Chapter 122: 157, 158

Hanping Village, An Mansion, inside the secret chamber.

The bright moonlight passed through the skylight, casting a quiet glow upon Song Cheng and Su Mengzhen, making his black robe and her snow-white long dress appear somewhat cold and detached.

It was deep winter now, the air was stern and icy, but perhaps because the "Human-Skin Ghost" had been cleared away by Song Cheng, the Ghost Tide had not arrived.

As for other parts of Beixue Zhou, most were already empty of people; nine out of ten houses were vacant, as everyone had fled south.

The Yin Gui Society naturally sent people to monitor the surroundings at all times, but the result obtained was merely that "the Ghost Pit is expanding."

At this moment, Su Mengzhen was earnestly contemplating the third-tail method of the Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit Scripture, but Song Cheng was agonizing over his subsequent power.

At the same time, Song Cheng was still pondering questions regarding this world.

The realm divisions on his interface had actually, to a certain extent, revealed some characteristics of this world.

Heaven, Earth, Profound, Yellow; Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding. And he was currently only at the "Mysterious Grade Bing" realm.

Perhaps in the eyes of outsiders, he, Song Cheng, was already the renowned Blade King of the North Land, a terrifying existence capable of crushing the Three Thousand Ever-Victorious Army at Duanhun Gu with the power of Manifestation; even in the eyes of his sister-in-law and his wives, he was mysterious and unfathomable. However, Song Cheng knew himself.

He was still far from enough.

Not to mention anything else, before the Ghost Tide surged and the great families appeared, the well-known powerhouses on this land should have been the "Big Hall Master of the Mountain and River Martial Hall," the "Manor Master of White Camel Manor," and their like. At that time, the Big Hall Master's prestige was certainly no less than his own at this moment.

Yet, the world turned upside down; when the great families appeared, the Big Hall Master was actually just a slightly stronger ordinary person.

One day, would some monsters hidden even deeper appear, and would that then prove that his so-called prestige at this time was just a joke?

Song Cheng rested his chin on his hand, watching the moonlight.

Even though worldly affairs were chaotic, he only wanted to cultivate, only wanted to become stronger.

However, for him, becoming stronger was not the goal; becoming stronger was only to allow him and those around him to live a better, safer life.

If he were in a peaceful world without war, would Song Cheng even want to ponder this kind of power? At the same time, he would also respect the choices of those around him, whether it was his senior brother the Big Hall Master, his sworn brother Zhao Hua, or even his wife An Chenyu.

The reason he respected them was, first, because he also needed eyes and ears to understand this world, to possess channels to encounter various accidents, and thereby broaden his cognition—this could also be considered a form of disguised reconnaissance and probing; second, because the "chessboard" his relatives and friends were on was actually not at such a high level, and even if they caused trouble, it would not be any great trouble. For instance, the battle at "Duanhun Gu" was just like that. Although the Six Towns were powerful, he had actually, unknowingly, become completely unafraid of them.

And now, he had to find a way to raise himself another major level, leaving the "Holy Light Buddha" and the "Arhats" far behind.

The secret chamber was secluded.

His sister-in-law sat upright, dignified and pure, using this high-end method to flirt with Song Cheng.

Song Cheng, however, also began to ponder.

He sorted through his known powers.

Yellow Grade, in fact, was the foundation.

Even the strongest Qi Realm among ordinary people had only just condensed the basic power needed for the Xuan Realm—Qi.

And Mysterious Grade Ding Quality was to withdraw the phantom image composed of Qi into the body.

Mysterious Grade Bing Quality was, after further elevating one's Soul power, to withdraw even stronger phantom power, subsequently manifesting a Grey Membrane.

Following this logic, was "Mysterious Grade Yi Quality" perhaps about contacting even stronger ghosts, thereby tempering the Soul, and subsequently withdrawing even more and stronger phantom images?

Song Cheng thought about it, always feeling that this conclusion had some possibility, but it didn't seem quite right.

