Chapter One: Fate
writer:
无罪 update:2022-07-21 15:26
The spring weather changed quickly, alternating between warm and cold. It was easy to catch an illness in such a season, and this was a nightmare for these people being sent away.
The “Chu refugees” that were being driven by the Qin army to travel each day had a worse time than normal refugees. They had no medicine or food, and did not get enough rest at all. After a few deaths, as many people became infected with illness, high fatalities could not be avoided.
From the start when the order to drive out all the Chu people out of Yangshan Commandery was issued, this was fated to be a cruel massacre. In a certain point of view, using such means to kill these ordinary people was more cruel than ordering the slaughter of an entire city. This cruel order came from the Changling imperial palace, from Empress Zheng Xiu.
In the deep Changling imperial palace, on the long path outside the empress’s study, there were many officials kneeling. These officials had come to ask the empress to take back her order. In their view, no matter the dynasty in history, a rule too cruel would cause premature destruction. Even if these were tactics used against enemies, the cruel reputation would make their dynasty’s people anxious.
But these officials understood Empress Zheng Xiu too well. They knew they could not persuade her with words, so they used a silent fast.
Zheng Xiu was sitting calmly at the table. The door to her study was tightly shut. She could not see the expressions of these officials directly, but her powerful perception meant that she knew the state of every official kneeling outside.
On her perfect face with a porcelain light, there was a hint of cold scorn. The coldness and scorn was not because she did not care for these people’s thoughts and dismissed them, but because these people could not understand her intentions, and know that some things were just some of her little tricks.
From the start of the Min Mountain Sword Trials, in the view of the outsiders, she seemed to have suffered many defeats, losing her halo of invincibility. But everything had proceeded according to her intentions. If she could reach her final goal, the process was not important.
Just like two people playing chess. One seemed to have lost many pieces, but the situation had been set up. From killing those three people from her family and completely taking control of Jiaodong Commandery, she finally started to play. These Chu people driven away from Yangshan Commandery were one of her pieces, the start of her counterattack. The order would be withdrawn, but there was technique in the timing. At a suitable time, this could be a killing move.
Even more importantly was the heart. Each person had emotions. Were not all attacks, in the end, an attack of emotions? Using soldiers was the inferior path, attacking the heart was the superior one.
The officials outside the study had been kneeling a day and night. Some of the older officials were near their limits. To her, if she walked out at this time, she would give them the result they wanted in exchange for their gratefulness. At the same time, they would feel more reverence towards her, and know that they had to pay a sufficient price in order to obtain her agreement. If they encountered such things in the future, they had to do so as well.
She stood up, the scorn disappearing from her face. She expressionlessly passed the spirit spring, and pushed open the study door.
“I can withdraw the order but I have a request.”
There were no extra words as she looked at the officials kneeling on the ground, her voice calm, powerful, and full of authority.
All the officials looked up.
She then said, “Help me spread through Changling …… If they do not want me to exile the Chu people out of Yangshan Commandery, I want a Chu person of sufficient importance in exchange. In other words, if they want to save those Chu people, they need to trade the life of an important Chu person.”
These officials had first felt joy, but in the next moment, because of the cruelness in her words, they felt cold all over. Many people, because they were at their physical limits, felt iced over.
“What if no one important enough comes out?” the leading official could not help but ask in a trembling voice.
“Then it is a matter of the Chu for themselves.” Zheng Xiu shook her head and looked at the speaker. “If even the Chu can sit by and watch, what does it have to do with us Qin?”
This official immediately stilled and could not speak.
“Should we first have these Chu people stop,” one official took a deep breath and asked Zheng Xiu. He knew that there were no important Chu people near Changling, but the present situation was that each day many in the troop would die.
“That is also something for the Chu to consider.” Zheng Xiu said coolly, “If they come a day late, more people will die. So I hope that the person who will trade their lives will not hesitate.”
Hearing her tone, the officials kneeling here felt fury again, but they had nothing to say because this was a tactic she was used to using. Many years ago, she had used such means more than once. Shameless, but effective.
This decree quickly spread. No one questioned the veracity of her decree. For this was her promise to these officials, unless she could afford to lose all these officials.
When such a decree spread through Changling, all the cultivators on Changling’s turrets were on high guard, fearing missing a detail. Even if fated to die, such a Chu person of importance may do mad things.
But they did not get to see a Chu person walk out of an alley. This person came from deep within the imperial palace.
Deep in the palace, there were many streams close to the outside. The source of the streams were some wells. There was a lot of laundry waiting to be washed by the wells.
When such a decree was spread to here, a very old woman let go of the dirty clothes she was washing and slowly stood up. No one noticed her abnormality. When she walked out of the gates of this courtyard in a direction she usually would not go, someone suddenly realized.
There were many shouts, but she did not respond. The people shouting at her, including cultivators in the palace who saw her, started to realize she might be related to the empress’s decree.
A shrill alarm sounded in the palace.
The palace woman’s clothing was very dirty and gave off a bad smell. Her hair was a mess. Her eyes were bright now, looking like she was forty, but her face was at least in her fifties.
When the warnings were useless, a flying sword appeared in front of her, turning into a cold flame heading for her heart.
The palace woman smiled. She simply ruffled her hair.
During her “spare time” ruffling her hair, she caught this flying sword with her fingers and then flicked it out like she had pulled a loose hair out of her hair. But this casual move caused the flying sword to cut through the hearts of multiple guards along the way, and then cut off the head of its master.
“Since you have come to your fate, why kill more people? You do not fear I will find another excuse?”
When the head rolled off, a cruel and authoritative voice sounded at the end of the path the palace woman was on.
This was the voice of Empress Zheng Xiu.
“If I do not kill people, how can I let you understand I have enough importance?” This palace woman looked up at Zheng Xiu who was coming quickly and smiled. “But you, you are in such a hurry to speak with me, do you fear I will die too quickly?”
Translator Ramblings: We are one volume seven now, the penultimate volume (which doesn’t mean that much considering the last volume is super long). If the entire story is one of revenge, and Ding Ning has been making trying to get onto the world stage, now it’s time for him to make his way onto the board openly. At the same time, a story wouldn’t be fun if the protagonist won all the time, and now it’s time for Ding Ning’s enemies to take him seriously.
Volume 3 100 - Cautiousness and Daring
The afternoons of summer were the sleepiest time of the day.
One of the turret tower guards walked down and slowly advanced along the straight alley. Although he was alone, the soldiers and lower-ranking officials in the vicinity followed him with their eyes, but no one sensed anything different.
This guard of the turret was Mu Fengyu. Just like all the other turret guards, he was the highest ranking official around the turret. But unlike the other commanders of the turrets who had outstanding accomplishments, his cultivation and past appeared extremely mediocre. Most soldiers did not know how he had managed to become a commander here.
Mu Fengyu usually had a simple life. His residence was not far from this turret. During rest times, he would go back to his residence to rest for an hour before returning.
Mu Fengyu was used to leaving under the gazes of these soldiers and lower-ranking officials. Thinking about the confusion of these people, a scornful smile appeared at the corners of his lips.
He knew why he had become the commander of this turret.
Among the dozens of Changling’s turrets, his was in the center-most area of Changling. It appeared to be the center, but it was not close to the perimeter or the imperial palace. In reality, it was one of the least important areas. When this turret discovered something happening, the other turrets would have discovered it long ago.
So this became the most boring place. No incidents meant safety and a lack of responsibility. This also meant boredom. So he, like many of the noble ladies of Changling, owned a dog.
This dog was an ordinary black dog, but extremely intelligent, obedient and cute. One important reason that he would return to his residence at this time each day was to prepare some food and water for this dog and play with it for a while.
Just like usual, when he opened the bamboo door and walked into the courtyard, this dog with its shiny fur joyfully welcomed him. It circled around him and jumped joyfully as it followed him into the rear courtyard.
Yet, the moment he entered the rear courtyard, the black dog’s head fell off.
There was no spray of blood. The black dog remained standing. A thin layer of light seemed to seal the cut at the neck. It was possible to see the numerous blood vessels, white bones, and flesh.
Mu Fengyu’s body immediately froze, yet his expression turned cold. He did not move and sneered. “I do not know who you are, but you should know, if there are disturbances in primal energies of the universe here, at least three turrets will notice.”
