Chapter 1 The Thousand-Word Diatribe

When the other three members of Hell's Frontline arrived at Broken Soul Gorge, Feng Bujue had just finished a thousand-word-long torrent of eloquence.

The expression on Alliance Leader Yuan's and the martial artists’ faces perfectly conveyed the extreme shock in their hearts and the intense pain in certain parts of their bodies.

But Brother Jue didn't care. He raised a hand to signal his teammates and said, "Oh, I haven't introduced them yet... these three are all guests of my Broken Sword Teahouse." He pointed to Ruoyu, "This is my wife, and the other two are my disciples. Alliance Leader, would you like to hear their titles while you're at it?"

"No need!" Yuan Qi's eyes widened, and he exclaimed loudly, "Really, no need!"

Alliance Leader Yuan's expression seemed to say, "Please don't, I beg you."

Ji Neng, the Lord of Eight Directions Manor, also stepped forward and said, "Teahouse Master Feng, the prestigious names of your sect's heroes... I think we can hear them some other time... right now, we have more important things to do..."

"That's right." Yuan Qi quickly chimed in, "The terrain here is unfavorable, we shouldn't stay long..." He put on the airs of a martial arts alliance leader and said loudly (no need to use internal energy to transmit sound anymore, because there were fewer than fifty people around, and they all had good hearing, so he could just speak directly), "I believe all the heroes have rested enough (everyone was resting while Feng Bujue was spouting nonsense), we should set off as soon as possible... after we succeed, we can come back and properly bury our fallen comrades."

"Yes, yes, yes! Alliance Leader Yuan is absolutely right!"

"Indeed, time is of the essence!"

"That's right, everyone hurry up and get moving!"

The surviving martial artists quickly responded, doing everything they could to prevent Feng Bujue from launching into another three segments of storytelling.

And so, the remaining group of fifty-odd people set off again...

...

On the other hand...

In front of Burial Heart Manor.

Enveloped in a light mist, nestled among the mountains and rivers, a mighty troop of soldiers marched to the entrance of the manor.

By now, the village outside the manor was completely deserted...

Clearly, the ambush in Broken Soul Gorge was an all-out operation by the residents of Burial Heart Valley, but unfortunately... only one person survived.

Of course, even if all those people had survived, they wouldn't have tried to stop these imperial troops... because Yama had already given the order to "invite" this troop in.

That's why... Alliance Leader Yuan and his martial artists hadn't found a single corpse of a government soldier along the way.

In fact, they hadn't found any corpses, nor had they found any signs of fighting... not even hoofprints, cart tracks, or footprints.

Without a doubt... the imperial troops had turned onto a different path shortly after entering the valley, a path different from that of the martial artists, and the people in the valley had thoughtfully erased their tracks.

"Greetings, honored sirs."

When the riders at the front of the troop reached the manor gates, an old woman blocked their path.

She was an old woman who looked to be in her sixties, thin, with a face full of wrinkles, dressed in simple peasant clothing, with patches on her clothes.

Seeing this, a burly man in armor, one of the three leading riders, rode forward and said, "Granny, are you from this manor?"

This man was named Lu Yuan, a general in the Grand Commandant's Office (an institution that had been abolished long ago in official history). Lu Yuan had a rough appearance and a similar personality. The fact that he addressed her as "Granny" showed that this sir was informal and very approachable.

"I am," the old woman replied. "I am here on Yama's orders to await your arrival." Although she was old, she spoke quickly and with a strong voice. "Burial Heart Manor does not allow living livestock to roam..." She looked at the horses under the riders and pulling the carts, and continued, "I ask that you dismount and leave your carriages, and follow me on foot."

"Hmm?" A look of displeasure appeared on the face of the second rider upon hearing this.

This man was named Bao Qi, a Jinyi Wei (embroidered uniform guard) commander. Although his name contained "Qi" (奇 – strange), his appearance was ordinary and unremarkable (secret service agencies love to recruit this type of person); in addition, his bureaucratic ways were the most pronounced of the three leaders.

"Woman, how dare you speak like that?" Bao Qi said, "Do you know who is in that carriage..."

"Hey~" At this moment, the third rider waved his hand and interrupted Bao Qi, "Brother Bao, as the saying goes, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do'... Let me go and inform 'that lord' and then we can discuss it."

