Immortals of the End Times

Chapter 12: New Clues, Execution at the Execution Ground
Having witnessed the souls of others once again, Zhao Wuji felt more directly the power of his own soul.

At this moment, the vengeful spirit of the invader who had just died was already rapidly dissipating.

Zhao Wuji's soul rapidly approached the past.

The powerful divine soul seemed to create a siphon effect, causing the dissipated yin spirits of the other party to actively approach.

The person's spirit sensed the danger and trembled.

They were terrified and shocked by Zhao Wuji's powerful soul, only to realize that they had offended such a terrifying figure.

Under the observation of the spirit's ability to see into the underworld, Zhao Wuji could see through all the weaknesses, thoughts, and intentions of the spirit before him.

A multitude of hidden messages were quickly and clearly seen by Zhao Wuji, some of which even contained surprising information.

"This person's ghostly memories actually contain fragments of the Huangting Neijing Jing (Yellow Court Inner Landscape Scripture). It turns out that Protector Xu once borrowed this scripture from this person's superior and copied down a portion of it."

"Her superior is Yang Jifeng, the hall master of the Supreme Sect stationed in Golden Palace City. He holds a very high position within the Supreme Sect and possesses the ancient book of the Yellow Court Classic. Could this Hall Master Yang be the merchant who once sold the ancient book to Master Nan?"

Zhao Wuji's thoughts were in turmoil.

He thought he had lost the chance to find the Huangting Neijing Jing, but unexpectedly, things took a sudden turn for the better. Perhaps this was his good fortune.

It turned out that the person who broke in was one of the right and left henchmen of Hall Master Yang of the Supreme Sect.

The Supreme Sect knew five days ago that he had made contact with Protector Xu, who was imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison.

Therefore, he had long wanted to get close to him and force him to reveal the whereabouts of the sacred artifact that Protector Xu might have disclosed.

However, it seems that there are other people of high status in the Supreme Sect who also intend to contact him, so Hall Master Yang has not taken any action for the time being.

Now, with the day of Xu Hufa's execution drawing ever closer, Zhao Wuji has yet to find a breakthrough.

Yang, the hall master, could no longer sit still, so he sent this man to kidnap him and interrogate him.

"It seems that even within the Imperial City, the Supreme Sect has its own small cliques and disagreements. The words of a person of high status become ineffective after the expiration of their term."

Zhao Wuji thought to himself, looking at the corpse on the ground, and shook his head inwardly.

His location is near the palace, and there are frequent patrols by police around at night.

The fact that the other side dared to send even one person over is already a risky move.

A master at the 12th level of the Meridian Opening Realm, combined with a bewitching incense, should theoretically be able to take him down.

But that was only a possibility. The other party failed to succeed and instead sent him important intelligence.

The only pity is that the other party's soul dissipated too quickly.

He couldn't even pinpoint Yang's current location.

I could only vaguely make out the face of a middle-aged man with a thick beard, and I could roughly tell that the other party was a master of transformation.

"I should have had her carry me over to Master Yang, then we would have found him. But that would have been too risky. It's better to let him come looking for me; I'm too close to the palace, he wouldn't dare show himself."

Zhao Wuji gave a self-deprecating smile, his soul returned to his physical body, and he reached out to lift the black-clad man's mask.

Beneath the veil was an ordinary-looking woman's face, with drops of blood seeping from between her brows, her expression one of horror, her eyes wide open.

After pondering for a moment, he touched the corpse but found nothing of value.

They immediately dragged the other person's body into the cellar behind the training room.

He took a bottle of bone-dissolving powder from the cabinet in the cellar and sprinkled it on the woman.

This bone-dissolving powder was developed by the Imperial Medical Academy. It contains materials such as heart-rotting grass and ashes from the dead. It is only effective on corpses where the blood has stopped flowing. It is a medicine powder specially provided to the eunuchs of the Inner Palace for the disposal of corpses. All the eunuchs who have used it say it is good.

After a foul smell dissipated, only one set of clothes remained on the ground.

Zhao Wuji sprinkled some odor-removing powder, buried his clothes under the floor tiles, clapped his hands, walked out of the cellar, and continued his cultivation as if nothing had happened.