No one responded. But soft footsteps sounded.
When he saw the touch of white out of the corner of his eye, Mu Fengyu’s cold expression changed. He gasped in disbelief. “Bureau Chief Ye?!”
Ye Celeng held a cup of cold tea as she looked quietly at him from the shadows of the eaves.
Mu Fengyu’s body instantly soaked in sweat. He forced a smile and said, “Bureau Chief Ye, what are you intentions?”
“In the third year of Yuanwu, I investigated you and have wanted to meet you since then.” Ye Celeng looked at the green tea in her hand rather than at him. There were only green leaves in the tea, suspended in the water. “I did not think that my wait would take until today.”
Mu Fengyu sweated even more. His throat felt paralyzed. He said, “This lowly official does not understand Bureau Chief Ye.”
Ye Celeng said in a calm voice, “If you did not pass false information, and change the military order, at least the Changmen Army would have reached him. Even if he died in battle, he would not have died so easily. Who would have thought a minor little herald dared to open and fake military members, killing at least seven experts above realm seven?”
Mu Fengyu’s body trembled. He finally realized that the matters of the past had not been hidden from everyone.
“The most important thing was you left me out of your falsified military order.” A self-mocking coldness appeared at the corners of Ye Celeng’s mouth. Her eyelashes trembled. “When I learned about it, everything had finished. Almost everyone thought that I knew, and that I intentionally did not let my army move. Even Zheng Xiu and Yuanwu thought that I stood on their side in the end.”
The pale Mu Fengyu knew that any evasion was useless. He laughed with a hint of madness and said coldly, “If so, Bureau Chief Ye should thank me. Since nothing can be changed, and you survived due to my mistake and became the bureau chief of the Qin, then you should let the mistake rest. Not anyone can reach your position if they wanted to!”
“Changing and forging military orders is not something that you could have done back then. There must be more important people above you.” Ye Celeng did not look at his mad smile, and just focused on the tea in her hand. “Tell me that person’s name.”
“If you are determined to kill me, what is the difference whether I tell you or not?” Mu Fengyu’s eyes narrowed. He said, “I just do not understand, since you have endured for so many years, why you cannot do so now.”
Ye Celeng looked up to glance at Mu Fengyu.
She did not speak but Mu Fengyu suddenly thought of something. His voice became strange. “You …… you confirmed that person’s heir ……”
Ye Celeng did not answer his question and said, “There is a great difference in dying comfortably or not.”
“I know you are one of Changling’s strongest cultivators right now, but you cannot kill me silently without those three turrets noticing.” Mu Fengyu forced himself to be calm and looked at Ye Celeng. “I am insignificant. I cannot understand why you would risk danger to kill someone like me.”
“You have no talent in cultivation, and are only just realm five right now. But you are a smart person. Since you are smart, you can understand.” Ye Celeng sneered and showed two faint dimples. “I know you have a Yellow Rhinoceros Horn on you.”
The Yellow Rhinoceros Horn was not the horn of a rhinoceros, but a yellow spirit medicine shaped like a horn which came from overseas. This kind of spirit medicine only had one effect, greatly increasing the cultivation of a cultivator below realm six.
Ye Celeng had reached realm seven long ago, and this kind of spirit medicine was useless for her.
Mu Fengyu’s breathing completely stopped. He could not believe that that person really had an heir.
“Since you are determined to have me die, then let’s die together.”
Mu Fengyu naturally would not just sit and wait. He opened his mouth, wanting to speak the words as his vital energy started to flow quickly through his body.
But before he could say a word, the tea in Ye Celeng’s teacup had dried up.
The green tea in her hand disappeared without warning, including the water in the tea leaves which turned to dry leaves at the bottom like they had never been brewed.
As the tea disappeared, Mu Fengyu felt his skin suddenly grow heavy. His body grew extremely stiff. His crazy eyes only held terror.
All of the sweat he had produced before was controlled by a powerful force to form a membrane of water around him. It absorbed the water essence in the surrounding primal energies of the universe and grew into a transparent water ball.
He could not breath or move. Even his vital energy and primal energies of the universe could not get out of his body.
Ye Celeng just looked coolly at him.
He was unable to move.
There were no violent primal energies of the universe vibrations. This courtyard was very calm as though nothing had happened.
The water ball silently swelled. Some small water droplets produced a gap. Fine bubbles slowly entered, and pressed into Mu Fengyu’s lungs along with fine water droplets.
Water filled his lungs like he was drowning. He felt extremely uncomfortable. Yet his body just received some air to maintain his life so he could not die. Because of the intolerable pain, his face convulsed and twisted together.
“I said there is a great difference between dying comfortably or not.”
“You have no sons or nephews. I do not fear retribution from anyone. I do not understand why you persist.”
“If you say that person’s name, I will let you die cleanly like your dog.”
After Ye Celeng said these things, she looked at him and waited.
Mu Fengyu’s mouth moved. He could not make a sound but Ye Celeng could clearly see what he said through the shape of his mouth, “Even if you kill me, people will see that you were the one who did.”
Ye Celeng laughed again, this time even her chest trembled. “I did not kill you, Bai Shanshui killed you. I am in the Zhou Family Ink Garden right now.”
Mu Fengyu was a smart enough person just like she said. He thought of a certain possibility. The last thread of hope in his eyes disappeared, leaving behind only terror.
Volume 5 100 - Black Mountain
Zheng Xiu frowned slightly. People who were familiar with her knew that this was a sign she was very displeased.
Powerful presences bloomed in the streets and alleys in the surroundings. There were countless cultivators gathered here, and even some realm seven cultivators who had never shown themselves in Changling.
This was the center of the Qin Dynasty. No matter how great the cultivation of this old palace woman, she could not leave. But her smile contained terrifying confidence, of a person who had surpassed life and death.
Zheng Xiu disliked such an expression even more. She did not look at the palace woman’s face and soiled clothes. She looked up slightly and said in a cool voice, “At the New Year banquet in the twelfth year of Yuanwu, I had a personal palace attendant called Li Wanzhu.”
Her voice was not loud but very clear, and it reached the ears of many people in this part of the imperial palace.
Almost everybody felt cold. Most of them did not know the name of the palace attendant, but they all knew which person Zheng Xiu was speaking of right now.
Back at the New Year’s banquet that year, a palace attendant had praised the imperial son Fu Su, but said that his talent was very like
person. Such words naturally implied that Fu Su was the son of Zheng Xiu and
person. Even more importantly, while the remains of the palace attendant had been crushed until they disappeared by Yuanwu, she had killed herself. Using her life to say such things at Emperor Yuanwu’s banquet, when the old matters were raised again, it was not just frightening.
“That palace attendant was my student.” The old palace woman understood Zheng Xiu’s meaning completely and smiled.
“After that matter, the Divinity Bureau kept on investigating Li Wanzhu and found many of her secrets. They found that she had a false history with the cultivation sect she had previously come from, and that there were many people in relation to her. I kept on suspecting that there was a powerful cultivator behind her.” Zheng Xiu said coldly, “But I did not think that the person was in the imperial palace, a Chu person, and such a grand master was willing to wash dirty clothes for many years.”
“Zheng Xiu is Zheng Xiu, just from my energies, you judged that I have similarities with Li Wanzhu in cultivation.” The old palace woman’s smile faded and she said, “It seems that you care very much for Yuanwu’s feelings. Otherwise, why would you have spent so much effort in secret to investigate a palace attendant?”
Zheng Xiu was expressionless and said, “As a wife, I naturally will care about my husband’s feelings.”
The old palace woman laughed freely, like a man. “As a wife, whose wife were you first, and whose emotions do you need to care about?”
Zheng Xiu’s expression did not change, but her fingers grew stiff in this moment.
“You are just afraid.” The old palace woman looked scornfully at her. “What are you afraid of, is Fu Su truly
son?”
At those words, the air above this area of the imperial city froze. There were many suppressed inhales of shock that sounded in the perceptions of these cultivators.
