Jiaohua

Chapter 1667 The Origin of the Thousand Autumns Palace
It was rare for Sect Master Gu to be confused, and Mu Tingyu, standing to the side, was even less adept at remembering routes and discerning directions.

The old man turned around and said, "Let's go, I'll scout ahead."

The elderly man was visiting this area for the first time and needed time to explore it.

However, Mu Tingyu was not in a hurry.

Although he was afraid of the old man, seeing him walking ahead made him feel incredibly at ease.

Previously, when they were fleeing with Elder Gu, they hid here and there, like frightened birds, trembling with fear. Now, they're leaving in style and with great momentum, even lighting the lamp oil directly. So what? Do those people dare to come out and challenge them?

However, the underground passage was truly bizarre and intricate. They "observed" several stone chambers filled with torture instruments, and went to several side halls filled with alchemy furnaces. There was even a special workshop with tall wooden shelves against the walls, filled with porcelain bottles and small cups of all sizes.

In one of the dark rooms, a row of peeled human skins hung down. Mu Tingyu mistook them for clothes, but when he learned they were human skins, he vomited on the spot.

The old man and Master Gu spent a considerable amount of time in the workshops.

Especially Elder Gu, whose voice was sorrowful and sad: "Back then, Elder Qingye and his disciples may have been imprisoned here."

The old man simply nodded.

He looked around and calculated the time in his mind.

Qianqiu Hall was built during the Zhang Dynasty. Based on the stone tablets, books, and calligraphy and paintings that he hired to transport from Qianqiu Hall, it can be confirmed that Qianqiu Hall was built by the second emperor of the Zhang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong Yanhe.

Emperor Yanhe reigned for only thirteen years. He was too old when he ascended the throne, and eventually outlived his father. Emperor Yanhe then faced his own fear of death.

His original intention in building the Hall of Eternal Autumn was to achieve immortality, but unfortunately, he did not get his wish.

After Emperor Yanhe passed away, he was buried southwest of Yuanhe Zongmen and Longyuan, in the two provinces of Jinghe and Guide.

These two provinces have been the most favored auspicious burial sites for emperors throughout history. Surrounded by thousands of mountains, with a green dragon lying on the ridge and ten thousand rivers flowing around the palace, their course resembles a black tortoise offering longevity.

As a result, tomb raiding has been rampant in these two places.

After Emperor Yanhe died, Qianqiu Palace fell into silence and was sealed off for a time. It was not until the reign of Emperor Zhangchengzong Pingchun, the penultimate emperor of the Dazhang Dynasty, that he learned of Qianqiu Palace in his later years and secretly sent people to reopen it.

At that time, the Great Zhang Dynasty was declining, and Emperor Pingchun seemed to be suffering from hysteria and possessed, which led to the creation of the enormous painting of all nations paying homage to His Highness Qianqiu.

It was he who was worshipped.

Emperor Pingchun reopened the Qianqiu Palace, but he died a few years later.

Then, the last emperor of the Zhang Dynasty ascended the throne, the son of Emperor Pingchun, Emperor Longzhang.

The reigns of Emperor Longzhang and Emperor Hongde, the founding emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty, naturally include Han Ruiqian, the Prince of Nanrui who was enfeoffed as the Prince of Liusha County in Zhuzhou at that time.

It seems that before following Emperor Hongde, Feng Qingang spent a considerable amount of time in the Qianqiu Palace.

He was later enfeoffed as the Prince of Nanrui, and he moved the set from Qianqiu Palace here.

Finally, three hundred years later, Qianqiu Palace was reopened by Wei Xingchuan and became a slaughterhouse for the descendants of the Qiao family.

The old man still hasn't found out who this Wei Xingchuan really is.

Interspersed among these are Tang Xiangsi, who left behind a large number of poems in the Qianqiu Palace lamenting the passing of time and the devastation of the world.

These three people, with three different personalities and three different forces, are irreconcilable yet intertwined.

