One wobbling step at a time, Yuemi stepped past the Evernight Palace's corridors, her glassy eyes still picturing Xinzi's touch, while her mind refused to let go of the deceitful words he used to play her so completely.
"Zhen'er, how cruel of you. But if you think you can get rid of me so easily, then I've spent those 60 years training you for nothing," Yuemi said, and as her psychotic gaze hardened, the Lord-Regent snapped her fingers. Waves of immortal qi swirled at her left, and a tall, pale figure with unkempt hair and an inert face appeared—bowing at Yuemi. The listless figure showed neither emotion nor desire, but in its facial traits, one could recognize an older Baxian—that or a close relative.
"Block the entrance to the catacombs. No one must get to it. But should you fail to stop them, do your best to suppress as many as you can." Yuemi ordered the Wuxin puppet.
A gift crafted by Qingxin with divine materials received from the main clan, though this weapon couldn't attack Xinzi or the most eminent members of Hengye Wuxin's line, it had more than enough strength to prevent anyone, great elder or not, from unlocking the catacombs. And as long as the retired elders didn't rear their heads, Yuemi didn't doubt that she'd soon regain control of the situation.
Forever silent, the Wuxin puppet nodded at Yuemi, then vanished—outpacing the great elder on his way to the catacombs.
"Zhen'er, trying to dispose of me by proxy will not work. Either you dirty your hands, or tolerate my actions. Either way, I win." The Lord-Regent's lips curled up, and as she straightened her back, a graceful gait replaced the previous wobbling.
Now walking with a spring in her step, Yuemi glided across the hallways, still relying on her Spiritual Sense to track Xinzi down.
Since she'd dispatched the Wuxin puppet, the Lord-Regent didn't feel any urgency. Xinzi couldn't escape her, so why rush when she could let the fear of what she'd do next build inside his decoy-shell. Picturing our monk's face twisting at her triumphant arrival, Yuemi swelled with glee.
However, as the Lord-Regent approached the ritual chamber where Xinzi and maids lay, long whimpers and muffled moans teased her ears, getting louder with each step that she took.
"Ahn…ahh…nyaa!"
"Greatest One you…oooh, right there…oooh!"
"My fiancé will…understand."
Yuemi put her Spiritual Sense on full display, catching the words and groans that the maids—her maids—tried to stifle. The Lord-Regent stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes stretching as she considered that maybe, just maybe, her monarch consumed his rights.
"No…impossible. He wouldn't dare. Not here, not now…no…NOOOO!" Yuemi's cultivation base exploded alongside screams of fury. The ebony walls cracked underneath her, and she vanished, blitzing past the halls to reach Xinzi.
…
Meanwhile, the great elder charged into the ancestral hall, alerting its Immortal Guards, who spun with weapons drawn. "Great elder, a man of your status should know that no one can barge into the ancestral hall. This is disrespectful to our predecessors, ancestors, and even…"
"What about him, then?" The guards had barely started their sermon that the great elder's retort cut in, forcing them to scan the ancestral hall, and notice the presence of the Wuxin puppet, which had been sitting there for a while already.
"When…how?"
"By walking past you, obviously. You have failed in your duties and will be replaced promptly. Get lost, there are only five people it will not harm, you're not on the list."
"As…as you command." Stunned, shamed, and aware that they were of no use in this situation, the guards vanished from the scene, leaving the great elder to face the Wuxin puppet. As with all puppets, it didn't have much in terms of mystical abilities, mainly relying on raw destructive power. That power reached the Great Principle. An altitude that, the supreme elder aside, no current Hengye clansman had touched.
Just a mid-stage Immortal Emperor, with this puppet standing in his way, the great elder couldn't unlock the catacombs. "Hengye Wuxin, 10,000 years after your betrayal, you still stand in your father's way. My greatest glory and greatest shame, was to have sired a prodigious bastard like you," the great elder said, and spread his Spiritual Sense out, considering countermeasures.
Time was of the essence. Once she realized that he'd seized her whip, Yuemi would track him down, sandwiching him between the puppet and crazed regent. Granted that it couldn't attack him, the great elder didn't enjoy the prospect of having no way out. The Face-Erasing Whip cracked in his hand, and for a second, he considered using it.
