The Scheme for the Marquis of Sui's Pearl

The Chang'an City was no different from any other day in the morning.

Everything was shrouded in darkness, swept away without a trace as day broke.

As long as things are in a normal order, the thought of cruelly harming someone becomes a delusion.

Zhang Xuezhou and his group, undeterred by the great Confucian scholars like Shen Peigong, chose to return to Chang'an City through the city gate entrance, as did Kong Zhong and his group.

At the city gate, Kong Zhong and his companions were covered in mud and had to take off their clothes and shake off the mud at the gate guards before they were allowed to enter the city.

"They're the ones who ran back!"

Yi Shuo was almost driven to despair by Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding. But when she saw Kong Zhong and the others, and then looked at her own relatively clean appearance, she finally realized that Kong Zhong and the others looked like they had run dozens of miles, while they were much cleaner.

I still think there are night horses in the high mountains!

She murmured softly, and then she heard Zhang Xuezhou reach out and greet her warmly.

"Brother Anguo, it's so good to see you!"

"Brother Dongfang, it's a pleasure to see you too! We were just about to come and thank you!"

"Thank me?"

Zhang Xuezhou was indeed being very polite; after all, he couldn't ignore someone he knew.

He greeted them, while Kong Anguo, who was shaking off the mud from his clothes at the city gate, looked delighted.

Having survived such a close call, Kong Anguo felt content, so it's understandable that he was happy.

His mindset is indeed different from that of ordinary people, or you could say that the Kong family has a very unique mindset; they are happy to survive by any means.

Kong Anguo's face did not show the fear of surviving a near-death experience, but rather genuine joy from the bottom of his heart.

Upon seeing Zhang Xuezhou and others also queuing to enter the city, he couldn't help but bow and express his gratitude.

In short, all their promises to Shen Peigong were fulfilled, and no one from the imperial court came to arrest them.

The collapse of the passageway also covered up many other things.

"Oh ho, you have no idea what happened to us last night!" said Du Wencai, who loved to talk. "It would scare you to death if I told you!"

"What's there to be scared of? It's just that we got bombed," Ye Siqian said. "This isn't a good place to talk, so let's not say anything!"

"Brother Ye, you always tell me not to talk nonsense, but you've said what I hadn't even said yet!"

Du Wencai muttered something, but didn't say anything more.

After scraping the mud off their bodies and wrapping their outer garments around their waists, the guards at the city gate allowed them to enter the city.

"Brother Dongfang!"

Brother Anguo!

Kong Anguo quickly walked several dozen steps and caught up with Zhang Xuezhou and the others who were waiting in the distance.

"You treated me to breakfast last time, so I'll return the favor this time," Zhang Xuezhou, extending his hand in invitation.

"We should be the ones inviting you," Kong Anguo said.

"Yes, we'd like to invite you," Kong Zhong nodded.

"Brother Kong, we're out of money," Du Wencai nudged Kong Zhong to remind him.

"We have no money, no money... If we have no money, we should accept other people's kindness!"

Kong Zhong thought for several seconds before finally managing to utter this rather embarrassing remark.

But he wasn't rigid in his thinking; when they were hungry, they couldn't care less about saving face.

He forced out a sentence and followed behind Zhang Xuezhou, who was treating everyone to dinner.

Walk about 200 meters along the entrance to Chang'an City, turn left to reach the entrance to the East Market, and turn right to reach the entrance to the West Market. There are many stalls along the street that sell breakfast.

Zhang Xuezhou took a shortcut home, entering the West Market directly and choosing a breakfast stall nearby.

For just one and a half taels of silver, you can buy three millet cakes. If you're willing to pay more, you can add minced meat to the millet cakes and eat them together. There are also common breakfast items like millet porridge.

Zhang Xuezhou allowed everyone to take whatever they wanted. It was a bit much for him to feed a large group of people a proper meal in Chang'an City, but breakfast by the roadside was no problem at all.

"We should thank you for lending us the holy decree!"

After serving breakfast with both hands, Kong Anguo found a small stool next to Zhang Xuezhou and thanked him in a low voice, explaining why he was thanking him.

"This is something left behind by your ancestors," Zhang Xuezhou said speechlessly. "It's a good thing that he's blessing you!"

"This is the first time I've ever seen my ancestor," Kong Anguo said with a sense of lingering satisfaction. "My ancestor was indeed tall and strong, and even in his old age, he was still full of vigor and vitality!"

