Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

"Brother, what's the matter?"

"I think in a place like this, you and I would inevitably run into someone who has our eyes on the same material, and then we would fight over it, and the other side would have some elder backing them up to suppress me, an outsider. In the end, my master's wife would jump out and put the whole scene under control, acting as my backer. Then all my enemies would gasp and apologize in humiliation."

"..."

The girl looked bewildered, a large bead of sweat beading on her forehead, and after a long pause, she said:

“Brother, are you still reeling from the chaos of the capital and feeling paranoid? The management of sect disciples is very strict. Besides, we were just openly buying some low-grade materials at the market. We weren’t in some important or suspicious place like the Scripture Pavilion. How could we possibly run into trouble?”

"That seems to be true." Chu Mingkong nodded.

However, Chu Mingkong felt that this was related to the atmosphere of the sect. Although even the best sects would always have some exceptions, the overall trend depended on the atmosphere.

The Wenqing Pavilion and Xiaoxiang Qin Academy both gave him the feeling of being secluded and living a life of leisure, while the disciple of the number one sect, Jianxuan Sect, whom he had encountered before, was somewhat arrogant and domineering.

Chu Mingkong and Wei Qingning returned to Kefeng together and chatted with Aunt Gu and the others for a while.

Since Shen Xuejun was busy arranging sect affairs and couldn't accompany him at all times, Chu Mingkong used spirit stones to "arrest" a senior sister in white silk and made her a tour guide to lead the way to some of the scenic spots in the Wenqing Pavilion.

Zuo Qiuchi and Feng Ying either went off to play on their own or, because of their minor argument last night, found a place to have a brief but meaningful exchange of words. In any case, they couldn't be found for the time being.

Gu Jun Gui followed the white-silk fairy on her tour, her eyes widening with wonder along the way. She took Zhong Fei Huang's hand and asked curiously:

"Feihuang, you said you came from a family of cultivators, but which sect are you from? I don't even know what sects there are."

Having arrived in this unfamiliar place, Zhong Feihuang temporarily dared not speak as boldly and loudly as she did in private, and shook her head in a low voice:

"We can't really call ourselves a prominent family. If we're talking about our ancestral home, it's on an island overseas. My parents loved to travel and disliked conflict, but sometimes they couldn't escape getting caught up in trouble. It was during my recovery from an injury that the Cui family offered me great help, and since we already knew each other, that led to my later marriage. Now, I wonder where my father and mother are living their carefree lives... Sigh..."

Feng Keqing briefly imagined the two Daoist partners traveling hand in hand, wandering the world, and felt incredibly romantic and envious: "This is truly a divine Daoist couple, carefree in the mortal world!"

Lady Zhen and Empress Pei, both mature noblewomen from royal families, strolled along, admiring the beautiful scenery. Overwhelmed with emotion, they spoke relatively little.

I've never felt this free and unrestrained before. The greatest freedom I've ever had was wandering through those unchanging royal gardens. Now, I can freely explore the beautiful scenery of the world without carriages or attendants. It truly feels like life is a dream.

Jin Yu, on the other hand, adapted quickly and kept teasing Yong Zhen. The doll that was bullying her couldn't speak for the time being and couldn't refute her, so Yong Zhen had no choice but to ignore her.

Chu Mingkong was pleased to see Jin Yu so happy and carefree; he hoped she could always be a princess who "only enjoys pleasure and never suffers hardship" with him. Otherwise, if she were even slightly upset, Chu Mingkong would feel he had wronged her for always secretly keeping him company.

Chu Mingkong waited with the women all afternoon, and as night fell, it was finally time for the ceremony to begin.

After dusk, Wei Qingning had already prepared everything for the ceremony, including all the drawings and arrangements, and even demonstrated the specific steps to Chu Mingkong several times.

"Brother, how much do you still remember?"

If this were about learning Tai Chi sword, Chu Mingkong would definitely say that he had completely forgotten it.

"You remember everything perfectly, how come you're more nervous than me?"

