I became the tyrant's only belief.

Chapter 413 Eligible for Conferring a Nobility

The underground palace at the bottom of Qianchi Cliff was the mausoleum prepared for himself by the last emperor of the Yong Dynasty. Unfortunately, it was never completed before the dynasty collapsed and it was never put to use.

Later, Yin Lanci stumbled upon this place and felt that Qianchi Cliff had a uniquely advantageous location. So he secretly sent people to continue building the underground palace and set up many traps inside, turning it into his own treasure vault.

Her collection consisted of half gold and silver jewelry and the other half various strange corpses.

According to Jiang Yao's investigation, these corpses were all failed attempts at refining human-like venomous insects and were of no use. Yin Lanci sealed them in stone coffins and used spices to preserve them, presumably as a keepsake.

Before Chu Liuzheng, Feng Jing, and Chen Xing reunited, Xiao Shiyi, who had followed the trail of the cliff jump into the underground palace, unexpectedly stumbled out of the underground palace and found a cable car to go up the mountain.

Xiao Shiyi took the cable car to the top of the cliff. After only a quick look around, he realized that the things on the cliff top could not be left behind. So, he took advantage of the backup plan left by Chu Liuzheng and set a big fire, which also engulfed all the monsters that tried to escape.

The firelight on the cliff top illuminated half the sky, which Xiao Jingfan and the others naturally couldn't miss.

Although he didn't know what had happened, the fire on the cliff top was obviously in their favor. Xiao Jingfan was worried that this matter was related to Chu Liuzheng and was extremely anxious. Together with Huang Qian, he broke the formation and led his soldiers to attack the top of the cliff, where they intercepted a group of monsters that were trying to escape down the mountain.

The buildings on the cliff top were completely burned down, and the strange creatures hiding in the caves also perished. Countless poisonous creatures in the poison pool were burned to charcoal by the oil. Xiao Jingfan ordered his men to throw the monster corpses into the pool as well, pour oil over them, and burn them. Then, they were covered with soil and a huge tomb was erected with a monument to warn future generations.

Zheng Qianqian was lucky to survive, but he tried to escape and was caught by Xiao Shiyi. After being interrogated, Xiao Shiyi revealed how to shut down the underground palace's mechanisms. At Xiao Jingfan's instruction, Xiao Shiyi gave Zheng Qianqian a quick death.

Xiao Jingfan led his men into the underground palace, and after some trouble, they finally found Feng Jing and the others. What happened next is not hard to guess.

"Sister, you don't know, His Majesty didn't let us lift a finger the whole time and carried you back himself. These past few days, you've had a recurring fever and been unconscious. Even Doctor Feng couldn't find the cause. His Majesty was so anxious, he was pacing around like an ant on a hot pan. His face was terrifying, and I didn't dare to say a word."

Chen Xing sat on the edge of the bed, holding a small dish of food in one hand, and winked at Chu Liuzheng: "I heard from Eunuch Zhou that in all the time he has served His Majesty, apart from the Empress Dowager and Prince Rui, he has never seen His Majesty so nervous about anyone."

Upon hearing this, Chu Liuzheng choked on his meat porridge and looked at her resentfully.

Don't tell scary stories while I'm eating!

Chen Xing smiled and was about to press on when Chu Liuzheng preemptively asked, "How is His Highness Prince Rui?"

"Not good." Chen Xing's face fell, and she sighed softly.

The life-saving medicine that Chu Liuzheng carried did save Prince Rui's life, but it was only a matter of saving his life.

Prince Rui's body was too weak, and with the Gu worms devouring his essence and blood, he only opened his eyes once the next day after being rescued from the underground palace. He called out "Royal Brother" and fainted before Xiao Jingfan could respond. He never woke up again, his breathing was weak, as if he would die at any moment. Even Feng Jing could not say that he could definitely wake him up.

Chu Liuzheng gasped in surprise, "Even Doctor Feng couldn't do anything about it?"

