Beginning with the Ubume Bird - Chapter 136

Chapter 136: Chapter 35: Undercurrents Will Rise

Chapter Thirty-Five: Undercurrent is about to Rise

Shisanlingshen Road, Grand Vermilion Gate

The steles on either side declared: Officials and persons shall dismount here.

North of the Shrine of Divine Power and Virtue, along the road were various stone carvings, a qilin, camels, standing lions, reclining horses, a military officer holding a melon-shaped hammer, and civil officials in tall hats and broad belts.

There were also odd, human-faced sculptures over a yard tall, carved from dark stone, with sunken eyes, prominent noses, solemn and majestic.

Pei Yunhu’s fingertips exuded black small seal script, which flowed like water, moving along the road’s edge, enveloping all the stone carvings and human faces within the tomb garden.

The black small seal script seeped into the human faces and stone carvings, causing Pei Yunhu’s complexion to turn increasingly pale as his body trembled incessantly.

After a long while, he finally opened his eyes.

Among the yard-tall human faces, one moved its lips, its voice clear, melodious, and lingering.

“You hold such a lowly position, how dare you offend our imperial ancestors’ tombs?”

Yunhu bowed with folded hands: “Yunhu, who serves in the Ziwei Enclosure, greets the esteemed ones. I am fenced in by the times and disturb you out of necessity. I beg for your understanding.”

“Where is Guo Xianlu, the Imperial College lecturer?”

“My mentor has been harmed by traitors.”

Pei Yunhu kept a straight face.

Compared to the Five Insects, the Five Immortals Category didn’t have an advantage in combat power and was even somewhat inferior.

As their Awakening Degree increased, the Five Immortals Category did not have specific focus points like “Hair” or “Feather,” nor did they have the superior strategies and control methods of “Luo” or “Phosphorus.”

They were similar to “Jie,” with a certain improvement in various physical aspects, but the coefficient was lower, and moreover, the coefficient of the Five Immortals Category was even lower.

To give an example, with the same Awakening Degree, Feather and Hair might each have a “tenfold” increase, Jie would have “fivefold,” with broad growth direction, while the Five Immortals Category would only have “threefold.”

However, the Five Immortals Category was more favored by Yan Fu.

They could stay for an extended time within the Yan Fu Fruit.

Innately, the majority of indigenous characters within the fruits had a natural fondness for them.

They could access high-ranking travelers’ exploration notes and insights without cost.

Even to a certain extent, they had the ability to warp the capabilities of Yan Fu.

Individuals from the “Earth” category like Taishuai could manipulate the contents and rules of Yan Fu incidents.

The “Beast” category’s Mo could forcibly grant three purchase rights to the newcomers they favored.

The same principle applied.

Even the top inheritors of the Five Immortals Category could monopolize a fruit after completing a Yan Fu incident.

High-status travelers, regardless of their own strength, were eager for the inheritance of the Five Immortals Category.

Pei Yunhu’s legacy, the “Kui of the Chief Celestial,” was exactly like that.

Therefore, while most travelers still had a superficial understanding of the bizzare suppressants within this fruit, Pei Yunhu, through examining the notes of high-ranking travelers, thoroughly understood the complex suppressants within Yan Capital City.

Dragging living people into midnight scenarios, using the oracle of Panjia Garden, luring travelers through “Earth Endurance”; with the advantages of the Five Immortals Category, Pei Yunhu gradually gained the upper hand.

This time was no exception.

Those affected manners and sincere acting were already second nature to Pei Yunhu, whose sole purpose was to kill Li Yan.

As for the content, one might refer to Duan Lang in “Wind and Cloud” or Chen Youliang in “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber”—nothing but inverting right and wrong, spitting blood in slander. The faces of such people need not be described further.

After Pei Yunhu finished speaking, stone chips on the human faces began to fall with a rustling sound.

“We have served your imperial predecessors for hundreds of years, our bones have also become rusty with time.”

Pei Yunhu’s smile had not yet blossomed.

“However, your eyes house backward-facing hooks, your nose is pointed and tall, your ears hang down to your cheeks—a visage of infamy disguised as loyalty. Blood surges in your eyes and brows; you have killed people. A green halo tinged with purple encircles your brow, a mass of grievances piercing through—it’s been no more than five days since you’ve done things against conscience and morals…”

Pei Yunhu felt as though he had plunged into an ice cave; he looked down with an expression of compassion.

