Chapter 77 Fengdu Ghost Banquet 22

After Lin Imperial Noble Consort and the others entered My Love Palace, Xiao Ou and Concubine Qian were still diligently putting on a performance.

The battle between the two women was intensifying. They pulled at each other's hair accessories, tugged on their hair buns, and scratched each other's faces with their fingers, much like children fighting. The scene was chaotic for a time.

Upon seeing Concubine Sun and the White-Collar Girl enter, the two continued to fight while backing towards a screen.

Once they hid in the corner of the rear hall, Xiao Ou looked around and asked, “Where’s the broom? Remember to clean up the mess on the floor later.”

They hadn’t touched the decorations in My Love Palace; what they threw on the ground were items from their own backpacks.

“We’ll look for it later,” Concubine Qian muttered softly, then rolled up her sleeves and said, “Come on, let’s continue the act and lure them into the sleeping quarters.”

“Yes!” Xiao Ou shouted, then lunged at Concubine Qian again, yelling, “You can’t come in here! This bed is mine, get out!”

At the moment Xiao Ou and Concubine Qian disappeared down the corridor, Lin Imperial Noble Consort and the others had already arrived at My Love Palace.

Concubine Sun was the first to enter. Seeing the decorations and props scattered all over My Love Palace, Concubine Sun trembled with excitement. Especially when she saw the golden phoenix throne in the center of the main hall, her eyes lit up, and she fell into a trance.

The White-Collar Girl behind her couldn’t resist touching the props.

“Stop!” Lin Imperial Noble Consort hurried into the main hall and promptly stopped the five who were about to touch the props.

As a super player, Lin Imperial Noble Consort had more experience and caution than the others.

“Imperial Noble Consort, why can’t we touch the props?” The White-Collar Girl, full of longing, touched the huge pink crystal ball, “Their secret to leveling up must be in My Love Palace. How will we know if we don’t try?”

Lin Imperial Noble Consort didn’t even bother to look at the White-Collar Girl and coldly said, “If you want to die sooner, go ahead.”

Due to Lin Imperial Noble Consort’s overwhelming presence, the White-Collar Girl pulled her hand back. At that moment, she heard Xiao Ou and Concubine Qian arguing again and quickly backed away, “I’ll go check the surroundings.”

Seeing the White-Collar Girl heading towards trouble, Lin Imperial Noble Consort rubbed her temples in annoyance but didn’t pursue her further.

Following the sounds of the fight between Xiao Ou and Concubine Qian, the White-Collar Girl came to a tall, carved lacquered wooden door.

“Where is this?” Through the gauze window, the White-Collar Girl could vaguely see it was a bedroom.

However, she could only faintly see many shiny objects inside but couldn’t quite make out what they were.

With such a beautiful room right in front of her, her curiosity got the better of her, and she pushed open the door.

Swish—

Countless glittering pearl lights shone out from the room, leaving the White-Collar Girl stunned.

“Oh my God!”

In the spacious room, a round velvet bed, a warmly glowing pearl curtain, a crystal-clear dressing table… all the arrangements in the room instantly pierced her girlish heart.

The White-Collar Girl, flushed with excitement, covered her face.

Holding her breath, she unthinkingly walked into the room. As she raised her right hand, intending to touch the crystal lamp stand, a small hand suddenly reached out from the side and grabbed her wrist.

“Entering the Empress’s sleeping quarters without permission, what crime do you think you’ve committed?” The younger sister walked out, smiling and said.

As the only senior palace maid in My Love Palace, today she had finally completed the first task on her career development path—guarding the Empress’s sleeping quarters.

Front Hall.

Unlike the White-Collar Girl, who had clearly developed greed, Concubine Sun preferred power. Seeing the phoenix throne in the center of the front hall, Concubine Sun became entranced and slowly moved forward, not even hearing Lin Imperial Noble Consort’s shout.

Reaching the pure gold phoenix throne, Concubine Sun took a deep breath and reached out a trembling hand to touch the elegant wing-shaped armrest.

Concubine Sun couldn’t help but feel secretly delighted. If she sat on this seat, she would become the Empress…

“Slap!” Just as Concubine Sun was lost in fantasy, a strong force hit her face, sending it to the side.

The fiery pain brought Concubine Sun back to her senses. She covered her face, shocked at Lin Imperial Noble Consort in front of her, and couldn’t speak for a long time.

“Aren’t you a high-level player? Can’t you withstand such a small temptation?” Lin Imperial Noble Consort, with a cold expression, slowly retracted her hand, “Useless thing, truly disgraceful.”

Concubine Sun, rubbing her face, bowed her head in shame.

Indeed, just then, she had truly been tempted.

“Quickly go and bring back your Concubine Li. Don’t cause any trouble for me!” Lin Imperial Noble Consort seemed completely uninterested in the phoenix throne. Without even looking at it, she lifted her skirt and walked down the steps.

After agreeing to Lin Imperial Noble Consort’s demand, Concubine Sun reluctantly glanced at the phoenix throne again, then gritted her teeth and chased after the White-Collar Girl.

When Concubine Sun reached the rear hall, she saw Xiao Ou and Concubine Qian fighting in the courtyard outside the rear hall.