He recalled the seven-tail cultivation method in the Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit Scripture.

This method was, in fact, just a deduction by the Su Family.

No one in the Su Family had ever truly practiced it to that point.

Its method was actually the content he had just deduced.

Experiencing more terrifying Reappearance Tribulations, obtaining a stronger physical body, withdrawing more phantom images... After a long while, as the night was about to pass, Song Cheng slowly shook his head.

He was somewhat troubled.

"Perhaps I need to actively contact the Holy Light Buddha to understand the cultivation method for Mysterious Grade Yi Quality.

Or perhaps I could try to contact more great families, but if I did that, I would seem to be betraying the Su Family.

After all, you have to betray one great family first before other great families will accept you and write your name on their family Spirit Tablet.

And as long as it is written, then for me, all the cultivation techniques of that family would be open."

Thinking of this, he turned his head to look at Su Mengzhen and suddenly called out, "Sister Su."

Su Mengzhen remained with her eyes closed, only her red lips parted slightly as she said, "Little Song, focus."

Song Cheng said, "In the Reappearance Tribulation, Sister Su and I could be considered to have shared hardships, right?"

Su Mengzhen nodded gently.

On those endless stairs of pitch-black and extreme cold, Song Cheng had carried her on his back, refusing to let go even in death; she was still quite moved by that.

Immediately, she looked at him with confusion again, her pair of eyes still so earnest, so focused, as if there were only you in those eyes. Just this look would make you have a feeling of "being cherished."

Perhaps she had been expecting something all along.

Expecting Song Cheng to take the initiative to do something.

Taming a man is like training a hawk.

To train a hawk, one must compete with the hawk's will to see who admits defeat first.

Taming a man is the same.

If you surrender first, then you have lost; conversely, if the man comes to beg you first, then the training is a success.

Afterwards, as long as the man is obedient, you give him some sweetness; if he is not obedient, you leave him out in the cold and do not allow him to touch you at all.

This was what Su Mengzhen wanted to do to Song Cheng.

However, her original intention was not malicious; she just felt that her younger sister's methods were too poor and was afraid that Song Cheng would leave the Su Family, so she came to provide "reinforcement and binding."

The Su Family had traveled all the way from Qingque Continent to here, sacrificing who knows how many clansmen, and only then did the family manage to continue.

Sometimes, as long as Su Mengzhen closed her eyes, she would think of the faces of those clansmen, think of why those clansmen died... The continuation of the Su Family could not be interrupted.

For the sake of the family, she could do anything.

Therefore, she was flirting with Song Cheng for the sake of the family.

Even though she had already confessed this purpose during the Reappearance Tribulation, she still had to pretend as if she hadn't and continue on.

Therefore, even if it seemed to outsiders that she was indifferent to Song Cheng, in truth, deep down, she cared for this man to the extreme.

Facing the gaze of his sister-in-law at this moment, Song Cheng said, "Sister Su, you should know about the matter regarding Yin Mingzong, right?"

Su Mengzhen nodded.

Song Cheng said, "Yin Mingzong said he wanted the Jiangnan Xiao Family to approach me; that must be because he hopes to turn me, hoping that I will go with the Xiao Family to contend for the world."

Therefore, if the Xiao Family comes, I want to go to the Xiao Family to take a look. But Sister Su, you must trust me; even if my name is no longer on the Su Family Spirit Tablet, my heart is still with the Su Family, I am still..."

Su Mengzhen suddenly stood up, came to his side, knelt before him, held his face in both hands, and suddenly leaned her pretty face in close, breathing out against his ear, blowing his sideburns up, making it ticklish.

"Are you willing to part with me?"

The giggling laughter was like a change of face and a shift in scene.

It was not just their faces that were pressed close, but their bodies as well.

Flames ignited through the dark robe and white skirt.

In an instant, that noble and intellectual person suddenly became wanton and base.

It was as if a dignified and conservative empress had suddenly lifted her skirt and become a harlot.

Song Cheng said, "As long as I am here, the Su Family remains."

