Chapter 483 - The Terrifying Li Yuan, Crushing the Immortal Envoy - Part 2

Two days later.

After some trial and error, Li Yuan figured it out.

The power of the Ghost Hand was, in fact, a fragment of the carpenter ghost’s abilities, specifically, the power to

open doors

..

He vaguely recalled back when Pang Yuanhua had been cursed by the carpenter ghost. Every door he opened led to that haunted workshop.

Back then, he had no idea. He’d simply lifted a curtain to board a carriage and suddenly found himself inside that very same workshop. If not for his quick reaction, he wouldn’t have escaped.

But now, that power belonged to him.

And unlike the carpenter ghost, who could only use it passively, Li Yuan could wield it

actively

.

The ability itself wasn’t overly complicated.

By placing one ghost hand on the ground, he could see every door within roughly a county’s range. If he was inside an enclosed space, he could

target

a specific door, making it open directly into wherever he was.

He could also mark a specific person, and the next time

they

entered any door, it would lead straight to

him

. Or, if he wanted, he could reach out through the back of a door, though only with the ghost hand. Not with his Immortal Form avatar or any of its limbs.

Li Yuan mulled over the implications. It was...hard to call this power

strong

. No, for a third rank, it was laughably weak.

At the very least, that ghost hand of his, the one that could flick a forehead from behind a door, wasn’t strong enough to injure even a fifth rank martial artist.

And yet in terms of stealth, this ability was remarkably effective.

Of course, that stealthiness only applied to one specific use case. If

he

was inside an enclosed space, he could silently mark a door, and the next time it opened, it would connect directly to his location.

That kind of mark required barely a trace of Yin energy. So little, in fact, that even third rank martial artists wouldn’t notice it. At least, Li Yuan himself had only sensed the energy when he was fully focused and already aware that he’d activated it.

There was another use for the power. He could mark a

person

, and the next time they walked through any door, it would automatically lead them to him.

But that version? Even fifth rank martial artists would sense something was off, let alone third rank. It was like trying to sneak up on someone while banging cymbals.

The next day, the carriage passed a grove of peach trees in full bloom, their soft pink blossoms fluttering in the breeze.

Xie Yu tilted her head, gazing longingly up the slope where the grove stretched.

Li Yuan followed her gaze.

“Want to stay there for a while?” he asked casually. “There’s a stream nearby. Easy enough to get supplies and everything.”

“How’s it easy?” she asked, a little puzzled.

He lifted a hand. “This hand may not hold a blade anymore...but it can still go shopping.”

As he spoke, his hands transformed into ghost hands right before her eyes. His left hand pressed to the ground. His right hand clutched a few taels of silver and reached into empty air.

A moment later, it reappeared no longer holding silver, but a slab of bloody, freshly cut pork ribs.

Xie Yu stared in stunned silence.

Li Yuan quickly retracted the ghost hands, worried the sight might disturb her.

“I checked earlier,” he said, “This place might look wild, but there’s a small town not far from here. I got that meat from the butcher there.”

He gave a sheepish chuckle.

But before he could say more, Xie Yu clapped her hands with delight. “Gucheng... That’s amazing! Blade or no blade, you’ll always be dashing in my eyes.”

Her eyes curved into crescents, and her smile bloomed like the peach blossoms behind her.

Then she skipped over to the ribs. After a brief pause, likely remembering how squeamish she used to be, she grabbed them with both hands and carried them over to the iron pot they’d brought along.

All the way here, her once-obsessive cleanliness had gradually faded.

Still, she hesitated a moment, then asked, “Gucheng, aren’t you worried this kind of ability might attract attention? The authorities are really cracking down on the Immortal Worship Cult and Lotus Cult. If someone at the market sees something strange like this, they’re bound to report it, and then—”

Li Yuan cut in softly, “It’s alright. I’m here.”

That same day, the two of them set up camp in the peach grove, right beside the stream.

When night fell and Xie Yu curled up to sleep peacefully, Li Yuan quietly rose and stepped out into the cool air. He made his way to a small cave nearby. There, he reshaped his appearance into that of a slightly chubby wandering swordsman. Then, with a shimmer, he summoned the ghost hands again, placing the left on the ground.

Dozens of ghostly doors shimmered into view.

Some belonged to nearby caves. Others led to homes in distant towns and counties.

He could see what was happening behind those doors. The lives unfolding behind them. The people coming and going.

Suddenly, something caught his eye.

He pointed lightly at one of the doors.

