Chapter 808: The Yulin Army Time-Travel Incident
The village chief’s expression was grave as he lowered his voice. “Mu’er, put that jade pendant away and don’t flaunt it. Let’s first see who these people are.”
Qin Mu flipped his hand, and the jade pendant in his palm vanished without a trace.
That cyan-blue great kun’s aura was extremely powerful, capable of overturning rivers and seas with ease. Under the ghost ship’s lantern light, it carried numerous demigods to the edge of this great vessel.
Compared to this Yulin Army warship, the great kun appeared much smaller.
Qin Mu was no stranger to kun. Millions of years ago, many kun had lived in the Heavenly River. Those kun were demigods, able to swim in water and fly through the air.
Back then, the kun in the Heavenly River often made a living by carrying people and collecting some spirit pills in return.
Although many of the demigods on the kun’s back had human forms, they bore different faces and even varying numbers of heads.
Demigods were descendants of the ancient gods, with divine blood flowing in their veins. Ever since Heavenly Lord Hao created the method for demigods to transform into human form, demigods could also cultivate the divine treasury system and the heavenly palace system.
However, demigods could not fully transform into human form; they retained certain physical characteristics. Only a few demigods could take on a complete human shape.
Those demigods saw them but did not stop; instead, they continued advancing toward the ghost ship.
“Hook serpents, stop this ship!” an elderly demigod with a hunched back, leaning on a staff, called out loudly from the kun’s back.
“That’s the Ancestral Dragon King!” Qin Mu said in surprise.
The river currents around them surged violently. Suddenly, several massive bodies appeared—strange serpents hundreds of zhang long. These serpents were not covered in scales but in bony plates, with sharp bone spurs on the plates, and their tails bore hooked stingers like those of scorpions.
These strange serpents lashed out their tails, hooking onto the ghost ship’s masts and gunwales, pulling the vessel to a halt.
The hook serpents’ bodies were stretched taut, and several of them were immediately torn apart, their blood spilling into the Yong River.
The great kun swam toward the ghost ship. The elderly demigod unhurriedly tossed his staff, which transformed into a divine dragon. It pierced through layers of black qi chains and lodged itself in the ghost ship.
Only then did the ghost ship come to a stop.
The elderly demigod then took out a mirror. The mirror shone brilliantly in the river water, hovering above their heads, illuminating the great kun and the people on its back.
The black qi chains trapping the ghost ship rebounded upon touching the mirror’s light, unable to draw near.
The great kun swam to the ghost ship’s deck. Suddenly, it shook its body and transformed into a golden, radiant divine bird. Then, the bird folded its wings and became a bird-headed, human-bodied deity.
The others on the kun’s back also descended one after another.
The kun race had a unique form with three shapes: one as a kun, one as a peng, and one as a bird-headed human.
The village chief’s heart tightened. He lowered his voice and said, “That old man is very strong; I’m no match for him. The demigods around him are no weaklings either, and that kun’s strength is extraordinary! Mu’er, we should invite the First Ancestor to come before we explore this ghost ship…”
Before he could finish, a beam of light shone down from the river’s surface. The light was like a pillar, as if a moon had descended from the sky, its moonlight illuminating the ghost ship.
Within the light pillar, a small boat carrying a one-armed man and several one-armed youths drifted downstream along the river. The small boat actually followed the light pillar, plunged into the river, and headed straight for the ghost ship.
The one-armed man sat at the boat’s bow, appearing exceptionally sacred in the moonlight.
“Luo Wushuang!”
Qin Mu’s heart leaped. He looked at the small boat and saw that Zhe Huali was also among them, the only one with both arms intact.
Just then, a blazing fire suddenly appeared on the river’s surface. Qin Mu and the village chief, watching from underwater, saw a massive fireball rolling toward them along the river, evaporating the Heavenly River’s waters.
They couldn’t see clearly underwater, but as the fireball drew near, it suddenly plunged into the water, transforming into a seven-colored phoenix swimming through the river toward the ghost ship.
The seven-colored phoenix carried a stone coffin on its back, which was very peculiar.
