People in the Imperial Music Bureau: The Storytelling Demon Child Nezha

As if in response to his words, a crack suddenly appeared in the dome of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and the light of the blood moon poured down like a waterfall. In that light, an ancient bronze coffin slowly emerged, with nine chains rattling, each one wrapped with dense runes.

"Protect His Majesty!" the commander of the Imperial Guards shouted.

Even more chilling was the fact that the escorted officials suddenly revealed eerie smiles. Their skin began to crack, revealing blood-red lines beneath—exactly the same as those recorded in the Chu Prefecture case files!

It was too late... Qian Qingshu's voice became hoarse; the ceremony had already begun...

His body suddenly exploded, turning into a cloud of blood mist. Then came the second, the third... In an instant, the ancestral temple was filled with blood mist. The blood mist seemed to have a life of its own, converging towards the ancient bronze coffin, and the runes on the chains lit up one after another.

Emperor Yuanjing's face turned deathly pale: This is... Chuzhou...

The resentment of 380,000 dead souls. Li Qiye, dressed in white, stood before the bronze coffin, his presence felt by no one. When His Majesty tacitly approved the massacre of the Prince of Huai back then, did he ever imagine this day would come?

These words struck like a thunderbolt. Huaiqing looked at his father in disbelief: "Back then, in the Chuzhou case, Father..."

Emperor Yuanjing staggered backward, as if he had aged ten years in an instant: I...I didn't know it would turn out like this....

Chapter 110 A Sacrifice for the Nation's Fortune, No Corpse in the Coffin

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The bronze coffin lid suddenly opened a crack, and a pale hand reached out.

At the same time, the ground throughout the capital began to shake, and countless people were horrified to see scarlet blood seeping out from in front of and behind their houses!

Li Qiye sighed: "Using the fate of an entire nation as a sacrifice, what a grand gesture." He turned to Huaiqing, "Does the princess now understand why I said the story of the Stone Kingdom would be the future of the Great Feng?"

Huaiqing gripped the dagger hidden in his sleeve: "Sir, could you possibly stop me?"

"Yes." Li Qiye smiled slightly, but the princess needed to do one thing.

What is it?

He ascended the throne.

The moment those two words were uttered, an uproar ensued.

Emperor Yuanjing was furious: How dare you!

Li Qiye ignored him, only looking at Huaiqing: The sacrificial spirit is dead, a new emperor should be established. This is the only way to stop the blood sacrifice.

Before Huaiqing could answer, a hoarse laugh suddenly came from the bronze coffin: Li Qiye...you finally...intervened.

Li Qiye's expression turned solemn, revealing a serious look for the first time: "Prince Huai, now that you are dead, why do you still cling to this obsession?"

The laughter from the coffin grew louder: Death? No... this is just the beginning... The chains suddenly shook violently, "I will turn this Great Feng... into a ghost realm!"

With that roar, the coffin lid burst open!

boom--

The moment the bronze coffin lid was completely lifted, the entire Imperial Ancestral Temple trembled violently.

Princess Huaiqing instinctively raised her hand to shield herself from the oncoming cold wind, but through her fingers she saw a scene she would never forget.

There was no corpse in the coffin, only a writhing black shadow. The shadow kept changing shape, sometimes like a human, sometimes like a beast, and finally settled on the face of the Prince of Huai, but much younger than when he was alive.

"So that's how it is." Li Qiye sneered, "You've refined yourself into an immortal soul of the Witch God Cult."

The shadowy Prince Huai let out a piercing laugh: "Thanks to my elder brother's tacit approval back then... I was able to collect 380,000 living souls..."

Emperor Yuanjing's face turned ashen, and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood: You...you lied to me! You said you only needed to extract some blood essence...

"My brother is still so naive." The shadowy figure said leisurely, "But after today, this young body will belong to me." With that, he suddenly lunged at Emperor Yuanjing!

"Father!" Huaiqing exclaimed in surprise.

"Father!" Huaiqing cried out in alarm, only to see Li Qiye flash by and stand in front of Emperor Yuanjing. With a light tap of his folding fan, a beam of clear light unfolded like a barrier, forcefully forcing the shadowy Prince Huai back.

The shadowy figure of Prince Huai roared angrily: "Li Qiye! You're just a storyteller, how dare you stop me?!"

Li Qiye laughed, a smile tinged with pity: A storyteller? Yes, I am indeed just a storyteller.

He suddenly turned around, looked at Huaiqing, then at all the civil and military officials, and finally his gaze fell on Emperor Yuanjing: "Your Majesty, have you ever wondered why the stories I tell always correspond to the events in the court?"

Emperor Yuanjing clutched his chest, panting, "You... what exactly are you...?"

