Chapter 1818: Truth of the Past
“What in the world?!”
The others were stupefied. They had just watched as the Ghost King was subdued by Immortal Ruler Baopu! Why was there another Ghost King?
Yan Xuehen quickly flew over to Zu An’s side and began, “Do you remember when I told you I was going to look into that highest-level bounty placed on you in the Adventurer’s Guild? Even though I haven’t spent that much time in the Adventurer’s Guild, I know that the missions are a.s.signed extremely strictly. Furthermore, highest-level orders are rarely seen, but this one practically came out of thin air.
“I sensed that something wasn’t quite right, so I investigated in secret. The more I investigated, the more shocking information I discovered. The order was actually placed by the Ghost King, but the Adventurer’s Guild has no reason to listen to the Ghost King. So I took a look at the doc.u.ments of the case and saw that the Ghost King had never contacted the Adventurer’s Guild. Instead, the guild leader had directly issued an order.
“Along the way, I discovered by chance that there seemed to be something wrong with Zang Ao’s body. He had to carry out some kind of special technique every night. Since this matter was related to you, I had to look into it. Then, I witnessed the Ghost King emerging from his body.”
Yan Xuehen quickly explained the course of events with an alarmed expression. She had clearly been shaken up when she saw that event play out.
Jing Teng couldn"t help but give her a look.
This woman actually took such a huge risk for big brother Zu! Their relationship is definitely special. Why did Qiu Honglei say it was impossible for there to be anything between them?
These other women all seem pretty sharp, and yet they don’t seem to have noticed it either.
Just then, loud cracks echoed through the tomb. Zang Ao’s body completely split apart, and a giant mouth emerged from the bones on his back. Endless black mist and skulls rushed out from that opening to form a ghostly face. The Ghost King said, “Hmph, I didn’t expect you to actually be in cahoots. Letting you join the guild was a mistake.”
Zu An and the others looked at the empty sh.e.l.l of Zang Ao on the ground. There wasn’t a trace of any flesh or internal organs left. They felt their blood run cold. They finally understood why even though Sun En had examined the corpse, he had determined that Zang Ao was dead and was fooled.
It turned out this guy was the Ghost King, and the Ghost King didn’t have life energy to begin with. That was why Sun En couldn"t detect anything and had made a fatal mistake.
“Stone cold woman, how were you able to escape from his clutches?” Yun Jianyue asked in surprise. Yan Xuehen’s cultivation was almost equal to her own. After seeing how strong the Ghost King was, however, she didn’t believe she would be able to get away.
Before Yan Xuehen replied, the giant face couldn"t help but look around, remarking, “That old man from before isn’t here anymore…” There seemed to be a hint of fear in his voice.
Yan Xuehen replied, “He is right outside. He will be here soon after exchanging a few words with an old friend.”
The Ghost King laughed and replied, “Hahaha, weak woman, are you trying to swindle me? If that person had really come, how could he feel rea.s.sured sending you here alone to your death?”
Yan Xuehen sighed. As expected, she wasn’t good at telling lies. She could only explain to Zu An and the others, “When he discovered me, I fled frantically for my life. However, he was too strong. Right when I was in a moment of despair, I suddenly ran into the libationer.”
“The libationer?” Zu An and the others exclaimed in surprise. They had almost forgotten about that old man.
Back then, he had fallen into this world alongside Zhao Han. Since Zhao Han was still here, he naturally had to have entered this world. Their group had encountered too many powerful beings, but those were almost all enemies. Now they finally had a big shot they could rely on.
“Unfortunately, he ran into Zhao Han outside the tomb,” Yan Xuehen said, explaining what just happened to them worriedly. She had been talking about bringing reinforcements to help the libationer, but now, it seemed they were also going to die here.
“That b.a.s.t.a.r.d Zhao Han really is a s.h.i.t-stirrer. Why the h.e.l.l is he everywhere?” Zu An exclaimed, stunned.
The G.o.ddesses around him had strange expressions. Even though they were on different sides, they still felt a bit of respect toward Zhao Han. That was because he was just too strong, and he had already been the most powerful man in the world for too long. However, now that they heard Zu An curse him like this, they didn’t find it too offputting.
The Ghost King chuckled and said, “It seems that old man won’t be able to come here for quite some time. Who else can you rely on now?”
Jing Teng asked seriously, “When did you take over Zang Ao’s body? Or was Zang Ao you the entire time?”
