Originally, with Han Zhongâs strength, it wouldnât have been that easy for Mi Li to restrain him at all. But she was in soul form, so Han Zhong hadnât been aware of her existence at all. Furthermore, all of his attention had been on Zu An.
When she saw Mi Liâs sudden appearance, Bi Linglong was shocked. Her first reaction was that there was a female ghost residing in the area. But were there any ghosts that were so pretty?
Furthermore, the woman exuded a feeling of elegance and pride with every action, leaving her in complete admiration. That was what she had strived for ever since she was young. Sheâd thought that she had already reached that level, but after encountering all sorts of things in this dungeon, her unstable mental state proved that she was still far off.
She subconsciously leaned closer to Zu An. âAh Zu, be careful. Iâd heard that red clothed ghosts are the most powerful and the most vicious.â
Mi Li turned around. âDamn brat, trust me when I say I might just turn you into a ghost myself!â
âHuh?â Bi Linglong jumped in fright. She hadnât expected the ghost to be capable of speech! From what she knew, ghosts like these often possessed incredible cultivations. This place was full of vengeful spirits, and it even had that long-haired monster. Now, there was even a powerful ghost. She felt goosebumps all over.
Zu An couldnât help but chuckle. He said in consolation, âDonât worry, sheâs one of us.â
âOne of us?â Bi Linglongâs eyes widened. âYouâve even slept with a ghost before?â
Her impression of Zu An was that of a total womanizer. He had so many pretty girls at his side! When she heard him call the ridiculously beautiful red-clothed ghost one of his own people, she instinctively thought they had âthatâ type of relationship.
âAhemâ¦â Zu An quickly covered her mouth with his hands. He âsawâ black smoke come out of Mi Li and told Bi Linglong, âWatch what you say, sheâs just my good friendâ¦â He quickly changed his tone when he sensed Mi Liâs vicious glare. âUh⦠Actually, she can be considered my master.â
Mi Li harrumphed. âA master is a master; what do you mean âconsideredâ?â
âMaster?â Bi Linglong realized that she had misunderstood and felt embarrassed. As such, she bowed guiltily. âGreetings, master. I offended you earlier; I hope master can look past it.â
Mi Li rolled her eyes. âYouâre not even married yet; donât copy whatever he does.â
Bi Linglong stood there blankly. She was overwhelmed by embarrassment. Why the heck had she called the ghost master too? Ahhhhh, this is way too embarrassing!
Zu An chuckled, taking Bi Linglongâs hand to calm her down. Bi Linglong wanted to pull her hand back. She didnât even know if it was because of her personality or if she was just embarrassed.
Mi Li had already turned back around to look at Han Zhong. When she saw his muddled eyes, she frowned. âSpeak!â
Han Zhong raised his head to look at her. He didnât have much of a reaction at first, but he seemed to have remembered something soon afterward. His expression became one of horror. âA ghost! A ghost!â If not because his key acupoint had been sealed, he might have already run for his life.
Mi Li was speechless. What the hell is going on today? Why the hell is everyone treating me like a ghost today?! Even though her current form was a bit like a ghost, it wasnât nice at all to treat others this way!
She squatted down and moved her face closer to him. âYou already recognize me, right?â
âYouâre the empress⦠Wait, the empress has already died, you arenât⦠Ah⦠Everyone is going to die⦠Ahhhhhâ¦â Han Zhong looked as if he had gone mad and clutched his head in pain.
âEmpress?â Bi Linglong was surprised when she heard those words. She quietly moved closer to Zu An and asked, âYour master is an empress?â
âYeah,â Zu An replied.
âWhich countryâs empress is she? What kind of country has an empress with her level of grace?â
âUh⦠This is a bit hard to explain. Itâs not one of the countries you know about.â
âThen why would she suddenly appear here?â
âSheâs actually always been by my side; itâs just that she usually doesnât like to meet strangers. Thatâs why she didnât show herself.â
âAlways been by your side? Then doesnât that mean she saw everything between us?!â Bi Linglong was horrified. Sheâd thought that what had happened was just their secret, but now that she knew that someone had been watching the entire time, the overwhelming shame made her want to disappear forever.
âOh, just shut up already. Itâs not like you two really slept together, so what are you being all shy about?â Mi Li turned around to shoot the two of them a look, seemingly annoyed that she had been distracted. Then, she turned back around to continue questioning Han Zhong. Unfortunately, he only mumbled indistinctly and couldnât offer any meaningful replies.
