Chapter 170: Level Nine Xiang Yu

"Is this the Moonlight Ravine?"

Qin Yang stood before a deep ravine and murmured softly. The Divine Wolf kept its gaze fixed on the depths of the gorge, its eyes glowing with a faint, eerie light.

Though called a ravine, it looked more like a valley, plunging over twenty meters deep, stretching about fifty meters long, and more than nine yards wide. The ground was covered entirely in black soil interspersed with a few scattered stones, completely devoid of any vegetation. In fact, within a fifty-meter radius of the Moonlight Ravine, not a single blade of grass grew. When Qin Yang activated his Yin-Yang Eyes, however, he saw countless piles of bleached bones buried beneath the black earth. Countless formidable undead clad in armor lay under the dark soil, gazing longingly toward the east. If one listened closely, they could even hear an ancient ballad echoing in the air.

"Sixth-rank undead! At least sixth-rank, and at most ninth-rank!" The butler's excited voice rang out in Qin Yang's mind. "A ninth-rank God of War!"

"Damn it! If I could subdue this ninth-rank God of War, to hell with Dong Zhuo's tomb—this guy alone could slaughter the lot of them." Qin Yang licked his lips, struggling hard to calm himself, but he could not suppress the surge of excitement within his heart. Ninth-rank! A ninth-rank undead! That was the absolute peak existence in the netherworld, a super-powerful entity capable of turning the heavens and earth with a single gesture. In China's five thousand years of history, very few had ever reached the ninth-rank undead status. According to the butler, Qin Shi Huang was the first.

"These are Xiang Yu's eight hundred elite soldiers." Suddenly, Dong Feng sighed. "So the legends were true."

"Oh?" Qin Yang asked. "What legends?"

"Unlike what is recorded in history books, during the song of Chu from all sides at the Battle of Gaixia, Xiang Yu led eight hundred cavalrymen to charge into the Ten-Sided Ambush Formation. This formation was created by Zhang Liang, Chen Ping, and Han Xin using the accumulated wisdom of their entire lives, manned by one hundred thousand soldiers and generals. Yet, driven into a desperate plight, Xiang Yu's eight hundred horsemen tore that army to pieces, forcing Han Xin to mobilize an additional one hundred and fifty thousand men without Liu Bang's authorization to drive Xiang Yu to the Wujiang River. At the same time, this laid the groundwork for Han Xin's future execution, because among those one hundred and fifty thousand troops, fifty thousand belonged to Liu Bang's Han army. With Han Xin's achievements overshadowing his master and his military prestige soaring too high, how could Liu Bang not eliminate him? Putting that aside for a moment, Xiang Yu led his remaining troops to charge back and forth seven times through tens of thousands of soldiers, only to suffer severe injuries. Furthermore, because Han Xin had ordered his soldiers to tip their weapons with poison, rumor has it that Xiang Yu did not commit suicide, but was poisoned to death. Before his death, Xiang Yu roared that the heroic spirits of his eight hundred clansmen would never disperse and swore to destroy the Han dynasty. Terrified, Liu Bang had the corpses of Xiang Yu and his eight hundred soldiers cast into desolate wildernesses and planted the mountains full of large trees in the pattern of a Soul-Locking Array so they would lose their sense of direction and never be able to leave the place. However, the exact location remained unknown to anyone. Never did I expect it to be right here." Dong Feng sighed and added, "Official histories never recorded these events; I only heard them from travelers wandering among the common folk."

"I had never heard of it either. It seems these legends vanished completely after the Three Kingdoms period," Yuwen RouNu said in a low voice.

Dong Feng remarked, "To think it is actually true. Who would have imagined the Gaozu Emperor of Han would alter history so drastically."