"Then you are not allowed to leave." Su Mengzhen tugged at his collar.

The two looked at each other, their nose tips separated by only the distance of a sheet of paper.

What healthy, normal man could withstand this?

Song Cheng followed the momentum, like Kuafu chasing the scorching sun, and began a rapid sprint. When he was so tired he could no longer run and was parched beyond words, he stopped, prostrating himself upon that vast earth, drinking the sweet spring water of the great river on the left in one breath. Drinking the left side was not enough, so he drank the right side as well.

Afterwards, he continued to run forward, sprinting.

Until his strength was exhausted, only then did he collapse in exhaustion, casting aside that staff, which transformed into a peach forest.

The peaches fell to the ground, bursting and turning into splashing juice, flowing into the parched earth to nourish it.

Su Mengzhen was also very tired.

She was like a spirit suppressed by a high mountain.

After a long, long time, when the high mountain weathered and became light over time, she finally managed to push away the mountain on her body and chided, "Heavy."

She stood up, her small feet lightly hooking the white skirt that had been shed aside earlier, then with a spin and a turn, she covered herself with it again, hiding that body that still rippled with lewdness beneath nobility and dignity, revealing nothing at all.

Song Cheng felt peaceful in his heart.

However... Sister Su was truly a thorough enchantress.

Even in his tranquility, the moment he saw her, waves stirred once more.

Su Mengzhen extended a small foot, her jade-white toes painted with flower juice scratching and pressing against his chest.

His sister-in-law giggled and said, "What else do you want to do?"

She had decided to leave an indelible impression on the man before her.

She treated this place as a battlefield.

A battlefield for the family struggle.

No matter how strong Song Cheng was, he had to be the Su Family's Song Cheng.

Otherwise, no matter how powerful he was, it had nothing to do with the Su Family.

Song Cheng glanced at that small foot but did not move, instead saying, "Sister Su, this matter is more complicated than you think."

Su Mengzhen said with a beaming smile, "Men, not a single word of truth."

Having said that, she acted like a mischievous little girl again, withdrew her small foot, twisted her body, and said angrily, "Anyway, if you leave, I will never see you again in this lifetime."

While saying such things, her eyes looked at Song Cheng pitifully, lingeringly, and even filled with a few tears.

This is words pushing you away, but the gaze pulling you back.

If a woman were like this to you, could you leave? Especially when a big 【Favorability: 100】 was floating above her head.

The air seemed to stand still... the emotions flowing within it were like a double-layered net, hiding a thousand knots.

And the next instant, those teary, pitiful, and attached eyes slowly tightened.

Su Mengzhen's small mouth opened, and an expression of disbelief gradually appeared in her eyes.

In the quiet secret chamber, a giant fox phantom suddenly appeared... behind it, six snow-white tails were sweeping back and forth, almost filling the entire chamber behind Song Cheng, pressing against the ceiling, the fox head drooping, overlooking the sister-in-law beneath it.

Su Mengzhen stared at the giant fox tails, counting with a trembling voice: "One, two... one, two... one, two, three, four, five, six..."

She counted over and over again, then looked in astonishment at Song Cheng, who was sitting cross-legged with his soul clearly out of his body, his form stiff, unable to believe it. In another instant, the Six-Tail demon fox soul vanished, and the seated Song Cheng also opened his eyes, then looked at Su Mengzhen with a smile and asked, "Sister Su, are you willing to part with me?"

Su Mengzhen came back to her senses, then immediately sat by his side, suddenly taking his arm, dragging him and pulling him, her beautiful head leaning against him, and said, "Not willing, you are not allowed to leave."

After finishing, she asked curiously, "How did you manage to cultivate to Six-Tail?"

His sister-in-law was both shocked and excited deep down.

Six-Tail was the highest achievement reached by the Su Family throughout the generations.

In other words, Song Cheng's current achievement was already on par with the strongest in the Su Family.