Bi Linglong was speechless. She really wanted to retort, but she felt that what Mi Li had said actually made sense. She actually couldnât respond. Just then, Zu An moved close and asked, âThen should we just do it so she has nothing to say anymore?â
âGet lost!â Bi Linglong harrumphed. She knew that Zu An was saying those things to help her out, but why did she really want to hit him right now?
Zu An realized that there were more important things going on. He moved to Mi Liâs side and said, âHeâs already lost his rationality. I donât think youâll be able to get much out of him.â
Mi Li frowned. Her hands quickly formed a complex but beautiful seal. Then, a complicated and profound rune appeared, sticking to Han Zhongâs head. It entered his skin and disappeared.
âA rune master?â Bi Linglong was shocked. After all, even though there were quite a few cultivators in the Great Zhou Dynasty, rune masters were quite rare. That was especially the case with high level rune masters, and every single one of them was considered a national treasure.
The speed at which the woman produced a rune, as well as the intricacy and profundity of that rune, seemed to be superior to any rune master she had ever seen before! Bi Linglong didnât even know if the head researchers at the academy could compare to the womanâ¦
Han Zhong ceased his wild beast-like roars, and his expression gradually became clear. He raised his head to look at Mi Li, saying weakly, âThank you, your highness the empress.â
âThereâs no need to thank me. This rune is called a Dying Flash Rune. Your life will quickly reach its end,â Mi Li said indifferently.
Zu An was alarmed. Tsk, big sis empress, you really are fierce and decisive! But I donât really mind that part about youâ¦
Han Zhong slowly shook his head. âContinuing on in that half-ghost, half-human state canât be considered truly living either. I thank your highness for setting me free as well.â
Mi Li voiced her acknowledgment. She clearly didnât care too much about such things, as there was a more pressing matter. She asked, âWhy were you able to stay alive for so long?â
âOur group was searching for immortal medicine for his majesty. After searching for many years, I found a holy medicine from the legendary elf race that had been refined into a pill. Unfortunately, his majesty was suspicious and had me take it first. It was alright at first, but soon afterward, green hair grew all over my body, and my mind began to deteriorate. No matter what I tried, I couldnât slow down the process. In the end, I turned into that freakish creature and completely lost my mind, becoming a monsterâ¦â Han Zhongâs tone was extremely calm, as if he were narrating something that didnât have anything to do with him. It was clear that after experiencing the endless passage of time, he didnât care much about life and death any longer.
Zu An noticed that Han Zhong had mentioned the elf race. He hadnât expected elves to have existed even back then! It seemed this world really wasnât the one he came from.
In reality, Han Zhongâs decision to find the elf race hadnât been incorrect. Qiao Xueying had given Zu An half of her lifespan, so if the first emperor had found a group of elves to share their lifespans with him, he could at least have lived for a few more millennia.
But Zu An quickly changed his mind. The ability to share half their lifespan was the elvesâ greatest secret. There werenât many elves who had used the ability throughout history, and those outside the clan didnât even know they could do such a thing. Otherwise, the entire clan would be finished.
He felt warm inside when he thought of that. Snow really did care about him. To be honest, it had been so long that he really was starting to miss her.
Mi Li continued to ask, âThen why are you here?â
âI donât know; Iâve already lost many of my memoriesâ¦â Han Zhong shook his head helplessly.
âThen what about Ying Zheng? Did he end up finding the panacea of immortality?â Mi Li asked.
âI donât know, but at the very least, he shouldnât have before I lost my mind.â Han Zhong sighed deeply. âHow can there be eternal life in this world? My method was already extremely close, yet the end result was just a monster that lost all rationality. Even if you could live that way, how could that be considered immortalityâ¦â
His expression suddenly changed as he spoke. His eyes filled with horror when he looked at Mi Li. âYour highness, why did youâ¦â
Mi Li cut him off. âIâm the one asking you questions right now, not the other way around. Right, this empress noticed that the statue consecrated in the master position inside that whale bone temple was actually Xu Fu. Why would he be there? Furthermore, why does the stele call him the supreme sovereign?â
âXu Fu? Xu Fu!â Han Zhong had a blank look on his face, but then he suddenly clutched his head in pain. âI donât know, I donât know⦠Ha ha ha! All of you are going to die⦠Youâll all die⦠No one will surviveâ¦â
Mi Liâs expression changed. She was just about to ask more questions when the other partyâs voice came to a screeching halt. When she examined him up close, she saw that he had already taken his last breath. A look of fear had frozen on his face before he died, as if he had faced something extremely terrifying.