Chapter 3205: Hiding in the Dark
Cloud Mirror Upper Person said, "How strange. How did Tang Lan get in touch with Gong Shang? And what exactly does Gong Shang intend to do?"
"There must be some unknown secrets behind this! But Tang Lan must have moved Gong Shang to save Chi Chaluo. Perhaps she promised to join the Underworld Clan and submit to Gong Shang's command."
Zhao Wu continued, "But none of this matters. What matters is that since Tang Lan has escaped, it will definitely disrupt our plans. We need to find a way to make amends."
Huang E Divine Lord appeared very calm, saying, "What do you think Gong Shang and Tang Lan will do next?"
"Throughout the entire Fengdu Ghost City, only Hun Qi is worthy of being Master's opponent. They will definitely go to the Ghost God Temple!" Cloud Mirror Upper Person said.
"Excellent. This Lord will go intercept and kill them right now."
Huang E Divine Lord looked at Zhao Wu and said, "Tang Lan has defected to Gong Shang, joined the Underworld Clan, and captured Yao Guang. What do you think should be done about this matter?"
Zhao Wu understood the implication and said, "This Lord will immediately gather the gods in Fengdu Ghost City to crusade against Gong Shang and rescue Emperor Consort Yao Guang."
"Don't forget, Tang Lan defected to Gong Shang to rescue Chi Chaluo. Don't let them succeed!" Huang E Divine Lord said.
At any time, one must be prepared with two plans—one for advance and one for retreat—to ensure absolute certainty.
After Yao Guang was sealed, the divine talismans on the foreheads of those artifact-refined corpse soldiers dimmed, as if they had lost their spirit energy, and all became still.
Huang E Divine Lord collected all the artifact-refined corpse soldiers before heading toward the Ghost God Temple.
...
A pitch-black tower, six stories high, covered with formations on the outside.
Inside the tower, ghost clouds re-condensed into Tang Lan's appearance. She said urgently, "Emperor Consort Yao Guang is in danger. We must go and help her."
Zhang Ruochen stood by the window, looking outside, and said, "Yao Guang is one of the five great experts of Fengdu Ghost City, and she controls the artifact-refined corpse soldiers and the Divine Venerable Talisman, yet she is still in danger. Will it be useful for us to go?"
"Huang E Divine Lord is no ordinary person. He is a truly top-tier figure."
"So fast. Yao Guang has already been suppressed. It seems Huang E Divine Lord carries a secret treasure left by the Three Fiends Emperor Lord."
Tang Lan knew the current situation was critical and said, "We must immediately go to the Ghost God Temple and ask Hun Qi to come out of seclusion. Only he can deal with Huang E Divine Lord."
"If you can think of this, Huang E Divine Lord can think of it too. Going now will definitely run straight into the blade." Zhang Ruochen said.
Tang Lan was not someone without her own opinions, but after suffering successive major upheavals and facing a powerful enemy, she could only place her hopes on Zhang Ruochen. She asked, "Then what do you say we should do? How about we go to the Divine Prison now?"
"Going to the Divine Prison is even more dangerous than going to the Ghost God Temple."
Zhang Ruochen turned to look at her, pointed to a chair, and said, "First, sit down and heal your injuries. There's no need to be so anxious. The ones who should be anxious now are Huang E Divine Lord and Zhao Wu."
How could Tang Lan not be anxious?
Zhang Ruochen was completely speaking without feeling the urgency. Zhao Wu and Huang E Divine Lord were colluding, which must involve a major scheme threatening the entire Fengdu Ghost City!
Emperor Consort Yao Guang could be said to have fallen into Huang E Divine Lord's hands because she came to save Tang Lan. Tang Lan felt deeply guilty in her heart.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Why did Huang E Divine Lord have Cloud Mirror Upper Person and Zhao Wu capture you?"
"How would this God know?" Tang Lan said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "If we don't understand their purpose, we will always be passive. Do you have some treasure on you? Or do you know some major secret? There's no need to hide it now. Tell me everything you know!"
Tang Lan pondered for a moment, her expression changing several times, but in the end she shook her head and said, "No, that's impossible! Even if this God knows some secrets, they have nothing to do with them. Could it be that capturing me was just to lure Emperor Consort Yao Guang over? Is their target Emperor Consort Yao Guang?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "That's not impossible! But is Yao Guang very beautiful? Is Huang E Divine Lord coveting her beauty? I think that's unlikely."
"Yao Guang's strength is formidable, and moreover, she is in Fengdu Ghost City. Even someone as strong as Huang E Divine Lord wouldn't have complete confidence in subduing her without alarming the gods in the city."
"Most importantly, Huang E Divine Lord has no need to take such a huge risk."
"Then what do you think their purpose is?" Tang Lan's patience was nearly exhausted, and she very much wanted to rush to the Ghost God Temple immediately.
Zhang Ruochen said unhurriedly, "Whatever their purpose, it will eventually be exposed. By the way, Yao Guang is the number one expert in spiritual power in Fengdu Ghost City. Why didn't she activate the divine formations in the city to deal with Huang E Divine Lord?"
Tang Lan said, "Ordinary divine formations can't deal with Huang E Divine Lord. As for the city-protecting divine formation, it involves too much. No one person can activate it just by saying so. It requires at least half of the power-holders from the Ghost God Temple and the Five Directions Ghost Emperor Mansions to agree and act together to activate it."
"Think about it. If Xue Changjin could activate the city-protecting divine formation on his own, using the power of the formation, wouldn't he be able to do whatever he wanted and slaughter the cultivators in the city?"
