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Chapter 90: Nether Lord

Yan Yufei didn’t just think of Ye Qing as a close friend, he also valued his abilities highly. Had he learned of the truth behind Yan Tieyi and Zheng Feng’s deaths earlier, he would not have bothered the young man too much, at least not in a way that would matter. This was before mentioning the fact that Ye Qing had uncovered a devastating conspiracy, come up with a plan to eliminate the threats once and for all, and even summoned the Iron Shirt Gang to help them during their time of need as well. Objectively speaking, his merits had more than made up for his wrongdoings, and even he could not help but be impressed by the young man’s planning and execution.

That was why his earlier words weren’t directed at himself. It was a subtle advice to Ling Jianqiu to overlook Ye Qing’s past actions.

Speaking of Ling Jianqiu, the Chief of Bureau was staring at Ye Qing as if he hadn’t heard Yan Yufei’s words. His silence would last at least a dozen breaths before he finally said, “Ye Qing has played a crucial role in the defense of Anyang. I have no qualms trading away a couple of vermin for his services!”

That was all Ling Jianqiu said before departing for the next battlefield.

“...”

Yan Yufei could not help but glance at Ling Jianqiu with astonishment. Had he known that the Chief of Bureau would be so willing to overlook Ye Qing’s crimes in favor of his merits, he would not have bothered to say anything at all.

When the magistrate turned back to Ye Qing, the young man just happened to be looking his way as well. The moment their eyes met, Ye Qing abruptly clutched his head and moaned, “I’m still hurt from the fight, my lord! You don’t mind me catching a short break, right?”

His meaning was clear. Hmph! No way I’m gonna work for you for free another time!

“....” Do I look like that type of person to you? Yan Yufei’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. The young man had a penchant for acting like he was an obedient, law-abiding citizen on the front, and then doing crazy shit like wiping out two of the biggest factions in Anyang behind one’s back. Not only that, he was smart enough to keep the truth hidden from all parties and reveal it only when it would benefit the most. Even now, Ye Qing had seen through his intentions instantly and shut him up before he could even begin to say, “Please.” Sometimes, he really thought that the young man was too smart for his own good.

Some time later, Yan Yufei finally shook his head and said in a wry tone, “Sure. I’ll see you in a bit!” Then, he turned around and left. He was a scholar. If a minister could hold a boat in his belly [1], then he could tolerate Ye Qing’s occasional bullshit as well.

The moment Yan Yufei had left the scene, Ye Qing’s complexion immediately returned to normal. He then let out a chuckle and pounced toward the nearest Strangers.

The Servant of Fear’s final counterattack was pretty deadly. It had taken nearly all of his spiritual power to overcome it. Luckily, the attack ultimately wasn’t strong enough to damage his foundation, and he was mostly fine besides a headache and some sores here. Not only that, he was brimming with true qi—the fight against the Servant of Fear had exhausted him mentally far more than it had physically. He might not be able to fight a powerful Stranger in his current state, but he could definitely handle a bunch of small fries.

Plus, bullying small fries was safe and profitable. In the time he took to kill the Servant of Fear, he could’ve killed maybe a hundred small fries and earned far more dragon-serpent runes. With that in mind, why on earth would he actively walk the thornier, less profitable path?

Finally, the Strangers had already lost. With the passing of powerful Strangers such as the Servant of Fear, Grandpa Tree, Granny Mud and more, and the addition of powerful reinforcements such as the Iron Shirt Gang and Qiao Six, it was only a matter of time before the Strangers were annihilated.

Meanwhile, in a dark, hidden corner of the streets, Dark Eye muttered with eyes full of despair and disbelief, “How did this happen? Why did the humans know we’re coming?”

“I don’t know. It shouldn’t have turned out this way,” Rotten Crown replied, causing smelly pus to leak out the holes on her face. She sounded just as lost as her companion was.

“We failed our mission. The Nether Lord will never forgive us,” Dark Eye’s tone abruptly grew panicked as he trembled in fear. Rotten Crown too started shaking uncontrollably.

Most of the Strangers had chosen to fight against the Shenwu Defense Force as soon as the ambush took place, but Dark Eye and Rotten Crown had hidden themselves instead. Judging from how the battle had turned out, it was the right move. The reprieve wouldn’t last forever, however. They might be able to escape the Shenwu Defense Force, there was no way they could escape the Nether Lord’s wrath. His punishment was so terrible that they might actually be better off dead than alive.

“No, our plan hasn’t failed yet.”

Suddenly, a gentle voice surprised them from behind.

“Who the—!?” Dark Eye and Rotten Crown wheeled around in panic and saw a figure wearing a black hood standing behind them. They had no idea when the person had appeared.

“You’re not so lost that you can’t even recognize my voice, are you?” The hooded figure continued in their soft voice.

Neither Dark Eye nor Rotten Crown could see the hooded figure’s face because it was completely hidden, but they eventually put two and two together and guessed, “Evergreen Ivy? Is that you?”

“It’s me.” Evergreen Ivy nodded. “Follow me.”

The Stranger jumped into a courtyard beside her like she weighed nothing at all. Then, she led Rotten Crown and Dark Eye to a secret room.

“Evergreen Ivy, you said that our plan hasn’t failed yet. What did you mean?” Dark Eye asked impatiently after the door had shut behind them. After all, the army of Strangers they brought were almost routed at this point.

“It’s simple. My plan has never hinged on whether the county is destroyed, or if the Strangers gain the upper hand. The only thing it ever needed was a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood; human or Stranger!” Evergreen Ivy answered with an unusual tremor in her voice. She was clearly very excited.

