The moment that voice sounded, Yin Ruihua's movements froze.
He was like a frog frozen in ice, unable to move a single inch. In the seemingly still air, he heard his arteries pounding like hammers in his temples.
His heart was thumping against his ribs.
His mind was blank.
The footsteps behind him slowly circled around. A figure gradually appeared from the edge of his vision, slowly walked in front of him, and blocked the doorway.
It was precisely the mummified corpse that lay in the Xiaoling Mausoleum.
The mummy's eyelids were already shriveled, only a pair of eyeballs slowly moved in their sockets, looking at Yin Ruihua.
He was already disfigured, but Yin Ruihua still recognized those cold eyes.
Ji Tianrui leaned against the wall and stood up, coughing violently a few times, spitting out a mouthful of foul blood, mixed with the corpses of several Witchcraft.
The mummy's blow just now was very heavy. If her physique hadn't been different from ordinary people, and if he hadn't healed her injuries, she would have probably died on the spot.
This was that man's character.
Ji Tianrui awakened him, he would reward, even if he didn't know Ji Tianrui at all; if she didn't kneel and bow when accepting the reward, he would kill, even if he had just expended his true energy to save her a moment ago.
A sage is not benevolent; he treats the common people as straw dogs.
This was the second emperor of Great Shuo, whose name and reign title were erased from official history.
Emperor Jianwen, Zhu Yunwen.
Ji Tianrui tapped herself a few times, took a deep breath, closed her eyes and adjusted her breathing for a moment, barely recovering some true energy, then quickly walked out of the tomb.
She walked straight towards the ruins of the main hall, found Yang Lizhang's weak breathing, and then dug him out of the ruins, "Senior Yang family, can you still live?"
Ji Tianrui said.
"Yes, give me some bugs to use."
Yang Lizhang said.
"Alright."
Ji Tianrui slit her wrist and dripped blood into Yang Lizhang's mouth.
"You must remember, my Witchcraft conflicts with Shaolin's secret techniques, and can only temporarily mend your body. Within three days, you will surely die."
"Hmph!"
Yang Lizhang swallowed the fresh blood, a sudden flush of crimson appeared on his face, and then he propped himself up with both hands, slowly stood up, and brushed the dust from his body.
"I never intended to leave Shuntian alive.
"Three days should be enough for your plan to be completed."
Ji Tianrui smiled and nodded.
"Enough."
"That's good."
Yang Lizhang turned his head and looked at the entrance of Xiaoling Mausoleum, his gaze sharpening.
"Is that Emperor Jianwen?"
"Yes."
Ji Tianrui nodded.
"All records about him in the history books have been deleted, leaving only some folk legends, and there isn't even a reliable account of how he died back then."
"My Yang family family knew he was still alive, but how did you know he was here in Xiaoling Mausoleum?"
Yang Lizhang asked.
"Do you remember two years ago, a group of female Celestial Human Realm disguised as palace maids and infiltrated the palace to assassinate the emperor?"
Ji Tianrui chuckled softly.
"Renying Palace Coup?"
Yang Lizhang's expression turned serious.
"Your doing?"
Ji Tianrui smiled and waved her hand.
"Not really, just lent a hand, considered a probing move against the emperor."
"For many years, the emperor has been hunting down Celestial Human Realm in the martial arts world, with methods far more brutal than previous dynasties, even Celestial Human Realm from Wudang and Shaolin could hardly escape, so naturally, relatives and friends would hate him to the bone and take risks."
"I gave them disguise techniques and Witchcraft to store Celestial Human Realm, allowing them to evade the palace's scrutiny and infiltrate the imperial palace to assassinate the emperor. A Celestial Human Realm who fortunately escaped the palace returned the favor and told me some information."
Yang Lizhang pondered for a long time.
"What about that Celestial Human Realm who escaped the palace?"
"Dead."
Ji Tianrui spread her hands.
"You killed her?"
"Of course."
"Heh---as expected of Ji Tianrui's offspring, quite venomous."
Yang Lizhang snorted coldly.
"What she told you wasn't just information about Emperor Jianwen, was it?"
"Guess?"
Ji Tianrui's face once again wore that elusive, seemingly happy yet sighing smile.
Yang Lizhang had long been accustomed to her mysterious ways, knowing that with her style, she would only reveal information when it was necessary for him to know. Furthermore, her words were half-truths, and even if she spoke, he wouldn't dare to believe them.
So he gave up on the matter and refocused his gaze on Yin Ruihua and Emperor Jianwen.
He only took one glance before immediately letting out a long sigh.
"It really is him."
Following his gaze.
At the entrance of Xiaoling Mausoleum, Yin Ruihua had been standing still for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
Although there was nothing unusual about his appearance, if someone were to look at him from the front, they would see that his eyes had lost their focus, his pupils rapidly enlarged, then suddenly constricted, his forehead covered in cold sweat, his fingers trembling, and his breathing becoming increasingly heavy.
It was as if he had fallen into a nightmare.
And Yin Ruihua was terrified to the extreme.
The moment Emperor Jianwen appeared behind him, the dense forest, the mausoleum, and the surrounding walls in front of him all disappeared.
In their place was his most feared memory: "Taking the world to serve one person! Jianwen doesn't care about uncles, brothers, relatives, or old friends! For his achievements, all Celestial Human Realm will become sacrifices! Yin-xiong, you are no exception!"
A middle-aged man grabbed his hand.
"We are like fish on a chopping block. Why not fight to the death! If I can gain the world, I will certainly not mistreat Yin-xiong!"
The scene shifted to inside a palace.
"Zhu Zai, what are you trying to do?"
Jianwen sat on the dragon throne, looking at him coldly. He looked at the Celestial Human Realm generals behind him, mustered his courage, and said loudly.
"The people of the world have long been dissatisfied with Your Majesty! We are old subordinates of Emperor Taizu, and we cannot bear to see this empire ruined, so we have come to ask Your Majesty to abdicate!"
Suddenly, the surroundings darkened.
When the surroundings gradually brightened, Yin Ruihua looked around.
Inside the great hall, it was already a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. The generals who had conquered cities and lands with Emperor Taizu were already disfigured beyond recognition.
He looked down at his own body and let out a hoarse scream.
Between his chest and abdomen, there was no flesh and blood left. Only a pale white spine stood empty beneath his chest.
He fell backward, caught by a pair of large hands.
"Yin-xiong! It's done! Look!"
The person behind him stretched out a hand and pointed towards the high platform.
He looked up.
Emperor Jianwen was leaning against the dragon throne, a sharp sword plunged into his chest, looking at him coldly.
"No—he's not dead yet—"
He said, trembling.
"It's alright! He no longer has the strength to rise again!"
That person said.
"For the sake of Big Brother, I will not kill him."
"The eternal life he seeks, I will give it to him! But I will make him forever unable to live or die! I want him to forever, forever stand vigil for my brothers! Forever guard my Zhu family's empire!"
Those large hands pressed against Yin Ruihua's chest.
"Yin-xiong, I have a Celestial Human Realm here who practices healing cultivation techniques, he will definitely cure you."
"After I die, you will be in charge of watching him!"