Chapter 380: Acquired (Three-in-One)

"Your Majesty, this condition is not beyond negotiation."

Tian Jing and Mr. Floating felt their scalps explode!

My lord! Do you wish to think carefully once more about exactly what condition you have agreed to?!

That one is the ruler of Ghost Wushan.

The Canal Dragon King may indeed have been somewhat "troubled by the hassle and unwilling to move," which is why He has been able to reign within Ghost Wushan all this time.

But there must also be a certain degree of "difficulty" involved.

After the Ancient Corpse Empress suppressed her "terrified form," she not only looked much more agreeable, but her behavior also leaned more toward that of a living person.

Her delicate brows shifted slightly as she said coldly, "My conditions are clear: one is one, two is two. If you agree but then delay or perfunctorily fulfill them, my sword remains as sharp as it was in those days!"

Xu Yuan immediately clasped his fists and bowed: "I would never dare deceive Your Majesty."

The fear and awe in his voice were obvious—too obvious.

Even Tian Jing could hear it.

But that was precisely the effect Lord Xu desired.

The Ancient Corpse Empress accepted even Mr. Floating's so exaggerated praise, which shows that such is her nature.

Or perhaps she has been dead for too long, causing both her body and spirit to become dull.

Her thresholds for everything have risen; the more exaggerated and outstanding something is, the more she likes it.

The Ancient Corpse Empress suddenly said, "My beloved concubine, take them down to have a look."

Mr. Floating responded with a sound, and before Xu Yuan and Tian Jing could react, the scene suddenly shifted and they were teleported through the void, sent down into the stone chamber below.

At a height of five hundred zhang below, the stone chambers were carved out individually.

Mr. Floating opened each of those bronze ancient coffins one by one.

Then he deliberately raised his voice to ensure it could be heard clearly seven hundred zhang above: "Lord Xu should be able to see the level of these ancient corpses."

Before meeting the Ancient Corpse Empress, Xu Yuan had planned to use "Gaze at Fate" to check the other party's level after the meeting.

But now that he had truly met her, Xu Yuan dared not act rashly, so he still did not know the Ancient Corpse Empress's true level.

Now that Mr. Floating had asked him to look, Xu Yuan activated "Gaze at Fate."

He did not expect that this single look would truly be a shock.

These ancient corpses are all of fourth-rate quality!

Mr. Floating said, "These are all of Your Majesty's civil and military officials."

He then pointed to one of the ancient corpses and said, "This is Your Majesty's favorite actor. It possesses a skill: it can blend in among living people. As long as it does not wish to reveal itself, even if it hides for hundreds of years, it will never be discovered!"

"Your Majesty is plotting a great matter and accumulating strength in secret, which is why She is unwilling to leave the mountain."

"Not that She cannot leave the mountain!"

"If Lord Xu dares to deceive Your Majesty, even ten thousand li away, Your Majesty can take his life with a single imperial decree!"

Mr. Floating understood that to persuade the Ancient Corpse Empress to help, he could not truly stand on Xu Yuan's side and repeatedly urge her.

Instead, he had to display an attitude of caring for the Ancient Corpse Empress in every way.

Xu Yuan nodded repeatedly: "Your Majesty's forces are indeed strong and mighty!"

Afterwards, Mr. Floating led them back up to the stone chamber above.

This time, he climbed up the stone steps inside the cliff face himself.

The Ancient Corpse Empress said coldly and arrogantly, "How do you plan to lend Me a hand?"

Xu Yuan looked as if he had a well-thought-out plan: "Such a great matter cannot be rushed. Your Majesty has already waited countless years; I imagine You will not mind waiting a few more years.

My plan for Your Majesty is a strategy of borrowing a knife to kill!

The knife borrowed is that of the Canal Dragon King—Your Majesty, do not be hasty; let this humble official explain slowly.

The Canal Dragon King indeed has a high probability of not personally acting against That One. However, what this humble official wishes to borrow is the Dragon Head Guillotine under His command, within the Canal Office!"