“You like to play with people’s hearts too much. But do not forget, everyone has feelings. Yuanwu is a person, and so are you.” The old palace woman laughed, looking at her and saying, “When you play with fire, you will be burned. You are likely regretting it now. You wanted to force a Chu person to die, but you did not think that you would force out a person related to Li Wanzhu. I need to thank you for giving me a chance to speak in front of these people. I can tell you, while I am Chu, but Li Wanzhu, you investigated for several years, you must know that she is from Qin, she is from Changling. Yet she said such things at the banquet, not because of my orders, but she chose to do so herself. Just like today. I came out, not because anyone ordered me, but I chose.”
Zheng Xiu was silent, her thoughts unknown. In the end, she bowed her head slightly to look directly at the palace woman and asked, “Who are you?”
The palace woman seemed like she needed to think about how to describe her identity. After many breaths, she said, “I am Chu, but also of Ba Mountain Sword Field. I am also the master of the former Consort Zhao Xiang, the now empress dowager of Chu.”
The air froze even more. These identities…… were so shocking.
Zheng Xiu’s brows rose and she said, “If so, then Consort Zhao Xiang counts as a member of the Ba Mountain Sword Field. The empress dowager of the Chu Dynasty is from Ba Mountain Sword Field. I wonder what those Chu people think.”
“Some things, whether you admit them or not, make an immense difference. But some things, all people know.” The old woman laughed and said, “For example, you. You were Wang Jingmeng’s woman, and it is unknown how many times you had relations with him. But then you cheated on him with Yuanwu, pretending to look pure and clean. Who in the world does not know, there are just a few people who do dare to speak of it.”
The words were very malicious and crude, but the old palace woman did not think it was enough, and then added, “If you did not bed Wang Jingmeng before betraying him, will you fear other people saying that Fu Su is his son?”
Zheng Xiu slowly turned around. This meant that she no longer needed to speak to this old palace woman, and did not want to see this person.
But in this moment, the old palace woman spoke again in a cool voice, “When you are shameless to a certain degree, you do not care about the process, but the final result. You do not care what other people think of you, how they talk of you behind your back. You finally got onto the throne of empress, you are in control of Jiaodong Commandery, you are in control of Changling. In the end, Wang Jingmeng died, and I am going to die here. But today, I have come to die for Chu, and after today, more people will come out to die for Chu. This is the reason that I am willing to die here.”
After saying this, before the powerful cultivators of the imperial city could release their killing intent, this old palace woman released the vital energy and primal energies of the universe in her body. She did not turn this to destructive power and killing intent, but directed all the power into the sky, turning them into beautiful flowers.
Her body disappeared just like the palace attendant during the banquet back then. The echo came from the multiple killing intents coming at her at the same time, and her vital energy and primal energies of the universe had already turned to bright light.
Everyone in Changling looked in shock in the direction of the imperial city.
A bright pillar of light shot into the sky, like it had poked a hole in the sky. The flowing light charged through the cloud layer like colorful butterflies, and flew out.
In the eyes of normal people, this was a strange sight, but in the eyes of the cultivators, this was a grand master burning their entire cultivation.
In some unremarkable corners of Changling, there were some ordinary people silently looking at the scene. They then bowed their heads in respect.
Translator Ramblings: I think this is where you can see how the viewpoint of this world with cultivation is different from “history.” Zheng Xiu was once the lover of someone else, got together with Yuanwu and then had children, and no one cares/dares to say anything because she is strong. Also, even with all this suspicion regarding the legitimacy of Fu Su, she hasn’t been deposed yet, likely because of how strong she is both as a person and politically.
Volume 3 101 - Gentleman
The One Sky Water and the method of Cloud Water Palace were the strongest water manipulation methods in the world. One Sky Water was too hard, and Cloud Water Palace’s method leaned towards softness. When the two met together, it was another world altogether. With Mu Fengyu’s cultivation, he could not even make any disturbances facing Ye Celeng.
This was a person Ye Celeng had thought of killing since the third year of Yuanwu. But seeing the terror filling his eyes, Ye Celeng felt not much joy.
The pain at this moment was something ordinary people could not endure, but Mu Fengyu still did not speak that person’s name.
In that event at Changling, other than the present Emperor Yuanwu and Empress Zheng Xiu, there should have been another important person in the shadows. This person should have had a high status back then, possessed great abilities, and was not one of the present two ministers or marquises.
This important person, hidden in the darkness, became the focus of Ye Celeng’s great hatred. Also, this person had always been an enormous threat to Ye Celeng. If entering Min Mountain Sword Sect and obtaining the Heaven Replenishing Divine Art was the first step in Ding Ning’s retribution, then the first step of Ye Celeng’s vengeance would be finding who this person was.
“What are you afraid of?”
Seeing Mu Fengyu who still did not speak while in such pain, her expression grew colder. Her smile did not fade. Her two dimples seemed to ice over. “What else can that person threaten you with? Is their threat more terrifying than death and pain?”
Mu Fengyu was at the limits of his pain threshold. His body started to convulse and he lost control of his bodily functions. His lips started to move furiously but Ye Celeng could see that he was just cursing maliciously.
Ye Celeng’s figure disappeared from the courtyard. The transparent water ball around Mu Fengyu did not dissipate.
This hour of time was usually Mu Fengyu’s most relaxed and idle time during the day, yet now it became the longest torture of his life.
In this drowsy summer afternoon, Mu Fengyu died slowly in great pain.
**
In the afternoon, Ink Garden was quiet inside, but the streets outside were very lively.
The owners of some shops were gathered together to gamble. Occasionally, the curses of old women would sound.
Ye Zhengnan was practicing the sword in the shadow of the little house he lived in.
His sword was unique, and completely golden yellow. The seal scripts on the blade seemed to be overlapping strangely, but upon close inspection, the blade itself was unusually straight and smooth while the overlapping seal scripts seemed to reflect into the blade.
His sword moves were extremely strange. With each swing of the sword, the air seemed to fold in front of the blade, forming a string of golden ripples.
He was extremely focused, even forgetting the cruel heat and his sweat-soaked robes. But suddenly, he had a strange feeling, stopped, and looked towards the side.
He knew the origin of the strangeness.
This was where the bamboo mat Shao Sharen sat on was located. Just now, Shao Sharen had glanced at him.
Ye Zhengnan stopped.
He thought for a moment, put away his sword and went into his house. Then he took out a bamboo mat, and walked towards Shao Sharen, rolling out the mat not far from Shao Sharen to sit down.
“I will not teach you swordsmanship.”
The moment Ye Zhengnan sat down, Shao Sharen spoke directly, unlike his usual stoic self.
A rejection from someone like him was colder and more hurtful from most people.
Ye Zhengnan glanced at Shao Sharen and did not change his expression. He shook his head and said, “Elder is interested in me. Otherwise, you would have not watched me use the sword.”
Shao Sharen shook his head and said, “Interested to look, and interested in teaching are not the same matter.”
After a beat, Shao Sharen continued. “I am a member of Min Mountain Sword Sect. Those who receive my teaching have to pass at least the Min Mountain Sword Trials. You did not pass the Min Mountain Sword Trials.”
These words were more hurtful than the previous ones, but Ye Zhengnan still did not feel angry or dejected. He said after a moment of silence, “I heard that Elder is the cultivator most skilled in killing people. I do not need Min Mountain swordsmanship, I just need Elder to teach me how to kill people.”
“You like killing people?”
Shao Sharen seemed to have heard a funny joke and gave a rare laugh. Then he said self-mockingly, “Who likes killing people?”
“Killing people is better than being killed,” Ye Zhengnan said after a moment of silence. “My parents were killed by a group of horse bandits when they took me to visit their home and relatives. I hid in the forest the horse bandits lived in for more than two months, and killed seven horse bandits. If I had been better at killing people, I would have killed all the bandits and not been detected and captured.”
Maybe because similar memories were stirred, Shao Sharen did not immediately refuse and maintained his silence.
Ye Zhengnan stopped speaking. He sat silently on his bamboo mat.
Shao Sharen’s eyebrows rose slightly. He said, “Why does your sword have so many afterimages?”
Ye Zhengnan stilled slightly. “My sword is the Shadow Switching Sword, my sword manual is the Flash Shadow Sword Manual. The two are compatible……”
Shao Sharen shook his head and said expressionlessly, “A sword whose shadow transforms needs a sword manual that can make the shadow more varied and unpredictable. That is what ordinary people will do. But to kill, you have to be different from everyone else.”
Ye Zhengnan stilled.