This person with a rather effeminate tone and slightly chubby face was naturally a gonggong (eunuch) of the East Depot. His name was Mao Jincai, and you could tell from his name that his family was not rich when he was young, so he was sent to the palace at a very young age...

"That's right, Brother Bao..." Lu Yuan on the other side also chimed in, "Why make things difficult for an old woman? Let's hear what 'His Highness' has to say first."

"Hmph... very well." Bao Qi saw that Gonggong Mao had already turned his horse around and was heading back, so he snorted coldly and said nothing more.

Before long, Gonggong Mao returned, and he "walked" back.

"Gentlemen, His Highness has decreed that we all walk together," Gonggong Mao said with a smile to the two on horseback.

Hearing this, Lu Yuan and Bao Qi both turned around and saw that the dignitaries in the carriages had also gotten out of their carriages.

So, they quickly dismounted and prepared to lead their troops into the manor.

Unexpectedly...

"Hold on." The old woman raised her hand again, blocking their path.

"What is it now?" Bao Qi was a little impatient this time.

"Yama has ordered that only ten people may enter the manor," the old woman replied, word by word.

"What?" Bao Qi exclaimed, "You impudent commoner! You..."

Just as he was about to use his "official authority" to intimidate the ignorant old woman, another voice rang out from behind him: "Oh my~ General Bao, why are you so angry? Ten people is fine."

As soon as he heard this voice, Bao Qi immediately cowered, not only cowered, but also knelt down. Not only did he kneel, but most of the people in the troop knelt down as well...

Clearly, the speaker was a member of the royal family - Prince Jin, Zhu Zhizha.

Perhaps some people will find this guy's name strange, yes... it is very strange, but for the princes and grandsons of the Ming Dynasty, naming was never a matter of choice...

According to the rules of the ancestors, the royal family had to follow a fixed pattern of characters. Taking the Jin royal family as an example... there were a total of twenty characters: Ji, Mei, Zhong, Qi, Biao, Zhi, Xin, Shen, Min, Qiu, Shen, Xin, Xian, Jing, Mu, Shu, Xue, Ji, Qian, Xiu.

Also according to the rules of the ancestors (Zhu Yuanzhang was particularly persistent in this regard), the third character in the names of the descendants of the Zhu family had to be a radical related to the five elements, and had to follow the order of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

But the characters are limited, and the descendants are endless... Therefore, in the late Ming Dynasty, we had the honor of seeing an emperor named Zhu Youlang.

That was already pretty good... some of the more unfortunate sons and grandsons of concubines had to create their own characters to name themselves in the later period. If you see a character with an unclear meaning and a radical related to the five elements in a dictionary, it is most likely a character created during the Ming Dynasty.

Okay... rant over, let's get back to the story.

"Your Highness..." After two seconds, Bao Qi said while kneeling, "...You are a person of utmost importance, taking only ten people into this dangerous place, what if something goes wrong..."

"Alright, alright, get up, let's talk after getting up," Zhu Zhizha said in a very amiable tone. "Save it... what am I, a person of utmost importance..." As he said this, he had a bitter smile on his face, as if he had some self-deprecating words to say, but he stopped himself. After a pause, he continued, "Besides, ten people is enough... In addition to me and Lord Chang, we have you eight top experts protecting us... What is there to worry about?"

The Lord Chang that Zhu Zhizha was referring to was named Chang Wei.

Alright, I know what you're all thinking right now, please dismiss that thought immediately.

Yes, this lord is named Chang Wei, but he is not that Chang Wei who claimed to not know martial arts, but a sixty-something-year-old imperial physician with white hair and beard.

As for the other "Eight Great Experts," Lu Yuan, Bao Qi, and Mao Jincai naturally had seats among them, but... they could only be considered the weakest of the four heavenly kings... oh no, the weakest three of the eight great experts.

As for the remaining five experts, we still have to talk about them separately...

The first was Shangguan Si, the Jinyi Wei commander. This man was a shrewd person, and also the "smart person" recognized by Cao Qin. All along the way, he had been riding his horse at the rear of the troop, wearing an ordinary Jinyi Wei uniform; at first glance... no one would think that he was one of the people with the highest official rank here.

