Chapter 349: Ghost Mother

"Whether you should hate me isn't for me to decide. Let time answer that!"

That was Niu Youdao's reply. Afterward, he had someone summon Feng Entai to Guan Fangyi's study and brought him before the map.

"Return to Qingshan Commandery?" Feng Entai was surprised, even shocked. "The warhorse matter still hasn't been settled. We're just going back like this?"

Niu Youdao shook his head. "Not us. You. The Tianyu Sect disciples go back first. I'll handle the warhorse matter."

Feng Entai's expression turned solemn. "How can that do? We're sworn brothers. How could I, as your eldest brother, throw the burden onto you alone?"

He was only being polite. Given a choice, he did not want to keep dragging things out here either.

Niu Youdao said, "Eldest Brother, you said you'd follow my deployment on the warhorse matter!"

"This..." Feng Entai hesitated, then asked suspiciously, "What are you planning to do if you stay behind?"

"Don't ask. You leave first, and you must leave quietly. Keep it secret..." Niu Youdao proceeded to give him detailed instructions.

Feng Entai could not figure out what exactly he intended, but the initiative lay in Niu Youdao's hands and there was no arguing him out of it. Besides, Niu Youdao was not asking Tianyu Sect to do anything difficult, merely to return to Qingshan Commandery. In the end, Feng Entai agreed. After Feng Entai left, Niu Youdao remained standing before the map in silence.

Only he knew most clearly that Wei Chu's death was Xiaoyue Pavilion's attempt to lure him out of the capital. Once he left, it was no longer a question of whether Linghu Qiu would move against him. Xiaoyue Pavilion would inevitably strike at him on the road. He could not allow Xiaoyue Pavilion to know his route. The Tianyu Sect disciples were merely one force he intended to use as a smokescreen.

Once Xiaoyue Pavilion discovered that he had escaped the capital, they would inevitably launch a full search. He did not know how powerful Xiaoyue Pavilion was within the State of Qi, nor whether the Tianyu Sect disciples under Feng Entai could evade its search. Such a large group was easy to notice, even with his instructions to disguise themselves and slip away quietly.

And even if Xiaoyue Pavilion failed to discover their trail, Niu Youdao intended to expose Feng Entai's movements himself. He needed to divert Xiaoyue Pavilion's attention and make it concentrate as much of its strength in the State of Qi as possible on pursuing Feng Entai's group. That would reduce the pressure and danger on Niu Youdao's own side to the greatest possible degree and buy time for his withdrawal. He knew this was little different from sending the Tianyu Sect disciples to their deaths.

It was also little different from sending Feng Entai to his death. Against a colossal organization like Xiaoyue Pavilion, Niu Youdao knew perfectly well that there was no chance everyone could leave completely intact. Some people would inevitably sleep forever within the borders of the State of Qi. Deciding who to sacrifice was a difficult choice. He still needed Guan Fangyi's help with Ghost Mother. If he sacrificed the people of Fufang Garden, Guan Fangyi would be the first to refuse.

Black Peony, Gongsun Bu, and the disciples of Liuxian Sect, Fuyun Sect, and Lingxiu Mountain were already far away. More importantly, all of them stood on his side. So the first choice of whom to sacrifice was not actually that difficult after all.

At Fufang Garden, the Tianyu Sect disciples began withdrawing rapidly. Breaking into small groups, they disguised themselves and quietly left the garden one after another.

The people of Fufang Garden also began evacuating in batches. After disguising themselves, they left through Guan Fangyi's secret tunnel. Many of them only now discovered that such a tunnel even existed beneath Fufang Garden. Niu Youdao and Guan Fangyi, meanwhile, traveled around the capital together, drawing attention while everyone else withdrew... Xianyin Mountain was forbidden ground to the herdsmen of the grasslands.

There was no way to graze livestock here anyway. For reasons unknown, dark clouds shrouded the place year-round. Lightning constantly crawled through them, and at times thunderbolts suddenly crashed down upon the jagged, gaunt rocks, their echoes rolling through the valleys. There was little sunlight and not a blade of grass. How could anyone graze animals here?

The dry, twisted, sinister-looking heart of the mountain constantly exhaled yin energy that rose into the dark clouds above. The place where that yin energy poured forth resembled an enormous funnel sunk into the earth. The terrain within was complex, with twisting paths that climbed and descended so wildly one could hardly call them roads, all leading toward gloomy caves of every size and strange shape.

A thunderstorm had just passed. Rainwater streamed down from all around into the center of the funnel and flowed into underground rivers.

A boat whose keel had been made from the skeleton of some giant beast glided over the water. A pale-faced ghost cultivator stood at bow and stern, steering it, while Old Eight stood between them, looking around. This was his first time here as well.

He had waited near Xianyin Mountain for a long time. The moment Fufang Garden's message reached him, he had come immediately. Clumps of eerie green ghostfire drifted up around them from time to time, mirrored on the dark water below.

There were also wandering souls that had yet to amount to much, floating through the gloom, sleeves swaying as though they danced, singing faintly in voices like weeping and lamentation.

From stalactites hanging overhead like inverted bamboo shoots, droplets fell into the water. Their clear, piercing chimes seemed to possess some mysterious force capable of striking directly at the heart. The bone boat reached shore. One ghost cultivator stepped onto the stairs and invited Old Eight to follow.

Bronze braziers lined both sides of the long staircase in paired intervals, flames flickering all the way upward toward the black maw of a gigantic skull. The guide stopped outside that enormous skull-mouth. Old Eight alone continued forward and entered an underground palace.

After walking through a stretch of darkness, he saw green fire ahead. By the time he reached its end, he stood inside a great hall.

Nine braziers stood within. Four curved around either side, while the central one was the largest of all. Green ghostfire burned in each, bathing the entire hall in an eerie green light. The glow was so pervasive that it blurred the carved patterns on the surrounding walls. Old Eight stopped and slowly looked around. No one was there.

"Zhang Xingrui would never send someone to deliver a letter here. Speak. Who sent you?"

A woman's voice echoed hollowly through the hall, cold and lofty. Old Eight spun around quickly, yet still saw no one and could not tell where the voice came from.

He looked around and answered, "Ghost Mother sees clearly. It was indeed not Zhang Xingrui who sent me. Someone else entrusted me with this letter. They said Ghost Mother lives in seclusion and rarely receives visitors. Only by mentioning Zhang Xingrui could I obtain an audience. The letter is here!"

He drew out the letter and presented it with both hands.

Whoooosh!

Wind surged through the hall. A sinister current swept through it as the green ghostfire in the eight surrounding braziers suddenly flared, turning into eight green dragons of flame that struck the central brazier.

The ghostfire there erupted at once, engulfing the brazier and expanding outward toward Old Eight, forcing him to retreat several steps. Within the blaze, a coldly beautiful woman in black stepped out from the central flames. She walked through the roaring green fire as though descending invisible steps, moving gracefully until she stood before Old Eight. She stopped. The green flames contracted rapidly, tossing the long hair draped over her shoulders.

The ghostfire in all nine braziers returned to normal, and her hair slowly settled as well. The woman in black was beautiful and aloof, tall and graceful, her skin whiter than snow. She extended a slender finger. A long, sharp nail touched Old Eight's forehead and slowly traced down toward his cheek. Her fingertip was icy. Old Eight felt as though a piece of ice were sliding across his face.

Her finger withdrew from his cheek and moved to the letter. She pinched it between two fingers and plucked it from his hands. The black-clad woman slowly unfolded the letter and read.

Her face remained expressionless, betraying no change at all, but green light gradually rose in her eyes, revealing the fury building within her.

Whoooosh!

The hollow sound of wind once again filled the hall. The ghostfire in the surrounding braziers flared violently, transforming into eight fire-dragons that shot at Old Eight together. Old Eight swept both arms outward and raised a protective aura around himself.

Boom!

The ghostfire crashed against it, green flame wrapping around an invisible sphere and burning furiously. Old Eight could feel his protective aura being consumed at terrifying speed beneath the ghostfire. The space around him rapidly contracted.

He cried urgently, "Even if you kill me, they won't kill Zhang Xingrui! If I don't return alive and well, they'll only cut off the arms of all four members of Zhang Xingrui's family!"

The woman's long hair whipped in the raging fire. Enraged, she watched the letter in her hand turn to ash within the green flames, then casually drew from the fire a spear resembling green crystal. With a hiss, she thrust it forward.

Boom!

Old Eight's protective aura shattered. Green fire exploded outward. He spat blood as the force blasted him across the hall. He crashed to the ground, coughing up more blood, barely breathing. A chilling scrape of metal against stone sounded.

The tip of the green spear dragged across the floor, scattering green sparks, until at last it came to rest against Old Eight's chest.

Gasping, Old Eight looked up at the black-clad woman towering over him. Her face remained expressionless, but fury blazed in her eyes. He smiled.

"A little warmth still remains in the human world. Zhang Xingrui... Zhang Xingrui's son, his daughter, his wife..."

On a couch far away, the allotted time arrived and the restrictions automatically released. The married couple guarding Guan Fangyi's tunnel exit slowly awoke. The man immediately rushed outside and ran to the stable. The tunnel entrance had already been restored to its original state. Nothing looked unusual. He turned and looked toward the rising sun. An entire night had passed.

"A-Shan," the woman called from inside.

The man hurried back. His wife was holding a sheet of paper and a purse. He took them and looked. The purse was stuffed full of gold coins. The paper was a letter from Guan Fangyi to the couple. It said the gold was for them and advised them to leave this place...

At Prince Yu's residence, a maid opened a box and pushed it before Princess Consort Yu, whose ornaments chimed softly and whose makeup was exquisitely arranged. Inside lay the deeds to a house and land, together with a letter. Princess Consort Yu opened the letter.

It was from Niu Youdao. He asked her to sell Fufang Garden for him and have the money transferred through a bank to Qingshan Commandery... In a courtyard not far from Fufang Garden, Linghu Qiu also received a letter. As he read, his expression gradually began to twitch. It too was from Niu Youdao.

Niu Youdao said he had followed Linghu Qiu's advice and left first for Qingshan Commandery. The reason he had departed without saying goodbye was that the road might be dangerous and he did not want to implicate Linghu Qiu yet again after already troubling him so much. As for the warhorses, Niu Youdao asked him to do what he could and promised to find a way to raise the assassin's commission as soon as possible.

"I'll go take a look at Fufang Garden!"

Linghu Qiu casually tossed the letter to Hongxiu and Hongfu and strode away. When he hurried to Fufang Garden, there was not even anyone guarding the entrance. The entire garden was unnaturally quiet.

"Third Brother! Eldest Brother! Third..."

Linghu Qiu looked around and called as he moved deeper inside. The shout died abruptly when he reached the inner garden. A broad, powerfully built man stood with his back to him. The man slowly turned. His expression was cold. From his clothing, he was plainly a burly eunuch. Linghu Qiu abruptly looked left and right. Figures appeared all around. Disciples of the State of Qi's three major sects closed in and surrounded him.

[End of Chapter 349]