Even without cheats, we must survive the apocalypse

Old grudges and new hatreds brought about a storm.

Huang Yanyao only heard about this matter after she returned to the sect.

She had never met the Fourth Prince, but when she heard her father speak of him, she could see the uncontrollable coldness and sadness on his face. Perhaps he was really his favorite offspring.

"The Ninth Prince came to Southern Border, which made him feel threatened. In order to become stronger, some people will do anything to achieve their goals."

Lu Mu felt that he could see through the minds of most people.

Falling into evil ways is nothing more than becoming stronger faster. Desires will not let people stop easily. When that voice sounds like an ant crawling by, many people will choose to degenerate and surrender because that is the voice of their own heart.

"If he had been more obedient, I wouldn't have made things difficult for him."

Huang Yanyao sighed softly.

"King Nanling has fought all his life. If he had settled down, he wouldn't have the status he has today."

"In short, he is in cahoots with the evil cultivators, and I have evidence in my hands. I just need to report it to the Immortal Phoenix Emperor, and this will confirm the crime of treason and deceiving the emperor. Given the Emperor's character, I don't think he would keep such a traitor."

Lu Mu placed the photo stone that recorded the formation in the Burial Bone Mountain on the table.

Huang Yanyao picked it up and probed a trace of spiritual thought into it. Lu Mu looked at her and his brows slowly frowned. What was shown in the photo stone was not something beautiful.

A strange tree formation made up of human flesh and blood, a huge heart hanging upside down on vines that were like tangled blood vessels, and corpses that had been drained of all their flesh and blood but were still fresh. There were streaks of blood on the bones, as if the despair before death was branded on them. Huang Yanyao had certainly never seen such a horrifying sight. With cold anger on her face, she put down the photo stone.

"What is this?"

She picked up the cup and took a sip of tea. Her moist lips were stained with light pink, which made her white knuckles look even more slender.

But Huang Yanyao felt that the taste of the wine had changed a little... What she saw was indeed something she had never seen before.

"Part of the All-Spirit Qi-Seizing Formation."

"The big formation is divided into 189 small formations, which are fed with the flesh and blood of living beings. When the time is right, this formation will be activated... and it can completely dig away a piece of the fortune of the Immortal Phoenix Dynasty."

His tone was light and his eyes were as deep as the night.

Huang Yanyao's surprise was of course within his expectations. After all, she had never even heard of such a strange formation, so the shock she saw it with her own eyes was even greater.

"King Nanling is planning to rebel."

Her knuckles turned pale, and she gripped the cup even tighter.

Lu Mu shook the cup and looked at her with burning eyes, "Now that you already know, what are you going to do?"

"Me? If I send this information to Tianhuang City, King Nanling will surely die, and the palace priests will take action to deal with him..."

Huang Yanyao lowered her eyes and murmured softly.

Lu Mu chuckled as if he had heard something funny, "If that's the case, why don't you seem very happy to hear it?"

"..."

Huang Yanyao was silent for a while, then she curled her lips and smiled an extremely charming smile, "I feel very bad."

"Although he has a huge influence and a deeper foundation than me, I still want to confront him head-on to see who is the winner."

She didn't want those people far away in Tianhuang City to interfere.

She wanted to conquer Southern Xinjiang completely by herself. Just as Huang Wumeng said, the forces in Southern Xinjiang would not change their attitude towards her just because she handed over information to the Emperor. All of this needed to be accomplished by her personally.

Prince Nanling was so rebellious that no one would dare to say anything even if the emperor personally took action to eliminate him. However, Huang Yanyao wanted to make him a stepping stone for her.

She had only been here for a few months, and many people looked down on her at the beginning. Even though she was in control of Tianque City now, there were still many people who did not take her seriously. Huang Yanyao did not care about those rumors, but it felt bad to always be pointed at behind her back.

Trampling King Nanling underfoot and defeating this fierce general who has fought for his entire life would bring many benefits to Huang Yanyao.

