So, when the Emperor made the promise, he was overwhelmed, but now sober, he would rather renege than open the armory.
But powerful forces like the Holy Fire Palace definitely won’t let it go, a united front for debt collection is inevitable.
The Emperor couldn’t even defeat Crown Prince Red Lotus, how could he deal with these forces that have defeated Crown Prince Red Lotus?
And this year, there was an answer.
This answer was pieced together from bits and pieces by martial artists who fled back from the north.
Simply put, just one sentence: The Emperor re-employed a Xinghai, he even appointed one as the National Preceptor.
Li Yuan knew these things from the merchant caravan, and naturally, the proprietress knew as well.
The proprietress was curious.
"Isn’t this Emperor foolish? Appointing a Xinghai as National Preceptor, doesn’t the Xinghai covet the Great Zhou Treasure Vault?"
Li Yuan offered a conjecture, solving her confusion: "Maybe the Xinghai truly does not covet the Great Zhou Treasure Vault."
"Why?"
"The realm of the Xinghai itself does not represent the strength or weakness,
and previously the ghost realms were scarce, the treasures hidden in the Great Zhou Treasure Vault should mostly benefit martial artists’ cultivation.
But these treasures are precisely what Xinghai doesn’t need, so that Emperor would be so generous as to appoint Xinghai as National Preceptor."
"Then what is the Xinghai after?" the proprietress was very curious.
Li Yuan fell silent for a moment, his impression of Jade Capital City comprises probably just a few things:
First, Yan Mu escorted an upright official to Jade Capital;
Second, Crown Prince Red Lotus occupied Jade Capital but stopped chasing the Emperor, providing the Emperor the chance to rally forces to besiege, and afterward, the Emperor reneged, the world forces demanded debt repayment, and the Emperor re-employed Xinghai to confront them;
Third, Lianyi House, or rather... Lianyi House (in a different implication).
"Xinghai’s waters are too deep, and the waters of the ghost realm are too deep as well. If they are willing to ally with the Emperor, there must be a great plot." Li Yuan muttered, adding, "I suspect the annual famine in the farmlands is related to these matters."
The proprietress also understood what her man meant.
Famine in the farmlands, fertile meat fields.
And the better the meat fields, the scarier the ghost realms nearby.
Just like one yin and one yang, the higher the road, the greater the demon.
One must know that the meat fields in the borderlands are already capable of producing Eighth Grade Demon Beast Meat, it’s only imaginable that the meat fields near Jade Capital City must be extraordinary.
"I wonder when this will end..." the proprietress sighed lightly, "It wasn’t like this in the past.
A famine this year, a bumper harvest the next, the world has its ups and downs, it’s merely impermanence.
But now...
Alas...
This is the fifth consecutive year of poor harvests.
If not for the addition of farmlands, some more farmers, and reduced farm rents, these few counties would likely have turned into hell on earth.
This is Heaven not letting people live.
This year it’s nearing harvest time again..."
Her eyebrows didn’t show much optimism because she had already visited the farmlands.
The worry hung on the farmers’ faces in the yellow soil said it all.
...
October.
Poor harvest.
And the output of Eighth Grade Demon Beast Meat from the meat fields increased, with a tendency to expand.
...
Deep winter.
In Shanbao County, the Blood Saber Sect routinely tested the "ghost realm boundary" of the "Black Market Ghost Realm", only to find... this boundary had expanded, albeit not yet reaching the ground, but the nearest point was now just over ten meters away.
If someone playing in the water wants to go for a swim, they might just swim into the ghost realm.
Thus, new blood-colored forbidden tokens were erected on the shore, a frightening sight.
...
Spring of the following year.
In Qiutang County, a powerful sixth-grade Ghost Servant suddenly emerged from the Mass Grave Ghost Realm. This Ghost Servant wore ancient garments entirely different from this era, rendering General Gu Xiang dumbfounded, but fortunately, this Ghost Servant held a grievance specific to his debts, so after General Gu Xiang stepped aside, he didn’t pursue any further but left Qiutang County, destination unknown.
A month later, the sixth-grade Ghost Servant returned, dragging a large sack behind him filled with dozens of dead people.
General Gu Xiang inquired and found that in a neighboring county, an entire family had been slaughtered by a mysterious powerhouse. What’s puzzling was that this family had a good reputation locally, known as a household of good people, it was impossible they had offended anyone, much less a sixth-grade powerhouse.
This made General Gu Xiang shudder because he thought of a certain possibility.
As the saying goes, "A grievance must have a culprit," but when those ancient people returned to the human world, their enemies might have long since died of old age. However, these Ghost Servants were relentless, possibly tracking down the descendants of those enemies and massacring their entire families before returning to the Mass Grave.
Thus, it really echoes the saying "Grudges have no end."
...
Nothing happened in summer.
...
Autumn, poor harvest.
This is the seventh consecutive year of poor harvests.
...
Winter.
By chance, Pang Yuanhua observed a new Divine Soul Line in the sky.
Li Yuan and she followed the clues and discovered that the "Carpenter’s Shop" had actually revived.
A large number of people disappeared, while others developed a bizarre disease called "blood rot disease".
Li Yuan and Pang Yuanhua both knew that "blood rot disease" was a sign of "lining up to enter the Carpenter’s Shop".
Soon, Pang Yuanhua went to Look at room number fourteen on the left side of the Zhong Mansion, then returned with results: Bao Dacong was still alive.
Since Bao Dacong was still alive, logically, the "Carpenter’s Shop" should remain stuck.
Afterward, they began investigating more people who developed "blood rot disease" to learn about the scenes they saw related to the Carpenter’s Shop.
Then, a terrifying, chilling answer emerged:
Inside the Carpenter’s Shop... there was now a row of wooden shelves.