Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 538 Mr. Ji

“Prefect Hong is asking a question he already knows the answer to.” Lu Xingzhou reached out and tapped his shattered dantian: “This kind of transplant is neither the method of Chunshan Pavilion nor the Emperor’s. Besides Gu Yiheng, who else is behind this? I need an answer.”

Hong Yin pursed his lips, his eyes filled with fear, and did not answer for a moment.

Lu Xingzhou shook the soul banner in his hand: "If you don't answer, you can go into the banner for a chat. I'm sure Prefect Hong would be happy to."

Hong Yin: "..."

He only achieved the Super Grade level by transplanting his Dantian Qi Sea; in essence, his divine soul was not even at the First Grade level. When he was summoned into the banner, his memories were basically destroyed, and he could only obtain some fragments. Therefore, Lu Xingzhou did not directly capture his soul.

If he stubbornly refuses to confess, Lu Xingzhou can only use soul-searching to extract fragments. He will be finished, and Lu Xingzhou may not be able to obtain the key information.

Hong Yin gritted his teeth, ultimately betting that Lu Xingzhou was unwilling to use his soul-capturing technique: "No one is behind this. Don't you know His Majesty is very secretive? That's His Majesty's method."

"So it seems you're quite afraid of that person." Lu Xingzhou stroked his chin and turned to ask Yan Li, "Old Yan, do you think Prefect Hong has some misunderstanding about us?"

The Southern Ghost Emperor Yan Li and Ji Wenchuan are somewhat opposite.

Ji Wenchuan wasn't particularly handsome, but he had the appearance of a normal young man. He was easygoing and, despite being known as the Soul-Seizing Sword, he wasn't a swordsman at all. Yan Li, on the other hand, was a burly man with a thick beard, stern and unsmiling. His surname Yan and his southern origins led people to believe he was a fire cultivator, but in reality, he was a swordsman.

The Yama Palace is so enigmatic that it seems to have formed naturally without any deliberate arrangement; for example, the stern Yama King, once he removes his mask, is actually a little demoness. Perhaps the most consistent character is the former judge; people say he's lustful, and that's exactly what he is.

Don't be fooled by Yan Li's stealthy assassination earlier; that's a common combat style that everyone in the Underworld needs to learn. Yan Li's true nature is that of a berserker, and his primary weapon is a heavy sword. Furthermore, he is the most ruthless and cruel torture and interrogation mastermind in the Underworld's torture chamber.

Upon hearing Lu Xingzhou's words, Yan Li's stern face revealed a strange expression that was hard to decipher: "Afraid of those behind you, but not afraid of our Yama Palace? Do you think our entire palace is like Ji Wenchuan?"

Lu Xingzhou: “?”

No, what are you doing, Lao Ji?
Before he could react, Hong Yin suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream.

But then Yan Li stepped on Hong Yin's left little finger and casually ground it into powder.

Lu Xingzhou felt a pang of pain at Hong Yin's screams. Dugu Qingli and Jiang Yuan both took a half step back, their expressions towards Yan Li conveying a sense of wanting to eliminate the demon and uphold justice.

As expected, not everyone in the Underworld is Ji Wenchuan; Yan Li didn't have any crickets, which was the truth.

Yan Li squatted down expressionlessly, pinched Hong Yin's ring finger, and said calmly while kneading it, "Answer Lao Lu's question."

As he spoke, the bone of his ring finger was crushed into powder like dough, with blood and flesh dripping down.

Hong Yin could barely utter a scream; his forehead was covered in cold sweat: "I...I..."

Yan Li pinched his index finger.

Hong Yin shouted with all his might, "I said it! I said it!"

Yan Li sighed with some regret and turned to ask Lu Xingzhou, "Are all officials a bit useless? This is nothing."

Lu Xingzhou twitched his cheek and fed Hong Yin a pill to prevent him from fainting: "What you're saying... I'm an official now too."

Yan Li said, "Now that Yama has gone mad, she'd probably slit her own throat if you told her to die, and then ask you how to make the blood spray look better. As long as you can remember her, that's fine."

Lu Xingzhou: "...Not necessarily. By the way, what does this have to do with our current situation? How did it jump to this point?"

"Because you said you're an official," Yan Li said. "So, you, Lord Lu, plan to use the King of Hell's brain-dead... oh, his romantic state, to arrange for our Yama Palace to be recruited?"

Lu Xingzhou rubbed his forehead: "What do you think?"

Yan Li said calmly, "I was born a demon, and I can't accept being recruited. If the Underworld wants to whitewash itself, I'll disband. The problem is, I'm worried that the King of Hell won't let us off the hook if we want to disband. Fortunately, you, Lao Lu, can be reasonable, so we can reach a consensus first."

Lu Xingzhou said, "Is this why you agreed to help me without saying a word?"

Despite Yan Li's ruthlessness, he can be reasonable, provided he believes in reason. Back when Lu Xingzhou was marginalized, Yuan Muyu didn't speak up for him during controversies, but Yan Li stood on the side of reason and said a few words in his defense.

Of course, he shut up later.

"I'm helping you because I'm still a member of the Underworld and I listen to King Yama. Back then, she ostracized you, so I kept quiet. Now that she's offering herself to you, I'm helping you. It's just a matter of acting according to King Yama's attitude. So don't blame me back then, and don't thank me now. We didn't have much of a relationship to begin with; we were just colleagues."

Lu Xingzhou nodded: "That makes sense."

"So, what I asked earlier, what do you think?"

"The demonic path has its own way of being used, just like how you pinched Hong Yin's fingers. Without your method, I wouldn't be able to pry his mouth open."

"Oh? You still have a use for demonic arts? To assassinate Gu Yiheng?"

