Chapter 197: Jizhao

Yin Ruihua could not forget those eyes.

The owner of those large hands led the Heaven-Man experts to lock up the Jianwen Emperor, brought him to the Xiaoling Mausoleum, and personally dug open the tomb.

The Jianwen Emperor watched them dig open the tomb, watched them put him into the coffin, and watched them close the lid.

Until the moment the lid closed, Yin Ruihua could still see those cold eyes looking at him.

It was precisely because of the fear those eyes brought him that he had not stepped out of the imperial mausoleum for over a hundred years, guarding this place.

Now, he was free.

The illusion in front of Yin Ruihua suddenly dissipated.

And then, he finally returned to the imperial mausoleum.

Those eyes were right in front of him.

Just like back then, he looked down at his own chest and abdomen.

There, his white, bone-chilling spine stood. No longer wrapped in flesh.

"Your Majesty..."

How could a mere spine support his upper body? Yin Ruihua's pupils trembled, and his body suddenly bent.

The mummy stretched out his bloody hands and caught his upper body.

"Yin, beloved, minister."

The mummy slowly opened his mouth, revealing sparse teeth and blackened gums.

"I, do, not, blame, you."

Pfft!

The mummy suddenly lowered his head, opened his mouth, and bit fiercely into Yin Ruihua's neck!

"Hah! Hah—"

Yin Ruihua suddenly woke up, channeled his true energy, and struck the mummy's spine, causing blood and flesh to fly and intestines to be torn, but the mummy was still burrowing into the depths of his neck on his own.

Crack, crack.

That was the sound of the mummy's teeth gnawing on Yin Ruihua's neck bone!

Yin Ruihua struggled frantically, but he had already been cut in two, his true energy was bottoming out, and he had no way to continue.

Finally.

Snap.

Yin Ruihua's head hung limply.

The mummy did not raise his head, still buried in Yin Ruihua's torso, sucking greedily.

Yang Lizhang's expression was extremely ugly; he turned to look at Ji Tianrui.

"This is... the Jianwen Emperor!?"

"Is this really not some demon suppressed under the imperial mausoleum!?"

Ji Tianrui was still in a relaxed posture. She had been raised by the Miao King and had seen more strange and bloody things than ten thousand Jianghu people had seen in their entire lives, so she didn't care at all.

"He is, truly and certainly, the Jianwen Emperor."

"The grandson of the founding Emperor, the nephew of the Emperor Chengzu."

"However, it can also be said that he is indeed a demon suppressed in the imperial mausoleum by the Emperor Chengzu."

"A demon used to guard the world of the Zhu family."

Yang Lizhang frowned, and Ji Tianrui continued with a chuckle.

"Do you know the reason why the Emperor Chengzu raised his army to 'Jingnan' back then?"

Yang Lizhang shook his head.

"At that time, our ancestor had already been murdered by the Emperor, and my Yang family retreated into the Jianghu with the Ming Sect; I am not clear about the secrets inside the palace. Isn't it because of the 'cutting of the feudal lords'?"

"Not entirely."

Ji Tianrui shook her head.

"Did you see Yin Ruihua's appearance just now? He was a hero who fought everywhere with the founding Emperor and settled the world, having experienced countless life-and-death battles; how could he not have the courage to fight to the death?"

"Do you think it's possible that he was so scared he couldn't move, and thus let the Jianwen Emperor slaughter him?"

Yang Lizhang suddenly turned to look at the Jianwen Emperor, then turned back to look at Ji Tianrui.

"It is—"

Ji Tianrui nodded.

"That's right, although it is an evil path, it is indeed one of the lost Heaven-Man realms. And it is the most core path."

"The 'Heart Realm' among Heart, Spirit, and Intention—Jizhao."

"'Jizhao' formed by the corpses of countless Heaven-Man experts and Zhu family members."

————————

Li Miao, who was watching the fun from a tree branch in the distance, was slowly rubbing his temples at this moment, letting out a long sigh.

"Really, it's endless..."

"The reigning Emperor has gone wrong, and another one has been dug out from a grave... you Old Zhu family really, Old Mother Zhu wears a bra, one set after another."

"Awesome."

Li Miao naturally didn't know the Jianwen Emperor. Originally, his deeds and portraits had been erased from history books by the Emperor Chengzu, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard's files were naturally no exception. Not to mention that face, which was as shriveled as tree bark; only Yin Ruihua could recognize the person by looking at the eyeballs.

