Chapter 648
The Emperor Arrives in Person
Huoshan Medicinal Herb Garden is located in the north of Huoshan, occupying most of the Huoshan mountain range.
There are more than 6,000 monsters working for the medicine garden here, all under the management of 'Yun Yi', the head of the Huoshan Medicine Garden.
Yun Yi—just from his name, you can tell that he has a very close relationship with Yun Liuhua.
Indeed, this person was Yun Liuhua's younger brother. Although Huoshan Medicine Garden was located in Huoshan, it had no affiliation with Huoshan Divine Palace.
Simply put, Huoshan Herb Garden is a private property established by Yun Liuhua and the Marquis of Anlu, but it is managed by Yun Liuhua's younger brother, Yun Yi.
When Ling Feiling and Zhang Xianzong led the divine generals into the medicine garden, the monsters guarding the garden just stood there blankly, not understanding what was happening.
The Huoshan Medicinal Herb Garden is the private property of the Huoshan Mountain God, who is the son of the Southern Mountain Emperor.
Therefore, these guards guard against everyone except the gods and generals, because in their eyes, the celestial officials and generals of the Southern Continent are all "one of their own".
Especially Ling Feiling, many of the monsters here have seen this Grand Commandant of the Southern Mountain Divine Palace.
So even when more than three thousand divine generals had taken control of all the key points of the entire Huoshan herb garden, they still hadn't reacted.
They only realized what was happening when the gods started arresting people, but it was too late.
"Are you fucking idiots? Just watching them come in and arrest people?"
"What use are you to me? A bunch of useless trash!"
Yun Yi was escorted out of the mansion by a group of divine generals. He cursed as he walked, especially when he saw the guards still standing there dumbfounded, he cursed even louder.
Behind Yun Yi were his wife, children, and his trusted subordinates.
At this moment, many of the fairy guards realized what was happening and instinctively tried to fight back when they heard Yun Yi's curses.
Ling Feiling noticed this and immediately shouted, "I am ordered to search the Huoshan Herb Garden. Anyone who disobeys will be killed without mercy."
Upon hearing Ling Feiling's shout, all the guards present were startled and quickly abandoned any thoughts of resistance.
Some of the more clever fairies even put down their weapons, while others lay down on the ground to show that they meant no harm.
Seeing this, Ling Feiling asked, "Who is the leader among you?"
Upon hearing this, the demons exchanged bewildered glances. Then, one of the demons, with a pig's head and a human body, stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Reporting to the Grand Commandant, our leader is Yun Yi, who has just been captured by you."
Ling Feiling asked, "Then what are you?"
The pig demon said, "I am the patrol captain, responsible for leading the guards on patrols."
Ling Feiling said, "Alright, from now on, you and your men will cooperate with us to search the herb garden. I will give you credit for this."
Upon hearing this, the pig demon quickly replied, "Please rest assured, Grand Commandant, this humble demon will cooperate fully."
Thus, under the guidance of these herb garden guards, Ling Feiling began searching the Huoshan herb garden. With the cooperation of these guards, the search proceeded extremely smoothly.
Three hours later, Zhang Xianzong saw the list that Ling Feiling handed over.
"Sixteen Medicine King Immortals, two million nine hundred thousand purple coins, and seven hundred sets of virgin boy and girl skeletons?" Zhang Xianzong was astonished. "How come there are also sets of virgin boy and girl skeletons?"
Ling Feiling turned her gaze to the pig demon beside her. The pig demon knelt down with a thud and said, "Reporting to the two gods, it was Steward Yun who said that the flesh and blood of young boys and girls could cultivate the Medicine King at the fastest speed, so they captured a lot of young boys and girls and brought them to the medicine garden."
"Who was sent to make the arrest?" Zhang Xianzong asked.
The pig demon hurriedly said, "It wasn't us. We were only responsible for guarding the herb garden. Those boys and girls were captured by those powerful demons outside, paid by Master Yunyi."