A sudden spark of light appeared in the Ancient Corpse Empress's eyes: "Explain in detail."

Xu Yuan's plan was to use the evil spirits within this mountain, under the name of Master Ruan Tian, to oppose the Canal Office step by step.

"... The final crucial step requires an important item, which is this object!"

Xu Yuan took out a ticket of Master Ruan Tian.

The Ancient Corpse Empress's expression changed again: "You actually possess this object!"

"I killed the original owner and took it," Xu Yuan said. "This can also prove that this humble official and That One are certainly incompatible, and I must stand on Your Majesty's side."

The Ancient Corpse Empress nodded slightly.

Xu Yuan continued: "This object, to a certain extent, can represent That One personally. If this object were thrown into the Canal, what a huge storm would it stir up?!

At that time, when the Canal Office brings out the Dragon Head Guillotine, even if That One does not die from a single strike of the guillotine blade, He will certainly suffer severe injuries!

This is Your Majesty's opportunity! Your Majesty can take this chance to personally slay this beast and avenge Your grievances!"

The Ancient Corpse Empress considered it seriously.

None of the three Xu Yuan, Tian Jing, and Mr. Floating spoke further; at this moment, things were very sensitive, and speaking more would be worse than saying nothing.

After considering, the Ancient Corpse Empress swept her gaze toward Mr. Floating: "My beloved concubine, what do You think?"

Mr. Floating lowered his head and let his tongue hang: "Everything depends entirely on Your Majesty's independent decision."

The Ancient Corpse Empress nodded slowly: "I, agree."

Xu Yuan clasped his fists and bowed: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Xu Yuan knew he had misjudged the Ancient Corpse Empress's strength.

Originally, he thought she was only slightly superior to Seventeenth Uncle.

But now it seems... she is likely far superior!

This, in turn, made tactics like "sowing discord from the center to reap the fisherman's profit" impossible to employ.

The Ancient Corpse Empress killed the Seventeenth Uncle and the others; knowing she had been used, she would certainly not let him go!

If he truly did that, he would not be able to leave Ghost Wushan this time.

So, upon careful thought, unless some special circumstance existed—such as the Ancient Corpse Empress being in a state of "Earth Binding"—this so-called brilliant strategy of "sowing discord on both sides for the fisherman's profit" actually carried enormous hidden dangers.

Since the matter was settled, the Ancient Corpse Empress said, "My beloved concubine, you first escort them out; do not let them be caught in the crossfire."

"As you command."

Mr. Piaodang led Xu Yuan and Tian Jing out, drifting far away along the way until they reached the peak of a mountain ten li distant.

Xu Yuan looked back and saw that beneath the seven-hundred-zhang-high black cliff, the great river that had drowned countless wronged souls was suddenly, by an invisible force, having its waters sucked dry!

Tian Jing stood there, mouth agape in shock.

The scene was too spectacular and terrifying.

The waters of the great river, stretching ten li front and back, suddenly whirled backward in a dragon vortex, directly sucked up onto the cliff, and impossibly drilled entirely into that stone chamber.

The severed river only resumed its flow with a roaring sound from upstream after quite some time.

Xu Yuan: "Rinsing the mouth?"

"Precisely," Mr. Piaodang replied with a smile.

Xu Yuan nodded slowly, witnessing the terrifying power of a Fourth-Flow cultivator with his own eyes for the first time.

The Heir's Consort was furious and at her wit's end.

Her personal maid, Ruirui, had died in Gao Family Village!

That volcanic evil spirit was quite thorny.

The Seventeenth Uncle had also expended considerable effort before finally destroying and killing it.

But during the battle, Ruirui was instantly burned to ashes by a terrifying glob of magma spat out by that evil spirit!

Once everything ended, the young guide hired from Qihe Tai Town also vanished.

Presumably, he had been struck by the aftershock of one of the battles; he was merely an ordinary person, so he must have been instantly annihilated into ash and dust.