This Divine Armament scaled to the person that it faced, making it the perfect tool to suppress a stronger opponent.
"Alas…" The great elder shook his head. Yuemi could control the Face-Erasing Whip because she received the Thousand-Faced God's blessing. Without, anyone that tried to unleash its abilities would at best be courting death.
"Hateful! After all the pledges I've given the Greatest One, you're telling that I will just have to back off?" The great elder refused this result. And at that time, a series of footsteps alerted his ancient senses, and a mild-mannered voice echoed from behind.
"Actually, the solution is simpler than you think, grandfather," Hengye Baxian said, stopping at his grandfather's right.
"Baxian? What are you doing here?" The great elder frowned at Baxian's arrival. Though less gifted, this grandson of his didn't seem as suicidal as his father, and could have grown into a mighty monarch if not for the Greatest One's descent. But precisely for this reason, the elders of the Wuxin line stayed wary of Baxian, fearing that he'd one day forget his place and challenge their master for his "stolen" rights.
Aware of this wariness, Baxian shrugged.
"I'm here to help you. The Greatest One seems prejudiced towards me. Allow me to use this opportunity to show you all…my loyalty.
Yuemi can command the puppet because of our Divine Ancestor, but initially, its role was to protect four people. Mother, you, great-grandfather and I. As long as anyone of us faces lethal dangers, its primary instincts will kick in. So, just do…" As the words rolled of his tongue, Baxian raised his right hand. Divine light and Immortal Qi surged upward, and underneath the great elder's puzzled gaze, Baxian struck at his own chest.
"…This." The God-Child's hand clawed through his sternum, ripping bones and muscles apart as it forced its way towards Baxian's heart. His blood gushed forth. The inert puppet's eyes flashed with blinding light, and instantly, it caught Baxian's hand, preventing him from squeezing his heart into a puddle of gore.
The great elder didn't care for his grandson's condition, and using this opportunity, appeared above the catacomb's entrance seal, slamming his fish-shaped dark token into the lock. Loud grating sounds shook the Evernight Palace. The Wuxin-puppet suppressed Baxian's injury with its Immortal Qi, but only equipped for destruction, it couldn't heal the wound. Still, it did its best, making Baxian smile at its efforts.
"Divine Father, if the real you only had one percent of this in him, I wouldn't feel so much hatred," Baxian said, and with a maniacal grin, pushed against the Wuxin puppet. Left with no other choice, the puppet tapped his forehead, sealing his cultivation and knocking him out cold. Here, it realized its neglect, and rushed back to the catacomb's entrance.
Blinding beams of divine light shafted towards the ceiling, forcing the great elder to cover his eyes as twelve dark coffins rose into the air, floating above the catacombs. The lids slid to the side. Tyrannical waves of Immortal Qi rolled out, and regardless of where they stood, all residents of the Evernight Palace raised their heads, trembling at the realization that:
"The grand elders have emerged from torpor!" Not one Night Spirit welcomed the news, for usually, the awakening of retired elders heralded cataclysmic events. At the center of the twelve coffins, one stood out, encrusted with a jet-black stone that flashed with black lightning.
All twelve elders rose from their coffins, gliding over the air with their arms crossed behind their backs. Their Spiritual Senses spread out, scanning the scene while their eyes shifted between Baxian, Wuxin-puppet, and the great elder.
"Mochen, you better have a good explanation ready. My Venerable Self's next tribulation can strike down at any time, why have you awakened me?" The supreme elder asked his son, and ignoring usual courtesies, Hengye Mochen raised his hands, making both the Face-Erasing Whip and Lord-Regent Seal fly towards his father: Hengye Jie.
"Venerable Father, Hengye Yuemi has gone insane, and threatens to ruin this branch so completely that she will make my worthless son's betrayal look like a misdemeanor. My cultivation base is insufficient, and cannot deal with both the madwoman and her puppet guardian," the great elder backed his words with streams of memories that flooded all grand elders' souls.
They processed them instantly, and their eyes went bloodshot.
"Venerable Father, I humbly ask you to take action, suppress this fiend, and save the Greatest One from her blasphemous hands!"
