Savage Monster
Suddenly, it felt as if the woman's eyes were fixed on her. Yuanli straightened up calmly, and the woman followed suit. She was supposed to pick up the wooden stool, but now she stood there in a daze, her eyes following her.
Sensing something was wrong, Yuanli set his eyes on the silver box. Even though the woman suddenly appeared in front of him, Yuanli calmly passed through the woman's soul and stepped straight out of the door.
After closing the door, the woman stopped following her. Earthbound spirits often wander around the land of death, and outside of that area, they cannot set foot.
Yuanli released the cloak-winged butterfly from the spiritual silver bell and chanted the ancient Penglai spell. The wings of the cloak-winged butterfly glowed, and its tail streaked across the green fluorescence as it flew around her.
This creature is unique to the Penglai Fairy Island. It needs to be raised by the owner's side for three years. By reciting the ancient Penglai spell, the owner can become invisible but not silent. The effect only lasts for two hours. After the time is up, the hidden wings will die.
Hidden Wings are common in Penglai, but if you want to use them, you need them to be willing. Otherwise, even three years of raising them and chanting ancient spells will be useless. Their wings resemble those of a butterfly, but their bodies are like those of a firefly, and their tails emit a faint glow.
Along the red-walled palace path, the clear moon cast a faint silver light. Most of the palace maids and eunuchs passing by were earthbound spirits, their shadows easily identifiable. Those who died unjustly, those unwilling to acknowledge their deaths, would repeat their past deeds, trapped here in the earth's prison.
To get to Mingluan Palace, Yuanli had to pass through the Cold Palace and then go northwest through five large halls. Death in the palace was as common as stepping on ants, and there were earth-bound spirits and ghosts everywhere. She had to try her best to avoid them and keep silent to avoid being haunted by ghosts.
As they reached the cold palace, the women's whispers and laughter became louder and louder. Yuanli quickened her pace. Several female ghosts with messy hair were lying on the wall, staring at the palace entrance, muttering to themselves, "It will be soon. The emperor will come to see me soon."
When the patrolling Imperial Guards passed by, Yuanli moved further away. The women looked up excitedly, but after seeing clearly, they said disappointedly: "It's not the Emperor, it's not the Emperor, he won't come..."
The female ghost's emotions fluctuated, and her wails were resounding. Yuanli left quickly. The closer they got to Mingluan Palace, the more ghosts there were. However, those ghosts had fear in their eyes, and most of them had broken limbs.
The gate of Mingluan Palace was tightly closed, and just as they were wondering how to get in, Yinchi flapped his wings and flew over the wall. Yuanli reached out to grab him in panic but followed Yinchi straight through. The usually solid palace wall was now like the surface of water with ripples.
Yuanli closed her eyes tightly and passed through the wall. When she opened them again, a headless palace maid was standing beside her, holding a severed head. "Where is my head? Has anyone seen my head? My head...where did it fall..."
She had seen this palace maid, Xing'er, the personal maid of Concubine Xiao. She often saw her three years ago, but she had not seen Xing'er since Concubine Li had a miscarriage. It turned out that Xing'er was dead. The wound on Xing'er's neck was jagged, as if it had been chopped off multiple times by a blunt axe.
I casually walked into a side hall that was brightly lit by candles. There were not as many wandering souls as outside. When I walked to the innermost part, I saw Concubine Xiao kneeling in front of the Bodhisattva statue and praying for blessings.
Perhaps he knew that he had done too many bad things and was afraid of retribution in the next life, so he had to find comfort for himself.
Zhao Ma, the head of Mingluan Palace, entered the palace and said, "Your Highness, His Majesty has sent a letter requesting your request to retire and return to the Western Frontier upon completion of your mission. He has agreed, but if you fail to complete his instructions, then everything you wish to preserve will vanish into thin air."
Concubine Xiao sat on the futon and said self-deprecatingly, "I planned everything so carefully and wholeheartedly for my motherland, but now I have to rely on a princess from an enemy country to save my life. How ridiculous!"
