Dragon Tamer

Chapter 682: Chapter 684: Cheating the Ghost
 

Zhu Minglang spoke, then deliberately took a glance behind the proud son.

In the pitch-black night, terrifying faces hung on a dark curtain; their bodies were invisible, but whether they were demons or errant spirits, the blood-red sedan chair seemed like an insurmountable boundary!

The entity in the sedan chair dominated all the shadowy denizens of the plains; they feared it, and so they dared not walk ahead of the sedan!

It was like a pride of lions, where the food must be eaten by the lion king first after hunting.

“This humble girl is the second daughter of the Willow Mansion, named Liu Qinghuan. Sir, please let me pass quickly. If it gets any later, my father will find out I’ve been out. Even though it’s a private outing, my father will not let me off lightly,” the Night Empress pleaded from inside the sedan chair.

Zhu Minglang was very puzzled by this behavior of the Night Empress, and glanced at Mi Rong.

Mi Rong didn’t understand much about the Night Empress either. She only knew from the older generation how to deal with the Night Empress if encountered.

At this moment, the yin spirit necromancer girl Zhi Rou, who had hidden further back, timidly stepped forward. She was somewhat afraid, but still summoned the courage to say to Zhu Minglang, “Some spirits, after a long slumber, don’t realize they have died when they first awaken. Instead, they repeat what they did while alive, like a sleepwalker who shouldn’t be abruptly awakened. It’s best not to let such spirits become aware of their own death, nor to provoke them.”

The yin spirit necromancer knew best about spirits, and obviously, the Night Empress was one of the most terrifying entities among them.

Zhu Minglang roughly understood.

In any case, it was necessary to coax the Night Empress, to make her believe she was still alive, to maintain the consciousness of a well-mannered young lady. This would buy time for Nan Yuso to repair the wall of the city-state.

“Miss, may I ask why you went out and why you are returning so late at night? We need to make detailed records. Moreover, your identity must be verified before you can be let through. The curfew has been very strict recently. If I let you in casually, I could be whipped to death by our City Lord. Just explain your situation, confirm your identity, and I will not make things difficult for you. I might even escort you home, ensuring that you won’t encounter checks by my colleagues along the way,” Zhu Minglang politely said to the Night Empress.

Coax, delay, divert!

Zhu Minglang now grasped these three key principles.

But with each additional exchange with the Night Empress, Zhu Minglang felt his body grow colder by a degree.

“I went out of town to visit relatives—a grandmother that I haven’t seen in a long time. Talking with her, I did not notice the sky darken, so I hurried back. Sir, my family’s discipline is strict; they do not allow lateness. I will be thrown into a well by my father if I’m late… the water in the well is very cold, I can’t breathe… I can’t breathe…” As the Night Empress spoke the latter half of her words, her tone completely changed, sounding as if she was struggling, like someone drowning in water.

“Not good, she might have been drowned in a well. Sir, quickly talk to her about something else, and never let her remember how she died!” Yin Ling Shi Zhirou hurriedly said to Zhu Minglang.

Zhu Minglang’s body broke out in goosebumps once again.

He quickly composed himself and hurriedly said to the Night Empress in the sedan chair, “Miss, I will let you through right now. You are the second daughter of the Mansion of Liu Family, right? I just heard from my colleagues that your family’s master is drinking at the tavern, and he doesn’t look like he’ll return home early. Miss, don’t be nervous. Your father probably hasn’t realized that you are late yet.”

“Really? My father is still out drinking??” The Night Empress asked somewhat excitedly.

Zhu Minglang sighed in relief as her tone returned to her previous one.

Apparently, deception worked.

At that moment, the sedan chair suddenly floated forward, almost reaching a distance less than ten steps from Zhu Minglang. Through the thin curtain of the sedan, Zhu Minglang could even see a slender figure sitting inside.

Zhu Minglang immediately felt a bone-chilling cold, as if he were in an ice cave.

The Heavenly Slaughter Dragon and Moon Honoring, Star Responding White Dragon next to him bared their dragon teeth, sensing the threat simultaneously.

Zhu Minglang soothed the two dragons beside him with his hand, telling them not to show hostility for the moment.

This Night Empress was extremely terrifying; she was absolutely not an entity he could contend with at his current cultivation base. Engaging in combat would be unwise.

“Yes, so Miss, don’t be in a hurry. I must confirm that you are indeed the second daughter of the Willow Mansion. May I ask if you have any proof?” Zhu Minglang said.

“No… no, I left in a hurry, but I am indeed Liu Qinghuan. If you don’t believe me, come inside the sedan chair to see,” said the Night Empress.

Mi Rong and Zhi Rou almost simultaneously shook their heads frantically at Zhu Minglang.

One must never climb onto the sedan chair, let alone lift the curtain. That sedan was basically the Night Empress’s dark coffin. If a living person entered, it would undoubtedly mean death, and their soul would be bound within that coffin!

“Oh, oh, there’s no need, no need for that,” Zhu Minglang replied with a forced smile.

“If you don’t come up, how will you know I’m Liu Qinghuan? Are you deliberately making it difficult for me? Why can everyone else go in? I told you before; I must return home early, I must return home early!” The voice of the Night Empress grew sharper with the last two sentences.

