Chapter 632: Pearl-Devouring Deer

High Mother Lisha was honestly a bit shocked. Even though she was the leader of the best intelligence network in the Desolate Sepulcher, she had not been aware of that.

"Master, you had no reason to hide it from me with your seals, so why?"

"It's quite simple, you had no reason to know. In fact, there are many things you don't need to be informed about. But since my plan seems to have worked perfectly, now you know. And the reason is because I'll need your help on this. You will send a message to Nie Pian. I am quite confident that he accomplished everything I asked of him and even more. At the moment, he should know absolutely everything about City Lord Sihe's business. Most likely, he also knows a lot about those who gravitate around him as well, whether close or not. He's in the perfect position to succeed him.

"This won't be good new for him. Unfortunately, his mission was just too successful. I didn't want to burden him with this task, but he'll have to replace City Lord Sihe, at least for a few decades. We'll have to provide him with some pills to extend his lifespan and slightly improve his cultivation. Here is the exact content of my message."

High Mother Lisha received many characters that didn't make much sense directly into her mind. Clearly the message could only be understood by Nie Pian.

"Only trust it to the best of your messengers. It is important that it reaches Siqian City before anything and anyone else. On our side, we'll work on getting rid of City Lord Sihe. Lord Wanghuo and Minister Renhai won't appreciate the extermination of the Weiji family as well as their royal guards. City Lord Sihe is done for. Our job is to make sure that it ends up with Nie Pian alive and in control of Siqian City in his stead."

"How do you plan to achieve that?"

"You will! First of all, your order will denounce City Lord Sihe for the use of poison. And you will also denounce Boss Gui at the same time. We'll use 'Lie Trapped in a Truth' to manipulate the people. The use of poison by Boss Gui, City Lord Sihe and the Weiji family will be completely exposed but we'll control the narrative. This should strengthen our Blazing Swallow as well as the reputation of Nie Pian who was obviously opposing the insanity of City Lord Sihe at the peril of his own life and blood.

"If the Sisters of the Abyss expose all of them at the same time, City Lord Sihe will have no opportunity to shift the blame unto someone else. In the end, Boss Gui's death will greatly help us as we can put all the blame about poison on her. In fact, it will also weaken her former slave business, thus strengthening the nomadic tribes and Chieftain Sha Chai Gan and the reformed Sun Scorpion Clan. I'll let you take care of the political and religious aspect of this. Everything should be set perfectly.

"Nie Pian will protest that he can't be City Lord. He obviously can, but this is a lot of work and worries. Considering his personality, it won't be too difficult to push this position onto him. He'll earn a seat at the Xinian Confederation. Soon, Nie Pian and Dan Yao will be the vast majority of the Xinian Confederation. While everyone thinks they're enemies because Nie Pian betrayed him, they are in fact both working under me. Thus, the Xinian Confederation will be mine, as are the Sisters of the Abyss, the two main cities, the Desolate Dune Desert and its tribes. In other words, the only part of the Desolate Sepulcher and the Nalupu Kingdom I won't directly control is the capital. However, we both know how inept Lord Wanghuo is. As long as we make sure that the capital receives enough profits, we won't have any problem at all."

"Master, is Dan Yao aware of your ploy with Nie Pian?"

"Obviously! They're supposed to be deadly rivals so they both had to know as to avoid them from actually killing or destroying each other. In fact, Nie Pian is still working on the finances of the Blazing Swallow. But now that he can see almost everything related to the economy of the Nalupu Kingdom, the Blazing Swallow will become even stronger."

"And you'll be able to shape the future of our entire nation even though you won't do a thing. You won't even be present."

"And I probably won't ever come back. So no, I won't shape everything. I chose the people I trust and so I trust them to change things for the better. With the new system that will exist after me, this Desolate Sepulcher has everything to be incredibly prosperous and successful. But ultimately, it is your land and thus it is your responsibility. I have no desire to rule anyone. Moreover, I doubt about my own purpose so I won't try and find the purpose of an entire people. Decide it yourselves!"