Shao Sharen did not care if he understood and said, “It is very simple for a sword that can produce many afterimages to create even more, but it is very hard for such a sword to not create a shadow. When other people feel you are round, you will be straight, and you can do it.”
Shao Sharen said to himself, “This is the best way to kill people.”
Ye Zhengnan’s eyes shone with an odd light. He said nothing and just bowed deeply to Shao Sharen.
At this moment, Shao Sharen turned his head.
A black carriage had appeared on the street he was looking at.
The roof of the carriage was round like an enormous umbrella.
Sensing the presence coming out of the black carriage, Shao Sharen’s expression grew cold. But he did not show intentions of blocking the way, and looked on coldly as the carriage drove straight into Ink Garden.
Ink Garden was serene. Ding Ning had been resting with his eyes closed. Yet when the carriage came near the inner garden, his body trembled uncontrollably.
He opened his eyes.
Ye Celeng had finally come.
The black carriage stopped at the gate to the inner garden.
The official from the Astrology Bureau driving looked around and made sure no one was close to the inner garden. He bowed respectfully to the black carriage and withdrew.
Ding Ning slowly passed through the courtyard and walked towards the black carriage.
“In reality, I like being straightforward. I am not the person you are waiting for. But my arrival should be enough to say something.”
Hearing the soft voice from the carriage, Ding Ning suddenly stopped in his steps.
“Bai Shanshui?”
A cool voice sounded. Zhangsun Qianxue appeared nearby behind Ding Ning with a frosty expression.
“Eldest Miss Gongsun, we meet again. But if you want to kill me this time, it will not be so easy.”
A teasing laughter sounded.
The black carriage curtain was pushed open from the inside by a gentle wind. Bai Shanshui, dressed in the black robes of the Astrology Bureau, smiled as she looked at Ding Ning and Zhangsun Qianxue.
Zhangsun Qianxue did not like a joke like this. Anger appeared in her beautiful eyes.
“Cloud Water Palace previously controlled their methods strictly. I had not expected that it would meet the One Sky Water one day,” Ding Ning recovered his calm and said calmly as he looked at Bai Shanshui in the black carriage.
“As expected of Wang Jingmeng’s heir,” Bai Shanshui looked emotionally at Ding Ning and said sincerely, “If one has to say who I truly admire in the world, it would definitely be Wang Jingmeng…… Even the heir he found is unrivalled.”
Suddenly hearing that person’s name, and not just once, anger and coldness surged in Zhangsun Qianxue’s eyes like a storm was about to erupt out.
Ding Ning turned to look at her and then at Bai Shanshui. He said seriously, “If you want us to do something together with you, at least pay attention to other people’s feelings.”
“I apologize.”
Bai Shanshui said to Zhangsun Qianxue and then she examined Ding Ning closely. She bowed slightly. “I wish to invite Mister to help me save that person in the Great Floating Water Prison.”
Bai Shanshui was much older than Ding Ning and had been famous for a long time. To Ding Ning at the moment, she was undoubtedly the senior, but she called Ding Ning “Mister”. In reality, she treated Ding Ning as one of her generation, and was extremely respectful.
“That person comes from the Chu.” Before Ding Ning answered, she looked at Ding Ning and added. “He met you. If he cannot last in the Great Floating Water Prison, me and Ye Celeng will not be the only ones who know your identity.”
“So Ye Celeng will be one of ours?”
Before Ding Ning could speak, Zhangsun Qianxue looked at Ding Ning and asked coldly.
Ding Ning looked at her.
Zhangsun Qianxue said nothing else, turning and walking towards the bedroom.
For her, since the result had arrived, then what followed next was not something for her to consider.
“I came here. She went to kill someone. While I do not know who she is killing, it would definitely be for the events of the past.” Bai Shanshui focused on Ding Ning rather than Zhangsun Qianxue and said, “I did not wager wrong from the start. She really is an honorable person.”
“Palace Master Bai is also a very honorable person to not mention the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard and first mention rescuing someone from the Great Floating Water Prison,” Ding Ning looked up, took a deep breath and said slowly.
Bai Shanshui smiled and said spiritedly without hesitation, “If there is a way to rescue that person, we can comprehend the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard together.”
Volume 5 101 - The Youngest Grandmaster**
The old palace woman had been unknown her entire life, but with Zheng Xiu’s order having spread through Changling to start with, concerning the life of tens of thousand of Chu people, not just her, but even her student, that palace attendant Li Wanzhu’s life was mentioned again by the world.
What some people won with their deaths was reputation, and being recorded in the world of cultivators. But the deaths of some people won more than that.
When this old palace woman hiding in the Qin Dynasty imperial palace came out immediately to trade for the lives of the seventy thousand Chu people from the Yangshan Commandery, countless people in the Chu set up memorials for her. Many Chu people even set up memorial tablets for this woman in their homes, and worshiped her like she was a goddess.
For the army, the death of this old palace woman had an indescribable power. The armies of the Qin Dynasty were famed for their bravery, but in the many battles which erupted in the Chu lands after this, almost all the Chu soldiers appeared more fearless than the Qin. The most famous being the battle of the Yin Mountain Fort Deng
Fort Deng had about a thousand Chu soldiers stationed there, and about half were just residents who did not usually train. But they encountered over twenty thousand Qin soldiers who had taken a detour to attack a supply path.
This was an unbalanced battle, but these thousand Chu soldiers managed to stop multiple charges from the Qin troops. While all of them died, no one had fled. Each time the Qin soldiers charged, the surviving Chu soldiers laughed at them. “Is your imperial son Fu Su Wang Jingmeng’s son or Yuanwu’s?”
This had been the Qin people’s spirit. But now, it had become the Chu’s.
What made the Qin troops feel even worse was they could be angry, but not shout back on this topic. They could not discuss this. Even many high ranking generals of the Qin thought that driving the Chu people out of the Yangshan Commandery and forcing out such a grand master was not Zheng Xiu’s counterattack, but the empress making another wrong move.
“Who is the old palace woman?” Zhangsun Qianxue looked at Ding Ning and said. At this time, she, Ding Ning and the old monk who followed Ding Ning were just a few mountains away from Fort Deng.
Before this, Ding Ning had judged that an army would take this path, but they were still too slow, and Fort Deng had been flattened. War was like this. Even if you knew some things, you were still too late. Some cultivators were powerful, but their cultivation was not enough to determine victory on its own.
Ding Ning had a complicated expression. He said, “She really was Consort Zhao Xiang’s master. In terms of seniority, she is a generation above me, but it is ironic. Ba Mountain Sword Field had arranged for her to enter the palace to be responsible for Yuanwu’s safety. While she was from the Chu, she had always been in Ba Mountain Sword Field to learn the sword.”
Zhangsun Qianxue knew that bit of history very well. From the start of the reformation and when Ba Mountain Sword Field protected Yuanwu to fight the other imperial sons, many people wanted to kill Yuanwu.
“The rumor was that she was already dead,” Ding Ning looked at Zhangsun Qianxue and added. “But now, it looks like she had created the rumor so she could hide more deeply.”
“What about Li Wanzhu? That palace attendant,” Zhangsun Qianxue took a deep breath and said.
In the past, she had only cared about her cultivation, and not the many things that had happened in the wine shop and in Changling. Of course, after learning Ding Ning’s true identity, she had changed greatly. She remembered very well that he had once had her use some means to change Fu Su’s appearance slightly.
In reality, there were only a few cultivators who could do this. Other than cultivation and the method they cultivated, the cultivator who did this had to be very familiar with Wang Jingmeng’s appearance, and remember it well. Then, with careful action, Fu Su could be made to possess some of Wang Jingmeng’s air and appearance.
Back when Ding Ning had her do this, she only felt that Ding Ning had been using his friendship with Fu Su and was very malicious. But when the palace attendant was mentioned again, she thought of how she had voiced some matters of implications at the banquet and paid with her life. Ding Ning’s maliciousness had a connection to the palace attendant’s death.
“Li Wanzhu was an orphan and once had a sickly younger brother. When I first came to Changling, she and her brother had been begging on the streets. Back then, there had been someone wanting to pressure her using her brother’s medicine money to have her be his concubine. I killed that person, and then gave that person’s wealth to her.” Ding Ning was silent for a moment. “Later, I had no more contact with her, and do not even know when she became Zheng Xiu’s attendant.”
