Who on earth had the guts to pull off a stunt like that?
Who in the Upper Three Realms didn’t know that the Four Directions Palace belonged to Great Emperor Bi’an, and that he treated all his “highnesses” as if they were his own sons and daughters?
The Third Highness had disappeared without a trace. He’d almost certainly been kidnapped.
This….
This was tantamount to declaring war on the entire Four Directions Palace!
He thought back to when he’d just arrived at the Xue Family estate. Great Emperor Xue Yang and the Hermit Emperor had been discussing something. Odds were, this was the very matter they’d been discussing.
Ye Zichen knit his brows and sunk into silence, then tapped out a response. “Do you have any sense of the specific situation?”
“It happened too suddenly, and our Upheaval Alliance doesn’t have the fastest information network. However, since we’re based relatively close to the ruins of Spirit City, when we heard that the troops of the Four Directions had their souls suċkėd out and died miserable deaths, Jingwan immediately led a few Outsider rulers over to investigate,” said Xiao Yumei.
“Zhou Wu hasn’t made any movements, has he?” asked Ye Zichen.
“The God Emperor’s Estate is carrying on just as before. They’ve made no moves against either the Upheaval Alliance or Lady Providence’s Profound Pavilion.”
“Is there any word from Yang Jian?”
“……” Xiao Yumei just sent over a series of ellipses. “You’ll know if you look at the chat group. He hasn’t been active at all lately.”
They’d heard nothing from Yang Jian since he ran into Bai Haoyu in the Lightning Emperor’s Estate.
He hasn’t run into unexpected trouble, has he?
Ye Zichen knit his brows. He scrolled through his chats and found his private chat with Yang Jian. He stared at the empty message box, hesitating for quite some time. He wanted to contact him, but he was afraid. What if I send the message and the notification alerts someone to Yang Jian’s cell phone?
But I won’t be able to rest easy if I don’t send a message, either!
Ye Zichen hesitated for a while, but in the end, he put his phone away. He’d have to settle all this after returning to Heavenly God City.
Ding!
Ye Zichen’s phone suddenly buzzed. This time, the message wasn’t from Xiao Yumei, but was rather from their group chat. “Invincible Adorable Beauty” had sent a video clip.
“Look! The dead are walking!”
Ye Zichen furrowed his brows, then clicked on the video. In it, Spirit City already looked like hell on earth. Clouds of purple and yellow death qi hovered in the sky. There were no more people living here, only walking corpses roaming the streets.
It seemed Ye Zichen would have to pay a visit himself.
He closed the group chat, found the Great Sage’s name in his contacts, and sent him a message. “You stay here and build up a good relationship with your future father-in-law. I’m going to pay a quick visit to Spirit City. No need to worry!”
As soon as he sent the message, he put away his phone. The Sea of Innocence had a transmission array leading to Heavenly God City, and he rushed right over.
…
Spirit City!
The Bai Family patriarch’s self-destruction had destroyed over half the city. If it were just a matter of property damage, it’d be a minor issue; given the abilities of the God Realm’s workmen, rebuilding a ruined city was just a matter of resources and manpower. With enough of both, they could repair the city, good as new, in just two weeks.
However, because of his self-destruction, far, far too many people had died. Their ranks included both the Bai Family itself, as well as the former inhabitants of Spirit City.
The dead included both earth supremes and rulers; none survived.
All of them had died violently, and their lingering resentment was profound indeed. The few survivors couldn’t remain in such an environment, so they’d chosen to flee to other cities.
“Your Majesty, we’ve confirmed the identities of the transformed corpses below,” said a Four Directions Palace scout.
Bi’an looked at him, his expression grave. “Say it. No one here is an outsider.”
“The corpses ought to be Bai clansmen or Spirit City civilians,” said the scout.
“‘Ought’? I want a clear answer!” Bi’an furrowed his bows.
“I’m certain that they’re Bai clansmen and citizens of Spirit City,” said the scout through gnashed teeth. He pulled a torn strip of cloth from his pocket and said, “I took this from a walking corpse’s robes. It bears the Bai Family’s emblem.”
Boom!
Bi’an’s divine power surged forth, so overpowering that the scout instantly flung himself to the ground.
“Enough. There’s no more need for you here, so be on your way.” Great Emperor Chao Feng walked over, then waved the scout off. He looked down at the walking corpses, then glanced pointedly at Bi’an. “Your people aren’t as obedient as I imagined!”
After the Bai Family’s demise, the Four Direction Palace had stayed behind to clean up. They’d been told to give the dead a proper burial, but from the look of things, they’d carried out this sacred duty with the utmost sloppiness.
A proper burial?
It seemed they’d “properly” filled their pockets!
“I’m afraid that if they’d merely ignored the dead and left them where they were, it wouldn’t have ended up this bad,” said Xuan Ji. “It seems your people dealt with the corpses without the slightest care or caution, and furthermore, that they touched something they shouldn’t have!”
“Go down and search for me! Find the source of the corpses’ transformation, and see if they still have their possessions on them.”
Once he gave his orders, the scout rushed off. Bi’an’s expression was so taut and so sour, he looked like he might burst.
A full hour passed before the scout returned. “Reporting to His Majesty, there’s a mass burial pit three hundred miles ahead. It seems to be the site of the corpses’ initial transformation. Quite a few of the dead were burnt; nothing remains of them but bones. However, I didn’t find any corpses that still had their former possessions.”
“Bring the dead Four Directions Palace members over too.”
Before long, the scout returned with Bi’an’s already soulless subordinates. Bi’an solemnly summoned their spatial rings, then summoned his Hidden Dragon Sword and viciously hacked into the rings.
The rings immediately shattered on impact, and countless divine artifacts, medicines, and talismans rained down.
There were so many resources accumulated in the rings, even he couldn’t help but widen his eyes. He didn’t even need to think about it; someone had clearly looted the corpses to obtain all these treasures.
He’d clearly and repeatedly ordered his Third Highness to give the dead a proper, respectful burial specifically to prevent their lingering resentment from accumulating.
But it seemed his Third Highness had ignored him. He’d even done the one thing he really, truly shouldn’t have!
“Looting the corpses of the dead? Ol’ Seven, you sure know how to teach ‘em!” Chao Feng snorted.
He wasn’t saying this just to make fun of his brother; the Third Highness’ behavior had crossed Great Emperor Chao Feng’s bottom line. The other emperors felt the same way. If the Third Highness hadn’t gone so overboard, Spirit City wouldn’t have wound up like this.
“Your Majesty, how should we handle the walking corpses?”
“Kill them all!”