As for martial arts... Shangguan Si, who was in his early fifties this year, had already cultivated his external skills to the indestructible realm ten years ago. Unfortunately, his martial arts path was too rigid and upright, and he was unable to comprehend the Wuxi Gong (Breathless Art), otherwise his cultivation could have reached even greater heights.

Next was the second expert.

This person was named Bian Ji, the vice-commissioner of the Grand Commandant's Office. His usual impression was that of a paper-pushing civil official, but in reality... his internal energy cultivation was among the top three among the imperial guards, not inferior to Du Ying.

By the way, before Cao Qin left the troop, Bian Ji and Cao Qin were sitting in the same carriage, while the other two carriages were for Zhu Zhizha and Chang Wei respectively.

Next, we can talk about the third, fourth, and fifth people in one go.

Jiang Xu, Cao Guo, Yu Fei; that is, the three people who were riding horses beside the three carriages.

As mentioned earlier... they were specifically responsible for guarding the several dignitaries in the convoy. All three were first-rate experts selected from the "Upper Twelve Guards" for this operation, and all were hereditary royal bodyguards who could unhesitatingly die for Zhu Zhizha in critical moments.

The above are the eight great experts that Zhu Zhizha was talking about. Counting him and Imperial Physician Chang, there were exactly ten people. Apart from Gonggong Cao, who left the team to go solo, the rest of the team were basically minions. Of course... "minions" is relative. Strictly speaking, this entire troop was made up of martial artists, and they were regular soldiers. If a real fight broke out, their combat power would definitely not lose to the several-hundred-person martial arts forces.

"This..." Bao Qi thought for a moment, "Since Your Highness has said so..."

"Alright, Bao Qi, you can follow that woman and lead the way," Shangguan Si's intervention directly ended the argument.

Receiving instructions from his superior, Bao Qi had nothing more to say: "Your subordinate obeys." He acknowledged and turned to the old woman and said, "Then... I'll trouble you to lead the way, old woman..."

"Please, the ten of you, come in first," the old woman opened the way and raised her hand to make a "please" gesture.

Then, Zhu Zhizha, Chang Wei, Shangguan Si, Bian Ji, Lu Yuan, Bao Qi, Mao Jincai, Jiang Xu, Cao Guo, and Yu Fei stepped across the threshold of Burial Heart Manor one after another.

"The rest of you, please wait outside the manor," after the ten people entered, the old woman said to the lackeys outside, and then raised both palms.

In the next second, the thick manor gate was driven by an invisible force... and slammed shut.

Seeing this scene, six of the eight great experts' expressions suddenly changed, only Shangguan Si and Bian Ji remained calm, not surprised by this scene.

After closing the door, the old woman turned around and walked to the front of the group, continuing: "Everyone... please follow me."

After speaking, she walked towards the manor without looking back. The ten people obediently followed, without saying another word.

Soon, they followed the old woman through a garden with elegant scenery and came to a large house.

The style of this house was very strange. The side facing the courtyard was a porch; the doors on the porch did not have handles, and looked like a large wooden fence, with white paper pasted on the gaps.

Modern people can naturally easily recognize this as a Japanese-style sliding door, but the ten people who first entered Burial Heart Manor were all seeing such doors for the first time.

"Master, the people have been brought," the old woman stood in front of the porch and reported with her head lowered.

"You may leave," a response immediately came from inside the door.

Just this response made the ten people outside the door's minds run wild. Because the voice coming from inside the door was like a nightingale singing, clearly the delicate and charming voice of a young girl.

"Yes," the old woman replied, and slowly retreated, quietly disappearing.

After a few breaths, the sliding doors on the porch separated to both sides on their own, without anyone touching them.

Behind the door, there was a wide couch.

On the couch, there was a pink light gauze curtain.

And within that curtain, one could faintly see a reclining figure.

Although Yama had not truly appeared in front of these people, just her alluring body curves and voice... had already made several men outside the door have thoughts and feel restless.

"Heh..." After a soft laugh, Zhu Zhizha was the first to step forward.

As the saying goes, ignorance is bliss. For this young prince, how could the graceful figure in front of him be associated with the word "danger"?

"...This girl," Zhu Zhizha said, bowing, "Could it be... that you are Yama?"