Chapter 36: Initial Clues, Tomb Raiding!

Once the hall had completely quieted down.

The stunning beauty looked at the crowd of bandits below, their blood boiling with excitement, and a few magicians who had already realized the situation, her lips curling into a slight smile.

Picking up the teacup on the table, the gauze sleeve slid down along her jade-like skin to her elbow, shining brightly, making the irrepressible bandits swallow hard again.

"My master has made it clear, all treasures from the raiding of King Yili's mausoleum, our family will only take one item, and Clan Leader Wang will also only take one item.

All the gold and silver treasures will belong to you.

Come, let me replace wine with tea and toast you all once more. To victory!"

Upon hearing Lady Peach Fairy's promise, the flames in the bandits' eyes blazed even hotter.

When they first understood the ins and outs, they thought the Great Yan Court was truly in decline, how could the Wang Family, who were tomb guardians, collude with magicians to raid a royal tomb? It was simply shocking.

But there are always people willing to engage in such deadly trades.

Even if the underground palace of the vassal king's mausoleum was bound to be fraught with immense dangers, these lawless bandits were mostly concerned about whether the accompanying treasures were substantial.

"Since Master Ge and Peach Fairy hold us rough fellows in such high regard, we naturally return the favor and will not ask questions that should not be asked, nor look at things that should not be seen.

The treasures that Lady Fairy desires, we naturally do not think ourselves fortunate enough to enjoy them.

We are only here to offer our humble services. To victory!"

"Lady Peach Fairy is too polite. With just one word from you, Lady, even if it costs me my life, I would strive to bring you a smile. To victory!"

"..."

At this moment, these seasoned and cunning old bandits seemed to have transformed into naive youths who had never seen a woman before.

In front of a beautiful woman, no one wanted to lose face, showing off a spirit as if money were dirt, the toasts became more and more unbridled.

It seemed even the fortunes worth a princely sum in the great tomb no longer mattered.

To put forth their effort, even if it ended up earning them merely a footwashing water from Lady Peach Fairy, they would already be content.

Wang Yuan was not swayed by this fervent atmosphere; he held his wine cup and watched as if he were observing a chess game.

Lady Peach Fairy's words, he believed only half; obviously, they gathered such a large force because they wanted to obtain something from the tomb!

But the Owl God Tomb wasn't just any ordinary tomb that one could raid if they were bold enough.

This was a "Weird" that had been devouring the area around Beimang Mountain and its eight surrounding counties for nearly two hundred years!

Even if it had been a pig, it would have turned into a pig demon by now.

Although Master Ge and the others surely had a way to contend with it and obtain what they wanted.

But these experts who had come to help, most of them were likely cannon fodder that Wang Yunhu and Master Ge intended to use to tread through the underground palace of the Owl God Tomb.

Expendables, nothing more.

Thinking of desperately wanting to gain her favor?

He might as well pour himself a few more bowls of wine and go back to have a pleasant dream later.

The night deepened, and all the drunken heroes were carried off to their rooms by servants.

Now in the hall, only Wang Yunhu, Lady Peach Fairy, "Strategist Bei" Lang Qi, Ma Brothers, "Pangolin" Fan Zhang, and "Thief Cat" Cui Tong remained—these seven.

These seven had proved their strength, either having already stepped into the second realm of Martial Arts, Refining Marrow and Changing Blood, or were practitioners of Magic, their powers not comparable to ordinary bandits.

Only "Shadowless Rat" Wen Juncai, who was also supposed to stay, had his place taken by Wang Yuan, which was a small surprise.

Once all the servants had cleared up the banquet and presented each of them with wooden boxes, wooden cases, then exited one by one, Wang Yuan knew the real drama was about to commence.

Lady Peach Fairy shed her enchanting demeanor and treated the remaining few much more politely, much more sincerely:

"A small trick, please excuse my actions.

The deposit promised by my master has already been prepared, please inspect it!"

Nobody stood up for the Jianghu people who were entranced and reduced to cannon fodder; not even Wang Yuan had objections.

The world was just this realistic, including them, everyone was being used, just at different prices.

They believed, if they could be easily controlled effortlessly, Lady Peach Fairy would definitely not hold back!

But amidst the fear, they also heaved a sigh of relief; pure Martial Arts at the first realm of Great Success should likely be the limit of her control.

As long as they still had autonomy, the deal was worth pursuing.

Besides, there was the matter right in front of...

Wang Yuan reached out and opened the rather large wooden box in front of him.

Inside were two big jars of "Tiger Yang Medicine Wine," one was the deposit promised by Master Ge, the other was a gesture of apology for saving "Shadowless Rat" Wang Yunhu had offered just then.

There was also a partial, auxiliary ingredient-only prescription of "Three Yang Medicine Wine."

Wang Yuan wasn't surprised; previously, "Thief Cat" Cui Tong had agreed to come and help precisely because Master Ge had offered him irresistible benefits.