Then it was, naturally, to return the favor.
Zhangsun Qianxue was silent for a moment. She rarely ruminated, but when she did, she could easily think through some problems. “She purposefully said those things at the banquet, not just so that Yuanwu would feel warier of Zheng Xiu, but to tell the world that the relationship between him and her was not as close. This is the conclusion that she gained after staying many years in the imperial palace. She used her life. This cannot be wrong.”
“You and I both understand Zheng Xiu.” Ding Ning nodded, but an usually solemn expression appeared on his face. “Since she could guess from Li Wanzhu that my sect uncle did not die, then she will not fear what will happen next. The more Yuanwu cares, the more she madly wants to act like this. This means she has started her counterattack.”
Pausing, he looked at the thoughtful Zhangsun Qianxue. He whispered, “She will not let the seventy thousand people of Yangshan Commandery go like this. The Chu Dynasty cannot ignore these people…… She wants to force the Chu Dynasty to settle the battle at Yangshan Commandery as soon as possible.”
“So Yangshan Commandery will be the key to the war?” Zhangsun Qianxue easily understood his meaning. “Then we have to go to Yangshan Commandery as soon as possible.”
“We will not need to go. If Nine Death Silkworm is in the Yin Mountain area, it will keep many more powerful cultivators on this side.” Ding Ning shook his head. “But we cannot let her grasp our tracks. So next, we will have to cut off our contact with the Wuzhi military.”
“What makes you so confident?” After speaking to Zhangsun Qianxue, Ding Ning looked at the ruins of Fort Deng and these words appeared in his mind.
He understood Zheng Xiu too well. So from her actions, he felt her great confidence towards the war, one like the desire of a powerful predator hungry to devour the prey.
Some of their guesses were very accurate. At this time, in Yangshan Commandery, there was something shameless happening.
The Qin troops escorting the Chu people promptly left upon receiving the orders from Changling. Zheng Xiu had promised in front of the officials that if someone important enough from Chu died, she would stop driving away the Chu people of Yangshan Commandery.
But now, the Qin troops were quickly retreating, leaving these seventy thousand Chu people in the wilderness without food or medicine. Because battles had raged here before, many parts of Yangshan Commandery were not populated. These seventy thousand Chu refugees had walked for many days. Now, they had two choices. They could walk for many days back to their home, or walk towards Chu land. But with their state right now, they could not achieve this with their own power.
Unless a Chu army with enough food came to help.
Volume 3 102 - Longing
For the entire world, the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard had a decisive meaning. Bai Shanshui was especially famous among the cultivators against the Qin because she had the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard, and not because of being the leader of Cloud Water Palace.
Ding Ning frowned slightly upon hearing Bai Shanshui’s words. He did not immediately reply and seemed to think of something.
Bai Shanshui looked at this youth with young but exceptionally calm features. She raised an eyebrow. “Do not worry, I, Bai Shanshui, will be true to my word.”
Ding Ning shook his head and looked at her proud features. “Palace Master Bai is an honest person, and I am not worried about Palace Master Bai. But the Great Floating Water Prison is not so simple.”
Bai Shanshui smiled and said, “Because I feel it is not simple, I came to seek Mister and Eldest Miss Gongsun’s help. The more cautious I see Mister is, the more I feel this matter is plausible.”
Ding Ning took a deep breath. Ever since Bai Shanshui came into the garden with Ye Celeng’s unique presence, his mind had been in turbulence. He could not disguise his emotions and his hands started to tremble minutely.
“I originally wanted to rescue someone from the Great Floating Water Prison.”
He looked up at Bai Shanshui’s eyes and said, “But to rescue people from the Great Floating Water Prison, there needs to be at least five cultivators above realm seven.”
Bai Shanshui did not ask who Ding Ning wanted to rescue from the Great Floating Water Prison. She frowned and said, “Ye Celeng will not act.”
Ding Ning shook his head with difficulty. “Even if she does not act, it will be of some effect. But even counting her, we are still missing two cultivators above realm seven.”
Bai Shanshui grew silent.
She knew Ding Ning counted Zhangsun Qianxue when he said they were still missing two.
While this was just two people, cultivators above realm seven were few. Also, this was Changling. Where could they find two more realm seven experts brave enough to jailbreak the Great Floating Water Prison?
“Must be five people?”
She looked up and asked Ding Ning after a moment.
Ding Ning looked at her and said seriously, “Five realm sevens is the most conservative guess.”
Bai Shanshui smiled.
Her smile was as proud as usual, but unspeakably sad at this moment, like a sunflower without its yellow color under the sunlight.
“Please, Mister, think of a way.”
She did not leave the carriage as she bowed deeply and spoke.
Ding Ning was silent for a moment and said, “Unless you can find someone else.”
Bai Shanshui looked at Ding Ning and said, “Just missing one will mean some possibility.”
Ding Ning nodded and said, “I will think about it.”
Bai Shanshui smiled self-deprecatingly. She turned to look at the scenery of Ink Garden. “I want to thank you for something. If you had not thrown the medicines that Zheng Xiu rewarded you into the ditch, I could not have come so quickly to see you. Maybe this is heaven’s will.”
Ding Ning also smiled self-deprecatingly and said, “The heaven’s will is the most skilled at playing with people.”
“It seems you do not believe in heaven’s will.” Bai Shanshui laughed freely and then slowly her mirth faded. “Other than the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard, and waiting, what else can I do?”
Ding Ning thought and said directly and seriously, “Help me kill Liang Lian.”
“It seems that General Liang is really dislikable,” Bai Shanshui said with a cold expression. “Do not worry, I do not hate him any less than you do.”
Ding Ning bowed and said, “Thank you, Palace Master Bai.”
“I am living in Bureau Chief Ye’s residence. You can find Bureau Chief Ye if you want to find me. Today, I have to return early to avoid inconveniencing Bureau Chief Ye,” Bai Shanshui smiled coolly and said.
She flicked her hand and a dark gold light fell into Ding Ning’s hand as the curtain of her carriage fell down and concealed her body.
Clapping sounds came from the cabin.
The official of the Astrology Bureau waiting patiently outside quickly walked in front of the carriage. He nodded respectfully and then drove the carriage out of Ink Garden without lingering.
“What is this?”
Zhangsun Qianxue appeared behind Ding Ning. She frowned slightly as her gaze fell to Ding Ning’s palm.
Sitting quietly in Ding Ning’s palm was a black-gold jade seal. This piece of jade was not whole, and lacked many corners. Carved onto its surface were many chaotic lines.
Ding Ning’s gaze had been tightly focused on these lines. When Zhangsun Qianxue’s voice sounded, he slowly turned to look at Zhangsun Qianxue without speaking.
Zhangsun Qianxue seemed to understand from his gaze and her frown grew deeper. She said in disbelief, “the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard?”
Ding Ning looked in the direction the carriage left in and said from the heart, “The Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard represents the greatest of sincerity. Before the matter is even complete, she puts the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard into our hands…… Bai Shanshui is as open-minded as they say.”
Zhangsun Qianxue remained silent.
From when she first saw Bai Shanshui, she disliked the other and felt that Bai Shanshui was too arrogant. But now, thinking of Bai Shanshui in that black roofed carriage, she clearly sensed similar loneliness from Bai Shanshui.
Silence and not turning to leave meant that the duo’s conversation had yet to end.
Ding Ning knew this as well so he remained silent and waited for Zhangsun Qianxue to speak.
“You have obtained all you want to obtain,” Zhangsun Qianxue looked at Ding Ning and said after a long moment.
Ding Ning was also silent for a moment. He looked at her. “In Changling, some things are more important than these two things.”
Zhangsun Qianxue looked away from Ding Ning and said coldly, “What is in the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard?”
“Very strange.”
Ding Ning’s gaze focused on the jade seal and he solemnly shook his head. “Completely different from what I imagined before.”
Zhangsun Qianxue said, “What do you mean?”
“Because pieces of the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard have appeared before, you also know that there are two different ways of thinking about the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard. One is that the jade seals themselves are the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard, and the seal scripts are the profound methods of the Lonely Mountain Sword Sect. The other is that the seals are the treasure map to the Lonely Mountain Sword Sect. It can be used to find the treasure hoard.”
