Chapter 416: Chapter 416

“The Great Union of Yin and Yang won’t just breed more terrifying ghost domains and higher quality meat fields; it will also start the countdown to this world’s end. When Yin and Yang join and mingle, Heaven and Earth can bring forth all things.But the Great Union forces Yin and Yang apart again.

“You can imagine the consequences. The Dragon Vein exists to suppress those larger ghost domains, keeping each to its own track so they can’t cross into other regions. And if those great ghost domains want to take another step, their only path is to devour one another. The small ghost domains mean nothing to them now.”

Lu Xuanxian spoke at an easy, measured pace.

“The ghosts in the Apparel Atelier and Exotic Beast Park have already birthed true intellect. They’ve completed a kind of preliminary fusion rite. And now…they’re about to fuse for good.”

“Peng Mingyi is carrying the lotus. The lotus is frightening. Once it’s used, it will call down chaos and destruction. The Jade Capital’s defenses might be ironclad. But when the time comes, Peng Mingyi will make the lotus bloom over the Jade Capital.

“And once it blooms, even the strongest defenses will be torn to shreds. But that won’t even be the lotus itself. The real lotus will be planted in the Apparel Atelier’s Jade Pool. Plant the lotus in the Jade Pool, and if they pull it off, that will be the final fusion—the beginning of the end. Find the newest release on novel·fire·net

“On paper, the 3,000 ghost cavalry are helping the Son of Heaven; in truth, they’re just escorting the lotus into the Jade Capital. When the time comes, those riders will encircle the Apparel Atelier and wait for the two great ghost domains to complete their merger.

“However, the instant the lotus is planted in the Jade Pool, Peng Mingyi and Zhao Gutong will both enter a state where they can’t move. That moment is the best time to strike. The exotic beasts will lose their handler, and only the Green Lotus fearless soldiers will keep their formation stitched together.

“With a little pressure, we can smash that array, and then interfere with their fusion. In that window, we kill Peng Mingyi and Zhao Gutong. Even if the lotus has already been set in the Jade Pool, the process can still be broken. Because for them, this operation is exquisitely precise. There is no room for a single mistake.

“As for the Emperor…he’s nothing but a shield for those ghosts.” Lu Xuanxian gave a cold snort. “Drunk on himself, benighted and without virtue, he knew the Great Union of Yin and Yang would bring disaster and still didn’t care. Because it promises him greater rank, greater power, even a chance at a breakthrough.

“He sets himself above all beings and above the world. To fulfill himself, he’ll ignore the life and death of the masses, the survival or extinction of the world. Everything he had was granted by the Dragon Vein. He believed the Dragon Vein existed only to shelter the imperial court.

“But…the Dragon Vein will no longer tolerate him. The only reason I followed him was to learn exactly what they planned, then wait for the right chance to haul them all in with one net.”

With that, Lu Xuanxian suddenly fished a small golden vial from his robes, twisted the neck clean off, tipped out a single thread of blood, and casually pinched his fingers. The blood was ripped apart by a violent force and vanished without a trace.

He smiled. “That was fourth rank source blood the Son of Heaven kept in reserve. You shouldn’t store too much of the stuff. He left three drops, and all three are here. This time, he’s dead for good. Even resurrection won’t save him.”

Sure enough, the Son of Heaven was fourth rank. Even killed by Li Yuan, even as a feeble fourth rank, he could have revived a dozen years down the line. But Lu Xuanxian knew the Emperor’s secrets. He found the hidden blood and destroyed it, severing any hope of revival.

That was the true finishing blow.

Li Yuan stared at the grand general in silence, thoughts crackling like lightning. A flood of information surged up and drowned him in an instant.

The lotus? He knew a little. The Lotus Cult had been working toward this all along, just under other banners.

The Jade Pool? He knew a little of that, too. Back when he was still the Blood Blade Patriarch of Gemhill County, he’d once caught someone using rouge from Apparel Atelier. The man claimed he had entered the land of Immortals.

He saw white towers and jade pavilions, clouds like mist, spirit flowers and sacred trees, and celestial fairies dancing through the air. He also claimed that high above the clouds, an Immortal sat cross-legged on a mat. When he reached the peak and looked back, the land looked no larger than dust motes, and the boundless blue ocean was but the size of a cup of water.

In truth, it was only an old manor hung with lanterns made from human heads. The Immortal enthroned above the clouds was just a ghost in funeral robes sitting beneath a lantern. As for the Jade Pool, it was a stagnant basin in that manor, with eerie shapes drifting through the dead water.

The scene burned itself into Li Yuan’s mind. How could he not? The Apparel Atelier’s shadow was always lurking behind many of the great upheavals he’d encountered in the Central Plains over the years.

The Immortal Worship Cult, with its human-head lanterns, guided a path straight to the Yellow Springs. It gifted the living with wicked karma to lure them into the ancient ghost street, turning them into ghost money—no more than a snack that precluded the grand feast of ghosts.

Seeing Li Yuan’s silence, Lu Xuanxian pressed on, his voice turning solemn, “Once Yin and Yang unite, you and even your family are doomed. I don’t just mean the living in that manor you led me away from. I also mean the ghost domain lying just beyond where we held our duel. That ghost at the general store. Isn’t she your kin?

“The general store stands on the ancient ghost street atop Cloudpeak Province, which sits atop the Dragon Vein. The Dragon Vein is naturally aware of her. As for you, only after our battle did I come to understand your abilities on a deeper level and confirm that you really are qualified to work with the Dragon Vein. Your art of transformation can fool anyone, and your methods are anything but ordinary.”

“What exactly are you?” Li Yuan’s voice was low, his expression gloomy.

