Ark Undead

But everyone who truly understands the inside story knows what this means.

The emperor was no exception, and in fact, he was the one who started this whole mess.

"General Li, how have you been lately?"

It was court time, but there weren't many people in court; only a few of the emperor's most trusted advisors had come.

One of the elderly men bowed and said.

"General Li is still in Yumen working on the formation of the Southern Expeditionary Army. But it seems that there are fewer than a thousand people who meet the requirements."

"A thousand people is enough."

The emperor was somewhat out of breath. He took a couple of breaths, his face unusually flushed, before continuing to speak.

"Regarding the matter concerning the Imperial Household Department that I mentioned earlier, do any of you have anything to say?"

When the topic of the Imperial Household Department came up, the staff members looked at each other, none of them daring to speak.

The emperor's expression was calm, and his tone was very indifferent.

"Since there's nothing more to say, let's proceed as I previously stated."

"Let this Lunar New Year's platform be disbanded."

305.Disintegration

The capital city, the southern city, the Sisui Terrace.

The gatekeeper sat in a chair, yawned, and stared blankly at the rising sun on the horizon.

It was another dull and monotonous day. The office was never crowded to begin with, and with the Spring Festival approaching, everyone was either resting or off work, so there wouldn't be many people coming. My job was just a way to kill time.

Each day, the gatekeepers work 8-hour shifts in three shifts, and they all have their ways of passing the time.

For example, turn on the radio, listen to the station, or read the newspaper.

Sometimes, I would sneak off to take out my communicator and call my family to tell them that I wouldn't be going back home this year because I had to stay in Beijing due to work schedules.

It's a royal position with pretty good pay and benefits, but it's a bit boring most of the time because there's not much to do.

But the gatekeeper's right eyelid has been twitching all day, and he doesn't know why, but he just feels that nothing good is going to happen.

I had originally planned to take out my communicator and play some mobile games, but I lost interest. So I simply sat on a bench by the door, drank some tea, and waited until dawn.

Calculating the time, he realized he had about half an hour left before his shift ended, and he was already starting to miss the worn-out bedding in his small rented room.

At that moment, a group of soldiers clad in black armor emerged from the street corner.

The gatekeeper glanced at it but didn't look at it much.

But I wondered, which rich young master had gotten into trouble this time? Were these people there to arrest someone or clean up their mess?

But he soon realized the problem: the soldiers seemed to be heading towards him.

As he walked closer, he couldn't help but stand up abruptly from his chair. He recognized the uniforms of those soldiers.

Fish-scale armor, fire-patterned sword, and the iconic beast mask.

The soldiers walked from the street corner to the entrance of the Sisutai (a platform for sages to pay respects to the deceased) and stood still.

Although there were fewer than twenty people, even just these dozen or so were enough to make the entire capital city tremble.

After all, they were not ordinary soldiers, but members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The gatekeeper hurriedly ran down the steps and approached the leading Imperial Guard. He hunched over and asked in a low voice.

"My lord, may I ask if you are here looking for someone? I am the only one left on duty at Si Sui Tai right now; the rest of you are still resting at home!"

"Just you?"

The head of the Imperial Guards lowered his eyes and glanced at the gatekeeper.

He raised his right hand, shook the cloth scroll in his hand, and it rolled down, revealing the words on it and the bright red dragon head seal at the bottom.

"Then do you recognize what this is?"

The gatekeeper looked up and glanced at it, but in that one glance, he was completely stunned.

Before the gatekeeper could say anything, the Imperial Guard waved his hand and said loudly.

"Investigate! Examine everything carefully! Dig three feet into the ground and find evidence of the Grand Secretary's collusion with foreign enemies!"

"promise!"

...

The Si Sui Tai (a government office) has been disbanded.

This did not surprise the Undying Man. So much so that when Liang Xun told him that the Si Sui Tai had been disbanded, the Undying Man simply nodded calmly, indicating that he knew.

That day, when the Undead went to the Red Dust Guest and killed the Pardoner from Kazdel, they discovered that their flames had burned down many goods in the surrounding warehouses.

His flames are not ordinary fire, but divine fire that burns away all defilement.

This is why the seemingly powerful flames do not harm the Undead, and when he uses the Primordial Flame to heal others, they do not damage his physical body.

Unless someone dies, the Primal Flame will not leave even the slightest trace of burning on the surface of ordinary materials.

However, many goods in the Red Dust Guest's underground warehouse were completely burned, some even only half burned, with the remaining half showing no trace of burning. But there were irregular gaps, indicating that those gaps belonged to goods that had been contaminated before.

The problem is obvious: it's not just the portal brought by W, but also the fact that the Red Dust People themselves hid many things related to the Demon Seed here, which allowed W to successfully open the portal.

Moreover, even Liang Xun was completely unaware of these things. In other words, Hongchenke secretly transported a large number of demon seeds to Shangshu, bypassing Shangshu's border checkpoints.

