Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 156 The Last Edict
"No need to worry about me."

Li Jing'an sighed again: "I should have died with Your Majesty, but I have lingered on for so long and have no face to face Your Majesty..."

His eyes were already somewhat unfocused, and his voice was growing increasingly low, but he still struggled to speak, saying, "His Majesty... left a decree under the dragon throne... I beg you all... to properly bury His Majesty's body, and then take my clothes to place in the tomb. Even if I go to the underworld... your subject will..."

Li Jing'an's voice grew softer and softer until it was barely audible, until he stopped breathing.

A gray shadow suddenly emerged from Li Renshun's body; it was an old man whose appearance was completely different from Li Renshun's.

His eyes were blank, and he couldn't react to anything. He just stood there dumbfounded behind Li Renshun's body, and then he disappeared not long after.

Nothing is left.

Chang Ping'an and Ye Shuyun were both silent for a long time before Chang Ping'an asked in a low voice, "Master, does the underworld really exist in this world?"

Zhang Chengdao replied, "It shouldn't be yet."

According to the records in the academy, there is no underworld in places where there is no spiritual energy or where the concentration of spiritual energy is extremely low.

The various legends about the underworld in this world are just a kind of beautiful hope and wish of ordinary people.

Having received the answer, Chang Ping'an opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but then closed it again, remaining silent.

"Let's go and see the imperial edict that Li Jing'an mentioned."

As Zhang Chengdao spoke, he directed the two men, "Take Li Renshun's body with you and send it back to the palace."

"He was an emperor after all, so let him be buried normally."

So Chang Ping'an carried Li Renshun's body on his back and, together with Ye Shuyun, followed his master into the palace, seemingly oblivious to everyone else.

The guards at the gate were also corpse puppets, already dead. With the death of the Grand Preceptor Mingjing, they stood upright at the gate, like a statue.

They made their way into the palace without being stopped—all the guards and eunuchs they encountered were corpse puppets, and the entire palace was like a living hell.

Zhang Chengdao said in a deep voice, "Shuyun, go and see if the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture is still there. If he can manage affairs, have him lead people to maintain order in the city. Then ask him who else in Zhou Kingdom can manage affairs now, and have him send people to find them. Make sure to take over the entire palace as soon as possible and stabilize the situation before things get out of control."

Knowing the importance of the matter, Ye Shuyun simply bowed slightly and then hurriedly used the Shrinking Earth Technique to rush to the Jingzhao Prefecture government office.

After giving instructions to Ye Shuyun, Zhang Chengdao led Chang Ping'an into the Daxing Hall.

Inside the hall was a dragon throne, with numerous tables and seats on either side of it. This was quite different from the empty halls often depicted in TV dramas, clearly indicating that court officials also attended court sitting down.

However, the Daxing Hall was indeed empty at this time.

Zhang Chengdao walked to the dragon throne, squatted down, and felt around under it, finding a decree.

Unlike ordinary edicts written on bright yellow silk, this edict is written on ordinary white paper. However, in addition to Li Renshun's handwriting, it also bears an imperial seal, making it an authentic document.

However, the contents of the imperial edict left Zhang Chengdao somewhat silent.

"...I have been appointed by Heaven and have reigned for twenty years. I have worked diligently day and night, fearing only that I would fail the trust of my ancestors and the expectations of the people. "However, Heaven is unpredictable. Evil spirits have arisen and wreaked havoc in the palace, holding me hostage and poisoning the court. Although I reside in the highest palace, I am like a prisoner. Whenever I think of this, my heart is consumed with anguish."

"Now, evil spirits run rampant, using sorcery to bewitch the masses, and even replacing my subjects with corpse puppets, turning the Great Zhou into a ghost realm. I am powerless to reverse the situation, and can only leave this edict to proclaim to the world: all citizens of my Great Zhou, whether noble or common, shall unite to slay these fiends! If I die, do not concern yourself with funeral rites, but gather righteous men to slay demons and restore peace to the land of my Great Zhou..."

"Ugh……"

After reading it, Zhang Chengdao let out a sigh.

He had never thought much about the “spiritual energy revival” before, but this incident in Zhou Kingdom had set off alarm bells in his mind.

Even the most backward order is still an order. Just something that can't even defeat itself is most likely not even at the Golden Core stage, and it's a demon that no one even knows where it came from, yet it can wreak havoc on a country. If someone is so eager for revenge that they break in, and they happen to stumble upon this conspiracy, I'm afraid that by the time that thing actually takes over the Zhou Kingdom, no outsider will know.

The disparity in strength was so great.

Zhang Chengdao handed the imperial edict to Chang Ping'an and said, "Keep it safe. We'll discuss how to handle it when Shuyun returns."

Chang Ping'an took the imperial edict and looked at it. In a low voice, he asked, "Master, this edict... should it be made public?"

Zhang Chengdao pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "There's no need for now. We don't know how many corpse puppets there are in the capital. And because of my battle with that thing, the people are in a state of panic. If we stir up more trouble, it might cause chaos. Let's stabilize the situation first before making any further plans."

Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside the hall.

Ye Shuyun hurriedly dragged in a middle-aged man in an official robe with a pale face. She used the shrinking distance technique with consummate skill. When they first met, they were still far away, but in just a few breaths, the two of them entered the main hall.

“Master, when I rushed to the prefectural government office, I ran into Lord Wang Yanqing, the Prefect of Jingzhao, who was on his way to the palace. According to Lord Wang, the prefectural government office is still alright, but nearly half of the Imperial Guards are... are all dead…”

Ye Shuyun quickly reported, his mood quite low, but he quickly composed himself and continued, "Lord Wang means that he has already sent people to maintain order in the city. The most urgent task is to seal off the palace and send the remaining Imperial Guards to clear out the corpse puppets inside the palace little by little."

The middle-aged man looked panicked. Ye Shuyun finally released his grip, and he struggled to adjust his black gauze turban before collapsing to his knees with a thud, trembling as he said, "Immortal Master! This humble official is incompetent. No one in the capital knows what has happened. We do not know what Your Majesty has done..."

Just as Wang Yanqing uttered the words "Your Majesty," he looked up and immediately saw Li Renshun being carried on Chang Ping'an's back—clearly, his own emperor had been dead for quite some time!

Wang Yanqing's eyes rolled back, and he immediately fainted from fright. But in a moment, he scrambled to his feet, crawled to Chang Ping'an, and embraced Li Renshun's body, weeping bitterly.

"Your Majesty, oh my god—"

Zhang Chengdao sternly rebuked, "Wang Yanqing! This is not the time to cry! Who can temporarily manage state affairs right now?"

As he spoke, he pointed to the imperial edict in Chang Ping'an's hand and said, "That is Li Renshun's last edict. Take a look!"

Chang Ping'an dared not hand the imperial edict to Wang Yanqing. Instead, he unfolded the edict and held it upside down in his hand so that the other party could see it clearly.

"This, this, this, this..."

Wang Yanqing read the imperial edict repeatedly, his eyes widening in disbelief, staring intently at the large seal on the edict.

"How could this be!"

(End of this chapter)