"Your Majesty, please cheer up. It's okay to be down and out for a while. That woman in Yuehua Palace is ruthless. It's best to protect yourself and return to Western Xinjiang. You are His Majesty's aunt, and you sacrificed your marriage for the country and married to Liangzhu. His Majesty will definitely not be too cruel."
Concubine Xiao remained silent, kneeling again to pray to the Buddha. Nanny Zhao knelt down as usual to accompany her. Unable to hear any other news, Yuanli had no choice but to leave Mingluan Palace.
It seems that she has to go to Yuehua Palace again.
With the experience of escaping walls, Yuanli quickly arrived outside the Yuehua Palace. Imperial Noble Concubine Yu had already extinguished the candles and gone to bed. The luxurious Yuehua Palace was very clean, with surprisingly few ghosts, only a few wandering outside the palace.
There were many materials for shadow puppetry piled up in the side hall, and the shadow puppetry instruments were placed neatly and orderly. There was even a stage as big as a house specially built.
Everyone in the palace knew that Imperial Noble Concubine Yu loved watching shadow puppet shows. Her father had specially found the best shadow puppet troupe to be stationed in the palace for her, but he never imagined that she would be obsessed with it to such an extent.
I groped my way into the main hall, where the eunuchs from the Jingshifang were also located. I could hear the erotic sounds of men and women coming from the room.
Yuanli was a little confused. After some hesitation, she still left Yuehua Palace. Although that man was not her blood relative, he was the one she had called father for seven years.
After this trip, Yuanli did not return empty-handed. Even for the most kind-hearted concubines, the palace would not be so clean that not even a single earth-binding spirit was seen.
If it is not dispelled, then it can only be swallowed.
On the way back to the princess's mansion, Yuanli met the Ox-Head and Horse-Face at the corner. During those six years, she often went to the underworld and became friends with them.
Yuanli approached Niutou and asked in a low voice, "Abang, where are you going?"
Ah Pang's shoulders trembled with fear. He looked around and exclaimed, "Oh my goodness! Horse-faced demons and ghost messengers are also encountering ghosts? This female ghost's voice sounds like Ah Li."
The Horse-Faced Guard rolled his eyes and said speechlessly, "You are the Ox-Head, not a stupid cow. This is Ah Li! Use your Yincha power to see that she is just using the Penglai Hidden Wings."
Ah Bang used the power of Yincha, and his eyes glowed slightly. As expected, Yuanli's body came into view. "I know, I'm just playing along with Ah Li. Unlike you, you don't understand romance."
Horse-Faced Guard saw through it but didn't say anything. He changed the subject, saying, "The Hidden Wings are precious. Ah Li used them, but she ran into a difficult situation. Do you need our help?"
"That's right, could you please run to the princess's mansion and deliver a message to have Heqi take Xuandu with him to find a reason to stay in the princess's palace as a mortal?"
"Okay, okay, let's go now."
Yuanli quickly grabbed Niutou, who was about to leave, and said, "Don't worry, there are quite a few ghosts in my temple. I'll be using the cloak butterfly's spiritual vision more in the next few days. It's a bit annoying. Can you take them back to the underworld?"
"Okay, the cloak-winged butterfly is precious. Ah Li, why don't you try my cow's tears? They work really well. Although they can't turn you invisible, their clairvoyance is definitely better than that of the cloak-winged butterfly."
"Okay, come on."
"I can't cry now. Wait for me to think about my sad things and think about it." Niutou said embarrassedly, clicking his head.
With a "bang", the horse-faced thug's fist hit A-Pang's right eye, causing him to cover his eyes in pain.
"Yes."
Upon hearing this, Abang quickly squeezed out his tears and wiped them on Yuanli's eyelids, smiling foolishly, completely ignoring his swollen right eye.
"Abang, your eyes..."
