Starting with the divine power of the Great Vajra, he traversed the heavens.

Chapter 291 Inside the Ghost King's Palace
As night falls, the sky is filled with countless white stars, and the moon coldly overlooks the earth.

The three villains from the northern frontier changed into clean clothes and walked briskly through Jinling City.

Although there were many soldiers patrolling the city at this moment, it was better than nothing for the three of them.

"Hey cripple, I think I've actually gained some weight lately!"

Then they saw the little beggar holding a silver box, looking at himself in the mirror by the moonlight.

This is a powder box with a small glass mirror on the lid, so bright that it reflects one's eyebrows. This item was also obtained from a treasure. At that time, glass was produced in the Western Regions and was very rare in China. Therefore, this small silver dressing box was already extremely valuable.

Hongxiu, with her round face, looked in the mirror. She was a beautiful woman, young and graceful, her delicate face reflecting the soft moonlight. She resembled a red and white rose, snow-white and radiant, captivatingly beautiful.

“Let’s not talk about being fat, you’re a man of the martial world.” Ren Shaoyang said as he walked with his hands in his sleeves, looking around as if he were strolling under the moon, with an extremely leisurely demeanor. “In this vast world, being a little chubby is always better than starving to death.”

Hearing this, Hongxiu put down her dressing box and sighed silently to Ding'an, who was carrying a large bundle.

“You’re absolutely right, you cripple,” the little beggar said. “I’ve only had a few years of good life, how could I have forgotten how hard things were before?”

“It’s only human nature.” Ren Shaoyang reached out and broke off a willow branch, tucked it behind her ear, and said with a smile, “That’s what they call ‘forgetting a hundred hungers after a full meal.’”

Hongxiu watched Ren Shaoyang walk away with a smile and his hands behind his back, his figure carefree and unrestrained. She couldn't help but shake her head and laugh, "Crippled man, you don't look like Buddha anymore, you look like a human being again!"

As she spoke, she skipped and hopped over to Ren Shaoyang's side, took his arm, and started chattering away.

Ding'an, standing behind, was completely bewildered. He didn't know what kind of veiled meaning they were playing, nor why the little beggar was suddenly so happy. So he broke off a willow branch and stuck it behind his ear, chuckling as he followed.

The three turned a corner and saw a forest of torches ahead, with people and horses neighing and shadows flickering in the firelight, making it impossible to tell how many soldiers there were.

The leader was a tall, middle-aged man with piercing eyes, a handsome face, and slightly graying temples, giving him a dashing and imposing air, befitting a master.

"Commander Ye, the trail ends here," a general whispered.

Commander Ye nodded, then said in a deep voice, "The Heavenly Mandate Sect has been operating in the shadows for so many years, making it naturally difficult to investigate. If it weren't for Miss Hongxiu and Emperor Li Dao killing those four old demons last night, we would probably still be in the dark."

He looked around at everyone and said calmly, "These are turbulent times. Stay alert, don't lose face, and don't lose your head!"

The officers and soldiers quickly agreed.

The middle-aged man's expression shifted, and after a sigh, he led his men away.

After the soldiers left, the three villains came out. Ren Shaoyang smiled and said, "Recently, things have been very tense. Even Ye Sudong of the Xining faction feels a lot of pressure."

“There’s nothing we can do about it.” Hongxiu shrugged. “The Heavenly Mandate Sect, the righteous path, the Demon Master’s Palace, and the experts from beyond the Great Wall all treat Jinling like a sieve. Anyone can stir up trouble here.”

"Sigh, this martial arts world is truly exaggerated," Ding An shook his head and said, "Martial arts masters are actually comparable to the founding emperor, and the founding emperor even acknowledged that Pang Ban and Lang Fanyun were on the same level as him."

The three of them fell silent for a moment, then looked up at the sky together, their gazes filled with desolation.

Ren Shaoyang shook his head: "Jinling is too complicated and murky." He paused, then said, "Let's go."

