Chapter 384: When Man And Ghost Schemes
Jiang Chongshan was, of course, Ye Qing.
From the moment he extracted everything Hu Fengsan knew about the Chaos Heaven Brigands, the plan to pit the Ghost Tower against them had occurred to him.
To put it simply, he was going to make his pursuers and the Chaos Heaven Brigand fight each other, ideally to the death. He would watch from the sidelines to ensure that everything went to plan.
Of course, it was simpler said than done. To begin with, how could he pit his enemies against one another when they shared no grudge with each other?
So, Ye Qing infiltrated the Chaos Heaven Mountain and assassinated the real Jiang Chongshan while he was alone. Then, he took on his appearance and pretended to be Jiang Chongshan.
As for why he chose Jiang Chongshan, it was because the man was one of the Eight Vajrapanis of Chen Ah Sheng, the Patrolling Vajrapani. He possessed the authority to go wherever he pleased in Chaos Heaven Mountain, and he was unlikely to draw Corpse Child’s attention.
When Corpse Child and his troops had ascended the mountain, Ye Qing immediately ordered his men to clash against them. The goal was to create bloodshed and make it so that there was no chance that the two sides could arrive at a peaceful accord. The good thing about pretending to be Jiang Chongshan was that he could order the Chaos Heaven Brigand’s soldiers around as he pleased. Besides that, Chen Ah Sheng had no reason to question his words.
He was going to trigger the explosive talismans he had buried in the granary and treasury when Chen Ah Sheng and Corpse Child were conversing with each other, but to his utmost delight, their dialogue somehow coincided with one another even though they were talking about completely different things. This allowed him to trigger the talismans after Corpse Child declared his intention to kill Chen Ah Sheng, making it seemed like the sabotage was done by Corpse Child, and pretend to die right before Chen Ah Sheng’s eyes.
This ensured that Chen Ah Sheng would fly into a rage and attack Corpse Child, and once the fight began, there was no stopping until one side had perished. It didn’t matter who lived or died because whoever survived would think that he was already “dead” and forget about him completely, hence freeing him from his crisis. At the same time, he would be able to eliminate a threat to the people, effectively killing two birds with one stone.
“Who are you?” Corpse Child asked coldly.
“You’re going to die anyway. What’s the point of telling you anything?” Ye Qing smirked.
“You think you can kill me?” Corpse Child scoffed.
“You think I can’t? You were grievously wounded in your battle against Chen Ah Sheng, and without your corpse fluid, you cannot revive. Forget me, even that weakling over there could kill you,” Ye Qing said while pointing at the Heartless Brain.
The Heartless Brain: “...” It’s the truth, but I still feel insulted.
“You told him?” Corpse Child turned to look at the Heartless Brain.
The Stranger chuckled deviously. “But of course! Your innate magic is a secret to most, but I know exactly how it works. You can use it to kill your enemies and revive yourself. So long as there is a drop of corpse fluid on the battlefield, you are technically unkillable.”
“That is why the only way to kill you is to take out the corpse fluid first. Once done, you are no different from a tiger who was defanged. You might look scary on the outside, but anyone can finish you off in your current state. Am I right, little Corpse Child?”
“When did you start colluding with one another?” Corpse Child asked after a short silence.
“Collude? Well said. It makes me sound like a bad guy, and I love being the bad guy.” Ye Qing rubbed his palms together. “But unlike most villains, I’m aware of the folly of excessive monologues, so I’m not going to tell you shit.”
As soon as he finished, Ye Qing’s figure melted away like a mirage. Corpse Child’s instincts warned him of grave danger, but all he only managed to do given the time he had was to tilt his head sideways. The next moment, bits of red light blew past him like the spring wind and fine rain. Corpse Child’s body immediately split into perfectly identical blocks like tofu carved by a master chef.
Not done yet, Ye Qing punched down toward the little blocks that was Corpse Child. Like a millstone, his astral qi spun rapidly and ground the little blocks into paste. Then, the heat burned most of it into ash.
The remaining meat paste dissolved into corpse fluid and tried to seep into the ground again, but how could the ploy work when it had already failed once? Before the corpse fluid could go anywhere, Ye Qing plunged his arm into the earth and enclosed the area with his energy. Then, he sucked in a deep breath and pulled so hard that veins were bulging on his arm. It looked like he was lifting a mountain.
Buzz...
When Ye Qing’s hand finally left the earth completely, he was holding a tiny pool of corpse fluid in his hand. No matter how much the Corpse Fluid bounced around, it was unable to break free from Ye Qing’s grasp.
“You may kill me, but you won’t escape us,” said Corpse Child as his face emerged from the corpse fluid. Although he was glaring at Ye Qing, his expression remained calm. “My foster father is the master of the Ghost Tower and one of the Six Ghost Gods of Fengdu. Specifically, he is the master of the Grand Fiend Abode of Forgiveness. If you kill me, you will die.”
The Six Ghost Gods?” Ye Qing frowned a little. Nicknamed the Six Heavens of Luofeng, the so-called Six Ghost Gods possessed the power to judge the life, death, fortunes and tragedies that happened in the human world. Together, they ruled over the Tyrant Extinction Abode of Absolute Yin, the Grand Fiend Abode of Forgiveness, the Bright Star Abode of Resistance, the Illuminating Abode of Sin, the Sect Spirit Abode of Seven Wrongs, and the Daring Charge Abode of The Cojoined.
They were revered in the Fengdu and on par with the Ghost Kings of Five Directions and King Yans of Ten Halls. They definitely counted as a bigshot in Fengdu. Ye Qing had no idea that the master of Fengdu was this powerful.