"Damn it, they even colluded with a powerful demon to harm mortals!" Zhang Xianzong said. "Does the Huoshan Mountain God know about these things?"
The pig demon was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, then said, "I don't know about that. Lord Jun rarely comes to the herb garden; it's Lady Jun who comes most often."
"Cloudy glazed flowers?" Zhang Xianzong asked.
The pig demon nodded and said, "That's right. Madam Jun often comes to inspect the herb garden, and she personally takes charge of the disposal and sale of those herb kings and spirit immortals."
At this point, the pig demon hesitated for a moment, then added, "That...that Manager Yun Yi is Lady Jun's younger brother."
“We already know that,” Zhang Xianzong waved his hand and said, “Don’t worry, no one can protect him, and he can’t retaliate against you.”
Upon hearing Zhang Xianzong's words, the pig demon immediately breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that the higher-ups were serious this time.
"Are the old accounts still there?" Zhang Xianzong asked again.
The pig demon was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "God, what account are you referring to?"
Zhang Xianzong said, "It's the account books from when we dealt with those Medicine Kings and Immortals. The 2.97 million purple coins confiscated from Yunyi Mansion were mostly the dividends from selling those Medicine Kings and Immortals."
At this point, Zhang Xianzong looked at Ling Feiling and asked, "Yun Yi has nearly three million purple coins in dividends. What is the total amount?"
Upon hearing this, the pig demon said, "God, no matter how many accounts there are, they can't be here."
Zhang Xianzong understood. "You mean the general ledger is at the Mountain God's Mansion? Is that right?"
The pig demon shrank its neck and said, "This little demon is only guessing; this little demon doesn't know either."
Zhang Xianzong put away the account books, and then said to Ling Feiling, "Send those sixteen Medicine King Immortals, the two million nine hundred and seventy thousand purple coins, and the remains of those boys and girls to the Mountain God's Mansion."
Ling Feiling nodded, then said to the pig demon, "You will all come with me to the Mountain God's Mansion to testify. Don't worry, as long as you can testify, it will be a great achievement, and I can petition the higher authorities to forgive you."
Upon hearing this, the pig demon repeatedly kowtowed in gratitude, and then, accompanied by hundreds of demons from the herb garden and escorted by a hundred divine generals, went to the Huoshan Divine Palace.
However, when Ling Feiling and Zhang Xianzong arrived at Huoshan Divine Palace with their men and evidence, they found that the situation was somewhat different.
Before them stood the Huoshan Divine Palace, filled with layers upon layers of divine generals. Not only generals, but also the four divine banners of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise, golden scepters and axes, the banners of the Twenty-Eight Constellations and the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends, as well as the canopy, jade chariot, and precious banners.
"It seems like a very important person has arrived?" Zhang Xianzong said with a surprised look.
Ling Feiling raised her hand and pointed, and saw a huge divine flag standing above the gate of the divine palace. The flag was black with red patterns, and in the center were four large red immortal characters, "Si Tian Zhao Sheng". It was surrounded by stars and constellations.
“It’s the Great Emperor of Nanyue.” Ling Feiling said solemnly, “The Great Emperor of Nanyue has arrived.”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xianzong's gaze sharpened, and he said, "It seems that the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain has received the news."
At this moment, Ling Feiling had already stepped forward and arrived at the gate of the Divine Palace. As soon as the Divine General on duty saw Ling Feiling, he immediately bowed and said, "Grand Commandant."
"Is His Majesty here?" Ling Feiling asked.
"Yes," the divine general replied. "His Majesty and His Majesty the Empress have arrived and are taking their seats in the main hall of the Mountain God's Palace."
Ling Feiling nodded, then turned around and gave a few instructions to the divine generals, telling them to keep a close watch on the witnesses and evidence before entering the divine palace.
Seeing this, Zhang Xianzong also walked straight inside, but was stopped by the divine general at the door.
