This low sound might have been hard for ordinary people to detect, but it absolutely could not escape the sharp ears and acute hearing of a fox.
The pink-furred fox, now in human form, led a few subordinates carrying lanterns all the way outside the imperial palace.
"Your Ladyship, what sound did you actually hear?" The subordinates behind her yawned sleepily.
"It is the middle of the night, there is not even a dog outside the palace. Did you have hallucinations?"
"Right, Your Ladyship, the weather is too cold. Let us hurry back and rest."
The pink-furred fox narrowed her eyes and said coldly. "Shut up!"
"Just because you idiots could not hear it, does that mean my ears are mistaken?"
"There was clearly a very strange noise coming from outside the palace just now."
"It is highly likely that someone harbors malicious intentions toward the Great King. I absolutely must investigate!"
Seeing the pink-furred fox acting so resolute and walking out of the palace without looking back, the guards, despite the heavy resentment in their hearts, fundamentally did not dare to talk back and could only follow silently.
Who did not know? Nowadays, the one the Great King doted on the most was this very Consort.
If she found someone displeasing to the eye, with just a single look, the Great King would have killed them. Within this imperial palace, who dared to disobey her orders?
Promptly, the pink-furred fox led the guards straight outside the palace. However, the surroundings were a desolate, rocky wasteland covered in gravel, without a single place to hide.
A guard shrank his neck and said weakly. "Your Ladyship, look, there is basically no one around here..."
The pink-furred fox narrowed her eyes, pricked up her ears, and listened carefully to the surrounding movements. She twitched her nose, sniffing the ambient scents, but found absolutely nothing.
After a long while, she finally noticed a clue, her gaze locking onto the ground. Looking at the half-section of a steel pipe inserted into the hard earth, a flash of suspicion crossed her eyes.
"What is this thing?"
Underground, Alex and Noah, under the leadership of the Grave-Digging Ghost, managed to cross the Bridge of Banned Magic again, returning smoothly to the outside of the Bronze Door.
"Grave-Digging Ghost, thanks to your help this time." Alex smiled faintly.
"Here, this Nine Yin Pill is a reward bestowed upon you by me."
"Send us back to the surface, and your task will be complete. You may return."
"Many thanks, Master!" The Grave-Digging Ghost accepted the pill, nodded gratefully, and smiled excitedly.
"If Master has anything to do in the future, please be sure to think of me!"
"To be able to serve Master is truly a blessing this little ghost cultivated over three lifetimes!"
"Rest assured, there will be no shortage of times I will need to trouble you in the future." Alex narrowed his eyes and smiled mysteriously.
"After all, right now, I have only found this one tomb of Quill."
"And there are still three more Zombie King tombs."
"In the future, when I find the tombs of Morwen, Gilbert, and Adyr, your help will be indispensable."
Hearing these words, the Grave-Digging Ghost froze slightly, a massive wave surging in its heart.
Good heavens...
As a fierce ghost specializing in digging graves and raiding tombs, it had robbed countless tomb chambers in its life.
This Quill tomb was already the most perilous one it had ever visited. It did not expect that Master was not the least bit satisfied and was already scheming for the tombs of the other three Great Zombie Kings.
This Master of its was truly extraordinary.
However, thinking about it, it was not surprising.
After all, Quill was the head of the Four Great Zombie Kings, the most difficult and cunning of the four zombie progenitors. If Master could handle even him submissively, why would he fear the other three?
"Master, I will send you back to the surface right now." The Grave-Digging Ghost smiled and stepped forward, preparing to use the Earth Core Magic Tube.
But the next second, upon returning to where the tube had been inserted, its face instantly filled with terror.
"Huh?!"
"This... what is going on here?!"
Alex frowned. "What is wrong?"
The Grave-Digging Ghost said in a panic. "Master, someone on the surface moved my Earth Core Magic Tube!"
"Without it, we cannot return to the surface! We can only be trapped in this tomb chamber forever!"
"Oh?" Alex narrowed his eyes slightly, a trace of cold murderous intent flowing within them. Then he slowly raised his head, looking toward the rock ceiling above, a ferocious sneer at the corners of his mouth.
"Heh, wanting to seal me in this rotting ancient tomb?"
"Not a chance in hell!"
Above ground, the pink-furred fox’s slender fingers toyed with the Earth Core Magic Tube, her face full of suspicion.
"What on earth is this thing?"
"Although it looks like just an ordinary iron pipe..."
"...why does it harbor such a majestic ghost aura?"
She remained thoroughly puzzled, while the several guards behind her yawned repeatedly.
Just as she was preparing to take this pipe back and hand it to the Great King, the ground beneath their feet violently trembled without the slightest warning.
Accompanied by the intense quaking, the originally hard rocky wasteland became densely covered in hideous, spreading cracks.
"This... what is going on?!" The guards all looked completely shocked, glancing left and right.
"Could it be... an earthquake?!"
The pink-furred fox revealed a look of astonishment, looking around in panic.
The next second, the solid ground cracked open into a massive fissure. A large, powerful hand, like an iron pincer, abruptly broke out from the earth. It directly grabbed the pink-furred fox by the throat in a death grip and hoisted her into the air.
"Your Ladyship?!" The guards’ faces were filled with panic. In an instant, they all charged forward wielding their spears.
But immediately after, they saw Alex unhurriedly emerge from underground like a cold-faced Asura. Holding the pink-furred fox in his grasp, he said flatly.
"Do not step forward. Those who approach will die."
"Who... who are you?!" The guards stood in place, not daring to act rashly, and shouted sternly.
"Our Ladyship is the Great King’s most important favored concubine!"