Chapter 154 Prince Li

When he rushed to the scene, Little Six had long since vanished. The street was strewn with a vast number of corpses, lying flat or kneeling, all with their mouths slightly agape, their bodies shriveled, and their eyes wide and staring. Zhou Qian slightly furrowed his brow; this was undoubtedly the result of a soul-summoning spell, but who on earth had cast it? Was it Little Six, or some other ghost or demon? Before he could ponder further, the sound of gongs and drums rose from the north, echoing with great momentum and feeling exceptionally eerie in the silent night.

The sharp and piercing sound drew closer and closer, accompanied by a continuous beating of drums: "The Prince is on a tour of inspection, all officials and subjects stand aside. The living must depart, the dead must return, those who block the path shall be beheaded~~"

Zhou Qian hurriedly concealed himself inside a house and quietly observed. Taking the lead was a minor official beating a gong to clear the way. The official was dressed in imperial robes, his complexion ashen and bruised. As he marched, he hopped and bounded, his arms held straight forward, holding an iron mallet in one hand and a golden gong in the other, striking the gong from time to time. Immediately following him came yamen runners on both sides, holding placards and batons, stumbling forward. Some were missing arms or legs, some had lost their heads with flesh dragging on the ground, and others were nothing more than skeleton frames with stark, white bones protruding from their official robes. In short, they looked nothing like living humans, nor did they possess any breath of vitality.

At the very rear, a quaint little sedan chair hovered in mid-air, moving slowly. Ghostly auras howled, filling the entire street. Zhou Qian instantly held his breath and silenced himself. Judging purely by this dense aura of malevolent spirits, he knew the monster inside the sedan chair was a being of profound cultivation, and he himself was likely no match for it.

"Halt the sedan!" A voice suddenly rang out from within the sedan, deep, hoarse, and carrying considerable authority.

The gauze curtain on the window lifted slightly, and a monstrous hand reached out. It was dark, thick, and sturdy, and on its little finger worn a jade thumb ring with an amber luster, crystal clear and translucent, engraved with dragon and phoenix patterns—a piece of extreme preciousness. Zhou Qian's eyes narrowed instantly; this thumb ring looked terribly familiar, and he was certain he had seen it before.

The five fingers tapped the sedan body in turn: 'Tap, tap, tap—' The malevolent aura of the entire street spread out, permeating every household. Whenever it encountered the corpses of commoners, the aura would drill into their noses and mouths. Their eyes would snap open, and they would scramble back to their feet. In less than a moment, dozens more walking corpses were added to the rear of the inspection procession.

Muttering a secret curse of dismay, the ghostly aura swept past Hu Er's estate and brushed right over Zhou Qian's physical body. A puff of green smoke burst from the sedan, and upon seeing this, the lead official struck the golden gong with a resounding clang—'Ping!'—and shouted, "Living mortals have entered the city, yamen runners, arrest them!"

As soon as the words fell, the zombie official pointed his iron mallet, and a team of yamen runners on the left—led by an uncountable multitude of peddlers, laborers, idlers, and sturdy women—swarmed forward, forming a dense, black, shoulder-to-shoulder mass of human heads.

Catching his breath in shock, Zhou Qian hastily vaulted over a wall and fled into the depths of a narrow alley. With only a sliver of magical power remaining within his body, how could he dare to use it rashly? Bringing the old ghost in the sedan out into the open would be tantamount to seeking his own death!

Fortunately, the ghost inside the sedan did not take him to heart, and the monstrous hand was withdrawn once more. Seeing this, the official struck the golden gong again—

"The Prince is on a tour of inspection, all officials and subjects stand aside. The living must depart, the dead must return, those who block the path shall be beheaded~~"

Employing the Flowing Cloud and Flying Feather Steps, Zhou Qian planted his feet and burst forward, covering dozens of zhang in an instant and putting some distance between himself and the walking corpses behind. Just as he was about to heave a sigh of relief, two black shadows leaped down from the wall, lunging straight at him. With a twitch of his ears to discern their positions through sound, he withdrew and folded his step, slashing backward with his willow-wood sword. The walking corpse was instantly cleaved in two from the waist, yet not a single drop of blood flowed out—truly bizarre.

Looking down, he saw it was a male and female corpse. Their upper bodies continued to crawl toward Zhou Qian using their arms, while their lower halves stood erect, stumbling about randomly. These walking corpses could not be destroyed by ordinary means. Thinking to himself that this was deeply troublesome, and fearing that wielding his immortal sword might attract the ghostly entity in the sedan, he felt thoroughly entangled. He quickly selected another narrow alley and darted inside.

Whether it was the work of that ghostly entity or not, it seemed as though all the dead souls within the entire city had been startled into wakefulness. They pursued and intercepted him from all directions, leaving Zhou Qian in quite a battered state. He had the heart to fight back, but upon seeing that the rooftops and alleys were swarming with shadowy figures, he immediately extinguished the thought and focused entirely on evading them. These walking corpses and ghosts seemed extremely sensitive to the aura of the living; no matter where he hid, they always managed to track him down. Eventually, he was cornered in a street corner by over a dozen dead commoners, their strange, babbling cries ceaseless, and the sound of footsteps rushing toward his location grew ever more urgent.

