Chapter 226

The Great Ming Imperial Mausoleum was located in a mountain hollow on Mount Tianshou.

On the left and right sides of the entrance were Dragon Mountain and Tiger Mountain, with the Great Palace Gate in the middle—which was where Wu Zhiheng and the other Heaven-Man retainers had attacked.

Past the Great Palace Gate was the Stele Pavilion. Then, after walking along a total spirit path over ten miles long, one would reach the Dragon-Phoenix Gate. On the foothills behind the Dragon-Phoenix Gate were the mausoleums of the various emperors of Great Ming.

Wu Zhiheng was standing behind the Dragon-Phoenix Gate at this moment, looking at the Xiaoling Mausoleum directly opposite.

"There really is no defense!?"

Wu Zhiheng could not believe it.

He had been cautious and suspicious of every shadow along the way; even when the wind blew leaves from the trees, he would suddenly turn his head to look and activate his protective true energy to defend himself.

But, having walked this total spirit path of over ten miles, he had actually not seen a single person!

No Jianwen Emperor, no Ming Sect, no Xiaoling Guards. That mysterious leader of the Ming Sect, and that expert who had fought the Jianwen Emperor, had not appeared.

It was as if, within the vast Imperial Mausoleum, only Wu Zhiheng remained.

The more this was the case, the less Wu Zhiheng dared to let his guard down. At this moment, he actually hoped someone would come and strike him, to have a fight.

As a Heaven-Man level expert from the Jianghu, he did not fear fighting or injury.

But the fear of the unknown, that feeling of a sharp sword hanging over his head that never fell, was extremely difficult to endure.

"Hoo—"

Wu Zhiheng let out a long breath, regulated his breathing for a moment, calmed his fluctuating state of mind, and looked at the Xiaoling Mausoleum not far away.

He slowly walked toward the Xiaoling Mausoleum.

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"And then?"

The Emperor obviously would not condescend to ask, so the little eunuch asked from the side.

Wu Zhiheng hesitated for a long while, then slowly spat out a series of incantations.

"Swallowing the heavens and absorbing the seas to capture the stars,"

"Transforming all rivers into my flow."

"Reversing the hundred meridians to seize creation,"

"Qi dissipates and spirit withers... bones serve as a boat."

The Emperor inside the palanquin suddenly opened his eyes and stared fixedly at Wu Zhiheng!

"This incantation of yours... have you finished reciting it?"

Wu Zhiheng shook his head and continued reciting.

"There are three more lines."

"Forcibly absorbing the eight wildernesses, trapping oneself in the abyss."

"Greedily devouring until mad, bones crack and marrow withers;"

"Heaven's wrath and people's resentment, life is extinguished and spirit is chased away."

"This subject only took one look, and barely managed to remember these..."

The Emperor frowned and said.

"Speak in detail! How did you see it!"

"Yes."

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Wu Zhiheng walked into the Xiaoling Mausoleum.

Squeak—

Squeak—

Squeak—

Just as he stepped inside, he heard a series of extremely harsh sounds.

It was as if someone was using some extremely sharp object to carve on a hard surface like stone.

Where there was sound, there was someone.

Wu Zhiheng actually felt a sense of relief.

He activated his internal energy cultivation method to protect his body and slowly moved forward.

Mixed in with those harsh sounds, the voices of two people faintly drifted over.

"Have you not read many books? I've read the notes of Ji Tianrui and the Miao King; at least some effort was put into the writing, so why is yours so crooked? If you write it like this, can the Emperor recognize it?"

"The papers I found at the An family residence, were they all written by someone else on your behalf?"

The man's voice said.

"I am young, and I only focused on martial arts and killing; how could I have much learning?"

A pleasant woman's voice said.

Wu Zhiheng walked slowly into the plaza inside the Xiaoling Mausoleum.

The scene in the plaza came into view.

On one side of the plaza, a large hole several yards square had been broken open, revealing a section of stone steps that extended downward until they disappeared into the bottomless darkness.

And beside the cave, a coffin was placed.

Or rather, a "pile" of coffins.

Judging by the style, the materials and workmanship of this coffin were clearly extremely exquisite, yet it had been ruthlessly dismantled into a pile of fragments and stacked together.

And in the plaza, there were two people.

One looked to be in his thirties, with a heroic appearance, ape-like arms and a wasp-like waist, wearing a set of black tight-fitting clothes, wearing a pair of black gloves on his hands, with silver hair tied up on his head, and two strands of hair hanging down, blocking his side profile.

One had a petite figure, and just looking at her back, one knew her appearance was outstanding; she wore plain white tight-fitting clothes, her hair was loosely tied in a bun, and one hand held her sleeve, revealing a snow-white wrist.

Both were squatting on the ground, holding a fragment of the coffin in their left hands, taking a look, and then their right hands would scratch a few times on the ground.

The fingers of those two people were like steel hooks, carving deep marks into the ground.

Those harsh sounds were the sounds of them using their fingers to carve on the ground.

"Is that about enough? Your Majesty?"

The man suddenly threw away the coffin board in his hand, stood up, and stretched.

"The ground is almost full of carvings; even the most blind person should see it all once they come in."

Suddenly, a hoarse and sluggish voice came from behind Wu Zhiheng.

"Hmm."

"!!!!"

Wu Zhiheng was shocked, suddenly turned around, and swept a punch backward!

But he hit nothing!

The man glanced over here and let out a soft chuckle.

"Scaring children is meaningless, Your Majesty."

Tap.

Footsteps sounded, brushing past Wu Zhiheng.

The Jianwen Emperor walked past Wu Zhiheng's side as if he were just passing by, not even glancing at him, and went to the pile of coffins on his own, looking down and remaining silent.

Clap, clap, clap.

The man suddenly clapped his hands, attracting Wu Zhiheng's gaze.

"Come back to your senses, Retainer."

"May I ask your name?"

Wu Zhiheng did not rush to answer, but swept his gaze over these three people.

He roughly knew the identities of these three people.

The Jianwen Emperor, the Ming Sect Leader, and that expert who had fought the Jianwen Emperor to a draw.

One who, in front of ten retainers, tore open Huang Jin's throat, then fought and retreated against eight retainers, and escaped into the Imperial Mausoleum without a single scratch.

One who rushed into the Xiaoling Mausoleum and was the culprit who released the Jianwen Emperor.

One who, at the Emperor's mausoleum, killed five retainers alone, killed Wang Zhi, and then fought the Jianwen Emperor, forcing the Jianwen Emperor to flee in panic, and only stopped after chasing him half a mountain away.

They could truly be called "Immortals among men, numerous as hemp"!

Each one was a peerless fierce person who could at least rival six or seven retainers!

Any one of them could dismantle Wu Zhiheng into a pile of fragments thinner than Lanzhou ramen in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea!

And there were three of them here!

Wu Zhiheng had already fallen into despair.

The man chuckled.

"Why the expression of someone waiting to be slaughtered?"

"Rest assured, you will not die at our hands."

"This aged Emperor of ours, who has been aged for one hundred and forty-two years, still needs you to bring a message to your little Emperor on the other side."

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"He said, the item His Majesty wants is everywhere inside the Xiaoling Mausoleum at this moment; he is just waiting for His Majesty to come and see."

"It's just... don't let too many people in, otherwise, with many people come many opinions, and since things are precious because they are rare, there's no guarantee who might spread it, and then this thing won't be worth anything, and His Majesty will have wasted... wasted his efforts."

Wu Zhiheng said tremblingly.

(End of Chapter)