"Who are you? The Great Emperor of Nanyue is here, and no unauthorized person is allowed to trespass," the divine general shouted sternly.
Zhang Xianzong took out the golden talisman and said, "I am a general of the Jade Palace of the Mortal Realm, and this is a golden talisman bestowed by the Great Emperor of the Divine Firmament."
Upon hearing this, the divine general immediately took the golden talisman, glanced at it, and then smiled, "So you are a fellow Daoist from Zhechong Prefecture. Please come in, please come in." With that, he handed the golden talisman back.
Zhang Xianzong put away the golden talisman and entered the divine palace. At this moment, another divine general said, "Didn't Grand Commandant Chi Ling and Minister Ye already give their instructions? Why are you still stopping him?"
The divine general said, "It's nothing, I just deliberately made things difficult for him. You don't know, everyone who comes from above has a big ego."
As they were talking, they suddenly saw a young Taoist priest in green robes and a beautiful woman in white robes walking over, also heading towards the divine palace.
Two divine generals immediately reached out to stop the two, their eyes wary and sharp, saying, "This is a sacred place of the gods; unauthorized personnel are not allowed to enter."
The young Taoist asked, "Didn't you let that person in just now?" "Heh," the left-hand divine general said, "That was a divine general from the Jade Palace of the Mortal Realm. He possesses a golden talisman bestowed by the Great Emperor of the Divine Firmament. Do you have one?"
“Then I don’t.” The young Taoist shook his head and smiled, but then said, “But I am the Divine Firmament Emperor.”
In the main hall of the Huoshan Divine Palace, the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain and Empress Jingming sat side by side.
Below, Chi Ling, Ye Meicang, Ling Feiling, and An Luhou stood side by side on the main hall, while Ao Jun and the Old Ginseng King stood behind them.
"Grand Commandant Chi Ling," Empress Jingming asked with a frosty expression, looking at the corpse of Yun Liuhua lying there to the side, "where is the justice in killing Yun Liuhua without a trial?"
Chi Ling remained composed and respectful, bowing respectfully and saying, "Your Majesty, Yun Liuhua defied the law, therefore she was killed."
Empress Jingming said, "It seems your laws are even more powerful than the Emperor's decrees?"
Chi Ling said, "I dare not. How could my laws compare to the imperial edicts of the Heavenly Emperor?"
"Since you know this, why did you still kill Yun Liuhua without authorization?" Empress Jingming demanded.
Chi Ling calmly took out the golden talisman given to her by Zhuang Yan and said, "This is the edict bestowed upon me by the Great Emperor Shenxiao, granting me the power of oversight. It was with this edict that I killed Yun Liuhua."
Empress Jingming paused for a moment, then said, "Even if the Divine Emperor were here, he would have to ask the Southern Mountain Emperor first."
Chi Ling said without any politeness, "That's because my Majesty has to save face for the Emperor of Nanyue. After all, Yun Liuhua is the Emperor of Nanyue's daughter-in-law."
Chi Ling's words had a hidden meaning, and Empress Jingming frowned upon hearing them. Just as she was about to speak, the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain said, "What do you mean, 'your Great Emperor' and 'my Great Emperor'? We both serve in the Heavenly Court, why are you making such a distinction between us?"
Chi Ling paused for a moment, then cupped her hands and said, "Your Majesty is right. I misspoke."
The Great Emperor of Nanyue nodded slightly, then gestured to stop Empress Jingming from speaking. He then looked at the crowd and said, "Yun Liuhua defied the law, so you deserve to kill her. But who gave you permission to arrest the God of Huoshan without authorization?"
Upon hearing this, both Ye Meicang and Ling Feiling turned their gazes toward Chi Ling.
Chi Ling said, "Your Majesty, this is my decision. Because Huoshan Herb Garden is suspected of harming living beings and violating the Heavenly Laws, I had someone detain Marquis Anlu first."
