Chapter 407 - He’s Here
Li Huowang urged his horses to run faster. The bystanders had no idea that they were slowly becoming denizens of the Great Qi Kingdom.
When Li Huowang finally caught up, he looked around and saw the denizens of the Great Qi whispering to each other about their plans for the day. Li Huowang found the scene utterly bizarre. It felt like everyone had agreed beforehand to play along with Zhuge Yuan.
“Junior Li, where did you go?” Zhuge Yuan asked, sounding curious.“There are many people here, so you have to be careful. They could be from the Sitting Oblivion Dao.”
“Relax, I know what to do. This isn't my first rodeo. Anyway, where are we going, Senior Zhuge?”
Zhuge Yuan continued to fan himself even though it was cold. “We need to go to Sir Liang's house. Old Qin and the others will meet with us tonight to plan our next step.”
Li Huowang nodded, and his eyes were filled with pity as he stared at Zhuge Yuan. The latter was very strong, but he couldn't shake off his own curse. Zhuge Yuan still had no idea what was happening to him.
Li Huowang knew that no one could help Zhuge Yuan. Changes would only occur once Zhuge Yuan realized that there was something wrong with him. The words of any third party would be meaningless until then.
The carriages traveled deep into the city center, and they stopped at one of the mansions outside the palace. There were two stone lions carved from black stone outside the mansion gates, and a plaque was above the gates—House of Liang.
A middle-aged man clad in his official uniform walked out. The middle-aged man's distinctive feature was his goatee, and he looked to be around forty to fifty years old.
The middle-aged man's fast response to their arrival made it obvious that he had been waiting for them. The middle-aged man immediately bowed toward Zhuge Yuan and cried out, “Sir Zhuge! I really didn't expect to see you here!”
“I’m just a commoner so no need to bow to me, Sir Liang. Anyway, this isn't the place to discuss things. Let’s go inside.”
Sir Liang greeted his master, Old Qin, before leading them into his mansion.
Li Huowang was visibly out of place as if he was just a passerby.
They crossed the courtyard and reached the guest hall of Sir Liang's mansion.
Everyone immediately started talking about many things just as they sat down. They didn't even take a sip of the tea before them. Their main topic was to address the power gap between them and the imperial family.
Of course, saving the Great Qi from ruin was a part of their discussion.
However, Li Huowang didn't get involved. He simply stared at Sir Liang’s side while thinking about other issues. I wonder what kind of identity Sir Liang has in the Liang Kingdom? If I asked him to leave Zhuge Yuan’s side, would he treat me as an assassin? Wait, perhaps he's someone from the Sitting Oblivion Dao?
Engrossed in his thoughts, Li Huowang forgot the passage of time. The sun gradually set as more and more officials arrived at the mansion.
They all joined the discussion within the guest hall, and there were so many of them that there wasn’t even a place to stand.
Li Huowang was too tired from the journey, so he walked outside to get some fresh air.
“Father, what are they talking about? Why can’t I understand them?” Li Sui’s voice echoed from Li Huowang’s ears.
“It’s fine if you don’t understand them. It doesn’t concern us,” Li Huowang said, realizing that Li Sui was becoming more energetic and inquisitive. He had once thrown a tantrum so that Li Huowang would give it a sword. Today, Li Sui had just asked for an explanation for something he couldn't understand.
“Father, you're hungry,” Li Sui said, using his tentacles to wrap around Li Huowang’s empty stomach. He had once used Li Huowang's stomach as a hiding place, but now, he was too big to fit.
Li Sui was slowly but surely filling up Li Huowang’s cavities.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang learned one new thing about Li Sui: he had learned to empathize with people. Li Huowang felt warm but it was a bad thing, as it meant that Li Sui was maturing.
Li Huowang frowned, seemingly agitated. If he couldn't obtain the method from Bei Feng’s mouth before LI Sui matured completely, he would have no choice but to endure the hallucination.
Li Huowang never once thought that one day, he would wish to see members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao. Footsteps echoed, prompting Li Huowang to turn around to see an old man with a lantern.
The old man was Sir Liang's butler.
“Sir Li, dinner is ready, so please follow me,” the old man said.
Li Huowang listened carefully and realized that the guest hall was quiet. It seemed that they had left, while Li Huowang was engrossed in his thoughts outside.
They're going to revolt soon, but they still have time to eat? Li Huowang stood up and followed the butler. He soon found himself in front of a table filled with delicious food. Li Huowang was so grumpy that he ignored Old Qin's words and ate quietly.
If Old Qin had so much authority in the palace, why was he in the Surveillance Bureau? Li Huowang felt that there was no point in risking his life for someone like Old Qin.
Everyone found Li Huowang's behavior to be quite rude, and they cast piercing glares in his way. However, that was the only thing that they could do. Eventually, they started eating, but Li Huowang was already done with his meal.
Li Huowang stood up and walked up to Zhuge Yuan. “How’s your discussion going? When are we moving, and who should we kill?”
Perhaps the members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao are waiting for a chance to strike. If I do something huge, I might be able to lure them out
Zhuge Yuan used his sleeves to cover his mouth. Then, he downed the wine in his hands and placed his sleeves down slowly before replying, “Relax, Junior Li. We have such a grand plan, and we can't afford to move hastily.
"Many officials were imprisoned because they refused to submit to the empress. There were also many who ended up getting relocated to remote places. To make matters worse, those corrupted officials had plunged the You Capital into depravity.
"The denizens are dissatisfied, but we need more time to convince some of those on the fence to follow us. They're all denizens of the Great Qi, after all, so it's best to minimize casualties."
“Why are you pulling people like them to your group?” Li Huowang asked, frowning. He lost all interest in the matters of the Qi Kingdom the moment he learned of the Qi Kingdom's fate.
“Those on the fence belong to the military. With that in mind, do you really think they'd be useless in our cause?”
Zhuge Yuan had a vague inkling of Li Huowang’s feelings, so he said, “Relax, I haven't forgotten your circumstance. Once this is done, I'll ask everyone in the Qi Kingdom to help me find the cultivation method to cultivate the ‘Truth’ for you.”
Zhuge Yuan and Li Huowang's conversation was interrupted just then by a shrill voice that echoed from the mansion gates. “The Emperor is here~”
“The Emperor?!” Everyone, including Li Huowang, was shocked. Li Huowang suddenly recalled what Zhuge Yuan had told him—the current Emperor of the Qi Kingdom was nothing but a reanimated corpse.
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