Now, only three people remained in the group.

Fortunately, the traces on the ground were obvious, so they could track the direction of Gao Family Village directly without a guide.

Gao Wanli was even more furious and at her wit's end.

Because on the road ahead, she had become that "maid."

Every single menial task of serving others fell to her.

She was a legitimate daughter of a great surname and a prestigious family, raised in luxury since childhood; following the Heir's Consort was originally for a better future, yet now she had become someone who serves others?!

But she dared not show it.

The Heir's Consort was in a very bad mood now; she absolutely did not want to become that "scapegoat."

The three of them tracked the traces along the way, feeling aggrieved, when suddenly they saw a high black cliff ahead.

The people of Gao Family Village, of course, did not dare to go to Copper Coffin Cliff.

Even though Lord Xu had already reached an agreement with the Ancient Corpse Empress, the people of Gao Family Village still did not dare to go.

This place had too notorious a reputation.

Gao Guanzi led the entire village, leaving traces up to Copper Coffin Cliff, then turned in another direction, arriving at a relatively open valley thirty li away to settle down.

In this valley, the ground was covered with a type of wild flower resembling a butterfly orchid.

The petals were the size of a pig's ear.

Pink and semi-transparent.

They swayed in the wind and could capture even the faintest movements transmitted from very far away.

If Lord Xu were here, he might feel... that the shape, posture, and so on of these petals were extremely similar to Gao Guanzi's pair of abnormal ears.

The strangeness within this valley appeared quite friendly to everyone in Gao Family Village.

And the people of Gao Family Village seemed very familiar with this place.

Settling down here made everyone feel relatively at ease.

Gao Guanzi came alone to the center of the valley, onto a circular high ground.

The soil on the high ground was fertile, and these wild flowers grew exceptionally lush.

Along the way, Gao Guanzi had caught many birds.

At this moment, he released them all.

Over a hundred birds began to chirp and squawk chaotically.

The wild flowers nearby trembled and tingled, seeming to very much enjoy hearing these sounds.

And as those birds chirped on, their voices grew lower and lower, until finally they could not emit a single sound.

Their "voices" had all been sucked away by those wild flowers!

They would never be able to produce clear and melodious bird songs again.

The wild flowers were already full, swaying gently to express their satisfaction to Gao Guanzi.

Only then did Gao Guanzi say in a low voice, "We will stay here for one night and leave tomorrow; something has happened back home, but it can be resolved very quickly..."

His words were like those of a brother who had branched off from the family, forced to return with his whole household to stay for a while, yet worried that the "elder brother" who inherited the family estate might overthink things, so he clarified everything in advance.

The Heir's Consort and the other two tracked down to the foot of Copper Coffin Cliff, where they saw the river waters below the cliff surging, with gloomy black qi churning in the river; vaguely visible were wronged souls with faces full of resentment and hatred, rolling and surging in the water, appearing and disappearing intermittently.

Afterwards, a series of "clang-clang-clang" tremendous sounds rose from the seven-hundred-zhang-high cliff above, like ancient bronze war drums being beaten.

It was also like the friction sound produced when a heavy coffin lid was pushed open.

Mr. Piao Dang saw the confusion on Lord Xu and Tian Jing, covered his mouth with his long tongue, and whispered secretly into Lord Xu's ear: "It is the sound of Your Majesty grinding his teeth while rinsing his mouth."

Xu Yuan stared in astonishment.

Tian Jing, meanwhile, was recalling carefully: when he was still a "complete person," did he grind his teeth while rinsing his mouth?

That was so long ago; he could not remember...

Tian Jing suddenly felt a trace of melancholy.

"Pfft—"

A thick, green-black fog erupted from the Black Cliff.

Then the wind drove the fog, like ten thousand horses galloping, like surging tides; in an instant, it covered an area of ten li.

Gao Wanli let out a piercing scream: "Ah—"

Then no sound was heard again.