But, wasn't he wearing a dragon robe and running out of the tomb in the Xiaoling Mausoleum? Even a fool should know this was an Emperor.

And looking at his figure, he was clearly not the seventy-year-old appearance of the founding Emperor when he died, nor was he a later Emperor, and he hadn't been buried in his own mausoleum.

Besides the Jianwen Emperor, who else could it be?

After pondering in silence for a long while, Li Miao looked up again at the Jianwen Emperor, who was sucking on Yin Ruihua's corpse.

His expression became solemn for the first time.

He saw something that Ji Tianrui and Yang Lizhang did not see.

That illusion of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood that Yin Ruihua saw, Li Miao also faintly saw a silhouette of.

When Li Miao killed Yun Zelin on Taishan, he fell into a deep sleep on the square of the Huashan Sect's main hall, and then the three sect leaders, Zhou Yingxue, Zhang Jingfeng, and Deng Baixuan, walked into the square.

At that time, the three sect leaders saw an endless black beach, a black ocean, and a storm slowly rolling on the surface of the sea.

Afterward, the three sect leaders told Li Miao about this matter. Because it concerned his "eight-hour work system," Li Miao also asked in detail and carefully recorded the situation at that time.

And after the Jianwen Emperor appeared, the situation where Yin Ruihua stood dazed on the spot, letting the Jianwen Emperor gouge out the flesh of his abdomen without any resistance, as well as the illusion that appeared beside him, immediately made Li Miao think of this matter.

Since coming to the Great Ming, Li Miao had been exploring the origin of his golden finger.

He was not someone who would peacefully accept something of unknown origin staying in his brain.

Even if this thing did not manifest any self-will at all and had never appeared with any message, as if it were just a special physique of his, Li Miao did not have the slightest carelessness.

It was just that after years of exploration, besides figuring out some of the mechanisms of this thing, allowing Li Miao to perform some operations such as "time off" and "regressing realm," he had always gained nothing about the origin of this thing and the reason for its appearance on Li Miao.

Without understanding, he could never be at ease.

So the similar situation appearing beside Yin Ruihua immediately made Li Miao alert, and his eyes stared fixedly at the Jianwen Emperor.

Perhaps by mistake, he could get the answer he had been seeking on this twenty-seventh year since coming to the Great Ming.

But, Li Miao would not act rashly.

Yin Ruihua was not one of those experts; he was a real Heaven-Man expert qualified to compete with Li Miao, yet he died so carelessly in the hands of the Jianwen Emperor. Li Miao would not foolishly run over to risk his life.

Whatever the matter, he had to explore the situation first.

And at this moment, Yin Ruihua's corpse gradually withered.

Finally, the Jianwen Emperor raised his head and threw Yin Ruihua's corpse to the ground.

Yin Ruihua's corpse was like a mummy that had been air-dried for decades; falling to the ground, it actually broke into several sections.

And the Jianwen Emperor's face was no longer as shriveled as before. Although it looked only slightly fuller, one could already faintly see some features from his brows and eyes.

Suddenly, the Jianwen Emperor turned his head to look at Yang Lizhang and actually walked slowly toward Yang Lizhang.

Ji Tianrui hurriedly stepped forward, blocking the Jianwen Emperor's line of sight toward Yang Lizhang.

"Your Majesty, Old Master Yang uses Shaolin secret techniques, which, like mine, are not fit for Your Majesty."

At this time, Ji Tianrui chuckled.

"If Your Majesty is hungry, why not wait a moment."

"The reigning Emperor should be receiving the news soon and sending Heaven-Man experts over. Your Majesty can use them."

Hearing Ji Tianrui's words, the Jianwen Emperor turned to look at Yang Lizhang, looking him up and down, as if he were picking meat on a chopping board.

After a long while, he nodded and turned to walk toward the outside of the Xiaoling Mausoleum.

"No, matter."

"Still, have, Xiaoling, Guard."

After sucking Yin Ruihua's blood, his speech became clearer. But after all, he had only grown some flesh, so his speech was still word by word.

The Jianwen Emperor's footsteps were slow but fast; in the blink of an eye, he walked to the entrance of the Xiaoling Mausoleum.

Just as he was about to step outside.

Suddenly, dense footsteps came from the mountain forest outside the Xiaoling Mausoleum.

"Do not move! Trespassing on the Xiaoling Mausoleum is a capital crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations! Do not resist!"