Someone was just about to enter. It was a man, smiling and refined, with a glazed jade blade hanging from his belt. But the moment he turned his back to the crowd, that cheerful face turned cold and expressionless.

The man pushed the door open and stepped inside.

And then—

His eyes flew wide open in shock. Because what greeted him beyond the door wasn’t the place he’d expected at all. It was a strange, unsettling cave cloaked in darkness.

The stone walls were cold and jagged, and against one of them leaned a shadowy figure, pitch-black and motionless.

Moonlight spilled down from the mountain outside, but the figure stood bathed in darkness, cloaked in something far colder than night, a presence that oozed eerie menace.

The man who had just stepped through the door was none other than Peng Mi, the former vice cult leader of the Black Lotus Cult. He had journeyed a long way from Hidden River to Stellar Sea Province, skirted the coast of Harmony Province, and finally arrived in Swallowcloud Province.

But his destination had never been Red Cloud Mountain in Swallowcloud Province, as he’d claimed.

That was a lie, a clever one. He had fed it to Li Yuan and then gritted his teeth, using his own high purity fourth rank blood essence to wash away the mark of the thousand-mile thread left on Bai Mei’er, scrubbing it clean several times over.

As a former higher-up of the Black Lotus Cult, Peng Mi didn’t dare trust this strange and powerful newcomer so easily. And he certainly wouldn’t have led such a mysterious figure straight into the cult’s final refuge at the heart of enemy territory.

Unfortunately for him, Li Yuan had secretly marked another Red Lotus Cult disciple.

And that was how Li Yuan had still managed to find him.

Eventually, the two had established contact.

Peng Mi came to believe genuinely that this

senior

wasn’t affiliated with the Court of Judges at all. He had bowed repeatedly, apologizing profusely, and then willingly offered his services.

All of this spying, infiltration, and manipulation was just part of what Li Yuan had been quietly handling while in Swallowcloud Province.

And now, the reason he had driven that carriage to the middle of nowhere and settled in the nearby wilderness wasn’t as aimless as it seemed. Because just down the hill sat a sleepy little town.

Bloomtown, the final sanctuary of the Lotus Cult.

Li Yuan had fetched those pork ribs from this very town. And that was why he wasn’t the least bit worried about anyone from the authorities investigating it for harboring Lotus Cult remnants.

Because everyone in this town

was

a Lotus Cult remnant.

“Senior...” Peng Mi, stunned for only a heartbeat, quickly dropped to his knees in reverence.

To him, this

senior

had already become an unfathomable existence, deep and terrifying as the abyss.

Shrouded in shadow, Li Yuan’s face was unreadable. His voice was calm and cold. “The matter I asked you to investigate. What did you find?”

Peng Mi took a moment to steady himself before answering.

“Your judgment was correct. The cult leader of the Green Lotus Cult, Ying Zhuoyao, is in fact the jade husk of Ghost Lake, that forbidden ghost domain in Swallowcloud Province.

“I attended a secret gathering where she openly admitted it. She said her goal was to help Ghost Lake devour as many lesser ghost domains across Swallowcloud Province as possible, to create a more fertile meat field, and in turn fuel the revival of the Lotus Cult.

“Lately, there have indeed been strange changes in the ghost domains around Swallowcloud Province. I can feel it. The Ghost Lake is swallowing the smaller ones. And it’s already caused some very odd and disturbing shifts.”

“...” Li Yuan remained silent, slightly surprised that his guess had been on the mark.

His logic had been simple. The Lotus Cult wouldn’t randomly pick a location for its last stronghold. There had to be some connection to one of their top figures.

Ruling out the already-dead Peng Chao, the missing Peng Mingyi, and the mysterious Bai Lianjue, the only candidate left was Ying Zhuoyao—who, by process of elimination, was most likely a jade husk.

And that would mean she was connected to the forbidden ghost domain of Swallowcloud Province.

He closed his eyes for a moment and asked, “Anyone unusual show up in town recently?”

Peng Mi hesitated, then nodded gravely. “Yes. They’re powerful. Absurdly powerful. After they arrived, they approached us with a... sort of half-alliance, half-takeover attitude. It’s an alliance because they also want to help Ghost Lake devour the ghost domains of Swallowcloud Province. But it’s a takeover because their strength makes resistance impossible.”

Li Yuan asked, “How many of them?”

Peng Mi thought for a moment. “Three or four, I think...but I’ve only seen three.”

“What kind of people?” Li Yuan pressed.

