The carriage raced along a road of solidified incense smoke, hundred-zhang serpents of spiritual power coiling overhead.
Pei Du sat opposite Su Yan, face calm. "The Guo estate isn't far, but the road is dangerous. I cannot fight every clan alone. So I brought ancestors."
Su Yan looked out the window. Ancient figures walked alongside the carriage, their robes fluttering, their footsteps silent. They had no flesh, no organs—only skin stretched over bone, animated by fading will.
The Pei family's true foundation. Two thousand years of accumulated power.
*Dead in body and soul, yet their dao presence lingers.*
A hundred such husks guarded the carriage. Their hidden realms drifted in the sky above, suppressing everything. The capital shook. Citizens watched from windows, wondering which emperor traveled with such escort.
None guessed the passenger was a fourteen-year-old snake-catcher from Lingling County.
The carriage stopped inside the Guo estate. Guo Tianxiong stood waiting, white hair and white beard, a mountain of a man. He waved away even Guo Xiaodie and Guo Yue.
"I just heard the news," Guo Tianxiong complained. "I was planning to eat someone at the Yuan estate tonight. You couldn't wait one evening?"
Su Yan and Yuan Qi exchanged glances.
"Don't worry," Yuan Qi whispered. "The old man wants to eat someone else. Definitely not you."
He didn't sound convinced.
Guo Tianxiong's voice boomed. "Did you eat him yet?"
"Almost," Pei Du said. "But I resisted."
"How? If it were me, I'd have taken a bite. My wok fits two people. Stay for dinner."
Pei Du handed him the Primordial Spirit Calamity-Defying Scripture. "This gives hope of true longevity. Read it before you eat anyone."
Guo Tianxiong skimmed the text. "Make me a copy."
"Keep it. The boy stays too. Alive."
Guo Tianxiong sighed. "He won't survive the night."
"If you can't protect him, send him away. Don't destroy your clan."
"Now his value as a translator is nothing compared to his meat. Sending him out safely is harder than escaping a prison."
Pei Du smiled. "You've taken his gifts and my request. Choose whether you're petty or magnanimous, old brother."
Guo Tianxiong glared at the carriage, then fled, shouting, "Don't come out! Seeing you makes me hungry!"
Su Yan walked the garden. The Pei ancestors stood at every corner, silent sentinels. In the pavilion, he heard Guo Xiaodie's voice. "One kowtow for one arm. Uncle, you profited!"
"I'd rather stay one-armed than apologize!"
"You're unfilial! Body and hair come from parents. I'll tell Aunt Yingzhu to beat you!"
They reached the pavilion. Guo Xiaodie spotted Su Yan and started to kneel.
Guo Yue flew past her, dropping to both knees. "A real man doesn't let his niece apologize for him! King of Yao, I tried to strangle you. I was wrong. Forgive me!"
Su Yan lifted him. "You're Xiaodie's uncle. Mine too. On the battlefield, we all fought for our lives."
Guo Yue rose smoothly.
"His arm?" Guo Xiaodie asked.
Su Yan channeled his Mud Pill secret's regenerative qi into Guo Yue's shoulder. Flesh budded. Bone knit. Nerves stretched. Within minutes, a new arm hung at Guo Yue's side.
Guo Yue stared in awe. "The Mud Pill secret truly grants undeath. Thank you, King of Yao."
"A small matter."
Guo Xiaodie grinned. "Small for you, life-changing for him. He needed help in the latrine. And with Aunt Yingzhu—he needed concubines to assist!"
Guo Yue fled.
Su Yan laughed. Then he sensed the storm coming.
Darkness swallowed the sky. Rain hammered down. The Pei ancestors rose as one, clashing with unseen horrors above. Lightning tore the garden apart.
A figure stood in the downpour—white brows, white beard, white hair, leaning on a massive dragon-halberd.
"Tonight, the capital weeps." Guo Tianxiong's voice shook the heavens. "I'll add blood to the rain."
He thrust upward. The sky tore open. A carriage dragged a sun through the wound in reality.
"Back!"
Guo Tianxiong's halberd met axe and staff. The sky sealed. The sun-carriage retreated.
Su Yan stared upward. "The old man hits hard..."
Guo Xiaodie ran to him. "Grandfather says he can manage three exchanges. He's beaten two enemies. If a third comes, we run!"
The sky darkened again.
Su Yan recognized the technique. "Nine Heavens Yang Spirit. The Emperor himself."