Chapter 196

Chapter 196: Bai Xianwu – Do My Bidding, and I’ll Bear Your Child!

Boom!

Splat!

Thud~

As soon as the sword spirit disappeared, the attic’s space instantly returned to normal.

All the previously absorbed sounds almost simultaneously burst forth.

The clock chime from the mechanism under the bronze platform.

The sound of breaking beams during the fight.

All kinds of sounds intertwined.

The soldiers outside the attic were startled by the sudden loud noise.

They quickly realized something had happened inside the attic.

“Someone has broken into the ancestral hall!”

“Hurry, surround the attic and report to the king!”

The patrolling soldiers turned pale and quickly gathered around.

They raised long spears and bows, aiming at the attic as if facing a formidable enemy.

The faces of the two commanders responsible for guarding the attic were solemn.

“Should we send someone to check inside?”

The assistant commander, hearing no more noise from inside for some time, was puzzled and unsure.

The chief commander pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said in a low voice, “No, this is the royal ancestral hall. Without the king’s order, we must not enter.”

In all of Han, only the royal bloodline was qualified to enter.

Anyone without the king’s order entering would be desecrating the ancestors.

“We’ve already sent someone to inform the king; we just need to guard the attic and not let even a fly escape.”

“Wait for the king’s ord—”

Before the chief commander’s words were finished, the green stone slabs underfoot suddenly turned gray.

His mouth stopped mid-sentence, voice abruptly cut off.

In an instant, all the soldiers were immobilized.

Their bright torches emitted a lifeless gray light.

The flickering flames froze in the wind like models.

The attic door silently opened.
Li Mo walked out, holding a wooden box in one hand and a bronze box in the other.

In the spacetime created by the sword spirit, time seemed to stand still.

These ordinary soldiers couldn’t resist such a rule.

The only drawback was the limited coverage, which at most extended just outside the pavilion.

If those guards didn’t gather around, or if there were more of them, this setup wouldn’t work.

Moreover, the higher the opponent’s strength, the less they would be affected.

Li Mo closed the pavilion door with his foot and took a step across more than ten meters.

Taking another step, he covered another ten meters.

In just a few steps, he swaggered away from the encirclement.

“We’ll make a decision when he arrives.”

As soon as Li Mo disappeared, the space around the pavilion returned to normal.

The dead silent grayness dissipated, and the torches once again flickered with orange-yellow light in the wind.

The guard commander finished his sentence and suddenly turned to look at the pavilion door.

Frowning in confusion, he asked the deputy commander beside him, “Did you just hear a door opening sound?”

“A door opening sound?”

The deputy commander hesitated for a moment.

Uncertain, he replied, “No, right? There’s only one door to the pavilion. If it were opened, with so many of us here, it’s impossible not to notice.”

The commander nodded in agreement.

He thought he had heard the door open and close while he was speaking, but what the deputy commander said made him less certain.

No one knew what had just happened.

No one knew that the perpetrator who caused the disturbance in the pavilion had already vanished.

Two hours later, Emperor Han was finally carried over.

“What happened?”

As soon as the palanquin landed, Emperor Han rushed out of it.

A group of imperial guards followed closely beside him, fully alert to the surroundings.

Emperor Han was about to sleep when he got the report of a loud noise and bell sound from the ancestral shrine.

His face changed dramatically on the spot.

The bell ringing indicated that someone had moved the bronze box!

If it was a guardian stealing it, he could understand.

But if an outsider got in, that would be Emperor’s biggest concern.

However, the guards around the ancestral shrine were stricter than those at his sleeping quarters. How could anyone get in silently?

“Hail the Emperor!”

Two leaders hurriedly stepped forward to salute.

Emperor Han waved his hand gloomily and shouted, “I’m asking you, what happened? Did someone enter the pavilion?”

The commander replied timidly, “Reporting to the Emperor, I have been guarding near the pavilion all along, and have not seen anyone entering or exiting.”

If there was really an outsider who sneaked into the pavilion, even if no damage was done, he could not bear the responsibility.

Emperor Han’s eyes suddenly sharpened.

If no one entered or exited, then it must be the guardians inside stealing?

“Send someone in to check.”

Emperor Han ordered, staring at the pavilion.

“Yes!”

The commander responded and ordered two ten-man squads to go inside and investigate.

The soldiers pushed open the pavilion door.

Twenty soldiers immediately entered in single file.

What they saw on the first floor was a lying, silent guardian.

Emperor Han waited anxiously outside.

He wanted to go in but didn’t dare.

What if the person inside took the opportunity to attack him?

While he was extremely anxious, a soldier rushed out like the wind.

“Your Majesty, both guardians have been killed, and the culprit has not been found.”

“What?”

Emperor Han and the two leaders responsible for guarding the pavilion turned pale!

There were only two guardians in the pavilion, and now they were dead, meaning it could only be an outsider who killed them!

This result made them shudder!

Who could silently avoid so many guards, kill two ninth-rank guardians, and then disappear without a trace?

