"Lord Wang, you're certainly alert. You realized something was wrong so quickly. As expected of the Duke of Song's disciple!"
Out in the deserted countryside, Wang Ye silently studied the person opposite him. He hadn't found him particularly strange when he was wearing armor, but now that he had taken it off, his exaggerated muscles paired with a scholarly, fair-skinned face made him look as bizarre as could be.
"That demon fox... took the place of the Yuchi Residence's old matriarch?" Wang Ye asked, staring steadily at him.
The man disguised as Yuchi Peng looked startled, then smiled. "As expected of the Divine Strategist's successor. You've managed to piece it together in such a short time. I'm impressed... impressed!"
Wang Ye's mouth twitched. He really had disgraced his teacher, failing to notice a thing!
It seemed the Thousand-Faced Demon Fox was not only highly capable, but also skilled at manipulating people. It had anticipated that he would turn to the Yuchi Residence for help and laid its plans in advance, waiting for him at the Yuchi Household!
Then again, it made sense. Since he had come to Liuzhou, Yuchi Peng was the most powerful person here and the one with whom he had the best relationship. But how had that demon learned all this?
To lay its plans in advance and carry them out so smoothly, it had to have known from the outset that he was in charge of the case.
They had someone in the imperial court... and that person held considerable authority!!
"Is that the legendary Ghost Horse?" Wang Ye asked, pointing at the horse in front of the carriage.
Now that its true form had been revealed, the horse looked completely different. It stood four meters tall, with a sturdy body like an elephant's, scarlet eyes, and black qi rising from its entire body. Even the Dragon Horses that drew the royal carriage in the royal capital were not so imposing.
Legend had it that Ghost Horses could travel between yin and yang, taking a shortcut through them to cover a thousand li in a matter of minutes!
"Lord Wang, you're very knowledgeable!" the false Yuchi Peng praised him again, his expression mild, as though he were in no hurry at all.
"Then, with your strange appearance, you must be the Ghost Child described in the book?"
Wang Ye recalled the Record of Strange Things: in the north, there were Ghost Children, strange in appearance, with the robust physiques of nine-foot-tall men but faces as young as children's. Their strength was boundless, and the strongest could match Ghost King Xiang in a contest of strength!
But the fellow before him differed somewhat from the book's description. Though his face was youthful, it did not go so far as to resemble a child's.
This time, his opponent did not answer. He merely smiled and took off his gloves.
With a boom, the metal gloves struck the ground, smashing a huge crater into it!
Wang Ye's pupils contracted. Those gloves had to weigh more than ten thousand jin!
"Ah, that's much better!" the big man cheered. His voice sounded even more like a child's now, as did his cheering movements and manner, but his strength was another matter!
The next instant, a childlike mischief in his eyes, Ghost Child slapped at Wang Ye. His speed and strength were so great that the ground instantly collapsed. His palm was still half a meter from Wang Ye when the wind pressure generated by the blow distorted half of Wang Ye's face!
But at that very instant, Ghost Child's palm suddenly twisted out of shape on its own. A crisp crack of breaking bones rang out, and he recoiled as if shocked, wailing in agony!
His expression cold, Wang Ye gently touched the side of his face that the wind had distorted. If that blow had actually landed on him, there probably wouldn't have been a scrap of bone left. In terms of sheer strength, even the real Yuchi Peng probably couldn't match his opponent!
"The power of Evening Elephant!" Ghost Child cried shrilly. "Mister Miao was right. Liu Yu really did pass that thing on to you!"
"Mister Miao?" Wang Ye glanced around and took a deep breath. Of course, with such an intricate trap laid for him, how could Ghost Child be the only fighter here at the end?
A gaunt figure shrouded in a black robe slowly emerged from the shadows of the woods and stood beside Ghost Child, who had retreated.
An arm as dry as deadwood emerged from the man's loose robes. He gently stroked Ghost Child's arm, and the twisted limb began to heal before their eyes.
"Evening Elephant, one of the thirty-six Heavenly Stems, truly lives up to its reputation!" the black-robed man said hoarsely. "The Duke of Song has finally found a suitable successor. To bear the power of Evening Elephant at such a young age is remarkable, truly remarkable..."
"You flatter me, senior!" Wang Ye bowed respectfully.
A sorcerer, a practitioner of one of the forbidden professions passed down since the late years of the previous dynasty. His level was extremely high; he even knew how to reverse a spell, a method the Duke of Song himself could not use!
He had seen it clearly: the method the man used to heal Ghost Child's injury had forcibly reversed it. Only the top sorcerers of the previous dynasty could master a method that seemed to turn back time itself.
"May I ask your honored name, senior, so that I might pay my respects?" Wang Ye probed.
"What name does a man whose country has fallen have that's worthy of your respect?" The man gave a self-mocking chuckle. "Besides, you wouldn't recognize it if I told you. Your master wouldn't have spoken to you about old people like us, either."
Wang Ye fell silent. With a figure like this taking action, he would probably have a hard time making it through today...
"I'm very curious," the black-robed man called Mister Miao asked hoarsely. "You noticed something was wrong beforehand and used the Flying Star Secret Technique. Why, then, did you give the opportunity to that ordinary man without a bloodline?"
When the black-robed man pointed, Ghost Child finally noticed that the carriage had been shattered by the force and wind pressure of his slap, but the fellow who had been inside with Wang Ye had vanished at some point!
Wang Ye fell silent for a moment. Flying Star was a secret technique of Evening Elephant that traversed space, one of its supreme mysteries. Given his ability, once he used it, he could not do so again for seven days. It had been his only chance to escape.
