159: Palace people as lights

Chapter 158: Palace People as Lamps

"Puff!"

The Jinyi Guard formation and this group of furry corpses immediately collided, and the furry corpses in the front were quickly chopped down to the ground.

These Jinyi Guards were all elites in the army, and when dealing with the furry corpses transformed from ordinary people, they could easily sever their heads.

For a time, the furry corpses in the front fell down like harvested wheat, and the entire military formation also charged through.

But with this delay, the furry corpses in the small alleys behind and on the left and right sides chased up.

"Shoot them to death!"

The archers at the back obeyed the order, immediately raising their heavy crossbows and firing one crossbow bolt after another, piercing the heads of the furry corpses and nailing them firmly to the wall.

"Roar!"

"Roar, roar!!"

A burst of roaring came from the front again, and another group of furry corpses ran out from the major streets and alleys, surrounding the crowd.

At a greater distance, the roaring was even more intense, as if all the people in the underground capital had come back to life.

Looking at the furry corpses surging like a tide ahead, Chen Liancang frowned and said, "Hand grenades."

"Prepare hand grenades!"

Zhang Jianping shouted loudly, and more than a dozen surrounding Jinyi Guards immediately untied the hand grenades from their waists and pulled the fuses apart in one go.

"Hiss..."

More than a dozen hand grenades were immediately thrown far away by these Jinyi Guards to two hundred meters away. A few breaths' time later, accompanied by more than a dozen successive explosions.

The group of furry corpses in the distance were instantly blown away, some even blown into flesh and blood all over the ground, with severed limbs and broken bones flying everywhere.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, many Jinyi Guards made a charge and actually rushed into the area of Yining Ward in one breath.

"Continue!"

This underground capital was said to be built imitating the capital from more than three hundred years ago, but the scale was reduced countless times, so with the speed of the crowd, they quickly approached the next ward market.

"Boom!"

"Boom, boom!"

Another fierce roaring sound came, hundreds of furry corpses were blown to death and shattered, and many Jinyi Guards rushed into Pingkang Ward in one go.

The tall white marble steps of the imperial city in the distance were clearly visible.

Paving the way with hand grenades all the way like this, blowing away groups of furry corpses, the many Jinyi Guards actually rushed to the edge of the imperial palace without any danger.

In front of the tall vermilion city walls, those densely packed furry corpses finally did not dare to chase anymore, but just lay on the ground at the edge of the imperial palace and roared.

But no matter how they roared, they did not dare to cross the boundary by even a step.

It was as if there was something in this imperial palace that made them extremely terrified.

Among the team of more than a hundred people, only a dozen unlucky guys were scratched by the furry corpses, and unexpectedly not a single person died.

Hu Bafeng hurriedly used glutinous rice to seal the wounds scratched by the furry corpses, temporarily blocking the spread rate of the corpse poison.

At the same time, he found Chen Liancang.

"Father-in-law, these furry corpses dare not approach the imperial palace, which may be related to the Feng Shui of this grand tomb."

"Hehehe, mere commoners, how dare they approach the imperial palace?"

Chen Liancang turned back to look at the tall city walls and ordered, "Everyone rest in place, and continue advancing after half an hour."

"Understood!"

Many Jinyi Guards sat down on the spot and began to eat the dry rations, preserved meat, and clear water they carried with them.

And Chen Liancang walked back and forth at the city wall gate, constantly observing the surroundings.

Several scouts and Mojin Captains scouted toward both sides along the city wall to see if there were any gates.

Behind the city wall were huge white marble steps towering into the clouds, winding upwards, easily over a thousand meters!

"Father-in-law."

"What is it?"

Hu Bafeng walked over and said with worry, "This subordinate observes that this tomb was imitated according to the capital from more than three hundred years ago."

"Since there are furry corpses transformed from commoners in the city, could there also be... inside this imperial city..."

"Ah!"

Before his voice fell, a scream suddenly came from a distance, and many Jinyi Guards immediately got up and cautiously looked in the direction from which the scream came.

"Let's go, go take a look!"

With an order, the many Jinyi Guards acted quickly and rushed in the direction of the scream.

Soon, they saw two blood-soaked Jinyi Guards running over from a distance.

