Chapter 587
Chapter 587
Chapter 587
Ming Ningshuang came back to life.
She even mistook him for Wei Zhengdao, who had come back to marry her.
A perfectly reasonable misunderstanding arose, and the situation developed naturally.
If we follow this line of thinking, Li Zhuiyuan should treat it as "Qing'an II" and deal with it accordingly.
He gambled that even if her love turned to hate, her love would still outweigh her hate. He also brought up Wei Zhengdao's fellow patient relationship, and while ensuring his own safety, he hoped to make some deals and take advantage of the situation.
With Qing'an as a precedent, the process was quite familiar.
But when he ran into Qing'an, it was those water monkeys who acted as intermediaries. If the boy had a choice, he would never have rashly taken Runsheng to hide on the roof of Big Beard's house that night to watch them cook boiled shrimp.
Similarly, the reason why Li Zhuiyuan dared to sneak into the place with Zhao Yi, and why he continued alone after Zhao Yi could no longer hold on, and made the decision to enter the courtyard, was because he had investigated and found that the vast spiritual energy in this place was... unclaimed.
She, whose name we only learned later, Ming Ningshuang... is dead!
To overturn this conclusion, one would have to overturn the reputations of the three Ming family dragon kings. Moreover, since only the three Ming family dragon kings left their mark here, it is highly likely that all the dragon kings of the Ming family throughout history have entered this place to pay their respects.
The Dragon King is the Dragon King, and a family is a family. Even if people in the present day fight to the death because of hatred, it will not affect their recognition of the greatness of the Dragon King, the ancestor of the other party.
Therefore, Li Zhuiyuan did not believe that all the Ming Dynasty Dragon Kings in history had tacitly helped their "Grandma" to live a long and immortal life.
She is definitely not Ming Ningshuang.
The headless corpse walked from the well into the main house, went to the table, picked up the head, and placed it on the neck. To describe it as fitting perfectly would be to tarnish the perfection it presented.
There was not a trace of incongruity; it was as if the real person had come back to life. Her eyes were filled with complex and rich emotions, and her facial expressions matched perfectly, vividly portraying everything about her longing for her lover, her perseverance, and her torment.
But she acted too well, and she tried too hard to express herself, filling the role too full and neglecting the emotional vacuum and blank spaces.
When she was two years old, Li Lan had already criticized this aspect of her performance.
From that moment on, Li Zhuiyuan understood that in addition to expressing emotions himself, he also needed to give the other person space to fill in the blanks.
She was walking towards the bedroom, towards the boy.
Li Zhuiyuan took two steps back, sat down on the edge of the bed, a hint of mockery appearing in his eyes, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips. He immediately prepared his lines, probing the way while attempting to seize the initiative:
"Unfortunately, you are not her after all."
She stopped in her tracks, and the performance froze at that moment.
Despite his best efforts to conceal it, Li Zhuiyuan still caught his fear.
This means that he immediately determined that the other party was not Ming Ningshuang, while she is now beginning to doubt whether he is really Wei Zhengdao.
The fact that she started acting the moment she opened her eyes and spoke shows that she knew from the beginning that she was not Wei Zhengdao.
But she has her own purpose and needs to follow this process.
If he had a choice, Li Zhuiyuan would not want to compete in acting skills here, but faced with this unexpected variable, the young man had no choice.
This place is where the soul's consciousness is most profound. Here, the boy's soul consciousness is severely suppressed. To some extent, being here is equivalent to having one's intelligence severely diminished.
This rendered many of Li Zhuiyuan's methods unusable, and those that could have been used in close combat, such as the Sun General and the Evil Dragon, would immediately collapse if the boy released them.
It is certain that the unclaimed soul above her head did not respond to her reunion with her body. This is not only further evidence that she is not Ming Ningshuang, but also shows that she is definitely not that powerful. In fact, it can be said that she is very weak and only has a body.
The problem is, this is Ming Ningshuang's corpse, the body of a thousand-year-old evil spirit. Even if she doesn't know any other techniques, if she just comes up and scratches and bites at me... even ordinary demonic beasts wouldn't be a match for her.