Because the objects of this invocation ritual are different from those normally invoked, too many people will cause the complex atmosphere to cause the ritual to fail.

To put it in simpler terms, it's difficult to pinpoint the "full-life version of Lady Zhen," and since this ritual requires the use of extreme Yang energy, Chu Mingkong has no choice but to remain alone at the ritual altar.

Wei Qingning left quickly, and a barrier was erected over a radius of several miles to prevent any disciples from accidentally wandering in and causing trouble.

"This altar is set up in a way that really gives off a sense of a divine or demonic ritual, but I guess this could also be considered a form of gacha?"

Chu Mingkong silently prayed that he would get good items in his gacha pulls. He glanced at the white-clad puppet Lady Zhen, then at the sleeping Lady Zhen herself and Empress Pei on the other side of the altar.

They participated by using their own golden crow and phoenix bodies as guidance. In order to clear their minds and be pure in the altar, the two beautiful women took the medicine to induce unconsciousness in advance.

The moonlight was intense, appearing exceptionally pale and bright against the backdrop of the darkness.

Chu Mingkong wondered if the moon would suddenly turn into a blood moon, and then a red-eyed witch with a beautiful bottom would emerge from a nearby tree. Unfortunately, nothing unusual happened around him.

Chu Mingkong infused the Extreme Yang Fire spiritual energy into the altar array diagram, silently counting the time in his mind, following Qing Ning's instructions regarding the timing.

Then, she took out a teleportation talisman and teleported Madam Zhen and Empress Pei, who had completed the "introduction mission," outside. Wei Qingning and the others would take care of them. She did this so that the "things" she invited later wouldn't just end up on them.

Chu Mingkong waited for a while, but there was no movement. He thought the ritual to invite the gods had failed and was about to pack up and leave when he was startled by the cry of a phoenix.

A phoenix dripping with black flames appeared above the doll.

After this strange phenomenon appeared, the space around the altar underwent tremendous changes. All was silent, the trees moved without wind, and the ground remained undisturbed, but the bricks, tiles, and beams of a nearby house trembled.

Then suddenly, the sound of drums echoed from the altar. No, it wasn't drums, but the sound of hammers striking skulls. The sound gradually resonated with Chu Mingkong's heartbeat, and illusory afterimages began to appear around him.

Those indistinct figures, dressed in the style of shamans and wearing ferocious masks, leaped around the altar in bizarre dance steps, without any order or method, like the mad swaying of a mentally deranged person, yet possessing an inexplicable power, each step striking at the heartstrings, and could not be underestimated.

The black fire phoenix stood there, haughty and arrogant, its crimson eyes revealing a world-weary indifference.

Chu Mingkong wasn't sure if the black fire phoenix was his illusion or if it had really appeared here, and there was no one around to explain it to him.

"Hmm? What's dripping from its wings doesn't seem to be flames, but blood? It looks like it's covered in wounds."

The black fire phoenix didn't even glance at the puppet in front of it, and slowly flew to the spot where Madam Zhen and Empress Pei had just been, seemingly searching for where their presence had gone.

"Luckily, Master Yun reminded us and we prepared teleportation talismans to send them away, otherwise the Black Fire Phoenix would most likely have possessed them directly. But what can we do now? Qingning didn't mention this situation!"

Chu Mingkong believed that opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared and proactive!

He picked up the doll, Madam Zhen, knelt down in front of the Black Fire Phoenix, and said with sincere and respectful eyes:

"This way, please!"

"..." The Black Phoenix seemed stunned by his foolishness. After a moment of silence, she actually spoke in human language: "You want to invite the gods, but you didn't tell me what you wanted to do with them. Your 'petition' is unclear, and your 'fulfillment' is just an excuse?"

Chu Mingkong lowered his head and quickly apologized:

"I dared not be unsincere in fulfilling my vow afterward; it was my oversight. I want to know the secrets of the Heavenly Palace, the secrets of the dragon vein, and the secrets of the Golden Palace."