Peng Mi answered, “Two of them wear red robes. They can wield their domains with ease, probably both fourth rank, but far stronger than me. I could feel it; they could kill me without lifting a finger. And the other one...”

He hesitated, then gritted his teeth. “The other one calls himself Wei Huosheng. He wears crimson armor and carries a massive sword that looks like...like a black chimney. It’s bizarre. He’s terrifying.

“Doesn’t bother hiding his presence either. But it’s the way he

looks

at people, so cold and indifferent. Even when he glances at us, it’s not like he’s seeing people. It’s like...we’re insects. I know we’re just ants in his eyes. That’s why he’s so aloof and so careless. I suspect...he’s from a

transcendent power

.”

Wei Huosheng?

Li Yuan’s eyes narrowed. Reverse that name and it became

Shenghuo

, Sacred Fire. It was just like how the name of the Revival Tree God, Su Mushen, was an anagram for

Holy Tree

.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Sacred Fire and Holy Tree, they corresponded exactly to two of the Five Elements Alliance.

They’re not even trying to hide it, huh?

Li Yuan paused for a moment, then asked directly, “Where is Wei Huosheng staying?”

He’d already pieced together that the three envoys from the Eastern Sea’s Immortal Domain were stationed in Hidden River, Swallowcloud, and the Jade Capital.

He would need to head to the Jade Capital eventually. It was the center of everything, after all. But before he did that, he wanted to try his hand against one of these so-called envoys.

He had no intention of undermining Yan Yu’s faction, so Wei Huosheng was the obvious target.

Peng Mi looked startled. “Senior, are you planning to—?”

“Don’t panic,” Li Yuan said coolly. “Just helping you rise a little higher.”

Then he added a very simple question, “Would you rather have Wei Huosheng backing the Lotus Cult, or me?”

Peng Mi’s pupils began to shine. A second later, his face lit up with wild joy. “You, of course! You, absolutely! A thousand times you!”

Li Yuan nodded. “Take me to him.”

“He’s not exactly easy to pin down,” Peng Mi replied. “I know

where

he might show up...but not

when

.”

“I’ll wait,” Li Yuan said. With that, he waved a hand. “Go back.”

Peng Mi looked behind him. The place was completely unfamiliar, some random wilderness far from anywhere he recognized, but he dared not complain. He simply nodded and turned toward the cave entrance.

Then a voice echoed behind him once more.

“Don’t keep me waiting too long. I’ve already scattered the bait. All you need to do... is make sure they bite.”

“Bait...?” Peng Mi turned, stunned.

But he was no fool. He had once been the vice cult leader of the Black Lotus Cult. Now with no tigers in the mountains, he was the so-called monkey proclaiming king..

A moment of thought, and he recalled some strange things that had happened earlier that day in town, a butcher shouting about missing pork ribs, yet finding some silver left behind; and a soap vendor missing a bundle of soapberries, money left neatly beside the stall, despite no one seeing another soul nearby.

He hadn’t paid those events any mind at the time. But now—

Li Yuan’s voice rang out again.

“In the neighboring town of Prospero, a bailiff reported encountering a ghost. If someone investigates, they’ll find the exact same pattern.”

“I understand now,” Peng Mi said solemnly.

He turned once more, bowed deeply, then stepped out of the cave.

Since this senior hadn’t told him

where

this place was, he’d have to figure out the road back on his own.

But to Peng Mi’s surprise, the moment he stepped out of the cave, he found himself right back in front of the door he’d entered through.

His heart jolted. After a stunned pause, he opened the door again.

This time, there was no eerie cave on the other side, just the familiar sight of his own home.

“Gods fighting gods...” Peng Mi took a deep breath, whispering to himself. The world felt more terrifying with each passing day. But at least one of those gods stood behind him.

Somewhere else, Li Yuan stretched and yawned as he stood up.

Pulling the strings behind the Lotus Cult? That had just been a bit of fun, something to toy with Peng Mi’s mind.

What, was he seriously going to shoulder that burden? Get saddled with that mess of karma for no reason? What was he supposed to do, become the official shadow boss of the cult, secretly slaving away, raising their next generation like some glorified babysitter?

No thanks.

The Lotus Cult was just a chess piece. A tool. Others had done the same before. Others were

still

doing it. So if monks get to play this game...why shouldn’t he?

Cruel, yes. But that was reality.

At most, he’d handle things a little more humanely than those other puppeteers.

Of course, that level of callousness was reserved for strangers. Not family.