After a brief pause, her expression gradually returned to normal, showing that she was still determined to get back into character.
"Buzz!"
Li Zhuiyuan supported Chen Jiayu.
This was one of the few techniques he could use here, but even so, the domain, which could have been opened much larger, was suppressed by the environment and could only be opened to a small extent, barely enough to cover the boy's entire body.
Li Zhuiyuan opened his right hand, and the can of Jianlibao from the outer pocket of his backpack flew out under the pull of the domain and landed in the boy's palm.
The boy pretended to open the tab while bringing the drink to his lips.
The moment it opens, it reaches the lips.
If they are far away, and the can is opened, the Ming family members inside will break free of the seal and collapse due to the oppressive force of the place.
The Ming family, eager for revenge, did not disappoint the boy's thoughtfulness. The moment the jar was opened, he rushed into the boy's body to carry out his revenge!
Li Zhuiyuan took a sip, a look of relaxation and enjoyment appearing on his face.
After witnessing this scene, her acting career was interrupted once again, and she didn't dare to continue.
Li Zhuiyuan turned his head and glanced at the bed beside him, as if he were looking at Ming Ningshuang, who had been pieced together and lay on the bed, rather than the woman in front of him.
Without lingering for long, after just one glance, the boy looked away, lightly shaking the can in his hand, and said:
"This kind of mischief will only happen once; it will not be repeated."
Her performance completely fell apart; her eyes were filled with horror, and her knees bent instinctively, as if she wanted to kneel down.
"Crack!"
Li Zhuiyuan squeezed the can with his fingertips, crushing it.
She stopped kneeling.
Like a silent warning:
What right do you have to defile her body and kneel down?
She straightened up and silently retreated until she reached the main table. There, she removed her head from her neck and placed it back on the table. The headless body continued to retreat until it reached the well. There, her limbs separated and returned to their respective rooms, while her torso disappeared into the bottom of the well.
Li Zhuiyuan sat motionless on the edge of the bed, pretending to be in a daze.
His previous encounter was arguably the most dangerous he had faced recently.
He didn't follow her script. Once he started, he had to help her achieve her goal. If he didn't cooperate, she would definitely try to force him.
Only by breaking out of her established acting style and writing her own scripts can she break the deadlock and turn the tables.
Of course, just because you can play the piano doesn't mean you can sing the Empty City Stratagem.
She probably didn't expect that since she had no martial arts training, she would only be able to kill a chicken here.
In addition, Li Zhuiyuan quickly made a judgment in his mind about the reason for her existence.
The boy had long suspected that Wei Zhengdao died in Siyuan Village, was given a bowl of "kind medicine" by his own young great-grandfather, and was buried in the Li family ancestral graveyard.
Li Zhuiyuan believes that Wei Zhengdao ended up there because he came to see Qing'an.
He regretted it, and he looked back at his former companions.
So, before he died in Siyuan Village, Wei Zhengdao must have visited other people, such as... Ming Ningshuang.
With the guarantee of the Ming family's Dragon Kings throughout the ages, Ming Ningshuang had long since been freed and died a clean death.
Even someone as powerful as Wei Zhengdao at that time could never undo some of his regrets.
For example, one of the biggest signs of improvement in my condition is that I start doing things that I used to hate doing.
For example, sign your name on the marriage certificate that Ming Ningshuang guarded during her lifetime;
For example, the clean body that Ming Ningshuang had specially preserved for herself was pieced together on this bed and dressed in a wedding dress that she had sewn herself.
For example, using the "Black Book Secret Technique" on her corpse to revive her.
Using the great-grandfather's youth as a dividing line, the Ming family has never produced a dragon king since then, so no one can enter the courtyard to inspect and clean it.
To date, the person who has come closest to this courtyard is Ming Qinyun.
The boy deduced from this that "her" appearance stemmed from the traces left by Wei Zhengdao when he first entered this place.
At that moment, a faint light appeared in the main house; to be precise, it was a spirit.
“You… have come back to visit my sister again. I can feel the joy in her spirit in heaven.”