"The city-protecting divine formation of Fengdu Ghost City is not as simple as the formations of your Hundred Clans Royal City or Xinghuantian. If the Quantity Organization gets their hands on it, the consequences would be unimaginable."
Zhang Ruochen's expression turned serious, and he said, "If Huang E Divine Lord is a member of the Quantity Organization, and he joins forces with Xue Changjin, is it possible for them to activate the city-protecting divine formation?"
Tang Lan's face changed dramatically, and she said, "Xue Changjin is the power-holder of the Eastern Ghost Emperor Mansion, Emperor Consort Yao Guang is the power-holder of the Western Ghost Emperor Mansion, and Zhao Wu is a top-tier expert of the Central Ghost Emperor Mansion. If it's really as you suspect... Zhang Ruochen, we must immediately spread the news and send for help from the Fate Divine Domain and the Yama Heaven Beyond Heaven. We absolutely cannot let them succeed."
"It's just a guess. How could it be so coincidental?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Tang Lan said, "Even if there's only a one in ten thousand chance, the consequences are something Fengdu Ghost City cannot bear."
In truth, Zhang Ruochen didn't think Huang E Divine Lord's scheme was that grand. After all, no matter how powerful the Quantity Organization was, it would be impossible for them to simultaneously control the Ghost God Temple and three of the Five Directions Ghost Emperor Mansions.
Fengdu Ghost City had countless experts. How could it be so easy for them to succeed?
But, as Tang Lan said, even if there was only a one in ten thousand chance, it would be a catastrophic disaster for Fengdu Ghost City and the entire Ghost Clan.
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen didn't respond for a long time, Tang Lan said, "Could it be that you actually want Fengdu Ghost City to suffer a calamity? Fine, this God won't beg you. This God will go notify the Ghost God Temple and the various Ghost Emperor Mansions right now."
"Do you think they will believe you or Zhao Wu? Moreover, you are infected with the Huang E Corpse Poison. Once you step out of this room, Huang E Divine Lord will sense you. Haven't you noticed that the corpse poison is eroding your soul?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Tang Lan gritted her teeth, her face as pale as paper, like a fierce female ghost, and said, "This God can't care about that now!"
"You have no evidence. Who will believe you?" Zhang Ruochen said.
"Shua shua!"
Streams of divine soul thoughts flew out from Tang Lan's body, transforming into dozens of doppelgangers, concealing their auras, and heading in all directions within the city.
"Doing this will only expose our current hiding place."
Zhang Ruochen shook his head, his form shifting as he appeared behind Tang Lan and struck her back with a palm.
A Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram manifested, absorbing her into the diagram.
"Shua!"
Zhang Ruochen rushed out of the tower.
Before long, Huang E Divine Lord's tall, thin figure appeared at the top of the tower.
A hundred miles from the tower, Zhang Ruochen sat on a white bone boat, drifting along the Corpse River.
On both sides of the riverbank were all gloomy buildings, and on the streets, figures in the shape of ghost fires were moving about.
He glanced at the tower, then withdrew his gaze, and said, "All your divine thought doppelgangers have been destroyed, right?"
Tang Lan sat in the boat. The Huang E Corpse Poison on her body had already been refined by Zhang Ruochen. She said, "How could this be? Clearly, the doppelgangers I separated didn't carry the Huang E Corpse Poison. How were they found so quickly?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "Because your opponent is Huang E Divine Lord, the number one expert of the Corpse Clan. You don't even have the strength to escape from him, yet you think you can contend with him in strategy?"
"Can you evade his perception?" Tang Lan said.
Zhang Ruochen smiled and said, "That's because he doesn't know who I am right now. If he knew I was Zhang Ruochen, I probably wouldn't be so relaxed!"
"Are we really just going to sit and wait for death?" Tang Lan said.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head and said, "For now, we can only watch and wait, because we don't know Huang E Divine Lord's purpose. Nor do we know how many other experts are involved in this matter. Acting rashly will only make us a living target. No matter how strong our cultivation, we'll be beaten to death."
"We've arrived. Let's go ashore!"
"Where are we?" Tang Lan asked curiously.
Zhang Ruochen smiled without speaking, only glancing at the shore.
Tang Lan stepped out of the boat and saw a stunningly beautiful woman standing on the shore, as if she had been waiting there for a long time. It was the goddess of the Destiny Temple, Bore.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Weren't you planning to ask the Destiny Temple for help? Bore will take you to meet the gods of the Destiny Temple. But you can't trust the gods of the Destiny Temple completely, so don't sell me out. Zhang Ruochen has never been to Fengdu Ghost City. Your ally is Gong Shang."
Tang Lan realized she had misunderstood Zhang Ruochen, so she gracefully bowed and said, "Thank you! This God will remember your kindness on behalf of Fengdu Ghost City."
Then she stepped into Bore's True Self Gate.
Bore said, "Right now, the gods in Fengdu Ghost City are all searching for Gong Shang. Be careful!"
"Mm! You be careful too. After you send Tang Lan over, leave Fengdu Ghost City!" Zhang Ruochen said.
Bore had already left, her back disappearing into the darkness.
"Sigh, another one who won't listen!"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head helplessly, sat on the boat, and continued drifting downstream.
To solve the problem, one must find the person who tied the knot. To understand Huang E Divine Lord's scheme, he had to find someone in the know. Zhang Ruochen already had a target in mind. As for Xue Changjin, for now, it seemed he would have to wait.
...
Completely done for. I've been back for a few days, but I just can't adjust my sleep schedule.
It's the beginning of the month again, and it's double monthly ticket period. Little Fish begs for monthly tickets.