Chapter 52 Clash: Willing to Play
Somewhere in the palace.
“Cui Mingcan is not here,” Cen Ying said. “I’ve searched the entire palace, but I haven’t seen a trace of him.”
Bai Yuheng pondered, guessing, "Could he have already found a way to escape?"
Li Tiankuo also said, "Very likely."
Bai Yuheng: "Then let's find the Four Directions Mirror first and then go out to meet him."
"good."
“I’ve already explored the area, and there are few heavily guarded places here. I think the Four Directions Mirror is probably hidden on Shang Su’s person,” Li Tiankuo said.
Cen Ying sighed, "Ah, that's a real pity. If we could find Cui Mingcan, we could have asked him to help lure the Ghost Lord. That would have greatly increased our chances of getting the Four Directions Mirror, and saved us a lot of effort."
"Don't say that. If Xiao Can hears you, she'll be furious."
Cen Ying stuck out her tongue mischievously.
"Did you see the abducted groom?" Li Tiankuo asked, still remembering the incident.
Bai Yuheng nodded: "I just went to check. They were all drinking and eating in one room. It seems they haven't suffered any harm. We'll send them out after we find the Four Directions Mirror."
"Okay." The two nodded.
"By the way, where is Chen Ping'an?"
Bai Yuheng looked around and saw that only the four of them were hiding in a deserted corner, but she did not see Chen Ping'an.
"I don't know, I didn't see it—uh!" Cen Ying was speaking when she suddenly felt her heart pounding, her breathing becoming labored, and a sharp pain shooting through her chest and abdomen. "Uh! The Rebirth Gu is... it's going to be released..."
As soon as she finished speaking, Pei Yuan and Li Tiankuo also showed signs of something amiss.
His ashen face slowly faded back to a normal, rosy, and healthy complexion, but because he hadn't taken the antidote, his rosy complexion quickly turned ashen again. He suffered unbearable abdominal cramps, as if something was about to tear open from inside him.
Bai Yuheng said urgently, "Quick! Take the antidote now!"
After receiving the antidote, the three gradually recovered.
“The Rebirth Gu on you has been removed, but your life force has probably already leaked out, and Shang Su will soon notice,” Bai Yuheng said. “There’s only one way left now…”
The four looked at each other, discerning the decision in each other's eyes.
Cen Ying hesitated: "What about Chen Ping'an? We can't find him now, and this cave is full of reckless ghost messengers and ferocious demons."
Bai Yuheng frowned, and Pei Yuan beside her said, "I'll go find him. You all do your thing."
Cen Ying also thought it was feasible and nodded: "Then I'll have to trouble Uncle Pei."
"It's alright."
"Alright, then let's split into three groups and set up the formation in our respective positions," Bai Yuheng said. "Do you still remember the formation we used at the Liang residence?"
Cen Ying and Li Tiankuo nodded and said, "We remember."
Bai Yuheng nodded: "Let's not delay, let's set off before Shang Su finds us."
The four of them left the corner, each with their own tasks.
Bai Yuheng still looked like Granny Zhang, strolling leisurely through the hall.
"Quick! Capture those intruders!" A pair of ghost messengers hurriedly ran past Bai Yuheng, their low voices carried on the passing wind.
As expected, it was exposed.
Bai Yuheng thought to herself, and quickened her pace considerably.
-
“Su Su…” Chen Ping’an looked at the person in the high position, tears streaming down his face before he could speak.
Shang Su: "..."
"Susu, I'm late."
Chen Ping'an still spoke to her in a particularly awkward posture.
Shang Su waved his hand, signaling the ghost messengers to release the person.
"I'm sorry, Susu, I never intended to abandon you back then! I was being controlled by Chen Chengcai and his gang..."
"Please believe me!"
Shang Su rested her chin on her hand, squinted, and asked, "Who brought you in?"
"..." Chen Ping'an remained silent. "I sneaked in by myself."
“Lying.” Shang Su exposed his lie without any mercy. Whenever he lied, his eyelashes would blink involuntarily, and his right hand would clench into a fist.
She clearly cast a spell on him, preventing him from leaving the Liang residence. If someone hadn't lifted the spell, how could he be here safely?
Shang Su thought again, perhaps it was those few strands of human energy that secretly sneaked into the ghost city.
However, I wonder what they're up to?
She couldn't help but wonder: Could it be Chen Chengcai? No, no, no, it shouldn't be him. He's hiding under the palace in Chenjia Village, cowering and afraid to come out. It shouldn't be him.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind: the people who had barged in a few days ago seemed to know Cui Mingcan…
Shang Su finally understood and leisurely raised her eyes to look at him.
"I won't investigate who brought you in; you'll find out soon enough. Entering my White Bone Ghost City isn't so simple."
As soon as she finished speaking, several people were brought over by the ghost messengers.
Chen Ping'an looked closely and saw that it was Bai Yuheng and the other three. He exclaimed, "How did you get captured?!"
Bai Yuheng gave him a reassuring look, telling him not to panic.
"Reporting to the Ghost Lord, we have discovered these four suspicious individuals within the palace. The aura of life emanating from them does not belong to those invited by our Ghost City. We have brought these four here for your disposal."
Shang Su narrowed her eyes: "It's you?"
Bai Yuheng had already returned to her original form.
Cen Ying: "Release our companions immediately!"
Shang Su chuckled: "What do you mean 'your partner'? He's mine now."
"You shameless bastard, you actually kidnapped an innocent man!"
"Kid, if you care about saving face, then half the people in this world would have to die." Shang Su flicked her newly dyed nail polish and said sarcastically without any mercy, "Only shameless people can live better in this world. I'm just following suit and want to live more comfortably."