"You're already at Six-Tail, and you still want to leave the Su Family and run to someone else's house? I won't let you go!"

Song Cheng said, "I'm not leaving. I have long since regarded you and Xiao Yu'er as family. I don't have the habit of abandoning family. This is... the matter is like this, and so on..."

He decided it was better to find an ally regarding the matter of the aristocratic families.

And his sister-in-law was deep in schemes and would be a good ally; at the very least... she would never let the secret slip.

As Su Mengzhen listened, her pupils slowly dilated, as if she had heard the most astonishing thing.

Of course, Song Cheng still did not reveal the "Ghost Tower," but only said that his talent was terrifying, allowing him to draw inferences, and that "pretending to betray the Su Family and joining the Xiao Family" was only for the sake of the Xiao Family's techniques.

In the Yinggui Association, the one who ultimately won the technique "Nine-Souls Piercing Star" was a Martial Artist named Wu Lie; this was also one of the very, very few existences in the Yinggui Association who relied on their own ability to break through to the Qi Realm.

Just this point alone meant his future was limitless.

After Song Cheng understood his background, he met him in person.

Wu Lie is a man with an innocent temperament, but his eyes hide the sincerity of a pure heart; to put it plainly, he is a martial arts fanatic from the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall, and also one of the former External Affairs Envoys of the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall.

He did not leave with Tie Zhenyi, simply because he felt that Song Cheng was stronger, so he is also a "task fanatic" within the Yin Gui Society.

He traveled everywhere to execute tasks, and left many traces in field map surveys, Ghost Pit surveys, and the clearing of Ghosts.

He risked his life to earn merit points, just to be able to exchange for a few more cultivation techniques from the Yin Gui Society.

And this time, after the Yin Gui Society proposed a "Martial Arts Tournament" and the winner could obtain the book *Jiusou Cimang Xing*, he went all out and ultimately won.

"A ten-thousand-foot building rises from the ground. But if it is to reach ten thousand feet, the foundation must be solid," Song Cheng said, looking at this man.

Wu Lie nodded deeply; in fact, he had realized this point long ago, but there was simply no technique in the world that could take care of the whole body.

Yet this *Jiusou Cimang Xing* opened the door to a new world for him.

Song Cheng looked at this man whose favorability was 90, and suddenly said: "Wu Lie, you and I were both originally of the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall lineage, but since we have started anew, our relationship naturally must be calculated differently. Are you willing to take me as your master?"

As soon as the words fell, the man with thick eyebrows and big eyes knelt down directly, knocked his head several times with a "thud, thud" sound, and said: "Greetings, Teacher. I have long wanted to take you as my master; there is no one in the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall stronger than you. I want to learn more powerful martial arts, I want to pursue a higher realm, I... I... I..."

When he reached the point of excitement, he even stuttered a little.

And the favorability above his head suddenly changed to "95".

Afterwards, under Song Cheng's guidance, this data slowly rose again, finally stopping at "100".

This favorability rose so fast that even Song Cheng was a little shocked.

However, this kind of thing actually depends on the person.

Some people are "a master for one day, a father for life" and "a drop of kindness, a fountain of gratitude," while others are "even if given a thousand gold, they are still ungrateful wolves that cannot be tamed."

Clearly, Wu Lie, as a martial arts fanatic, is the former.

Song Cheng's guidance could often resolve his long-standing doubts in just a few words, allowing him to see the direction of the future as if parting the clouds to see the sun.

Song Cheng originally had no feelings for Wu Lie, but he needed to cultivate some talent, and the Yin Gui Society also needed some backbone, and Wu Lie happened to be suitable, so those feelings naturally developed.

Deep winter light snow fell quietly.

The first batch of Divine Wind Gate secret agents of the Yin Gui Society headed south with the animal companions gifted by "North-Falling Master Sect".

And these secret agents would transmit a great deal of information in real time.

The mysterious "North-Falling Master Sect" would also grow rapidly in the process of handling this information, and this was exactly the expectation the Yin Gui Society leader had for her.

