Chapter 84: True Body Burial Coffin Part 1

No ghost responded to her, which inevitably left Wang Ya puzzled. The armies gathered outside the hall and in the city had clearly received orders not to attack them; otherwise, they would have charged in long ago. Why else would they remain so quietly in place? But what was the point of leaving her hanging like this? However, raising the dead was not the same as getting out of bed—especially these ones sealed in coffins. The higher the rank and the better the seal on the coffin, the more troublesome it was to rise. One only had to look at how long it had taken for the one in the central Ink Jade Coffin of the Azure Dragon Ten Thousand Coffins Array to emerge!

Wang Ya thought for a moment before turning to Wang Cheng’an and the others. “You all retreat to the doorway.” She raised her voice again. “Illusory City King, make way. I need to go to the Bardo Realm!”

As her voice rang out, she saw a faint figure materialize in front of the throne. It was a shadow condensed from Yin Qi. With just one glance, Wang Ya knew it was neither the Illusory City King’s true body nor even his soul—just a mere phantom form woven from Yin Qi.

The figure resembled a king clad in a coronet, tall and upright. He did not sit upon the throne but stood at the base of the steps before it, facing Wang Ya from afar.

It was not just Wang Ya; even Wang Cheng’an, Zhang Qingshui, Huang Qi, and Old Tang at the hall’s entrance could feel the scrutinizing gaze cast upon them by the “Illusory City King.” That gaze was icy cold, brimming with supreme majesty, like a lofty sovereign overlooking lowly commoners, or a warning not to step foot into the hall and cross the forbidden threshold.

Though Wang Ya was wary of the Illusory City King’s power and dared not act rashly, whether as the Wang Ya who had learned Catching Ghosts and Demons from childhood or as the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Demon, she felt no pressure from the long-dead Illusory City King in his Ghost Body—not to mention this mere phantom of Yin Qi. If not for this phantom serving as the medium for their exchange, she would not have spared it a second glance. Even as her eyes fell upon him, her attention remained fixed behind the throne, on the Illusory City King’s place of eternal slumber. Wang Ya, acutely sensitive to the auras of Yin Spirits and ghosts, detected over a dozen faint fluctuations of Yin Spirits emanating from behind the throne. These were masked beneath the overwhelming presence of the Illusory City King; had she not paid close attention, she might not have noticed them. Wang Ya was not surprised to sense more than just the Illusory City King buried there. The city outside the palace had its commoners and soldiers buried alongside, the hall held its civil and military officials, and naturally, the rear would not lack the three palaces and six courtyards.

A voice transmitted into Wang Ya’s mind: “Follow me.” It pulled her attention back to the phantom of the Illusory City King before her. She watched as he turned and drifted toward the left rear of the grand hall.

Wang Ya was momentarily stunned. Wasn’t the rear his tomb, the Illusory City King’s sacred burial ground?

Since she had come this far, she would make the best of it. If the Illusory City King was leading her there, she would follow. She had no fear of any tricks from him—if he had wanted to deal with her, he would not have let her reach the palace; he could have buried them all with the armies outside! Most importantly, Wang Ya sensed a familiar aura of shared origin nearby, one that stirred faint throbs in her heart, waves of heartache and sorrow.

She did not understand why her past life as the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Demon had held so much sorrow. Recalling Ye Zi’s words and the sensations each time she touched the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower, Wang Ya even suspected that what was buried here was the sorrow of the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower—and she was unearthing it bit by bit.

Unable to suppress her emotions, she followed the Illusory City King toward the left rear of the grand hall. Her heart brimmed with too many questions that demanded answers.

They passed exquisite pillars carved with coiling dragons and arrived at the left rear, where a rumbling sound echoed. A section of wall before her sank downward, revealing an arched door. That familiar aura instantly enveloped her, and in her daze, she even glimpsed a sky filled with crimson light.

Wang Cheng’an’s shrill cry rang out. “Yaya—”

As a descendant of the Feng Family, he would face no danger here. Without looking back, Wang Ya strode toward the arched door. Walking the long corridor, inhaling that familiar scent, Wang Ya felt as if she had traversed time itself. In her mind, she even envisioned a procession of mourners carrying an Ink Jade coffin toward the corridor’s depths.

The corridor stretched about a hundred meters, ending in a long flight of steps. She descended them and soon reached another arched door. Wang Ya unleashed a strand of Yellow Springs Other Shore Art, pushing it open. After a ripple of red light washed over the door, it slowly parted, revealing a dim chamber.

Wang Ya entered the room. As soon as she stepped inside, a blinding red light erupted, forcing her to avert her eyes and squeeze them shut. Immediately after, a scorching agony engulfed her entire body, the pain overwhelming her in an instant—even her head felt like it would explode. Amid this torment, she saw that in the pitch-black chamber stood an Ink Jade coffin, its lid open. Streams of red light poured ceaselessly from the coffin into her body. She glimpsed scattered petals of the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower within—petals red as blood. Seeing them gave Wang Ya the illusion that she beheld her own corpse.