Amidst the vast green-black fog, the one who first caused a huge commotion was actually the Hereditary Princess!

She unfurled her body, over ten zhang long, yet she did not feel like a giant python or great snake; rather, she was slender and elongated.

Her whole body bore green-purple patterns; they should have been very beautiful, but because she was in the awkward phase of molting, her skin was extremely ugly.

Her head, however, always maintained the state of a human face; no horns grew on her forehead, but two butterfly-like antennae sprouted from her two brow ridges, their tips emitting a hazy luminescence.

A pair of huge yet thin wings also lay on her back.

No one knew what creature she had transformed into a dragon.

She rolled and churned in the poison fog, actually stirring up a huge vortex; in the center of that vortex, there seemed to be a passage to escape.

The Hereditary Princess dived into the vortex—then immediately her whole body stiffened; from the broken places of her outer skin, countless zombie green hairs sprouted.

The tips of the Hereditary Princess's antennae suddenly became intensely luminous.

It was unknown what technique she used, but there was no doubt the Hereditary Princess was resisting this zombie poison.

However, the green hairs on her body spread rapidly along the cracks in her skin, quickly reaching her face.

They then spread onto her antennae.

Those antennae were originally thin and curved, light and slender.

After the zombie green hairs spread over them like moss, they became heavy and coarse and stiff; finally, the luminescence at the tips was completely sealed by the zombie green hairs.

The Hereditary Princess fell heavily.

She vanished, hidden in the poison fog.

That vortex also collapsed and scattered.

Immediately, a heavy, muffled "thud" was heard from deep within the poison fog; presumably, the Hereditary Princess had smashed onto the ground.

A long, invisible thread appeared in mid-air, extending into the poison fog, hooking the Hereditary Princess's soul.

But the poison fog easily dissolved the thread.

Mr. Piao Dang still covered his mouth with his tongue and said to Lord Xu: "Your Majesty has been recruiting soldiers and buying horses.

The Hereditary Princess's own strength was insufficient to enter Your Majesty's ranks of ministers.

But she cultivates the 'Dragon Transformation Method'; her form is special; Your Majesty should give her a chance..."

To become a zombie, one must seal the soul within the body.

The Ancient Corpse Empress easily broke this Thread-Pulling Method.

Given the Hereditary Princess's status and position, except for the Canal Dragon King, no one could plant a more vicious "Method" into her soul.

Even this "Thread-Pulling Method" was actually something the Hereditary Princess herself agreed to.

If something truly unexpected happened, the Thread-Pulling Method would pull the soul back, giving the Hereditary Princess a chance to possess a new body and be reborn.

In that poison fog, a gap with neatly even edges suddenly cracked open.

Such a strange situation should not appear in fog; one does not know what trick Seventeenth Uncle's "Litigation Method" employed.

He fled out in panic.

Yet, just as his whole body was about to emerge, the gap behind him suddenly closed.

The Ancient Corpse Empress discovered his technique.

The closing gap happened to clamp onto one of his feet.

Seventeenth Uncle gritted his teeth; a folding fan flew from his sleeve, "swish" it opened, its edges sharp as a great axe.

"Chak!" he severed that foot.

He fled without regard for anything.

Seventeenth Uncle knew very well that his level was too low.

The "Litigation Method" had some tricks taken from the "Laws."

But facing such a terrifying evil spirit, he had only one chance.

Once discovered, this technique would not work the next time.

Therefore, his chance to escape with his life existed only this once.

Fresh blood sprayed from the broken ankle.

Seventeenth Uncle completely burst out of the poison fog; then, raising his hand again, a stack of silver notes flew from his sleeve.

The silver notes fell into the void; yet Seventeenth Uncle had communicated with some "Law" again, obtaining some kind of "pardon" for himself.

Seventeenth Uncle's speed thus broke through certain limitations of the Laws.

But before Seventeenth Uncle could flee far, a huge skull blood seal rose from the poison fog!