After a weary sigh, the black fire phoenix entered the body of the puppet Lady Zhen. The puppet's heart stopped beating, but resumed beating after a brief pause.

However, wounds kept appearing on his body, from which blood seeped out, and then healed, only to have bloody wounds appear again at the healed places, as if the suffering endured by the Golden Crow Phoenix Body since the founding of the Heavenly Pole Empire was manifesting.

Finally, the scars transformed into bewitching crimson tattoos on her voluptuous body. She opened her eyes, which, unlike the black fire phoenix from before, were not red, but retained the doll's original pupil color.

Her beautiful eyes glanced around briefly, and after a moment of curiosity, they quickly turned indifferent. This indifference was different from that of her master's wife; it was a cold indifference born of weariness and aversion to the world.

However, compared to the occasional bewilderment that Madam Zhen sometimes displayed, the man before her seemed much sharper.

She suddenly looked at Chu Mingkong with a teasing gaze, then stretched out her jade-like finger and traced circles on his lower abdomen, a slight smile playing on her lips:

"What's going on? Your verbal plea doesn't quite match your strong inner desire. You used this invocation ritual to summon me here, so you want to do this kind of thing, huh?"

Chapter 164 A Mocking Expression (15.1/18)

Chu Mingkong coughed awkwardly. Although he knew that the thought that had just crossed his mind was a bit inappropriate, it was really hard to avoid.

Just now, when the doll Madam Zhen awoke, the blood seeping from her body soaked her white dress, adding a layer of alluring and bewitching crimson to the pure white. As the wound healed and turned into a tattoo, the scarlet on the white dress faded, as if the essence of the blood had been absorbed back and condensed into tattoo dye on her snow-white skin.

The only thing that fades from the white dress is the color; the dampness remains unchanged. And because there is no more color to obstruct it, the soaked white dress becomes semi-transparent, clinging tightly to the graceful figure while subtly revealing the beautiful and alluring flesh color of the skin.

Her curves were shapely and full, and the wet white dress added an extra layer of allure, all of which was suddenly presented to Chu Mingkong.

A strange thought popped into my head; this was a sign of respect for Madam Zhen's graceful figure.

"I apologize for my presumption. My name is Chu Mingkong. May I ask your name, young lady?"

Chu Mingkong hesitated for a moment before deciding on the final form of address. He had considered using "Madam," but that term was reserved for married women, which would remind her of her relationship with the late emperor.

Thinking of the "evil spirit" summoned when the situation was bad, Chu Mingkong dared not step on this landmine and chose the more versatile "girl".

The alluring woman before him found his address amusing. She teasingly stroked Chu Mingkong's face with her slender hand, while her mind raced through a jumble of memories, murmuring to herself:

"Chu Mingkong... I've never heard of that name. Since you found this body for me, you should know who I am. But your question isn't too far off. Right now, I can't really be considered myself. There are still many evil thoughts intertwined with the past Golden Crow Phoenix Body. Tsk!"

Chu Mingkong wanted to complain: "You can talk, but don't touch me..."

However, she just said she didn't know I existed, so I guess that at this moment, Empress Dowager Zhen was still in power before I started causing trouble.

"Boy, your body feels tingly and pleasant under my touch, yet you're still unwilling? You're really dishonest!"

The feeling of having one's thoughts read was truly unpleasant, and Chu Mingkong's embarrassment lingered.

"Your Majesty can read minds? My petition remains the same as the one I stated at the beginning; my current thoughts are helpless and uncontrollable..."

A phoenix chair made of black phoenix feathers appeared beneath Empress Dowager Zhen's jade buttocks. Chu Mingkong was still sitting on the ground when the beautiful woman sat up in the chair. Her slender hand stopped stroking him, just as he had thought, "You can talk, but don't touch me." Empress Dowager Zhen noticed his disappointment, and the smile on her lips became even more playful.