"Father-in-law! There are mechanisms ahead!"

"Click, click click click..."

Before the words fell, figures suddenly appeared on the distant city wall.

And the building in front of them also revealed its true appearance.

The tall gatehouse, the majestic city gate, and the flying eaves carved with dragons and phoenixes all revealed the majesty of this city gate.

At the entrance of the city gate, there were also two nailed corpses.

The Jinyi Guard who escaped with his life trembled and said, "Father-in-law, as soon as we approached this city gate, sharp arrows suddenly shot out from the city wall. Those of us walking in the back escaped a calamity."

"It seems that the mechanisms on this city wall have an attack range. As long as we retreat outside that range, we won't be attacked..."

"Special mechanism?"

Chen Liancang looked towards the city wall and was shocked to find three dancing dragon and phoenix characters engraved on it.

"Shenwu Gate!"

"Shenwu Gate? This is actually Shenwu Gate?"

Chen Liancang looked around up and down. Rows of densely packed figures on both sides of the city wall, upon closer inspection, turned out to be life-sized iron man figurines!

In their hands, they grasped heavy crossbows that looked simple and old, but were extremely sharp, aiming far down at the ground.

Every few tens of meters, bed crossbows specifically used for sieging cities were even installed!

"Father-in-law..."

Hu Bafeng hurriedly ran over and said, "The subordinates report that there are iron man figurines almost all over the city wall, and they can move. We simply cannot get in."

"Cannot get in?"

Chen Liancang looked at the tall Shenwu Gate and the rows of iron man figurines pointing in this direction from afar, and suddenly had a guess in his heart.

"Hu Bafeng, you said this imperial mausoleum was built according to the capital from more than three hundred years ago. The furry corpses in the city are ordinary people, so inside the imperial palace, there should be Imperial Guards, imperial concubines, eunuchs, palace maids, and imperial princes and grandchildren."

"It should be..."

Hu Bafeng was not sure either, but still said, "All grand tombs are carefully built by their owners, and all have different mechanisms and settings."

"Perhaps the setting within the Grand Ancestor's imperial mausoleum is just like this: Heaven, Earth, Monarch, Parents, Teacher, and the human ethics and cardinal guides..."

"this servant understands."

Chen Liancang said calmly, then slowly walked towards the direction of Shenwu Gate.

"Father-in-law?"

"Wait here."

After speaking, he continued forward. The many Jinyi Guards and Mojin Captains all did not dare to breathe a single breath, staring fixedly at Chen Liancang's back.

With his movement, the iron man figurines on the city wall slowly turned their directions, and at least over fifty heavy crossbows aimed at Chen Liancang.

Suddenly, a hoarse voice like iron friction sounded from nowhere.

"Halt, newcomer!"

"This is... the Imperial City!"

"Those who advance further... will be killed without amnesty!"

Chen Liancang stopped, took something out from his bosom with one hand, and held it high.

"this servant, head of the Shadow Guard, requests an audience with Your Majesty. This is the Shadow Guard token!"

This token was, of course, the identity token of the Great Yu Shadow Guard.

"Click!"

"Click click..."

Sure enough, the gate of Shenwu Gate suddenly opened a crack, and an iron man figurine slowly walked out.

No, not walking.

But moving stiffly.

It was as if the joints of its legs did not exist.

"Click click, click click click..."

Accompanied by the sound of iron friction, this tall iron man figurine finally walked in front of Chen Liancang.

Chen Liancang's eyes flickered; the style of this suit of armor... was very similar to the Longxiang Army!

"Click..."

The iron man figurine suddenly stretched out its right hand, and Chen Liancang placed the token in his hand onto it.

A faint light appeared, as if shot from the eyes of the iron man figurine, shining on the token in his hand.

Chen Liancang looked closely and found that the eyes of this iron man figurine were actually made of a special kind of crystal.

"Shadow Guard head... This subordinate greets..."

The iron man figurine transmitted another hoarse voice again, like two iron sheets that had been rusted for a long time rubbing against each other.

And after saying these things, as if some fault had occurred, after a few hoarse rubbing words, it turned around and left.

And the gate of Shenwu Gate behind it slowly opened.