His spirit was strong and his perception was extraordinary, so he was not worried about anyone sneaking up on him.

Therefore, I felt very at peace during this night of meditation.

However, Yang, the hall master who had secretly sent men, did not see his men return and remained in a state of panic and uncertainty all night. He was unsure whether his men had been captured by the court's hidden agents or had died at the hands of a royal physician.

In either case, it shows that Zhao Wuji, the imperial physician, is not so easily moved.

At this very moment, inside what appears to be an ordinary inn outside the imperial city.

Three high-ranking members of the Supreme Sect secretly gathered here. Yang Jifeng's face was gloomy as he listened to the woman's reprimand from behind the screen opposite him, but he had no way to refute her.

“Master Yang, as I have already said, I was to handle the contact with that imperial physician, yet you still did not follow the rules, resulting in Steward Ning’s disappearance at this crucial moment. You should explain this to the Holy Mother yourself.”

Yang Jifeng transmitted his voice in a deep voice, "Your Highness is truly impressive. To this day, I haven't seen you get a single useful piece of information from that imperial physician. I am doing this for the sake of the greater good, so naturally I must take this gamble."

"Who says I didn't get any useful information? At least I've confirmed that Protector Xu told Physician Zhao some information. So even if we can't rescue Protector Xu from the execution ground today, we won't have wasted all our efforts."

The woman behind the screen was clearly furious, her tone menacing, "From now on, only I can deal with this person."

"Oh?" Yang Jifeng's eyes flashed with a sharp light upon hearing this. "So, the so-called Xuanwu Gate Bell Tower was indeed false information?"

“That’s right,” the woman behind the screen transmitted her voice. “We can use this false information to our advantage and turn the tables on them.”

Another one-eyed old woman said, "That would be perfect. We can feign an attack on the bell tower during the execution to attract the attention of those royal eunuchs, and then storm the execution ground."

Yang Jifeng said in a deep voice, "I will arrange the manpower. Let me make amends and win an opportunity for you and the Holy Mother."

Upon hearing this, the woman behind the screen fell silent for a moment, and then said calmly.

"It's almost time. Get ready and be careful."

At this moment, a large crowd had already gathered at the execution ground outside the city.

Even more people are on their way.

The announcements in and around the capital in recent days have made the execution of the Supreme Sect's protector a widely known event.

Early in the morning, the area outside the execution ground was bustling with activity.

Zhao Wuji casually killed a thief who had broken into his house during the night. In the early morning, after the servants woke up from their sleeping incense, he went to the outer city as if nothing had happened.

He booked a private window seat on the fourth floor of Xianju Restaurant near the outer city gate, ready to watch a good show.

From this vantage point, one can see the execution ground at the outer city gate.

At this moment, Zhao Wuji sat on a plate of broad beans and a pot of strong liquor, watching the bustling marketplace, as if bidding farewell to the Xu family's magnate.

He had a premonition that today's execution might turn out badly.

The prison warden and the head of the eunuchs deliberately set up a scheme, choosing the outer city, where there were many people and chaos, as the execution site.

The intention was to lure the heretics of the Supreme Sect into a trap, while also serving as a deterrent and a way to establish authority.

If those madmen and lunatics of the Supreme Sect dare to show themselves, they will likely be completely wiped out.

Zhao Wuji chewed a broad bean and took a sip of strong liquor.

Once the wine entered his stomach, the extremely weak yang energy within it was absorbed by the yang pearl, making it easy to drink.

Not long after, a commotion arose from the street below.

The execution vehicle, carrying the criminals, had already arrived and paraded through the streets.

This immediately attracted many people on both sides of the street who loudly cursed and threw tiles, stones, pig manure and other filthy things.

Forget about things like rotten vegetable leaves or rotten eggs; those are meant for domesticated livestock, not for heinous criminals.

Zhao Wuji witnessed the once bold and unruly man being led to the execution ground, looking utterly wretched.

The burly man knelt down awaiting execution, and no one came to storm the execution ground, as if the sorcerers of the Supreme Sect had already given up in the face of difficulty.

Before long, the sun was high in the sky.

The chief executioner shouted, "The time has come! Execute him immediately!"
The execution token was thrown to the ground with a 'thud'.
(End of this chapter)