Chapter 1341: Playing Gods and Ghosts, the Patchwork Monster

He was eating a plum, and as soon as he opened his mouth, plum juice sprayed out. He Lingchuan dodged just in time, his face full of disgust: "Can you pay a little attention to personal hygiene?"

"Mr. Dong's work has surfaced in Daishan, and even a few mountain bandits have seen it. So the saying that the Black Armor Knights are the minions of the Nine Nether Evil Spirits has already spread throughout Feng County." Wanqisu Feng suppressed a laugh, "Everyone thinks that since the evil spirits of the Nine Nether are serving as your subordinates, you must therefore be the Great, Great Emperor of the Nine Nether."

"Reasonable, reasonable." Dong Rui laughed, then took another bite of the plum, "Whether to say it or not, I think this title suits you quite well."

He Lingchuan always kept in mind the principle taught by the Mirage Demon: "When the false is made to seem true, the true also becomes false." He wanted the common people to believe the Black Armor Knights were a non-human divine army; the best way to achieve this was to let people see the Black Armor Knights' "true form"—the more terrifying, the better; the more ferocious, the better; the less human-like, the better.

Reverence, reverence—actually, "awe" always comes before "respect."

This required Dong Rui to take action.

He had taken many corpses and materials from the underground burial site of True Person Minghui, most of which still retained a trace of vitality. He Lingchuan then asked him to prepare several humanoid corpse puppets, dress them in black armor, and have them act alongside the Yangshan Army.

As long as they "accidentally" revealed their faces during battle, witnesses would naturally assume that all the Black Armor Knights were not human.

Emissaries from the Nine Nether who hook souls wander about capturing evildoers, fighting evil with evil, violence with violence—such stories, those in power naturally do not believe, but the common folk do; not only are they willing to believe, they also enjoy discussing them with relish.

Thus, He Lingchuan's goal had been achieved.

He thought for a moment, then said to Wanqisu Feng: "Let them shout for now; having a few more titles isn't a bad thing."

Anyway, all vows will eventually gather to him.

Dong Rui glanced at him: "Do you have any idea how unreasonable your demand is? The remains of celestial demons, or rather celestial gods, are generally one zhang tall, yet you want them compressed to no more than seven chi, and not only that—you want them scaled down proportionally, without distorting their build, and still suitable for combat."

After all, once they put on the black armor, they are cavalry too, and must fight and kill.

"You're daydreaming, and you still expect me to pull this off in twenty days!" Dong Rui snorted angrily, "If you're so capable, why don't you go up to heaven yourself?"

He Lingchuan also reached out and took a plum: "Then how did you manage it?"

"I was born with extraordinary talent."

He Lingchuan looked at him, raising his right eyebrow: "The demonic constructs you've transformed with divine blood—don't they all seem able to change size and weight? So, does this power itself come from the celestial demons?"

This guy is really hard to fool, Dong Rui rolled his eyes: "Fine, the celestial demons themselves can change size. I'll find a way to activate this... function in them."

"And the other corpse puppets—when will they be ready for use?" When He Lingchuan encountered the Soul-Capturing Mirror in Fugu State, this mirror could only project two mirror ghosts outward; after so many infusions of imperial flow elixir, the current Soul-Capturing Mirror can now project six mirror ghosts simultaneously, and has achieved reasonable control over them—although they cannot stray far from the mirror, meaning they cannot stray far from He Lingchuan.

"It's not that simple." Explaining the principle to a layperson is truly a great torment, "Did you forget the principle that the body and soul must be compatible? The celestial demon's body is powerful; even if it has been dead for many years, but relying only on your few weak mirror ghosts—how to put it? It's like a child trying to ride a large horse—you simply can't make it obey!"

"Then?"

"The corpse puppet mixed in with your troop, which can be driven by just two mirror ghosts, is so because its core is a juvenile celestial demon, which has low soul requirements, and furthermore, most of this corpse puppet's body is filled with the remains of demonic beasts from the burial ground."

He Lingchuan let out an "oh": "So it's a patchwork monster?"

"... What does that mean?" Dong Rui snapped angrily, "Are you insulting my work?"

"I take it back, you continue." He Lingchuan knew very well that at this moment he shouldn't provoke the project's technical lead.

"The principle is complex, I can't explain it clearly to you. As for the other two corpse puppets, they'll still need seven or eight days to be completed." Dong Rui coughed, "In short, you must remember: even if you use only a bit of celestial demon remains, using mirror ghosts to drive these black armor corpse puppets, at best you can make them run, jump, and brawl—but it's very hard to make them fight as freely as cultivators do! Unless—"

He Lingchuan had already understood: "Unless I find a stronger soul to match them?"

"Exactly." Dong Rui nodded, "Actually, the Xuanlu Ghost King would be very suitable, but he's our enemy, and he's already dead."

"On the Jin Gold Plains, demons and monsters are most numerous—this shouldn't be too difficult." He Lingchuan had the Soul Box in hand, collecting spirits was now second nature to him, "Worst case, I'll use the spirit flowers from the Juoluo Treasure Box to nourish the mirror ghosts, so they grow faster."

The Juoluo tree in the Soul Box, when it blooms, produces spirit flowers that nourish and heal the soul—effective for both humans and ghosts.

"Speaking of this, Master Fu received a plea for help: in Liu Guo's Li County, a murder case occurred—a manor in the suburbs saw over eighty people die in a single night."

"Do ghosts eat people?" Dong Rui asked, "Otherwise, why would they seek help from Old Fu?"

"Most died in a gruesome state, covered in wounds, as if attacked by a ferocious beast; but a few died peacefully, unharmed all over, as if they had passed away in their sleep." He Lingchuan shook his head, "If the latter were seventy or eighty-year-old old women, it would be called a peaceful end in due course; many people die this way, and locally they suspect demonic ghosts are causing trouble."

Dong Rui stroked his chin: "How does this latter way of dying sound so familiar to me?"

"The Xuanlu Ghost King and his minions eat people exactly like this."

"No, we need to go further back..."

Just then, Jiang Lishui entered to report: "Master of the Great House, Fan Shuang of Yao State has come to visit."

After a few dozen breaths, they met He Lingchuan in the study.

Fan Shuang had facilitated the first two business deals between Yao State and the Yangshan Islands, and thus was appointed as the liaison for both sides; recently he often came to the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce to move about.

He hadn't even stepped inside when He Lingchuan strode forward to meet him, grabbing his arm without hesitation and pulling him outward: "Good timing, Brother Fan. It's noon—let's go to the Zhuyin Wine House, eat and chat!"

Could Fan Shuang possibly say no?

The Zhuyin Wine House had been open for over twenty years, a tavern frequented by locals in Ju City. He Lingchuan waved his hand and took it over; the main part remained the original tavern unchanged, still following the affordable route, merely redecorated to avoid losing popularity.

However, behind the Zhuyin Wine House, by the small river, the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce had built another row of riverside elegant rooms, serving high-end gatherings and business banquets.

Ju City was merely an ordinary, unremarkable small town, originally with few wealthy households. But after the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce opened a branch here, various forces gathered here, and with the original township association's elegant gathering also choosing Ju City, this is how the high-end wine house came to be.

(End of Chapter)