Shuntian Prefecture, at the foot of Tianshou Mountain, Imperial Tombs.
Li Miao, wearing a bronze mask, stood on the branch of an ancient tree, looking towards the Imperial Tombs.
“Heh, inviting a wolf into the house, are we?”
Li Miao chuckled when he saw that the number of guards at the mountain pass was more than half sparser than last night.
Wang Zhi’s scheme was an overt one. He had calculated that the Ming Cult couldn’t afford to delay, so he deliberately revealed a weakness, just waiting for the Ming Cult to walk right into it.
Therefore, there was no intention of keeping the withdrawal of the Imperial Tombs’ guards a secret. The guards openly entered the capital through the main gate, precisely to let the Ming Cult members see it clearly.
Of course, Li Miao also saw it clearly.
And last night, Li Miao had already appeared at the Imperial Tombs as “Ji Tianrui.” The next day, the imperial court withdrew the guards. Even a fool could see there was something fishy.
However, Li Miao didn’t care if there was an ambush.
As long as he wore this mask, he was Ji Tianrui.
As long as they couldn’t keep him, the Ming Cult would have to pay the price. What did it have to do with him, a Jinyiwei Commander who was loyal, diligent, and even came to work overtime in the middle of the night?
Li Miao lightly tapped the branch with his foot, soaring several zhang into the air, and then, like a wisp of green smoke, swiftly drifted towards the interior of the Imperial Tombs.
The remaining guards inside the Imperial Tombs were patrolling. One of them suddenly felt the moonlight above his head dim, and was startled. He looked up, but only saw a bright, clear moon.
He looked around. There were no buildings or trees nearby, nowhere to hide. Unless someone could fly, it was absolutely impossible for anyone to escape his sight.
“A cloud?”
He lowered his hand from the hilt of his saber, shook his head, feeling as if he was overly suspicious, and quickly walked towards his comrades.
Li Miao had already arrived outside the wall of the Jiajing Emperor’s tomb.
Before even getting close, Li Miao already smelled the faint, rich scent of blood coming from inside.
This time, Li Miao was no longer coming for Ji Tianrui.
According to Wang Hai’s description, that night he saw that the person Wang Zhi had brought here was clearly a Celestial Human. And it was a Celestial Human who could voluntarily cultivate two paths and fall into the Celestial Human Five Declines.
And this Celestial Human had been imprisoned by the Emperor for twenty-one years.
“Why are there no Celestial Humans appearing in the Jianghu?”
The Ming Cult had already produced four or five Celestial Humans. Why didn’t Shaolin and Wudang have any?
This question might be answered tonight.
And the answer to this question, for Li Miao, was the key to truly establishing himself in this world,
More important than ten Ji Tianruis.
Therefore, whether this was a trap set by Ji Tianrui or the imperial court, Li Miao had to come and see it clearly with his own eyes.
Li Miao stepped forward, raised his hand and gently knocked on the door, smiling mischievously, and lowered his voice, saying eerily,
“Is anyone home?”
Boom!!!
The door exploded!
A fist the size of a large bowl shot out from the flying wood splinters, heading straight for Li Miao’s face!
“Good thief! You really dared to come!”
“But don’t even think of leaving. Leave your life behind!”
Wang Zhi’s shouts came from within the courtyard.
He was ecstatic.
To be honest, although he spoke with certainty, he wasn’t entirely sure if the Ming Cult would dare to come.
He didn’t expect them to crash in on the very same day!
Wang Zhi scanned the nine figures around him, plus the one who had already attacked outside the courtyard, making a total of ten revered experts.
Ten Celestial Humans who had merged two paths into one!
He refused to believe they couldn’t keep a mere Ming Cult member!
At the same time, at the tomb of the Great Shuo founding emperor.
Ji Tianrui looked in Li Miao’s direction and smiled charmingly.
“Lord Li is truly valiant; he actually charged in alone.”
“If he can reconcile with my Ming Cult after seeing the truth, that would be wonderful.”
Behind her, a very tall old man with hands almost reaching his knees snorted coldly.
“Your surname is Ji, not Yang family. My Yang Family’s cooperation with you doesn’t mean you can shamelessly act as the Cult Master.”
Ji Tianrui, however, didn’t care at all and chuckled softly.
“Why speak so heartlessly?”
“Ji Tianrui is the biological son of Yang Lixuan, the Yang family Cult Master.”
“And I am Ji Tianrui’s biological daughter. Strictly speaking, my relationship with the Yang family Cult Master is even closer than yours. Why do you need to draw a clear line with me?”
“After all, it was my vicious father who harmed the Yang family Cult Master, not me.”
Her words were light, yet they were deafening!
The truth about Ji Tianrui’s background, which Li Miao was investigating, was so casually revealed by her.
Ji Tianrui was the daughter of Ji Tianrui and the second Miao King!
Upon hearing this, the old man showed no respect at all and spat on the ground.
“Bah, you two aren’t worthy! You’re both trash born from the Miao King’s dirty blood!”
The old man raised his hand and pointed his thumb at his chest.
“Whether one is a Yang Family member isn’t determined by whose bloodline is closer. It’s determined by whether one has a straight spine!”
“You two snake-like brats who only hide in the dark and bite people are not worthy of my Yang Family’s bloodline!”
Ji Tianrui remained unconcerned, simply smiling and nodding, saying,
“Yes, yes. Who can compare to the heroes of your Yang Family? When the Great Shuo founding emperor established the world, your Yang Family members rendered great service.”
“It’s just a pity— hmmph.”
Ji Tianrui stopped halfway, shook her head, and sighed.
The old man’s face suddenly flushed red. He looked at Ji Tianrui, then turned his head and stared fixedly at the tomb in front of him.
After a long moment, he gritted his teeth and uttered a sentence.
“The debt from back then, my Yang Family will reclaim it soon.”
“Starting from his grave!”
His right fist rose and suddenly smashed against the surrounding wall.
Boom!!!
Crushed stones flew out, breaking trees, and then deeply embedding themselves into the bluestone slabs of the ground.
Ji Tianrui and the old man, however, did not enter.
The old man suddenly roared.
“Get out!”
A profound silence.
After a long time, an aged sigh came from within the main hall of the tomb.
“Hmmph—..—.”
“They all say, wealth doesn’t last three generations, and poverty doesn’t last five generations. After a few generations, bloodlines should change.”
“Why is it that your Yang Family, after one hundred and seventy-seven years, is still like a stone in an outhouse, both smelly and hard?”
A withered old man slowly walked out from the main hall, trembling. A middle-aged man supported him,
And they stopped in the doorway of the hall.
A pair of cloudy eyes looked at the Yang Family elder.
The Yang Family elder stared intently at the old man, his eyes bloodshot, and he squeezed out his name from between his teeth.
“Yin Ruihua!”
“You are indeed still alive!”
The current dynasty’s reign title was “Shuo.”
What does the character “Shuo” mean?
When the sun and moon move in opposition, with the sun moving slowly and the moon quickly, when they are in the same place, it is called “He Shuo” (new moon).
The interaction of the sun and moon, the balance of yin and Yang family, is called “Shuo.”
Where there is “Yang family,” there is “Yin.” Where there is the Yang Family, naturally there is the Yin Family.
However, unlike the Yang Family, which passed down through generations, the Yin Family had always had only one person.
It was this old man with cloudy eyes, withered flesh, and on the verge of death—Yin Ruihua.