Chapter 1452: Home of the Dead
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Mother White Lotus’ voice was like a cold wind from the deepest level of hell, with unmistakable killing intent.
After all, it certainly would not feel great to see the army of ghouls that she had trained through all sorts of trouble crash into the iron wall of East Peace County and be butchered.
According to Mother White Lotus’ previous strategy, the army of ghouls could have remained active in the southeast for at least a year and a half.
Even if the army had been annihilated a year and a half later, she certainly would have been able to raise a new batch of elite forces who would be the seeds for the next uprising.
After Wan Mingzhu’s complaint, Special Agent Long’s voice turned solemn, too. “Mother White Lotus, the items are most certainly correct. As long as they are assembled, you will see undeniable proof!”
“Excellent!” Wan Mingzhu said coldly. “Then, please take a rest for now, everyone. We’ll talk later after we arrive at White Lotus Island!”
The representatives from different forces bowed to Wan Mingzhu and left the room one after another. For a long time, there was nothing but silence inside the cabin. Wan Mingzhu must have paid a great price to get away from the pursuit of Qi Zhongdao, Yan Liren, Ba Xiaoyu, and Master Bitter Cicada.
Like an agile fish, Li Yao followed the shipwreck to move forward with the help of the currents. After several hundred kilometers, when he was reaching the edge of the continental shelf, he discovered that clusters of colorful brilliance were shining ahead, as if a city was standing at the bottom of the ocean ablaze with light!
The shipwreck swam toward the ‘undersea city’ quickly!
Li Yao was alarmed. Half buried in the sand, he crawled on all fours while he observed the flying light ahead.
The bottom of the ocean up ahead was slightly rising up, forming a small hill.
The hill was full of corals and reefs and covered in actiniae, seaweed, and all kinds of shells, which constituted the natural buildings.
In the seawater nearby, a lot of jellyfish were shimmering, like dancing butterflies.
Around the hill were hundreds of altars piled up with shells and coral. On the top of every altar was a pearl larger than a fist.
All the pearls were glittering, releasing the most dazzling light from the core. Together with the mild light from the jellyfish, they illuminated the entire undersea world.
The hundreds of altars congregated into an invisible shield that enveloped the entire city.
Under the protection of the shield, hundreds of skeletons were moving at the bottom of the ocean!
Upon closer inspection, the pale, creepy things did not seem to be doing anything evil. Instead, they were attending to the actiniae and the seaweeds. Some of them were digging certain things from the sand. Some others were moving around the colorful fish, as if they were ‘herding’ the fish!
Li Yao even saw that a few tiny skeletons, which seemed to belong to little children, were running about on the sand, fighting over a bluish pearl.
Although it was difficult for the voice to spread in the seawater, Li Yao still perceived the delight and carefreeness from the tiny skeletons.
It seemed that they were using the pearl as a football and having great fun!
Such a weird scene left Li Yao with a ridiculous illusion.
He felt that the town covered in the shield was the home of the dead, and the skeletons were planting seaweed, raising jellyfish, herding fish, collecting pearls, and living a comfortable life, just like the living peasants on the ground.
“In the past, when Lord Wang was in power, he suspected that Mother White Lotus’ base might be on a certain island offshore. That was why all the searches in the forests on the land had proved futile.”
Inside the cabin of the shipwreck, the few representatives gathered again. Special Agent Long smiled and said, “Lord Wang even summoned a lot of Cultivators to search on the islands near the ocean, but they failed to find any trace of Mother White Lotus. It never occurred to me that the legendary ‘White Lotus Island’ is actually on the ocean floor!”
“There is not any sanctuary for common folks on the ground,” Wan Mingzhu said coldly. “Where can the dead escape to if we don’t manage to find a shelter at the bottom of the ocean?”
“As long as the operation works out,” Special Agent Long said, “I believe that before long, you and your believers will be walking in the world openly again, Mother White Lotus!”
“Then, let’s see if the ‘core’ truly boasts infinite mysteries as Lord Wang claims!”
The shipwreck entered the shield as if it was piercing through a soft bubble.
The ghosts did not need air. Therefore, the shield was not meant to block the seawater but to stabilize the magnetic field so that the ghosts would not disperse.
The shipwreck slowly stopped in front of the hill. The seaweed and barnacles ahead wriggled for a moment, revealing a tiny hole.
An object that looked like an enormous sea cucumber extended out of the hole into a secret cave below the hill.
It seemed to be a natural tube that was designed to transport personnel.
Thankfully, the tube was not closely stuck to the wall of the cave. Therefore, Li Yao was able to maneuver Neltharion to cram in through the gap between the tube and the wall.
