongxian asked patiently.

Previously, using several prisoners as scapegoats and fabricating the destruction of a Di Barbarian den had been Cui Chengxiu's suggestion. It had helped recover some of the situation.

"Eunuch, the Imperial Prison being breached by a fierce Di Barbarian general cannot be disputed. That is also what gives those Donglin scoundrels the confidence to bite so wildly. What we must do now is stabilize the situation: take the initiative to plead guilty and dismiss Xu Xianchun, leaving the Donglin scoundrels no grounds for criticism. That is the retreat. The advance is to petition His Majesty to summon the former Flying Fish Guard Commander Shen Lian back to the capital to take charge of the situation," Cui Chengxiu analyzed.

"Shen Lian?" Wei Zhongliang's brows twitched.

"Summon Shen Lian back to the capital?"

"No. If Shen Lian returns to the capital, the Flying Fish Guard will slip from our control."

"Exactly. Absolutely not."

Not only Wei Zhongliang, but everyone in the hall changed expression.

Wei Zhongliang was not the Flying Fish Guard Commander. His control over the Flying Fish Guard relied on the allegiance of the two commandants of the Northern and Southern Commanderies, Xu Xianchun and Tian Ergeng. The true commander of the Flying Fish Guard was named Shen Lian.

A year ago, they had joined forces to slander him, and one imperial edict had banished him beyond the frontier.

The position of Flying Fish Guard Commander had, in reality, remained vacant ever since.

What kind of man was Shen Lian?

He had led the Flying Fish Guard for over ten years. His strength had reached the peak of internal force, and he possessed immense prestige and command authority within the Flying Fish Guard. If he returned to the capital, the Flying Fish Guard would change hands.

Even beyond the pass, he could still exert influence over the Flying Fish Guard.

When the Punishment Slaves had crossed the border last time, it was he who had sounded the warning.

And since the Punishment Slaves entered the border and had not appeared again, quite a few people had begun to suspect that Shen Lian had secretly made a move.