Qin Mu’s heart stirred. “Could it be Feng Qiuyun? She’s still alive, not killed by Qi Xiayu, and her skills are impressive! Why has she come here? Could she be acting on orders from the Earth Mother? That stone coffin on her back… Could it be one from the Nine Emperor Tombs?”
A chill ran down his spine.
If the coffin Feng Qiuyun carried was from the Nine Emperor Tombs, then the one inside must be one of the Northern Supreme Heavenly Court’s Supreme Heavenly Emperors!
Why did the Earth Mother value this ghost ship so much that she would even deploy an imperial coffin from the imperial tombs?
After all, she hadn’t used an imperial coffin even when fighting the other Earth Mother!
Suddenly, a rope of light descended from the sky. Qin Mu looked up and saw the wrinkled, flower-like moon of Eternal Peace casting down a silver rope. It landed precisely on the ghost ship’s flagpole, tied itself in a knot, and several figures slid down the silver rope at great speed, landing on the flagpole shortly after.
One of the deities then untied the silver rope and shook it. The silver rope from the moon fell down, slithering like a spirit snake into his sleeve.
From the moon to the ground was a hundred thousand li, yet as the silver rope burrowed into his sleeve, his sleeve showed no sign of bulging.
This deity put away the rope and bowed to a youth beside him. The youth nodded, and they jumped from the flagpole to the mast, spinning down like civet cats before slipping into the ghost ship.
“Descending from the sky… Could they be deities from the Heavenly Chart? No, the deities in the Heavenly Chart are those left here by the Outer Heaven to delude living beings. They have duties and dare not leave their posts.”
Qin Mu’s heart stirred again. “Then they must be visitors from the Heavenly Court! Strange, Luo Wushuang’s Lingxiu Army is also from the Outer Heaven. Why aren’t they together?”
At that moment, a great star appeared in the sky. It looked like an apple with a bite taken out of it—the strange star of the Chi Ming remnants.
Light flickered on the strange star, and a red beam descended from the sky, shining on the ghost ship’s deck. As the light faded, the figure of the Chi Ming Divine Son appeared there.
“Even the Chi Ming Divine Son has come!”
Qin Mu smiled. “Village Chief, the Chi Ming Divine Son is a friend, not an enemy. I also know the one-armed divine blade Luo Wushuang, and that phoenix is my sister. As for that old man leaning on the dragon-headed staff, I’ve met him once before—he’s called the Ancestral Dragon King. It’s safe for us to go in.”
The village chief stared at him with a dark expression and an unfriendly gaze. “The Chi Ming Divine Son might not be a friend either. And that phoenix is probably one of the Earth Mother’s people, right? As for the one-armed divine blade, I’ve heard of his reputation in the Grand Supreme Heaven—he’s clearly an enemy! And the Ancestral Dragon King, the leader of the demigods? What ‘one meeting’ nonsense is that? Not a single person who boarded that ship is trustworthy!”
The ghost ship’s movement grew more violent. Many hook serpents snapped and died one after another.
The remaining hook serpents hastily retracted their tail hooks. The ghost ship sailed upstream along the Heavenly River, gradually picking up speed.
Seeing this, the village chief hesitated. “What exactly is that jade pendant of yours?”
Qin Mu replied, “It might be the military tally to control this ghost ship, but I’m not sure…”
The village chief gritted his teeth. “Let’s go in and take a look! This ship is definitely extraordinary—otherwise, it wouldn’t have drawn so many factions. If I don’t investigate, I won’t be able to sleep for the rest of my life!”
Qin Mu was both amused and exasperated.
The village chief’s curiosity was even stronger than his own. Even if the military tally wasn’t the artifact to control the ghost ship, he would still be compelled to explore.
His hesitation mainly stemmed from concern for Qin Mu’s safety, which was why he delayed.
The Dragon Tamer swam quickly toward the ghost ship. Qin Mu took out the military tally, and its light dispersed the black qi chains, allowing them to land on the ship.
The two jumped down from the Dragon Tamer’s head, while the Dragon Tamer transformed into a dragon-headed deity, cautiously surveying their surroundings.
The ship’s deck was wide and large, like a small continent, with all kinds of structures. There was air here, and the river water hadn’t invaded; the deck was quite dry.
“Mu’er, stay close to me and don’t wander off.”
