Chapter Eighty: Red Robe and White Robe
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无罪 update:2022-07-21 15:26
Fu Su looked at the indigo robes of the Min Mountain Sword Sect which Qing Yaoyin wore, and his messy and unkempt hair that was like a beggar. He knew among the cultivators of Min Mountain Sword Sect, only the demon farmer would be so unkempt.
While this person spent a lot of time studying beasts, in reality, he was skilled in medicine while Geng Ren was skilled in poisons. The two of them were the best in the world.
Fu Su knew that the wounds in his body were getting better, and naturally this may be because of this person’s medicine. This medicine power was very soft and comfortable. Yet, looking at Qing Yaoyin, Fu Su felt even more pain inside. He said in great pain, “Elder, will you drag all of Min Mountain Sword Sect and the dynasty into this for just some personal grievances?”
“This is not a personal grievance but a matter of reason.”
Qing Yaoyin looked at the pained Qin Crown Prince and said, “Wang Jingmeng had the entire Ba Mountain Sword Field. If he wanted to steal the country and Yuanwu’s throne, it would be very easy. This is the reason for brotherhood and trust. But Zheng Xiu betrayed him, Yuanwu killed him and destroyed Ba Mountain Sword Field. This damaged the feelings between husband and wife, and between friends. If father and son, husband and wife, brothers, and friends all disregard reason, then what kind of world is this? Getting revenge for a brother is not dragging in all of Min Mountain Sword Sect and the entire dynasty. But people, when they live in this world, have to be reasonable.”
Fu Su could not object. The more he learned about the past events, the closer he got to the truth of the past, the more pain he felt. But he could not understand. How could his father-emperor do such a thing back then?
“No one likes to fight.” Qing Yaoyin looked at him and said, “Especially, no one likes to fight with the risk of being killed. So you first must understand why people will fight like this.”
Fu Su had a hard time breathing. He looked at the Donghu monk sitting like dried wood on the side,and at Qian Mu who was a bit younger than him, and then Tantai Guanjian, Ding Ning and Zhangsun Qianxue. These people were among the best in the world. Yet after all the battles, each person was in a bad condition, and looked very miserable. Thinking of the reason for these people who could avoid the world and live very well because of their cultivation, he could not speak.
Then he did not look at the infant dragon coiled up by Zhangsun Qianxue’s side but the dozens of soaring snakes coiled up by a dust mountain. When he saw these serpents who were loyal to the Jiaodong Commandery submit to the people beside him, he was even more shocked.
**
Ye Xiao had not died yet. He was in a state of dying.
At this time, outside the thousand dust mountains, there were cultivators everywhere. Any cultivator could kill him easily, like crushing an ant. But there was no meaning in killing him right now. Also, as the person who started this killing trap that could change the state of the world, adding on his identity and the price he paid, many cultivators would not let him die easily.
At this time, there was a Jiaodong Commandery cultivator dressed in yellow robes standing next to him. This Jiaodong Commandery cultivator was a very old woman. Her wrinkles were enough to soak up a bowl of rain water, and she held a bone whistle in her hand.
There were many other cultivators also dressed in yellow robes standing to the sides of these two people.
Looking at the traces of the soaring snakes who entered the dust mountains, her eyes were full of feeling.
“Are you content?” she softly asked Ye Xiao.
Ye Xiao was not able to speak, but content and gratitude appeared in his eyes. He had put in his life and everything left from his family. The Jiaodong Commandery also put in their efforts of many generations. So many serpents had entered the formation. Even if the people inside did not die, they should not have much energy left.
Then what was just left was to do the final clean up.
A bright red color appeared in his dilated eyes.
A cultivator dressed in bright red robes appeared here, walking in front of him and the old Jiaodong Commandery woman.
This was an old person with white hair and beard. There was a kind of odd violence and disbelief on his face.
When this old person appeared in front of him, Ye Xiao’s eyes grew more content.
