Chapter 1874

Liu Yuzhang stopped mid‑sentence, his deep eyes fixed on Hu Xiaotian: "What exactly is your relationship with Guiyi Fu Zhuo?"

Hu Xiaotian chuckled wryly. Not only Liu Yuzhang, but almost anyone who had seen Guiyi Fu Zhuo's medical skills would think they were related to him. Strictly speaking, aside from coming from the same world, he and Guiyi Fu Zhuo had no connection at all, but saying so wouldn't be believed, especially by Liu Yuzhang, that suspicious old fox. Hu Xiaotian felt denying it was pointless, so he nodded and said: "He taught me medicine."

Liu Yuzhang said: "Nonsense! When you became reasonable, Guiyi Fu Zhuo was already dead."

Hu Xiaotian chuckled, and from Liu Yuzhang's words he could even more clearly see that he and Hu Buwei were closely acquainted. Although Liu Yuzhang was in the palace, he should know very well about his own childhood. Hu Xiaotian said: "Who said Guiyi Fu Zhuo is dead? He's been alive and well in this world all along."

Liu Yuzhang's gaze turned gloomy; although he was half‑believing, half‑doubting, he felt no surprise at all: "Have you seen him?"

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said: "I saw him again in Yongdu a year ago. He went to the tomb of Emperor Jingde of Da Yong trying to steal the Heaven‑Man Myriad Images Chart, and I happened to run into him."

Liu Yuzhang said: "The Heaven‑Man Myriad Images Chart? Utter nonsense, just a trick he uses to deceive people."

Hu Xiaotian carefully observed Liu Yuzhang's expression; it seemed he didn't know the details. According to Qin Yutong, the Heaven‑Man Myriad Images Chart can alter the physique of mixed‑blood descendants of the Heaven's Mandate Ones, letting them overcome innate weaknesses and survive better. As far as Hu Xiaotian knew, Qin Yutong and Ji Feihua should be of such bloodline, and the head of Xuantian Guan, Ren Tianqing, and Prince Yan Xue Shengjing might be as well. That's why the chart is priceless to them, but useless to others.

So Ren Tianqing and Xue Shengjing would stop at nothing to obtain the Heaven‑Man Myriad Images Chart, whereas Liu Yuzhang couldn't care less—even if he got it, it would be useless to him. Hu Xiaotian brought up the chart for another reason: to test whether Liu Yuzhang is a descendant of the Heaven's Mandate Ones, and at the same time to judge whether he is on the same side as Xue Shengjing and Ren Tianqing.

Hu Xiaotian said: "You probably don't know the true function of the Heaven‑Man Myriad Images Chart."

Liu Yuzhang said disdainfully: "What's so strange about that?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "Since you know about the Heaven's Mandate Ones, you should know they left some descendants in this world, and those descendants all have more or less defects."

Liu Yuzhang laughed loudly: "Heaven's Mandate Ones? So what? They still die at the hands of ordinary people. If they were truly favored by Heaven's Mandate, why would they end up being executed by lingchi? Ling Jiazi is also a Heaven's Mandate One; she couldn't change her fate either and ultimately couldn't escape death."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Was it you who killed her?"

Liu Yuzhang slowly shook his head: "Heaven's misdeeds can be forgiven, but self‑inflicted ones cannot be survived. Ling Jiazi thought too highly of herself, believing she stood above us; in her eyes we were not even ants. Yet she overlooked one fact: a fierce tiger cannot prevail against a pack of wolves, and moreover any tiger will have moments of dozing."

Hu Xiaotian secretly thought that although Liu Yuzhang hadn't directly admitted to killing Ling Jiazi, his words amounted to an indirect admission. If Qiqi learned the true cause of her mother's death, who knows how she'd feel? But from Liu Yuzhang's words it's not hard to tell that back then, more than just him was involved in the plot against Ling Jiazi. It seems that when Ling Jiazi was alive, Hong Beimo, Liu Yuzhang, Ren Tianqing, Quan De'an, and even the Laohuangdi Long Xuan'en were all under her control. Yet this is puzzling: if Ling Jiazi truly was that formidable, why does Dakang's history have no bold stroke recording her? Even all the subjects thought she was merely a depressed crown princess who came to a sad end.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Eunuch Liu really can bide his time—he's endured years of hardship just for that skull inside Long Ling Shengjing, but why did he suddenly give up now?" This is exactly what Hu Xiaotian can't figure out: Liu Yuzhang had put up with it for so many years, so why abandon it when he hadn't achieved his goal?

Liu Yuzhang sighed, a look of vengeful hatred rising in his eyes: "It's all because of that bitch Ji Feihua!"

Hu Xiaotian said: "Eunuch Liu's martial arts shouldn't be inferior to hers, right?"

Liu Yuzhang chuckled: "Martial arts alone can't solve everything. If they could, the current emperor would have to be the world's top martial artist! No one should overlook the importance of power and strategy. Even if you had everything, you couldn't stay vigilant every moment—if you let your guard down, that might be when your life ends." He paused and added: "The Ji Feihua matter is my oversight; I thought he wouldn't live past twenty, but I didn't expect Ling Jiazi to give him so many benefits. By the time I realized I needed to eliminate him, his wings had already grown full."

