How they entered the tomb was how they would return. After all, not one of the three of them had come through the main entrance, and they wouldn't know how to use the tokens even if they had them.
The two humans and one ball were standing before the dog hole of the tomb’s third gate, about to enter, when Wen Li spoke up.
“Wait.”
Recalling something, Wen Li held up the luminous pearl and peered into the tunnel.
Good grief. The tunnel was filled with the chaotic stench of various mixed medicinal powders.
Zongzheng Huangyue sniffed carefully and smelled it too, then exchanged a look with Wen Li.
It was Wangquan Sheng. He likely also chose to return the same way he came.
However...
Wasn’t he heavily injured? Returning through the dog hole without the old man in the bone ring to warn him, he probably inhaled every single medicinal powder in the tunnel along the way!
There was Frenzy Powder, Itching Powder, Stool-Stench Powder, and even...
Estrus Powder.
Critically, the exit of the tunnel outside the tomb was still riddled with a pile of arrays and talisman traps Wen Li had ordered Zongzheng Huangyue to set. She couldn’t even count how many traps there were.
Zongzheng Huangyue’s expression became subtle. “Master... I think...”
“Wangquan Sheng might end up breaking his word.”
He had promised Master that he would owe her a life as a favor, but after this ordeal, she didn't dare imagine his current state. She couldn't imagine how many centuries he would hold a grudge for today’s events.
“...” Wen Li also recalled the series of outrageous maneuvers she had performed when they arrived. She pursed her lips for a long while before squeezing out a sentence.
“Well, at least it wasn't a waste.”
Her eyes held no trace of worry about whether Wangquan Sheng would hate her; there was only satisfaction that her traps hadn't gone unused.
In any case, he had promised to owe her a favor. Weren't Chosen of the Heavenly Dao and righteous cultivators supposed to value their promises most? She had left those things there, but it was his own choice to crawl through the dog hole. What did it have to do with her?
Recalling something else, Wen Li fished a shadow stone out of her sleeve and tossed it to Zongzheng Huangyue.
“Here. This contains the pathetic footage of him being beaten until he coughed up blood today. If he ever tries to kill you, use it to blackmail him.”
She paused, then raised a hand to rub her chin. “I also left one in the tunnel. I wonder if it’ll still be there when we leave. That’s bound to be even more exciting.”
“...” Zongzheng Huangyue’s eyelids twitched, but her hands were honest as she silently tucked the shadow stone away.
So Master really keeps a shadow stone running at all times?
Wen Li picked up the black fleeceball perched on her head. “This tunnel can't be used anymore. Dig a new one.”
“Awoo?” Hua Cishu was stunned.
He blinked his large eyes, his black spherical body swaying side to side like he was in a daze. The silver bell on his head jingled as he tried to act cute to get out of it.
Master, do you have the heart to make me do this?
Wen Li expressionlessly lifted him and pressed him against the wall, his nose nearly touching the dust. “Hurry up. Otherwise, the Wangquan clan will notice the commotion here and come back for us.”
She pulled out a piece of candy and stuffed it into his mouth as a bribe. “The sooner we get out, the sooner I’ll take you to eat something delicious. You can eat as much as you want.”
“Awoo! Awoo!”
Hua Cishu immediately leaped onto the wall the moment he heard there was food. His four sharp claws gleamed as he instantly began digging the hole. His speed was like a rat tunneling underground.
Standing to the side, Zongzheng Huangyue casually brushed a stray hair from her forehead, her gaze indifferent yet comfortable. Master hadn't been willing to make her dig a hole. Such a bootlicker.
On second thought, she immediately took a chair out of her storage bag, a gentle smile appearing on her arrogant face.
“Master, standing is tiring. Let me massage your shoulders.”
She also brought out some pastries she had bought last time after remembering Wen Li's preferences. “If Master is hungry, you can have something to eat.”
Wen Li was pleasantly surprised. “Oh, good, good, good.”
It was coming. Soon, she would have all six disciples. The day when people would carry a palanquin for her—which she longed for—was drawing near.
The black fleeceball buried in his digging couldn't help but look back. Beneath his obedient gaze was a trace of gloom as he glared at Zongzheng Huangyue, looking like a sinister ghost whose favorite possession had been snatched away.
Zongzheng Huangyue noticed, but she remained unmoved. Standing behind Wen Li, she massaged her shoulders and chatted and laughed with her, occasionally lifting her eyes to meet his. Her lips curved slightly, and her eyes were filled with provocation and contempt.