At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan's guess was confirmed.
She was just a ripple that Wei Zhengdao stirred up when he came here back then.
But these ripples almost drowned him.
Li Zhuiyuan slowly raised his head again, his cold gaze fixed on the spiritual thought in front of him, as if he were pondering whether or not he should erase it.
His spiritual thoughts trembled violently.
This one-way threat and torment lasted for a long time.
Before he even left this courtyard, any slip-up would mean certain doom.
Li Zhuiyuan said calmly:
Don't you think I'm... disgusting?
No one talks to themselves for no reason.
Even though the boy was genuinely moved when he saw the heads on the table and imagined Ah Li and his friends' fates, he could still use them to make amends later.
"Wei Zhengdao, you disgust me."
From another perspective, doesn't this resemble a monologue where I'm criticizing myself?
The thoughts flowed intermittently, like the chattering of a living person's teeth:
"I always believed you would come back, and I never doubted it. And you did come back to see me. You never let me down."
Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes and remained silent.
A moment later, the boy opened his eyes, stood up, got off the bed, and walked towards the outside of the main room. He did not avoid the spiritual thought along the way, but the spiritual thought gave way on its own.
As the boy walked out of the main house, his spirit followed.
Li Zhuiyuan didn't turn around, but kept an eye on the shadow cast by the spiritual light in front of him.
They're all seasoned foxes, how could they be so easily fooled?
Soon, Li Zhuiyuan noticed that as he got closer to the gate, the length of his shadow was changing.
If its sense of awe for itself remains unchanged, it will respectfully maintain the same distance as when it saw itself off, or the same level of its light.
This detail shows that he has once again revealed a flaw, causing it to become suspicious.
"Squeak..."
The gate to the courtyard opened.
Li Zhuiyuan stopped in his tracks.
He knew that as long as he was still in the courtyard, the distance was meaningless; if he continued to walk out, he would not be able to get out.
The boy didn't know where the flaw was, so he decided to ask directly:
"Aren't you going to tell me yet?"
Suddenly, the shadow in front of him stopped changing, as if the spiritual energy behind him had unloaded the weight from his heart.
"I...I am guilty."
Li Zhuiyuan remained silent, simply waiting quietly.
"She said she would find a way to get me out, and I... I didn't explicitly refuse."
she?
Using a simple process of elimination, Li Zhuiyuan thought of Ming Qinyun.
She had been planting rice seedlings not far from the courtyard, and Li Zhuiyuan had bent down to help her rearrange the seedlings on his way there.
Ling Nian was unable to leave the courtyard and could only stay here to guard Ming Ning Shuang's remains.
But she must have also been influenced by the suppression Ming Ningshuang had inflicted upon her, leading to a yearning for freedom outside. In that case, it seems my judgment was flawed; Ming Qinyun really had entered this courtyard?
However, it is more likely that one person stood as close as possible outside the courtyard, while the other stood as far away as possible inside, and the two communicated despite being separated by a "chasm".
Ming Qinyun, do you want to disrupt the layout here and take this spiritual thought out?
However, this spiritual thought is not very valuable. If it were placed in another location, even if it could still control Ming Ningshuang's body, Li Zhuiyuan could easily suppress it.
So, what Ming Qinyun wanted was Ming Ningshuang's... physical body?
This is indeed what this elderly lady from the Ming family needs most right now.
In her struggles with herself and Grandma Liu, Ming Qinyun failed time and time again, and was forced to endure round after round of powerful karmic backlash, which ravaged her body to the point of reversing hot and cold and collapsing her yin and yang. The sticky liquid she saw on the ground was proof that her body was about to be destroyed.
In this state, she could not possibly appear in public, so she had to announce her fake death and retreat into the background.
As the head of the family, even if she had never been inside, she should be able to know what was inside from the family's secret records.
However, this raises another problem: the former head of the Dragon King Clan is committing a grave taboo by using such a method to prolong his life.