Concubine Sun followed them out, puzzled.

Outside the rear hall was a courtyard nearly half the size of the Imperial Garden. There were several small jade rock formations, and in the center was a wide hot spring pool, emitting faint white mist. At this moment, Xiao Ou and Concubine Qian were fighting next to the hot spring, jumping up and down like monkeys.

“Hey, Concubine Sun is here,” Xiao Ou scratched Concubine Qian’s neck and gave her a knowing look.

Concubine Qian, holding a clothes-drying pole, shouted “Give me your life!” at Xiao Ou, then whispered after poking Xiao Ou with the pole, “Why is she here watching us fight?”

According to Xia Qi’s plan, they were supposed to lure Lin Imperial Noble Consort and the others into the sleeping quarters and accuse them of trespassing into the Empress’s quarters. Unexpectedly, Concubine Sun didn’t go to the sleeping quarters but came here to watch them fight instead.

In fact, they were already tired and wanted to rest, but since Concubine Sun had come, they had to continue the fight.

“Ignore her. Let’s fight further away,” Xiao Ou kicked Concubine Qian’s shin and leaped backward, lightly landing on the jade rock formation.

Seeing Xiao Ou and Concubine Qian fighting more fiercely, a malicious plan formed in Concubine Sun’s mind.

Now that Xiao Ou and Concubine Qian had been promoted to Imperial Noble Consorts, if she could eliminate both of them in one go, she could rise two levels to become a first-class Imperial Noble Consort, and maybe even become the Empress.

This greed quickly took root and sprouted in her heart.

Concubine Sun stealthily made her way towards the edge of the rockery. When she reached near Concubine Qian and Xiao Ou, she pulled out a golden net from her system backpack.

"Item Name: Fishing Master."

"Effect: Can restrain targets in the water, preventing them from escaping."

"Other Details: The system is speechless at you."

Just as Concubine Sun was looking for an opportunity to make her move, Concubine Qian happened to step on the rockery, with her other leg not yet up. Seeing this, Concubine Sun's heart filled with joy.

Perfect opportunity!

Concubine Sun reached out with both hands and grabbed Concubine Qian's ankle, then, using force from her waist, she yanked Concubine Qian downwards!

Since Concubine Qian and Xiao Ou were prepared, when Concubine Sun grabbed Concubine Qian's ankle to throw her into the water, Xiao Ou countered by grabbing Concubine Qian's drying pole and pulled her forcefully back onto the rockery!

With the added leverage, Concubine Qian used one hand to firmly hold onto the rockery and kicked backwards at Concubine Sun with her other leg!

"Ah!" Concubine Sun, who had already used all her strength, was kicked in the chest by Concubine Qian. She lost her balance and fell backwards into the hot spring pool.

"Splash!" A high spray of water erupted from the hot spring.

With Xiao Ou's support, Concubine Qian steadied herself on the rockery.

At that moment, Xia Qi and his sister emerged from the palace.

"Who fell into the pool?" asked the sister, curious, as water splashed everywhere.

After someone fell into the pool but showed no signs of struggle, Xia Qi paused and looked suspiciously at the two laughing on the rockery.

"Concubine Sun tried to push Old Qian into the water but ended up falling in herself, hahaha..." Xiao Ou held his stomach, laughing so hard that his body spasmed.

But Xia Qi frowned, looking at the calm hot spring.

Ever since the Fengdu instance dungeon experienced the Night Parade of One Hundred Ghosts, the well water in all of Fengdu had been unusable, let alone the hot spring behind him.

Noticing Xia Qi's serious expression, Xiao Ou stopped laughing after a few chuckles, realizing something was wrong.

Xia Qi walked to the edge of the hot spring and looked into the pool.

The white mist swirled heavily in the pool, and there was no sign of Concubine Sun.

"This is bad!" Xia Qi seemed to realize something and quickly looked up at Concubine Qian. "Can your item retrieve someone?"

Concubine Qian nodded and said, "Yes, do you want to retrieve Concubine Sun?"

His drying pole was specially designed to catch fabric. As long as Concubine Sun was still wearing clothes, he could use the fabric to pull her out.

"Yes, retrieve him," Xia Qi told Concubine Qian.

Xiao Ou was confused and scratched his head, asking the sister, "Why does Brother Xia want to retrieve Concubine Sun?"

The sister looked up at him with a look of disbelief. "Don't you think leaving Concubine Sun in the pool would dirty the water?"

"Anyway, the water in Fengdu can't be used," Xiao Ou shrugged.

The sister rolled her eyes. "Brother Xia doesn't want to dirty the Ghost Emperor's hands."

"Ah?" Xiao Ou was bewildered. Where was the Ghost Emperor?

He didn't see anyone.

Seeing Xiao Ou's confused expression, the sister sighed and didn't answer further.

In her mind, this Ghost Emperor was something else, with a temperament exactly like the Count.

Concubine Qian had already arrived at the edge of the hot spring pool. He stirred and hooked the water with his drying pole for a long time. His face lit up with joy as he said, "I've got him! Pull!"

With combined effort, Concubine Qian and Xia Qi managed to lift Concubine Sun out of the hot spring pool.

