Divine War Pill Emperor

”Why don’t we go check the Guardian Hall? It’s the one place in the Royal Palace we’ve overlooked.”

Master Yuan Hui suggested.

The Guardian Hall was normally off-limits to everyone.

Besides, the Guardian Beast resided there. No one dared to defy its authority.

The Guardian Beast’s wrath was the most terrifying thing of all.

Lord Wen had several brothers in his youth. One of them tried to secretly tame the Fire Sparrow, only to be incinerated by a gout of flame from its beak.

The memory of that scene was still fresh in his mind.

”Alright, let’s go have a look.”

Lord Wen and Master Yuan Hui’s figures flickered, and in a short while, they arrived at the Guardian Hall.

At the Guardian Hall, guards stood watch at the entrance with extreme vigilance.

The moment they arrived, Master Yuan Hui immediately asked, ”Have any of you seen the Third Prince come in?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, the guards all answered loudly, ”We have not!”

They had all seen the Third Prince enter the Guardian Hall, but none dared to speak of it. The Guardian Fire Sparrow had sent them a telepathic message.

It had warned them not to say a word, so they didn’t dare defy the Fire Sparrow. Every one of them remained silent as the grave, not letting the truth slip.

Lord Wen’s brow furrowed. ’If these guards say they haven’t seen him, then the Third Prince definitely didn’t come here.’

’I know how loyal these guards are.’

But Master Yuan Hui pressed on. ”Things are never certain. Even the most careful plan can have a flaw. Perhaps the Third Prince used some Secret Technique to conceal himself and slip into the Guardian Hall. We should go and inquire with the great Guardian Beast.”

The two of them entered the Guardian Hall.

They were both exceedingly deferential.

”Greetings, great Guardian Beast.”

Both men spoke with their heads bowed, not daring to look at the Fire Sparrow.

The Fire Sparrow, its eyes half-lidded, asked, ”What is it?”

Lord Wen quickly replied, ”Great Guardian Beast, has anyone unauthorized entered the hall?”

At that, the Fire Sparrow became very displeased.

”What? Do you think someone could possibly threaten me?”

Lord Wen broke out in a cold sweat and hastily explained, ”No, no! Please, great Guardian Beast, don’t misunderstand. I was merely concerned that someone might disturb your peace.”

He was truly terrified of the Guardian Beast. It possessed Martial Emperor Cultivation and had once repelled another Martial Emperor Expert.

One could say the Fire Sparrow was the final pillar of the Fire Sparrow Kingdom.

Its authority was absolute.

With a huff, the Fire Sparrow said, ”If you’re worried about me being disturbed, it’s you people coming and going that’s the real nuisance.”

”Now, get out.”

The Fire Sparrow showed Lord Wen no deference at all, even though he was the Sovereign.

Lord Wen’s body trembled slightly once more. He and Master Yuan Hui hastily withdrew from the Guardian Hall.

Once they were outside.

Master Yuan Hui wiped the cold sweat from his brow.

He gave a wry smile. ”The great Guardian Beast... its power is truly terrifying. I didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly in its presence.”

Lord Wen was also shaken. He had nearly provoked the Fire Sparrow.

”Sigh... Never mind. It seems the Third Prince didn’t come here after all. We should send men to search elsewhere.”

The two left at once.

Inside the Guardian Hall, Wen Shiren’s face was a little pale.

He peeked out from behind the Fire Sparrow.

Still shaken, he glanced at the entrance to the hall and let out a long sigh of relief.

’I was so scared I’d be caught.’

’But seeing Lord Wen and Master Yuan Hui together means the situation outside is dire for me. They’ve already tracked me all the way to the Guardian Hall.’

’I wonder how Jiang the Military Advisor and the others are doing?’

Jiang Chen had shown him a way to escape with his life, but he was still worried for the safety of his allies.

He was safe for now. For some strange reason, the Guardian Beast seemed to know Jiang Chen.

’Otherwise,’ he thought, ’the Fire Sparrow would never have let me take refuge in the Guardian Hall.’

Glancing at the Fire Sparrow again, Wen Shiren gave a small, wry smile.

Back at the Royal Palace, Lord Wen’s expression grew darker and darker.

Not only had they failed to find the Third Prince anywhere in the Royal Palace, but all of his followers had also vanished without a trace.

After a while, Lord Wen said abruptly, ”National Preceptor, if we still can’t find him by nightfall, we’ll have to use *it*.”

Master Yuan Hui’s eyes lit up when he heard this.

”Sovereign, if we use *it*, the Third Prince and his followers will have nowhere left to hide.”

They searched for most of the day to no avail.

There was no sign of the Third Prince or his people.

「At dusk.」

Master Yuan Hui walked into the main hall and shook his head at Lord Wen. ”Sovereign, there’s still no trace of him.”

”It’s as if they’ve vanished into thin air.”

”Tonight, once the Hour of the Ox arrives, we will call it forth.”

Lord Wen nodded.

”It’s the only way.”

”However, to call it forth, we must prepare a great deal of fresh blood.”

”It craves fresh blood. Without it, we cannot summon it.”

Master Yuan Hui seemed to have known this all along.

He immediately replied in a low voice, ”That’s easily arranged. The Third Prince’s men are all traitors. We’ll just use them.”

Lord Wen was silent, giving his tacit approval of the plan.

Master Yuan Hui quickly departed to make the arrangements.

Within the Royal Palace was a rather desolate courtyard, and in that courtyard stood a dry well.

The mouth of the well, however, was covered in a black sheen—the stains of dried blood.

「At the Hour of the Ox.」 A group of Royal Palace Guards stood in the courtyard.

Before them stood a row of bound prisoners.

Master Yuan Hui stepped forward and said coldly, ”Alright. Begin the blood sacrifice.”

The next moment, a guard dragged a prisoner forward. As one guard held the prisoner down, another raised a greatsword. While the prisoner watched in terror, the blade swung down.

PFFT!

A head went flying as blood sprayed from the neck, gushing into the dry well.

MOOOOAAAAAN...

The very moment the blood entered the well, a series of hair-raising moans echoed up from within.

The sound was utterly bone-chilling in the darkness.

After the first prisoner was slain, the others were pushed one by one to the edge of the well, their pleas for mercy and desperate cries filling the air.

The greatsword fell again and again, and blood splattered.

The ghostly wailing from the well grew louder and louder.

Finally, two blue claws stretched out over the lip of the well. The claws had only three fingers each, but they were unnaturally long and slender, tipped with razor-sharp talons.

They looked like the claws of a demon.

Then, a triangular, ferocious-looking head slowly emerged from the well.

Seeing this, many of the guards felt their scalps prickle and a chill run down their spines.

Soon, the monster had completely climbed out of the well.

Its body glowed with a faint blue light, and its vicious eyes stared at Master Yuan Hui.

”Excellent. Such delicious blood. This king is pleased.”

”Come, let this king feast properly.”

After that, all the remaining prisoners were beheaded, and their blood was completely consumed by the vicious monster.

The monster’s body shimmered with blue light.

Master Yuan Hui was overjoyed. This monster was called a Night Ghost.

It was a nocturnal creature. Though not particularly powerful, it possessed an incredibly bizarre talent: tracking.

If anyone left so much as a trace of their aura behind, the Night Ghost could catch the scent and use it to find them, even if they had fled to the ends of the earth.

This ability of the Night Ghost was one-of-a-kind.