Zhu Shoujing walked out of the dense forest with a saber, followed by several Heaven-Man experts.

And further behind, thousands of Xiaoling Guards had formed a formation, in groups of three, forming a Three Talents Formation, wearing sabers and swords, their waists hung with lassos, fire oil, light crossbows, and other items, surrounding the surroundings tightly.

The Xiaolingwei had training in dealing with Heaven-Man experts; although this was the first time they were actually using it, they were familiar with the process and had blocked all directions of the Jianwen Emperor's charge. As long as Zhu Shoujing and the Heaven-Man experts could delay for the time it takes to burn a cup of tea, the Xiaolingwei could form a siege.

Regardless of whether it was a two-path or one-path Heaven-Man expert, the Xiaolingwei had full confidence in keeping them.

Zhu Shoujing walked to the front and looked at the Jianwen Emperor carefully.

"Privately making a dragon robe is a capital crime! Disturbing the founding Emperor's rest is an even greater capital crime! You cannot escape; why not surrender, and do not implicate your wife and daughter, how about it?"

He slowly drew his saber and pointed it at the Jianwen Emperor.

"I will only say it once, squat down! I advise you, this is the last sentence, do not say I did not warn you!"

Zhu Shoujing stared fixedly at the Jianwen Emperor, waiting for him to make a move, and he would immediately lead the Heaven-Man experts to surround and kill him.

The Xiaolingwei had guarded the imperial mausoleum for over a hundred years, not lacking elite soldiers, nor Heaven-Man experts; they had this confidence!

After a long while, the Jianwen Emperor raised his head and actually walked slowly toward Zhu Shoujing.

He was originally inside the gate, and the moonlight was blocked by the porch, so Zhu Shoujing could only see the corner of his dragon robe. Now that he raised his head, his mummy-like face was instantly exposed to the moonlight.

"!!!"

After seeing the Jianwen Emperor's face clearly, Zhu Shoujing was also shocked for a moment.

"Is this still a person?"

Zhu Shoujing said in surprise.

While speaking, the Jianwen Emperor had already walked close.

And Zhu Shoujing also raised his right hand high, ready to order the siege of the Jianwen Emperor at any time.

Twenty zhang.

As long as the Jianwen Emperor entered the distance of twenty zhang, the Xiaolingwei could immediately surround and strangle him!

At the moment, there was only a distance of ten zhang left. Zhu Shoujing's hand was already ready to wave down.

Just when Zhu Shoujing's hand was about to fall.

Swish!

The Jianwen Emperor in front of Zhu Shoujing disappeared.

Behind Zhu Shoujing, a hoarse, strained voice came.

"Xiaoling, Guard..."

"Also, want, to, rebel?"

————————

"Your Majesty, that is how the Commander told me to report."

The Xiaolingwei's Battalion Commander knelt outside the door and said.

His martial arts were good, and he traveled all the way with light kung fu; by the time Li Miao and the five experts had decided the winner, he had already arrived at the capital.

It was late at night, and ordinary people certainly could not enter the city, let alone the imperial palace. But he held the Xiaolingwei Commander's waist token, so he was let through all the way, and after a moment, he appeared outside the Emperor's bedroom.

Inside the room, the Emperor was slowly rubbing his temples.

"You just said, the direction the loud noise came from, is two places?"

"Yes."

"Besides my mausoleum, there is also the Xiaoling Mausoleum?"

"Yes."

"Did not see Wang Zhi?"

"No, Eunuch Wang has not appeared; perhaps he has met with misfortune."

The Emperor was silent and did not ask again.

"I know, you can withdraw."

"Yes."

The Xiaolingwei Battalion Commander stood up, and a eunuch took him to rest.

"Let Huang Jin come over."

The Emperor said.

"Yes."

After a while, a large eunuch wearing a python robe walked quickly into the room and knelt down.

"Your Majesty."

"Eunuch Huang."

The Emperor said slowly.

"Something has likely happened at the Xiaoling Mausoleum."

"Take twenty experts and go investigate."

"Remember."

The Emperor said.

"If you encounter someone claiming to be the Jianwen Emperor, or a woman with outstanding appearance claiming to be Ji Tianrui, or the Yang family."

"Encounter these three... kill without mercy!"

"Yes!"

Huang Jin took the order and left.

The Emperor did not continue to rest but sat quietly by the bed.

After a long while, he chuckled.

"Heh."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 198 =====