Just then, a whooshing sound came from the air, and two figures in black flew across the rooftop, moving like ghosts under the starry night, disappearing in an instant.

"Xiao Bai?" Hongxiu asked in surprise. "What's this kid up to, climbing into someone's house in the middle of the night?"

It turned out that when Hongxiu met Zhu Yuanzhang that day, she specifically asked Lengyan who Hu Weiyong was greeting. She had already sensed Han Bai's presence and couldn't help but chuckle to herself when she heard him pretending to be a Korean envoy.

These past few days have been filled with meetings with the emperor, treasure hunting, and even killing a group of desperate members of the Heavenly Mandate Cult. There hasn't been time to catch up with this young comrade.

Who would have thought that at this very moment, he would be seen running swiftly across the rooftop with a skinny, monkey-like figure?

Ren Shaoyang laughed and said, "That man looks like a monkey in the fire. He should be Fan Liangji, the 'Lone Thief.' He comes from a prestigious family, but he is also the number one thief in the world."

Ding An asked curiously, "Xiao Bai is such a good child, why is he with a thief? Are they going to steal something?"

“Judging from the direction they’re heading,” Ren Shaoyang said with a smile, “it seems they’re going the same way as us, all going to the Ghost King’s Palace.”

"That's great!" Hongxiu's eyes lit up, and she grinned like a weasel stealing a chicken. "Shall we follow them and give them a good scare?"

"Great!"

Shao Yang and Ding An clapped their hands in unison in agreement.

Having made their plan, the three of them followed the aura of Han and Fan along the street wall, using their lightness skills to quickly catch up.

The road was winding and steep, sometimes steep, sometimes straight, and after chasing for more than twenty miles, we passed through a dense forest.

Suddenly, the sky brightened, and the three villains found themselves in an open area. The stars in the sky were dazzling, and the fresh air on the ground was invigorating.

The moon was high in the sky, the stars were few and far between, and in the distance, a vast expanse of buildings stretched out, dotted with lights. Soldiers carried lanterns and patrolled back and forth, their armor clanging and clashing.

Ren Shaoyang nodded, looking at Han Bai and Fan Liang's furtive figures, and whispered, "This is the Ghost King's Mansion."

Ding An chuckled and said, "This place is brightly lit, how can it resemble a 'Ghost King'? It's clearly a 'Heavenly Palace'!"

Ren Shaoyang laughed and said, "The severed hand is right, which is why Zhu Yuanzhang has always been fearless towards Xu Ruo."

As they were chatting and laughing, Han Bai, who was perched on the eaves, frowned and said to Fan Liangji, "Old monkey, why do I feel a chill down my spine?" "What? Possessed by a ghost?"

"Pah!" Han Bai spat, then said seriously, "It just feels like someone is hanging from behind."

Fan Liangji's ears twitched, and he rolled his eyes at him, saying, "I think you're just paranoid! Who in the world can follow us without being discovered?"

"Yes, yes!" Han Bai counted on his fingers, "Pang Ban, Lang Fanyun, the Three Fiends of the North, and Li Ruohai."

"Alright, alright!" Fan Liangji, having been exposed, immediately lost face and quickly stopped him. "You brat, do you really have to embarrass me by humiliating these big shots?"

"Hehe~" Han Bai habitually scratched his head and chuckled, looking extremely innocent.

"You're pretending to be innocent again!" Fan Liangji smiled helplessly, then muttered, "However, you received Chi Zunxin's 'Dao Heart Demon Seed Technique' and were also taught the 'Divine Illumination Scripture' by the Three Fiends. With your spirit entering a state of divine illumination, you might actually sense something."

brush!
Without any visible movement, he darted through the nearby houses with lightning speed, reappeared, shook his head, and said, "I searched again, I guarantee there's no one here!"

"How strange!" Han Bai looked around and frowned. "Am I really overthinking things?" He looked at Fan Liangji. "Old monkey, are we really going to the Ghost King's Mansion?"