Merely by showing up to join forces, he would receive the deposit—a "Butterfly Soldier Skill" that aids the advancing from Refining Marrow and Changing Blood to "Non-human."

Once the mission succeeded, he would be given the complete secret medicine prescription.

If he obtained the prescription for cultivating Daoist Soldiers, Cui Tong might be able to gather a corps of his own and transform into a proud leader of the Green Forest.

For a master like him who had deserted the government office, such a temptation was undeniably substantial.

At this moment.

After "Thief Cat" had demonstrated several unexpected performances, the original share of the Butterfly Soldier Skill secret medicine seemed somewhat insufficient.

It was simply replaced with the universally useful "Tiger Yang Medicine Wine," plus half the formula of "Three Yang Medicine Wine."

Wang Yuan, of course, wouldn't complain. Even his identity was fake, any additional benefits were purely a bonus.

"Are you all satisfied?"

Seeing everyone nodding, Lady Peach Fairy immediately clapped her hands lightly with delight.

"The official action is set for July 15th. We have twenty-eight days left.

Before then, however, there are two difficult tasks that require everyone's vigorous assistance."

Her gaze, brimming with anticipation, turned towards the group.

If it had been those Jianghu people from earlier, seeing Lady Peach Fairy's pitiable expression, they would probably be deeply moved.

Without asking questions, they would vie to undertake the task in a heartbeat.

But the people present were all from the school of thought of "don't release the hawk until you see the rabbit," utterly unmoved.

Wang Yuan, however, was secretly spirited; what they really wanted to do was finally on the verge of being revealed.

At that moment, Wang Yunhu cleared his throat and took over the conversation.

"Since Brother Cui wasn't aware of the ins and outs, let me explain the situation again.

The Wang family has guarded the Yili King's Royal Mausoleum for two hundred years, which actually contains a 'Weird'..."

To Wang Yuan's ears, it was basically the same story he first heard from Wang Cheng.

The 'Weird' had plagued the land for many years, with the Wang family serving as the silent guardians, making countless sacrifices over two centuries.

They even brought up his parents in their examples, who supposedly consumed human blood buns, worsening Wang Yuan's impression of this clan uncle.

It was obvious that they had crafted a story, mostly factual but spiced with lies, tailored to persuade their operatives to act righteously.

With these magicians, it was clear they went a step further, directly pointing out the underlying secret of the 'Weird Owl God Tomb.'

Then, with a sense of high morality, he proclaimed:

"The two-hundredth anniversary of the Yili King's death is approaching, and it will also be the most ferocious time for the 'Weird.'

Our Wang family does not intend to abandon our duty of two centuries, nor are we coveting the treasures within the tomb.

Rather, we can no longer stand by while this man-eating 'Weird' continues to harm the people near Beimang Mountain. The treasures in the tomb are even more critical to addressing the foundation of this 'Weird.'

We plan to eliminate this disaster on the day of the Yili King's strongest but weakest anniversary!

We have thus invited heroes from the surrounding state mansions of Luoyang to join this great cause."

As soon as these words fell.

"Clan Leader Wang, you initially spoke only of raiding the Royal Mausoleum, not about exterminating the 'Weird.'

"I must speak frankly, not to mention us, who know only minor magic, even if the Imperial Dragon's Forbidden Curse Colonels and General Wu Yi were here, they would merely be sending themselves to their deaths."

"..."

Lady Peach Fairy, noticing the riled or solemn expressions of the crowd, smiled faintly and suddenly chimed in:

"We too recognize that a 'Weird' that has silently consumed humans for two hundred years is not something mortals can handle. However, we do not plan to engage directly in battle with this 'Weird.'

Instead, on the great sacrificial day, our master will preside over the 'Tomb Robbing Technique.'

We intend to break down the 'Owl God Snatching Food Array' created by the geographical layout of the Royal Mausoleum and reverse the 'Owl God Snatching Food Life Chart' from external to internal, making it self-consume its own evil."

"Tomb Robbing?"

The very utterance of these four words suddenly sent a chill through the hall.

With his senses keen and profoundly connected to the 'Owl God Tomb', Wang Yuan suddenly felt as though a slumbering beast briefly opened its eyes and glanced in his direction.

"I wondered when Wang Yunhu and Master Ge's men had turned benevolent. So they only offered benefits to these magicians without imposing any limits?

'Owl God Tomb' taboo: Whatever is said, will be known!

Not only was last year's secret heard by the 'Weird,' but also any conspiracies against the 'Owl God Tomb!'

Everyone present was being watched.

I fear that if the 'Owl God Tomb' successfully awakens and begins to feed on the day of the grand sacrifice, we'll all be grasshoppers tied to the same string; no one can escape!"

Yet, even though Wang Yuan's expression was grim, his heart was secretly delighted.

As this unlucky soul was inescapable, the more fellow sufferers, the merrier!

However, the first task that Lady Peach Fairy announced next wiped the smile off his face entirely.