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"I really didn’t expect... such an ending..."

When Duke of Wei returned to the tavern, he wore a look of sudden realization, seemingly unable to snap back to reality.

The man who once made even Your Majesty incredibly wary, fearful to act hastily, was just... crippled by Chen Qing?

"Duke of Wei, after this meal, you’d better hurry on your way," said the Princess Royale as she swished a slice of mutton in the hot pot, her voice carrying a faint trace of depth.

Duke of Wei looked at her and frowned, "Why? Has Lord Chen frightened the Princess into leaving?"

"Oh, I’m not in a hurry..." the Princess Royale swirled her fruit wine and said, "I am merely reminding Your Excellency, the Lu Family’s old fools are not the calm type. If Lumings is gone, the situation in the north, at Poison Dragon Valley, ha... I’m afraid there will be problems."

Upon hearing this, Duke of Wei stood up abruptly, glaring at her: "Is Chen Qing going to kill Lumings?"

"Didn’t Duke of Wei notice?" The Princess Royale asked with a hint of amusement, "From the beginning, Chen Qing’s intent to kill has been very resolute, hasn’t it?"

Duke of Wei fell silent. He couldn’t understand why Chen Qing harbored such immense killing intent towards Lumings.

In his view, given Lumings’s status, there should be more room for manoeuver—crippling Lumings’s arms should lead to capturing him for a bargain with the Imperial Court.

To kill straight away? Did that young man Chen Qing understand the consequences?

Although the Lu Family was greatly weakened, their influence remained. What was the point in making such an enemy?

After the Princess Royale had spoken, she focused on the meat in the hot pot, no longer glancing at Duke of Wei.

After a long pause, when her two sons rushed to the entrance of the tavern, their faces pale as they shouted, "Father, something big has happened!"

"I know..." Duke of Wei interrupted his sons and grabbed the bottle of fruit wine from his table, guzzling it down fiercely. After a long belch, he spoke sternly, "Let’s go!"

"Father?" The eldest son looked at his father in confusion.

"Oh, may I trouble a soldier from the Warrior Army to pass a message to Lord Chen," Duke of Wei said to the soldiers greeting the guests downstairs.

"I have no further questions about Lord Chen’s suggestions.

Please ask him to notify me by Flying Star before the Dragon Palace opens, and I will be sure to arrive on time! "

Saying this, without any hesitation, he left the tavern with his men and walked towards the gate of Nanming Prefecture city.

Princess Royale watched Duke of Wei’s retreating figure, put down her wineglass, and turned to look at Elder Shen.

"What about you, senior?"

"I’ll leave after this meal is finished," Elder Shen said, looking down at the uncooked beef in the pot.

"Are you not going to consider it further?"

"No more considerations..." Elder Shen chuckled. "What if by morning, Nanming Prefecture turns into a Blazing Sun Array, and they throw another round at me? I might not be able to leave then."

"You’re being modest, senior," The Princess Royale said with a smile. "How could Lumings compare to you?"

"And you cannot compare to me either," Elder Shen said, smiling back at the Princess Royale.

"Ha ha... You flatter me too much, senior. I drink to you."

"Good..."

As the two shared the toast, Xuu Hu saw everything from below and heaved a deep sigh of relief.

Just as the master foresaw, these venerable figures were finally leaving. Chen Ying had already sent a distress call yesterday; if this great array were to deploy the Ice Star Array tonight, it would completely collapse by evening. If these individuals didn’t leave, there would indeed be trouble.

He, too, had not expected that the master... would actually kill Lumings!

Even considering Tian Heng’s face, capturing Lumings alive should have been taken into account.

What on earth was the master thinking?

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"Awake?"

Lumings’s consciousness slowly cleared through the haze.

When he opened his eyes again, what greeted him was a terrifying sight—thousands of green, oily eyes staring at him, like starved beasts eying fresh meat; the naked desire to devour him was palpable, chilling even Lumings, who was used to such scenes, to the very marrow.

"What are these?"

Lumings looked around, finding himself in what seemed to be a huge iron cage. He wasn’t dead?

No, something isn’t right. He vividly remembered that Chen Qing... had tried to kill him, the intent to kill was so intense, how could he have come out unscathed?

And even his arm had healed...

"Evil Spirit..." Chen Qing sat opposite Lumings, and when he looked up at Lumings, his eyes were still brimming with unstoppable murderous intent.

"When the netherworld was established, a portion of the Evil Spirits from the Path of Yin and Yang took advantage of the gaps to slip in, and we had no choice but to lock them up here!"