Although Ming Ningshuang's corpse was harmless, it was essentially an evil spirit suppressed by the Ming family. Ming Qinyun's actions were no less than putting herself into the evil spirit's clutches, and in nature, it was no different from her secretly releasing the evil spirit from Qin Liu's ancestral home.
But at that time, she had the White Tiger to protect her from the consequences, and Chen Yunhai with the three spirits of the Chen family's Dragon King to clean up the mess. That's why the terrible karmic backlash didn't befall her entire family. As for the spirit of the Ming family's Dragon King, she had already extinguished it with the help of the Fengdu Emperor.
To improve efficiency, Li Zhuiyuan began to work backwards, maximizing the interests of Ming Qinyun and the Ming family. Soon, a clear path emerged in the boy's mind.
Ming Qinyun set up the formation here for two reasons: first, to wipe out these surrender faction members; and second, to create an opportunity for Ling Nian to bring out Ming Ningshuang's physical body.
The whitewashing explanation is that she sensed something unusual in the place, that a spiritual entity—no, an evil spirit—had appeared in the courtyard. Therefore, she risked her life to set up an array in advance to prevent the evil spirit from causing trouble.
If we trace back along this path to clear her name, then the one who activated the formation cannot be Ming Qinyun. The most suitable candidate is Zhao Yi, who is currently in the midst of this wave.
Next, Ming Qinyun will find a way to make Zhao Yi discover this conspiracy and let Zhao Yi take control of the array's core. Then, Zhao Yi will activate the array at the "Zhao Division Conference" to cause this total annihilation.
And she herself must be here, after all, this is her death anniversary, and the most suitable place for her to be is that stone coffin on the altar, isn't it?
By placing herself inside the stone coffin, she could avoid the disturbance of her soul after the formation was activated. Then, when the spirit controlled Ming Ningshuang's body to escape, Ming Qinyun would open the coffin again. In the name of suppressing evil spirits and protecting the common people, she would abandon her own decaying body, sacrifice herself for righteousness, and enter Ming Ningshuang's body with her soul to seal away the evil spirits.
At that time, she will have a powerful physical body and can try to gather and absorb the remaining soul essence. Even if she never leaves that courtyard, it will be equivalent to adding a "grandmother" in a state of confinement to protect the Ming family after losing all the Dragon King spirits.
There are certain taboos that you may not use, but you cannot be without. She wanted to use this method to deter her future revenge and the covetous eyes of this martial arts world.
After figuring it out, even though they were enemies, Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but admire the old lady of the Ming family's scheme.
She can achieve all her goals, and the cause and effect are washed away cleanly. She herself is also completely willing to risk everything. If she were not known as the "Dragon King" in front of the family, then Ming Qinyun would truly be an extremely outstanding family head.
Even Zhao Yi's infiltration tonight was within her expectations, but she never anticipated that Zhao Yi would do it behind her back.
Furthermore, considering what Zhao Yi said, this place was originally intended to be the alternative to the previous Wangjiang Tower. Therefore, Ming Qinyun's original plan was to let herself activate the formation and perish together with him, to first eliminate this major threat, and then transform into "Grandma" to deter the villains in the martial arts world for the Ming family.
Behind him, Ling Nian awaited Li Zhuiyuan's reply.
Li Zhuiyuan was also quickly considering the matter.
Even though he had a clear understanding of Ming Qinyun's plan, Li Zhuiyuan could not simply instruct Ling Nian on how to do it. He was Wei Zhengdao, an elephant, so how could he consider how to outwit and outmaneuver an ant?
"Since her descendants no longer wish to worship her..."
Listen quietly with your mind.
“Then I will take her away and move her to my grave from my previous life.”
The spiritual thought remained silent; it had not yet heard any instructions regarding its arrangements.
Li Zhuiyuan turned around, not looking at Ling Nian, but his gaze swept over the branch house, the well, and the main house in turn, as if he were looking back at the complete Ming Ningshuang once again:
"On that day, dress her in her wedding gown, put on her red makeup, take the marriage certificate, stand at the door, and wait for me to come and take her home."
Li Zhuiyuan strode towards the courtyard gate, his voice continuing to ring out:
"As for you, you shall guard our tombs and be granted the freedom of a whole village."