An elephant head, as huge as a mountain, spread out from the skull.

It raised its long trunk and inhaled—

Seventeenth Uncle could not run away.

The poison mist rolled in behind him.

The original ten-li range rapidly expanded to fifty li.

Seventeenth Uncle fell into the mist.

The poison mist of Copper Coffin Cliff covered a ten-li square.

It was not limited to covering only ten li.

If the Ancient Corpse Empress wished, she could even cover a hundred li.

Within the poison mist, a massive white shadow suddenly flashed.

It was a "white duck."

But in an instant, the white shadow shattered.

Immediately, a second white shadow rose.

Seventeenth Uncle still had three white ducks.

Two of them were prepared for the Heir Consort.

But when the Heir Consort was killed just now, Seventeenth Uncle did not use a white duck to die in her place.

Instead, he seized the opportunity the Heir Consort had bought, coming close to escaping.

By rights, since he was responsible for protecting the Heir Consort, and she was dead, he would have no good outcome.

Yet he vaguely felt that with the Heir Consort dead, everyone in the Xiang Wang Fu might secretly be grateful to him.

So at this true moment of life and death, Seventeenth Uncle chose to keep all his means to save his own life.

But the brief opportunity the three white ducks bought him still failed to let him escape the poison mist.

The poison mist churned violently.

Inside, the battle seemed fierce.

Mr. Piaodang remained calm and composed.

"Your Majesty has not exercised his muscles in a long time; I am just teasing him."

Xu Yuan nodded, yet still stared fixedly at the poison mist.

After the time it takes to burn one stick of incense, the Ancient Corpse Empress seemed to lose interest in the "lawsuit."

The poison mist gradually calmed down.

"It is resolved," Mr. Piaodang said.

After waiting a while longer, the poison mist gradually sank into the surrounding soil.

Originally, this poison mist was to last a whole day—but clearly the Ancient Corpse Empress could control the poison mist; how long to maintain it was entirely up to her whim.

The Heir Consort and Seventeenth Uncle were both gone.

But on Black Cliff, inside the stone chamber at the five-hundred-zhang position, the sound of bellows rang out.

Blue-green flames flickered within.

Mr. Piaodang said, "That is the Director of the Imperial Craftsmen's Bureau of Your Majesty, smelting ores to forge bronze coffins for the two of them."

On the ground remained only Gao Wanli, her whole body stiff, having lost consciousness.

This sixth-rank craft cultivator held a transcendent status in the world of the living.

But the Ancient Corpse Empress did not care for her at all.

Mr. Piaodang said, "Before long, she will revive, and then Ghost Wushan will have gained one more sixth-rank great evil spirit."

Xu Yuan then whispered something to Mr. Piaodang.

Mr. Piaodang smiled, "Easy. I will go beg Your Majesty."

……

Gao Wanli opened her eyes in a daze and saw, in the distant woods, a hazy figure half-human half-snake, or perhaps half-human half-dragon, twisting its tail as it came before her.

Then the tail whipped, causing Gao Wanli excruciating pain, and she fainted once more.

Not knowing how much time passed, she slowly woke up, feeling something binding her feet and dragging her along the ground.

She feigned unconsciousness, secretly opening one eye a sliver.

Indeed, it was still that half-human half-dragon fellow, wrapping her with its tail and dragging her through the mountains.

All the way to the banks of Dahe, that fellow flicked its tail and threw Gao Wanli into the river.

Splash—

After falling into the water, countless wronged souls and evil ghosts surged forward.

They wrapped around Gao Wanli, tearing and biting, slowly sinking together to the riverbed.

Gao Wanli saw that the half-human half-dragon fellow was still standing by the river watching.

She dared not react in any way, letting those wronged souls and evil ghosts tear chunks of flesh from her body and suck her blood.

Finally, that fellow turned and left.

Gao Wanli hurriedly released a craft artifact, a mercury mirror.

