Eternal Life as False Emperor-Chapter 190 - 157: Palace Attendants as Lanterns

"Pfft!"

The Embroidered Uniform Guard formation collided instantly with the horde of hairy zombies, quickly cutting down the ones in the front.

These Embroidered Uniform Guards are the elites of the army, easily decapitating the zombies made from ordinary citizens.

In no time, the zombies ahead fell like wheat being harvested, and the entire formation charged forward.

But this delay allowed zombies from alleys behind and on both sides to catch up.

"Shoot them dead!"

The archers behind followed orders, immediately lifting their powerful crossbows to shoot arrow after arrow, piercing the zombies' skulls and pinning them firmly to the walls.

"Roar!"

"Roar roar!!"

Another roar came from the front as more groups of zombies emerged from alleys and streets, rushing towards the group.

Even further away, the roaring grew louder, as if everyone in the Underground Capital City had come back to life.

Watching the tide of zombies flooding in, Chen Liancang frowned and said, "Grenades."

"Prepare grenades!"

Zhang Jianping shouted, and over ten Embroidered Uniform Guards immediately took grenades from their waists, pulling the fuse string.

"Sss..."

The grenades were thrown far ahead about two hundred meters away, followed by serial explosions after a few seconds.

A group of zombies in the distance was blasted into the air, some even blown into a bloody mess, with limbs and debris flying everywhere.

Taking this opportunity, many Embroidered Uniform Guards charged forward, reaching the range of Yining Square.

"Continue!"

This Underground Capital City was said to mimic the Capital City from over three hundred years ago but in a much smaller scale, allowing everyone to quickly approach the next market.

"Boom!"

"Boom boom!"

Another round of violent explosions came, killing and shattering hundreds of zombies, as numerous Embroidered Uniform Guards rushed into Pingkang Square without stopping.

The towering White Marble Steps of the Imperial City in the distance were clearly visible.

They used grenades all the way to carve a path, blasting groups of zombies without any danger, the Embroidered Uniform Guards finally reaching the edge of the Imperial Palace.

In front of the towering vermilion walls, countless zombies dared not pursue further, only growling angrily on the edge of the Imperial Palace.

No matter how they roared, they dared not step beyond the boundary.

It was as if there was something within the Imperial Palace that utterly terrified them.

Among the team of over a hundred, only a handful were unlucky enough to be scratched by zombies, yet none had died.

Hu Bafeng hurriedly sealed the zombie wounds with glutinous rice to temporarily stop the spread of corpse poison.

At the same time, he found Chen Liancang.

"Eunuch, these zombies dare not approach the Imperial Palace, perhaps it's related to the Feng Shui of this grand tomb."

"Hehehe, mere citizens, how dare they approach the Imperial Palace?"

Chen Liancang looked back at the towering city walls and ordered, "Everyone rest here, move forward again in half an hour."

"Yes!"

Many Embroidered Uniform Guards sat down and began eating the dry rations, jerky, and clear water they carried with them.

Meanwhile, Chen Liancang paced back and forth at the gate of the city wall, constantly observing the surroundings.

Several Scouts and Tomb Raider Captains searched along the city wall on both sides to see if there was a gate.

Behind the city wall, there were towering White Marble Steps, stretching upwards over a thousand meters!

"Eunuch."

"What is it?"

Hu Bafeng came over with concern: "I observe this tomb to be a replica of the Capital City from over three hundred years ago."

"Since there are zombies from citizens in the city, then might there also be..."

"Ah!"

Before he could finish speaking, a scream suddenly came from afar, prompting many Embroidered Uniform Guards to stand up and cautiously look in the direction of the scream.

"Go, check it out!"

With an order, many Embroidered Uniform Guards quickly moved, heading towards the direction of the scream.

Soon, two Embroidered Uniform Guards covered in blood came running from a distance.

"Eunuch! There are traps ahead!"

"Creak, creak creak creak..."

Before the voice fell, silhouettes suddenly appeared on the city wall from afar.

At the same time, the building in front of them revealed its true appearance.

The majestic gate tower, the imposing city gate, and the dragon and phoenix adorned eaves all conveyed the dignity of this city gate.

Before the gate, there were two bodies pinned lifelessly.

A surviving Embroidered Uniform Guard spoke with a trembling voice: "Eunuch, just as we approached this gate, arrows suddenly shot from the city wall. We walking behind narrowly escaped." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"It seems like the mechanism on the city wall has an attack range. As long as we retreat beyond that range, we won't be attacked."

"Special mechanism?"

Chen Liancang looked towards the city wall and discovered three large, intricately-carved characters.

"Divine Martial Sect!"

"Divine Martial Sect? Is this actually the Divine Martial Sect?"

Chen Liancang carefully examined the surroundings; along the city wall were rows of dense silhouettes, upon closer inspection turned out to be lifelike iron figurines!

In their hands were crossbows that looked ancient and worn but were exceedingly sharp, aimed distantly at the ground.

Every few dozen meters, there were even specially equipped Bed Crossbows for attacking the city!

"Eunuch..."

Hu Bafeng quickly ran over and said: "Subordinates report that there are iron figurines all over the city wall, which can move, preventing us from entering."

"Can't enter?"

Chen Liancang looked at the imposing Divine Martial Sect and the rows of iron figurines pointing in this direction, suddenly having a suspicion.

"Hu Bafeng, you say this Imperial Mausoleum was built as per the layout of the Capital City over three hundred years ago. The city zombies are ordinary citizens, so within the Imperial Palace should be the Imperial Guard, Consorts, eunuchs, palace maids, and Princes and Imperial Grandsons."

"Probably..."

Hu Bafeng hesitated but said: "Every grand tomb is carefully constructed by its owner, each has different mechanisms and settings."