"Yes, there is." Chen Xing handed the side dish she was holding in her left hand forward, and only took it back after Chu Liuzheng picked it up. "Doctor Feng said that in order to save His Highness Prince Rui, we must first remove the Gu worm from his body."

Chu Liuzheng understood; there must have been a problem with the first step. She scooped a spoonful of porridge into her mouth, and sure enough, she heard Chen Xing continue, "His Highness Prince Rui is currently only clinging to life with medicine. If the Gu worm is forcibly removed, he will die before it can be taken out. Doctor Feng dares not act rashly."

Chu Liuzheng asked, "Is even Abbot Jiang helpless?"

"No." Chen Xing shook her head and handed over the side dish she was holding in her right hand for her to pick up. "Doctor Feng and Abbot Jiang discussed it for several hours. Unless there is something that can keep Prince Rui alive, this Gu cannot be removed." But if the Gu worm is not removed, it will continue to feed on Prince Rui's blood essence, and Prince Rui will die anyway.

Chu Liuzheng swallowed the food in his mouth and asked, "Can't we use ginseng?"

She remembered that in TV dramas, people who were about to die would be kept alive with ginseng. Given Prince Rui's condition, it should work too, right?

Chen Xing said, "It can be used, but I heard from Doctor Feng that it requires a thousand-year-old ginseng."

Chu Liuzheng choked, his eyebrows twitching slightly.

[Funny! There really is such a thing as thousand-year-old ginseng? I thought it was just made up in TV dramas.]

[On the other hand, there are no testing instruments in this world, so how can we determine whether this ginseng is 1,000 years old or 999 years old? If it's only a year or two different, wouldn't Prince Rui be dead?]

She let her imagination run wild for a while, then asked Chenxing, "Does the palace have thousand-year-old ginseng?"

Chen Xing shook his head: "Only the Empress Dowager has an old ginseng that is over three hundred years old. His Majesty has already ordered people to go back and retrieve it as fast as possible."

Chu Liuzheng couldn't help but gasp in astonishment.

[This old ginseng must be a treasure of the Empress Dowager; she actually brought it out for Prince Rui, she'd do the same for her own son.]

Chen Xing said, "His Majesty also ordered local governments to post notices stating that those who present thousand-year-old ginseng or heavenly lotus fruit will be granted a noble title."

Chu Liuzheng clicked his tongue in amazement once again.

If I could find a thousand-year-old ginseng or a heavenly lotus fruit, could I also obtain a noble title?

[If I could be granted a noble title... hehe! Hehehe!]

"Sister, sister." Chen Xing called several times before Chu Liuzheng came back to her senses. She looked at her with a suspicious look and asked, "What are you thinking about?" She smiled so wide that her eyes disappeared. Anyone who didn't know better would think that Chu Liuzheng wanted Prince Rui dead.

"It's nothing." Chu Liuzheng quickly suppressed his chaotic thoughts, finished his porridge in a hurry, and refused Chen Xing's request to stay with him, citing his desire to rest. After watching Chen Xing leave, he lay down on the bed and started browsing the system.

[Heavenly Lotus Fruit, Heavenly Lotus Fruit, Heavenly Lotus Fruit... Tsk, still so little news.]

It seems we still need to find the Thousand-Handed Scholar who stole the Heavenly Lotus Fruit first.

She started searching.

[Speaking of which, under Yin Lanci's manipulation, the title "Thousand-Handed Scholar" has almost become an organization called "Thousand-Handed Scholar." No wonder he's a barber, a blacksmith, and a street performer; it turns out he's not the same person at all. I thought they were all pseudonyms, and I spent so much time digging them out.]

Now that Yin Lanci is dead, the remnants of the Yong Dynasty will surely gather their forces and flee with the young imperial grandson. If they hide in the deep mountains and forests for three or five years, they might just emerge and cause trouble again once the storm has passed.

Xiao Jingfan paused, looked at the light filtering through the curtain, and waved to Zhou Yuande.