“I don’t understand, Evergreen Ivy. Can you explain things better?” Rotten Crown looked increasingly confused.

“Hehe. Take a look!” Instead of answering, Evergreen Ivy pointed at an altar located at the center of the secret room. Her eyes looked fervent and full of anticipation.

“An altar?” Dark Eye and Rotten Crown examined the altar closely. “Eight corners, four directions, a statue and bones…”

As they said, the altar was shaped like an octagon and pointed toward the four cardinal directions. Placed atop three layers of bones was the statue of the Nether Lord himself.

Realization struck Rotten Crown and Dark Eye at the same time. “This is the bone altar used to summon the Nether Lord! Are you trying to bring him to this plane, Evergreen Ivy?”

“That’s right!” Evergreen Ivy nodded under her hood. “It takes a vast amount of bodies, blood and slaughter to bring the Nether Lord to this plane. That is why I had tasked you to lure the Strangers into the county. It doesn’t matter if the Strangers ultimately defeated the humans, or the humans defeated the Strangers as both outcomes would still create the bodies, blood and slaughter necessary for the ritual to succeed. And when the Nether Lord descends upon this plane, we will still be the final victor!”

“That’s an incredible plan, Evergreen Ivy! Why didn’t you tell us about this sooner? You could’ve saved us so much worry!” complained the duo, though they were really overjoyed by this turn of events. After all, it meant that the plan was still on track, and they wouldn’t have to suffer the Nether Lord’s punishment.

“The more people know about a secret, the harder it is to keep it under wraps,” Evergreen Ivy said indifferently. “Take this failed invasion for example. How did the humans find out about our plan? It’s probably because there’s a traitor among us who leaked the plan to the humans!”

“What!? You must be joking! There’s no way any of us would betray our plan to the humans!” Rotten Crown could not believe her ears.

They couldn’t see Evergreen Ivy’s expression, but her voice was clearly bitter and scornful. “I thought so too, but if that’s true, then how did the humans find out about our plan? And how did we not know about this until it’s too late?”

Dark Eye and Rotten Crown exchanged a glance with each other before defending themselves in a hurry, “It wasn’t us!”

“I know you’re not traitors. I wouldn’t have brought you here otherwise,” Evergreen Ivy assured them before turning serious. “Anyway, I would rather finish this sooner than later, so I’m going to carry out the ritual now. Please protect me until the ritual is complete.”

“Got it!” Dark Eye and Rotten Crown responded obediently before moving into position.

Evergreen Ivy walked up to the altar and bowed three times toward the statue. Then, she slowly walked up the bone steps until she was at the top. Sitting crosslegged in front of the statue, she lit up all eight red candles in the eight corners of the altar before slicing open her wrist with a silver dagger. Finally, she held her hand above the statue and drenched it in her blood.

The yellow candle flames immediately turned as white as a ghost, and strange patterns suddenly appeared on the statue. Then, the statue absorbed all the blood that covered its surface.

Eyes closed and still dripping her blood over the statue, Evergreen Ivy muttered something under her breath for several minutes straight. It was as if she couldn’t feel the blood loss at all. Gradually, the dark statue turned red and smooth like a piece of red jade. It clearly looked evil and demonic.

“O’ mighty Nether Lord, in the name of Evergreen Ivy, I beseech you to descend upon this plane!”

Buzz!

As soon as Evergreen Ivy completed her chant, a dark shockwave rippled across the secret room. The statue’s eyes also turned as black as the night sky. Then, a noise that sounded like a million people whispering at the same time appeared inside the room. It sounded crazed, chaotic, and dark. The noise was so unbearable that Dark Eye and Rotten Crown instantly collapsed to their feet and rolled around in abject pain, but thankfully, it faded away after just a second.

Outside the secret room, the sky of Anyang suddenly shuddered like someone was knocking on its fabric of space and time. Then, all the bodies, blood, energy of resentment and more littered across the county started flying into the sky. They eventually merged together to form a door of flesh and blood that oozed an ominous pressure and unspeakable evil.

“What the…”

For a time, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up. Even the Strangers had temporarily forgotten their rage to stare at the unholy door in the sky.

For the first time since the battle began, Ling Jianqiu’s eternally frozen face cracked and revealed a hint of shock and disbelief, “Oh no! Someone is trying to use the bodies and resentment accumulating on this land to summon a powerful Stranger!”

“A powerful Stranger? Do you know what this Stranger might be?” Yan Yufei asked.

“I don’t know!” Ling Jianqiu shook his head. “One thing for certain, it isn’t someone you, I, or anyone in this county could fight against!”

“What do we do?” Yan Yufei did not linger on the subject.

“We need to stop this Stranger from descending!” Ling Jianqiu kept his answer as short and succinct as possible. “There are two ways. One, we destroy the door before it fully forms. Two, we identify the location where the ritual is taking place and destroy the ritual!”

“Neither of those sound like good options,” Yan Yufei replied in a solemn voice. The first way was impossible because the door was extremely high up in the sky. Forget destroying it, they couldn’t reach high enough to hit it.

The second way sounded less impossible than the first option, but it was really the opposite. Anyang was anything but a small place. They would be long dead by the time they finally found the ritual’s location.

“Let’s awaken the Heavens\' Eye!” Ling Jianqiu decided to go with the first way after sucking in a deep breath. Considering that there was little chance they would find the ritual in time to destroy it, they could only pray that the Heavens\' Eye would be powerful enough to destroy the flesh-and-blood door.

If it worked, they would live, and if not, they would die. It was as simple as that.

1. Idiom. It means someone in high places has great tolerance