“Am I correct?”

At the end, the voice of the human-faced stone statue boomed like muffled thunder.

Pei Yunhu fell silent for a moment, then thudded to his knees.

“Your Excellency is not mistaken. Indeed, I bear the weight of several lives on my hands, among them are the innocent, and even a girl who harbored affections for me…”

Pei Yunhu’s voice began to tremble, filled with a grief where the real and the feigned were indistinguishable.

Perhaps even he could not tell them apart.

“But! The hatred for my mentor’s murder cannot coexist under the same sky! Teacher Guo has treated me as his own. As long as I can personally exact revenge on that traitor, even if I have to fall into Avici after death, I am willing to do so.”

Pei Yunhu’s eyes brimmed with tears, his fists tightly clenched. His body quivered uncontrollably, and his voice became hoarse to an astonishing degree.

“…”

The stone human face fell silent for a long time.

The air was deathly still.

After a long while, the person with the face hesitated before speaking:

“If you can bring that person here, we might as well help you this once~”

Pei Yunhu’s head hit the ground as if he was sobbing and unable to speak.

The big night was gloomy, just like the howling Yunhu, and the base color in his eyes.

Ripples on water.

There was not the slightest sparkle in Yunhu’s eyes, as fine fingers passed through the washbasin, dripping water droplets down.

This was a musty basement. Inside, twisted and contorted bodies lay in a stupor, including one woman named Xiaomeng.

“I’m a bad person, aren’t I?”

Yunhu let out a muted, humorless laugh.

He spread out the Jade Axis Brocade, ink heavy on his hands, and wrote:

Li Yan Yunhu, battle Ming Tomb

Eight characters, no more, no less.

“Transferring these ten people over will take some effort, but knowing the location is Ming Tomb in advance, there is still time.”

As he bent over to lift someone under the armpit, several lines of golden-red text suddenly burnt onto the Jade Axis Brocade.

Temporary return passage opening.

Location: Ganhua Alley,

Opener: Peacock.

Time limit: Two hours.

Target: Ren Ni.”

Killing the target can close the passage ahead of schedule.

“A high-ranking Proxy Traveler has interfered!”

Yunhu was first startled, then couldn’t suppress the raging anger within him.

Pei Yunhu walked up the steps with heavy footsteps, and with a smack, he slammed the iron door shut and rushed toward Ganhua Alley.

No matter who it was or their purpose, before Li Yan died, he would not tolerate any possible return passages.

…

“Hurry back, whatever is left there has nothing to do with us. There weren’t any slip-ups on the Earth Endurance’s side, were there?”

“Ah, probably not.”

Dressed in a suit, Ren Ni stood in front of a telephone pole, his head pressing against a phone.

“Come back immediately, no matter what. I’ve opened the door for you. You should have arrived by now, Ganhua Alley.”

“Heh heh.”

A clear jet of water sprayed onto the telephone pole, soaking the black and white fox stench advertisement until it rotted, and then pouring down to the ground.

“Understood, boss, I will return. Speaking of which, I should thank this encounter. Otherwise, when would I have the chance to have consecutive conversations with such an important person like you?”

Ren Ni’s expression was relaxed.

“Keep your head down during this event; your movements are easily recorded. Besides, postmen are no match for those Five Insects brawlers, too many deaths and it gets harder to find my helpers.”

“Got it, got it…”

Ren Ni’s face bore a smug, narrow smile, and he outrageously jittered his privates a few times.

The woman on the phone hmm’d and ended the conversation.

Ren Ni stretched lazily.

He pulled out his game controller, took a look at it, and then put it away again.

“Originally, I’d heard about similar things…”

Pei Yunhu walked out from the shadows.

“Important people, using their authority to send subordinates into low-tier Yan Fu events for trade. It’s just, I’d never encountered it before.”

The stream of water on the telephone pole wilted at once. A few droplets fell sparsely until the flow stopped completely.

“Brother, stay calm. I have backing, you’d better think it through.”

Ren Ni said, lifting his hands high to show he had no intent to attack.

“Actually, it doesn’t matter.”

Pei Yunhu silently put on his brass knuckles, the black small seal script carrying an overwhelming malevolence as he lunged at Ren Ni.

“I never planned on letting anyone leave alive.”