High Mother Lisha could tell that Cao Yun was already detached from everything in the Desolate Sepulcher. His mind was already back in the Hongchen Kingdom. So she believed him without any problem.

-

Everything happened as Cao Yun had predicted. The Sisters of the Abyss publicly denounced the blasphemous use of poison by Boss Gui, the Weiji family and City Lord Sihe. Since the first two were all dead already, everything fell upon City Lord Sihe who had completely lost his mind anyway. This gave the perfect opportunity to all the other city lords to publicly denounce his numerous crimes as well. Of course, they were mainly trying to get rid of him to usurp his lands and businesses. Some also had debts that they wanted gone. If City Lord Sihe was killed, they might be able to erase those debts.

Minister Renhai tried to handle it personally but Lord Wanghuo was furious. Although Weiji He had abandoned the Nalupu Kingdom for his personal vendetta, Lord Wanghuo had always liked him. He couldn't accept that a valiant Marshal of his army suffered such a fate. Since he had been killed in battle against a Sister of the Abyss, Lord Wanghuo's sense of honor stopped him from taking any action against Sister Xie Yue. However, he couldn't accept what had happened to his blood. All of Weiji He's family had been killed and their blood poisoned and tainted. There was no way he could admit that. Besides, it had happened close enough to his capital and his own royal guards had been slaughtered in a disgraceful manner as well.

Not even Minister Renhai could quell his king's fury. Moreover, it had happened around the moment of his duel. Thus, the news had completely spoiled his fun. Although he might not admit it, this might be the main reason behind Lord Wanghuo's uncontrolled anger. He personally signed the death sentence of City Lord Sihe. And he chose the worst death possible within the confines of the Desolate Sepulcher's beliefs. City Lord Sihe would be devoured alive piece by piece by demonic beasts. His blood and flesh would be digested. His very being would be turned into excrement.

In fact, ancient practices consisted in the dishonored demon being devoured by other demons. But thankfully, those practices were obsolete. Even Demon God Da Mo had abandoned them in his time. Obviously, the Weaver of Souls had also frowned upon them. But being devoured was indeed very dishonoring without being blasphemous like poison.

Nie Pian received the message from his master and quickly turned against City Lord Sihe. He had the full control over his assets and his servants. All of City Lord Sihe's influence was in the hands of Nie Pian. And he weaponized them against City Lord Sihe.

What City Lord Sihe had failed to realize was that he had never released Nie Pian of Cao Yun's seals. Cao Yun had altered them. In fact, he had made sure that City Lord Sihe experimented on some of his seals. But Cao Yun had provided those seals himself most of the times. Thus, when City Lord Sihe worked on Nie Pian, he was too confident. Instead of releasing those seals, he was contaminated himself. For months now, his Turbid Demons had been turned slowly against him, just enough so it would fuel his paranoia and his somber feelings but not too much so no one could really notice it. After all, demons had stronger feelings than humans so his behavior could be explained without any form of Qi deviation.

As soon as City Lord Sihe had taken Nie Pian, he had sealed his fate. The only opportunity he had of besting Cao Yun would have been to kill Nie Pian. In fact, Cao Yun had been afraid of this but Nie Pian had still accepted the risks. Indeed, he felt incredibly grateful to his master and also remorseful for the way he had mishandled his business. Even though it had only happened once, Nie Pian did feel guilty about it to this day. After such a success, Cao Yun hoped this regret would be blown away. Besides, he would be too busy to even think about it.

Indeed, this was a terrible headache for Nie Pian. He had hoped he could finally leave after City Lord Sihe's demise, but he had just received orders from his master. Moreover, he could feel the trust of City Lord Sihe's servants. They were all relying on him to protect them from the various external influences who would try to usurp City Lord Sihe. Without a city lord, Siqian City might be raided. The population feared the other city lords even more than the nomadic tribes. Some were afraid that Lord Wanghuo would simply kill everyone indiscriminately.

