I am the Ruler of the Kingdom of Mysterious-Chapter 404 - 368: Displaying Divine Powers

"Then what happens after I go back to Yunzhou with you? Kill me?" Sang Que asked bluntly.

Beside Cheng Ge, an elderly woman, dressed in luxurious attire and with a face covered in pustules like a toad, slowly walked out. She addressed Sang Que with a hoarse voice, "We have always wanted the Five Spirits Saintess. If you can hand her over willingly, we won’t make things difficult for you."

"What if I can’t?" Sang Que asked again.

As everyone knows, once a Yin Walker reaches the Ghost Level, they become half-human, half-ghost, depending partly on ghosts for survival. If the Evil Ghost within them is removed, they might be lucky to live half a life, barely surviving.

If unlucky, they would die instantly.

Tensions ran high between Sang Que and the people of Yunzhou. Seeing this, Qiao Ling quickly said, "We can discuss this matter slowly later; perhaps there will be a better solution. Right now, the most crucial thing is to prevent the Ghost Opera Troupe Leader from advancing to the Ghost God Realm."

The Ghost Vendor nodded repeatedly, and the five big-headed ghost dolls hanging on his carrying pole also shook, mimicking a nodding gesture.

Sang Que took a deep breath and stepped back willingly, "I can go to Yunzhou, but the premise is that you all do your utmost to assist today. Otherwise, once the Ghost Troupe Leader dominates Qinzhou, Yunzhou might not survive much longer either!"

The enmity between the Yin Child and Yunzhou had to be resolved; she was destined to visit Yunzhou sooner or later. Now she had merely agreed to go, but hadn’t specified when.

The old woman looked at Qiao Ling, and Sang Que nodded, only then Qiao Ling said, "Alright, I’ll vouch for her on this matter. If she goes back on her word, the Nine Songs members will definitely escort her to Yunzhou for you."

With the conditions agreed upon, the old woman arranged for Cheng Ge to follow Sang Que, overseeing but also protecting her. If any issues arose, Cheng Ge must guide Sang Que to safety first, ensuring the Yin Child’s security.

In the face of the broader situation, Sang Que didn’t bother to quibble; she had previously used the Geng Trigram to open the Life Gate, which would last half an hour. She led everyone, one by one, into the woods on the southern side of the battlefield.

They had only delayed for about ten minutes outside. Originally, the battlefield resounded with the roar of slaughter, but now it was eerily silent. Everywhere one looked, bodies were strewn, layered, and horrifyingly shocking.

Blood stained the earth, gathering into streams, snaking along. Severed limbs and incomplete bodies were piled high, like mountains.

Damaged military flags were slanted into the blood-soaked ground, swaying weakly in the wind. The land, scorched by fire, was charred black, and the air was filled with the nauseating stench of blood and burnt flesh.

The Yellow Robe Taoist, resembling a withered tree, stared wide-eyed, standing in front of the altar, already dead. Surrounding him were Taoist disciples who had prematurely exhausted their lifespans by summoning the Daoist Lord.

Deputy General Pang En led the Ghost General, still fighting fiercely against the Purple Skirt Pipa Girl on the city wall. Apart from shattered ghostly shadows, there were no living beings around them.

Seven colonels were buried by yellow earth, and amidst the many bodies on the city wall, mound after mound formed, seeping blood, continuously emitting black smoke that drifted into the sky.

The Grave Ghost was an Evil Ghost previously driven by Deng Shi, who came with Sang Que. Now, it was uncertain whether the Grave Ghost had lost control, burying their own people, or if Deng Shi expended all his strength to protect everyone.

The Hua Dan sang with a chillingly mournful voice, their singing lamenting and eerie, while the Cow-headed Ghost released by Qiu Wanjun wielded a steel fork, consistently attacking the Hua Dan.

Yet the Hua Dan moved like a ghost, maneuvering and shifting within inches, always evading the Cow-headed Ghost’s attacks, never confronting them directly.

"That Hua Dan is a ghost, not a living person."

In the woods, Qiao Ling spoke solemnly beside Sang Que.

Sang Que was somewhat surprised because she had used Yin Child’s Ghost Eye to check, seeing that although Hua Dan’s past was shrouded in darkness, Hua Dan appeared no different from a living person in her eyes.

Could it be that Hua Dan was a ghost controlled by the Leader, rather than the Leader himself?