As they pulled Concubine Sun out, everyone gasped in unison at the sight of his miserable state.

Concubine Sun's face was bruised blue and purple, his clothes were tattered, and the exposed skin on his body was covered with spiderweb-like blood marks, as if countless ghosts had scratched him. Even more terrifying were the five black fingerprints left on his neck.

Seeing those familiar fingerprints, Xia Qi's expression darkened.

"My god, there really was..." Xiao Ou shuddered, stepping back several paces, wanting to distance himself from the hot spring water.

The sister pinched Xiao Ou's arm hard, signaling him to stop talking nonsense.

As Xiao Ou and the sister glared at each other, Concubine Sun, who was barely alive, suddenly regained consciousness.

Opening his eyes and looking at everyone, Concubine Sun's gaze finally fell on Xia Qi.

"Cough, cough." Concubine Sun coughed up two mouthfuls of blood and struggled to crawl towards Xia Qi.

Reaching Xia Qi's feet, Concubine Sun grabbed his pant leg and pleaded, "Cough, your highness... I... I was wrong."

Hearing this, Xia Qi's expression changed momentarily. What had Concubine Sun seen underwater?

"Did you see him?" Xia Qi bent down and said to Concubine Sun.

"He... I was wrong..." Concubine Sun cried and coughed, and after coughing up more blood, he choked on it and stopped breathing.

Concubine Sun's head drooped down and hit Xia Qi's toes.

Seeing Concubine Sun no longer moving, Xiao Ou trembled and said, "Is he dead?"

"How many players has Concubine Sun killed?" Xia Qi's expression was grave as he slowly withdrew his foot.

"More than me." Concubine Qian said lightly, putting away her clothes-drying pole.

Xia Qi looked at the body of Concubine Sun on the ground with a complicated expression.

The reason he had fished Concubine Sun out of the hot spring pool was that he didn't want the Ghost Emperor to take a life.

However, it was clear that there were too many vengeful spirits who wanted Concubine Sun dead.

Enough.

Just as everyone fell silent, a round of applause suddenly echoed from nearby.

"Clap, clap, clap." Concubine Lin appeared outside the courtyard, looking at everyone coldly, and said in a low voice, "Xia Qi, I must say I've underestimated you."

Even though those were his words, Concubine Lin's expression was far from pleasant, with clear anger in his eyes.

He glanced at Concubine Sun's corpse at Xia Qi's feet, his chest heaving visibly, clearly infuriated.

At this point, the charade was over, and both Xiao Ou and Concubine Qian put away their weapons.

Xia Qi looked coldly at Concubine Lin, not responding.

"Xia Qi, don't be too smug." Concubine Lin glared at Xia Qi again, gave his sleeve a heavy flick, and turned to leave from the back palace.

With the situation completely reversed, Concubine Lin had already lost in this round of palace intrigue in My Love Palace. There was no point in staying anymore. Moreover, his most capable assistant, Concubine Sun, was now dead, while Xia Qi had two Imperial Noble Consorts by his side. It would be extremely difficult for Concubine Lin to kill Xia Qi now, so he planned to leave first and scheme later.

The group exchanged glances for a moment before Xiao Ou finally broke the silence, asking, "What does Concubine Lin... plan to do next?"

"Based on my understanding of Concubine Lin, he might cause trouble during the Ghost Festival banquet." Concubine Qian replied. Palace intrigue was always about borrowing knives to kill, framing others, and using others' strength to defeat them—she was tired of it.

Given that there was an unknown figure hiding in the hot spring pool, the group didn’t want to linger by the pool and left from the back courtyard.

After packing up Concubine Sun's body, Xia Qi then sent Xiao Ou to deal with the white-collar woman. Knowing that Xia Qi wanted to continue hiding his identity, Xiao Ou gladly agreed and happily stripped the white-collar woman of her identity as "Concubine Li."

After being eliminated by Concubine Ou, the white-collar woman had fallen into a frenzy.

"No! Give my identity back!" The white-collar woman shouted desperately while banging on the door of My Love Palace, "I am Concubine Li! I haven't been eliminated! You can't take my rank away like this!"

She cried and banged on the door for a while, but no one inside seemed to pity her.

"You arrogant bastards! When I become Empress, I will make sure to deal with all of you!" The white-collar woman spat, cursing as she left My Love Palace.

As she walked down the palace path and turned a corner, a fellow concubine of the same rank suddenly rushed out.

With a single move, the concubine pinned the white-collar woman to the ground and let out a sinister laugh, "Concubine Li, since you've been eliminated, how about you become my plaything?"

"Aaaaah!"

The white-collar woman only had time to scream once before her head was separated from her body.

Concubine Lin stood on a high rooftop, watching as the white-collar woman was devoured by other players without lifting a finger to help.

"Idiot." Concubine Lin muttered under his breath, his gaze drifting into the distance toward My Love Palace.

Thinking of Xia Qi and the others' arrogant demeanor earlier, Concubine Lin's face darkened like the bottom of a pot. "Xia Qi, I will kill you."

In the bitter cold wind, Concubine Lin said through gritted teeth.