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"What’s going on with this pregnancy... ?"

Chen Qing couldn’t help but tease at first, how many days had it been? And it grew this fast? Even if it was a fox giving birth to fox cubs, it couldn’t be this exaggerated, right?

Ali, cradling her stomach, also looked puzzled; she didn’t understand either, but it seemed that ever since that night when she encountered the guy who looked exactly like Chen Qing, her stomach had grown even larger.

"Let’s not talk about this for now, Chen Qing, come here, I have something to tell you."

Chen Qing was startled, rarely seeing this vixen so serious.

Even when she had been identified by him in the Imperial Palace, she seemed very casual.

Of course, Chen Qing could understand; after all, the worldview of a being that could reset their experiences wasn’t the same as that of ordinary people.

"You guys stay here, I’ll be right back."

Wei Gongcheng nodded, while Murong Yunji observed the other woman and thought to herself: This woman looks very familiar...

She couldn’t remember that face, but the flirtatious manner invoked in her a very familiar feeling from the depths of her memory!

Chen Qing and Ali moved to a corner, and with a wave of Chen Qing’s hand, they entered a grey, foggy space. Ali looked around, her eyes lighting up: "This place of yours, it looks very similar to the Path of Yin and Yang, is it that so-called underworld?"

"Mhm."

"How did you sever the Path of Yin and Yang from Lyuzhou? Does it mean that now, if one dies within the bounds of Lyuzhou, their soul won’t be drawn to that Path of Yin and Yang?"

"Did you call me over here just to ask this?" Chen Qing frowned. He had followed her wanting to get information, not to be interrogated for information.

Ali was silent for a few moments, then finally said, "Chen Qing, have you heard of Mister Five Poison?"

Chen Qing’s eyelids twitched at those words.

Mister Five Poison?

In the monsters he had designed, the five "Mister" characters were quite unique. They had very low martial prowess, but because of their special abilities, if utilized well, they could be more frightening than demons with high combat power.

And among them, Mister Five Poison was the most destructive.

How strong was he?

If he wished, a drop of his venom could turn a river into a weapon of murder; a single poisonous insect could wipe out the entire population of a city.

In addition, the methods of using poison were numerous; he could even create toxic clouds and rain that covered an entire provincial government office or make poison miasma rise out of thin air, turning passing armies into blood water!

Chen Qing clearly remembered that when players helped defend Yundu from the mad Mister Five Poison in the past, they and Yundu were annihilated together more than seventy times.

If later on, the Rune Master class hadn’t been explored by the players, Mister Five Poison would probably have been able to slaughter every player in the 300 servers!

"You’re saying... the murderer... is Mister Five Poison?" Chen Qing swallowed hard and asked.

If it were Mister Five Poison, that would explain a lot.

Mister Five Poison’s characteristics were tricky; he could be easily killed by an ordinary warrior, but he could also easily take down the top powers in the world.

Given the right opportunity, if he even killed the Emperor in the Capital City—who was incredibly powerful—Chen Qing wouldn’t be surprised because that was part of his design.

Moreover, poison being the cause would also explain why Second Elder Shen put up no resistance.

"I’m not sure..." Ali shook her head. "All I know is that Mister Five Poison has shown up in this city."

"Where?"

"Can’t find him now, but you should be very familiar with that man. I’ve inquired about him, and his surname is Yang, first name Rui’an."

"Cough..." Chen Qing almost choked and couldn’t recover for a moment: "Who did you say?"

Yang Rui’an, Old Master Yang, a well-known master in Luling County, was once the ace teacher of the county school, having produced over twenty Imperial Scholars, and was highly regarded.

However, due to offending the Provincial Governor of Jiangnan, the County Magistrate, trying to appease the Governor, blatantly expelled Old Master Yang from the school.

Subsequent County Magistrates deliberately sidelined him, forcing him to set up a private school on North Street; that’s how he came into Chen Qing’s life.

Chen Qing remembered clearly, he was a very stubborn old man.

Like a mule, you had to handle many matters according to his preferences, or else he would throw tantrums and become unrecognizable in anger.

However, if you suited his taste, even if you offended a host of people, he would still stand by you.

Just like before, he helped Chen Qing reclaim his property and supported him all the way to the Chosen Man examination. ..

The old man, who feared his wife, doted on his grandson, was strict with his two children, and constantly nagged about his married daughter, saying she had no conscience for not visiting once a year.

Such a flesh-and-blood person, you tell me he’s Mister Five Poison?

For the first time, Chen Qing felt that he might be being teased.

"It’s quite unbelievable, isn’t it?" Ali gave a bitter smile. "I’ve looked into his background. This Old Master, you see, is already over seventy years old. When he was young, he brought his wife and daughter to Jiangnan to avoid war. In the third year after the founding of the Great Jin Dynasty, as soon as the Imperial Court took back Jiangnan, he was invited to join the official school in Luling County. The timeline... doesn’t quite match up. "

"Timeline?" Chen Qing frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Because he was a major contributor to that war that unified the Central Plains!"

