Meanwhile, in Liangzhu...
When Wu Qi was delegating his power in Dong Hai City and arranging the dragon pythons to be married, a dark cloud was gathering over King Bai Shan's mansion, and the atmosphere within was extremely tense. Several servants were carefully cleaning the bloodstains in the courtyard with ashes and scrubbing the boulder-paved floors to a mirror-like shine.
In the great hall, King Bai Shan sat gloomily behind a stone table. He was bare-chested, wearing only a pair of linen trousers. Two naked girls lay sprawled in front of the table, their necks twisted at a strange angle; one had a green fist mark sunk three-inch deep into her skin near her spine. Clearly, both of them were dead.
In one corner of the hall, a few beautiful girls stood trembling like willows in a storm, their frightened eyes glancing now and then between the legs of the two dead girls, where blood and filth flowed down slowly. It was obvious that they had been raped and then killed violently. A faint sound of sobbing could be heard drifting out of the two naked corpses. Someone had confined their souls on the surface of their bodies with magic. Anyone with any level of cultivation base could see two faint human-shaped smoke twisting and struggling above the bodies, unable to go farther than three feet.
King Yang Shan's face looked old, but his exposed body was stronger than that of an ordinary youth. Beneath his smooth and glossy skin were chunks of ingot-like muscles full of explosive power. Blue veins were wriggling across his body, and every time his heart beat, they jerked gently; filling the air with the loud sound of blood rushing through them.
A small figure carved out of black jade was placed on the stone table. Staring fixedly at the cracks that covered the figure's surface like a cobweb, King Bai Shan murmured to himself in a deep voice, "Who killed my son? Although the cultivation level Ji Yao showed to the public was only the Three Stars Realm of the Second Pangu Heaven, he had already broken through the Nine Stars Realm... And, all it would have taken is for me to request that magic pill from His Majesty, and he would be able to break through the realm of the Third Pangu Heaven and form his Minor Pangu Sacred Body..."
He clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth as he said, "Who else would have the power to kill my son, if not a Supreme Oracle or a Primordial expert?"
Suddenly, a beautiful woman wearing a long black dress and many jade jewels rushed out from behind the hall while crying bitterly. She threw herself on King Bai Shan and said, "My lord, you must avenge Yao'er!"
King Bai Shan frowned, then struck the woman in the back of her neck with the edge of his palm and knocked her unconscious. He bellowed coldly, "Who told her about this? I want the head of this person with a big mouth hacked off, and all his relatives killed! Somebody, bring your lady mother to the backyard and lock her up in the ice dungeon to sober her up! I'm sick of her crying!"
At his order, several stout women stormed into the hall, grabbed his wife, and ran off to the ice dungeon at the backyard. Then, a few moments later, her ladyship's handmaids were dragged out by a group of fierce guards. Without asking who actually leaked the death of King Zhang Qiu, and before these handmaids had the time to cry for mercy, their heads were hacked off, all of them. Meanwhile, troops of guards were already on their way to the homes of these maids to carry out their lord's order of killing all their relatives.
Headless corpses lay twitching in a pool of blood. The pungent smell of blood and the heads of several beautiful girls on the stone table in front of him made King Bai Shan feel a little better. He picked up one of the heads and stroked her cheek slowly while murmuring, "Whoever killed Ji Yao, I'll slaughter your whole family. Somebody, tell me, what had King Zhang Qiu been up to these days?"
Two immortals in white robes walked out slowly. They exchanged a glance, before bowing deeply to King Bai Shan at the same time. "Your Highness, King Zhang Qiu was not in Liangzhu these days, so we really have no idea what he had been doing," one of them said.
"Oh?" King Bai Shan shot a cold look at the two immortals he had secretly kept in his mansion and snorted coldly. Then, the head in his hand immediately vanished into wisps of smoke. After that, he bowed his head, thinking for a moment, before gritting his teeth and speaking with a grim smile, "Go and find out exactly what Ji Yao had been doing recently, and whom he had been feuding with."
Pointing his finger in a certain direction, he went on, "Also, find out if anyone from that clan was away these days, and find out if there is anyone who is strong enough to kill Ji Yao from all the Kings' mansions in Liangzhu and had suddenly disappeared. All in all, don't let go of any clues. I want a list of names who are suspected to have killed Ji Yao!"
The two immortals bowed deeply in silence and left the hall in a hurry, lest King Bai Shan should suddenly burst into anger and kill them like the maidservants. This was Liangzhu, the heart of Great Yu, and King Bai Shan needed no excuse or effort to kill some immortals whom he had secretly kept.
No sooner had the two immortals left that Liu Bang, dressed in his robe of Immortal King, strode into the great hall with a straight face.
King Bai Shan gave Liu Bang a cold glance, his face suddenly twisted. Slamming his hands on the stone table, he gritted his teeth and growled, "Is this what you promised me? Ji Yao could be the Human Emperor? But he's dead! He's dead! He's DEAD!"
He clenched his jaw so hard that he broke one of his teeth. Pointing out a finger at Liu Bang, he said furiously, "Is the promise made by the Heaven nothing but a fart?"