On the city wall, the many iron man figurines also slowly returned to their original positions, and the heavy crossbows in their hands were lowered.

"Father-in-law?"

"Let's go, it should be safe."

Chen Liancang put away the token and walked in first.

"Everyone follow closely behind this servant. This underground imperial palace should have the same rules as the imperial palace; only those carrying tokens can move around freely. Don't get lost."

"Understood!"

A group of people cautiously stepped into the imperial palace, gazing at this imperial palace that was identical to the one from more than three hundred years ago.

Just at this moment, a series of dull plop sounds suddenly came from a distance.

Then, from far to near, one by one, gloomy blue lights suddenly lit up, rapidly spreading toward the entrance.

The crowd hurriedly stopped their footsteps and desperately scrutinized the surrounding environment.

Hu Bafeng said in a low voice, "We should have encountered the mechanism in the underground palace, which can automatically ignite the lights... Ghost ah!"

He suddenly cried out in alarm and hurriedly retreated, protected by the Jinyi Guards behind him.

"Lord Hu, do not be afraid. That is not a ghost, but merely a dead person."

Zhang Jianping grabbed Hu Bafeng. Hu Bafeng calmed down this time, feeling a bit embarrassed on his face, and muttered in his mouth: "Thank you, Lord Zhang, let me take a look..."

He walked up to take a look, and sure enough, under the light was not any ghost, but a dead corpse bound all over to a wooden stake, with both hands in a posture of supporting the sky!

The dead corpse as a whole presented a twisted snake-like shape, naked all over, and its skin showed a strange bronze color.

Strangely, the abdomen of this corpse was very bloated, just like a pregnant woman seven or eight months pregnant.

In the center of the hands was inserted a wick, and the gloomy blue light flickered slowly.

"Did you guys smell any smell?"

"So fragrant..."

"It's like the smell of pork fat?"

A group of people discussed animatedly, and Chen Liancang also walked over. Hu Bafeng said with a stern face, "Father-in-law, this is not pork fat, but whale oil!"

"This corpse is filled with whale oil, and then sealed with mercury, thus making the corpse into a 'human wax' that can burn for decades or even hundreds of years!"

He looked around, and densely packed countless gloomy blue lights appeared inside the entire imperial city.

That is to say, every single light represented a human wax, representing a corpse!

"This, so many human waxes, how many people must that be..."

Chen Liancang just glanced at this human wax, and then said coldly, "Regardless, let's go first."

"Understood!"

The crowd continued forward. Before long, Chen Liancang's head turned abruptly, looking towards a corner.

Chen Xiao also quickly discovered it and shouted coldly, "Who is it, come out!"

A black figure slowly walked out, walking towards the direction of the crowd.

"Don't attack yet!"

Under the flickering of the dim lights, the crowd saw the figure walking over clearly.

That turned out to be a... eunuch!

However, this eunuch was very strange: his figure was emaciated, his face was incomparably pale, looking like a skeleton wrapped in human skin.

The strangest thing was that he held his hands inverted, waving them down over and over again.

As if he was... sweeping the floor?

"What is he doing?"

"Furry corpse?"

"Or other monsters?"

The little eunuch walked tremblingly like this. Under the close-up gaze of the crowd, after walking in front of them, the little eunuch actually turned around and walked past, his hands still shaking.

"Let's go."

Looking at the leaving little eunuch, Chen Liancang seemed to see himself from decades ago.

The crowd continued forward, and sure enough, along this way, they discovered a large number of little eunuchs and palace maids again.

They were like walking corpses, doing their own unique things in this huge underground imperial palace.

Sweeping the floor, watering flowers, beating and washing clothes.

Even...

They even saw a team of Imperial Guards shaped like ghosts guarding this imperial palace, constantly patrolling along a predetermined route.

They had no reaction to Chen Liancang and the others who entered the imperial palace, as if they couldn't see them at all.

Seeing this scene, the crowd's expressions became even more tense, and their pupils were full of terror.

Weird, it was simply too weird!

Finally.

They arrived at the exact center of the imperial city. The Golden Luan Hall that originally belonged solely to the Grand Ancestor Zheng Mingsen had vanished, and was replaced by a giant altar about a thousand meters high!

"Charge!"