"Cut the crap! Do you remember the promise you made to me back then?"
"Of course I do! As long as you steal the comb I need, I'll give you enough chakra and send you to the Lower World."
"Fine! Deal!"
With grave determination, Ye Liang began consulting Izanagi no Mikoto about the layout of the Celestial Palace and the comb's specific appearance and features — to ensure he wouldn't take the wrong one.
Soon after, he quietly left the house.
The real Yomi Celestial Palace lay at the exact center of this sea of clouds. From clues obtained from Izanagi no Mikoto, they had entered the clouds through the southern gate.
All he needed to do was head north, past the cloud sea, to reach the Yomi Celestial Palace.
He set off.
Moving silently, he encountered many guards of the Yomi Celestial Palace along the way — these were all Lost Fallen, but having mastered ancient techniques from the senior apprentices, Ye Liang no longer feared these modern squads.
After moving a considerable distance, he finally arrived at the Yomi Celestial Palace.
This was another vast palace complex. Following the map given by Izanagi no Mikoto, Ye Liang studied it for a long time before locating the correct entrance.
Slipping into the palace, he silently snapped the necks of two guards and continued stealthily toward his destination.
That destination was a place called Eternal Tranquility Palace.
The Yomi Celestial Palace consisted of four major palaces and thirty-six courtyards. Each palace was guarded by an extremely powerful guardian. As per Mikamitsu Shirabe, these four palaces each housed a former trusted aide who had retired.
These individuals had been blessed with immortality by the Yomi deity.
But their freedom had been eternally confined here.
Mikamitsu Shirabe's predecessor was an ancient, retired general — an equal to the Yomi deity from the same era. Ye Liang had investigated so thoroughly because his current mission's target resided in this very palace!
Snapping the necks of several more guards, Ye Liang dragged their bodies into a nearby attic.
These were all Lost Fallen — in the Lower World, they would attack anyone they encountered! These were not people deserving of mercy. Before long, Ye Liang had cleared out all the nearby guards.
He arrived before the largest room in the fourth palace.
"I really don't get it. Why would the Yomi deity hide such an important comb inside one of her subordinates' rooms?"
In Ye Liang's opinion, anything important enough to make Izanagi go to such lengths — even risking his dignity — to request its theft must be extremely significant.
So carelessly placing it somewhere just didn't make sense.
He quietly approached the window and made a small hole in it for peering through.
Just one glance, and Ye Liang understood the Yomi deity's reasoning!
Way too big! Unbelievably huge! Initially, Ye Liang had imagined that Mikamitsu Shirabe's predecessor must have been a gorgeous woman too, perhaps an elderly beauty even if aged.
But he was completely mistaken.
Lying inside this palace was a man weighing at least five hundred pounds — a professional sumo wrestler wearing nothing but a loincloth!
Ye Liang peered through the hole for quite a while before finally spotting the wooden comb described by Izanagi no Mikoto, nestled at the fat man's neck.
It was serving as his pillow!
"Wow, doesn't he worry about breaking the comb?" Ye Liang muttered silently to himself, then quietly pushed open the wooden door. He crept forward silently.
The fat man was snoring loudly, a huge snot bubble stuck on the tip of his nose.
Ye Liang reached out toward the wooden comb.
Smack!
The fat man rolled over in bed!
His hand got crushed.
Just as Ye Liang tried to pull it back, the fat man actually hugged his arm and licked it!
"This is an arm, not a pig's hoof!"
Cold sweat dripped down his face.
Although he wasn't afraid of the man's strength, the former leader definitely had his abilities. If he woke up and alerted the Yomi deity, all his efforts would be wasted.
"Damn it! I have to find a way to get my hand out," he muttered, glancing at the pillow by the bed and suddenly hatching a plan. Ye Liang raised his hand like a blade, fingers pressed together like a sword, then slashed downward with the force of a thunderbolt—plunging it into the pillow and pulling out a single feather.
"The softness of this pillow isn't bad. No wonder that fatty sleeps so soundly." Quietly, he brushed the feather across the fat man's hand, and sure enough, the latter moved away.
"Phew!"
He exhaled deeply, then repeated the same move—tickling the man's neck. As the fat man began to roll over again, Ye Liang suddenly sensed someone approaching the room!
"Damn!"
Just when the comb was within reach—disaster struck at the final moment!
He quickly leaped up onto the ceiling beam.
Outside, footsteps drew near but stopped right at the doorway!
Ye Liang swallowed hard. Below, the fat man continued sleeping like a log, completely unaware of anything. Looking out the window, Ye Liang spotted through the hole he had made earlier—there was a pair of eyes peeking into the room.
"It's a sneaky thief!"
At such a late hour, creeping around a man's private chamber like this—who else could it be!
This kind of person infuriated Ye Liang the most.
He glared fiercely at the intruder, who certainly hadn't noticed him yet. Seeing that the fat man was still sound asleep, the thief quietly pushed open the door, following in Ye Liang's footsteps.
"Lord Murakami, are you awake?" he whispered cautiously.
Seeing no reaction from the fat man, the thief crept to the side of his pillow—and saw the wooden comb too!
"Not good! This person has the exact same goal as me!" Ye Liang realized the man was tugging desperately at the comb and sensed trouble.
At that moment, just like the fat man had done before, he rolled over and tightly embraced the thief!
"Well done!"
Ye Liang gave the fat man a mental thumbs-up.
The thief also wore the exact same expression of panic Ye Liang had shown earlier.
After scanning desperately for a way out, the thief suddenly spotted the discarded feather on the floor—inspiration struck!
Ye Liang's expression turned like this!
[413]!
Sure enough, the fat man released his grip.
"Dead thief! You think you can copy me and get away with it?" As if answering Ye Liang's words, just after he finished speaking, the fat man beneath suddenly opened his eyes wide!
Two enormous eyeballs stared at the thief like giant bronze bells.
In a flash!
Under Ye Liang's shocked gaze, the thief was slapped into paste by the fat man below—one mighty sumo-style slap to the face!
He didn't even see it happen!
"Why is someone trying to steal my comb again this year? So annoying!" The fat man grumbled, flinging the mushed remains aside.
Ye Liang didn't dare to breathe loudly.
Once the fat man fell asleep again, he returned directly to his own room.
[Southeast corner, light a candle—private talk awaits.]
When Izanagi no Mikoto suddenly popped in, Ye Liang didn't even bother to be polite!
"You gotta be kidding me! Why didn't you tell me that chubby dude was such a beast!" he snapped, his face full of anger.
"You never asked!"
I...
Well... fine, I didn't ask. For a moment, Ye Liang had no words. After a brief pause, his expression turned serious. "Be straight with me — how many others did you bring in to help steal the Wooden Comb besides me?"
"A few here and there — probably around a dozen or so."
Ah... So it really was about a dozen, huh? Ye Liang fell into thought. After some time, he suddenly smacked his forehead.
The number of people who came for this battle was exactly around a dozen!
"No way! So everyone here was already on your side from the start!"
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