Chapter 5: The Depressing Ghost Marriage

Hearing this "Huang'er," Ye Zhenhuang turned around, thinking to herself that Chu Jinchen was quite quick on the uptake. Speaking up at such a critical moment was enough to provide a breakthrough for the conflict.

She possessed no cultivation whatsoever; if a fight truly broke out, her only ending would be to be finished off by Li Hao with a single strike of his blade.

Moreover, judging by how Chu Jinchen couldn't even stand up by the coffin earlier, he seemed to be completely drained of strength as well.

As for this Young Master Jing, Ye Zhenhuang wasn't sure of his strength, but seeing that he had no intention of making a move, could it be that he actually had no cultivation either?

Or was he simply hiding his true depth?

However, how did this Young Master Jing enter this sealed mausoleum in the first place?

Various conjectures flashed rapidly through Ye Zhenhuang's mind. In the end, she adopted the most conservative theory: that Young Master Jing was also just a weak, scholarly man with no power to truss a chicken.

If that were the case, the priority was to bluff Li Hao and make him afraid to act rashly.

With this in mind, the cold, frozen expression on Ye Zhenhuang's face suddenly melted away like snow in the sun, replaced by a soft and amiable smile: "That's right, Young Master Jing is an alchemist. He gave the Soul-Returning Pill to both me and His Highness Prince Jing to consume, which is how we were able to be resurrected."

"Al-alchemist?!" Li Hao stammered in shock.

He had actually just attempted to kill Prince Jing and the Princess Consort in front of an alchemist?

Gui Jing frowned slightly. When did he become an alchemist?

However, he didn't speak up; he neither admitted nor denied it. Others simply took his silence as the cold, aloof acknowledgment of an expert...

Chu Jinchen coughed twice, feeling somewhat uncomfortable: "General Li, I order you to immediately escort the Princess Consort and me down the mountain, rest for the night in Wanshou Town, and depart for the city tomorrow."

Li Hao had only just recovered from the shock of learning that Gui Jing was an alchemist, only to be immediately plunged into the terror of realizing that Chu Jinchen and Ye Zhenhuang had truly come back to life...

Although he had suspected as much earlier, the situation now forced him to acknowledge it—after all, he dared not make a move in front of an alchemist.

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Li Hao sheathed his long blade, bowed, and knelt: "This subordinate was dull-witted and failed to recognize that Your Highness and the Princess Consort had returned from the dead. I have committed an offense against my superiors; I beg Your Highness and the Princess Consort for forgiveness!"

As Li Hao knelt, the soldiers behind him followed suit, begging for mercy.

Chu Jinchen waved his sleeve magnanimously, telling them to rise and granting them pardon. Afterward, Li Hao cautiously served him, Ye Zhenhuang, and Gui Jing as they exited the imperial mausoleum. He ordered carriages to be prepared, and the group traveled down the mountain path throughout the night.

When they arrived at Wanshou Town at the foot of the mountain, it was still the dead of night. Li Hao ordered his men to find an inn and prepare rooms before withdrawing, not daring to disturb them.

When requesting the rooms, Li Hao cast a very strange look at Ye Zhenhuang and Chu Jinchen.

He had originally intended to book two premium rooms—one for the Prince and Princess Consort, and one for Gui Jing. Who would have thought that the Prince and Princess Consort would demand an additional room in almost perfect unison?

This struck Li Hao as bizarre.

The stories of their deep affection had spread throughout Fenglan City; who didn't know that Prince Jing and the eldest daughter of the Zhongwu Marquis Mansion were madly in love with each other...

Yet now, even though they were technically married, why would they want to sleep in separate rooms?

However, this was ultimately the private business of the Prince and Princess Consort. As a lowly general, he certainly dared not ask, so he booked three premium rooms.

Ye Zhenhuang washed up and sat at the table eating a late-night snack.

While booking the rooms earlier, she had suddenly recalled a question: since the original owner of this body and Prince Jing had already undergone a "ghost marriage," did that count as being married?

Although she had repeatedly referred to herself as the Princess Consort while in the mausoleum, that had been to save her life, a bluff to intimidate Li Hao.

But if she returned to Fenglan City, wouldn't she have to face this issue again?

She had been reborn facing a male corpse in a coffin, and after the corpse came to life, she found herself with a husband who harbored secrets...

However, that wasn't what depressed her the most.

What frustrated her most now was that this body had no vital energy, its meridians were blocked, and it could not practice martial arts.

In this world where martial power was supreme, being unable to practice martial arts meant, first and foremost, being looked down upon. A whole line of self-righteous people would come to trample on you just to highlight their own strength.

Secondly, Ye Zhenhuang still harbored the goal of one day fighting her way back to the Tianyun Realm to take revenge. How could she do that if she couldn't cultivate?

Ye Zhenhuang pondered. In her previous life, the Ye family members could all practice telekinesis, but only those with the orthodox Ye bloodline could do so.

Now that she had changed bodies, she wondered if she could still practice telekinesis?

Thinking this, she tossed aside the pastry in her hand, clapped her hands, and immediately walked to the bed to sit cross-legged.

She placed her hands properly in front of her, closed her eyes, silently recited the telekinesis cultivation mantra, and tried hard to concentrate her mental energy...

A moment later, Ye Zhenhuang suddenly opened her eyes. Her left index and middle fingers were pressed together, and a faint ripple of telekinetic energy surged from her fingertips toward the front.

Ye Zhenhuang stared intensely. Where her fingers pointed, a porcelain cup floated into the air, flipping back and forth, rising and falling, moving left and right—it looked incredibly eerie.

"Bang!"

After a sound, the porcelain cup actually pierced through the table and fell straight down. Just before it was about to smash against the floor, it suddenly swerved upward, unscathed!

Finally, the cup landed steadily on the tabletop.

The entire process looked as if an invisible thread was guiding the cup, making it rise and fall.

Ye Zhenhuang slightly retracted her fingers and then suddenly flicked them, sending another wave of telekinetic energy surging out.

"Crack!"

Struck by this violent impact of telekinetic energy, the porcelain cup instantly developed crack after crack.

"Boom!"

With another sound, the cracked cup unexpectedly shattered into a pile of powder that scattered across the table...

Successfully condensing telekinetic energy and being able to manipulate simple objects with a certain degree of destructive power—a First-Grade Telekinetic.

Ye Zhenhuang collapsed onto the bed.

This body was truly too poor. Not only was it unable to cultivate, but it also lacked the most basic physical conditioning. She had only exerted a little telekinesis, and her limbs were already weak with exhaustion.

Telekinesis was a high-level manifestation of mental energy and required a strong physique as a foundation; otherwise, one would exhaust all their strength during a prolonged battle.

This was where telekinesis cultivation fell short compared to martial energy cultivation.

If she could practice martial energy and combine it with telekinetic combat, that would be double the combat power.

On its own, telekinesis was merely a "chicken rib"—tasteless to keep, but a pity to discard.

As Ye Zhenhuang drifted into a hazy sleep, the last thought before entering her dreams was of the Rahu Demon Seal, that ancient demonic artifact.