Cen Ying puffed up her cheeks in anger, glaring at her, but didn't know what to say.
“Your partner has already agreed to marry me,” Shang Su said leisurely. “I can let you off the hook for his sake.”
"Who cares!" Cen Ying said, "We can get out without you letting us out!"
Without saying another word, Cen Ying took action, broke free from the ghost guards binding her, and subdued the ghost guards beside her with just a few needles.
The others reacted quickly upon hearing the commotion and swiftly dealt with the ghost guards holding them captive.
Shang Su frowned and sneered, "Since you've been given a way out but aren't taking it, don't blame me for being impolite!"
Chen Ping'an panicked: "Susu, they're not bad people, they just want to find their partner. Can you let him go?"
Chen Ping'an spoke softer and softer.
Shang Su laughed heartily: "Chen Ping'an, what do you mean by that?"
"Weren't you the one who abandoned me back then? Do I need to forgive them because of you?"
"..." Chen Ping'an's lips trembled, and he tried several times to explain, "Susu, there were indeed hidden circumstances surrounding what happened back then, I was not—"
"Enough," Shang Su interrupted him, her voice cold. "I don't need to hear your guilty explanations. Even if you didn't mean to abandon me back then, you clearly knew what the people of Chenjia Village were like, yet you still dared to leave me and our unborn child alone in Chenjia Village. Did you really not think about our safety?"
Every word Shang Su uttered struck at the heart of what he cared about most, but Chen Ping'an couldn't deny that what she said was indeed not without reason.
He knew perfectly well what the villagers were like, and he knew perfectly well that leaving her behind would pose a greater danger, but he still clung to a sliver of hope, confident that his plan for her was foolproof and would ensure her safety.
But what was the result...?
This separated them from each other, and also deprived them of their bloodline.
Chen Ping'an slumped to his knees on the ground, his once upright and broad shoulders suddenly losing their vitality and collapsing.
He regrets it; he regrets it every single moment.
But there is no medicine for regret in this world, no magic to erase all the pain.
All the wounds suffered will turn into scars that are difficult to heal, constantly reminding us of this deep-seated hatred.
Shang Su ignored him and looked at the four people who had broken in.
"If you want to save people, you'll have to get past me first!"
After saying that, Shang Su's hands gradually revealed black mist. Her skeletal hands quickly formed hand seals, enveloping the entire palace as if she had entered another space.
The four observed the changes around them and prepared for battle.
Shang Su transformed into another form, one side of her face was a stark white bone, the other side was an unparalleled beauty, and her figure changed from graceful and plump to withered, with the stark white bone faintly visible through her wedding dress.
“The fragment of the Four Directions Mirror is in her chest,” Bai Yuheng secretly withdrew her magic power to sense the Four Directions Mirror and whispered to them, “Let’s first set up the formation to lure the souls of those ghost messengers to the Liang Mansion, and then take back the Four Directions Mirror.”
"good."
Pei Yuan said, "Then I will stop Shang Su and buy some time."
Bai Yuheng nodded.
After the four finished their conversation, they each stood on one side, in their respective positions, forming hand seals and chanting incantations.
"Nine Heavens Mysterious Spirit, ever-changing and unpredictable; its clones, like shadows, guide divine powers; Nine Netherworld Fire, all things return to one; Three Souls and Seven Spirits, each returning to its proper place..."
"Take them all down!" Shang Su also noticed something was wrong and sternly ordered the ghost messengers.
With his right hand, Pei Yuan clenched a sharp sword and slew the ghost messenger who had been interfering with their spellcasting. With his other hand, countless white threads stretched out, binding the ghost messenger tightly and rendering him unable to move.
Shang Su was no pushover either. With a flick of her fingers, the bound ghost messengers suddenly surged in power, breaking free of the silk threads binding them and unleashing even greater force.
Shang Su covered her chest with one hand, and something flashing with golden light but shrouded in black mist burst out, binding Pei Yuan like a swimming dragon.
Upon seeing this, Bai Yuheng exclaimed in dismay that what was binding him was her primordial spirit. If Pei Yuan were to cut it off, she would not be able to gather that wisp back. Losing even a single wisp of her three souls and seven spirits would be fatal.
She hurriedly said, "Master, you escaped using the Soul Dispersion Technique!"
Pei Yuan recognized her primordial spirit and, fearing to damage it, allowed himself to be bound without any resistance. Upon hearing her words, he understood her meaning and moved over as she instructed.
Despite the flaw in Bai Yuheng, Pei Yuan continued to set up the formation.
Shang Su smiled dismissively: "What, you couldn't beat them, so you sent a delicate little girl instead?"
Looking at the harmless, beautiful and refined face of the person in front of her, Shang Su kindly advised, "Admit defeat sooner rather than later, and you will still have a way to live. Otherwise..." She laughed twice, "Otherwise, I will turn you all into ghost servants, who will serve me and obey my orders for all eternity."
Bai Yuheng laughed, "That sounds pretty good."
Shang Su looked at her and chuckled, seeing that she was being sensible and about to speak.
She added, "However, let's see if you can beat me first."
His tone was so innocent and fearless, yet it carried an arrogant disdain for others.
Enraged, Shang Su sneered, "Then let's see what happens!"
"Ghost messengers! Hear my command, take them all down!"
"Yes, sir!"
The two clashed, and the silent, unspoken tension spread.
A golden snake coiled around her shoulder, hissing and flicking its tongue; its golden-red vertical pupils held the same eagerness as their master.
Bai Yuheng smiled faintly, raised her hands in a gesture, and said softly, "I'd be happy to accompany you."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