His apprentice, however, was inexplicably dragged into it—

A flash of disgust crossed the old man's eyes.

If he could fill the Thousand Autumns Palace back then, then he can destroy it now.

·
In a dark underground room half a village away from the old man, Feng Qingang stood with his arms outstretched, resting on a stone table, trying hard to recall the underground passage.

This underground palace belongs to him, but it is too ancient. The only part he can remember is the area near the Cold Palace and the northwest of Cloud Maru Village.

Those familiar exits were no longer accessible. In the late afternoon, as the old man from Liling descended into the tunnel, Feng Qingang recognized him from afar. Without further thought, he immediately retreated.

The balance of power has shifted; having lost his grip on the master and disciple pair, he must distance himself from them.

Now, having retreated step by step to this side, he can only leave from the south of Hanjiacun.

But his memories of Hanjiacun are long gone.

It's true that these villages are all descendants of the tomb-guarding village, but unfortunately, over three hundred years is enough for at least twelve generations to pass. With each generation, the bloodline, beliefs, and mission can be diluted. Not to mention those who have moved away or moved here.

Feng Qingang had returned five times in the past three hundred years, and each time he felt dissatisfied. This time when he returned, he saw dust everywhere and a strong smell of mildew. The more he looked at the villagers, the more they were an eyesore, so he simply killed them all.

Upon hearing the commotion outside, Feng Qingang immediately looked up, and his men also became alert.

The returning subordinates were covered in sweat. As soon as they entered, they said that the old man had found Gu Xinghai and Mu Tingyu, and that he had been ostentatious and strode around with great fanfare.

Meanwhile, two of his men were crippled by the old man and could not be brought back, so he sent them on their way with a knife to each of them.

Feng Qingang said coldly, "That old geezer never put anyone in his eyes in his entire life. He was arrogant and domineering, and he passed on this arrogance to his disciple."

He needed to leave as soon as possible, but he found it very difficult to recall the route through Hanjiacun.

Over the course of thirty years, he recruited thousands of alchemists, fortune tellers, astrologers, and master craftsmen, all of whom were trapped in the underground palace. Naturally, there needed to be an area to accommodate and manage their daily needs.

Beneath Han Family Village lies the place where servants and laborers used to do odd jobs. To prevent being spied on and to prevent captured sorcerers and Taoist priests from escaping, the underground passages are laid out like a spider web, with multiple traps set up during the excavation.

Now, these secret passages and mechanisms have become his shackles.

Not long after, another person returned. He was one of his men who had risked his life to sneak back to the old place. He said that the Taoist disciples at the exit of Yunwan Village were talking about Bei Xingze who had escaped. Several other Taoist disciples had gone to survey the water source but were captured. Two of them were killed and their bodies were sent back.

Thinking of the secret passage through which Bei Xingze escaped right under his nose, Feng Qingang's eyes suddenly brightened.

Bei Xingze dared to betray him, and he must have made thorough preparations over the decades. That's why Bei Xingze knew about a secret passage in Yunwan Village that even he didn't know about. Bei Xingze first escaped from him, fell into the hands of that group of Taoists, and then escaped again, which shows how familiar Bei Xingze was with this underground labyrinth.

However, Bei Xingze clearly underestimated the poison in his body. Based on the current timeline, Bei Xingze should have already died from the poison.

This poison has several characteristics: it is potent, acute, and has a foul odor.

This stench can lead the way!
This time, Feng Qingang did not send his men out. He went to search for them himself. To be on the safe side, he deliberately dispersed his men and only took the two most skilled ones with him.

At the same time, Shen Lie and Wu Shaoning found a large number of marks left by the Half-Nine Immortal Master and Liu Jia. Following the marks, they saw the firelight ahead.

The firelight was extremely faint, shining through a narrow crack in the stone. Through the crack, just a wall away, the light was dazzling.

Wu Shaoning said, "I don't know who ordered it."

Shen Lie said, "It should be Ali's master."

"Elder Li Ling?"