After a soul-stirring journey in the darkness, Li Yao found himself in a bright place, which turned out to be a spacious palace piled up with countless translucent crystals.
The exit of the cave was in the ceiling, which was connected to a huge pool at the center of the palace.
The palace had been installed with special barriers to ensure that there was enough fresh air and sufficient air pressure. Not a drop of seawater had leaked into the room.
Those who were qualified to enter the palace were only Mother White Lotus herself and the representatives of the other three Rapscallions.
Fearing Wan Mingzhu’s expertise, Li Yao did not dare fly Neltharion too close to them. He simply stuck it to the edge of the pool and observed the four individuals in the palace.
At that moment, Wan Mingzhu was no longer a monster made of broken bones. Instead, she had changed into a vivid body and looked like a beautiful middle-aged lady with fair skin.
It should be a puppet body that she had carefully refined for herself. Unless the high-level Cultivators scrutinized her carefully with spiritual energy, it would be extremely difficult to tell whether she was dead or alive.
But her eyeballs, which were as cold as ice, were still a little bit rigid. She was also wearing necklaces and bracelets made of tiny skeletons and bones on her long neck and fair wrist, which added a frigid charisma to her.
She was sitting on a seat carved out of jade and eyeing the three representatives coldly.
Han Yuantai, the representative from Cloud Qin, was basically the same as half a year ago.
There was a man who was slim and tall and looked like a sculpture cut out of the root of a tree. He reeked of soil even at first glance. He was likely a representative of ‘Heaven Battering King’ Qi Changsheng.
Special Agent Long—the most important representative of all, who came on behalf of Wang Xi—however, was not exactly what Li Yao had imagined.
Li Yao had thought that she would be either a beautiful, manipulative woman or a coldblooded, mechanical female assassin. Judging from the conversation, he had believed that the first guess was more plausible.
However, her real appearance was much plainer than he had expected. Her hair was somewhat yellow, her skin was rough, and her facial features were unattractive. Other than the scarlet mole on the top left corner of her lips, there was absolutely nothing about her that called for attention.
She was wearing male clothes and a pair of thin-skinned boots. Her waistband was tightened, and her shoulders were broad, but she was not covering her breasts at all. Her garment brought an unusual handsomeness to her.
After blinking, Li Yao felt that he was already forgetting what Special Agent Long looked like.
On second thought, such an image did befit a super assassin from the Ghost Character. Only such a face could allow her to hide in the crowd without alarming anyone.
As for the mole above her lips and her large breasts, they were obviously features that she had intentionally exposed in order to leave a deep impression on the observers. When she was obliged to hide herself, she only needed to cover the mole and bind her breasts in order to change into a completely different person!
Li Yao could not discern the Cultivation of Special Agent Long and Qi Changsheng’s representative yet.
However, by simple analysis, those qualified to participate in the secret meeting on behalf of the two unparalleled rapscallions were certainly their most trusted subordinates, just like Han Yuantai had been sent by Han Baling, the Regent of Cloud Qin.
How weak could their trusted subordinates possibly be?
Han Yuantai was in the middle level of the Nascent Soul Stage. The two representatives who stood for Wang Xi and Qi Changsheng should be at least in the beginning level of the Nascent Soul Stage.
Two in the beginning level of the Nascent Soul Stage, one in the middle level, and Wan Mingzhu, who was a mysterious super Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator. This place also happened to be Wan Mingzhu’s home field, with countless skeletons and zombies lurking nearby deep inside the undersea city. Li Yao discovered that he was no match for them.
“Let’s begin.”
Inside the palace, Wan Mingzhu spoke to Special Agent Long.
Special Agent Long observed the size of the palace, as if she was trying to find a suitable place. Then, she walked to the center of the palace and fell on one of her knees. The four Cosmos Rings that she was wearing on her hands were glittering nonstop as she retrieved dozens of components and tossed them onto the ground in crisp sounds.
Li Yao’s eyes suddenly shone. The components could obvious be divided into two parts according to their different styles. Some of them seemed to be made of red copper. They were relatively crude and shabby. It appeared that they had been crafted manually a long, long time ago.
The other components, in comparison, were glittering and showed the flawless, errorless features on the surface, indicating a high capability in fashioning!
It meant that if the component was a right-angle one, the angle of the component would be absolutely ninety degrees without the slightest slant. If it was a straight rail, the component would be absolutely straight, and there would not be the tiniest error however it was measured!
Such magical equipment had obviously been crafted through with technology far more advanced than the technology of the Ancient Sages Sector!
They were either from the Pangu civilization or the Nuwa Clan!