Her round, white legs were crossed, her toes swaying back and forth, each time stopping in front of Chu Mingkong's naughty thing:

"I have no interest in what you think, so clear your mind. Before answering your question, let me ask you, what era is this? Just now, there was my aura here, as well as another Golden Crow Phoenix Body. Why is that?"

"With the late emperor's passing, the Empress was stripped of her title, and Yongzhen was demoted to a county princess..."

Chu Mingkong briefly recounted the "year introductions" he knew, continuing up to this point:

"At present, I have already abducted Lady Zhen and the current Empress from the capital, and also taken a group of royal women away from the quagmire of the capital. This happened just a few days ago. In about half a year, the Emperor will die from the backlash of the dragon vein. I just want to send him to the afterlife in advance, so I disturbed Your Highness's arrival here. I would like to ask about the secrets of the royal family."

Although he was used to Madam Zhen's elegance and tranquility, Chu Mingkong felt that the sinister aura emanating from the Empress Dowager Zhen before him made him think that she might burst into wild laughter after hearing about the current situation of the Tianji royal family.

But the alluring woman in front of him only seemed lost in thought. Her sudden dazed and absent-minded appearance reminded Chu Mingkong of Madam Zhen.

"The feeling of knowing what happened after death without even realizing it is like this. Your actions truly make you a scourge to the world. You stole the royal women to pieces, and even 'me' was stolen by you."

Chu Mingkong was unsure how to respond; was this a compliment or an insult?

"Of course it's insults. He can even take criticism and insults as praise, and he's secretly pleased about it. The Prince of Xiling's taste is truly frightening!"

Empress Dowager Zhen revealed a mocking and disdainful sneer. Beneath the gloom on her face, she looked at Chu Mingkong as if he were trash. Sensing the inexplicable excitement that Chu Mingkong felt under her gaze, a look of surprise flashed across the mature and beautiful face of the stunning Empress Dowager, before her mockery deepened.

Chu Mingkong was extremely embarrassed. Empress Dowager Zhen's ability to read minds really made him feel awkward, and he couldn't even maintain his composed and dignified demeanor.

He was about to ask about the important matter when Empress Dowager Zhen interrupted him, asking, "Where is Yongzhen? You haven't told us about Yongzhen's whereabouts and current situation."

"Yongzhen has been restored to the rank of Princess by the Emperor, but she has been sent to the Crescent Kingdom for a political marriage. This is to support a faction within the Crescent Kingdom, quell the situation there as soon as possible, and find a new empress. Yongzhen is currently on her way to the Crescent Kingdom for this marriage, and I want to take this opportunity to turn against the Crescent Kingdom."

When Empress Dowager Zhen first heard about the change of the throne and the kidnapping of the Empress, she didn't feel much. Although she was moved, it was as if she were listening to a fabricated story. But when the story came to her closest daughter, a strange feeling arose in Empress Dowager Zhen's heart.

Yongzhen, who is only so young, will actually be sent to marry a foreign ruler...?

"Alright, let's get back to the important matter. You want to know about the dragon vein, right?"

"Yes." Chu Mingkong nodded.

"You should have a general understanding of what a dragon vein is. If you want to find a way to break the protection of a dragon vein from me, I can't give you that. I'll just tell you what I know."

The dragon vein itself has no will of its own; it is merely a manifestation of the will of the common people. As long as the people's faith exists, it exists. Why would it need the veneration of the golden crow and phoenix? Have you ever seen any totem that requires constant worship in this way?

When Empress Dowager Zhen said this, Chu Mingkong also felt strange. This was even more bizarre than the worship of evil spirits and gods. Where was the grand demeanor of the nation's lifeline?

"Because a foreign entity has been residing in the dragon vein for a long time. The 'nutrients' taken from the Golden Crow Phoenix Body have actually gone to it. No one noticed it before because that thing was still weak and resembled a larva. But with the nourishment of the Golden Crow Phoenix Body generation after generation, it has grown stronger. I discovered it by chance once, but I am not sure what it is. However, I am certain that there is a foreign entity in the dragon vein."

If you intend to confront the royal family head-on, you must be wary of this strange object.