“You don’t need to worry too much. This king doesn’t have much interest in your human romance to begin with. At first, that Zang Ao you knew was truly alive,” the Ghost King said. He seemed to be talking about things he was rather proud of, so he didn’t mind showing off a bit more. “In the past, when I escaped from the great tomb, I lost some of my memories. However, I remembered that you were extremely important, so I coerced a decent-looking pretty boy to approach you. Sure enough, girls like you immediately have a good impression when you meet a handsome man.”
Zu An and Qiu Honglei knew what was going on. They thought, No wonder Zang Ao was able to appear in front of Jing Teng just like that. So it turns out there was this big shot backing him! Now, everything makes sense.
Jing Teng’s face was completely pale. She seemed to be extremely angry, yet also dejected. Her entire body was shaking.
Zu An gently patted her hand and said in her place, “That’s because she had just been enlightened by the immortal ruler back then, and had a natural feeling of benevolence toward humans. Furthermore, she was curious about the world of humans, so that was why she fell for your ploy.”
Jing Teng looked up at him. Her dim eyes immediately became as bright as a starry sky.
Qiu Honglei’s face twitched. She thought, Do you have no idea how cringeworthy that is? I’m about to throw up over here! However, they had to be united right now, so she couldn"t really act up.
Chu Chuyan and Pei Mianman were expressionless. They thought, Is Ah Zu treating us as empty air right now? Even so, Jing Teng was a victim, and they were all women. They couldn"t really say anything in the end.
Xie Daoyun curled her lips and thought, I was clearly the first one.
Yan Xuehen was stunned. What kind of situation was this? Zu An’s relationship with this pretty woman didn’t seem to have been that good last time, but had they ended up really getting into it in just a few days? She thought, Just what kind of trash disciple did that witch sect raise? You can’t even watch your own man? She couldn"t help but glare at Yun Jianyue when she thought of that.
Yun Jianyue was also really annoyed, and when she saw Yan Xuehen’s stare, she became even more upset. She thought, Do you really have the nerve to blame me? What about that disciple of yours? She was even the main wife back then. At the very least, she should be the one to speak up rather than my disciple, right? And yet now, this vixen is doing whatever she wants, but she’s completely silent?
Sparks seemed to be flying in the air between the two of them. If the powerful Ghost King weren’t here, they would likely have begun fighting.
When he saw Zu An and Jing Teng exchange such intimate looks and glances, the Ghost King couldn"t help but say with a snort, “There’s no need for you to act like this in front of me. Your human world has a saying: Those who commit public displays of affection die quickly.”
You have successfully trolled the Ghost King for +44 +44 +44…
“Is that any of your business?” Jing Teng retorted, recovering her usual expression. “So, does that mean this was all your plot from the very start?”
The Ghost King said coldly, “Unfortunately, that trash Zang Ao messed things up and could never fully obtain your heart. In that situation, I couldn"t wait any longer. The heavens pitied me, though. Sun En just happened to desire your immortal opportunity, so I schemed to use him too. That idiot thought he was invincible, but he didn’t know he was being played by me from start to finish. You know what happened after. I gave him a fake treasure, but that guy wasn’t blasted to death by tribulation lightning. I guess he had some skill.”
Yun Jianyue and Xie Daoyun exchanged a look. They knew best about Sun En’s situation. He had thought he’d obtained a method to survive tribulation, but all of it was fake. He had been fooled in the past, and he had been fooled again just now. Unfortunately, he didn’t have such luck this time. Sun En was still an outstanding individual of this generation, though; both of them sighed inwardly.
“After obtaining your golden core, I was able to properly recover from the serious injuries I sustained after escaping from the tomb. I began to plan the next step, which was to find Immortal Ruler Baopu’s inheritance. I knew the immortal ruler would never pa.s.s it onto an undead being, so I entered Zang Ao and replaced him. In order to not be discovered, I used a secret method to seal my true self away. That was, until my awakening earlier.”
Zu An thought, No wonder even the Rage system didn’t notice anything. It turns out he was guarding against the immortal ruler and fully sealed himself. On the surface, he was completely Zang Ao.
“Then what’s the deal with that Ghost King the immortal ruler sealed?” Chu Chuyan couldn"t help but ask. They had personally witnessed that scene.
The Ghost King’s expression became a bit grave. He said, “There were some memories missing when I first escaped from the great tomb, but I remember fleeing from some special being. So, in order to guard against the unexpected, I separated a portion of myself to move around under my real ident.i.ty. Now, it seems that was a wise choice.”
Even though he hadn’t seen what had happened, he had still sensed how terrifying it was. He shivered inwardly.
Zu An keenly picked up a vital piece of information the Ghost King had unwittingly given out. There was something even the Ghost King was running away from? Just what was it?