Ling Nian: "It's so good. Sister, I've finally waited for this day. I can stay by your side forever."
It was crying, but certainly not for "sister," but for the freedom she had been promised.
Having tested himself to this point, how could he naively believe Ming Qinyun's one-sided words?
It's nothing more than another game of calculation and maneuvering.
Let it choose: whether to fight a dangerous battle with that old woman from the Ming family, or to accept the ready-made arrangements made by "Wei Zhengdao".
Li Zhuiyuan walked out of the courtyard smoothly, and the pressure on his body was relieved.
Without delay, the boy picked up the belt from the ground. Instead of tying it around his waist, he wrapped it around his hand. He could walk back by himself, so there was no need for Zhao Yi to drag him out like a dead dog.
When passing by that formation, Li Zhuiyuan hesitated for a moment, but decided not to restore it. Such a dangerous table-flipping switch should be kept in his own hands.
It was tough on Zhao Yi; he had to go through the procedures to obtain the now-useless array switch.
Li Zhuiyuan had also carefully considered the arrangements for Ming Ningshuang's remains. Since it was you, Wei Zhengdao, who signed the marriage certificate, whether out of guilt or something else, you yourself tacitly acknowledged that she was your wife... So I will bury her with you.
After the body was transported back to Siyuan Village, you two were wrapped in straw mats and slept together under the same quilt. The Li family's ancestral graves had gained another new outsider.
When the burial takes place, Qing'an can be notified to attend the ceremony.
After witnessing this scene, I wonder how much Qing'an will drink. I need to arrange for Lin Shuyou to drive his yellow pickup truck to buy alcohol for Xiao Yingying.
Ha, they can even invite their own great-grandfather and Yayoi to relocate the grave and hold a vegetarian feast, with Qing'an as the host.
He has money and burial goods; even if he uses it all to drink, if all else fails, he can sell peaches to raise the money.
Li Zhuiyuan speculated that when Wei Zhengdao came here and saw Ming Ningshuang, the reason he didn't take her body away was definitely not because he cared about her being the Ming family's great-aunt...
Even if Wei Zhengdao were cured of his illness, he would never be so indecisive. It's likely that Wei Zhengdao himself didn't know who would kill him or where he would die in the end.
Stepping out of the oppressive area and onto the "road," Li Zhuiyuan completely relaxed.
Zhao Yi sat up from the stone coffin, stretched, rubbed his eyes, and said:
"Hey Li, you've got the key to breaking the deadlock, haven't you?"
"Ah."
"I knew it."
With a flick of his wrist, Zhao Yi sent the thick leather belt loop on the boy's hand flying off and sticking back to Zhao Yi.
Li Zhuiyuan: "How did you sleep?"
Zhao Yi: "This coffin is very mysterious. It embodies the hard work of several generations of the Ming family. It's just too heavy and it's still embedded here. Otherwise, I would really like to carry it to Nantong for Ayou to sleep in."
I was just lying in there studying it, and it took a lot of my time, so I had to take a nap.
Li Zhuiyuan briefly explained Ming Qinyun's plan to Zhao Yi.
After listening, Zhao Yi chuckled dryly and said, "I feel that if the last wave had placed you here, you would have been more likely to die."
Li Zhuiyuan: "With you as an inside man, it doesn't matter where they're stationed."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yi reached out and picked up the jade bottle on the offering table, pulled out the stopper, and drank the wine inside in one gulp.
"I wouldn't be satisfied without drinking a bottle of that."
After drinking, Zhao Yi poured pure water into the jade bottle, put the stopper back in, and placed it back on the offering table.
Li Zhuiyuan: "I'll have to trouble you again to sneak in through the front gate, forget what I told you, and just follow your normal thinking."
Zhao Yi: "Then I should be able to get some clues from the main gate, and tomorrow, there will be clearer and more straightforward clues delivered to the door."
And here… the scale of this memorial service is far higher than expected; starting tomorrow, several prominent figures from the martial arts world will arrive in person.