Hu Xiaotian recalled how Liu Yuzhang had once used Ji Feihua's fresh blood as a medicine primer, and said softly: "I heard that when she first entered the palace, she was actually following Eunuch Liu."

Liu Yuzhang said: "Who told you that? Was it her herself?"

Hu Xiaotian smiled at Liu Yuzhang.

Liu Yuzhang said: "I know she's still alive, and I know you once sneaked into Qingxuan Temple in Heavenly Fragrance Kingdom together with her and snatched a skull from Su Yujin's hands, right?"

Hu Xiaotian smiled and nodded; Liu Yuzhang's words further proved his close relationship with Hu Buwei—otherwise how could he know this so clearly?

Liu Yuzhang said: "Ji Feihua is no simpleton—she actually grasped the Heavenly Dao power from the skull, yet she still couldn't escape her fate!"

Hu Xiaotian's heart sank; Liu Yuzhang's words seemed to hint at something.

Liu Yuzhang said: "The Seven Treasures Linglong Pagoda and Long Ling Shengjing—do you know who built these two secret realms beneath the palace?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "Everyone says it was the War Saint Zhuge Yun Chun."

Liu Yuzhang nodded and said: "These two secret realms have in fact surpassed this world's craftsmanship and wisdom. Although Zhuge Yun Chun was versed in heaven and man, he was after all born in this world, so his wisdom is ultimately limited. How could he have designed these underground structures that far exceed human imagination and cognition?"

Hu Xiaotian froze; he had never considered this before. Could Zhuge Yun Chun also be a Heaven's Mandate One? But that seems unlikely, given the mural shows that when the Heaven's Mandate Ones fell into Purple Rosy Cloud Lake, Zhuge Yun Chun was already the Dakang chancellor, and he personally presided over the beheading of the two Heaven's Mandate Ones bearing on their backs.

Liu Yuzhang said: "It's true that the skulls left behind a lot of information, but ordinary people can't comprehend it. The craftsmanship and technology Zhuge Yun Chun used to build these two underground structures have far surpassed this era; he is naturally not a Heaven's Mandate One and lacks the ability to comprehend the information from the skulls, so the only remaining possibility is that he received guidance."

Hu Xiaotian's eyes widened in amazement as he said: "You mean those two Heaven's Mandate Ones gave guidance to Zhuge Yun Chun?"

Liu Yuzhang said: "Back then Zhuge Yun Chun wasn't the one who directly captured those two Heaven's Mandate Ones; he was ordered to interrogate them. Following normal procedure, to eradicate the roots and leave no future trouble, one should not only execute the Heaven's Mandate Ones by lingchi but also crush their bones and scatter their ashes. Yet Zhuge Yun Chun kept two skulls, which clearly goes against reason."

Hu Xiaotian whispered: "It seems they reached an agreement; the other side passed him some things, and in exchange he promised to keep their skulls."

Liu Yuzhang smiled and said: "At the beginning, I also thought that, I thought the Heaven's Mandate ones put forward a condition that Zhuge Yun Chun could not refuse, to keep the Skull, to leave it for posterity, but later I discovered things were not that simple; there must be deeper secrets hidden in the underground palace of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Zhuge Yun Chun was a great minister of his generation, wholly loyal to Dakang; he would not do anything harmful to Dakang."

Liu Yuzhang said: "Never underestimate a person's curiosity and thirst for knowledge; Zhuge Yun Chun enjoyed astrology and numerology, and what the Heaven's Mandate ones knew was exactly what he had long dreamed of; perhaps he never thought of harming Dakang's state, yet he was used by the Heaven's Mandate ones; I checked the time of his death, it happened exactly seven days after the completion of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda—could it be merely a coincidence?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "Perhaps it's just a coincidence."

Liu Yuzhang said: "Human wisdom has its limits; Zhuge Yun Chun built these two structures, although he glimpsed a whole new world from them, yet he died from exhaustion, and this was deliberately done by the two Heaven's Mandate ones."

Hu Xiaotian silently sighed, if Liu Yuzhang's speculation were true, those two aliens were cunning enough.

Liu Yuzhang said: "Although the Heaven's Mandate ones are dead, Zhuge Yun Chun nevertheless built these two underground structures according to their plan, placing their skulls separately in the two structures. I have previously read Zhuge Yun Chun's writings from his lifetime; from them one can see some clues. Zhuge Yun Chun died with great regret; he was originally a person of extraordinary intelligence, but by the time of his death he had realized he was being used by the two Heaven's Mandate ones, so he wanted to make amends for everything—yet the two underground structures he built, he himself could not enter."

Hu Xiaotian said: "You have already entered the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, haven't you? Then the mechanism of Long Ling Shengjing is not that complicated either."

Liu Yuzhang smiled and said: "When everyone thought the skulls contained a great secret, who could have imagined that the two skulls were merely doorbell bricks, simply the key to open the underground palace of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda?" (~^~)