Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

Despite the pressure from the immortal, Ningguang remained unfazed and maintained her composed demeanor.

“Ningguang dared not, but Ningguang dared not gamble with the people of Liyue Harbor. The passing of the Emperor is a serious matter, and the immortals have been away from the mortal world for many years. It is inevitable that they will feel unfamiliar with Liyue Harbor when they return. Moreover, there are villains in the city who are taking advantage of this to cause trouble. In order to avoid the immortals taking action and causing panic among the people, Ningguang has resorted to this tactic.”

"Hmph, that's easy for you to say, but you're still blocking us from entering Liyue Harbor!" Liu Yun sneered.

"Ningguang has no intention of hindering you all. Liyue was jointly established by all the immortals and the Emperor, and there is no doubt about that. Ningguang has prepared fine wine and food at Qunyu Pavilion to discuss the future development of Liyue. Please stay here."

The immortals exchanged glances.

On the surface, they were invited to investigate the truth behind the Emperor's death, but their main purpose was to assess whether the people of Liyue could protect Liyue.

The Seven Stars' obstruction outside the city gave them a rude awakening; the Seven Stars of Liyue were now far more powerful than they had imagined.

In that case, we'll see what she wants to say and what she's going to do.

Tartaglia stood outside Liyue Harbor, gazing at the Jade Pavilion and the various immortals in the sky, and rubbed his temples with a slight headache.

Judging from the fact that the immortals went up to the Jade Pavilion, the Immortal Ancestor's Dharma Transformation is very likely in the Jade Pavilion. However, if he were to break into the Jade Pavilion now, he would face an attack from the Seven Stars and the immortals.

Although he enjoys fighting, he doesn't like dying.

"It might not actually be in the Jade Pavilion..."

D'Artagnan once again put his little brain to work and began to think about how to break out of the current predicament.

His goal was to find the ancestral remains of the immortals and obtain the heart of the gods from them.

Before this condition is met, awakening the sleeping demon god is not the best option. It is only a backup option for the Rock God not being dead and for not being able to find the Heart of God. He will not use it unless absolutely necessary.

“Let me think, is there any other way out…” Tartaglia went through all his connections in Liyue, and finally settled on Zhongli and his group who were handling the Ascension Ritual.

Currently, besides the Seven Stars, the others also know the location of the Immortal Ancestor's physical remains.

But how exactly can we find out the location of the Immortal Ancestor's physical remains from them?

Perhaps he could simply use some method to coerce them into helping him obtain the Heart of God?

What else can be used as leverage?

The Traveler is new to Liyue and has no deep ties to it; there is nothing in Liyue that can blackmail him.

Jiang Bai and Zhong Li, however, have weaknesses, and the point that can be used to blackmail them is particularly obvious.

But the problem is, how can he capture Walnut and use her life as leverage?

Hu Tao is a person with divine eyes, and is quite powerful and particularly clever, so the possibility of her being controlled silently is extremely small.

Or, he could simply control Jiang Bai and use him to blackmail Hu Tao and Zhong Li.

After thinking about it, D'Artagnan felt that this was not very feasible either.

Firstly, Jiang Bai might not be that important to these two. Secondly, Jiang Bai also possesses the Divine Eye, so controlling Jiang Bai wouldn't be so easy for him.

As for controlling Zhongli, he rejected the idea before it even came to fruition.

His intuition told him that he was better off not doing it.

Emm

Perhaps he could lure Hu Tao out of Liyue Harbor, then create the illusion that Hu Tao is in his possession, and directly blackmail Jiang Bai.

D'Artagnan thought the idea was good; at least it was simpler than catching walnuts.

Without hesitation, he whistled, and a debt collector appeared silently beside him.

"Go and control a few Liyue people, or have someone impersonate a Liyue person, and inform the head of the Hall of Rebirth that there are evil spirits wandering in the human world near Wuwang Slope. To put it bluntly, it's extremely urgent, and ask her to deal with it immediately."

After D'Artagnan finished speaking, he was about to ask him to do it immediately, but then he felt it wasn't safe.

"Make sure you craft a good story so she doesn't notice anything amiss. After luring her out, find a place to trap her and cut off all contact with the outside world..."

"Yes!"

Hu Tao was sitting on the railing of Yujingtai, swinging her legs and staring blankly at the field in front of her.