Ding Ning paused, looked up at Zhangsun Qianxue and said, “Now, the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard is nearly complete…… From this, it seems to be a powerful method to use the primal energies of the universe, and contains a powerful sword path, but I feel there is more. In the records, the Lonely Mountain Sword Sect’s swordsmanship is full of killing intent, but the method on this jade seal does not have enough. Or rather, the killing intent is slack, and indescribably great but empty.”
“Great but empty?” Zhangsun Qianxue frowned and repeated.
“Unfocused killing intent will move around. Unless this is a method to face thousands of soldiers. Yet facing an army is not a battle for a lone cultivator. There are so many powerful cultivators in an army that could be split up and stopped.” Ding Ning looked at her beautiful features and shook his head. “This method has not much meaning.”
Zhangsun Qianxue pondered this but did not understand. She was not willing to think more and said, “Will we not know if we try?”
Ding Ning grimaced and said, “Realm seven is not enough.”
“Realm seven is not enough?”
Zhangsun Qianxue had been preparing to turn. Hearing his words, she paused in her steps and looked at him, saying in a cold voice, “You mean, even if a realm seven cultivator comprehends this method, they cannot perform it wholly?”
Ding Ning nodded seriously and said, “I am very sure.”
Zhangsun Qianxue’s gaze fell again to the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard jade in Ding Ning’s hand and sneered. “So this is only useful to Yuanwu?”
Ding Ning sensed her intentions and quickly put it away. He said, “Do not think to destroy it. This is useful for us.”
“In Changling, where will you find two other realm sevens who dare to oppose Zheng Xiu and jailbreak the Great Floating Water Prison?” Zhangsun Qianxue stopped arguing on this topic and asked.
Ding Ning grew silent.
Zhangsun Qianxue sneered again. “Fish Market?”
Ding Ning took a deep breath but did not respond.
Zhangsun Qianxue turned around and said coldly, “They are already homeless lonely ghosts because of this. They finally have a resting place, but now they cannot get peace.”
Seeing her departing back, Ding Ning’s expression grew determined. He said, “Fish Market will be the last choice.”
“Even though I never believed that Fish Market can peacefully continue in Changling in the long term.” He added after a pause.
Zhangsun Qianxue said nothing else to mock Ding Ning. She knew that Ding Ning must be in pain inside.
At this time, she was also in pain.
Volume 5 102
Most of the Qin troops escorting the Chu people from Yangshan Commandery were the subordinates of the Fang Marquessate Establishment. These troops mostly had been stationed around the Wu Mountain before this, and were very familiar with the Yangshan Commandery area.
From any view, and even in the military intelligence of the Warden’s Office, it was indicated that the one in charge was Fang Qilin. But the true commander of the Yangshan Commandery and Wu Mountain troops, over six hundred thousand, was Wei Wujiu.
Wei Wujiu’s subordinates were fighting around Yin mountain. Even in the reports to Fu Su and many of the high ranking officials of the Warden’s Office, he was leading the fight at Yin Mountain Fort Yu. But in reality, that Wei Wujiu was just a body double.
The “Wei Wujiu” leading the fight at Fort Yu wore his Thousand Mountain Snow Armor, and looked very tall and large with a suffocating aura. But the Wei Wujiu in Yangshan Commandery wore ordinary thin cotton robes, and looked like an average strategist with dim eyes. He lacked the same as the people among the advisor team who were not valued by the generals and could only undertake some paperwork.
But when the old man came into contact with some key intelligence or orders, his dim eyes would show a cold-blooded light that would make people’s blood freeze.
Ordering him to hide himself on the front lines of Yangshan Commandery was not because Zheng Xiu was anxious about Fang Qilin leading the army, but because, from the start, the key to the war was at Yangshan Commandery. The movement of large amounts of grain and Fu Su coming in person to Yin Mountain was just tactics to confuse the enemy. In order to work together with some of what appeared to be her shameless tactics, Yangshan Commandery needed a cold-blooded and ruthless general, one like her.
Wei Wujiu, in terms of cultivation and cunning, might not be as good as Sima Cuo, but he was a cold-blooded general. He could carry out military orders without any emotion. If this could guarantee victory, even if they had to sacrifice tens of thousands of Qin lives, he would not hesitate at all, much less the lives of some Chu people.
The Qin troops who had been escorting the seventy thousand Chu people quickly left, abandoning them in the wilderness. They had not gone far, but they were like a pack of hungry wolves paying attention to a weak and tired pack of sheep.
Over forty thousand Qin troops were silently advancing, like a giant beast opening its maw and preparing to eat the Chu troops coming to help.
When the Chu people were being escorted by the Qin troops, there was a clear target, but when the troops suddenly left, and they were abandoned in the wilderness, these seventy thousand Chu people lost their direction. They started to panic, and then despair spread. The sounding of sobbing started everywhere. Some people prepared to leave.
At this time, most of the people preparing to leave were the strong and young, and some were cultivators. They all had different goals. Some missed their family and were preparing to return to their home in Yangshan Commandery. Some felt that they could no longer stay in Yangshan Commandery and were heading to the border.
These people included a middle-aged man dressed in plain robes.
This middle-aged man looked like a teacher, and carried mostly books in his luggage. When he finally decided to leave, a woman suddenly walked in front of him and asked softly, “You want to leave these people?”
The middle-aged man stilled. At this time, the people around him were in chaos, and if she had managed to detect his thoughts immediately, she must have been observing him. He could not help but carefully examine the woman in front of him.
This was a very young woman, her face laced with fatigue, her skin slightly yellow. She wore very ordinary and even common blue robes, but she was still very good looking.
This caused him to unconsciously frown. In his memory, he had not seen this woman before in the group the last few days. Even though there were over seventy thousand people and he could not have met them all, observing people in the surrounding was an instinct of all cultivators. Even if he had just glanced past her, he would not have found her so unfamiliar.
Even more importantly, this young woman had been observing him, but he had not sensed when she had arrived, and when she came to his side in the crowd.
While slightly surprised, he still nodded and said, “Yes.”
The woman had a special air, like she was a family member, and asked softly, “Are you preparing uo to Yangshan Commandery? Or to Chu?”
The middle-aged man did not keep his thoughts secret and said, “To Yangshan Commandery.”
The woman said, “You have someone you cannot leave behind?”
The middle-aged man hesitated and said, “There is a woman, when leaving, she said she would wait for me to return. I want to return and see if she is willing to come with me to Chu.”
“This is an enormous group.” The woman’s tone grew even stranger and she said, “Even if there had been double the amount of Qin soldiers guarding these people, they could not have kept such a strict guard on everyone over many days. When resting or traveling within the forest, at chaotic times, it would have been very easy for you to find a chance to leave. In reality, there were many cultivators who found a chance to leave at the start. But you did not leave before, so why do you want to leave now?”
The middle-aged man was silent for a long time and then said softly, “Because it is useless.”
The woman looked at him. “What do you mean it is useless?”
The middle-aged man looked around at the despairing faces, took a deep breath, and then said softly, “Before this, with the Qin soldiers around, we were forced to gather. We only knew to walk forward, and had no other thoughts. Even if some people could not last and died along the way, the others were forced to keep moving. But now, the Qin troops have retreated, and without them, these people will have their own thoughts. These seventy thousand people will break apart. Seventy thousand is not a small number. If these seventy thousand stay together, it will likely be easier for the Chu to rescue us. But if these people break apart, it is not a problem of rescue. The key is…… it does not feel the same. Even if I am the general, I cannot help but fight for the life and death of seventy thousand. But if there are a few thousand here, and a few thousand there, how can I fight? This would be what the righteous officials in the Chu capital would think. This is a problem of numbers. The lives of seventy thousand is a major matter, but the lives of a few thousand cannot outweigh the victory and defeat of these armies.”
The woman listened to his words and her expression did not change much. She shook her head impatiently and said, “You do not have to say a simple thing in such a complicated manner. Simply said, if these seventy thousand people scatter, they will not feel like seventy thousand, but refugees of a few thousand here, and a few thousand there. After they scatter, they will not appear to be a huge number. You suspect the Chu army will not do their best to rescue them. The result of this will be that these people, near their limits, will not be rescued no matter which direction they go, and most of them will die on the road.”
