Chapter 46 The Underground Palace "Don't even think about leaving me again!"
Stepping into the Liang Mansion, which was burned down to ruins, one can still vaguely discern its former splendor and luxury.
"Were the people who kidnapped you not with Shang Su?" Bai Yuheng deduced based on his statement.
Chen Ping'an nodded: "It seems they had a conflict before I came back and split into two camps."
"One side is determined to use me to suppress Su Su, claiming that Su Su is the reincarnation of a saintess who has obtained supreme power and can turn bones into people who obey her commands. The other side, which praises me, wants to proceed with the missionary and religious plan slowly, fearing that too much action will attract the attention of the court."
Bai Yuheng nodded, indicating that she understood. In essence, it was a matter of internal disagreement. One side felt that after years of lying in wait, they had finally welcomed the Holy Maiden and should take the opportunity to grow stronger and cause a ruckus. The other side felt that it was too reckless and that they needed to plan carefully.
However, according to his description of the ability to transform bones into humans, it is likely that Shang Su obtained the fragments of the Four Directions Mirror.
Bai Yuheng had a clear understanding of the Four Directions Mirror's movements; now, all that remained was figuring out how to infiltrate their ranks.
Li Tiankuo, who had been silent all along, suddenly asked him, "When you were in the capital, wasn't there a single person willing to help you?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Ping'an couldn't help but scoff coldly: "How could those arrogant, decadent, and lazy privileged youths possibly look down on us lowly commoners? Putting aside whether they look down on us or not, the mere fact that they have heretical beliefs is enough to terrify them, let alone ask them to help eradicate us. They'd probably run away faster than anyone else!"
Who would dare touch something involving heretical religions from the previous dynasty?
Without sufficient evidence and with no one daring to guarantee the details are true, reporting it might result in being charged with lying or concealing information, and you wouldn't get away with it.
Moreover, His Majesty no longer has the energy to calm things down. Now that the world is peaceful and the people are enjoying themselves, His Majesty is indulging in pleasure. Since nothing bad is going to happen, he probably doesn't want to get involved in these matters.
Regardless of whether the heretical sect has anyone backing it up, if a heretical sect from the previous dynasty, which the current emperor greatly feared, could survive and grow strong, then all the officials from the local to the central government would be useless. If the emperor were to be angry, millions would be killed and blood would flow for thousands of miles. It would be better to pretend not to hear or see anything.
I'm fine if you don't ask, but I'm surprised when you do.
Those cunning and shrewd scoundrels naturally have their own tricks for deceiving their superiors and subordinates.
But the biggest problem is that nobody really believes what an unknown, lowly person says is true.
When Chen Ping'an thought back to the cold reception he received, he knew that it was impossible for him to eliminate the cult with the help of others.
He did not participate in the scientific expedition, but he couldn't bear to leave Shang Su alone at home, so he hurriedly returned.
Who knew these things would happen next?
Li Tiankuo, being in that position, naturally understood the meaning behind his words. He pursed his lips, unable to refute anything.
He asked him coldly, his eyes revealing the ruthlessness of someone in a high position: "Who are you looking for?"
Chen Ping'an glanced at him, puzzled, but still told the truth: "Changsun Di, Minister of Justice."
"Impossible, there's no way he wouldn't help you," Li Tiankuo vehemently denied.
"How do you know he can't? I lay in ambush for a long time in the places he would pass by, and even pulled some strings to finally meet him. And what was the result? After I explained everything, he just told me to get back to where I came from!"
Li Tiankuo gripped the sword at his waist tightly, his eyes cold and sharp: "He's my uncle, he's not that kind of person!"
With just that one sentence, Chen Ping'an fell silent.
He looked over: "Are you a member of the royal family?"
Li Tiankuo nodded: "My adoptive mother is Consort Shu."
"..." Chen Ping'an remained silent, his thoughts unknown.
The atmosphere among the four suddenly became tense.
Meow~
A meow eased the slightly heavy atmosphere, and a small, gray-white kitten suddenly appeared and walked straight toward them.
"Xiao Mi, come here." Cen Ying reached out to call it, but it was completely ignored.
The obedient cat walked to Bai Yuheng's side and rubbed its head against her trouser leg, its soft meows sounding like it was trying to charm her.
Bai Yuheng squinted, picked it up without making a sound, tapped its nose, and then the creature put it in its mouth.
"..."
Is he trying to please her?
Bai Yuheng raised an eyebrow slightly, withdrew her finger, tapped its head, and thought to herself, "I'll settle the score with it after this is all over!"
The four people and the cat arrived at the backyard of the Liang residence and stood beside a rockery with flowing water. Chen Ping'an walked into the dried-up pond and pushed aside the rockery, revealing an opening that was only wide enough for one person to pass through.
They entered the cave one after the other.
The cave passage was narrow, but once it opened up, a fairly spacious secret chamber appeared before us. Inside the chamber were many knives, and in the very center was a large stone bed, with traces of blood still visible through the cracks in the stone.
Chen Ping'an walked straight to the stone bed, touched it all over, and said, "This stone bed was used by Chen Chengcai. He liked to store some Gu worms in this hollowed-out stone bed."
After he finished speaking, the three of them went forward to find a way to open it.
“Here,” Li Tiankuo said, pointing to the location.
After he finished speaking, he drew his sword and slashed at it. The sword was sharp and tough, and it broke open in no time.
Cen Ying lit a candlestick and looked through the dark cave entrance. He saw that the cave was filled with countless insects, motionless, as if they were dead.
Using the light, Chen Ping'an found the Gu worms he needed and handed them to them, saying, "This is called the Rebirth Gu. After eating it, the person will appear as a corpse, with a bluish-purple and blackish complexion and no pulse. It can conceal the aura of a living person. This was a method used by members of the sect to escape extermination a hundred years ago. This is the antidote. As long as it is taken before the heart pulse begins to beat violently, it will be cured."
