Chapter 41: The Corpse Corps!

"But... there is very little snow lotus nectar left; it is not enough for Long'er! Be a good boy, Long'er, these steamed buns are also delicious. You will surely like them once you try them." Mo Liuli tried to coax Long'er with difficulty.

There was only a small vial of snow lotus nectar remaining. If she gave it to Long'er again, it would be gone forever. If she couldn't get Long'er to eat the buns, she truly didn't know what else she could use to sustain him.

"Take Long'er back to the inn and find Qiu Xue. I am going to retrieve more snow lotus nectar; I should be able to return by tonight."

"Be good, Long'er, Daddy is going to find you something to eat."

Xiao Junwang spoke the first sentence to Mo Liuli and the second to Long'er before departing.

Mo Liuli could not describe the bitterness and frustration in her heart. She had never imagined that after the arduous process of giving birth to Long'er, raising him would be so difficult.

Snow lotus nectar was a rarity. Qiu Xue had only managed to collect one vial, and it would take another ten years for the Blood Alliance to produce a second. Long'er was still so young; he would certainly require a significant amount of nectar. Where was she supposed to find it?

Tormented by worry, Mo Liuli held the sleeping Long'er and returned to the inn.

"Speak! Where did your mistress go?"

Before she even entered the room, she heard a low male voice, sounding gravelly and belonging to a man in his forties or fifties.

"This servant does not know. The mistress left with the young master early this morning," a trembling female voice replied.

It was Lüya! Mo Liuli recognized the voice instantly. She paused at the doorway and leaned slightly to peer inside.

"Drag her out!"

At the command, Lüya was dragged out by several men dressed as guards. Mo Liuli wanted to hide, but before she could retreat, she heard Lüya cry out in surprise.

"Mistress! Mistress! You have finally returned! The Emperor is waiting inside for you. Please, go in..."

Immediately after, a flurry of footsteps followed. Mo Liuli realized she was surrounded once more.

Being surrounded like this seemed to be a recurring theme! She cast a cold glance at the weeping Lüya kneeling on the ground, feeling a surge of disgust, before turning her attention to the intruders.

Standing before Mo Liuli was a stout man dressed in bright yellow. Just as his voice had suggested, he was a fat old man in his forties or fifties.

This fat old man was the Emperor of Huanlan, who had rushed out of the palace upon receiving the news. The Grand Emperor behind him had sensed something unusual and had been pressing him to find Mo Liuli's whereabouts. Under immense pressure, the Emperor had become increasingly impatient, ruthlessly suppressing the Mo family.

In order to obtain information about Mo Liuli, he had been forced to hold on by a thread.

The guards brought by the fat Emperor were all elite soldiers, and they had silently formed a complex containment circle around Mo Liuli.

"To what do I owe the honor of the Emperor taking action himself to find me, Mo Liuli? It seems that with such a wise ruler, our Huanlan Continent will surely flourish!"

Hearing Mo Liuli speak, the fat Emperor shook his oily belly, his smile masking a blade. With a single command to "Seize her!", he had his men bind Mo Liuli and Long'er together.

It turned out that the positions the guards had taken were carefully calculated; they had pulled silk threads that had been laid in advance, making it easy to trap Mo Liuli.

The group openly took Mo Liuli hostage and headed back to the imperial palace.

"Grand Emperor! Just as you predicted, the Emperor has safely brought Mo Liuli back. What are your instructions?"

The fat Emperor led two guards holding Mo Liuli to a secret door and bowed respectfully to ask for guidance.

A hoarse, heavy voice came from behind the secret door. With a creak, a black shadow flashed. The Mo Liuli held by the guards vanished, and the two guards slumped to the ground, dead on the spot—clearly killed in a single strike!

"Begin reinforcing the palace patrols! Recall the Corpse Squad from the northern and southern parts of the city. With Mo Liuli gone from the continent, the outside world will not be peaceful, and our palace will become the primary target of her protectors."

"Yes, Grand Emperor..."

Finally, the area around the secret door returned to its usual deathly silence.

One might wonder, how could Mo Liuli and Long'er be willing to be dragged back to the palace by the fat Emperor?

This was because before Xiao Junwang left, he had placed a sleeping enchantment on Long'er, keeping him in a meditative state of slumber. As for Mo Liuli, she had been rendered unable to wake due to the hypnotic power released by the silk bindings.

"Mo Li..."

The space behind the secret door was a world of its own. The stone chamber was built in an extremely cold location, and the walls were carved with winding characters that did not belong to any language on the continent, resembling ancient Sanskrit.

The figure hidden under the black cloth dragged Mo Liuli into a second stone chamber. In the center stood a stone sarcophagus covered in creeping vines, exuding an ancient, primitive aura.

The figure performed a series of movements, unraveling the silk bindings from Mo Liuli and tossing her into the sarcophagus before closing it. With two withered hands, he cradled Long'er as if holding a sacred relic.

"Haha! The Mo Li bloodline! Haha! With you, I no longer have to fear the dissipation of my primordial spirit!" A raspy, strange laughter accompanied a series of murmurs, his hands gripping tightly as he held the child aloft.

The stone chamber remained silent, save for the strange, rasping sounds.

"Mo Li, sleep! Sleep peacefully! I will manage this world well; you have nothing to worry about!" The withered hands climbed onto the lid of the sarcophagus, and he leaned close, speaking with obsessive devotion.

The lid of the sarcophagus was made of transparent ice, allowing one to see the person inside.

The Huanlan Imperial Palace quickly recalled the Corpse Squad from the northern and southern parts of the city. The north and south were the areas closest to the main territory of the Yuanjian Continent, and they were also near the Demon Realm.

The demonic beasts within the Demon Realm were coveted by everyone on the continent; countless people sought to invade the realm, resulting in countless corpses.

The Corpse Squad in the Huanlan Palace was composed of mutated species created by soaking corpses in special liquids—a secret technique meticulously cultivated by the Grand Emperor.

Suddenly, a sense of death and bloodlust permeated the Huanlan Imperial Palace, something only those skilled in martial arts could perceive.