There were very few people in the cultivation world who liked to wear bright red. One was the color was too strong and flamboyant. Red was very crude, and too eye-catching. On some battlefields, it would easily attract the attention of the enemies, and they would become the first people to be killed.
Even in Changling, the official robes were usually dark red, deep red, or purple red. But back then when Wang Jingmeng fought his way into Changling, the cultivator who appeared in front of Wang Jingmeng, appeared in front of everyone, was this red robe.
A burst of fire had burst out of the red robe, covering Wang Jingmeng, and burned all of the fire that Wang Jingmeng had spilled. It had burned Wang Jingmeng who had died from battle until not even dust was left.
The red robe was the Master of Fire. The sect master of Li Fire Sect.
In the legends, after burning Wang Jingmeng’s remains, the Li Fire Sect had been exterminated by some of the experts of Ba Mountain Sword Field. But there had been too many matters to pay attention to back then. Some people said the Master of Fire had just been wounded and had not died, but there had been news that he had been killed, but it was all unconfirmed.
Now, this old person was the Master of Fire. He was still alive. Naturally, he had not died back then.
Back then, he had been arranged in the end to burn everything, it was naturally due to Yuanwu and Zheng Xiu’s fear.
Yuanwu and Zheng Xiu had not known the secrets of the Nine Death Silkworm. They had heard some stories of it, but they did not even know if Wang Jingmeng cultivated the Nine Death Silkworm. To be safe, they got a cultivator like him to make sure Wang Jingmeng could not even leave a drop of blood behind.
But a problem had still occurred.
The Master of Fire could not understand where the problem had occurred. This terror of the unknown caused him to be slightly violent and anxious. But it was certain that they would not let the person in the dust mountains grow up. To Yuanwu and Zheng Xiu, even if they were not absolutely confident, they had to make this more secure.
So the Master Of Fire alone was not enough. After the red robe appeared, on this hill, another cultivator appeared.
This cultivator was dressed in clean white robes. But his body gave off a deathly energy that only people who cultivated the ghostly past had. He held a white bamboo staff. So adding on what he was dressed in, he looked to be in mourning robes.
Volume 3 80 - You Must Give Me An Explanation
The most merciless was time.
Sunlight fell over Changling, and gilded each dilapidated courtyard with gold.
Most of Changling’ residents started to learn that the trembling last night had come from the singing great rebel who had rampaged through Changling and started to move on from their terror. Then the news of the Min Mountain Sword Trials started to spread through Changling.
Disbelieving gasps and praise sounded in different corners of Changling.
Today, the name “Ding Ning” was mentioned more often in the city than “Bai Shanshui.” This ordinary youth who had been in Falling Parasol last year had become the victor of the Min Mountain Sword Trials. It was so legendary. The people of Changling were even more excited about his birth.
The usually quiet Falling Parasol was filled with people. Countless carriages even clogged the main street outside. Many people had come to see how this poor alley was different from the others to raise such a famous monster.
Before this, in Changling and the entire Qin Dynasty, there had only been two monsters, Jin Liuli and An Baoshi. Yet now, the Qin Dynasty and even the world knew there was also Ding Ning.
The streets were extremely loud but the tightly locked wineshop was still quiet. The ground was covered in thick dust that had fallen down due to the vibrations last night. Due to the ruckus near the wooden doors, the dust in the hall moved, and caused everything inside to look darker.
In the bedroom, Zhangsun Qianxue sat silently on the bed. Her eyelashes flickered. Even though she had received the news of Ding Ning’s victory, she did not know of Bai Shanshui’s fate. She did not know if Bai Shanshui’s actions last night in Falling Parasol would bring her fata danger.
She could not feel safe if Ding Ning did not return.
In the cold palace, the empress still looked perfect even after a sleepless night. She showed no tiredness and appeared the same as usual. She wrote a letter with her own hand and then casually handed it to a palace attendant waiting nearby. She said calmly, “Send someone to give this to Zhang Yi.”