"A leopard can't change its spots, what's with all this cowardice?" Fan Liangji cursed. "You were about to pee and you held it back? With such a cowardly attitude, how can you expect to win the favor of your sister Hongxiu?"

Upon hearing this, Han Bai immediately straightened his back and raised his head, his face flushed: "Alright, I'll accompany you to the Ghost King's Mansion and see just how evil this one of the three great evil dens of the martial world really is."

Fan Liangji laughed heartily: "That's more like it!"

The two pushed their speed to the limit, silently passing through the forest, and then used their lightness skills, like two large birds soaring through the air.

After flying for a while, the two landed gracefully, and saw that the surrounding area was full of flowers and trees and deep palace gardens.

They crouched in the grass behind a boulder, and Fan Liangji laughed, “I recently received news that Li Chimei feels her martial arts have greatly improved and wants to seek revenge against the Ghost King, and then use the momentum of her great victory to kill Li Daohuang.”

Han Bai was stunned and said, "The demon actually wants to use the Ghost King as a stepping stone to kill Ding An Ge?"

"I was also shocked when I heard this news," Fan Liangji said with a smile. "So recently, there has been a sudden upheaval in the martial arts world. Li Chimei's subordinates and the evil people who are allied with him have all come here to explore, wanting to weaken the Ghost King."

Han Bai suddenly realized and said, "Old monkey, you're going to help the Ghost King, right?"

Fan Liangji said, "In any case, I was with Lao Xu back then, chasing after Emperor Yuan Shundi!" He chuckled, "How could I stand by and watch him being bullied by the Tartars?"

Before the conversation was over, the sound of birds screeching and flapping wings suddenly rang out from the camphor tree forest on the mountain.

Immediately, all the birds nearby responded to the call and took flight from the forest, filling the long night sky above the trees with the cacophony of birdsong and flight.

Fan Liangji chuckled and said, "Look? Someone stepped on the trap for us."

Before he finished speaking, he had already darted more than ten feet away.

Han Bai was stunned for a moment, then gathered his strength and lightly chased after Fan Liangji.

Not long after they left, Ren Shaoyang and the other two slowly emerged from the night, like three ghosts.

Ding An frowned and said, "That fake woman Li Chimei is causing trouble again."

Ren Shaoyang laughed and said, "I understand now. Xiao Bai and Fan Liangji are not going to steal anything, but rather to help out."

Hongxiu smiled happily and said, "This kid didn't disappoint me!"

Ren Shaoyang nodded and said, "He didn't go astray." He smiled and said, "When the time is right, I will pass on the remaining eleven swords to him."

Hongxiu laughed heartily: "Crippled man, it seems you really consider Xiaobai your successor."

“Of course I would be willing to let Han Bai become my successor,” Ren Shaoyang said. “If it were the lecherous demon from the Chi Zunxin version, I would have stabbed him to death with my sword long ago.”

The three walked through the garden of the Ghost King's Palace, talking as they went, their movements as fluid as flowing water, meandering around the flowers, trees, and shrubs, like shadows and phantoms, all in complete silence.

The guards came with torches, looking left and right as they went.

However, Ren Shaoyang and his men did not avoid them and went straight to meet them. As the two sides approached, the guards ignored them.

They only complained about the sudden gust of wind, then remained oblivious and continued to be on guard. They didn't see three living people at all, and Ding'an even passed by carrying a huge package.

The reason for all this was that Ren Shaoyang used his supernatural ability "Concealment" to walk through the Ghost King's Palace with Hongxiu and Ding'an as if they were strolling down the street.

All the guards, maids, and servants he encountered seemed to be blind to him.

After walking for a while, a loud voice suddenly rang out: "Who is this esteemed master who has graced us with his presence? Why not come out and greet him?"

Ding An was stunned and asked, "Crippled man, has your supernatural power failed?"

Ren Shaoyang smiled slightly: "Look up."

Ding'an and Hongxiu looked up together and saw Han Bai and Fan Liangji peeking out from the rooftop, looking rather furtive.

(End of this chapter)