The Great Emperor of Mount Heng said, "You yourself said it was only a suspicion. Who gave you the authority to arrest a fifth-rank celestial official of the Heavenly Court without any evidence?"
Chi Ling fell silent. At this moment, she could only put away the golden talisman bestowed upon her by Zhuang Yan, and then cupped her hands and said, "Your Majesty of Nanyue is right. What I did was inappropriate."
Although she possessed the golden talisman bestowed upon her by Zhuang Yan, arbitrarily arresting a fifth-rank celestial official of the Heavenly Court without evidence would only bring trouble to Zhuang Yan if she used the golden talisman as leverage. Therefore, she did not do so but instead admitted her mistake.
When the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain saw that he had admitted his mistake, he did not hold it against him too much. He simply nodded and said, "It is a great virtue to know one's mistakes and correct them. Even though the Great Emperor of the Divine Firmament rules the human world, as his trusted and beloved general, your actions only tarnish the Great Emperor's reputation. Do not repeat this mistake in the future."
Chi Ling took a deep breath, then bowed and said, "Your subject will humbly obey Your Majesty's teachings."
The Great Emperor of Mount Heng nodded, then asked Ling Feiling, "Grand Commandant Ling, how is the investigation of the Huoshan Herb Garden going?"
Ling Feiling immediately stepped forward and reported the situation of Huoshan Herb Garden to the Great Emperor of Nanyue. After listening, the Great Emperor of Nanyue was furious. "Grand Commandant Ling, is what you say absolutely true?"
Ling Feiling replied, "Your Majesty, it is absolutely true, and all the witnesses and evidence are complete."
The Great Emperor of Nanyue immediately said, "Bring up all the physical evidence and witnesses. I want to interrogate them personally."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Ling Feiling accepted the order and then summoned a divine general, instructing him to go outside and proclaim the decree.
At the same time, Zhang Xianzong stepped forward and presented the account books and other physical evidence to the Emperor of Nanyue. The Emperor of Nanyue only glanced at the account books in Yunyi Mansion and the management records of Huoshan Herb Garden before his face turned ashen.
Because the things recorded in this ledger alone are enough to kill Yun Yi a hundred times over.
Soon, Yun Yi's family, his confidants, the guards of the herb garden, the skeletons of the young boys and girls, and the sixteen Medicine Kings and Immortals were all brought up.
Upon hearing the confessions of the herb garden guards and hearing the mountain of bones, the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain flew into a rage, slammed his fist on the table, and roared at Marquis Anlu, "Zhu Yu! Did you know about these things?!"
Marquis Anlu trembled, his face turning pale, and said, "Father, I...I knew nothing about it."
Even Empress Jingming was speechless at this moment, staring in shock at the piles of bones of young boys and girls.
At this moment, Yun Yi met the Great Emperor of Nanyue and wanted to use his sister's connections to plead for mercy, but he soon saw Yun Liuhua's body, which was quietly lying there.
Yun Yi felt a chill run through his body in an instant, the cold penetrating to his bones. He collapsed to the ground, his mind filled with only one thought: "I'm doomed."
Soon, the Great Emperor of Nanyue noticed Yun Yi. He knew his daughter-in-law's younger brother and knew that he had been in charge of the Huoshan Herb Garden.
"Yun Yi!" the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain called out.
Yun Yi, looking terrified, lay prostrate on the ground, repeatedly replying, "Little...little is here!!"
The Great Emperor of Mount Heng pointed to the skeletons and asked, "Where did these skeletons come from?" Suddenly, his hair and beard bristled: "Tell me the truth!"
Yun Yi was so frightened that he lost control of his bladder on the spot, crying uncontrollably, his mouth agape and his tongue lolling out, unable to utter a single word.
The Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain glanced at Yun Yi, then looked at Yun Yi's family and confidants and said, "You all should also confess the truth!"
Soon, under the majesty of the Great Emperor of Nanyue, Yun Yi's family and confidants confessed one by one, revealing all the crimes committed by the Huoshan Herb Garden.