“You want to live, and I don’t want to die either.”
Sensing Ye Qing’s hesitation, Corpse Child persuaded, “If you let me go, I can shift the blame onto the Chaos Heaven Brigand and absolve you from all responsibilities. I promise I wouldn’t come after you, and it would be like we have never known each other. What do you say?”
Ye Qing frowned as he mulled over the possibility.
“Don’t listen to his lies. The Ghost Tower’s master is not one of the Six Ghost Gods, he’s just a concubine of the nominal head of the Grand Fiend Abode of Forgiveness; a bitch. The guy is a useless coward who only knows how to use his connections to intimidate people. You have nothing to worry about while I’m still around.”
“Also, Corpse Child is a devious, cunning bastard who lies as easily as he breathes. You mustn’t believe a word that comes out of his mouth. If you let him go today, I swear on my soul that he would murder your whole family tomorrow. Stop dragging this out and kill him already.”
“Silence! You’re just a ghost my Ghost Tower raised, and you’ve yourself to be an oathbreaker and a backstabber by turning against me. It’s clear who’s the one who’s the untrustworthy one between the two of us.”
Corpse Child grunted before saying calmly, “It’s not easy to differentiate between truth and falsehood, risk and reward. Is it better to make an enemy out of my foster father, or is it better that we stay out of each other’s business from now on? I urge you to take your time to consider it all.”
Pop!
As soon as Corpse Child finished, Ye Qing clenched his fist and summoned the Netherflame. The corpse fluid that was the Stranger’s true body immediately bubbled like boiling water.
“Why?!” Corpse Child snarled in horror and shock. He had made it clear which path was better for Ye Qing, so why on earth would he choose the one that was obviously worse?
“It’s nothing. I just don’t like entrusting my fate to others is all,” Ye Qing said indifferently.
Just as the Heartless Brain said, if he chose to believe Corpse Child’s words and set him free, then the Stranger would be completely out of his control. It would be the same as handing Corpse Child his ability to choose and his life. If Corpse Child kept his promise, then he would be safe and sound. But if Corpse Child went back on his promise, then he would regret everything. He had no intention of gambling his life away.
On the other hand, the Heartless Brain was in the same boat as Ye Qing was. He could be lying through his ass, but he was an element he could control. If the worst comes to the worst, then he could simply kill the Heartless Brain and find another way. The same couldn’t be said for Corpse Child.
Besides, from the tidbits he heard about Corpse Child’s foster father, there was a good chance the guy wouldn’t realize that his adopted son was dead until it was too late.
“You will regret this!” Corpse Child roared his last words knowing that Ye Qing wouldn’t change his mind.
Ye Qing clenched his fist harder, and the Stranger finally burned into ash.
While the Heartless Brain wasn’t paying attention, Ye Qing turned around and quickly checked the Annon Sutra. He let out a sigh of relief only when he saw that a golden dragon-serpent rune had appeared on its surface. This proved that Corpse Child was well and truly dead.
“Well done, lad! I knew that you’re a smart man!” The Heartless Brain didn’t notice what Ye Qing was doing. He was too busy celebrating Corpse Child’s death.
The next moment, the Stranger abruptly flew backward and slammed into a cliffside like a broken kite. Right after he let out a gasp of pain, Ye Qing appeared in front of him, grabbed his throat, and slammed him even deeper into the cliffside. Stones rained down from above as the cliff shuddered unsteadily.
“L-Lad? What is the meaning of this? I just saved your life! Even if you’re going to turn on me, don’t you think this is a little too soon?” The Heartless Brain cried out in pain and confusion.
It looked like he had suffered quite a huge injury, but in reality Ye Qing had taken care to control his strength. Otherwise, he would be dead already. His body was that feeble.
It still hurt like a bitch though.
“Save me? If you hadn't forced me to show myself, I would be free already. But because of you, I may have a bigger, badder enemy I have to watch out for in the future!” Ye Qing uttered frigidly.
In fact, his plan only went as far as faking his death and running away. He wasn’t planning on ending all of his enemies here because it was unrealistic and risky. Unfortunately, the Heartless Brain saw through Ye Qing’s scheme and proposed that they worked together to free him from Corpse Child’s control. Otherwise, he would expose Ye Qing’s ploy prematurely and cause his death.
He didn’t want to agree to the plan, and he had been looking for an opportunity to end the Heartless Brain while Corpse Child and his troops were battling against Chen Ah Sheng. Unfortunately, Corpse Child’s attention never left the Heartless Brain even once throughout the battle. Had he acted, it would ruin everything. Left with no choice, he agreed to the Heartless Brain’s plan.
That was why the Heartless Brain’s claim that he had helped him was complete bullshit. It was the other way around, not to mention that it wasn’t voluntary. The Heartless Brain should be thankful that he hadn’t crushed his throat yet.
“Calm down, lad!” The Heartless Brain shook his head left and right with a grimace. “Hehe, you don’t think that Corpse Child is that stupid, do you? Do you think you can escape just by faking your death? Remember, some humans may turn into ghosts after they die. Considering how many people died here, there is no way Corpse Child would let such them go to waste. What do you think will happen when he interrogates a ghost, and he discovers the truth? Your plan was always doomed to fail.”
“Do you see how I saved your life now?”
Ye Qing sneered but said nothing. While he had to admit that the Heartless Brain had a point—that was one thing he had missed while coming up with this plan—it was no excuse for the Heartless Brain to threaten him.
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