As for Song Cheng, he seemed to have reached a certain tacit understanding with his sister-in-law, and everything between the two remained as before.

But what was not as before was that in that secret room, the two were increasingly inseparable, but once they left the secret room, everything was as before; both pretended not to know of Song Cheng's strength, which made Su Mengzhen obsessed.

Not only out of her own stimulation, but also to bind Song Cheng, she used every means to "play" with Song Cheng.

And as for what happened in the south, it was difficult for Song Cheng to know anymore.

Whether it was Lady Zhushan or the "Skull Double Fish Pendant" on Zhao Hua's side, the connection had been severed.

The Yin Gui Society's secret agents were still on the road.

One day, he felt a visualization from Leiyun Continent; it was a visualization from Yan Baixiang.

When he felt this visualization, Su Mengzhen was sitting on top of him, intensely discussing the art of "flower arranging."

The sudden visualization caught Song Cheng off guard.

He paused and said: "Xiang'er is visualizing me."

Su Mengzhen raised her hand and coquettishly hit him, cursing: "Bad!"

The two quickly ended the flower arranging discussion, and then Song Cheng reached Leiyun Continent with a single thought, seeing Yan Baixiang facing many magical beasts in an open field.

He gathered dust at will to appear.

When General Yan saw him, he was indescribably excited, and then pointed to the many magical beasts in the distance, full of heroic spirit, and said: "Foster Father, I want to turn them into cavalry! From now on, we will head to the Central Plains!"

Previously, the Su sisters had agreed to the title of "Foster Father," and Song Cheng had also gone to Leiyun Continent in a previous visualization to acknowledge this relationship.

Song Cheng wrote: 'Is that why you want me to witness it?'

General Yan said awkwardly: "Although my Thunder Cloud Province also has some beast-taming techniques, they can only tame some docile beasts... I am preparing in advance. I invited Foster Father here because I hope Foster Father can instruct me in military strategy."

The two had another discussion, and in this process, Song Cheng also began to gradually understand the beast-taming techniques of Thunder Cloud Province.

Thus, Song Cheng would come about two or three times a week.

And on another day, after he arrived here, he saw Yan Baixiang clutching a letter report, looking at it with a face full of excitement, praising it, and muttering in his mouth: "How did he dare? How did he dare?"

Song Cheng wrote: 'What is it?'

Yan Baixiang hurriedly showed him the letter report, saying while looking: "Foster Father, Zhao Hua is your sworn brother, right?"

Song Cheng nodded, and the content on the letter report also made him feel astonished.

He knew that Zhao Hua had led troops into the Imperial Capital.

But he did not know about this matter.

About a month ago, at the year-end sacrifice in the Imperial Capital, Zhao Hua took all the civil and military officials of the city, the leaders of the major forces in the Imperial Capital, and even the Empress Dowager who had shaved her head to become a nun and the new Emperor to the banks of the Wu River to sacrifice to the "Wu River God" of tradition.

The legend of the "Wu River God" had a long history, and it seemed to be a sacrificial rule established by the founder of the Great Shang Dynasty.

But this rule was slowly abolished.

Yet Zhao Hua brought it out again.

Everyone only thought he wanted to show off the methods of a powerful minister, so they all kept the appointment.

And then a great battle broke out directly on the banks of the Wu River.

The result was that those who could fight were killed by Zhao Hua's Tiger Leopard Cavalry, and those who could not fight were forced to "go to the Wu River to find the River God, and then never return."

All the civil and military officials, ministers, and force leaders were killed completely, and suddenly everything became empty.

The most critical point was that Zhao Hua did not kill indiscriminately without preparation.

Before doing this, he accepted several marriages, and then, just like with Ouyang Chuchu of the Ouyang Family, he sowed seeds quickly on the night of the wedding, leaving behind offspring.

Then, in the "Wu River Massacre," he alone spared those families he had married into; now, the other side was completely in chaos.

