Chapter 67 [VIP]

Autumn had fallen in Shengjing. While the southern border was still hot in October, the leaves in the north had all fallen. The plane trees, planted with leaves, gleamed with golden yellow, a clear expanse that shone with a golden light under the soft sun.

Song Zhao had been waiting outside the courtyard, and Qiu Ji's daughter was always watching him at the door. Eventually, she couldn't resist her urges and went to persuade her father, finally managing to get Qiu Ji into the palace.

The two imperial physicians, Jia and Gu, treated Qiu Ji with the utmost respect. Song Zhao also treated Qiu Ji with the highest courtesy in the palace. Qiu Ji didn't even glance at them, and didn't utter a single word upon arriving at the palace. He merely examined Xue Yi's condition and prescribed some medicine.

“His illness stems from his heart; it’s so deeply ingrained that he seems to have become accustomed to it. Even the best medicine can only prolong his life; I can extend his life by a few more years, but I cannot cure it.”

Akikichi: "You might as well ask him what he is so obsessed with. If he can let go of his obsession, life, death, illness and pain will naturally disappear."

Song Zhao: "His Majesty's will is extraordinary. Illness is nothing more than dust to him; he has become accustomed to it. Physician Qiu, do you have a way to cure his weakness?"

“As I just said,” Akikichi said, “ordinary people’s emotions are very stable, like the beams in this hall. The ancients said that if one’s hair turns white overnight, it is a sign of a dead heart. The depth of his depression is like a broken beam, and it happens every day. Even the best body would find it difficult to withstand such torment.”

"Without the willpower, how can one be healthy? Power can be calculated, but the human heart cannot be measured. If this continues, his body will be like this palace. Once the beam breaks, this Wei Palace will naturally collapse."

Xue Yi remained asleep on the bed, seemingly able to witness the collapse of the Wei Palace. A beam snapped in the middle, a chaotic fire consumed the opulent palace, and the old, dilapidated building crumbled, Xue Yi lying amidst it all, like a perfectly preserved, beautiful corpse. The falling bricks, the cascading stone steps, the sheer scale of the scene all signaled the end of the grand spectacle.

Song Zhao remained silent, gazing at the person on the bed—the monarch he had devoted himself to protecting. He would give everything for the Wei Palace to safeguard his monarch and prevent his demise.

He was in a hurry and ran into Xiao Qi as he was leaving the palace. Xiao Qi came to see the Emperor, and seeing his expression, she couldn't help but stop and ask him something.

Xiao Qi: "But what did the divine doctor say?"

As she spoke, Xiao Qi's expression suddenly turned strange. She looked away and said to him, "Song Zhao, there's something I've been thinking about for a long time and I really need to tell you. My good-for-nothing brother of mine may have let the Ninth Prince out. A few days ago, I discovered that two of the guards in the house were missing. When I questioned him, Xiao Shen refused to say anything. He's become quite audacious these days. What do you think we should do about this? Should we tell the Emperor?"

"The divine physician didn't say anything... His Majesty already knows that the Ninth Prince is now with Lu Xuejin. I don't know what Lu Xuejin wrote in the letter, but His Majesty fell ill after reading it," Song Zhao said.

“I was just about to discuss this with you. It might be a good thing that he left the capital. Let’s not let the Emperor see him again. From now on, all the letters he writes should be sent to me, and the two of us will reply to the Emperor.”

Xiao Qi was skeptical about this matter. "Song Zhao, do you really think... our actions can fool Yan Li's eyes?"

It wasn't that he was speaking recklessly; Xue Yi's profound thoughts and astute actions often impressed him, and he couldn't help but admire him. Even knowing that Xue Yi and Song Zhao meant well, the Emperor would probably prefer the harsh truth rather than be deceived by the two of them. This was precisely what he admired about the Emperor.

“We have to keep it a secret even if we can’t hide it. I think that Ninth Prince is by no means a weakling. Lu Xuejin may not have intended to harm His Majesty, but the Ninth Prince has a blood feud with His Majesty. I will contact my maternal family. If they go to Suzhou, the Ninth Prince’s life must not be spared.”

Song Zhao said: "Xiao Qi, after you send the King of Hu away, you will return to Wuling and head south to lead troops. I will go with you after the Emperor wakes up. The more difficult it is to kill this person, the more he should not be allowed to live, as he will become a great threat in the future."

Xiao Qi: "I understand. This was my mistake, and I will naturally make up for it."

Dingzhou City.

Murong Yue carried the letter and entered the city's post station with Ziyan. He was very obedient and refrained from reading it the whole way. His brother had personally told him to read it, so he naturally couldn't betray his brother's trust.

"Sister Ziyan, what do you think my brother will write to Sister Weining?" Murong Yue asked.

Ziyan looked at the pedestrians outside Dingzhou City. The people here were listless, a far cry from those in the capital. Everywhere she looked, people hurried along, looking anxious and busy. The scorching sun hanging over the eaves seemed like an overturned cauldron, baking the people below.