Just as Shen Lie was about to speak, he suddenly heard several exclamations from not far away.

The sound wasn't loud, and it was very rapid, but it was particularly noticeable in the narrow passageway.

Shen Lie's expression hardened, and he immediately rushed over.

Meanwhile, Liu Jia, who had stepped on the corpse, and the disciple of the Half-Nine Immortals Master covered their mouths.

Liu Jia squatted down, and the faint light from the tinderbox shone on the two corpses.

Both had their throats slit, and the flowing blood rushed forward, only to be frozen by the icy air of the Cold Palace, so they didn't step on the liquid.

The disciple of the Half-Nine Immortal Master said, "We should leave as soon as possible. We made a sound just now, and we don't know if it will attract people over."

Liu Jia's subordinate, carrying the Half-Nine Immortal Master on his back, followed behind them and blurted out, "Which way are we going?"

Liu Jia said, "We don't know if the road ahead is dangerous. Otherwise, we can turn back. At least we didn't encounter any bad things on our way here."

Master Banjiu nodded: "Alright, then it's your decision!"

The four turned around and went back the way they came.

After a while, Shen Lie and Wu Shaoning finally arrived.

The sound was only within thirty steps, but the winding passageway made it quite a search for them.

They weren't even sure if this was the right road until they saw the body on the ground.

Wu Shaoning crouched down to examine him, while Shen Lie frowned slightly and looked up ahead.

In the darkness, at least two people were walking quickly, their footsteps very light. One of them had a strange gait—steady yet unnatural.

Shen Lie gestured, and Wu Shaoning quickly extinguished the tinderbox.

The two who arrived were none other than the lame Lü Wuwei and Xie Huaichu.

They walked for a long time and accidentally stumbled into a cave full of bones. The cave was filled with human bones, arranged in a very orderly manner. Skulls were skulls, tibias were tibias, and ribs were all broken and stood upright.

Even with their hands covered in blood, Lü Wuwei and Xie Huaichu felt a chill run down their spines.

After searching around without finding a way out, they retreated and continued searching, only to hear a gasp of surprise coming from this direction.

Now, as they approached this way, they didn't come over immediately. Instead, they stopped at a place they felt was safe and peered out.

It was completely silent in the darkness.

After a few breaths, they slowly walked out and took out their lighting tools from their pockets.

Two corpses lay on the ground, but the screams from earlier clearly couldn't have come from those two bodies.

As the dim light drew closer, it illuminated the corpses and, in doing so, their own faces.

Shen Lie raised his thick eyebrows slightly in the darkness, and said to Lü Wuwei.

Xie Huaichu said in a low voice, "Who killed him? That guy from Liling, didn't he say he wouldn't kill anyone?"

Lu Wuwei sneered: "Is that so? Ali has become a living Yama in Beiyuan. People can change."

Xie Huaichu asked, "Who was that who was frightened just now? Was it one of Feng Qingang's men?"

Lu Wuwei's gaze swept over the limbs of the two corpses, and he shook his head: "I don't know, but that old man from Liling really makes me uneasy. That old man has been quiet all his life, but when he made a move, he directly filled in the Qianqiu Palace. Now that he's here, I don't know what he's up to this time."

Xie Huaichu said, "He's been doing big things. Feng Qingang won't get away with this, but I'm afraid he'll take us down with him."

Xie Huaichu said this in a rather lighthearted tone.

Lu Wuwei looked at him and said, "Let's go. Let's find a place to hide first. The underground palace is so big, there must be a place for us to stay."

"Let's go check out that cold palace. Perhaps what we need is inside."

“No,” Lü Wuwei refused outright. “Neither of us has ever been inside. If it’s full of traps and we’re trapped inside, we’ll freeze to death. Do you want to keep company with those wronged souls?”

"Fine, don't go then," Xie Huaichu said.

They didn't stay any longer.

After they left, Wu Shaoning quietly followed.

Shen Lie then went to the other side to continue searching for Master Banjiu and the others.