And on the banks of the Wu River, the Empress Dowager who had shaved her head to become a nun begged him bitterly and said all the nice things, but she was still thrown into the Wu River by Zhao Hua.

After this affair, Zhao Hua immediately took the Heavenly Son hostage to command the feudal lords, rapidly seizing control of the Imperial Capital's military, and then took people to the Holy Brightness Temple in the Imperial Capital to burn incense and worship Buddha; after a series of operations, he placed his trusted aides in control of the imperial court, and led the Tiger Leopard Cavalry and the Imperial Capital's elite troops to withdraw from the Imperial Capital, claiming he was going to oppose the Six Towns, as the Imperial Capital had suffered such an incident, and the Six Towns would surely be restless.

No one knew exactly how strong Zhao Hua's Tiger Leopard Cavalry was; they only knew he had unscrupulously broken into the Imperial Capital and then slaughtered the leaders of all the major factions among the civil and military officials.

Nor would anyone know how strong Zhao Hua's Tiger Leopard Cavalry was, or how many people were in it, because Zhao Hua withdrew with extreme speed.

He charged into the Imperial Capital with the force of a thunderbolt and withdrew just as promptly, using trusted aides and medicine-men to remotely control the movements of the Imperial Capital, like a blade hanging over the heads of all the dukes and nobles in the city.

After Song Cheng finished reading this intelligence report, his expression was quite complex, because the report also recorded some details of the matter; overall, it was that Zhao Hua was utterly shameless, his oaths were like passing wind, he deceived many people with a face full of sincerity, yet he showed no mercy when it came time to kill.

He also finally understood why there had been no contact from Zhao Hua's side during this period.

Song Cheng decided to go to the Imperial Capital to take a look.

After all, it was such a major event.

And there happened to be a secret agent in Thunder Cloud Province.

Consequently, Yan Baixiang had the secret agent visualize Song Cheng.

More than a month later, the secret agent quietly infiltrated the Imperial Capital and visualized Song Cheng.

After Song Cheng looked around for a moment, he was extremely stunned to discover that many of the people currently in high positions and holding great power in the Imperial Capital were actually his medicine-men, with affinity levels of 100.

Suddenly, he understood.

Zhao Hua had never betrayed him.

Medicine-men require source material.

The material mostly comes from the bodies of members of noble families.

Once crafted, medicine-men first obey the one who gifted the medicine, but at their core, they are completely submissive to the "master who is the source of the material."

After Zhao Hua became the son-in-law of the Qi Family in Donghai Zhou, he naturally obtained some medicine-man materials from the Qi Family, but until now, he had still been using the material gifted to him by his elder brother, who was far away in Beixue Zhou.

The current Zhao Hua naturally knew that the portrait of the Youhu his elder brother had shown him back then was his elder brother's true form.

Those medicine-man materials were also obtained from his elder brother's hair ground into powder.

Precisely because of this, all the medicine-men controlled by Zhao Hua were also entirely from Song Cheng.

The reason is complex; perhaps Zhao Hua himself is not entirely clear on it.

Perhaps his elder brother's medicine-man material is easier to use, making the resulting medicine-men more powerful; perhaps he knows his elder brother has no ambition, so letting his elder brother ultimately control these medicine-men is the safest way, the one least likely to cause conflict with him—if it were the Qi Family, that would not do.

Perhaps he once promised his elder brother that if one day he conquered the Imperial Capital, then if his elder brother wanted to be the Heavenly Son, he could certainly be one; perhaps he has deep feelings for his elder brother. This Zhao Hua has spent his life killing and burning, committing every evil, treating women like clothing, treating children like tools, using both open and secret schemes, his hands covered in blood, his mouth full of lies.

He has failed many, many people, but... he has never failed Song Cheng.

P. S.: Misfortunes never come singly; the computer hard drive is broken and difficult to recover. I replaced the hard drive, but all the desktop settings are gone. I can only reorganize and redo them, striving to recover by tomorrow, and even make up for the missing word count.

Apologies!

(End of chapter)