Before the village chief could finish, he saw Qin Mu already walking ahead of him. He quickly caught up and whispered, “Don’t act rashly. Follow me—I’m an old hand at this!”
The ghost ship’s speed increased rapidly as it traveled along the riverbed. Various dragon palaces and mansions flashed by in the river, too fast for them to make out.
The ship creaked and groaned. At such high speed, underwater, it seemed ready to break apart at any moment!
“Where is this ship heading? Why is it so fast? Mu’er, be careful!”
The village chief suddenly reached out and grabbed Qin Mu, signaling. “There’s a seal underfoot! Don’t step on it.”
Qin Mu looked down and saw a strange seal formed by black qi chains on the deck. It was circular, with a complex internal structure resembling a coiled snake and turtle.
“This is… the Northern Emperor’s seal!” His heart tightened.
“There’s a seal here too!” the Dragon Tamer called out.
When Qin Mu went to look, the seal the Dragon Tamer had found was the Azure Dragon seal, likely left by the Eastern Emperor.
“There’s one here too!”
They soon discovered more seal patterns on the deck. Some were in the form of a Vermilion Bird, others a White Tiger. The seals of all four ancient god emperors appeared on this ship.
“The four ancient god emperors joined forces to seal this ship—there must be something strange about it…”
The village chief mused, “If it’s worth the four emperors sealing, it must be extraordinary. Let’s try not to touch anything.”
Just then, exclamations came from ahead. The Ancestral Dragon King and his group had already undone one of the seals on the deck, and a pitch-black coffin slowly “grew” out of the deck.
The black coffin indeed seemed to grow, rising higher and higher to about a hundred zhang. It was also wrapped in black qi chains, which were tied in a knot like giant black pythons, locking the coffin.
“The Yulin Army—the Heavenly Court’s Celestial Emperor’s imperial guard, recruited from the finest gods and demons in the world!”
The Ancestral Dragon King raised his hand, and the dragon-headed staff fell into his grasp. He struck the center of the black qi chain knot with a single blow, saying solemnly, “The Earth Mother once inadvertently revealed a secret. During the ancient Long Han Heavenly Court era, the Empress was attacked, and the Yulin Army boarded a great tower ship to suppress the rebellion. But on the way, the Yulin Army suddenly vanished. The most powerful army of the Long Han Heavenly Court disappeared without a trace, becoming one of its unsolved mysteries!”
The black qi chains came undone, and the black coffin emitted a hissing sound as foul air leaked out from within.
A demigod nearby suddenly let out a miserable scream. His feet rotted away, turning into pus, and soon his entire body became a puddle of stinking, bubbling flesh.
Yet he was still alive, his face pressed against the rotting flesh, screaming in agony.
Fear gripped everyone’s hearts as they quickly held their breath.
Qin Mu, who had been about to undo a seal himself to see if a black coffin would emerge, immediately stopped.
The Ancestral Dragon King waved his hand to disperse the corpse poison, struck with his staff, and killed the screaming demigod. Staring at the upright black coffin before him, he said, “The Celestial Emperor sent many experts to search for the Yulin Army on this ship, but to no avail. Yet, over the next hundred thousand years, this ship and its Yulin Army kept appearing in the Heavenly River, only to vanish again.”
Scratching sounds came from inside the black coffin, as if something was clawing at the coffin lid with its nails.
The Ancestral Dragon King gripped his dragon-headed staff tightly. “There were also rumors of this ship during the Chi Ming era. People said it often appeared on the Heavenly River, and some even saw tens of thousands of imposing deities aboard. During the Supreme Heavenly era, it appeared frequently as well. The Earth Mother once investigated but failed to find it or the vanished imperial guard.”
The coffin lid suddenly slammed to the ground with a bang. Everyone looked inside the coffin, but it was pitch black—nothing could be seen.
“Legend has it that this ship hides a great secret—a secret of traveling through time and space.”
The Ancestral Dragon King’s mouth went dry, and his voice grew hoarse. “There are tales that whoever masters this ship can travel through time and space, going to any era they desire!”
Two red dots appeared in the dark coffin, like red lanterns.
— I’ve caught a cold, my head is splitting, and the update is late. My apologies.