At least those who regarded her as a naive and ignorant little girl would have to change their views and carefully consider whether to become her enemy.

"Well, I see what you mean."

"Does Young Master Lu really understand?"

"…Do I look like someone who likes to hide behind someone strong?"

Lu Mu raised his eyebrows and looked at her. Huang Yanyao's beautiful eyes were shining with light, and the gloom was dispelled a lot, as if she was infected by his confidence.

"Since Young Master Lu said so, I do have a problem and need someone I can trust to handle it."

She paused and continued, "I wonder if Young Master Lu can help?"

"What's the matter?"

Huang Yanyao handed him an invitation and Lu Mu took it.

"To the west of here, six hundred miles away from Lingyun City, is the Wuyan Desert. That place... belongs neither to me nor to King Nanling, but both he and I want to bring it under our control."

“Who controls that place?”

"Those tribes that are half human, half demon."

Lu Mu opened the invitation, which exuded a desolate atmosphere unique to the desert. There was nothing else on the invitation except two patterns, each emitting a cold glow... a green snake spitting out rainbow-like tongues, and a tiger surrounded by silver Sanskrit characters.

Between the two patterns, there is a blue and silver glow intertwined, which are compatible and harmonious with each other. The harmonious aura wraps around each other, which is very friendly.

This looks like... a wedding invitation?

"Who are these people?"

Lu Mu read the invitation several times, frowned and asked her.

"There are dozens of tribes in the Wuyan Desert. They are all mixed-race humans with demon blood. Since the demon blood is naturally dominant, they have some demon characteristics..."

"They have taken root in the desert and are quite xenophobic. However, the Wuyan Desert is in a good location. If we can win over the tribes there, they will be a great help."

"They sent me this wedding invitation. It's a marriage between the Feathered Serpent Tribe and the Moon Silver Tribe. They invited me to go and see it."

Huang Yanyao shook the wine cup, and the light wine poured out with the slight shake of her wrist and fell into her red lips. She licked the corner of her mouth with a lazy look, like a noble and elegant cat.

"So what do I need to do?"

"Come with me."

"why?"

"I'm not sure yet, I just want to invite you. Besides, these tribes are usually not friendly to us, but this time they sent us a wedding invitation. If we don't go and take a look, we might miss something."

Huang Yanyao raised her head and drank the wine in the cup, then looked up and looked directly into Lu Mu's ink-black eyes.

Lu Mu was slightly startled, then smiled and said, "Okay."

Chapter 32: After Drinking

After three rounds of drinks, the two men were chatting excitedly and had refilled the wine jug twice.

Huang Yanyao unknowingly talked about many things, talking about her life in the Northeast Region in the past. She was alone, without a father or a mother, and made a living by running a small sundry shop. Eventually, she met Gu Yunxi, and her life suddenly changed.

Judging from her tone, things weren't going well at first.

After all, she used to have a bed to sleep in, but now she has followed Gu Yunxi into the northern wilderness, where she can only live with the frozen earth, exposed to the wind and sun every day, and has to be on guard against attacks from ferocious beasts...

But it was also at that time that Huang Yanyao began to practice.

She was a person with no particular aspirations, but she found life in that small place quite comfortable.

Huang Yanyao and Gu Yunxi fell in love with each other, and both felt that each other was the reflection of each other. Because their pasts were so similar, they inexplicably became sisters of the opposite sex.

This incident sounded a bit abrupt, but she didn't think so.

As she spoke her mind became more active.

Huang Yanyao was not drunk, but in her hazy vision, the man had a handsome outline, starry eyes with a smile, and one hand supporting his head, as if he was listening to her story quietly.

Lu Mu is always a good listener. He doesn’t speak, but there is always wisdom and brightness in his eyes that sees through everything, as if nothing can escape his control, yet is still unpredictable.

Because Lu Mu actually knew every story she told.

After all, he wrote it.

"Young Master Lu."