"Oh?" Chen Qing’s eyes brightened at this.

The secrets of those old days were always hard for him to find out. Now that she brought it up voluntarily, he naturally wouldn’t let it go and quickly asked, "Were you all involved in the unification of the land back then?"

"I thought... you knew everything," Ali said to Chen Qing with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

"If you’re going to speak, then speak..." Chen Qing said speechlessly.

"I suppose I was involved," Ali sighed. "Involved in the first half, but after the King of Qin died, we encountered a betrayal. Many people died, killed by their own people. As for why the Siao Family ended up seizing power and what happened afterward, we no longer know."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing understood somewhat. In those days, the King of Qin had used various methods to rally reincarnating demons, bloodline families, and sorcerer families to quell the chaos. It seemed that just as they were about to secure the Central Plains, they were betrayed.

"Your own people... do you mean the reincarnating demons?" Chen Qing continued to press.

According to the rumors, the King of Qin had been attacked by the bloodline families after his demon identity was revealed. However, from Ali’s tone, it appeared the so-called "own people" didn’t include the human race.

"I don’t remember..."

"Huh?" Chen Qing paused, baffled: "You don’t remember?" But the next instant, he realized: "Reincarnation lock?"

After reincarnation, some memories would be lost, and they had to unravel some karma before full recollection could be achieved. This was a common affliction for reincarnating demons and something he had designed himself.

"You’re an interesting man..." Ali looked at Chen Qing, full of doubts. "Just like an outsider who knows all the rules!"

Chen Qing: "....."

"Was Mister Five Poison one of the traitors?" Chen Qing ventured to ask.

"Yes!" Ali nodded affirmatively. "The King of Qin at that time was the strongest being in the world, capable of sealing the Otherworldly Demon Statues on his own and leading us to avert a calamity that should have occurred three hundred years ago.

No one other than Mister Five Poison could have killed the King of Qin! "

Chen Qing’s pupils contracted at those words.

Just as he thought!

The calamity Ali spoke of must be the revival of the Earth Spirit!

It was the beginning of the great demon chaos era.

According to the version plan, with the resurgence of spiritual energy, all demons’ spiritual power would surge.

Those who kept up with the pace would evolve rapidly, and those who couldn’t would be quickly eliminated.

The strong, like the Ghost Doll, could grow into a Ghost King within half a year, while certain demons, such as the Thousand-Faced Fox, could be devoured even by the process of reincarnation if they failed to seize the opportunity. ..

At the same time, the human race could also take this chance to soar, with players coming up with various strategies. The world would officially enter a chaotic state of contention amongst ancient spirits, demons, and humans.

But Chen Qing had not seen any records of such events in the Great Jin Dynasty. He had speculated that the Earth Spirit revival might have never happened. Now, hearing what the fox said, it seemed his speculation was correct; the King of Qin... had prevented that version from unfolding!

How did this guy manage that?

Who exactly was he?

"Then how did you all die?" Chen Qing asked curiously.

"I don’t know..." Ali shook her head. "We all can’t remember. I only recall that... we all died by the hands of our own people."

"What about the King of Qin?" Chen Qing pursued. "Since you all reincarnated, shouldn’t the King of Qin have as well?"

"In theory, that’s how it should be," Ali said with gravity in her eyes. "Mister Tianji found us ten years ago, but even now, we haven’t been able to locate the King of Qin!"

"Mister Tianji..."

Chen Qing narrowed his eyes. One of the powerful Five Masters, the one with the greatest functionality, capable of calculating the mysteries of fate and predicting the past and future to an extent. The least restricted among them, and the King of Qin actually had that man serving him?

"When did you encounter Mister Five Poison?"

"In the morning... just when you set up the trap for that so-called Day Traveling God to openly capture the Evil Spirit, I found him," Ali said and recounted the events of the morning.

But she omitted the fact that she had seen an existence just like Chen Qing.

She always felt that this matter wasn’t suitable for sharing with the man before her yet.

"North Street... unconscious..." Confusion flickered through Chen Qing’s eyes. Based on the time mentioned by Ali, it coincided exactly with when Murong Yunji and Shen Yiyun had just parted ways. Murong Yunji found Shen Yiyun’s body a quarter of an hour later, but from the fox’s story, during that time, she had quietly followed Master Yang.

If Master Yang was Mister Five Poison, then according to Ali, he would have perfectly missed the opportunity to kill Shen Yiyun, making the fox a living witness.

This was strange. Could it be that in Lyuzhou City, apart from Mister Five Poison, there was another top poison master capable of slaying a Great Sorcerer like Shen Yiyun?

"Why do you say there was poison on Shen Yiyun’s body?" Chen Qing asked again.

"Because I’ve seen it before." Bitter hatred appeared in Ali’s eyes. "We... all died like that in the past!"

Chen Qing: "....."

He understood. Mister Five Poison was in this city, and the one who... killed the Thousand-Faced Fox and her group back in the day... was also in Lyuzhou City!