Master wouldn't let her fight him, but that didn't mean she would passively endure this bootlicker.
A half-demon, half-human waste like him was not worthy of competing with her.
...
Houchi Kingdom.
In an elegant room on the top floor of a pavilion.
“I heard that Her Highness Zongzheng Huangyue is currently in seclusion at the Zongzheng Ancestral Temple and hasn't emerged for three months. However, I have an urgent matter concerning a secret decree from the Saint Emperor of the Shengyang Kingdom. I wonder if the Imperial Preceptor could relay a message to Her Highness on my behalf?”
Lou Yan, dressed in dark purple finery, sat in the guest seat, his expression solemn as he looked at Zongzheng Yingchu, who sat in the primary seat, refined and dignified in white robes.
Zongzheng Yingchu took a light sip of tea. “Your Excellency has missed the opportunity. She is in death seclusion; no one is permitted to disturb her.”
A death seclusion was a period of cultivation that a cultivator would not break for anything. Unless the sect or kingdom was facing total annihilation, they would never emerge early, nor would they have any contact with the outside world. If they were to emerge prematurely, the best-case scenario was a severe backlash, while the worst was a total collapse of their cultivation base from heart demons.
“In that case, I wonder if the Imperial Preceptor has ever seen this person who appeared by Princess Huangyue’s side.”
Frowning, Lou Yan produced a jade slip. On it was the face Wen Li had used when she was disguised during the time he had “invited” her to tea.
Zongzheng Yingchu’s gaze swept over it casually and then suddenly froze. His fingers gripping the teacup tightened slightly before he calmly looked away a second later.
“Are you looking for this person?”
Hearing this, Lou Yan knew he had a lead. Everyone knew the Imperial Preceptor of Houchi Kingdom was extremely aloof and indifferent to everything. If he didn't recognize her, he would have simply answered yes or no; he wouldn't have asked a follow-up question.
To obtain information about Wen Li, Lou Yan revealed most of his history with her. “To be honest, Imperial Preceptor, I spoke with this person once. At the time, she lied to me, claiming she had become the disciple of a certain former guest official of the Shengyang Saint Emperor. That guest official was someone who had made a life-and-death sacrifice for my Shengyang Kingdom. I foolishly believed her and even gave her a token as a gesture of friendship before letting her go.”
“Unexpectedly, after I returned to the Shengyang Kingdom, the Saint Emperor summoned me and spoke of the matter regarding that guest official. The Saint Emperor said she had lied to me. That guest official died three days after carrying out his orders all those years ago. The soul jade belonging to that guest official kept in the estate was shattered; there was absolutely no chance of survival, and thus no way she could have become his disciple.”
Lou Yan omitted the details regarding the kill order issued by the Shengyang Kingdom back then, blaming it entirely on the fact that Wen Li had deceived him.
“The death of that guest official was extremely important to the Saint Emperor. Now that there is news, the Saint Emperor has sent me to investigate. I ask the Imperial Preceptor to grant me this favor; I will surely repay you in the future.” Huang Feilong had died long ago at the hands of the person who had been targeted by that kill order. Since that female cultivator knew of Huang Feilong, she was likely connected to that person!
The Saint Emperor had sent him to capture her. If he handled this matter well, his leverage in the struggle for the title of Crown Emperor would increase significantly.
Zongzheng Yingchu listened expressionlessly. He set down his cup and suddenly asked a question out of curiosity, his tone indifferent.
“Then do you know what her name is?”
He had always felt that the name ‘Makabaka’ sounded more like something she had fabricated to mock him. What cultivator would have such a strange name?
“...I hope the Imperial Preceptor won't laugh, but at the time, I was so caught up in her stories and distracted by her absurd behavior that I forgot to ask her name.”
Lou Yan pursed his lips in embarrassment. He had even accepted a funerary urn from the woman and given her a token, yet he had forgotten to ask for her name. It was truly a bit humiliating.
Hearing this, Zongzheng Yingchu was even more certain of who he was asking about. Wasn't that person exactly the type to be shameless and skilled at using absurdity to infuriate others? It seemed his suspicion about that supposedly pregnant old acquaintance was simply that his old acquaintance hadn't died after all.
His long eyelashes lowered slightly.
“Perhaps... I don't know who she is, but I know where she is.”
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