"The netherworld?" Lumings looked up and around: "So, it is not a lie after all.

I originally thought you only possessed the secret technique for summoning souls, allowing the people under your rule to linger briefly in the city to serve your purposes, to deceive the living and make them heed your commands.

From the sound of it, the netherworld is real? "

"Capturing human souls to gain the trust of the people, making the Warrior Army fearlessly loyal, and securing even more support from the people, right?

" Chen Qing smiled: "Lord Duke really could come up with such an idea. But it’s not unexpected, given your personality, it’s no surprise you could think of these things. "

"My personality?" Lumings gazed intently at Chen Qing: "What do you know of my character? Are you that familiar with Lord Chen? Come to think of it, I too am curious. I don’t recall offending Lord Chen, so why... does Lord Chen seem to bear a deep grudge against me?"

"I don’t know either..." Chen Qing shrugged: "Before I met you, I genuinely only intended to capture you alive, Your Excellency. But once I met you, I couldn’t help but feel an uncontrollable aversion. I’ve never met you before, only heard of your deeds.

Even after I roughly located you through the Gate Deity of Yunzhou, I never tried to make contact.

I don’t understand where this intense hatred for you comes from. "

"Gate Deity?" Lumings nodded: "So it seems I’ve been under your surveillance from the very beginning... It looks like my defeat is indeed justified. As for the inexplicable resentment that Lord Chen spoke of, I’m at a loss. After all, Lord Chen, you’re much older than me, so perhaps. .. it’s a grudge from a past life."

"A past life?" Chen Qing leaned in: "If it’s about a past life... I don’t remember who would bear such a huge grudge against me."

"Is Lord Chen a Demon?" Lumings laughed: "Can you remember things from a past life?"

"I don’t remember, but I just know that you did something to me, something that I deeply detest!"

Lumings: "...."

Looking at Chen Qing, after a long silence, Lumings finally spoke: "You can’t possibly be the King of Qin!"

"The King of Qin?" Chen Qing nodded on hearing this: "It seems Lord Lu has done something to offend the King of Qin?"

"I haven’t wronged him," said Lumings coldly. "I stand with the Human Race, and from the beginning, the King of Qin never intended to save us, he had other motives..."

"What motives?"

"Whether Lord Chen believes it or not..." Lumings scoffed: "If I tell you, you’ll die immediately?"

Chen Qing was taken aback, and for some reason, a chill rose from the depths of his heart. He instinctively felt that the other party wasn’t lying; this secret couldn’t be revealed just yet.

"Then tell me something you can disclose."

"What does Lord Chen wish to know?" Lumings smiled.

"Hmm... a lot." Chen Qing stroked his chin: "Let’s start with a recent issue, about... that Flying Star Bottle!"

"Didn’t Lord Chen have a thorough understanding of that thing?" Lumings said amusedly: "You managed to use it to trap my foolish wife to death, so you must be very familiar with that bottle, right?"

Chen Qing had previously spoken lightly about using one of the Flying Star Bottles to lock onto the position linked to his wife’s stomach and instill cold energy, causing her to mistakenly believe that the inside of the bottle was more dangerous than the outside.

To achieve that, you surely know a lot about the Flying Star Bottle, right?

After all, even he didn’t know how Chen Qing had managed it.

"I am very familiar with that bottle, which is why I know... it should not exist in this world," Chen Qing said solemnly as he gazed at the other man: "Where did you acquire this bottle, and how did you come to know its name?"

Lumings frowned as he looked at the other party. The other didn’t know about it?

The impression the other party gave him was that he knew nearly all the hidden things in the world, so why was this object, which wasn’t particularly secret, unknown to him?

"What’s in it for me if I tell you?"

"What benefits?" Chen Qing showed a trace of a cold smile: "Let me think... perhaps, I might consider not subjecting Your Excellency, the Lord Duke, to the same excruciating torment that your wife invented?"

"Using that as a threat against me is meaningless," Lumings said as he looked at the other man: "I know you hate me, so no matter what you promise, I won’t believe that you will treat me well in the end. If Lord Chen truly wishes to know something, please show some sincerity!"

Chen Qing frowned and looked at him for a while. He too knew that it would be difficult to force anything out of someone like the other man using torture.

"What does the Lord Duke want?"

"I would like..." Lumings hesitated for a moment and finally uttered something that even Chen Qing found astonishing.

"I would like... to meet Yun Yuye!"