Chapter 359

The marshal wore a dragon robe over his uniform; in all of Wufu Town, only one person could have such an arrangement—Chen Ping!

Chen Ping was actually flayed and made into a skin puppet?

But if Chen Ping's skin puppet has remained sealed in the teahouse's underground passage, then who is sealed inside that black coffin in the Pearl Coil River?

I feel like my nerves are about to go haywire.

What's even more unbelievable is that after Chen Ping came out, it still wasn't over.

Eight strong skin puppets lifted the dragon throne from the secret chamber and came out!

The skin puppets that came out of the teahouse were especially orderly.

The skin actors mounted the ghost stage, the dragon throne was lifted to the main seat, and the other skin puppets were all distributed around the ghost stage.

The gongs and drums sounded, and on the ghost stage those actors began to sing in a wailing tone.

We stood listening for a while, and Fu Wan recognized it: "This is the Wu opera 'Xuanyuan Flying to Heaven,' singing of how the Xuanyuan emperor, to save all living beings, struggled against nature and finally ascended to immortality at Jinyun Fairy Capital."

An emperor ascending to immortality?

"What? What Wu opera?" Jiang Four Lack suddenly panicked, "No, wasn't it agreed we'd sing 'Wu Pen Record'? How did the program change?"

We all turned to look at Jiang Four Lack, and Li Qingying asked, "Who told you that was settled?"

"Sev... Seventh Lord." Jiang Four Lack's voice tightened, his eyes fixed on the ghost stage.

I suddenly understood: "So Liu Junyan had you embroider that moon onto the skin puppet in preparation for singing 'Wu Pen Record'?"

Jiang Four Lack nodded: "This is the Seventh Lord's clever idea; he had me embroider a crescent moon on the skin puppet, and as the corpse-scent voodoo lily blooms, that crescent becomes a full moon, then as the lily's Mana gradually depletes it turns back into a crescent, at which point the skin puppet will guide the skin actors to sing 'Wu Pen Record'."

"Wu Pen Record" is one of the famous ghost operas in Huaguo opera, telling the story of wronged spirits filing complaints and Judge Bao impartially judging the case.

In the opera world there is an unwritten rule: ghost operas cannot be performed outdoors.

Because performing ghost operas outdoors, especially a redressal opera like 'Wu Pen Record,' easily invites wronged spirits to file complaints.

Over the past century, the number of wronged ghosts dead in Wufu Town is unknown, but most of them died at Chen Ping's hands.

Even if he didn't kill them personally, it was done at his behest.

Therefore Liu Junyan arranged this grand performance to use the ghost stage, skin puppets, and skin actors together to judge Chen Ping.

Yet no one expected Chen Ping himself to be flayed!

The appearance of Chen Ping's skin puppet disrupted all plans, which is why Jiang Four Lack is so frightened.

Jiang Four Lack sat uneasily: "It's ruined, it's ruined—did the Seventh Lord leave any backup? Can the situation still be controlled?"

"Mr. Jiang, don't panic." I glanced at Liu Junyan guarding the yin soldier troops on the Pearl Coil River and said firmly, "The Seventh Lord has it under control."

Perhaps when Jiang Four Lack was doing the strange embroidery on the skin puppet, Liu Junyan didn't foresee these later events, but today he and Zhao Zixun jointly controlled the yin soldiers, blocking the Pearl Coil River; from this it's clear he is actually indulging, even protecting the development of the ghost stage.

I trust him.

Li Qingying hurriedly pulled Jiang Four Lack into the Dang Pu: "Mr. Jiang, don't be afraid; even if the sky falls, we've got you covered—what you've done today is already excellent."

Jiang Four Lack was pulled by Li Qingying back to the Dang Pu to drink tea.

Fu Wan and I stood in a dim place, looking out at the ghost stage.

On the ghost stage, the actors sang at the climax, gongs and drums blared, and the skin puppets standing beneath the stage each burst open, streams of essence and energy shooting straight at Chen Ping's skin puppet seated on the dragon throne.

At that moment, two streams of energy appeared on Chen Ping's skin puppet.

One stream is the essence and energy sacrificed by the skin puppets; the other faintly emits Golden Light—could it be... true dragon aura?

At this moment I seemed to understand everything.

Chen Ping has always been a puppet.

He attracts attention largely because he possesses half of true dragon aura.

In ancient times, whoever could ascend to the throne was acclaimed as an incarnation of the true dragon.

But Chen Ping is not a true dragon.

He came from humble origins, fought his way up, carved out a domain to become king, and until his death he never truly ascended the throne.

Such people's fate carries a trace of imperial aura, but their endings are usually not good, because they possess only half a dragon's body.

Yet that half-dragon body is enough for them to dominate a region, beyond precious.

So Chen Ping's first half of life went smoothly; Zhao Zixun followed him in battle after battle, undefeated except at Small Camp Mouth.

But what exactly happened afterward?

Did Chen Ping actively offer himself as a sacrifice, or was he harmed by others?

His skin puppet has appeared in the world—what about his fleshly body?

I was thinking when suddenly there was movement on the Pearl Coil River.

The river water bubbled gurgle-gurgle, and eight red coffins slowly rose up.

At the bend, a larger wave surged up, only to be pressed back down by Liu Junyan and the yin soldier formation.

At this moment, Liu Junyan's prior deployment played a crucial role.

"Wanwan, let's go back!"

I suddenly spoke up, and Fu Wan, puzzled, said, "Aren't we watching the ghost stage anymore? It feels like something's about to happen."

"For now we won't watch; let's head back to the Dang Pu, quick!"

When Liu Junyan planned the whole operation, he specifically told me that the ghost stage was destined to not be contained, so let the problem erupt on its own; my primary task is to guard the Dang Pu!

Although I don't know what will happen next, I know I must obey Liu Junyan!

All of us must cooperate with his actions!

Fu Wan glanced back at the ghost stage, gritted her teeth, and still followed me running back.

As soon as I returned to the Dang Pu, I called out to Li Qingying: "Sister Qingying, escort Mr. Jiang home."

Jiang Four Lack's main task today was to trigger the blooming of the corpse-scent voodoo lily, and he succeeded.

What comes next might exceed what he can bear; he is a treasure, and I must guarantee his safety.

I went to sit behind the counter of Nan Shu Fang, Fu Wan stood guard by the small door on this side of the Funeral Shop.

The singing from the ghost stage lingered over the whole Wufu Town, the rain outside never stopped, and not long after, a muffled thunder came from the distant horizon.

Whoosh... whoosh...

Maybe it's because Dang Pu is too quiet; even though we're this far away, we can still hear the sound of the surging waves on Zhu Pan River.

Time flowed by minute and second, my heart pounded wildly.

The usually composed Fu Wan also became uneasy now.

She was worried about the ghost stage over there.

After the clock struck eleven, heavy footsteps suddenly came from Xijiekou, accompanied by the sound of iron chains dragging on the ground.

That sound was both familiar and unfamiliar to us.

What was familiar was the sound of iron chains dragging on the ground; each time the eight female corpses appeared, this sound would accompany them.

What was unfamiliar was that the footsteps…… were too heavy…… like the sound of soldiers in leather boots stomping on a battlefield……