Chapter 146: Who are you?

The old man no longer had the strength to make an expression.

He had once thought himself a hero, maneuvering between two wild beasts to secure a path of survival for his people.

In the end, it was nothing more than a case of calculating everything only to miscalculate his own life.

He spoke in a hoarse voice.

"I have no means of self-preservation."

"But I do have the means to lead the way."

"Lord Li, after I die, if you follow these fireflies, you will reach the 'Pupa Chamber'... I only hope that, for the sake of our lives, you will show mercy to my people."

Li Miao, however, had no intention of pitying him and let out a cold snort.

"One thing at a time. You Great Shamans were accomplices in refining Gu soldiers for the Ming Cult; I never intended to spare your lives."

"Those who deserve to die will die; only those who do not deserve to die may live."

"Instead of pleading with me, you should be thinking about whether any of your people are worth letting live."

The old man’s expression relaxed.

"Having your word, my lord... is enough."

"The children under thirteen have not been exposed to witchcraft or Gu... they know nothing of these filthy matters. They can all live."

"Thank you, my lord."

Before he could finish, a strained, rattling sound came from his throat.

He slumped to the ground.

Li Miao watched quietly as he thrashed on the ground, gradually becoming still.

After a long while, the old man’s corpse lifted its head, revealing a cold, sinister smile.

"Lord Li... now that the ears are gone, can you listen to what I have to say?"

"This thing of mine is not only useful to the Emperor, it might be useful to you as well."

"Oh?"

Seeing Li Miao stop, the corpse grinned.

"The Five Decays of Heaven and Man—my daughter combined the three paths, yet she does not suffer from the Five Decays."

"I can teach this method to you, my lord."

Li Miao glanced sideways at the corpse and said indifferently.

"Tell me."

"Lord Li, you must have seen the Gu worm on Mount Taishan that can absorb and transfer cultivation realms, right?"

The corpse chuckled.

"My method allows you, my lord, to temporarily store your cultivation realm in others... and take it back when you need it. This way, not only are the Five Decays gone, but you also don't have to be like those 'Heavenly Men' kept by the imperial court, sleeping all day long. You could roam freely as you please."

"Furthermore, you could take a Gu worm containing 'Sumeru' and offer it to the Emperor. With his spirit full and essence sufficient, the Emperor’s health would naturally improve, and you, Lord Li, could rise to the top."

"As for me, I only want a small piece of the Miao territory to survive in. Is that not worth it?"

The corpse appealed to his emotions and reasoned with him, its tone full of sincerity, as if it had truly come with the utmost honesty.

Whether it was his own Wu Gong or his official rank, as long as he agreed to her, he could soar to the clouds.

Anyone else would likely have nodded in agreement... or at least hesitated.

Li Miao, however, let out a cold laugh.

"As expected, just the same old clichés."

"Are you done? Go die."

With that, he raised his hand.

"Lord Li! What is it you want? Whether it is power, Wu Gong, or beauty, with my help, you could achieve twice the result with half the effort!"

"Why must you make things difficult for me!?"

The corpse shouted violently.

Li Miao did not want to hear her prattle any longer.

Official rank? If Li Miao wanted to be promoted, he would have been a Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard ten years ago; why wait until today?

Wu Gong? Did he need the Miao King to help him avoid the Five Decays?

Beauty? Had Li Miao ever lacked that?

Moreover, to accept the help of witchcraft and Gu is to be controlled by them. Li Miao was not some greenhorn like Mei Qinghe; how could he fall for the Miao King’s trap?

Boom!

With a muffled sound, the old man’s head exploded.

Li Miao stepped over the corpse and continued forward, following the fireflies that were leading the way.

————————

"What did you say!? The Miao King's name... is what!?"

Outside the building where Li Miao had found the old man, Yongjie grabbed a Great Shaman by the collar and asked urgently.

"Gepu Qi..."

The Great Shaman replied weakly.

Although Li Miao had not dealt a killing blow, these Great Shamans had naturally suffered significant injuries after fighting him. After Li Miao left with the old man and three Great Shamans, the remaining Great Shamans stayed behind to heal using their Gu worms.

Yongjie and An Ziyang had followed Li Miao’s footprints and found this place.

The two of them claimed to be from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so these Great Shamans naturally dared not refuse to cooperate.

Yongjie asked about the sequence of events, and the Great Shamans answered one by one.

But unexpectedly, when mentioning the Miao King, An Ziyang casually asked: "What is the Miao King’s given name?"

And thus, the scene just now occurred.

Yongjie suddenly let go, letting the Great Shaman fall to the ground, clutching his throat and gasping for air.

He took a few steps back, his breathing heavy, his eyes bloodshot, his hands clenched into fists so tightly that his nails pierced his palms, drawing blood.

An Ziyang watched from the side, thinking to himself.

"The Miao King... is Master Yongjie’s wife? Is she Ling’er’s mother?"

"Then, is Ji Tianrui, who killed Master Xingchi, Ling’er’s half-sister from the same mother?"

"This is going to be lively."

Yongjie was trembling all over by now.

"How could this be, how could this be..."

He could never have imagined that his missing wife, Ling’er’s mother, was actually the Miao King!

She was the mother of the murderer who killed his master!

She was one of the culprits behind the witchcraft disaster in Tai’an City!

The bond of husband and wife, and Ling’er... were they all just a conspiracy?

How was he to conduct himself?

Just as Yongjie was lost in thought, An Ziyang seemed to remember something suddenly and turned to ask the Great Shaman: "You just said that Gepu Qi was parasitized by the Miao King’s Gu worm, and then gradually became more and more like the Miao King, right?"

"Then, how long is this process of 'becoming more and more like'? Are there any reversals in between? Does she have the Miao King’s memories, or is it just that her personality becomes more similar?"

The Great Shaman pondered for a moment and replied.

"We aren't very clear about the current Miao King, but the first Miao King took three years to completely change her personality. The memories remained the original ones, but things important to the Miao King became equally important to her; things the Miao King didn't care about, she would no longer care about either."

"As for whether there are reversals... we aren't clear about that either."

An Ziyang nodded, rubbed his chin, and turned to walk in front of Yongjie.

"Master, listen to me first."

"Things may not be as you think."

"At the very least, if your wife was already the Miao King before she met you, she should have had no reason to leave the Miao territory, run inexplicably to the Huguang region, and give birth to Ling’er."

"Perhaps the one who gave birth to Ling’er back then was Gepu Qi. And the one who gave birth to Ji Tianrui was the Miao King."

"You must pull yourself together. In any case, this is just the one-sided word of these Miao people. How things truly are, and what your wife thinks, can only be confirmed after you see her and ask her yourself."

"Lord Li should have already gone to kill the Miao King; let’s set off quickly, we cannot delay!"

Yongjie lifted his head abruptly.

After a moment, he clenched his fists.

"Young Hero An, thank you!"

"Yes, no matter what, I must see her in person, ask her in person, and then make my choice!"

"Let’s go, right now!"