"Your ancestors were indeed very tall!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

He had also witnessed Sage Kong manifesting his power to protect him; after the power manifested, the other party was a head and a half taller than him, and correspondingly, his physique was extremely tall and strong.

Standing in front of the other person, Zhang Xuezhou looked petite, much like how Yi Shuo's height contrasted with his own.

He responded in agreement, knowing that Kong Anguo and the others had escaped only because of the Sage Kong.

"You know what, there are very few people in the world like my ancestor," Kong Anguo said.

"Absolutely!"

"I've only ever seen the patriarch's image in portraits before, I never imagined I'd actually see a projection of his True Person spirit in person," Kong Anguo said. "Every movement he made was truly full of charm!"

"What is divine projection?" Zhang Xuezhou asked curiously.

"That's the divine thought of our ancestors imbued into the treasure, along with Law Power, activating the Law Power under certain specific conditions," Kong Anguo pondered. "It's actually no different from a trigger mechanism, except that forming a mechanism with divine thought and Law Power requires extremely high cultivation and Law Treasure capable of supporting it."

"I see!"

"We encountered great danger last night. Our ancestors probably sensed it and appeared to avert disaster," Kong Zhong interjected in a low voice. "Shen Peigong said it was some kind of overwhelming corpse Sha Qi, and an extremely ferocious creature is about to break out and wreak havoc on the world!"

"And then your ancestor subdued the peerless ferocious beast?" Zhang Xuezhou asked curiously.

"Yes, they've been subdued!"

Kong Zhong nodded repeatedly.

He felt around in his pocket and then took out a round, jet-black bead about the size of an orange.

"This is the evil creature our ancestors subdued," Kong Zhong said. "It's definitely a treasure. If you're willing to agree, we'll use this evil treasure to redeem the sacred decree!"

"What's the purpose of this ominous creature?" Zhang Xuezhou asked doubtfully. "It gives me a very bad feeling!"

"It was certainly inauspicious before it was subdued, but it will be auspicious after it is subdued," Kong Zhong explained. "It's like a fierce tiger that's been killed; its bones can be used in medicine, and they're all treasures!"

"That makes some sense, so what is its purpose?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"You know, what our ancestors subdued was definitely not an ordinary thing; it must have a great purpose," Kong Zhongdao said.

"We haven't found it to have any effect at the moment!"

Seeing that Kong Zhong couldn't explain further, Kong Anguo had no choice but to stop his father, who was eager to bring his precious child back.

"I've read many classic texts on treasures, but I can't be completely certain yet," Kong Anguo said in a low voice, "If my guess is correct, this treasure is indeed no less valuable than our family's imperial edict."

"Oh?"

"This could be the Enlightenment Pearl, the inner core of a peerless demon, or even the legendary Suihou Pearl, or a treasure similar to it!"

"I understand the second one. What are the other two?"

"Enlightenment Beads are remnants left behind after the cremation of great cultivators. They may contain the residual power of these great cultivators, or they may inspire enlightenment. Those who can leave behind Enlightenment Beads are all great cultivators who are renowned throughout the land, hence the extreme rarity of Enlightenment Beads," Kong Anguo said. "As for the latter, they are important sacrificial objects from the Qin Dynasty after launching wars. It is rumored to possess the ability to control yin entities, making them a coveted treasure for those who practice Incantation Technique such as soul control and corpse control!"

"There's definitely a secret behind it!"

Zhang Xuezhou a beat.

He recalled Jin Chang's purpose in coming to Yangling, never expecting to encounter the pursuit of the King of King of Huainan.

"What does the King of Huainan want with the Suihou Pearl?" Zhang Xuezhou wondered. "Could it be that he wants to control Emperor Jing's corpse?"

Zhang Xuezhou thought for a few seconds and felt that he had vaguely grasped a little bit about the intention of the King of Huainan in seeking the treasure.

The other side might be trying to stage a spectacle of Emperor Jing's corpse appearing during the sacrificial Emperor Jing, thereby forcing the new emperor to abdicate.

This method is simple yet effective, allowing the King of Huainan to obtain legitimate status without the Empress Dowager's permission.

But achieving all this requires two prerequisites.

One is that Emperor Jing has already transformed into a yin entity, and the other is that one needs to be able to control Emperor Jing, who has transformed into a yin entity.

If any one of these conditions is violated, the King of Huainan's plan will be impossible to achieve.