“No, there’s still war in the Ancient Realm.” Lu Xingzhou patted his shoulder: “We’ll talk about it later. Anyway, we don’t need to leave the Yama’s Palace… Besides, I won’t use Yama’s brain… for love, or do anything.”

Yan Li glanced at him sideways, his expression one of disbelief.

Back then, the way you looked at Yan Jun was practically glued to her. Now that he's known for his lust, what can you do but do something? But it's good that they don't break up. After so many years in the Underworld, regardless of feelings, he's at least used to it, and he's in a high position with abundant resources. Yan Jun may be brainless, but he's undeniably powerful, fitting his standard of choosing a master based on strength. As long as he's not recruited, Yan Li still feels a strong sense of belonging to this organization.

Lu Xingzhou said, "Well... the Blood Refining Sect's attack on Spring Mountain Pavilion probably won't be over so quickly. You should take the elites from the Yama Palace's local branch to get involved and share the spoils with the Blood Refining Sect. Don't let them take it all. Oh, by the way, send two people to help Liu Yan'er get revenge. The information she gave us this time was very important and helped us a lot."

Yan Li nodded: "Okay."

Without uttering another word, he vanished.

Jiang Yuan turned her head to watch them go, muttering, "As expected, it wasn't Ji Wenchuan from the whole hall. This person's killing intent is so strong."

Lu Xingzhou said, "We've looted the corpse."

Jiang Yuan: "Huh?"

Lu Xingzhou picked up Hong Yin's storage ring, which had fallen due to his crushed finger: "So many corpses, including the one belonging to the master of Chunshan Pavilion, aren't you going to pick them up?"

Jiang Yuan jumped up immediately and happily headed straight for Zang Wanchun.

Surely this isn't begging anymore!

I shouldn't have let that Uncle Jiang get away!
Lu Xingzhou squatted down in front of Hong Yin, tossing the ring in his hand: "Prefect Hong, have you rested enough? Now you can speak."

Hong Yin was in so much pain that he could barely speak. Even after resting for a while, he was still very weak: "All I know is that the other party comes from the cursed land."

"Can people really live in the Cursed Land for a long time?"

"That place is a cursed land for others, but it might be a suitable place for cultivation for him. Who knows? Perhaps it's even possible that the cursed land became like that because of him?" Hong Yin said slowly. "In short, he is a powerful being beyond my comprehension... Otherwise, a mere puppet emperor wouldn't be enough to make me betray Prime Minister Pei and oppose the all-powerful Your Excellency. Do you think I don't know how dangerous this is?"

"How powerful are they? Qian Yuan? Wu Xiang?"

"I don't know, but it's definitely not just about being a super-grade, it could make me a super-grade too."

"You're just a piece of trash, but we can't so easily take down the real elites."

Hong Yin remained silent.

Is it possible that, besides my superior quality being relatively weak, it's also because your first-grade quality is too strong?

I've never seen such a monstrous first-class item before, and there's more than one.

Lu Xingzhou asked, "What does the other person look like?"

"A wisp of mist, unlike anything human. Its aura is desolate and deathly, yet it possesses an extremely sinister feel. It must be some kind of demon? But there are no records of such a thing."

"How does he refer to himself? Or rather, how should you address him?"

"He's called Mr. Ji. The Ji of deathly silence."

Silence... Lu Xingzhou frowned slightly.

I don't know if this thing is a monster born from the Cursed Land, or if the Cursed Land was created because of it.

The former is relatively easy to deal with, as the level of life is not too high; the latter is much more serious, like the Ice Demon creating the Frozen Moon and Cold River, which is at a level that directly reaches the Formless.

The Ice Demon remains sealed to this day. Even when Yuan Muyu dances in front of it, it can only rage helplessly. However, this "Mr. Ji" seems to have been able to manifest in a certain form.

His orchestration of this kind of dantian qi sea transplantation must have had its purpose, which was definitely not merely to cultivate some power. And Gu Yiheng, who is also Mohe, must be in cahoots with him, though the specific purpose remains unknown…

Is he trying to turn the world into a wasteland? What is he after? Has he gone mad?
Just as I was thinking this, a strong sense of alarm arose in my mind.

Lu Xingzhou almost instinctively rolled backward, while Dugu Qingli, who was standing beside him, had already drawn her longsword, the sword's edge cutting between him and Hong Yin.

Hong Yin's eyes bulged, and his whole body swelled up like a balloon before exploding into pieces with a "bang".

Fortunately, Dugu Qingli intercepted the explosive force, but the impact still sent Lu Xingzhou flying backward, and Dugu Qingli also staggered backward. Jiang Yuan was still looting the corpse when she looked back in horror and saw that the blood mist from Hong Yin's explosion seemed to be gathering together, revealing desolate eyes within the blood mist.

Judging from this state, it seems that because Hong Yin mentioned "Master Ji," he was able to "know by reciting the true name," and was directly brought to the battlefield location by it.

Just by meeting those eyes, Jiang Yuan felt flustered and a wave of extreme discomfort washed over her, making her feel nauseous.

Then, the blood vessels exert their power to counteract and suppress the negative effects.

Lu Xingzhou, on the other hand, didn't have such a powerful bloodline effect. Just one glance made his eyes turn red. Anger, violence, killing intent, and all sorts of chaotic thoughts surged up, almost driving him mad.

Even Lu Xingzhou's eyes turned red, so what about Dugu Qingli's eyes?
Jiang Yuan's heart skipped a beat. She turned her head and saw that Dugu Qingli's blue eyes had turned blood red, and her clear, glass-like eyes were now filled with a violent killing intent.

(End of this chapter)