Chapter 74 I will never lie to you
Pei Zhi hesitated for a moment, then threw the brocade box away. Xuanjizi flicked it with his toe, and the contents of the box fell to his feet.
"The tiger tally and the map are inside! Release the Emperor immediately! I promise I won't lie to you!" Pei Zhi said hastily.
Xuanjizi kicked open the brocade box and hurriedly picked up the tiger tally inside—it was a fake tiger tally left over from when he tricked the elders of the Tianyan Sect. It was made of brass, half an ounce lighter than the real one, and it was missing a pattern on the back!
"You dare lie to me! This is completely fake!" Xuanjizi gripped the tiger tally, his face turning green with rage. With a sudden twist of his wrist, the knife pressed down, and the emperor screamed in pain as the bloodstain on his neck deepened!
Xuanjizi glared fiercely at Pei Zhi, his eyes filled with murderous intent: "You dare to deceive me with a fake tiger tally! I'll kill the Emperor right now and make you all pay with your lives!"
"It's not fake!" Pei Zhi hurriedly stepped forward, his face full of "anxiety." "This is a secondary talisman forged by the late emperor! The main talisman is with Ye Wanning. Only the main talisman can mobilize the grain and weapons in the armory! The secondary talisman can only mobilize the army of the Western Region vassal kings! Even if you kill the emperor and get the secondary talisman, the vassal kings will not listen to you. Instead, they will send troops to hunt you down!"
Ye Wanning secretly praised Pei Zhi for his cooperation and quickly replied, "That's right! When the late emperor cast the talisman, he specially cast two talismans, a main one and a secondary one."
The main talisman is on me; only I can recite the secret incantation to mobilize troops into the treasury! The secondary talisman can also mobilize troops, but only those of the vassal kings.
"If you want the provisions and weapons from the armory, you must release the Emperor before I can hand over the imperial seal!"
Xuanjizi frowned, as if weighing the pros and cons. He held the fake talisman and glanced at the emperor again—he wanted not only the princes' troops, but also the grain and weapons in the armory. Without the main talisman, even if he controlled the emperor, he could not occupy the capital for long.
"You're not lying to me?" Xuanjizi glared at Ye Wanning. "The main talisman is really on you? You'll hand it over as long as I release the Emperor?"
“I would never lie to you.” Ye Wanning nodded, deliberately patting her waist—there was indeed a real tiger tally there, but she would never give it to Xuanjizi. “As long as you release the Emperor, I will immediately throw the main tally over to you. And I can swear that no one will stop you and you will leave the palace safely.”
Xuanjizi hesitated for a moment, then glanced outside the hall—the "fifteen minutes" he mentioned still had a few minutes left; if they delayed any longer, the Gu worm jar really would explode. He gritted his teeth: "Fine! I'll trust you this once! But you must throw the main talisman over first. I need to confirm it's real before I release the Emperor!"
"No way!" Ye Wanning immediately objected. "If I throw the main talisman over, what am I supposed to do if you don't release the Emperor? You have to release the Emperor first before I give you the main talisman!"
"Don't push your luck!" Xuanjizi snapped, pressing the knife closer to the emperor's neck. "If you try to bargain with me again, I'll kill him first!" With that, he pointed the knife at the eunuch who had just sprinkled the powder.
The little eunuch was startled, his face turned pale, and he took a step back, almost bumping into a pillar.
Pei Zhi quickly tried to smooth things over: "Xuanjizi! Let's talk this out! Don't kill innocent people! We can each take a step back—you push the Emperor three steps towards us, and Ye Wanning will reveal half of the main talisman so you can see if it's real. After you've seen it, we'll release the Emperor, and Ye Wanning will throw the main talisman to you, how about that?"
Xuanjizi thought it over and decided it was feasible—as long as the Emperor was still close to him, even if Ye Wanning played tricks, he could immediately rush up and kill the Emperor. Moreover, as long as he saw half of the main talisman, he could confirm whether it was real or not.
"Alright! We'll do it your way!" Xuanjizi said. "I'll push the Emperor three steps towards you first, and Ye Wanning, you reveal the main talisman. If you're lying to me, I'll rush up and kill the Emperor right now!"
As he spoke, he grabbed the Emperor's arm with his left hand and pushed him three steps toward Ye Wanning and Pei Zhi. The Emperor staggered and almost fell. Ye Wanning quickly stepped forward to help him, but Xuanjizi stopped her, saying, "Don't come any closer! Reveal the main talisman first!"
Ye Wanning stopped and took out a corner of the real tiger tally from her waist—she only showed a little bit, just the edge of the tally, with a pattern on it, a mark that only a real tiger tally has.
Xuanjizi stared at the stripes, his eyes wide: "That's right! This is the real main talisman! Quickly throw the main talisman over here!"
“You haven’t released the Emperor yet, how can I let you take the main tally?” Ye Wanning took back the tiger tally. “Push the Emperor two steps closer to me, let him walk to Pei Zhi’s side, and I will throw the main tally over there.”
Xuanjizi hesitated for a moment, then pushed the Emperor two steps closer to Pei Zhi. The Emperor was now only a step away from Pei Zhi, whose hand was already outstretched, about to grab the Emperor.
"Miss! Be careful! Someone is sending a signal to Xuanjizi!" Suddenly, Chuntao's voice came from outside the hall.
Ye Wanning's heart tightened, and she immediately turned to look at the pillar in the hall—the imperial guard who had just hidden behind the pillar was now putting a copper whistle into his mouth! That copper whistle was used by the Tianyan Sect to transmit messages; as long as it was blown, the assassins outside would detonate the Gu worm jars!
"Grab him! Don't let him blow the whistle!" Pei Zhi shouted. As soon as he finished speaking, the members of the Shadow Pavilion rushed over like arrows, grabbed the Imperial Guard, and snatched the bronze whistle from his hand.
The Imperial Guard tried to struggle, but the Shadow Pavilion members tore open his collar—revealing a black snake tattoo, exactly the same as the tattoos on the Tianyan Sect's assassins!
"Speak! Whose man are you? What is Xuanjizi's backup plan?" Ye Wanning walked over, stepped on the Imperial Guard's hand, and pressed down hard.
"Ouch! It hurts! I'll talk! I'll talk!" The imperial guard screamed in pain. "I'm the Prime Minister's subordinate! Xuanjizi said that if he didn't get the main talisman, he would have me blow the whistle to make the assassins outside detonate the Gu worm jars, then set fire to the palace to distract the imperial guards and rescue him!"
Xuanjizi was furious that the traitor had been discovered: "Useless! You can't even handle this simple matter!" He was about to bend down to pick up the knife on the ground when he didn't notice the Emperor—who took advantage of Xuanjizi's distraction and shoved him hard!
Xuanjizi stumbled, nearly dropping the dagger in his hand. Seeing this, Ye Wanning tossed three silver needles from her sleeve; they flew out with a "whoosh," striking Xuanjizi squarely in the shoulder!
"Ah!" Xuanjizi screamed in pain, his shoulder going numb instantly, and the small knife in his hand clattered to the ground. He clutched his shoulder and glared fiercely at Ye Wanning: "You... dare... to... hurt... me... with... silver... needles! You... have... a... death wish!"
"Grab him! Don't let him get away!" Pei Zhi shouted, and the imperial guards rushed over to surround Xuanjizi.
Suddenly, Xuanjizi pulled a black earthenware jar from his robes and slammed it to the ground. The jar shattered, and countless tiny black insects crawled out—the Soul-Devouring Gu!
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