Because—when Li Qiye unfolded his folding fan, all the illusory images of the perfect world on the fan surface vanished like smoke; these stories were, in the first place, false.

wow——

The entire hall erupted in uproar. Princess Huaiqing's pupils constricted sharply: "Sir, are you saying... Shi Hao, the Void God Realm, the Stone Kingdom's Sacrificial Spirit... are all fabrications?"

"Not bad." Li Qiye said calmly, "There has never been a perfect world, nor have there ever been any prodigies among the Ten Heavenly Caves. These stories are just things I made up on the spot."

The shadowy figure of the Prince of Huai laughed wildly: Fabricated? Then what right do you have to stop me?!

Li Qiye shook his head: The story is fake, but people's hearts are real. He pointed to the shadowy figure, "You took advantage of His Majesty's greed for immortality, secretly plotted for thirty years, using the 380,000 dead souls of Chuzhou to forge an immortal soul, and today you want to use the grand sacrificial ceremony at the Imperial Ancestral Temple to seize His Majesty's body—all of this is real."

Emperor Yuanjing trembled all over: You...you knew all along?

"I know more than Your Majesty imagines." Li Qiye sighed softly. For example, Qian Qingshu's audience with the Emperor on the seventh of each month was actually to report on the progress of the blood sacrifice; and the explosion at the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau) was to cover up the blood array laid underground by the Witch God Cult in the capital...

Huaiqing suddenly realized: So the master deliberately told those stories in order to...

Luring the snake out of its hole. Li Qiye smiled. If I hadn't talked about the crisis in Shi Kingdom every day, why would His Highness Prince Huai be in such a hurry to launch an attack today?

The shadowy Prince Huai roared in fury, and the shadows throughout the Imperial Ancestral Temple began to twist: So what if you see through it? The blood sacrifice is complete, and this capital is destined to—

"What is destined to happen?" Li Qiye suddenly interrupted, taking out a blood-red jade slip from his sleeve. "You think this is the one you buried in the Jiaofangsi?"

The laughter of the shadowy King Huai abruptly stopped.

I switched it long ago. Li Qiye casually crushed the jade slip; the true core of the array was actually—

He pointed at the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince, who had been silent all along, suddenly looked terrified, turned around and tried to run away, but was stopped by the Imperial Guards.

My son?! Emperor Yuanjing could not believe it.

Li Qiye shook his head: It wasn't the Crown Prince, it was the jade pendant on his waist.

The guards immediately snatched the jade pendant from the prince's waist, and saw that the back of the pendant was engraved with the same runes as those on the bronze coffin.

The shadowy figure of Huai Wang let out a piercing scream, his body beginning to stagger: No... this is impossible...

The shrieking of the shadowy King Huai gradually dissipated, and the blood-red runes on the bronze coffin also extinguished one by one, eventually turning into an ordinary bronze coffin, devoid of any evil aura.

Emperor Yuanjing slumped to the ground, his gaze vacant, as if he had aged ten years in an instant. Princess Huaiqing stood beside him, her expression complex, a mixture of pity for her father and suspicion towards Li Qiye.

"Sir..." Huaiqing began, but then hesitated, unsure of what to ask.

Li Qiye closed his folding fan and smiled slightly: The story is fictional, but people's hearts are real. The Prince of Huai has been eliminated, the political situation is settled, Princess... no, Your Majesty, it's time to consider how to govern this world.

He turned to leave, but Emperor Yuanjing suddenly spoke in a hoarse voice: Li Qiye... who exactly are you?

Li Qiye paused, then laughed without turning his head: "Just a storyteller." (Zhao Nuozhao)

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure vanished like smoke, leaving only the silent crowd in the hall.

Three days later, at the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau).

Li Qiye returned to the stage, and the audience was packed.

After the incident at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, people became even more curious about his storytelling. Some court officials even came incognito, hoping to glean something from him.

Ladies and gentlemen. Li Qiye unfolded his folding fan, his smile gentle. The story of the past few days has come to an end. Today, we will continue the story of Shi Hao.

There was an uproar in the audience.

"Didn't they say... those stories were all fake?" someone couldn't help but ask.

Li Qiye chuckled: The story is obviously fake, but the lessons within it are true.

With a wave of his folding fan, Shi Hao's figure reappeared in the void.

At this moment, Shi Hao had returned from the Void God Realm and stood atop the capital of the Stone Kingdom. His ten celestial caves shone brightly, and his aura was vast and boundless.

Chapter 111 Unusual Movements in the Southern Frontier: Someone Seems to Destroy the Great Feng Dragon Vein

Last time, we talked about how Shi Hao broke through his limits in the Void God Realm, opening up ten grotto-heavens and shaking the world. However, just as he returned to the Stone Kingdom, preparing to rebuild its empire—

boom!

