Ling Yao watched them walk away with relief.
Looking at her eldest brother just now, it felt a bit like he was putting on an act of reserve.
Hua Qingmu sidled closer, "Goddess, why are you looking at him like a mother looking at her son?"
Ling Yao first saw Hua Qingmu in a state of intense jealousy. She found this woman beautiful, dignified, and of good standing, giving her a queen-like impression.
If they stood together, their height and demeanor would be perfectly matched, which almost drove her mad for a moment.
Now, looking at him again, she felt that this person was utterly despicable. A man wearing women's clothes, yet more feminine than any woman.
Furthermore, he made no attempt to restrain himself, exuding a seductive aura.
"General Xiao is the Goddess's husband, the Great Prince... you know this, right?" Ling Yao didn't know what to call her, changing her address midway.
"I know!"
That dark-faced general was terrifying! Far from the portraits of the Great Yao God-Lord in their palace, she wondered how the current Goddess made her choices.
"Have you ever been as close to him as you were just now?" Ling Yao narrowed her eyes dangerously as she looked at Hua Qingmu.
Although this Grand Princess was a man, considering how he had pestered Yuan Bufeng with his clothes half-off that day and his behavior towards her eldest brother today, she strongly suspected he liked men.
And Xiao Shan's physique was very attractive to such men.
Hua Qingmu blinked his large eyes, his mind suddenly recalling the furious Goddess from yesterday and the near-broken waist. He felt a dull ache and quickly waved his hands, "Certainly not. I always avoid him. He's so scary, how could I dare?"
"It's best if you haven't. Whether man or woman, anyone who dares to get close to him, I will kill them."
Hua Qingmu shivered. The Goddess's possessiveness was too strong!
"I heard you cured General Xiao's poison?"
Hua Qingmu blurted out reflexively, "I only gave the medicine, I didn't touch him at all."
Ling Yao smiled, "Thank you."
Seeing that Ling Yao's cold aura had dissipated, Hua Qingmu felt relieved and began to try and ingratiate himself again.
"Goddess, shall I take you to see the puppet ghost that injured the General?"
She did want to see it; she needed to study it carefully.
She also had to bring Meng Jiu and Chi Yun.
That puppet ghost was locked in a large iron cage in the woodshed.
At first, there was no movement. When Ling Yao and the others arrived at the door, they heard "creaking" sounds from inside.
This was not surprising; it smelled the scent of living people.
"Goddess, you should stay further away. Don't let the shredded flesh and blood splatter on you," Hua Qingmu reminded her solicitously.
However, upon opening the door, the opposite of what he expected happened. The puppet ghost, which usually lunged forward when it saw people, was now desperately retreating, as if there was something in front of it that terrified it.
A foul, nauseating stench assailed their nostrils. Ling Yao almost gagged and retreated slightly, covering her nose.
Inside the cage, the floor was covered in shredded flesh. The puppet ghost was almost completely rotted, and a scrape against the iron cage would cause pieces of flesh to fall off.
Meng Jiu and Chi Yun, having been in the martial world for a long time, had seen many bloody and terrifying scenes, yet their faces still turned pale at this sight.
What on earth was this thing?
Only Hua Qingmu remained unfazed, even stuffing the last of his steamed bun into his mouth.
Chi Yun turned away and vomited.
"Goddess, it seems to be afraid of you."
As Ling Yao took a few steps back, the puppet ghost, which had improved slightly, stopped trying to escape desperately. It revealed two bloody holes, with only half an eyeball left in each, and "glared" at them.
Ling Yao took two more steps forward.
As expected, the thing began to cling to the cage behind it and tried to escape again.
It was too much to bear. Ling Yao retreated out of the door and took a deep breath.
It was suffocating her.
"Can this thing really not die?"
"With its flesh gone, it has no mobility. It's clear that the thing controlling it is within the flesh and blood."
Meng Jiu squatted down, intending to examine a piece of shredded flesh that had been flung out.
"Don't touch it!"
Hua Qingmu stopped him, deliberately speaking in a terrifying tone, "That flesh and blood is highly poisonous. Once touched, it means death. The whole body will rot and turn into black water."
This thing was truly disgusting. Ling Yao frowned, "What about burning it with fire?"
"The General tried this method. Fire couldn't ignite it, and the strategist's formations were useless against these dead people. They walk without eyes and have no human thoughts."
Ling Yao looked at the cage again and raised her hand, conjuring a cluster of flames.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak—"
The thing in the cage let out a piercing shriek. The flames instantly spread over its entire body, engulfing it. In the blink of an eye, it turned into ashes.
The Fire of the Gods.
Hua Qingmu watched, his soul stirred. Meng Jiu and Chi Yun were simply stunned.
Before coming here, their sect leader had said that this was a blessing they had cultivated over lifetimes. At the time, they thought she meant serving the imperial court was their honor.
For this reason, they had hesitated. Following the court would lead to apprehension and ostracization from the martial world.
But it turned out that the blessing the sect leader spoke of was this.
The legendary Goddess of Jing was real.
"Goddess!" Hua Qingmu immediately prostrated himself on the ground and hugged Ling Yao's thigh.
"Goddess, please bestow more immortal medicine upon me!"
This was his purpose in bringing the Goddess here – he absolutely had to get more immortal medicine, this was something that could bring the dead back to life!
To achieve his goal, Hua Qingmu was shamelessly clinging to Ling Yao's small leg without any regard for his image. He was already wearing a split skirt, his fair, long legs bent and exposed on the ground. Even though they knew he was a man, it still made Meng Jiu blush.
"Get away!" Chi Yun drew his sword and pointed it at him.
How shameless! He was like a street ruffian.
Ling Yao also felt disgusted. She couldn't break free and twisted her waist, which was extremely sore.
She couldn't help but raise her hand in a threat, "I have no immortal medicine. If you don't get off, don't blame me for burning you?"
"You do. General Xiao used our last immortal medicine. If we had to wait for you to save him, he wouldn't have lasted. You must give us some more. I, Tantai, have always believed in the Goddess, so please make some more. Ten or eight is not too few, and a hundred or so is not too many."
As long as he obtained the immortal medicine, the elders would surely be convinced, and the position of queen would be his without question.
"I really don't have any!"
"Five hundred years ago, the Goddess gave us thirty pills. I, Tantai, will definitely help Jing defeat Qi Rong. Goddess, please!"
"You're saying the immortal medicine you used to save Xiao Shan was given to you by the Goddess five hundred years ago?"
Ling Yao stopped struggling and pondered.
"Yes, it was given by you, Goddess. It's all written in our royal secret records! The whereabouts of each pill are also recorded. The one used to save the General was the last one. I stole it with all my might. If I go back now, I'll definitely be beaten to death by the elders. The Goddess won't be stingy with this little medicine, will she? After all, you have plenty."
Fortunately, he was well-informed and had learned early on that Xiao Shan was highly favored by the Goddess. The current Great Yao God-Lord was not good-looking, and the elders simply didn't believe it.
After all, the portraits from hundreds of years ago were still there.
That was a celestial being.
It could be said that his previous desire to cooperate with Xiao Shan was indeed to use his power to ascend.
However, after gathering more information and learning of the Goddess's reappearance, he became completely focused on meeting the Goddess.
Coincidentally, Jing and Qi Rong were at war, so he sought them out.
"Ah—yah!"
Hua Qingmu let out a miserable scream and was flung out, almost dragging Ling Yao, who was deep in thought, with him.
A pair of iron arms held her in time, spinning her around to protect her.