“In the long term, if the army does not hem, these people will die, and the Qin will talk about the deaths of these people. Even though it is their shameless tactic, in the end, they will pull the matter onto the virtue and character of my dynasty’s people.” After the middle aged man said this, he was silent for a while, and then slowly said, “But these future matters have nothing to do with the now. I did not leave previously because I felt there was hope, so I did my best to help. I am leaving now because I cannot endure this. I do not want to see these people slowly die. This is a problem for my mental state.”
“It is nothing if other people leave, but if you leave, these seventy thousand will scatter even fast. You are Ji Baixing, you are a famed teacher in the Yangshan Commandery Er City. Many of the people here know you. Even more importantly, in these days as the group traveled, you used your vital energy to save many people, especially the children. You may not have noticed, but in reality, your actions have influenced most of the people here.”
The woman did not argue with him, but ordered in an unquestionable voice tinged with pride. “You have extraordinary knowledge, you must know that people have lived together since time immemorial. Even if they are in difficult situations, when people gather together, there will always be a solution, even if one is just enduring, they can endure longer. So what you need to do now is to keep the seventy thousand people together.”
The middle-aged man was filled with helplessness and sorrow.
He did not have the power to speak. If he could do this, did he need this woman to tell him these truths?
“There is clean water, at left, people are going to be reassured. It is only two hours from here, a little lake. You can tell them to walk there before sunset. There is water to use, and they can try to catch fish.” The woman did not care for his thoughts and ordered.
The man called Ji Xingbai was stunned, and then grimaced. He said, “How much fish can be caught? There is not enough fish to be shared, and that will cause more chaos.”
“When a person is drowning and about to die, they will grasp at straws. If a person walking in the desert about to die of thirst gets the hope of water, they will survive a day more. At this time, to settle these people, only an excuse is needed.” The woman looked calmly at him and said, “Then you will tell them, if they reach that place, when night comes, there will be Chu troops bringing food and medicine.”
Ji Xingbai’s face paled slightly, and his voice trembled as he said, “If the hope is gone, the outcome will be worse. If they find that food and medicine are not delivered by night, these people will collapse, and then, no one will be able to clean up the situation.”
“There will be food and medicine arriving by night,” the woman said firmly. “There will be, this is not an excuse.”
Ji Xingbai looked at her, and did not understand why her tone was so powerful and confident.
The woman did not explain anything, and just lightly brushed his shoulder like she was helping brush some dirt off him. But in this moment, he felt that the hand was extremely heavy, stronger than any metal in the world. This was a strange feeling, and at the same time, he instantly knew her identity.
His breathing almost stopped. Many breaths later, he lowered his voice as much as he could, and said in a voice only he and this woman could hear, “How come you are here?”
What he really wanted to say was, how could you have snuck into our group many days ago? Yet sneaking in was not a term enough to describe this woman.
Translator Ramblings: This chapter was a lot of dialogue.
Volume 3 103 - Rain of Death
Bai Shanshui was silent in the black carriage.
“Realm seven……”
She thought for a moment and slowly lifted her head. She whispered to herself, “In the battle of Fish Market and Wei River, four orphaned women gathered once again. Now, even the Eldest Miss Gongsun has appeared. Zhao Miao, where are you?”
Zhao Miao was Fourth Mister Zhao. Since the battle of Fish Market, Zhao Si’s lifebond sword had been destroyed and gone missing. But Bai Shanshui still felt that Fourth Mister Zhao, just like herself, would not be content when she looked at this grey-walled and black roofed city.
They were clearly enemies who had fought to the death, but when she thought of Zhao Miao now, she felt emotional, somewhat warm and anticipatory.
##
The caravan near the border of Chu finally approached the Yan lands.
Due to accumulated tiredness, most people in the caravan became more restless. Maybe, because of getting closer to his home, the old man Zhang Yi had been taking care of all this time seemed to be in better and better moods. He stopped speaking maliciously and demanding more of Zhang Yi. Instead, he spent more time in silence, his dim eyes seeming to reminisce about something.
When some villages in the Yan appeared in sight, the old man became alert. After eating the evening meal Zhang Yi brought over, he gave a rare smile to Zhang Yi. He said with slight disdain to Zhang Yi, “Young cultivators like you should not follow a caravan like a homeless dog. You must have committed a great crime in Changling to have to escape like this.”
Zhang Yi stilled and said embarrassedly, “Mister, you misunderstand.”
“If not for committing a great crime, then what?” The disdain grew on the old man’s face.
Zhang Yi stilled. He did not know how to answer this question.
The old man laughed. “You say you did not commit a great crime.”
Zhang Yi thought and said, “I offended an important person.”
The old man looked disdainfully at him and said, “You are a cultivator. It is too cowardly to not dare to stay in Changling just because you offended someone important.”
“I do not fear that person.” Thinking of the things he and his “little sect brother” had done during the Min Mountain Sword Trials, a rare look of pride flashed across Zhang Yi’s face. “But my choice can make the people I care about live better.”
“Sacrifice yourself for others sounds very grand.” The old man looked meaningfully at Zhang Yi and said, “Have you thought about yourself?”
Zhang Yi nodded seriously and looked towards the Yan. “I have to become even stronger…… I can only protect others when I become strong enough……”
The old man smiled.
Zhang Yi was looking into the distance and did not see the old man’s expression was very gentle, and completely unlike usual.
“I am tired. Go get warm water for a foot bath.” He ordered Zhang Yi like usual.
Zhang Yi stood up and went to get warm water without thinking.
When he returned with a basin of hot water, he stilled on the spot.
The old man was gone from his sight.
At the place the old man had just sat, there were marks made with charcoal, forming three slanted words: “I have left.”
When Zhang Yi’s urgent calls were ringing out, the old man was lightly travelling in the night. There seemed to be a unique energy wrapped around his body so he floated over the long grasses like the wind.
His face was still wrinkled, but the feeling of weakness and age was expelled by a powerful presence from his body.
Under an old dead tree, a fire was burning red.
When he neared, he could see it was a fire red crane.
When the old man came close to the fire red crane, the crane spread out its wings. Once the old man had managed to mount it, soundlessly, it disappeared into the clouds of the night sky.
“I can see you are a very good person, but good people may not be repaid in today’s world.”
The caravan leader Luo Zhongjing walked in front of Zhang Yi who had searched nearby for a long time without any results. He looked at the latter’s worried and disappointed face.
Zhang Yi understood this caravan leader’s meaning and knew it was his goodwill.
But he still shook his head and said softly, “If everyone thinks like this, there will be only evil left, and no kindness.”
Luo Zhongjing sighed and said nothing else.
From the bewilderment at the start to the helplessness now, this humble young cultivator’s actions on the road and care towards the old Yan man, who repaid kindness with anger, had made them all understand what a true gentleman was.
But could a true gentleman really survive in this world where the strong ate the weak?
At this time, when Zhang Yi was worrying about the lost old man, he was worried about what this young cultivator, who had gained their respect through his actions, would encounter when he reached the Yan.
Ding Ning sat with a frown in front of the table.
The jade seal representing the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard lay on the table in front of him. Some of the lines in his mind perfectly filled the largest missing corner of this jade seal and connected with its lines.
The Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard that Bai Shanshui could see was not as complete as his. But when his consciousness was moving along the almost-complete lines, Ding Ning increasingly felt that the speculations he had mentioned to Zhangsun Qianxue were correct.
When power above realm eight went along these lines, and the powerful primal energies of the universe flowed around Changling, what effects would be created?
Ding Ning seemed to feel that he had captured that line that could pull out the true answer. But he could not make actual contact, separated by the last veil.
He was in some chaos.
The sound of music came from a distance.
Hearing the song and laughter from the distant restaurants, Ding Ning knew that his mind was in chaos.
“Do not be like this,” he frowned and lectured himself.
Then his face started to recover his usual calm.
Since he was in chaos and could not think of a solution, then he would go step by step.
Palace Attendant Rong had always been Zheng Xiu’s fangs and claws. There were many new and old accounts to be settled.
The former carriage driver, the present Great General Liang Lian was going to go far from Changling.
If so…… then he would kill Palace Attendant Rong first.
Truthfully, step by step was usually the easiest method to calm oneself.