"Perhaps the setting in the Grand Ancestor's Imperial Mausoleum is just like this, aligning with the cosmic order of 'Heaven, Earth, Sovereign, Kin, Master...'."

"I understand."

Chen Liancang said calmly and slowly walked towards the Divine Martial Sect.

"Eunuch?"

"You all wait here."

After speaking, he continued forward, while many Embroidered Uniform Guards and Tomb Raider Captains dared not breathe heavily, staring firmly at Chen Liancang's back.

With his movement, the iron figurines on the city wall slowly turned direction, with at least over fifty crossbows aimed at Chen Liancang.

Suddenly, a hoarse voice like the rubbing of iron echoed out from somewhere.

"Halt, who goes there!"

"This is... the Imperial City!"

"One step further... and you shall be killed without mercy!"

Chen Liancang stopped, reached into his chest with one hand, and raised it high.

"Servant of the Shadow Guard Steward, requesting an audience with Your Majesty, behold the Shadow Guard Token!"

This token was indeed the Identity Token of the Great Yu Shadow Guard,

"Clack!"

"Clack clack..."

Sure enough, the door of the Divine Martial Sect suddenly opened a crack, and a statue of an iron golem slowly emerged.

No, it wasn't walking.

It was moving rigidly.

As if its leg joints were nonexistent.

"Clack clack, clack clack clack..."

Accompanied by the sound of iron scraping, the tall iron golem finally walked up to Chen Liancang.

Chen Liancang's eyes flickered; the armor style... was very similar to that of the Dragon-soaring Army!

"Clack..."

The iron golem suddenly extended its right hand, and Chen Liancang placed the token into it.

A faint glow appeared, as if shot out from the iron golem's eyes, illuminating the token in hand.

Chen Liancang scrutinized it closely, discovering that the iron golem's eyes were made of a special kind of crystal.

"Shadow Guard Steward... met before..."

A hoarse voice came again from the iron golem, as if two rusty pieces of iron were rubbing together.

And after saying this, as if malfunctioning, it rasped a few more times before turning to leave.

And the gate of the Divine Martial Sect behind it slowly opened wide.

On the city wall, many iron golems also slowly returned to their original positions, lowering their crossbows.

"Eunuch?"

"Let's go, it should be safe now."

Chen Liancang put away the token and led the way inside.

"Everyone, follow closely, the Underground Imperial Palace should follow the same rules as the Imperial Palace, only those with tokens can move freely; don't get lost."

"Yes!"

The group cautiously stepped into the palace, gazing at this palace identical to one from over three hundred years ago.

Just then, in the distance, came a series of dull thudding sounds.

Subsequently, eerie blue lights ignited swiftly from afar, spreading rapidly towards the entrance.

Everyone hastily halted, straining to examine the surroundings.

Hu Bafeng whispered, "We should have triggered a mechanism within the underground palace, it's automatically igniting the lights... ghosts!"

He suddenly cried out and hurried back, protected by the Embroidered Uniform Guard behind him.

"Lord Hu, fear not, that's not a ghost, just a corpse."

Zhang Jianping grabbed Hu Bafeng, this time Hu Bafeng calmed down, slightly embarrassed, muttering, "Thanks, Lord Zhang, let me take a look..."

Upon checking closely, it was indeed no ghost, but a corpse bound to a wooden stake, with arms hanging upward!

The corpse twisted serpentine, completely naked, with skin manifesting a peculiar bronze hue.

Strangely, the corpse's belly was extremely bloated, like a woman seven or eight months pregnant.

A wick was inserted between its hands, with a gentle eerie blue flame flickering.

"Do you smell something?"

"So fragrant..."

"Does it smell like pork lard?"

A flurry of discussion arose among the group, Chen Liancang also came over, Hu Bafeng gravely stated, "Eunuch, this isn't pork lard, it's whale oil!"

"This corpse is filled with whale oil, sealed with mercury, making it a 'human wax' capable of burning for decades or even over a century!"

Glancing around, he saw countless eerie blue lights popping up densely in the entire Imperial City.

In other words, each light represented a human wax, a corpse!

"So many human waxes, how many people does it take..."

Chen Liancang simply glanced at the human wax and coldly said, "Regardless, let's move on."

"Yes!"

They continued onward, soon, Chen Liancang sharply turned his head, staring at a corner.

Chen Xiao quickly noticed as well, sternly shouting, "Who goes there, come out!"

A shadowy figure slowly emerged, walking toward the group.

"Don't act rashly!"

In the dim, flickering light, they clearly saw the oncoming shadow.

It was actually... a eunuch!

However, this eunuch was very peculiar, emaciated with an abnormally pale face, resembling a skeleton wrapped in human skin.

Most bizarrely, his hands were clawed backward, swinging downward repeatedly.

As if... sweeping?

"What's he doing?"

"Hairy Zombie?"

"Or some other creature?"

The little eunuch trembled slightly as he walked, under the group's close scrutiny, he walked past them, still swinging his hands.

"Let's go."

Watching the departing little eunuch, Chen Liancang seemed to glimpse his own self from decades ago.

The group proceeded onward, remarkably, they encountered an abundance of little eunuchs and little palace maids.

They moved like the living dead, carrying out their own tasks in this vast Underground Imperial Palace.

Sweeping, watering flowers, pounding laundry.

Even...

They saw a ghostly Imperial Army patrolling the palace, tirelessly following its predetermined route.

As for Chen Liancang and the others entering the palace, they showed no reaction, as if unseen.

Witnessing this scene, everyone became more tense, eyes filled with terror.

It was too eerie, too eerie indeed!

Finally.

They reached the center of the Imperial City, the Jinluan Hall, once exclusive to Grand Ancestor Zheng Mingsen, was gone, replaced by a giant altar nearly a kilometer high!

"Ascend!"