“You’ve seen the ghost servants from the mass grave, haven’t you?” Lu Xuanxian replied. “Once those ghost servants step out of the ghost domain, they’re no different from the living. They can think. They carry grudges. And so long as they don’t return to the ghost domain, you won’t be able to tell from their words or deeds that they’re ghost servants at all.”

Li Yuan had, of course, seen them. He’d even been dragged into the vengeance of a female ghost servant from the Mountain Gang, and later crossed blades with Zhao Xiantong after the man had become a ghost servant himself.

Those ghost servants were a breed apart.

Most ghosts from other domains were mindless. One glance and a person could tell what they were. Or they reeked of rot and had to drown themselves in perfume. Only the mass grave ghost domain was different. Its ghost servants were indistinguishable from the living once they were outside.

Back then, Li Yuan had worried that such a domain would destroy the world. Now he could see he’d overthought it. That ghost domain existed precisely to keep the world from being destroyed.

And if just one province was …who knew how long the ancient ghost street had been around, or how many terrifying ghost servants walked them?

Seeing him lost in thought, Lu Xuanxian said, “The nine ancient ghost streets are the nine tendrils of the Dragon Vein. Together they form a single organism. That organism is the Dragon Vein.

“As for the mass grave, you can think of it as the Dragon Vein’s local avatar, something that belonged to the ancient ghost street yet isn’t the ghost street itself. Most of the time it doesn’t do anything; it just runs on its own.

“There are many such domains, the General’s Temple in Ocean province, the Small Bridge Tunnel in Silkfloss Province, the Clay Puppet Catacomb in Harmony Province, Murmuring Lane in Swallowcloud Province, the Imperial Mausoleum of Hidden Dragon Province, and so on.”

Speaking to this point, Lu Xuanxian paused, then sighed. “A thousand years ago, when my lifespan ran out, I thought that since I’d lived a glorious life, I deserved splendor in death as well. If there were Immortals or true Gods, I should be one of them.

“So before I died, I did one last thing. Right before that era’s Emperor was to be sealed in his mausoleum, I quietly fished him out of his coffin…and lay down in it myself. I didn’t expect that one lie-down would let me exist in another form.

“Each time an Emperor offers sacrifices to the Nine Loyal Souls, a loyal soul walks out of the Dragon Vein to serve him. I am this generation’s loyal soul. Which is a long way of saying I’m also a ghost servant, just like the ones you saw in the mass grave.

“The difference is, I’m strong, so I get special treatment. Other ghost servants, when they die, have to return to their ghost domain and wait to be reborn. I can revive directly. Most ghost servants out in the world can only carry out karmic tasks. I, however, am free.”

As Li Yuan listened to Lu Xuanxian’s explanation, a vast world and the hidden game behind it gradually took shape in his mind.

“Any more questions? We’ve lingered here too long. The rest we can go over later. I’ll also fill you in on the Emperor’s habits and every scrap of useful information,” Lu Xuanxian said, an expectant look on his face.

“Why doesn’t the Dragon Vein send out every powerful ghost servant like you? If it did, neither the Emperor nor the Lotus Cult would stand a chance. Seems like you wouldn’t need me at all, would you?” Li Yuan asked.

“We can’t send them. As for why…” Lu Xuanxian went quiet for a beat, then shook his head. “I don’t know either. By rights, the Dragon Vein’s powers are vast and the ancient ghost streets hold the land in check. Yet in every generation, only one Loyal Soul like me can emerge.”

Li Yuan’s gaze flickered, unreadable. He didn’t press the point. Instead he asked another question, “So how do you want us to work together?”

“You go into seclusion for a few days,” Lu Xuanxian said. “Then you reappear as the Emperor and let me find you. Say you were ambushed but escaped with a hidden trump card. After that, you and I head for the Jade Capital. At the critical moment when the lotus is being set into the Jade Pool, we stick a knife in their backs together.”

“Just the two of us?” Li Yuan pressed.

Lu Xuanxian shook his head. “There’ll be others. The Daoist, Buddhists, Five Elements Alliance, even all the provincial military governors…once they learn the real horror of the Grand Union of Yin and Yang, they’ll scramble to stop the fusion. Those two Celestial Masters of the Daoist Court actually have a conscience.

“Also, the Dragon Vein can still select suitable ghost servants to act outside, besides me. Those ghost servants don’t have freedom, and they can’t resurrect on the spot like I can. They’re tangled up with this world by a thousand threads of cause and effect. That web of karma is enough to muddy the waters for us.

“On top of that, the 8,000 cavalry of the Flying Bear Army are my men. And the 30,000 men of Ocean Province’s armored cavalry will be yours. With stakes like that, how can we not pull this off? When it’s done, if you want to keep the throne, keep it. If you don’t, hand it to the child in Xie Wei’s belly.”

“Why that child in particular?” Li Yuan raised an eyebrow.

“The Dragon Vein says only that one imperial bloodline can truly rule the realm,” Lu Xuanxian replied.

“What about dynasties rising and falling?” Li Yuan asked.

“All the same bloodline. It’s just swapping the scepter from the left hand to the right. Even our current dynasty’s founding Emperor was a distant descendant of a former Emperor’s bastard son. In most cases that kind of diluted kinship wouldn’t count for anything, but that heir got lucky…damn it. I only learned this bit after becoming a ghost servant.”

Lu Xuanxian let out a speechless huff, then added, “The Emperor’s a lecher. After you become him, if you like, you can take both Xie Yu and Xie Wei into your chambers. If not, she’s still your Empress.”

Li Yuan blinked. That kind of thing, wronging others and himself both, just wasn’t something he could stomach.

“We’ll…talk later,” he said. He paused, then added, “But before we team up, I have two small conditions.”

“Name them,” Lu Xuanxian said.