It was also his bad luck that the moment he hid inside a residential dwelling, he discovered there were seven or eight idle retainers inside, with the ringleader dressed in the attire of a shopkeeper. Looking around, he realized this place was actually a jewelry store—no wonder there were so many hands about. Caught off guard, he was instantly surrounded, and before he could make a move, it was already too late.

Gritting his teeth, just as he was about to drive his flying sword, he heard a low shout: "Brother Zhou, catch this talisman!"

Recognizing the voice as Little Six's, he instantly set his mind at ease. A gust of wind rushed toward him, and he reached out with a backhand grab, catching the object. It was made of yellow paper with black characters, and judging by its runes, it looked quite similar to an invisibility talisman. He hurriedly plastered it onto his body. Immediately, a stench of corpses assaulted his senses, nearly making him retch. "Is this an immortal's talisman? Will it actually work?" Zhou Qian pinched his nose, deeply skeptical.

Though the talisman possessed a bizarre mechanism, its effect was extraordinary. The circle of dead commoners and townspeople lacked true sentience, and seeing that his aura of life had been masked, they looked at one another blankly before dispersing once more. Even the sound of approaching footsteps faded away. Turning his head, he saw Little Six waving at him from a neighboring coffin shop and hastily darted inside.

Upon entering, he discovered that Little Six was not alone; there was also a living man dressed as a scholar. Seeing Zhou Qian enter, the man quickly cupped his fists in greeting and said, "I am Pu Shanlin, style name Liuxian. You must be the elder brother of these six brethren? I have heard of your great reputation for a long time, and it rings like thunder in my ears!"

Zhou Qian's mouth twitched in profound depression. The two of them had merely crossed paths and met in a pavilion during the day; where on earth did this long-standing admiration come from? Seeing this, Little Six said helplessly, "Brother Zhou, don't listen to this scholar's nonsense. What on earth happened outside?"

Zhou Qian recounted the laurel tree spirit's sneak attack and his encounter with the night procession of a hundred corpses to Little Six and Pu Shanlin, then asked, "How is it that you are here? And why are you traveling with this scholar?"

Little Six explained, "I was waiting for you inside the estate when I happened to hear Pu Shanlin's cries for help. Seeing that he was being pursued by walking corpses, I saved his life. Suddenly, I spotted a carriage-sized, pitch-black smoke-spewing skull patrolling the sky. I recognized that skull as a sacrificial magical artifact of the demonic path, usually used for spying, allowing its master to see whatever it witnesses. Sensing that the city was heavily laden with yin energy and demonic aura, and fearing that my identity would be exposed, I used the Severing Lightning Hook to smash the artifact. How does that sound, Brother Zhou?"

"That was a sound move, especially since our enemies and allies are not yet clearly distinguished," Zhou Qian nodded, then turned to ask, "But why is a scholar like you here? Based on your itinerary, even if you traveled day and night, it should take at least two days to reach Luodu. How did you arrive so quickly?"

"To not keep it from you, Your Excellency, this humble person was swept away by an evil spirit," Pu Shanlin said, choosing his words carefully. "After you two brothers departed, I rested for half an hour before wishing to resume my journey to the capital for the imperial examinations. When I reached a mountainside, a sudden fierce gust of wind struck. By the time this scholar regained his senses, I was already a hundred zhang up in the sky. A bushy-bearded man in black robes at the front asked me, 'Do you know which direction Luodu lies?' Of course I knew, so the man told this scholar to lead the way. Unable to go against him, I pointed out the direction. Upon arriving here, the man dropped me from the sky without another word and ran off who knows where. Fortunately, this scholar is blessed with great fortune and landed on a haystack, miraculously preserving my life. Those half-dead people saw that this scholar had tender skin and flesh, so they came chasing after me. I fled all the way and ran into Hero Little Six, and you already know the rest of the story."

"According to my guess, that skull must be the magical artifact of that black-robed man, while the old ghost in the sedan that Brother Zhou saw is likely yet another entity!"

"In this humble scholar's view, we might as well quietly slip away. As the Master said, a gentleman does not stand under a tottering wall..."

"I remember!" Zhou Qian abruptly raised his head and exclaimed in shock, "Whose property on earth is that jade thumb ring on that monster's hand! I actually recognize this person; he was an imperial relative and aristocrat in Luodu back in the day—Prince Changshui, Li Sansi!"

At the same moment, somewhere in Luodu, Prince Li—dressed in a dragon robe inlaid with gold—stared at the black mist swirling through the hole of the alchemy furnace in the center of the grand hall and said blankly, "Master Hou, I wonder how the longevity pills you were refining for this Prince are coming along..."