In summary, Huoshan Herb Garden committed three crimes. The first crime was the cruelty to the Medicine King and the Immortals. Knowing that they had already developed sentience and transformed into immortals, they still used them to refine pills.
The second crime was colluding with a powerful demon to harm human beings and using the flesh and blood of young boys and girls to cultivate elixirs.
The third crime was that they used large amounts of purple coins to bribe and buy off local deities as a cover.
Then the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain questioned the sixteen Medicine Kings and Spirit Immortals who had been rescued, but they had been kept in captivity since they took human form, resulting in very low intelligence and wisdom, so he could not get much information out of them.
Finally, the Great Emperor of the Southern Peak ordered someone to arrange a fine residence in the Divine Palace, and then sent the Old Ginseng King to take these Medicine Kings and Immortals down to settle them in.
"Old Ginseng King, these medicinal immortals are entrusted to your care. I will also assign you ten divine generals. You must take good care of them. Rest assured, as the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain, I will certainly give you justice," the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain said to the Old Ginseng King.
Upon hearing this, the old ginseng king immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "This humble immortal accepts the decree and thanks Your Majesty for your mercy!"
After saying this, the old ginseng king got up and, together with the ten divine generals appointed by the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain, led the sixteen medicine kings and immortals down.
Then the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain pointed at Yun Yi's family and more than twenty of his confidants and said, "Take Yun Yi and the others away and lock them up to await sentencing."
Immediately, a group of divine generals stepped forward and took Yun Yi and the other twenty-four people away.
Before being taken away, Yun Yi kept shouting, "Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me! Marquis of Anlu, brother-in-law! Please spare me this time for the sake of my sister!"
As Yun Yi was led away, the Great Emperor of Nanyue turned his gaze to Marquis Anlu below, "Zhu Yu, I'll ask you one more time, do you know anything about the Huoshan Herb Garden?"
Marquis Anlu was startled upon hearing this, and then hurriedly said, "I know nothing about it! I know absolutely nothing about it! The Huoshan Herb Garden has always been managed by Liuhua, and I have not been involved at all."
Empress Jingming opened her mouth and said, "Your Majesty."
But before she could speak, the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain stopped her, saying, "Don't speak."
Empress Jingming could only swallow her words. Then, the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain said, "Grand Commandant Ling, immediately lead men to search inside and outside the Huoshan Divine Palace. Do not overlook any clues."
Upon hearing this, Ling Feiling immediately bowed and said, "Your subject obeys the decree."
Watching Ling Feiling walk out of the main hall, the Great Emperor of Nanyue looked at his son, Marquis Anlu, again and said, word by word, "I'm giving you one more chance. Do you know the truth or not?! Tell me the truth!"
At this moment, the divine might of the Great Emperor of the Southern Peak was dazzling and evident. Not to mention Marquis Anlu, who was already under great pressure, even Chi Ling and Ye Meicang below felt the awe-inspiring power emanating from the Great Emperor of the Southern Peak.
Faced with such overwhelming power, Marquis Anlu, whose emotions had been fluctuating and was on the verge of exploding under pressure, finally broke down. He collapsed to the ground in an instant, then rose with a look of fear and panic, kowtowing and saying, "Father, please forgive me, I know I was wrong, I will never dare to do it again!!"
Empress Jingming closed her eyes, her divine robes trembling slightly, even the gold and jade ornaments on her head were shaking. These few words from Marquis Anlu had already sealed his guilt.
Ye Meicang sighed inwardly, his gaze fixed on the extremely ugly face of the Southern Mountain Emperor above. His mind raced as he considered how to proceed.
Chi Ling frowned, her heart filled with doubt and uncertainty. This was not what she had expected. Shouldn't the arrival of the Southern Mountain Emperor and his wife be to protect Marquis Lu? How could things have developed so completely differently from what she had anticipated? (End of Chapter)