CHAPTER 73: 69. TREASURE VAULT (3.1K WORDS - SUBSCRIBE)

"To be honest with you, madam, I am but a humble ghost cultivator..."

Before Song Yan could finish his sentence, he felt his body lose weight, his feet beginning to dangle in mid-air.

The Empress’s figure, like a nightmare ghost, suddenly grew taller and taller, until she reached the high palace ceiling, bending slightly at the back, with her head leaning forward, looking down.

Her body instantly swelled hundreds of times, transforming into a terrifying giant; her beautiful facial features ripped apart, as if the skin could not withstand the immense force, with her eyes, nose, and lips skewed in every direction, terrifying beyond words.

The once brightly lit Fengning Palace was suddenly plunged into darkness.

The light... was entirely blocked by this gigantic body.

Two sharp fingers, grabbing Song Yan like a small ant, showed a ghastly smile on her distorted face, her voice hoarse and strange.

"Young one, what you said, I saw it all in the Empress’s memory. Do you think I spared your life because of that?"

"Certainly not," Song Yan replied, "Madam needs my assistance, a lure into the trap."

The Empress’s ghastly face peered down at him, her eyes, as large as Song Yan, stared intently at him, contemplating something unknown.

Song Yan looked up, meeting those eyes.

He had no intention of having an in-depth conversation with such an ancient demon who had lived for countless years and feasted on countless lives, nor did he intend to deceive her with vapid trickery.

When you tentatively question this old demon, you reveal more than you hide.

When you bask in self-satisfaction, thinking you have fooled this demon, you unknowingly expose yourself to her perception due to your verbosity.

Seeing him so composed, the Empress suddenly spoke up, "Tell me, what is it you desire?"

Song Yan said, "I wish for madam to spare my life."

The Empress shook him slightly.

Yet, perhaps due to expertise in different fields,

The Fox Madame truly couldn’t comprehend what kind of ghostly entity she was holding.

It felt an evil spirit occupying the "shadow puppet crafted by its child," but the puppet was empty inside, not a ghost cultivator at all. Moreover, there had been no talk of a ghost cultivator "roaming for the country and the people, willing to sacrifice their life for the masses."

Such a scenario was as absurd as her becoming a vegetarian.

The Empress said flatly, "I am a person who cherishes talent, you still have a chance."

Song Yan said, "As long as madam spares my life, I am willing to be a horse or a cow, to repay madam."

Bang!!

As he spoke, the five fingers gripping his skull suddenly tightened, the shadow puppet unable to withstand the pressure, burst apart, loose souls within losing control, screeching and scattering.

The substantial "ghost cultivator" promptly revealed its true form, the plain, scarred man disappeared, replaced by a flat, wrinkled, lumpy-tailed, bizarre fox shadow puppet.

"Do you think I have time for your nonsense?

Or are you afraid that if you tell the truth, I’ll still kill you?"

"You humans, so full of schemes, even as ghosts it’s the same, always reluctant to trust others."

"Although... I really will still kill you."

"But not speaking is simply better to die right away."

The Empress mumbled, then rapidly shrank back to her original form, clutching the "bizarre one-tailed fox shadow puppet," examining it left and right, filled with curiosity, reluctant to discard it.

She turned and left Fengning Palace, walked for a while in the complex palace, until she reached a secluded Cold Palace, stepping inside, fiddled with switches, opened a secret room storing various things, placed the shadow puppet into an empty box, then put it onto a treasure shelf, awaiting further study.

After finishing, she returned to Fengning Palace, where a new Prince Wei was already waiting for her.

For the Fox Madame with many offspring, finding someone to impersonate Prince Wei was no trouble at all.

As for Prince Wei...

The children, it did not care for, would it... truly care for a descendant with a trace of its bloodline?

...

...

"Three days later, at Fox Kui Palace..."

Su Canli looked at an elder beside him, sighed deeply and said, "Great-grandfather, I agreed on a secret code with Brother Hua, planning to set some substitute words to convey information. But Brother Hua thought more thoroughly, and he did the opposite, besides the secret code, he also set a small rule."

"What rule?" the elder asked calmly.

Su Canli said, "Brother Hua said that actually the key information is just one sentence: when and where to act.

Since that’s the case, the word order doesn’t matter.

He said if he didn’t say this sentence in the agreed order, then ... he was already threatened.

In other words, he had fallen into the hands of the Fox Madame. And the time and place he relayed are a trap."

The elder looked at him quietly.

Su Canli sighed heavily and said, "According to the agreement, Brother Hua’s sentence should be said this way."

"Fox Kui Palace, will be three days after the Fox Madame."

"But he didn’t say that.

At this moment... Brother Hua and the Empress Fu are probably in grave danger.

The one delivering information to us might just be the Fox Madame’s henchman, or even herself."

The elder fell silent for a moment and said, "What a pity."

Su Canli deeply closed his eyes.

The elder said, "Does Hua Rong have any descendants?"

Su Canli said, "He is related to Hua Linglong of Western Shu Celestial Cloud City, a person in the Jianghu; apparently, the two should be lovers..."

The elder said, "Let the sect take more care of her."

Su Canli said, "Grandfather, in three days, are we still going to Fox Kui Palace?"

The elder laughed, "Since we already know it’s a trap, why not go? We might as well use their strategy against them..."