"It's okay, I can fix it with my Yincha power." As he spoke, the swelling in Ah Pang's eyes subsided. He stretched his head in front of Ah Li, pointed at his right eye, blinked his eyes and said, "I'm awesome, right? Hehe."
"Abang is indeed Abang, amazing."
After hearing Yuanli's flattery, Abang became more motivated and efficient, and used the soul-locking chain to lock all the wandering souls and earth-bound spirits.
Up to this point, Yuanli slept very soundly at night, without any strange noises disturbing her, until breakfast in the morning when two palace maids came to serve her. When they saw their faces clearly, Yuanli almost spit out the porridge in her mouth, and immediately dismissed all the other palace maids.
Taohua Langjun is worthy of being Taohua Langjun. Even in women's clothes, he is still a beauty. If he were not a little strong and his makeup was not too ugly, she would really be worried that her father would take them both as concubines, especially Tianshu.
"Just pretend to be a palace maid, why not just change into a female body?"
"This star god is so beautiful that he can make fishes sink to the bottom of their bodies and geese fall to the ground, and the
"Then why don't you just change into a normal appearance?"
"This star god is so beautiful that he can make fishes sink to the bottom of their bodies and geese fall to the ground, and the
The palace's night banquet was filled with the sounds of stringed instruments and flutes, singing girls danced, and important court officials came to congratulate the princess on her marriage. Yuanli brought Tianshu Heqi to the table, while Imperial Noble Consort Yu and her father arrived late. She gently and meticulously helped her father to the high seat and returned to the right seat.
When Concubine Xiao saw her, she was like a mouse meeting a cat, and bowed to her respectfully and humbly. This was inconsistent with her usual arrogant and domineering character.
"Princess, the journey to Western Xinjiang to marry is long and dangerous. Although the King of Western Xinjiang will personally welcome the bride, please be very careful on the road and arrive safely."
Imperial Noble Consort Yu smiled brightly and gave gentle instructions, but Yuanli didn't notice her concern, as if she hoped she would die on the road.
"Thank you for your concern, Imperial Concubine. My mother is the most loving and kind person. She will surely see to my safe arrival."
"If so, that would be great."
The Imperial Noble Consort held the same rank as the Vice Queen, and everyone in the palace knew that she was the Queen Mother's substitute. At the banquet, when the Queen Mother was openly mentioned, she didn't show any displeasure at all. Yuanli really couldn't understand her.
"How is your father doing lately?"
The father said with a dull expression, "I'm fine. I have Yu'er to take care of me day and night. Don't worry."
As he spoke, Yuanli noticed several thin threads trailing vertically from behind her father. The threads were as thin as spider silk and difficult to discern unless one looked closely. As soon as her father finished speaking, the threads vanished.
"Then I am relieved. Father, do you remember that seven years ago, you personally made me a wooden hairpin to marry me? Now I am going to the Western Frontier to marry a foreign prince. I ask your grace to allow me to wear that hairpin on my wedding day."
"Of course I remember, sure."
"Thank you, Father."
After drinking the warm wine, Heqi knelt beside him to add more wine. Yuanli whispered, "Look carefully at the dragon throne."
Heqi transmitted a message, "I saw it, but I've never seen that kind of monster before, and I don't know its details yet. But it was able to conceal its aura from me and Tianshu, so it must be from the wilderness. I'm telling you through voice transmission."
"He doesn't seem to be my father. The thing about the wooden hairpin I just mentioned doesn't exist at all."
Tianshu said, "That demon is indeed from the wilderness. Look at the fingertips of the woman on the right seat."
Following Tianshu's words, I saw Concubine Yu tapping the table with her fingertips. Whenever my father spoke, the thin line connecting her fingertips would reveal a trace.
The string in her hand was extremely thin, and the target it was connected to was impossible to see. It disappeared after extending half a finger's distance.
Yuanli determined her target and exchanged glances with Tianshu and Heqi, but two fiery gazes followed her actions, and she frowned as she saw him exchanging glances with Heqi and Tianshu.
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