The venue is almost ready. Once the last item is prepared, we can officially begin the ritual of sending off immortals tomorrow.

The immortal had arrived, and Ningguang had already gone to meet him, but for some reason, she felt a heavy weight in her heart, as if something bad was about to happen.

Until a few people rushed over in a panic and shouted.

"Is Hall Master Hu here? Is Hall Master Hu here?!"

Their clothes were tattered, their faces were pale, and they seemed to have suffered a great shock, their expressions still showing signs of disbelief.

She jumped off the fence, "I'm here, what happened?"

When those men saw her, it was like they had found a lifeline. Without saying a word, they knelt down.

"Master Hu, please save me!"

Hu Tao was startled by this unexpected gift and quickly jumped aside, anxiously asking, "What happened?"

"Ghosts! So many ghosts!" One of them cried out, his voice trembling as he spoke of ghosts.

"They've got their eyes on us!"

Hu Tao frowned, her eyes flashing with a hint of red. She looked at the group and didn't see any signs that they were being targeted by evil spirits, but the yin energy around them was indeed quite strong.

Chapter 290 Your Hall Master is in My Hands

"Tell me the details of what exactly happened."

Her intuition told her that these people were not normal, but if there really were ghosts causing trouble, she couldn't just sit idly by.

“There was a landslide near Wuwangpo, which exposed an ancient ruin. My brothers and I went in to explore out of curiosity, but our eldest brother was possessed by an evil spirit. We had to fight our way out to escape…” one of them said, tears streaming down his face.

It would be difficult for the Fatui to completely disguise themselves as Liyue people without being discovered by Hu Tao, so they simply captured a few members of the Treasure Raiders and used a combination of enticement and coercion to lure them into becoming bait.

These people were indeed exploring the ruins, which had been exposed due to a landslide. The ruins appeared to be a very ancient tomb, and were said to be dangerous and eerie, with spirits resembling evil ghosts guarding the tomb.

They came to Liyue Harbor intending to find an expert in this field, but before they could even find anyone, they were approached by the Fatui.

They weren't genuinely working for the Fools; they had their own agendas.

As everyone knows, the Wangsheng Hall is an expert in dealing with ghosts and evil spirits, and its head, Hu Tao, is an expert among experts.

Bringing Walnut to that ruin would both fulfill the Fools' demands and allow Walnut to help them clean up the filth inside the ruin—killing two birds with one stone.

What happens if they get discovered?

Ha, with so many of them, do you think they're afraid of a little girl?

They might let the girl go alive because she helped them get rid of the evil spirits, but if she doesn't appreciate it, they can't blame them for being ruthless.

Hu Tao looked the three of them up and down, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Shouldn't you have reported this to Qianyan Army immediately?"

"This..." The three hesitated, stammering.

With their kind of shady dealings, aren't they just asking for death by reporting to Qianyan Army?

Hu Tao had roughly figured out who these people were. She crossed her arms and looked at them leisurely. "Since you are unwilling to report to the Thousand Rock Army, it means the situation is not serious. I still have the ceremonial ceremony to attend to. You should find someone else."

Seeing Hu Tao's attitude, the group exchanged glances and decided to reveal a little something.

"Well... to be honest, Master Hu, no one has ever been inside those ruins before. They contain many treasures. If we were to report this, there wouldn't be any left for us."

"Aren't you afraid I'll take some of your treasures?"

"If you can help us eliminate those evil spirits, it's only right that you share the treasure!"

Hu Tao squinted at them until they started to tense up before she said, "Alright, I'll go with you. If there really are evil spirits causing trouble, I'll handle it myself. But if you're doing anything shady, don't blame me for reporting you to the Thousand Rock Army."

"This is natural, this is natural!"

Hu Tao waved her hand, beckoning a servant over. "I'm going to Wuwang Slope with these people. It'll probably take a while, so we definitely won't make it in time for the Sending-Off-Immortal Ceremony..."

Although it was a pity she couldn't participate in the Sending-Off-the-Immortals Ceremony, maintaining the balance between life and death was her duty. Better safe than sorry, she still had to go.

“Okay, I understand.” Yi Guan nodded.

Not long after Hu Tao left, the ceremonial attendant who was about to return to the Rebirth Hall to inform the hall master of his whereabouts was suddenly knocked unconscious while passing through an alley.