“I heard two powerful flying swords appeared last night outside Changling. One sword could defeat ten ordinary flying swords. How do you compare?
“He had an immediate breakthrough to realm four and defeating a realm five cultivator. Do you think I could defeat him in the future?”
An elegant youth in ordinary hemp robes was speaking.
He was standing next to a cliff. Other than the faint mist, there was only a light yellow hiltless sword floating next to him. It trembled as he breathed. The presence of the sword had a unique rhythm as though it was alive.
There were no other people alive, so he was speaking to his flying sword. From his expression, this was not just a whim. He seemed used to talking to his flying sword like this.
No matter how lifelike a flying sword looked, it was an inanimate object that couldn’t speak. People who spoke to their flying swords were usually very lonely.
True geniuses were often lonely.
The sunlight poured over Changling but there were many corners that could not see sunlight. Under covered canopies in Fish Market, there was a crying zither tune, and many stalks of black bamboo swayed constantly by the dark door.
“In reality, the empress’ cruelty is not just in using someone to eliminate an enemy.” The red clothed woman had a gentle expression and a gentle tone. She said to the hunchbacked old man, her head hung low, “She is the cruelest and most skilled at taking the people you care about from your side one by one.”
**
After a night passed, some people were happy, some were sad, and some just woke up.
Xie Changsheng struggled to open his eyes. He sensed the sky outside was bright, and then he sensed heat. He then understood it was the dazzling sunlight.
He confirmed he was alive.
Then he couldn’t help but laugh. He did not have much strength but he used the strength he had to laugh.
Min Mountain Sword Sect did not stand by and watch him die.
He was still alive. This was his victory.
A disdainful voice reached his ears. “So seriously wounded yet you dare to laugh like this. You don’t fear reopening your wounds again.”
Xie Changsheng could not see the surroundings and naturally couldn’t see this person. However, he replied unconcernedly, “Even if my wounds reopen, I won’t die.”
The speaker stilled as though they couldn’t refute the words.
Xie Changsheng blinked his eyes proudly and gradually saw that he was inside a green room.
The ground and the walls were green, but it was no longer the pure jade green.
So he couldn’t help but pull his lips in scorn and said, “Green jade as path, green jade as palace. I really thought Min Mountain Sword Sect was so rich. But they only decorate the outside, and the inside only use a similar colored stone.”
“A tycoon is a tycoon. They looked at everything through the lens of money.”
Hearing the more sarcastic tone, Xie Changsheng managed to turn his head and then stilled.
He saw a green robed young woman looking coldly at him from the doorway. Then he recalled this green robed young woman was Jin Liuli who made him feel ashamed.
“Strange,” He muttered after a moment.
Jin Liuli glanced at him and said, “What is strange?”
Xie Changsheng hesitated and said honestly, “I feared you greatly before, but now I am not.”
Jin Liuli frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”
Xie Changsheng laughed. “I died once and I don’t have anything to fear now. Also, in my thinking, I wagered with Min Mountain Sword Sect that Min Mountain Sword Sect won’t let me die. I won. I won against Min Mountain Sword Sect, so I won’t fear the genius of Min Mountain Sword Sect.”
Jin Liuli gave a cold sneer and turned around. “A stupid thought to comfort yourself.”
Xie Changsheng wasn’t angry. He looked at her back and suddenly thought of something, shouting, “Are the Min Mountain Sword Trials finished?”
Jin Liuli paused in her footsteps. “Finished.”
Xie Changsheng became stiff. “Who is first?”
Jin Liuli said without even looking back ,”Ding Ning.”
Xie Changsheng was stunned.
“Hahahaha ……” In the next moment, he laughed as loudly as he could.
Jin Liuli did not look back and she frowned again. Facing this stupid person from Guanzhong who didn’t know of life and death, she didn’t even have a reason to be angry.
Almost at the same time, other people were walking up in Changling.
Liang Lian was waking up.