Huang Yanyao suddenly called him, and Lu Mu raised his eyes, with a soft light flickering in his phoenix eyes.

"What do you want?"

Lu Mu was stunned.

"What do you mean, Your Highness?"

Seeing his expectant look, Huang Yanyao pursed her lips and said, "You are from the Lu clan and you studied under Shura Palace. Even if I don't ask, I can always hear some rumors about you in the imperial court... I really don't understand what you can get from me."

"I can say that I have nothing now, except..."

When she said this, she looked down at her collar. When she looked up again, Lu Mu could see the unspoken meaning in her eyes.

"Or is it that Young Master Lu really came here just for this?"

Lu Mu was speechless, but his eyes seemed a little dazed.

What else could he say?

If I say something wrong, she might hate me.

"Master Lu, there is no need to rush to explain. Perhaps you can tell me the answer at some point."

Huang Yanyao smiled, as if she saw what she wanted to see. She raised her hand, put the wine glass to her lips, and took a sip.

"We had a pleasant chat. I need to rest first. If Master Lu is worried that he can't find the way back, he can ask the maid outside my door to lead the way."

Huang Yanyao stood up and smoothed her wrinkled skirt, but she was swaying as if she was about to fall. Lu Mu took a few steps forward and supported her.

"Um……"

Huang Yanyao shook her head but did not struggle to break free from him.

"Your Highness the Ninth Prince still needs to hone his drinking skills for a while longer."

Lu Mu leaned close to her ear, slightly opened his thin lips, and exhaled warm breath into her neck, making her feel numb and itchy. Huang Yanyao subconsciously shrank her neck, her misty eyes swept across his face, and without lingering for long, she closed her eyes again.

Smelling the fragrance that entered his nostrils, he certainly couldn't tell whether Huang Yanyao was drunk or not. Maybe she was just simply tired. After all, she dealt with official business within the territory all day long, so she would always get tired sometimes.

Lu Mu put her on the couch and covered her with a quilt.

Huang Yanyao lay on the bed, closed her eyes, and soon fell into a deep sleep with long and even breathing. Lu Mu stood beside the bed, staring at her for a long time, but finally left without saying a word.

"Tsk... I can't see it yet, you are quite good at pretending."

Huang Wumeng sat on the edge of the bed with her legs crossed. She looked coldly at Huang Yanyao who was sleeping soundly on the bed.

"Isn't this what you, the ancestor, asked for?"

Huang Yanyao opened her eyes, turned to look at her, and said lazily, "I was just following orders."

She didn't look drunk at all. The hazy intoxication in her eyes was swept away, and her clear eyes seemed to be able to see through everything in the world.

"So, the ancestors have been observing him for a long time. Did they find anything?"

Huang Yanyao leaned on the soft pillow, swinging her jade feet in a comfortable posture.

"This kid seems to be quite thoughtful."

Huang Wumeng sneered.

"So you didn't see anything, right? You've been watching him for so long, you can't be in love with him?"

"Noisy."

Huang Yanyao was glared at.

This is certainly not the first day. Huang Wumeng feels that her dignity as an ancestor has been completely forgotten by this unfilial descendant in front of her. Only Huang Yanyao has the guts to tease her about such things.

Maybe it was also because only Huang Yanyao could see her.

"Well, it feels really different sitting with him. I always feel like everything has been scrutinized."

Huang Yanyao had never sat down to drink with any man. She had never had such an opportunity before, and even less so now. She especially hated getting drunk and was always afraid of losing her composure. Even though it didn't matter if she lost her composure, others might prefer to see her when she wasn't serious.

Huang Wumeng raised her eyebrows, with a hint of amusement in her eyes, "I see that you are enjoying it as well."

"Have it?"

"Do you think I'm just looking at him? You don't even try to hide the shyness on your face. The Lu family kid must have seen it. However, this kid is quite cunning and doesn't show it on his face."

Huang Yanyao turned her head away, indicating that she had no comment on this evaluation.