With one reflection, all those evil ghosts and wronged souls were drawn into the mirror.

Gao Wanli released another craft artifact, covering her head; this artifact allowed her to breathe underwater.

Gao Wanli dived to the riverbed and, in a wretched state, swam downstream along the river.

……

The Ancient Corpse Empress received Xu Yuan once again.

Mr. Piaodang had just returned to beg the Ancient Corpse Empress to spare Gao Wanli's life.

The Ancient Corpse Empress did not care about Gao Wanli at all, so she drew the corpse poison back into her own body.

"The matter you requested, I have done. The matter of mine, you must also begin immediately."

Xu Yuan said, "Your Majesty, rest assured. This humble official has already formulated a plan. Upon returning, I shall immediately begin, starting with an inconspicuous location."

"The Canal Office has two lackeys: the Grain Transport Gang and the Fishing Gang."

"Soon, evil spirits from Ghost Wushan will attack the Fishing Gang."

"From there, we will expand the situation bit by bit."

The Ancient Corpse Empress seemed somewhat dissatisfied, feeling that if one were to act, one should act on a grand scale.

Xu Yuan smiled bitterly, "This humble official's abilities are limited. I can only advance step by step, drawing more evil spirits into the fray, to ultimately achieve the goal."

The Ancient Corpse Empress spoke in a deep voice, "Within one month, I must see results."

"Of course!" Xu Yuan agreed readily.

Agree first and deal with it later.

Just as Xu Yuan had agreed to help the Ancient Corpse Empress deal with Master Ruan Tian.

"In any case, this official has always been acting. You may accuse me of delaying, but you cannot say I have done nothing."

"As for limited results, that is truly due to my limited abilities. After all, I am merely a lowly Fifth-Rank. Since I have acted, even if you reprimand me, you cannot simply send someone to kill me, can you?"

"If you kill me, who will help you deal with Master Ruan Tian?"

"If you truly wish for this official to take action, wait until I reach Third-Rank before speaking of it."

"In fact, the longer it drags on, the greater the Ancient Corpse Empress's 'sunk costs' become, making it even less likely she will truly kill Xu Yuan."

"Furthermore, the reason Xu Yuan agreed to the Ancient Corpse Empress's conditions is that he holds a suspicion in his heart, but this suspicion need not be explicitly stated to the Ancient Corpse Empress."

The Ancient Corpse Empress let out a cold snort, her gaze icy, as her left hand gently stroked the blood seal on the skull.

A mass of green-black light flew out from the eyes of the elephant head.

In an instant, it drilled into Xu Yuan's body.

Xu Yuan neither dodged nor avoided, appearing quite calm.

"This is my Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Poison. Even if separated by ten thousand li, I can activate it at any time."

"If I do not see your results after one month, you should understand what fate awaits you!"

Xu Yuan said, "Your Majesty, rest assured. This humble official will certainly do his utmost."

The Ancient Corpse Empress would surely leave some means of control upon him.

Xu Yuan had anticipated this long ago.

But Xu Yuan felt that he was about to shed his skin again...

The Ancient Corpse Empress waved her hand, "Go!"

Xu Yuan and Tian Jing felt a sudden dizziness, as if the world was spinning, and were immediately sent out, standing by the Dahe River at the foot of the cliff.

Mr. Piaodang came out to see them off, "Lord Xu, do not neglect Your Majesty's task. I will frequently send Bai Laoyan to inquire. This is a joint effort; it must not be abandoned!"

Xu Yuan nodded, "This official understands."

Mr. Piaodang stepped forward and grasped Xu Yuan's hand, "I have not yet repaid the debt of saving your life last time; consider this my repayment."

Xu Yuan felt something appear in his hand. Unfolding it, he saw a strip of white silk densely covered with characters: it was the "Dragon Transformation Method"!

Having given Xu Yuan this item, Mr. Piaodang waved his hand, turned, and floated upward toward the Black Cliff.

(End of this chapter)