In reality, he was not truly unconscious. The Ultimate Sword Body he cultivated was an unique art. While he was in a state that appeared to be unconscious, he could use this art to suppress and heal the wounds in his body.
This recovery time was not enough. He should be unconscious for longer. Yet he knew he must wake up early, even if this would leave behind hidden weaknesses hard to heal in the future. He had to wake up early.
Amidst the sound of the war banners flapping, he woke up in his army tent and opened his eyes. But unlike usual, inside the tent and at the doorway, there were not even one soldier standing guard.
Almost at the same time, in a room not far from Xie Changsheng, Ding Ning woke up.
Volume 5 80 - The Last Tianliang
In the evening, the Jinluan Hall of the Chu imperial palace was slightly open, and showed a dim yellow light, like the slightly ajar mouth of a monster. A palace maid with a thin waist walked out, and an official who had been standing outside with a respectful and gentle expression walked in.
The Chu were the best craftsmen in the world, and so were the imperial palace buildings. This Jinluan Hall did not appear very wide from the outside, just refined and beautiful. But inside, it was very wide and open, and the dragon throne at the front seemed very far away.
On the throne, Li Lingjun propped his chin on his hand. He seemed to be in deep thought, and not in a good mood. He did not look at the official.
This official had followed him from Changling to Deer Mountain, then became a retainer in the Chu capital. After Li Lingjun officially became the Chu emperor, this retainer was named “Qing Zang.” In the Chu Dynasty court, he was just an official responsible for inventorying books. While his rank was not low, this was actually just a position for retirement. An official like this should not be able to meet the emperor at a time like this for just any matter.
The slender palace maid left the hall. No one else other than the monarch and subject were in this large hall. There was not even a hint of wind, but the hanging bead curtains were moved by some presence, chiming lightly.
Li Lingjun’s hand left his chin. He slowly looked up at the seemingly weak official. He said expressionlessly, “Zheng Xiu’s intentions can reach here so quickly?”
This official kept on looking humbler and did not respond.
Li Lingjun’s expression did not change. After an unknown amount of time, he looked at the official and said, “What does she want to say to me?”
The official looked up quietly and said, “She asked me to tell you, she would give you another chance.”
Seeing him so calm, Li Lingjun thought of a certain person and felt irritation rise. But at the official’s words, his breathing stopped. He had thought of many things Zheng Xiu would say to him, but not something like this.
“What does this mean?” He said in a cool voice after a moment, “I have to change, or she will kill me?”
The official shook his head and said, “It is the literal meaning of giving you another chance. So after this time, you will have another chance.”
Li Lingjun did not say anything, but his hands on the throne imperceptibly started to tremble.
**
Big Hole Mountain.
That was a famous mountain in the Chu with beautiful scenery, and with peach gardens at the base of the mountain.The Big Hole Mountain did not have big holes. In the Chu lands, the so-called big holes were big sources of water. The water was not deep. In the other dynasties, there were many water sources that were thousands of hectares of water, even if the water was not deep, it could be called a lake.
On the south root of Big Hole Mountain, among the peach gardens, there was a bamboo forest. In the depths of the bamboo forest, there was a fence, and other than a few grass huts, there were many ginkgo and loquat trees.
A soldier was standing with awe in the courtyard. There were several people in front of him. There were many more people in the courtyard, all of them men, and upright in posture. Their movements seemed to be measured with rulers, very constrained. Even more importantly, they had a steely and bloody presence that could not be concealed. They were clearly military cultivators.
This soldier handed a letter to a middle-aged man sitting on a bamboo chair. He did not linger, and bid farewell.
The middle-aged man used two fingers to open the letter. When he read the letter, he smiled.
“General, Li Mu is not going, but recommends for you to go. I do not know his thoughts in sending someone with a letter.”
Seeing the middle-aged man’s expression, a man in black robes beside him could not help but say coldly.
“Look at what he wrote.” The middle-aged man called the general shook his head and sighed. Then he flicked, and the letter flew.
There were only four characters on the paper, “Go down in history.”