“My lord, Walnut has already left the city.” A debt collector appeared beside D'Artagnan.

D'Artagnan gave an approving smile. "Well done."

"Now, we're just waiting for Jiang Bai to come back."

Although it doesn't seem like it will work, I have to give it a try.

.

After Jiang Bai and Kong finished picking flowers, they were teleported back outside the city. Not long after, they were stopped by a debt collector.

Jiang Bai crossed his arms, wanting to see what this debt collector was up to, standing in the middle of the road.

The debt collector wore a hood and a mask, and spoke in a sinister voice.

"Young Master asked me to deliver a message to you: your sect leader is now in our hands. If you want to save her, you must exchange her for the Heart of the Rock God."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Bai's face remained expressionless, but the ominous aura emanating from him caused Kong Du to involuntarily take two steps back.

"So...so scary..." Paimon felt his jaw chattering and shrank behind Kong in fear.

Kong shouted, "Calm down! Hall Master Hu won't be captured so easily!"

He had witnessed Hu Tao's fierce fight with the young master at Yujingtai; with Hu Tao's strength, it was impossible for her to be captured so easily.

"Ha, they won't shed a tear until they see the coffin." The debt collector threw out a photo of Hu Tao lying unconscious and imprisoned.

Of course, they forged the photo, but as long as it could fool the people on the other side, that was enough.

Jiang Bai glanced at the photo, a red glint flashing in his eyes.

A massive rock cell rose from the ground, imprisoning the debt collector inside.

He certainly wouldn't believe what the other person said, but he was really angry.

Some things are the dragon's Achilles' heel; they must never be touched.

He suppressed his surging anger, first took out the Four Directions Sutra, and then took out the pointer that was meant to guide Hu Tao. The name on the pointer was bright, indicating that Hu Tao's life signs were intact.

He placed the pointer inside, and the pointer rotated once, pointing in the opposite direction from Liyue Harbor.

In that direction lie Guili Plain, Wangshu Inn, and Dihua Prefecture, which they had just visited...

After determining Hu Tao's approximate location, he directly sent a message to Hu Tao using a long-distance communication device.

[Where are you, Master? Are you alright? How did you get out of the city? The Fools say you've been captured? Reply to my message quickly! Urgent! Urgent!!!]

As Hu Tao rode on her horse, she felt the long-distance communication device in her ear vibrate, and Jiang Bai's anxious messages rushed in.

Hu Tao subconsciously picked at her ear. Had she been captured by the Fools? How come she didn't know?

[What the heck? How come I didn't know I was captured by the Fools? A few tomb raiders said they discovered a ruin and unearthed a malevolent spirit, so I went to deal with it. How did it turn into me being captured by the Fools?]

"Master Hu? Why did you suddenly stop?" Seeing that Hu Tao's horse had suddenly stopped, the person in front of him also stopped.

After sending the message, Hu Tao glanced at the three people leading the way, her eyes narrowing.

"Actually, there aren't any ruins, are there? You just want to lure me out of the city?"

The three were startled, but quickly regained their composure.

The person had already been summoned out of the city, so there was no way they could let her go back; their treasure was still waiting for them to retrieve it!

"Master Hu, take a look at this." One of them reluctantly pulled out a jade cicada.

Hu Tao's eyes turned cold instantly. Of course she recognized what it was; it was something that wealthy families used to press down the tongue during burial.

Since the war between the demons and gods, in order to reduce the spread of disease, burial has become extremely rare. Only a few wealthy, noble and powerful people prepare tombs and burial goods for themselves.

Chapter 291 They actually tried to fool me with the Hall Master!

Human desires are never enough; they preserve their bodies intact, hoping to be resurrected and enjoy another life of wealth and luxury.

The tongue depressor shaped like a jade cicada signifies this meaning, implying that the spirit is immortal and reborn.

If that were the case, it would be fine; it's just superstition after all. But some people simply don't want to stop there.

Some evil sorcerers took advantage of the greed of these wealthy people to set up sinister formations in the tombs, using the blood of the living as a catalyst and the souls of the living as sacrifices, in an attempt to refine corpses, which caused a lot of trouble in ancient times.

Judging from its appearance, this object is quite ancient, perhaps even predating the Demon God War.