Liu Bang swaggered over to a table next to King Bai Shan and sat down. With an appreciative smile on his face, he took one look at the two female corpses lying on the ground, then glanced at the heads of several beautiful girls on the table. He sighed softly. "The two on the ground are not bad. As for the girls on the table, judging from the tips of their brows and the corners of their eyes, they should still be virgins before they died. What a waste!"
King Bai Shan smashed the stone table in front of him with a palm. "I said, Ji Yao is dead!"
Liu Bang gave him a contemptuous squint. "So what? You still have other sons," he said with a cold grin. "Yes, King Zhang Qiu is dead, but don't you still have Ji Tao, the King of Yang Qiu, and a few other sons? Ji Tao's aptitude is evidently better than Ji Yao, and his cultivation base stronger. It is just that the status of his birth mother is a little low. But, we can't decide what a man can accomplish by the status of his birth mother, don't you think so?"
King Bai Shan was shaking with anger. What was Liu Bang talking about? How could he disregard seniority and rank? That was ridiculous!
Brushing his beard with fingers, Liu Bang said casually, "Somebody, bring me some good wine, delicious dishes, and beautiful girls! Your Highness, I'm here to bring you good news today!"
A grim smile emerged on King Bai Shan's face as he suddenly clapped his hands. "Good news? To hell with your good news!" he snapped, grinding his teeth.
At the sound of clapping, dozens of heavily armored captains quietly emerged out of the air and surrounded Liu Bang with swords and sabers in their hands. They were expressionless, and their eyes shone with a blood-red light. Clearly, they were seasoned warriors who had slaughtered countless foes on battlefields. And judging from the menacing aura emanated from them, each of these captains possessed the cultivation base of peak Second Pangu Heaven.
Liu Bang gave King Bai Shan a look, whose face was twisted with anger and hatred. He sighed, then shook his head and said, "If Your Highness are going to give up a chance to have one of your sons become an expert of the Third Pangu Heaven, then you are welcome to do anything to me!"
King Bai Shan froze momentarily, and after hesitating for a long time, he finally waved his hand to dismiss the captains. Then, he cleared his throat, and the maidservants began to bring out delicious food and wine, while beautiful dancers in revealing dresses sang and danced in the hall. He gave the little black jade figure placed on the table a look which represented King Zhang Qiu's safety, then flicked his sleeve and turned it into dust.
It was only a few breaths of time before King Bai Shan began to forget that he once had a proud son named Ji Yao.
He looked at Liu Bang as if nothing had happened and said in a flat tone, "You mean Ji Tao? How can you guarantee that he won't be killed by someone like his brother?"
Liu Bang gave a chuckle and said, "How about we make him an expert on par with a Primordial Immortal first? There will be some great natural disasters in a few mortal worlds soon, and if he can rescue the people in those worlds, the heavenly virtue he receives will be enough to push his cultivation base one step further. And, together with the spirit medicine from the Heaven and the mystic art of the Buddhist League, it could not be easier for Ji Tao, who already has a cultivation base of peak Second Pangu Heaven, to go one step further."
King Bai Shan considered for a moment, then nodded and said, "But that doesn't seem to be enough."
Liu Bang nodded and said, "Our previous agreement is still valid. Ji Tao will be one of the candidates for the next Human Emperor. Once the Heaven and Buddhist League's plan succeeds, the current Human Emperor will certainly be ousted. Then... haha!"
Narrowing his eyes, Liu Bang said with a smile on his face, "Your Highness just have to remember that when the time comes, you need to instigate a part of the army in Liangzhu to attack both the Thirty-three Heavens and the Holy Mountain of Griddhakuta."
Taking a deep breath, King Bai Shan reached out one hand and pulled to him a girl who was dancing beside him, pressing her head down between his legs.
With teeth clenched, he sunk into deep thought. At last, he gave a cold snort and said, "I don't want to see the same thing that happened to Ji Yao again. Ji Tao is one of my favorite sons, and since you've made a promise, you need to make sure that he is safe and sound, and becomes the next Human Emperor!"
Liu Bang had already pushed four dancers to the ground. While undressing himself, he said, "Don't worry, Your Highness! If truth be told, King Zhang Qiu's death was a complete accident. Who would have thought that Marquis of Dong Hai Province would show up with Kunwu Swords? And, he even knows how to use the Fiend Slaying Sword Formation! How could King Zhang Qiu have survived from that?"
That had frightened King Bai Shan. He jumped to his feet, and the dancer between his legs gave a painful cry. Some of her teeth broke as his member pulled out of her mouth. He glared at Liu Bang and roared, "What did you say? Kun... Kunwu Swords? Yo-you..."
Liu Bang gave him a sideway glance. "That's why we can't let Tan Lang live any longer. He must die! But, I need your help on this, as my men are not strong enough to kill him!"
As he pushed deep into one of the dancers, he said while grinning, "Kill him and seize those Kunwu Swords, and I guarantee King Yang Qiu will have eighty percent chance of claiming the throne. By the way, Your Highness, my palace is pretty empty and lonely. Can you give me a few thousand dancers?"
King Bai Shan narrowed his eyes and paid Liu Bang no heed. His eyes flickered with a fierce gleam, and for a moment, no one knew what he was thinking.