But at the last moment, he had given that chance to Chen Qing.
"The Ghost Horse was traveling the Yin-Yang Road. Using Flying Star recklessly was risky too!" Wang Ye looked up at him frankly. "If I left him in the carriage, he would certainly die. Even if I used Flying Star, I might not survive. So I might as well switch things around. Perhaps both of us could live."
"Hahaha, you're a greedy young man!" Mister Miao laughed, but then said, "That's not the real reason, though, is it?"
"What do you mean, senior?"
"Although using Flying Star on the Yin-Yang Road carries risks, someone as clever as you should have guessed that with such a trap laid for you, your chances of survival were slim. Escaping with Flying Star would clearly have given you a better chance. That boy is just an ordinary jinshi without a bloodline, while you are Liu Yu's disciple. You wouldn't have shown such misplaced mercy, unless..." Mister Miao paused and gave a sinister laugh. "He's important!"
Wang Ye sighed. As expected of an old monster from the previous dynasty, he was hard to fool...
But he couldn't concern himself with all that now. It was hard to say whether he would even survive today. He could only pray that the boy wouldn't waste the chance he had risked his life to give him!
Cough, cough, cough!
Elsewhere, Chen Qing lay on the ground somewhere in the countryside, vomiting profusely. He had been unable to recover for quite a while.
"Oh, damn, that was way more intense than the giant pendulum ride at Happy Valley!"
Chen Qing complained as he vomited, his head so dizzy that he even blurted out Sichuan dialect from his previous life.
He had no idea how long he threw up, until even bitter bile came out, before he finally recovered a little. Only then did Chen Qing dare cautiously open his closed eyes and look around.
All the while, he prayed that he had not been teleported into the Yin Road. During the closed beta in his previous life, countless groups of top players had died there.
He opened his eyes to see clear skies, blue with white clouds. Chen Qing immediately breathed a sigh of relief, then remained lying there and resumed vomiting, reassured.
That Wang fellow was a real friend, leaving the teleportation opportunity to him at a moment like that. What a good man! If he got the chance, he would certainly pay his respects at his grave!
After resting for a long while, Chen Qing finally regained some energy and began thinking over the whole affair.
Wang Ye had fallen into a trap and was probably done for. Their opponents were a powerful, meticulous organization, and quite a few demons and monsters were involved. Besides the Thousand-Faced Fox, there were Ghost Child and the Ghost Horse, and perhaps other, even stranger things...
He had also gained a piece of information about the power system: besides Bloodline Power, this world had actually inherited the sorcerers' methods as well!
Wang Ye had used a spatial technique to teleport him, and in Chen Qing's design, the only one capable of using spatial techniques was Evening Elephant, one of the thirty-six Heavenly Stems!
The Heavenly Stems and Earthly Fiends were unlike ordinary demons and monsters. They were terrifying beings who had died, but because they had been so powerful in life, their power remained in the world after death. Those who could use that power were sorcerers. This had originally been one of the paths only players could develop, but unexpectedly, the NPCs of this world had developed it themselves.
It seemed there was a reason the human race had managed to hold on. But how many hidden paths had they developed, and how far had they taken them?
He could only probe into that slowly later.
The most urgent question now was what to do next.
Chen Qing lay limply on the grass, looking at the sky as the morning sun rose, at a loss.
Before teleporting him, Wang Ye had told him to find the real Yuchi Peng. He had given him a token and said that once Yuchi Peng received it, he would escort Chen Qing back to the capital.
But how could it be that simple?
First, he had never met Yuchi Peng. They didn't need to arrange for the Thousand-Faced Fox to alter his memories; they could simply plant another fake in the regional commander's residence to deceive him.
Second, an impostor had been posing as the regional commander in the regional commander's residence for days. Whether the real Yuchi Peng was even alive was in question. Even if he was alive, for them to make such an arrangement, they had to be able to control his movements. Even if the real Yuchi Peng wasn't under their control, there would be plenty of their people around him. Chen Qing would probably be devoured, bones and all, before he could get anywhere near him!
All things considered, seeking Yuchi Peng out meant certain death...
But what if he didn't go looking for him?
Should he head straight to the capital?
That wouldn't work either...
Chen Qing shook his head. For them to set a trap like this, they clearly had ample intelligence. They had to know in advance that Wang Ye would take the case to arrange for the Thousand-Faced Fox to wait for him at the Yuchi Residence and to plant a fake regional commander in the regional commander's residence.
That meant they had considerable influence in the royal capital!
He was a frail scholar who had no intelligence at all. If he rushed back to the capital, he would die even faster.
What should he do?
The helplessness on Chen Qing's face grew. He really wanted to sleep and escape it all.
But he knew he couldn't. Time was short. Once the royal guards who had escorted his family to his new post returned, they would certainly look for Wang Ye. If they couldn't find him... wait!
A thought struck Chen Qing, and he suddenly sat up.
Something wasn't right...
Had those people gone to so much trouble just to kill Wang Ye?
What was the point?
If a vice minister of the Court of Judicial Review died here, the royal guards would report it, and it would certainly cause a stir. That would only force the higher-ups to send someone stronger here!
They had enough power to lay such an elaborate trap. Had they done it just to fight the higher-ups to the bitter end?
That made no sense...
Chen Qing rubbed his head and thought carefully.
Unless... they... could make a fake Wang Ye!!
At that thought, Chen Qing felt everything suddenly become clear.
Was it possible?
Perhaps most people would think it impossible. Make a fake Wang Ye to deceive the reigning emperor and all the civil and military officials?
That would be madness!
But Chen Qing knew that among the monsters he had designed, there was one kind of being that could do it!
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