She was getting impatient!

She felt that Zhu Minglang was deliberately making things hard for her!

“No, no, no, Miss, you misunderstand…” Zhu Minglang felt his scalp tingle and looked back at the gap in the city wall, seeing no sign of any repair.

Miss Yu Suo, if you don’t repair the wall soon, your Zhu Lang will be torn to shreds by this ghost woman!

“Actually, I have long admired Miss Liu Qinghuan, and from the moment I heard the young lady’s voice, I knew she was the second daughter of the Liu family. It’s not my intention to trouble you, I just wanted to have a casual chat with the young lady,” Zhu Minglang made up a reason not to ride the sedan chair!

“Oh… oh… then, young master, please clear the way as soon as possible,” the Night Empress accepted Zhu Minglang’s explanation and thus urged.

“The city wall just collapsed and blocked the road; we are having people clear it right now. Could the young lady wait for a moment?” said Zhu Minglang.

“These ruins and debris will only stop carriages from passing, but this is a sedan chair, the bearers can step over,” said the Night Empress.

Sedan bearers???

This sedan chair had no bearers.

But the Night Empress said there were, and Zhu Minglang didn’t dare to contradict her.

“She left the city with the bearers…” Yin Ling Shi Zhirou cautiously said to Zhu Minglang, “There seems to be something between the bottom of the sedan chair and the long road.”

Zhu Minglang looked down and saw that the sedan chair wasn’t floating; there was something cushioning it between the blood-drenched pathway.

Standing like this, he couldn’t see clearly, so Zhu Minglang had to bend over, lower his head, and turn his skull to get a clear view of the sedan chair’s underside.

Yet, upon this glance, Zhu Minglang felt his pores dilate, and his whole body tensed!

Zhu Minglang hadn’t completely bowed down, so he actually only saw a small part beneath the sedan chair, but this small part included an arm squashed out of shape; while he couldn’t see the full picture, the blood-soaked sleeves and the blurry, bloodied arm made it imaginable that a woman was being crushed underneath the sedan chair.

“Hurry up and let me pass, do you wish for my father to throw me into a well and drown me to death!” The Night Empress’s voice came once more, now even sharper!

And at that moment she uttered these words, Zhu Minglang saw the long road crazily overflowing with blood; the blood was rushing towards the breach in the city wall like a furious flood!

The Night Empress completely lost her patience, and Zhu Minglang’s words touched upon a great taboo.

Zhu Minglang’s recent words reminded her of the bearers, who were closely related to her true cause of death!

She didn’t die by drowning in a well; she was crushed to death by a sedan chair!

It’s highly probable that the Night Empress, fearful of returning late, had continuously urged the bearers, leading them to hurry. As the sky darkened, they couldn’t see the road clearly, stepped on a slope, tipping the sedan chair, causing the young lady inside to roll out first. The sedan chair was too heavy, the bearers at the back couldn’t hold it, and eventually, the sedan chair rolled down as well, crushing her to death.

Even after being crushed by the sedan chair, she still harbored fear for her father. In a long slumber, upon waking, the first thing she thought was to return home early.

“Oh, oh, I will clear the way for the young lady now, please be calm…” Zhu Minglang straightened his waist and spoke to the tragic Night Empress without causing a scene.

The young ladies of the Underworld really know how to stir up trouble; I was almost involved in a serious incident!

Zhu Minglang, whose mental fortitude was extremely strong, almost collapsed on the spot out of fright. Fortunately, Zhu Minglang didn’t break down; he even managed to squeeze out a courteous smile for the young lady on his pale face, albeit an extremely strange one!

“Thank you. I will certainly repay the young master in the future,” said the Night Empress.

Once Zhu Minglang realized the voice was coming from beneath the sedan chair, he no longer found it pleasant to hear; as for the slender figure behind the curtains, it was probably a figment of his imagination.

The sedan chair began to move slowly again; without any bearers, it “walked” towards the brightly lit Ancestral Dragon City.

At the breach in the city wall, there was utter silence.

Although many people were standing there, no one dared to speak even half a word; they were even careful with their breathing.

Zhu Minglang and the Night Empress had navigated this process, which they all witnessed.

At this point, Zhu Minglang could find no more excuses to stop the Night Empress; after all, making up random reasons would only further anger the already impatient Night Empress.

Yet as the blood-red sedan chair drew closer, everyone felt as though they were falling into an ice cave!

The vast number of nocturnal creatures across the plains didn’t dare to walk in front of the Night Empress, which was enough to prove how terrifying an entity she was. Now that the Night Empress was entering the city, their location might turn into a blood-drenched ghost town overnight!

“Wait a moment!”

Just then, Zhu Minglang seemed to have thought of a perfect excuse and once again called out to the Night Empress.

“You’re just picking on me!! You wish for my father to have drowned me!!” Indeed, the Night Empress’s voice became piercing.

The city walls, streets, and houses suddenly seeped with streams of fresh blood, crazily gushing into the city.

The Night Empress completely ran out of patience!

She was infuriated by Zhu Minglang, and now she was ready to tear Zhu Minglang apart; the sedan chair was flying straight at him!!