The three looked at his right palm, where several plump, off-white, slowly wriggling maggots lay. His left palm, on the other hand, had shriveled, dark brown maggots that were no better looking, and they remained motionless.
Bai Yuheng rarely showed any distress, her face contorted in a pained expression.
"Don't worry, after learning from the lessons of a hundred years ago, the people of the sect have evolved this substance. Apart from looking like a dead person after taking it and needing to take medicine in time, it will not cause any harm to the body." Chen Ping'an explained, thinking that they were worried about the consequences. After thinking for a moment, he added, "I see that you are all cultivators with magic. After taking it, your spiritual power may stagnate."
Bai Yuheng tried it and found that it did indeed stagnate spiritual energy, and it took a long time for it to react.
Having dealt with these things since childhood, Cen Ying picked one up without changing her expression, examined it carefully, and asked, "Could you give me a few more of these? I want to study them."
Her eyes gleamed with excitement as she said this.
Bai Yuheng shuddered, finding it truly difficult to face these things.
The cat in her arms sensed her emotions, nuzzled against her, and licked her hand gently to soothe her.
Bai Yuheng's wicked thoughts resurfaced: "Besides humans, can we eat other living beings too?"
Chen Ping'an saw the kitten in her arms stop moving, then suddenly bristle and begin to struggle.
He nodded: "Okay."
Bai Yuheng chuckled, her scheme succeeding, and commanded the golden snake in her wrist to feed an insect into its mouth.
The kitten suddenly lost all strength, looking as if it were dead. Its legs and arms were stiff, its eyes rolled back, and a careful check revealed no pulse.
A moment later, the kitten glared at her angrily, jumped off her lap, and its resentful eyes seemed to be cursing her.
Bai Yuheng smiled and thought to herself, "Serves you right for pretending to be a cat and fooling me!"
The kitten seemed to understand; its soft fur drooped down, its head lowered, pretending not to see anything, and it kept circling the stone bed, looking very busy.
Bai Yuheng had a plan in mind and didn't want to argue with it. After teasing it, she was the last to swallow the Gu worm.
Before long, the three of them became eerie and sinister, like resurrected vengeful ghosts.
"You know what, these Gu worms not only let us pretend to be the living dead, but they can also eliminate fatigue." Cen Ying stretched. "I was feeling a little sleepy before, but now I don't feel it at all, and I'm not hungry either!"
Upon hearing this, Bai Yuheng pinched her own soft flesh and exclaimed in surprise, "Yes, it doesn't hurt at all!"
Li Tiankuo wasn't as naive as them. He secretly pinched his own arm and calmly said, "Alright, it's getting late. We've already been here for quite a while. Let's hurry up and get to Broken Arm Cliff."
The group nodded in agreement, and Bai Yuheng scooped up the pretentious kitten and followed closely behind.
When I went outside, it was already broad daylight.
“I know which way is the shortest,” Chen Ping’an suggested.
"Alright, we're unfamiliar with this place, so please lead the way."
Chen Ping'an nodded, his gaze quickly shifting to conceal the darkness in his eyes.
“But if we go out like this, it will be too conspicuous and might scare people. Why don’t we stay here until sunset before we set off?” Bai Yuheng suggested.
"That's fine. There are few outsiders in this county. If we go out like this, we'll be easily discovered."
The four looked at each other and unanimously decided to leave after sunset.
As night fell, Bai Yuheng and the others put on cloaks to conceal their faces, making them less noticeable in the darkness.
The streets were deserted at night, so the four quickened their pace and followed behind Chen Ping'an.
I walked from the dim light of night until the moon was high in the sky, until I came to a burnt-out ruin.
"here it is?"
Cen Ying looked around and realized that this didn't seem like a place to go to Broken Arm Cliff.
Chen Pingan turned around and said, "There's a secret passage down there that leads directly there."
Having said that, without waiting for them to think it over, he walked forward and jumped into a dry well.
The three looked at each other, and Bai Yuheng said, "Let's go."
"Um."
They went down into the well one after the other.
There really was a secret passage in the dry well, dark and cold, not like a place for ordinary people to walk. The long passage seemed to lead to hell. Cen Ying swallowed, grabbed Bai Yuheng's arm, and looked at the person leading the way warily.
"Yu'er, is this Chen Ping'an trustworthy?"
She felt something was off.
Before Bai Yuheng could speak, they walked through the passageway and suddenly a vast, gloomy underground palace came into view.
As they arrived, the candlesticks in the palace lit up with a whoosh, their flickering flames illuminating the entire palace and its interior.
"!!!"
"So many ghost messengers!" Cen Ying exclaimed in shock.
As soon as she finished speaking, the ghost messengers floating in mid-air with their eyes closed suddenly opened their eyes, their eyeballs bulging out, their eyes lifeless and bloodshot, their pale and bluish-purple faces staring at them expressionlessly.
What are they going to do?
Li Tiankuo narrowed his eyes, drew his sword, assumed a fighting stance, and whispered, "They've been awakened."
"Looks like it's going to be a tough battle." Bai Yuheng summoned the little golden snake and shielded Cen Ying and Chen Ping'an behind her. "Xiao Ying, keep an eye on Chen Ping'an."
Having said that, he took the antidote to remove the Rebirth Gu, and then formed a hand seal to encircle the two people and the cat.
A cold wind howled, lifting the sleeves of their clothes.
The sight of them fighting side by side annoyed the cat. It broke free from Cen Ying's clutches, jumped out of the circle, and insisted on standing between Li Tiankuo and her. Its soft fur stood on end, and its dark eyes coldly watched the constantly awakening ghost messengers.
Don't even think about leaving me again!
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