Li Zhuiyuan and Zhao Yi returned the way they came. After experiencing the pressure in the courtyard, they didn't feel so bad on the way back.
Once in the wilderness, Li Zhuiyuan found a flat rock to sit on and rest. After Zhao Yi finished rushing through the main gate, he would return to the guesthouse with Zhao Yi.
Zhao Yi peeled the banana peel again, and drew a circle around the spot where Li Zhuiyuan was sitting.
"Hey Li, I'll be right back. You stay here in this circle and don't move."
The leather band itself doesn't provide any defense, but if something happens here, Zhao Yi will be able to sense the reaction under the skin in time.
"Ah."
"Also, no matter what, you should still bring Miss Qin Li with you next time. Her soul power is stronger than mine. I can't get into that place, but she can most likely go in with you, so as to avoid risking your life like this time."
Li Zhuiyuan didn't speak, closed his eyes, and rested earnestly.
Zhao Yi stood there for a moment, then said, "Hey, shouldn't you have said that you don't need to bring anyone else because you're here with me?"
Li Zhuiyuan: "Drinking too much alcohol can lead to trouble."
Zhao Yi smiled and waved his hand, then turned and stepped into the black mist.
About two hours later, Zhao Yi returned.
He was unharmed, his infiltration was successful, and he didn't use force.
He walked up to Li Zhuiyuan, opened his collar, and revealed the characters imprinted on the leather.
"The head of the Ming family guards over there has a habit of keeping a diary. It records the last time the sixth elder of the Ming family... who is the one who sent you the visiting card, brought people in to set up the mourning hall."
One of the boxes that was brought in had a temperature that fluctuated between hot and cold when you got close to it. He secretly opened it and took a look. He found that it was covered with precious array flags. There seemed to be something under the array flags, like a person lying down. But before he could move the array flags aside to take a closer look, he was scolded and reprimanded by the Sixth Elder.
Sure enough, no respectable person keeps a diary.
Li Zhuiyuan: "The old lady of the Ming family has been good to you, yet she left such obvious marks."
Zhao Yi: "She wanted me to detonate the formation, but she didn't want me to die inside. She also wanted me to stay on the river and pose a threat to you."
"Sigh, I'm quite touched. When all the other major powers in the martial arts world thought you had already established your dominance, this old lady truly understood and appreciated me."
Li Zhuiyuan: "Regret it?"
Zhao Yi: "No, it's not that. I kowtowed to another old lady first, so the dent is still there."
Li Zhuiyuan: "Grandma won't let me fill it in."
Zhao Yi squatted down and put away the ring of city wall skin.
Li Zhuiyuan stepped forward and put his arm around Zhao Yi's neck.
As he stood up, Zhao Yi said:
"None of the older generation of matriarchs were simple; their methods of winning people's hearts were truly effortless."
Haha, now I suspect that the old lady deliberately sent Uncle Qin to kill me instead of Aunt Liu.
"Hey Li, if it weren't for you, I would have had a real, very big chance."
Li Zhuiyuan remained silent.
Zhao Yi glanced back and said:
"Don't misunderstand, I'm not referring to the engagement with Miss Qin Li."
"Ok, I know."
"But if I really lose you, even if I become the Dragon King, I'll feel it's meaningless."
"Then what will you do, King Zhao Long?"
"Go to Fengdu, go to Yaochi, go to Penglai, go to Buzhou Mountain... go and see what those mythical stories are really like!"
After a busy night, I returned to the guesthouse just as dawn was breaking.
When switching back to their identities with the two puppets in the room, the two deliberately weren't careful, and Chen Jing, played by Li Zhuiyuan, left some suspicious traces.
This was intentionally designed to allow the person keeping watch to report back, reassuring the old lady of the Ming family that everything was normal and the transaction could continue.
Zhao Yi came out of the room and walked to the door of his boss, Jiang Mo.
Jiang Mo, who had just woken up after a good night's sleep, was sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling as she looked at the morning sunlight streaming into the room.
Zhao Yi knocked on the door and asked:
What will we eat this afternoon?
(End of this chapter)