The Ghost Vendor set down his load, gazing heavily at the battlefield, "We’ve arrived late."

Almost as soon as the Ghost Vendor finished speaking, the world underwent a sudden change, fierce winds blowing open the dark clouds, revealing a blood-red full moon, like a Ghost Eye, watching the corpses on the ground greedily.

Rumble! Rumble!

Thunder boomed continuously as blood-colored lightning zigzagged across the night sky, and a torrential rain poured down. Each drop was like blood, falling onto the scattered corpses, producing an effect akin to burning.

The Ghost Vendor quickly pulled a parasol from his load. After opening it, he tossed it into the air. The Oil Paper Umbrella vanished, replaced by ghostly black shadows appearing amidst the tree branches above the group, shielding them from the rain.

On the battlefield, the corpses drenched by the rain were like burnt paper, their ashes flying eerily in the storm, converging into streams, gathering at a certain point in the battlefield’s center.

Sang Que saw a person, a man with the appearance of a woman, seeming like a twin to Hua Dan, standing amidst the corpses with arms outstretched, letting the blood rain wash over him.

All the ashes of ’burnt’ corpses flooded into his body, and blood-red marks swiftly appeared on the scholar’s white shirt he wore, expanding outward, eventually transforming the shirt into a blood-red robe.

Sang Que was shocked, realizing that the true Leader of the Ghost Opera Troupe was not Zuo Jinye.

"Mo Yan Shu!"

The Ghost Vendor held an old single-tube telescope, inspecting a certain location on the wall, locking onto the storyteller’s position. Then, the five big-headed ghost dolls on his carrying pole released a swirl of black smoke that rapidly enveloped him.

As the black smoke dissipated, the Ghost Vendor had vanished.

Qiao Ling, looking at the Leader at the center of the battlefield, continued her actions, as she donned the Nine Songs Bell Doctor mask and took out a chipped, old ceramic bowl from her medical kit.

"Mulan, guard me for a while, don’t let anything interrupt me!"

Qiao Ling sat in place, positioning the bowl in front, cutting across her wrist, letting her blood drip into the bowl.

The bowl appeared to come alive, consuming Qiao Ling’s blood, ancient totems and script appearing on the inner walls, and a powerful suction force emanated from within it.

Part of the corpse ashes, originally rushing towards the Leader, diverted towards Qiao Ling, absorbed into the bowl, transforming into bloodwater, yet it never overflowed.

The bloodwater spun rapidly, gradually forming a rice grain-sized blood crystal at its center. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Sang Que recalled the last time Qiao Ling saved Yu Da, she had given Yu Da a red pill, similar to what was currently forming in the bowl.

However, this crystal required Qiao Ling’s blood as a catalyst, and Qiao Ling kept her wrist elevated, allowing blood to flow, as her body trembled, uncertain how long she could endure.

And as the crystal grew larger, Sang Que distinctly felt an agitated aura, the ghostly shadows providing their canopy trembling, greedily eyeing the bowl’s contents.

Qiao Ling struggled to speak, "As long as the qi and blood the Leader absorbs aren’t sufficient for his advancement, he will definitely fail, this is all we can do right now."

Sang Que nodded, releasing the Yin Child and the Deceitful Bride to protect Qiao Ling, and tightly clenched her right fist, her palm holding two trigrams. If ghosts came that neither the Yin Child nor the Deceitful Bride could resist, she’d emanate the aura of a powerful ghost to repel them.

Seeing the Yin Child indeed beside Sang Que, Yunzhou’s people felt somewhat encouraged. They exchanged glances as five hundred Gu Masters and Ghost Witches followed their leaders’ directions, dividing into separate groups.

Gu Masters released Gu Worms, Ghost Witches summoned ghosts.

The fear, qi, blood, and incense of the living were sustenance for the ghosts, while Gu Masters nurtured Gu Worms, and Ghost Witches fed Little Ghosts with blood.

As a vast number of Gu Worms and Little Ghosts were released, the corpses closest to the southern side of the battlefield were swiftly dissolved and vanished, as if erased in place, without leaving any trace.

Immersed in the rapid thrill of advancement, the Leader sensed these changes and suddenly turned his head, glaring at the south with eyes full of resentment.

The Hua Dan on the wall abruptly disappeared from its spot, directly appearing amidst Sang Que’s group.