Emperor Han couldn’t bother with punishing others now; he quickly walked into the pavilion and ran to the third floor.

The most important thing now was to see if that item was still there!

The bell ringing inside the pavilion meant someone was after the bronze box.

Now, he just hoped that the bell sound scared the thief away, making him flee without getting anything.

Emperor Han was so anxious that his whole body was drenched in sweat.

When he ran to the third floor and saw the gate cut open by a sharp weapon, his heart tightened.

Without even catching his breath, he lifted his leg and rushed in.
Once inside, he was dumbfounded.

The entire third floor was littered with wood chips, as if it had been hit by a bomb.

Don’t even talk about the six beams used to hide the wooden box, there wasn’t even a single beam left at the top of the attic.

Everything had been ground into pulverized wood chips!

Emperor Han couldn’t catch his breath, his face turned pale and bloodless.

His corpulent body wobbled twice.

Two imperial guards quickly came up to support him.

Emperor Han gasped for air as if he were suffocating, shakily pointing at the pile of wood chips.

“Lock down the whole city, find it for me, find it!”

Not only was the decoy bronze box lost, but even the wooden box containing the seven segments of the Azure Dragon had vanished without a trace!

While the imperial guards rushed out of the palace toward the city gates, Li Mo had already brought the bronze box to the agreed meeting place with Bai Xianwu.

Bai Xianwu seemed as if she hadn’t moved this whole time.

Her cold, refined face stood like a statue.

Dressed in blood-red attire.

Combined with her morbidly pale complexion, she looked terrifying and eerie.

When she saw Li Mo holding the bronze box, her narrow eyes involuntarily squinted.

She hadn’t expected that he would actually manage to steal it.

Bai Xianwu stretched out her hand and ordered, “Give it to me.”

Li Mo held the bronze box in both hands and slowly walked towards her.

Bai Xianwu stood in place like a queen, one hand behind her back.

She extended her other arm, waiting for him to place the item into her hand.

Just as the bronze box touched her fingers.

Bai Xianwu suddenly drew her sword!

At that exact moment, Li Mo struck toward her chest with his palm.

His hand brimming with Qi.

It was as if the two had choreographed this attack together!

A single move designed to kill!

Though Bai Xianwu had no Qi or inner force, her speed was incredibly fast.

Relying solely on her physical body, she reached an extreme level of speed.

Even when Li Mo tried to slow her movements down, the sword’s shadow was still too blurry to catch.

The cold blade aimed for his neck, practically ready to decapitate him.

The speed of Bai Xianwu’s strike was unlike anything Li Mo had ever seen.

The distance between them was only two arm’s lengths; retreating was impossible at that point.

Instead of pulling back, he moved forward, using the force from his legs to crash his shoulder into Bai Xianwu’s chest.

Bai Xianwu couldn’t retract her sword in time.

With a thud, his shoulder slammed into her chest.

Her balloon-like curves, fortunately, did not burst.

But she flew back more than twenty meters like a kite with a broken string.

Li Mo wanted to take advantage and press the attack.

In mid-air, Bai Xianwu twisted her waist and drew out another long sword.

Wielding a red and a white sword simultaneously, she forced him to retreat.

With agile movements like a swan goose, she landed steadily on the ground.

Her blood-red cape and black hair floated behind her, making her movements appear graceful and effortless.

Holding the bronze box in one hand, Li Mo said slowly, “You knew I didn’t fall for your drunken spell?”

Bai Xianwu stood with her knees slightly bent, holding her long sword diagonally in both hands.

Her icy gaze sent chills down one’s spine.

“If I didn’t play along, how would you obediently help me retrieve the bronze box?”

From her words, Li Mo picked up on her hidden implication.

Bai Xianwu hadn’t initially known he didn’t fall for the “Drunken God” spell; she figured it out later.

But she chose to go along with it anyway.

When did she find out?

“You’re wondering when I found out, aren’t you?”

Bai Xianwu stood tall and straight.

Her cloak fluttered in the wind.

She wore a red combat outfit underneath, which beautifully highlighted her alluring “S” shaped curves.

Her long, straight legs were well-toned and looked full of explosive power!

Her slender waist was extremely flexible and agile.

Like a swift, dangerous leopardess!

“Last night.”

Li Mo suddenly said.

For the first time, Bai Xianwu’s expression changed.

Surprise!

She was surprised at how Li Mo guessed.

The reason was actually quite simple.

Bai Xianwu had smelled Li Mo’s scent and knew what he smelled like.

Last night, he had been with Fei Yan.

After pausing during their conjugal act, he came over.

His body carried Fei Yan’s scent.
The smell here does not refer to Fei Yan’s body fragrance, but to the unique scent belonging to each person.

Only when yin and yang are combined can the scents between men and women mix together.

Bai Xianwu, being such a presence, is very sensitive to the changes in these scents.

It’s like a non-smoker suddenly smelling cigarette smoke.

“It seems I really underestimated you.”

Bai Xianwu stood still, holding her twin swords upside down, examining Li Mo with great interest.