“Go down in history?”
The black-robed man stilled, and then frowned. He said with a hostile expression, “What does he mean?”
The middle-aged man exhaled, and stood up, his hands behind his back. When he stood, his body suddenly seemed taller, and his presence like he was directing soldiers on the battlefield, with an endless army standing in front of him.
He did not look at the subordinates behind him as he said slowly, “The world knows that I, Tang Mei and Li Mu are at odds, causing me to retire to the woods. But you should know that we are at odds because a mountain cannot hold two tigers. I am not willing to listen to his orders. Even more importantly, back in the battle at the Zhou Mountain Fort, he sacrificed an allied army and did not save them. While he won the battle in the end, there were many of my beloved commanders in the army, many brothers who fought beside us, so you hate him very much. But I admire the results of the battle. While we are at odds, I fear that no one in the Chu Dynasty understands each other’s character and personality better than the two of us. Since Li Mu is listening to Consort Zhao Xiang’s arrangements and staying in Ying, this means that he has great confidence in her arrangements and the results of the war. In his view, I am the strongest general, the best general next to him.”
After a pause, the middle aged man smiled with emotion. “Since he seems to think that this can be won, and he recommends that I replace him as the general, do you not know the meaning of these four characters?”
The many subordinates behind the man were changing expressions as the middle-aged man continued, raising his head. “Winning a battle where millions are fighting……my name will go down in history. He has given this chance to me. As to personal anger, in the face of the country, this is nothing. I will not refuse even if I die.”
The subordinates behind him shuddered, and inhaled deeply. They said, “Even if we die.”
When the voices sounded, the many people working in the backyard all stood.
“The blade is rusted, I need to sharpen them.” Someone complained.
“I fear there is not enough time,” a scholarly looking man who was picking leeks answered solemnly.
**
In Changling, when the first time winter jasmine started to bloom, while no decree had been announced saying that there had been treachery and the Deer Mountain Conference’s agreement would be disregarded, all of Changling, and all of the world, even the normal people on the streets knew that the Qin Dynasty starting to fight Chu.
Even ordinary people knew at the Yin Mountain area where Qin and Chu met, the Qin Dynasty had gathered over six hundred thousand troops, and there were even more in the Wu Mountain and Yangshan Commandery.
Also, the Chu Dynasty had more than a million troops along this long border. In the view of the ordinary people, the war looked hasty, but the numbers of troops likely surpassed any war in the history of the Qin Dynasty.
Even in the hardest battle to destroy the Zhao, it was five hundred thousand of the Qin Dynasty defeating the four hundred thousand of the Zhao Dynasty. That was far from this scale.
The Chu Dynasty had always won in the small battles against the Qin Dynasty in the past. But today, not only was the Qin Dynasty far stronger than in the past, the Chu Dynasty was also strong, and had not weakened because of the change in emperors, far greater than the Han, Zhao, and Wei dynasties.
On the Qin Dynasty side, they were led by the famous Sima Cuo of the thirteen marquises, Lian Bo, Fang Qilin, and Wei Wujiu to assist him. In total, there were four marquises. Each marquis of the Qin Dynasty was not just the symbol of military merit, they each represented a powerful army, many cultivators, death warriors, and retainers. Of these four, Sima Cuo had started as a military strategist, and was the best strategist next to Lin Zhujiu in the Qin Dynasty. At this time, he and Lian Bo were in the prime of their lives, while Fang Qilin and Wei Wujiu were the older generals.
The match up of the two young and two veterans. Fang Qilin was old but stable. Wei Wujiu was famed for being cunning, and was famous for attacking on multiple fronts. That was the best for a battle on such a long front line. Such a line up was stunning, and could be called perfect.
Yet to everyone’s puzzlement, the Chu Dynasty’s general in the end was Tang Mei, who had retired many years ago.
Before Tang Mei had retired, he had not been one of the highest ranking generals in the Chu Dynasty.
Volume 7 81
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