Su Canli nodded heavily, then couldn’t help but sigh, "Empress Fu’s fervor and Brother Hua’s loyalty and righteousness, the fact that these two are leading the charge, it’s really a matter of life and death. They both know it, yet they still went..."

"Ah, Grandfather, why is it that we, a group of cultivators, let a woman who hasn’t even started cultivating profound rush to the front, ah..."

The elder patted his shoulder and said, "Seek kindness and you’ll gain kindness, no need to be too sentimental, hurry and pass on the message."

Su Canli nodded and said, "According to the plan, I’ve classified the members of the Fox Stabbing Alliance into three layers based on the level of trustworthiness. Each layer will receive different information, and only you and I will know that ’in three days, the Old Madam Fox in Fox Kui Palace’ is a trap."

The elder said, "Once the Old Madam Fox is dead, the rest will scatter like a pack of monkeys. No need to worry. I’ve spent a hundred years honing my skills, just to eliminate such monstrosities that harm our human race!"

...

...

Whoosh...

Whoosh whoosh...

Faint perception, pitch-black vision, emanated from the secret box.

The biggest difference between ghost cultivators and ghost entities is the former possesses a profound root, while the latter does not.

The biggest difference between shadow puppets and ghost entities is the former is controlled by cultivators, while the latter is not.

But regardless of ghost cultivators, shadow puppets, or ghost entities, once the evil soul within them dissipates, they are destined to become scrap...

Thus, this strange thing had already turned into a "trophy" for the Old Madam Fox.

A trophy that... no longer requires vigilance.

However, she absolutely could not have imagined that every wisp of ghost within the shadow puppet had been enslaved, nor could she have imagined that someone had even merged a wisp of their divine sense into the shadow puppet.

At this moment, the wisp of Song Yan’s divine sense still remained hidden in the already damaged, shriveled shadow puppet, stored together in the secret box.

The destruction of his body left him unable to do anything.

But he knew one thing: it seemed like there were still quite a few things hidden inside this vault.

Three days later, the Old Madam Fox would definitely confront the Fox Stabbing Alliance.

From his understanding of Mr. Su San, the latter would definitely not withdraw just because it was false information, but rather use this opportunity to turn the strategy against them.

By then, it would be utter chaos.

And the two "malformed single-tailed demonic foxes" and "formless phantom crows" he secretly dispatched had almost reached the Imperial Capital.

If the Fox Stabbing Alliance succeeds, he will have to find a way to get some of the Old Madam Fox’s blood...

But regardless of success or failure, he would come to "search this vault" to see if he could gain anything.

The Old Madam Fox would never dream that this ghost thing still retained a little awareness, and it was precisely this bit of awareness... that inadvertently exposed the location of her "small treasury."

Enduring dark protraction, patiently waiting in the form of a broken shadow puppet.

What was happening outside, what was about to happen, was temporarily not his concern.

Hua Rong... was already dead.

Arising from Celestial Cloud City, journeying out to slay fox demons; heavily injured and imprisoned within the Puppet Sect, falling onto the back hills during escape becoming a ghost cultivator, then proceeding to the Imperial Capital only to die tragically at the hands of the Old Madam Fox.

Needless to say, Fu Shirong was also dead.

Song Yan still remembered that Empress Fu.

A spirited fiery red steed, clearly able to enjoy a peaceful life, but because of her fervor, diverging from her husband, likely to be dealt with by the Old Madam Fox as soon as she entered the palace.

Prince Wei met the same fate.

The two of them, one with integrity, preferring death over dishonor; the other with ambition, by any means necessary.

Yet they died so simply.

Song Yan silently lamented in his heart: Behind every plan, every scheme, if there is no power to support it, it is all just a joke...

...

...

Three days later.

Suddenly, a strong wave of energy burst forth from the Fox Kui Palace in the suburbs of the Imperial Capital.

The earth trembled in response, the myriad palaces of the Imperial Capital quaking like they’re experiencing an earthquake, citizens either pale-faced or fleeing in desperation...

Then stronger and denser energy waves exploded, the daytime skies seemingly ignited with fireworks, bursting into a spectacle of colors.

Whirlwinds swept the ground, uprooting trees and branches.

Merchants selling various items hurriedly closed their doors, the dancers and singers of the brothels gathered in one room, the women from wealthy families hurriedly inquired about the events happening far away...

Chaos reigned everywhere.

The Imperial Capital descended into chaos!

A figure took advantage of the chaos, quickly heading towards the Imperial Palace.

That figure, before entering the city, was a finely dressed man.

After passing a group of patrol guards, he transformed into one of the patrol guards and proceeded deeper into the palace.

After passing through a gate, he saw palace maids fleeing in fear, and the patrol guard’s figure blurred like ink dispersing in water, slightly distorting, transforming into the perfect image of a palace maid, identical in attire and appearance.

Upon reaching the inner gate, a eunuch spotted the palace maid and sternly admonished, "Where are you going?"

The palace maid repeatedly apologized and turned to leave.

But after the eunuch walked away, the palace maid transformed again, turning into the figure of the eunuch, entering the inner palace, and then... headed straight towards the direction of the Cold Palace where the Old Madam Fox kept her items.

A bizarre crow followed the eunuch’s head like a phantom, while behind him... someone else was replicating the eunuch’s "entry procedure" into the palace.