"If it were me, I wouldn't have the face to admit it either. More than one hundred thousand men set up some grand, high-sounding formation, bragging about using their lifelong learning, only to have eight hundred people beat them into a scattered mess of dropped armor and weapons. That is a massive slap to the face." Qin Yang curled his lip and said, "The Three Heroes of the Early Han were probably too embarrassed to own up to it. As for Liu Bang, that fellow likely didn't want to diminish his own prestige just as he was about to become emperor. On one hand, he wanted to show off his martial might by easily annihilating Xiang Yu, and on the other, he wanted to display his benevolence by boasting about a lavish burial. Little did he expect it all to end up in this place."

"Since we are already here, why not go down and pay a visit?" Dong Feng suggested. "If you can win Xiang Yu's assistance, there will be no place in this world where you cannot go."

"I had no such intentions before meeting a ninth-rank netherworld entity. Having him help out occasionally might work, but getting him to take orders from me is probably impossible—he is, after all, an overlord of an era." Qin Yang leaped down, bounding off several footholds in succession, and quickly reached the bottom.

Though there was some stagnant water below, there wasn't much, and the black soil felt much harder than Qin Yang had imagined, resembling solid blocks of stone instead. Qin Yang looked around, cleared his throat, and called out, "Is Overlord Xiang Yu present?"

Silence.

A long moment passed before a tremendous aura suddenly materialized around him. This aura was the most murderous and valorous Qin Yang had ever witnessed; the bit of killing intent he had accumulated—not yet even reaching the threshold of a thousand-man slayer—was practically nothing compared to it. This was merely the aura alone, without even revealing his undead form, causing Qin Yang to involuntarily swallow hard.

"Who goes there?" a deep, domineering voice demanded.

Qin Yang cupped his hands together and bowed. Since he couldn't see where Xiang Yu was—presumably because the man was unwilling to meet someone who was still a mere nobody in the current era—he replied, "I am passing through on urgent business and heard that Mr. Xiang Yu is buried here, so I came to pay my respects, catch a glimpse of the Overlord's magnificent bearing, and incidentally propose a small transaction."

"Oh? A transaction?" Xiang Yu said with amused interest. "Very well, in a thousand years, you are the only one capable of conversing with me. Although my subordinates are here, not a single one can utter a single word."

"That's simple enough; just set a great fire to burn down the trees nearby," Qin Yang shrugged and said. "The power of the Soul-Locking Array is still effective, capable of suppressing them, but it can't do anything to you. Of course, burning the mountain right now isn't very feasible; the world has changed greatly, and setting fire to this mountain would probably prompt countless people to curse my ancestors for eight generations. That's a responsibility I can't afford to take. I don't have much time; I have urgent matters to attend to shortly."

"Hahaha." Xiang Yu burst into laughter. "Good lad, among all those who have spoken to me across the world, not a single one has ever dared to claim they were just passing by."

"It really was pure coincidence," Qin Yang said. "You surely won't hold a grudge against a younger generation like me. Besides, I still need to find a tribe called the Jiuli."

"Jiuli!" Xiang Yu's tone shifted instantly, carrying a faint, contained fury. "Boy, what business do you have with them?"

"What the hell!" Qin Yang recalled the matter and grew irritated, cursing, "I'm going to wipe out their entire clan. The nerve of those bastards, boldly placing a Gu poison curse on my wife. I've traveled thousands of miles to slaughter my way here just to make those scumbags kneel on the ground and call me their ancestor, and incidentally blow up their dog kennel!"

"Good!"

As a ninth-rank undead, Xiang Yu found it exceptionally easy to discern the truth of Qin Yang's words. Being someone who favored beauty over territory himself, he shared a mutual understanding with Qin Yang on this point. After all, if anyone dared to bully Yu Ji, Old Xiang would undoubtedly execute methods a thousand times more ruthless than Little Qin's. Right then and there, he laughed heartily and said, "The Jiuli tribe are merely despicable villains. Hahahaha."

"What? Do you have a grudge against them?" Qin Yang asked with a puzzled expression.