Thankfully for the city, the Sisters of the Abyss arrived first. They helped deal with City Lord Sihe. He had become a prisoner of his own house. The Sisters made sure that he wouldn't end his own life by sealing his cultivation. Then, they prepared Siqian City for Lord Wanghuo's arrival.

All around the city, the nomadic tribes and the Sun Scorpion Clan were waiting as well. Officially, they were there to witness City Lord Sihe's torture and death. After all, he had done terrible things and committed many atrocities against the nomadic tribes so it didn't appear strange to anyone. In secret, they were there to protect Siqian City and make sure that Nie Pian could handle things without any disturbance from another city lord.

Lord Wanghuo did reach the city incredibly fast. He had been riding on a Pearl-Devouring Deer, a 9-star demonic beast. This prodigious beast was as large as a massive horse. Even considering Lord Wanghuo's stature, the Pearl-Devouring Deer still looked impressive. It had large and complex antlers that looked like crystal with many perfect pearls in it. Its fur was golden and almost disappeared in the color of the sand. Finally, its face was extremely thin and elegant. Although it was running like the wind, its movements all seemed light and few as though it was simply walking without even touching the sand under its hooves. Honestly, the Pearl-Devouring Deer's demeanor clashed heavily with Lord Wanghuo's oppressing aura.

When he arrived, Lord Wanghuo was welcomed by the entire population of the city. They were all bowing before him. In fact, they had been bowing for hours waiting for him. A few people had collapsed of thirst of fatigue. But as soon as they knew Lord Wanghuo was close enough to perceive them, they didn't dare to move at all. Even the Sisters of the Abyss and Nie Pian were bowing among the crowd. The only one who wasn't bowing was City Lord Sihe. He was bound in front of the city with chains piercing his flesh. Many seals had been used to completely suppress his cultivation while keeping him alive. He had not eaten or drunk for weeks, since his arrest. For an Accomplished Demon, this wasn't such an issue. But with his cultivation suppressed and exposed to the desert day and night, this had been difficult for him. Obviously, Siqian City wanted to appease Lord Wanghuo's anger.

As soon as he saw him, Lord Wanghuo wanted to cut City Lord Sihe open but he restrained himself. His mere killing intent caused many villagers to faint even though it had not been directed at them.

"Who is Nie Pian?"

"Lord, this humble and unworthy one is Nie Pian."

Without moving, the old man answered the question. In the crowd, the Sisters of the Abyss were ready to act if it was necessary. Lord Wanghuo was often unpredictable.

"You did well! From now on, you'll be acting as city lord of Siqian City. Prove yourself and you'll earn the official title."

Everyone was surprised and shocked. But they were also extremely happy. After all, Nie Pian had a great reputation in Siqian City. Unfortunately, everyone was frustrated because they didn't dare to show their excitement in front of Lord Wanghuo's fury. And soon, they would indeed witness his fury.

Lord Wanghuo turned his gaze toward City Lord Sihe.

"You evil bastard! You've betrayed your kingdom, your blood, your King and your God. There is no salvation for you. Your blood and your bloodline shall be extinguished henceforth. Zhupao!"

From behind Lord Wanghuo, his Pearl-Devouring Deer walked forward. It slowly reached City Lord Sihe. Then, it began to eat him alive. Under the spiritual senses of Lord Wanghuo, his blood didn't flow to the ground. Instead, every single drop of blood was devoured by his mount. The process was slow and excruciating. Lord Wanghuo and his mount Zhupao made sure that he stayed alive and conscious as long as possible. For an Accomplished Demon, this was unfortunately, a very long time.

The entire Siqian City as well as the nomadic tribes around it witnessed the entire execution. Such an execution was among the Seven Punishments of the Weaver of Souls. In fact, this was one of the worst of them, especially for high demons. He died like a beast and his blood would be completely lost and digested.

In the end, Cao Yun did control the fate of the entire Desolate Sepulcher.