She continued, “Perhaps I can consider bringing you under my command. You are far more useful than Bai Yifei.”

To put it bluntly, Bai Yifei was merely a vessel she had cultivated.

But if she could recruit someone like Li Mo, he would be at least ten times more useful than Bai Yifei.

Upon hearing this, Li Mo sneered, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“Are you planning to turn me into a puppet?”

Bai Xianwu shook her head, admiringly, “It would be a shame to turn someone like you into a puppet.”

“Aren’t you trying to catch me and make me bear your children?”

“As long as you work for me, I can consider combining with you.”

After saying this, she glanced at Li Mo up and down.

She added, “You have that qualification.”

Bai Xianwu spoke casually and calmly.

So young, already at the Divine Communication Realm, who can guarantee what achievements he will reach in a few decades?

Being able to easily take out the copper box from the Han Palace, something even she couldn’t do.

Li Mo suddenly took a step back.

He shivered, goosebumps falling to the ground.

Shaking his head repeatedly, he refused, “No way, I can’t afford that kind of fortune.”

“I admit you are quite good-looking, but I have no interest in the dead.”

Moreover, considering what you are, can you even bear children?

Bai Xianwu’s eyes suddenly turned cold.

Her tone was as icy as an ancient glacier.

“Dead…”

Li Mo seemed to have touched a taboo of hers, the killing intent in her eyes gradually spreading.

Li Mo replied indifferently, “A shell without a soul, isn’t that a dead person?”

Bai Xianwu coldly replied, “I can make you into someone like me as well, then you wouldn’t say such things.”

Li Mo’s heart was moved.

He sneered, sarcastically asking, “Oh, you have that ability?”

Bai Xianwu narrowed her long eyes, directly exposing his intention.

“No need to get words out of me, you will know after I kill you and bring you back there to resurrect you.”

Though Bai Xianwu was cautious, Li Mo still caught some oddities from her words.

She mentioned “there.”

This should refer to the place she went during the year she disappeared.

But what exactly is “there,” being able to bring a dead person back in such a manner?

Could it really be like the legend, that Bai Xianwu made a deal with darkness?

Was it the mysterious power within the darkness that resurrected her?

Li Mo found this world increasingly interesting.

There are soul beings like Li,

and living dead like Bai Xianwu.

What kind of power does the darkness hold?

In such a miraculous world, perhaps immortality truly exists.

This dead woman won’t reveal anything, so there’s no point in asking.

Bai Xianwu’s gaze fell on the copper box in Li Mo’s hand, and she coldly commanded, “Hand it over to me.”

Li Mo ran his fingers over the copper box, smiling as he asked, “Why should I listen to you?”

Bai Xianwu slightly lifted her chin.

Indifferently said, “You can choose not to, or you can exchange it for his life.”

Li Mo frowned, “His life?”

Bai Xianwu squinted her eyes, coldly shouted, “Him, your friend, Ninth Prince Han Fei.”

As soon as the words fell, a dozen upright figures walked out from the distant darkness.

A young man in a brocade robe was held with a knife to his neck by a middle-aged man who looked like a soldier.

Li Mo recognized both of them.

The young man was Han Fei.

And the middle-aged man was none other than the commander whose head was chopped off by Bai Xianwu during the day!

There was a neat wound around his neck, his head stitched back to his body.

The gruesome stitched part looking like a black centipede, truly disgusting.

It seemed the person who stitched his head was quite poor at needlework.

All those figures, like that commander, had expressionless faces.

These were all puppets made by Bai Xianwu!

No wonder she was so decisive when she beheaded that commander in broad daylight.

The fact that they could still move after being decapitated truly deserves the term “puppet.”

“Sir… Sir… Sir, save me!”

Han Fei lifted his head, with a long knife held against his neck.

Seeing Li Mo, hope welled up in his eyes, and he cautiously swallowed before speaking.

Li Mo frowned deeply.

He said to Bai Xianwu, “He is the prince of Emperor Han. Aren’t you afraid that Emperor Han will find out about this?”

Bai Xianwu remained indifferent, “If he weren’t Emperor Han’s son, he would have been dead already.”

“One useless prince who keeps him awake at night, versus one general who can secure his kingdom’s stability.”

“I think Emperor Han knows how to choose.”

“And you, you should also be very clear about your choice, right?”

What Bai Xianwu said was true.

Emperor Han was highly suspicious of Han Fei at the moment.

He would rather trust Bai Xianwu to secure his kingdom than believe in Han Fei’s constant talk of reform.

Li Mo tightened his grip on the bronze box in his hand.

The real Seven Sacred Dragons were already hidden away by him; this bronze box was just a decoy for Bai Xianwu.

But now, this damn woman had Han Fei captive.

Even if he handed over the bronze box, if she opened it and found it empty, she might just kill Han Fei on the spot.

Han Fei wouldn’t be able to come back to life like those puppets!

If he handed it over, Han Fei would die.

If he didn’t, Han Fei would still die!