The young master asked her to accompany the Ninth Prince. She recalled that before leaving, the young master had checked the official silver and only sent Tengluo with him, probably to send the Ninth Prince away. Perhaps the young master had sensed something was amiss; that sorceress was up to something.

Ziyan: "Your Highness will know once you open it."

Upon hearing this, Murong Yue immediately opened the letter. Inside was an empty envelope, containing nothing. He looked at the envelope, exchanged a glance with Ziyan, and immediately understood her meaning.

"Brother Changyou told us to go first... He's in danger right now."

“Your Highness is so intelligent,” Ziyan exclaimed. “Since they’ve sent Your Highness away, I’m afraid they’re targeting you. We mustn’t act rashly. With Young Master and Tengluo in their hands, they’re probably just waiting for us to walk right into their trap.”

Murong Yue: "If my brother is in danger, of course they know we will definitely come. Sister Ziyan, come with me."

They walked on, and in the alleyway stood a blacksmith shop. The flames from the furnace, where weapons were being forged, assaulted their senses, and Murong Yue immediately spotted a halberd hanging on the wall. The halberd was entirely black, its sharp blade gleaming coldly, looking like a serene deity. He was captivated by its sight and could not move.

Beside the halberd, on the wall, was a sheet of paper depicting the twin Bodhi trees. The paper was covered with dense text, with the twin Bodhi trees in front and an image of a goddess behind. It described various aspects of joining the Bodhi religion. The blacksmith below, while forging iron, gazed at the goddess image on the wall, his eyes filled with anticipation and hope.

"Enter my Saha religion and enjoy wealth and prosperity. Everyone in my religion is equal, there is no distinction between master and servant or slave. There is only light here, no darkness. The Southern Godmother will protect the believers in the religion, and their path to rebirth will be smooth."

Flying papers filled the air, landing around the two of them. Suddenly, a gust of wind arose, and the papers swirled around the crowd. The messenger of the propaganda, wearing a hooded robe and with his face covered by silver ornaments, suddenly became frantic upon seeing this scene.

“Look closely, everyone! This is the manifestation of Heaven’s will! We see the suffering of the people, and the Mother of the Sacred Wind is here to protect the people of Dingzhou with the power of the long wind.”

Murong Yue, seeing the blacksmith engrossed in the conversation, seized the opportunity amidst the chaos to take the halberd. He observed the expressions on the faces of the people from afar. The faces of the local people were numb and devoid of vitality; they had toiled for so long in the wasteland, their faces stained with the marks of suffering. That suffering had permeated their souls, and the resulting despondency became fertilizer for the local religion.

Ziyan, standing beside him, asked, "What does Your Highness intend to do?"

"Just follow that storyteller. Sister Ziyan, take a good look. With his gestures, I'm afraid many locals will listen to him and go there. We just need to follow him."

Seeing the man who had incited the people about to take them away, they quickly followed. Once they reached a secluded spot, where guards were stationed to meet them and would escort those willing to convert to Christianity up the mountain.

"To join my church, one must have a clear mind in order to receive the protection of the Mother. My church has a threefold baptism. First, one must have a nail pierced in the ear to stitch up the face of the silver bone. The second is to shave the head and leave a scar, and a layer of skin must be shaved off above the forehead to offer as a sacrifice to the Mother to express one's loyalty. The third is to have a nail pierced through the flesh and bone, through which a corrosive nail is driven through the spine. With this nail, one can enter and leave my church. Today, each person who joins the church will receive one hundred taels of silver."

Murong Yue listened to these layers of torture, which were even more gruesome than those in the imperial prison. He saw a man wearing a silver bone mask holding a dagger, and a child of no more than ten years old sitting in front of him. The child sat on a small stool, gritting his teeth and not crying out. His eyes, however, were already filled with tears, and had turned pale with fear.

Anything that causes fear among the people is a demon.

A dagger slashed through the scalp, blood flowing down, the child's screams piercing the eardrums. Yet the devil spoke gently, placing silver coins in the child's arms. The child clutched the silver, the blood dripping onto it, and the devil no longer seemed so terrifying. Even amidst the flames of hell, the soul could be calmly ripped apart.

The man wielding the knife was unsteady on his feet. He watched as the child's face grew increasingly pale, turning a deathly bluish-white, like a dead body turned inside out. The empty eyes rolled back, revealing large expanses of white, the black pupils unable to see anything, shrouded in fear and death, plunging into a blood-red silence.

With a "thud," the dagger fell to the ground from the man's hand. His hands were covered in blood. He sighed at his mistake and said to the crowd, "Everyone, please calm down. It may look like a lot of blood, but it doesn't actually hurt, does it?"

As he spoke, he patted the child's face.

The child showed no reaction. The man realized what was happening and quickly ordered the child to be carried away. Before dying, the child clung tightly to the hundred taels of silver. He intended to clean the child, but as he entered the alley, Murong Yue cleaved him unconscious with a single blow. He tried to finish him off with his halberd, but Ziyan stopped him.