"A grudge as vast as the heavens," Xiang Yu's voice thundered like rolling stock. "The Jiuli tribe were originally a group of sorcerers under Ying Zheng, skilled in Gu poisons and possessing considerable abilities. During Ying Zheng's conquest of the six states, the shadow of the Jiuli tribe could be found in every major battle. After Ying Zheng's death, the Jiuli tribe vanished without a trace. I originally thought they had retired into seclusion in the mountains or been buried alive with Ying Zheng, but I never knew why they ended up being subjugated by Liu Bang of Hanzhong. It is hateful that my亚父 (second father / foster father) died tragically from Gu poison, and seven out of ten of my elite generals were murdered by members of the Jiuli tribe. Liu Bang spread rumors everywhere that the state of Chu slaughtered without restraint and had incurred heaven's wrath, causing my army's morale to shatter completely. In the end, only myself and eight hundred soldiers managed to break through the encirclement, yet we were ultimately still murdered by the Jiuli tribe poisoning their weapons."

"Good lord, there's a history like that too." At this moment, Qin Yang sat down on a boulder, lit a cigarette, took a fierce drag, and said, "You probably don't know what happened afterward, right? Liu Bang established the Han dynasty, historically known as the Great Han, and unified the realm. Then Empress Lü monopolized power, but later Emperor Wu of Han emerged, sweeping across the Xiongnu—that could be considered one of the periods of greatest military might in Chinese history. Later still, after the Western Han perished, the Eastern Han arose, and after the Eastern Han came the Three Kingdoms. This Mr. Dong here is a person from the Three Kingdoms era, while my elder sister, Yuwen Rounu, is from the Song Dynasty—much later. As for myself, I'm from the twenty-first century."

"Emperor Wu of Han," Xiang Yu repeated.

"Alright, Mr. Xiang, I don't have much time. I have just over two days left to find the Jiuli tribe; otherwise, once the toxic Gu takes effect, I'll take a massive loss." Qin Yang tidied himself up, paused for a moment, and asked, "Has Mr. Xiang ever thought about leaving this place?"

"Leaving? Your strength is far too weak," Xiang Yu said with haughty pride. "You couldn't take away a single one of these soldiers of mine, let alone myself."

"Ha, I'll definitely find some treasure brimming with spiritual energy to come back and carry you away. If you won't budge, I'll go find Yu Ji and make her tell you to leave. I refuse to believe you'd have the heart to let your wife live out her days in these barren mountains and wild ravines." Qin Yang curled his lip.

"You can find Yu Ji?" Xiang Yu's voice carried a trace of excitement.

"Of course," Qin Yang said. "The distance is only a little over a thousand kilometers, and with modern technology being so developed, it's just a matter of a few hours. What do you say?"

Xiang Yu fell silent for a moment. "If you can bring her here, I will grant you one condition."

"Deal." Qin Yang nodded with satisfaction.

"Very well, it is already dark. You must leave this place immediately," Xiang Yu stated. "If you are late, even I will not be able to save you."

"What do you mean?"

Qin Yang was startled, but suddenly saw fireflies emitting a soft white glow slowly emerging from the crevices of the stones. Dong Feng cried out in alarm, "Not good! Those are Night Poison Bugs. These insects favor darkness and gather together at night, making it look as if the moonlight has reappeared. Leave this place at once! The venom of the Night Poison Bugs is extremely potent; a mere touch of it against the skin will cause it to rot away."

Hearing this, Qin Yang felt his scalp tingle. While he wasn't particularly afraid of certain poisons, hearing that his flesh would rot away made him deeply uncomfortable. Could these creatures possibly be made of sulfuric acid? Summoning the Divine Wolf, he bolted out from the depths of the ravine. The Night Poison Bugs did not seem to pursue them; instead, they simply clustered together, casting waves of soft light across the canyon—the very reason it was spoken of with terror in the Miao villages as Moonlight Ravine.

"The Jiuli tribe has always been arrogant; it is best not to waste time—slaughtering them is the most satisfying course of action," Xiang Yu's voice echoed behind him. "Exercise utmost caution against their Gu poison."

"Don't worry, Gu poison can do nothing to me," Qin Yang laughed heartily, sprinting toward the direction of the cave Old Man Wu had mentioned.