This is why the annual meeting detected the scent of the Demon Seed among the Red Dust Guests, and why Greyhound was able to steal the Demon Seed from among them.

However, it's clear that the Red Dust Guest family alone lacks the capability. The origin of the Demon Seed is something beyond their reach; there must be an organization supporting its actions. Therefore, the True Dragon, enraged, ordered a thorough investigation of the Year-Keeping Platform, uncovering numerous clandestine activities.

There are even records of dealings with Kazdel, and part of the Red Dust Guest's wealth was invested in by an unknown figure from Kazdel.

The Imperial Guards made a move in the Imperial Secretariat, which immediately killed the Imperial Secretariat official, causing widespread panic among the powerful officials in the court.

I heard that many aristocratic families in the capital have had their hereditary titles revoked, and the sons of the powerful and wealthy have become homeless overnight. Every day, people in the capital can see many young people sitting on the streets and alleys, trying to make a living with the few connections they had before.

For ordinary people, this is just something to watch. After all, organizations like the Red Dust Guest and the Year-End Terrace are things that ordinary people can't come into contact with. At most, they might have some connection with them, but it just means that wealthy merchants' sons have lost a place for romantic escapades.

But for certain special people, this is not the case.

Like an immortal, Liang Xun sat by the campfire. He yawned, and unlike before, propped his head up with his hand, staring blankly at the fire.

The Undead and Ornstein also sat by the campfire, silent, occasionally glancing at each other, their thoughts unknown.

As for Liang Xun, he was already like this when the Undying Man came to inform him that the Si Sui Terrace was gone.

The previous distance between her and the undead seemed to disappear instantly, and she even asked if she could stay with the undead for a while.

The Undying Man found it somewhat inexplicable. Wasn't Liang Xun in a hurry to distance himself from the Undying Man before, acting as if he was keeping to himself? How come he has the leisure to come and rest here with the Undying Man now?

"My Lord, Divine General..."

"Just call me, as long as no one dies."

The Undying Man felt there was an inexplicable sorrow and resentment in Liang Xun's address of "Divine General," and something felt off to him.

"Alright, Immortal Lord."

"..."

The immortal was too lazy to correct it; let it be.

Why are you feeling down?

Liang Xun's tone was indeed somewhat downcast, but this wasn't directed at the Undying, but rather at the current state of Shang Shu.

"The suppression of the Red Dust Travelers and the disbandment of the Year-Keeping Platform are good things in themselves."

Liang Xun sighed and began to recount his story.

"However, this also means that Yumen is about to start making moves. Moreover, the fact that Hongchenke was able to bypass Shangshu's border checkpoints shows that there are some people who have been bribed even within Shangshu Prefecture. With the Sishuitai gone, the problems that have arisen are getting more and more numerous."

The Undead remained silent; he couldn't understand these things. Perhaps Onstan could say a few words to him, but it was irrelevant to the Undead.

The only questions on his mind were when he could see the Southern Expeditionary Army and when he could go to Yumen to see the Ten Thousand Demon Cave.

Aside from those naturally born from these divine beasts, the only source of the demonic seeds currently available in the Great Yan Dynasty is the Ten Thousand Demon Cave.

Since Si Suitai was able to obtain the Demon Seed within a heavily guarded military location, it was impossible for him to forcibly take it from the suppression site. The only possibility is that the Demon Seed in the Ten Thousand Demon Cave was leaked, which gave Si Suitai the opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Liang Xun glanced at the Undead, and seeing that the Undead was completely ignoring him and seemed lost in thought, Liang Xun couldn't help but sigh again.

With too many things to do, he lost the will to sit down and continue talking to the undead.

"Regardless of the circumstances, the Divine General has rid the people of Great Yan of a scourge. I, Liang Xun, thank the Divine General on behalf of the people of Shang Shu."

"Within two days at most, a new decree will be issued from the capital. At that time, Your Excellency can set off for the Southern Demon Cave."

Standing up and patting his robes, Liang Xun bowed to the Undead and prepared to leave the Undead's room.

Before leaving, he at least made things clear, and the immortal nodded slightly to indicate that he understood.

Liang Xun walked to the door, then seemed to remember something, turned back, and asked loudly.

"I wonder what impression the Divine General has of my Shang Shu?"

The immortal came to his senses and turned to look at Liang Xun.

He nodded slightly and began to speak.

"good."

Liang Xun smiled slightly and nodded with satisfaction.

He turned around and closed the door.

Above Riverside Road, Rhode Island Office.

The Rhode Island office has been bustling these past few days.

After the battle in the mortal realm, the Undead asked where Greyhound had gone, which made many people present remember the name Greyhound.

This made Liang Xun realize that it wasn't just the immortals who were involved; perhaps the Rhodes Island office staff member was also helping.

Therefore, Liang Xun made a decisive move, donating funds to the Rhode Island office and helping them renovate the lobby.

The renovation was completed in just one day; Da Yan's construction efficiency is truly beyond expectations.