A moment later, Murong Yue and Ziyan changed into the clothing of the Posuo Sect.

Murong Yue stepped forward and, mimicking the tone of the man from before, said, "That's enough for today. He has already taken the punishment for you all. You may all go back now. I will send someone to pick you up in three days."

The remaining people murmured amongst themselves, but dared not say anything, and the crowd dispersed. Murong Yue and Ziyan carried the child with the scalp cut and hurried to the clinic. Upon arriving at the clinic, the local doctor lowered his eyelids, glanced at the child's injury, and refused to treat him.

“This is a religious injury, not something we can treat. If we heal him today, he'll have to suffer it all over again tomorrow when he joins the church. It's better not to treat him at all.”

Murong Yue touched the child's scalding blood in his palm. He was too lazy to waste words with the old man. Now that he had his halberd in hand, he placed the heavy halberd on the table and looked at the doctor, saying, "To treat or not to treat? My halberd doesn't have eyes."

The doctor trembled along with the table and chairs before he finally agreed to treat them. Looking at the child they were holding, he said, "You're from out of town, aren't you? You'd better leave quickly after causing this trouble. If you offend the Vajrayana sect, you might not even be able to leave Dingzhou."

Ziyan went inside to help the doctor, making room for the child. The scalp needed to be stitched up again. Murong Yue bent down and covered the child's wound. His palm touched the torn flesh. He had never been so fond of meddling in other people's business before. Now he had become quite helpful. If there really were gods and Buddhas, the merit should be attributed to Brother Changyou.

In the Saha teachings.

Tengluo stitched up Lu Xuejin's wounds; the injuries were so deep that they needed to get out as soon as possible. Li Miaosuo had sent people to guard this place, giving them almost no chance.

She heard noises outside the mountain in the middle of the night and kept a close eye on the guards' movements. Just before dawn, a woman wearing a hooded robe came to bring them food. The woman who brought the food was very tall and had overly broad shoulders, looking almost like a man. She brought some simple porridge and side dishes.

Tengluo hadn't noticed anything until the other person handed her something in, at which point she suddenly saw something shiny on the back of their hand. She recognized it immediately—it was the rouge the young master had bought for her. It was her favorite color, and last time, His Highness had secretly used it.

She looked up and met a pair of familiar eyes. His Highness had disguised himself as a woman and sneaked in. Those dark eyes spotted the pale-faced young man by the wall, and the lotus pond seemed to wither in that moment. A sudden surge of anger ignited in the young man's eyes, and he nearly dropped the plate in his hand.

Tengluo's heart leaped into her throat, but His Highness did not react. He simply kept his gaze fixed on her young master, his emotions enveloping the young man, a look of melancholy in his eyes. After placing the tray in her hands, he hurriedly left.

"Take good care of your brother," Murong Yue whispered.

He and Ziyan split up; Ziyan went to investigate the official silver, while he came to rescue Lu Xuejin and Tengluo. Judging by the mountain's terrain, it was easy to enter but difficult to leave, seemingly designed to trap them like turtles in a jar. He wondered if the Posuo Goddess had the good fortune to spare his life so far.

After delivering the goods, Murong Yue wandered around the cave. Because the silver bone mask held great mystery, and since he already had pierced ears, he used some tricks to put it on. He swaggered along, and no one questioned him. He thoroughly explored the cave's structure; at its deepest part, a group of people were imprisoned, needing indoctrination. The so-called transmission of doctrine was simply to make these people deeply believe in the sect's tenets.

They were locked in cages, many with scalp wounds that hadn't healed, looking less like humans and more like they'd crawled out of hell after being tortured. He unlocked the cages and said to them, "Go to the Vaisravana Palace, where countless treasures await you. Whoever arrives there first will have the treasure."

He then grabbed two more people who looked weak, a man and a woman with lifeless eyes. Like a flock of pigeons, they would follow whichever one of them went. He commanded, "Come with me."

He grabbed a man and a woman to help him carry the wine. The mountain's terrain was high on both sides and low in the middle, so the wine flowed downwards. A guard noticed something was wrong and came forward, but before he could get close, he pierced his body with a halberd. The corpse hung on the wall, connected to the disdainful eyes of the goddess statue, blood flowing down its sides. The believers who rushed out of the cage headed towards the gold and jewels.

The torch fell, engulfing the bodies of the guards and the statues of the gods. In the firelight, he saw Li Miaosuo's two daughters and couldn't help but glance at them slightly. His figure, illuminated by the firelight, became like a god within the flames, controlling the fire to burn down the entire Saha Sect.

"Look... I've been made the easiest one to deal with. You hurt my brother, so today I'll show you what you're made of and see if you can survive me."

Murong Yue tore off the silver bone mask, revealing his originally handsome and cold face. His eyes were engulfed by flames, exuding a cold and terrifying aura.

This place is no longer the Wei Palace, so he no longer needs to hold back. He can slaughter as many of these fools as he wants.

A note from the author: