Siheyuan: tomb robbing? I am serious about hunting.

Chapter 1000 Fall 1

Before the morning mist in the county town had dissipated, Shen Yanzhi had already led the veterans of the Zhenbei Army on their way to the capital. The carriage was covered with thick straw, but it still couldn't keep out the morning chill. Shen Yanzhi carefully placed the Chilong pendant in the brocade box. The surface of the jade pendant was now emitting a faint green light - the residual soul of the Ghost King Qin Yue was attached to it. When the black fog dissipated last night, he took the initiative to inject a wisp of his soul into the jade pendant, saying that he wanted to witness the execution of King Rui with his own eyes. "Mr. Shen, this jade pendant seems to be heating up." Wang Hu lifted the curtain and came in, holding a warm food box in his hand. "I just bought some osmanthus cake, please try it." He handed a piece of cake to Shen Yanzhi, but his eyes couldn't help but glance at the brocade box. Since last night, the jade pendant has often emitted a faint light, and sometimes a vague shadow of golden armor would emerge. As Shen Yanzhi took the pastry, the jade pendant in the brocade box suddenly glowed with a green light. A subtle shadow floated out of it, forming the outline of Qin Yue's upper body in the morning light. His face was much clearer than it had been at the county government office, though his figure remained somewhat translucent. The gold-powdered patterns on his black armor shimmered in the light, as if something alive were moving between the plates. "There should be news from the post station ahead," Qin Yue's voice echoed, yet was much gentler than before. "Prince Rui is always cautious. If anything were to happen to the Crown Prince, he would surely have spies along the way." Shen Yanzhi placed the pastry on the small table by the window, tapping it lightly with his fingertips. "That's why we're taking the post station route—the most dangerous place is often the safest." The carriage reached noon when they finally saw the sign for the post station swaying beside the official road. This post station was much larger than usual, with more than a dozen fine horses tethered to the gate, their saddles bearing the markings of the royal guards. Shen Yanzhi had Wang Hu park the carriage in the distant woods. He then donned a long, green robe and, posing as a traveling scholar, walked towards the post station, a piece of silver in his hand. The post station's walls were crowded with people, all looking up at the newly posted imperial edict. As Shen Yanzhi squeezed in, he heard a small official in a green robe read aloud: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has contracted a serious illness. He has consulted many renowned physicians, but to no avail. This proclamation is now being issued to the nation: anyone who can cure the Crown Prince will be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold and promoted three ranks..." The end of the imperial edict was stamped with a bright red jade seal, the ink still glistening with wet ink. "It's really strange. I heard a few days ago that the prince was practicing archery in the imperial garden." Someone in the crowd whispered, "How could he suddenly become seriously ill?" Someone immediately covered his mouth: "Shh! How dare you say that? Didn't you see the guards in the post station?" Shen Yanzhi's eyes fell on the portrait next to the imperial edict - it was a half-length portrait of the prince. The young man in the painting had a handsome face, but there was an indescribable femininity between his eyebrows, especially the light red mole between his eyebrows, like cinnabar on rice paper. He suddenly remembered what Liu Laoli said: In addition to the lotus birthmark, the royal family of Beidi often had a cinnabar mole between their eyebrows, which was a talisman applied using a secret technique. "The opportunity has come." Shen Yanzhi quietly touched the brocade box at his waist, and the jade pendant vibrated slightly. He turned and walked towards the backyard of the post station, where there were piles of food and fodder waiting to be transported. Several porters were surrounding a fortune teller for advice. Shen Yanzhi noticed that the fortune teller's cuffs were stained with black powder - it was the ash of the ink stick commonly used to draw black talismans, exactly the same as the ink marks on Li Song's confession. "Sir, would you like to have a fortune told?" The fortune teller suddenly looked up, his triangular eyes gleaming in the sunlight. Shen Yanzhi noticed that there was a raised callus on the second section of his index finger, which was a mark of holding a sword for many years. He was definitely not an ordinary sorcerer. He was about to speak when he heard Qin Yue's voice from the brocade box: "It's his aura! Although it's a little faint, it can't be wrong!" Shen Yanzhi bowed calmly: "I want to tell you about my future. May I have a word with you?" The fortune teller rolled his eyes, stood up and followed him to the shadow behind the grain pile. As soon as he entered the shadow, Shen Yanzhi suddenly turned around, and the tip of the peach wood sword was already against the other's throat: "The black talisman on Li Song's confession was drawn by you, right?" The fortune teller's face suddenly changed, and his right hand slammed the talisman bag at his waist. Shen Yanzhi was prepared. He curled his left hand into a claw and precisely grasped his pulse point—the skin there was icy cold, completely different from the warmth of ordinary people. "Who are you?" The fortune teller's voice suddenly became shrill, like a night owl with its throat pinched. The jade pendant in the brocade box suddenly flew out, and a green light condensed into the shadow of Qin Yue in mid-air. When the fortune teller saw the shadow's face clearly, his legs softened and he fell straight to his knees: "Ghost... Ghost King, spare me!" He pressed his forehead against the ground, his whole body shaking like a sieve. The talismans in the talisman bag fell out and scattered all over the ground. Several of the black talismans had ghost faces painted on them, which were surprisingly similar to the patterns on Qin Yue's jade pendant. "It was you, the demon, who possessed Li Song back then!" Qin Yue's shadow raised his spear, and the cold light from the spear tip almost touched the fortune teller's crown. The other party kowtowed hurriedly: "It was Prince Rui who ordered it! He gave me the secret medicine of the Northern Di people, which can allow me to possess others! I am only following orders!" Shen Yanzhi picked up the black talisman on the ground. As soon as his fingertips touched the talisman paper, he smelled a familiar fishy smell - exactly the same as the smell left by the black evil spirit in the mass grave. "The prince's illness is also caused by you, right?" He picked up a talisman with a picture of a lotus with the tip of his sword. "This talisman is used to stabilize the fate. It seems that the prince's luck is almost over." The fortune teller's face turned pale as paper, and his lips trembled, unable to speak. Qin Yue's shadow suddenly approached: "Tell me! What kind of evil magic did Prince Rui use?" The shadow's breath suppressed the other party so much that he could hardly breathe. The black talisman on the ground began to spontaneously combust, and the ashes condensed into a twisted lotus shape in the air. "It is... it is a substitution technique." The fortune teller finally broke down. "The prince was replaced with a baby from the Beidi royal family, and then his life was extended with your bloodline, the Ghost King... But this technique has backlash. The bloodline must be replaced every twenty years, otherwise the host will be devoured by the soul of the original owner!" He pointed to the lotus talisman. "This year is the twentieth year, and the prince can't hold on any longer. King Rui asked me to come to the post station to wait for the people from the Imperial Hospital to get a new bloodline primer..." Shen Yanzhi suddenly understood why Qin Yue's residual soul could be attached to the jade pendant - because the prince has his bloodline flowing in his body, and there is an invisible connection between the souls. He put away the peach wood sword and tied the fortune teller behind the pile of food and grass: "Wang Hu will come to deal with you. If you dare to scream, don't blame the talisman for burning your heart." He picked up the jade pendant and put it back into the brocade box. "The original lotus birthmark is bleeding now, and the blood-colored lines are spreading along the skin, like a blooming blood-colored lotus." This is a fate transferred by forbidden techniques. "Shen Yanzhi stared at the birthmark and suddenly realized, "They took your heart's blood and used the secret technique of the Northern Di to merge it into the prince's body.