He put the jade seal away on his body and walked out of the inner courtyard. Then he walked out of the gates of Ink Garden to Shao Sharen who was sitting on the bamboo mat under the tree. He bowed solemnly and said, “I want to kill Palace Attendant Rong.”
Shao Sharen’s expression did not change upon hearing such words. He only looked up slightly at Ding Ning and said coldly, “The empress will not give you a public chance to kill her. But you can kill her in secret.”
“That way, everyone will think Min Mountain Sword Sect helped me kill her,” Ding Ning shook his head and said, “I want to publicly kill her as a disciple of White Goat Cave.”
Shao Sharen was the cultivator best at killing in Min Mountain Sword Sect. This “killing” included many meanings. In his previous words, he had clearly expressed a certain meaning, but he did not reject Ding Ning now. He thought for a moment and said, “The empress will not give you a public chance to challenge and kill her. But you can force her beyond her limits of tolerance.”
“I want to know what she cannot tolerate.”
Ding Ning bowed again to Shao Sharen.
He knew that Shao Sharen may not know, but Min Mountain Sword Sect could definitely find a solution.
Volume 5 103 - Proof
“The success of a scheme is not dependent on whether it is clever, but if the plan has foresight and to what degree the person carrying out the plan can do so,” the woman did not look at Ji Xingbai but the sky over by the Chu land. She said peacefully, “There were tens of thousands of soldiers escorting tens of thousands of people. As a cultivator, it is easy to find a chance to leave, and it is also easy to find a chance to join these people. Even more importantly, no one expects me to be among these people.”
Ji Xingbai took a deep breath. His heart was beating rapidly, and his sickly white face flushed a feverish red.
No one would have thought that she would sneak into the people being driven away. Right now, the Chu emperor was Li Lingjun, but everyone knew the strongest ruler of the Chu Dynasty was the empress dowager who had once been the Demon Consort Zhao. Yet now, the legendary ruler of the Chu Dynasty was in front of him.
This was a very risky move.
From a certain point of view, if she was killed, the war was fated to end. If the Chu Dynasty did not have her, it would quickly break apart and descend into chaos. The Changling cultivators would pay attention to the movements of every powerful cultivator in the Chu military, but likely, no one truly understood her, and no one knew of her movements.
She being here was a miracle. This woman, the former Consort Zhao Xiang, the now empress dowager of the Chu, sat down, just like the lone and helpless women of this troop. She even sat with the same position and air as them. She sat on the ground, her arms around her knees and her chin resting on it.
In reality, the loneliness and sorrow she showed was not deliberate. Even in the Chu Dynasty imperial palace, she had been very lonely. Each day, for the position she was in, many bloody things were happening. Some people who hated her were dying, and some people loyal to her were dying.
When the Qin troops withdrew, she learned the news of her master’s death in Changling. She thought that her master had died in the bloody storm years ago before Yuanwu ascended the throne. Now, she learned that her master had been hiding in the Changling imperial palace all these years, but just after learning her master was alive, her master had died. So right now, she was very sad. Her master had died for the Chu people of the Yangshan Commandery. So saving the lives of these people was akin to her master’s dying wish. There seemed to be fate.
“You want to have a final battle with me here, so I will have a final battle with you here.” She looked at the setting sun, and thought towards the woman in the Changling imperial palace. She did not know if the other woman would ever feel sorrow.
The night came.
Light would bring people warmth. Darkness would make people panic and lost. If they could not settle the emotions of these seventy thousand Chu people, when night came, despair would spread.
Luckily, through her observations these days, there were no problems. The vital energy from Ji Xingbai had the ability to temporarily help the people by removing hunger and pain. Even though he was only a realm six cultivator, having a cultivator like him who had been in this group all this time, having already become people’s pillars of strength, was more effective than the motivation from any realm seven.
When the last thread of light disappeared, he successfully ordered the group to start walking towards the small lake she had spoken off.
The sound of water emerged. Using the fire light, some of the stronger people started to go into the water to catch fish under the direction of those who had experience. This was a shallow lake, most of the water only went up to a person’s chest. When the dry season came, this would dry up, and become a meadow.
The tired Ji Xingbai walked to the shore next to her, and silently sat down.
Some things would distract people and bring hope, but when the morning came, whether or not these seventy thousand people would listen to him depended on whether the Chu troops could bring food and medicine tonight.
The food that seventy thousand people needed was not a small amount. Even if preparations had been made long ago, how could such a number of Chu soldiers hide from the Qin troops and safely reach here? He could not help but feel doubts, but he did not dare to suspect. He did not even dare to look at the woman and talk to her to avoid drawing attention to her.
Consort Zhao Xiang found a dry piece of grass to sit down like an ordinary woman. Her gaze seemed to be locked onto the people who were fishing, but in reality, she was looking at the other side of the shore.
Without any warning, Ji Xingbai’s breathing stuttered. He sensed the ground starting to tremble, the vibration coming from the other shore.
At this time, other than cultivators like him, the Chu people who were gathered by the shore could not sense the far away vibration. But in just a few breaths, he was sure that this was the vibration of hooves stamping on the ground.
This was a military troop sprinting, and far faster than a cavalry’s normal limits. The rate of the hooves hitting the ground caused him to feel a presence of giving up everything.
He suddenly understood. He stood up, and choked, his eyes brimming with tears.
Even ignoring the safety of their steeds and pressing them to their limits to reach such a speed.
Dozens of breaths after he stood up, the stronger people standing in the water to catch fish sensed something. They saw the unusual ripples on the water, and then heard the noise in the air.
It was another army sprinting, the hooves beating on the ground, but they could not catch up to the previous troop. That troop was reckless, coming like the wind, madly charging towards the shallow lake.
Ji Xingbai could not control his emotions. In the darkness, he turned to look at Consort Zhao Xiang on the shore. He saw that she was still sitting there, almost one with the other women, but her expression was indescribably solemn.
The thunder of the hooves was suddenly covered up by the sound of the air tearing. There were many streams of fire in the air, accompanied by more black shadows. Those were arrows, were seal weapons, and maybe even the flying swords of cultivators.
There were shouting coming from the madly sprinting troop, but everyone ignored the fatal arrows and flying swords. The shouts and screams turned to faster speed. The air was filled with blood and explosions.
The trees and reeds on the shore were crushed by the black shadows that came in. The sound of the dry branches cracking and the bones breaking mixed together. The Chu people on this side of the shore were unable to breathe, their mouths open as they looked at this scene they had never imagined before.
The sprinting horses charged from the shore, smashing forward through the trees and reeds before falling hard into the lake water. The light of metal came falling after, and more golden metallic lights stabbed into them as they charged down. The air on the opposite shore flowed with golden metal wind, flowing fire, killing intent, and death. Waves of cavalry, so fast they were unimaginable, charged recklessly forward, were killed, and fell into the lake.
This scene was not just for an instant, and lasted very long. Soon, the water of the shallow lake was dyed red. Even in the darkness, they were a deep blood color.
When all the shouts and screams stopped, and there were no longer mad horses carrying their riders to crash into the lake, the metal in the air finally stopped. There were only the clear sounds of hooves hitting the ground and patrolling around.
At this time, many Chu people started to breathe again, and even cry. Some looked at the floating horses and human corpses in the lake. They started to understand what had happened, and their body trembled.
Ji Xingbai’s hands trembled. He was not a general, but even a general may not see thousands of cavalry go to their deaths in front of him like this.
He looked at the other shore. Through the lingering firelight, he could see the figures of cavalry in black armor leaving. His hands were icy but his body was so hot. His blood seemed to be burning.
“Have people pull out the horses and remains. The remains have to be quickly dealt with before they infect the water source.”
At this time, an icy voice reached his ears. He knew this was Consort Zhao Xiang’s voice, and knew this coldness was not because of her cruelty and ruthlessness, and it was directed at their enemies.
“The food they have will not last for long. We need to preserve the meat of these horses as fast as possible. Try to give up on the useless sorrow. If the power of the seventy thousand people bought with the lives of these four thousand is not greater, then the Chu Dynasty is truly dead.”
On the shore, her head was bowed as she spoke into Ji Xingbai’s ears.
Translator Ramblings: This was a depressing chapter to translate.
Volume 3 104 - The Second to Pass
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