The scene on the fan suddenly changed, a huge crack appeared in the sky, and several figures stepped out of the air, each exuding a terrifying pressure far exceeding that of cultivators in the lower realm!

"That's... someone from the upper realm!" someone in the audience exclaimed.

Li Qiye nodded: That's right. The powerful figures from the great sects of the Upper Realm—the Heaven-Mending Sect, the Heaven-Intercepting Sect, and the Western Sect—have finally descended to the Lower Realm!

In the illusory image, a man dressed in golden battle armor stood in mid-air, looking down at Shi Hao, his voice cold:

How dare you, a mere ant from the lower realm, pry into the secrets of the upper realm? Today, I will show you the true meaning of heaven and earth!

Shi Hao looked up, his gaze sharp as lightning, showing no fear whatsoever.

So what about the upper realm? Anyone who dares to offend my Stone Kingdom—

With one step he took, all ten caves trembled simultaneously, even causing the heavens and earth to resonate!

Kill without mercy!

Below the stage, Princess Huaiqing listened quietly, a slight smile playing on her lips.

She knew that Li Qiye's story was never a simple fabrication.

Southern Xinjiang, deep in the mountains of the Ten Thousand Mountains.

On an ancient altar, several Gu clan elders dressed in strange attire sat around a circle, with a ghostly green Gu bead floating in the center, inside which seemed to be a living creature wriggling.

A strange event occurred in the capital of Da Feng; the blood sacrifice failed, and the soul of the Prince of Huai perished. The leading elder's voice was hoarse: "The time has come. Our 797 clans have been dormant for a century; it's time to make our move."

Another elder frowned: But what about Li Qiye...?

"Hmph, just a storyteller, does he really think he can stir up trouble?" The third person sneered, "My clan's Myriad Gu Devouring Heart Formation is complete. Even a top-grade one will perish!"

Suddenly, a crack appeared in the emerald green Gu bead, and a completely black Gu worm crawled out, flapping its wings and flying north—directly towards the capital!

2. The remnants of the Witch God Cult are secretly gathering.

Meanwhile, in the northwestern desert of Dafeng.

Inside an abandoned ancient temple, a dozen men in black robes knelt on the ground, before a broken statue of a sorcerer god. Two eerie flames flickered in the statue's eye sockets, and a hoarse voice emanated from them:

Although the King of Huai is dead, the blood sacrifice has not completely failed... A trace of power remains in the bronze coffin.

"Master, what should we do?" a man in black robes asked in a low voice.

The eerie flames emanating from the statue suddenly surged: Find that bronze coffin! It is the true key... the key to open the gates of the underworld!

The men in black robes all kowtowed: "We will obey the leader's command!"

3. In the shadows of the capital, spies clash.

The capital city, night.

Inside the watchman's office, Wei Yuan stared at the secret report on the table, his brows furrowed.

There were unusual movements from the Gu Clan in the Southern Frontier, the remnants of the Witch God Cult in the Northwest were gathering, and even the Demon Clan of the East Sea had begun to appear frequently... He tapped the table with his fingertips. Why were these forces suddenly acting at the same time?

The silver gong beside him whispered: Could it be related to Li Qiye?

Wei Yuan shook his head: No, what they are waiting for is something more important than Li Qiye.

what?

Wei Yuan's gaze was deep as he slowly uttered two words:

The fate of the nation.

Southern Xinjiang, deep in the mountains of the Ten Thousand Mountains.

On the ancient altar, the eerie green Gu bead suddenly cracked with a sharp sound. The Grand Elder's withered fingers gently stroked the bead's surface, a glint of light flashing in his cloudy eyes: The Prince of Huai has been defeated.

The Second Elder slammed his bone staff heavily on the ground: The blood sacrifice failed, our plan...

No, quite the opposite. The Grand Elder suddenly revealed a strange smile. Although the King of Huai was dead, the appearance of the bronze coffin indicated that cracks had appeared in the nation's destiny. This was precisely the opportunity our clan had been waiting for for a hundred years.

The Third Elder hesitated, then said: "But that storyteller, Li Qiye..."

A mere storyteller, nothing to worry about. The Grand Elder took out an ancient bronze bell from his robes and ordered all departments to activate the dormancy plan. Remember, be slow and steady. Make the Great Feng court believe this is just an ordinary outbreak of Gu worms.

In the desolate northwest desert, a crescent moon hangs like a hook.

A dozen or so men in black robes stood silently before the dilapidated temple of the sorcerer. The leader held a bronze lamp, its flame flickering.