The Jianzheng’s gaze was calm, and he nodded slightly:
“Your master shall fulfil your wish.”
His silhouette flickered out of sight, reappeared in a flash, and was already seated at the edge of the Go board, facing Xu Pingfeng.
White cloak facing white cloak.
Xu Pingfeng picked up a black piece and said:
“You once said that heaven and earth are a game of Go, with all beings as the pieces. Living in this world, everyone is a Go piece, even those at the Beyond-rank are no exception. At the time, I asked you, Master, are you a Go piece? Your answer was, no!”
Pa! The piece landed. Xu Pingfeng looked to the Jianzheng on the other side and spoke in a low voice:
“I didn’t understand it back then. Only after so many years, when I looked back on the past, did I realise the true meaning in your words.
“Jianzheng, you’re the gatekeeper, aren’t you?”
Not far away, Agaruka Bodhisattva turned his gaze to the Jianzheng.
The latter picked up a white piece, his voice aged yet calm:
“Among my six disciples, you had the best talent. But clever people are prone to overthinking, not as good as fools with undivided hearts.
“With your level, the gatekeeper’s realm is still too far away for you. Become a first rank Arcanist first, before you talk of such things.”
Pa! The white piece landed, and the black piece on the board exploded into dust.
Xu Pingfeng wanted to speak about the gatekeeper again, but could no longer bring it up. Unhurriedly, he picked up a black piece and said:
“Master, you are a Master of Heaven’s Mandate who can see through the future. Even when, in the past, you foresaw the loss of the Great Feng’s fortune, you could not prevent it. The conflict between the southern Yao and Buddhism; the enmity between the Great Feng and the northern Yao and barbarians, and the Church of the Warlock God; the longing of the shaman clans to repair the Confucian Sage’s statue…
“All of these were things you were powerless to change, for this is the great trend.
“Moreover, those who know Heaven’s secrets are bound by Heaven’s secrets.”
Pa! The black piece landed, the white piece turned to powder.
There could only be one first rank Arcanist, and on the Go board, only one piece.
The Jianzheng picked up a white piece and smiled:
“Back then, I had made measures to guard against it. Unfortunately, the power of shifting constellations deceived Heaven for a short time, letting you and the Heaven Gu Elder succeed.
“But, have you ever wondered how that woman managed to escape from Yunzhou to the capital so smoothly?”
Pa! The white piece landed, and the black piece turned to dust.
Xu Pingfeng’s expression faltered slightly. He pondered over the piece in his fingers and said:
“Since you knew I was hiding in Yunzhou, why did you not act for twenty years?”
The Jianzheng glanced at him, half-smiling:
“Would you believe me if I told you? If I had known, could you have succeeded?”
Xu Pingfeng sighed:
“Masters of Heaven’s Mandate always speak in riddles. Never mind, all that is in the past. When I decided to leave the capital, to support the bloodline from five hundred years ago and foster a future Master of Heaven’s Mandate,
“I began my plans. Master, do you know who was the first Go piece I placed?”
The Jianzheng shook his head slightly.
“It was Noble Consort Chen!” Xu Pingfeng placed his piece, reducing the white piece to powder. His expresson however did not show joy, sighing:
“I share some of Wei Yuan’s misfortune. Consort Chen’s father was the Minister of Revenue and helped me early on. In our youth, she and I pledged ourselves to each other. Unfortunately, fate is fickle; when Yuanjing selected ladies for the harem, she entered the palace.
“I exploited her to tell, which drove a wedge between Wei Yuan and Yuanjing, forcing him to abolish his cultivation. All the information from the palace over the years came from her.
“However, after the uprising began, she was no longer useful.”
Consort Chen was one of the few in the capital who remembered him. However, Consort Chen never knew about Xu Pingfeng’s plan to rebel.
Now, they stood on completely opposing sides.
“By the way, it was also through her that I followed the clues, found out about Emperor Yuanjing’s state, and learned of Zhende’s existence. That was what led me to bewitch Yuanjing into cultivating the Dao, destroying the Great Feng’s fortune afterwards.”
The Jianzheng picked up a white piece and placed it. Amidst the sound of another black piece bursting apart, he said:
“I must thank you, father and son, for helping me cut out the malignant tumour that was Zhende. Otherwise, I truly wouldn’t have known what to do with him.”
Xu Pingfeng did not pick up a black piece. He lowered his head and looked at the white piece on the board, saying:
“Jianzheng, over the years I have replayed and replayed in my mind the events of Emperor Wuzong’s uprising, analysing it, but there are two things I still cannot understand. Back then Emperor Wuzong’s rebellion happened very hastily, far less prepared than Yunzhou is today.
“Yet grandmaster dealt with it just as rashly, as though he hadn’t foreseen that you would rebel.
“I do not know whether he turned a blind eye on purpose. If not, then that is interesting, for a Master of Heaven’s Mandate, how did he allow you to trick Heaven? Whether it is an arcanist’s shielding concealment, or shifting constellations, both can only shield for a time, or cover a single event.
“But a Master of Heaven’s Mandate can see through the future. You might mask it for a while, but not for a lifetime. Teacher Jianzheng, how did you do it?”
Here, Xu Pingfeng’s eyes flashed cunningly:
“Because you are the gatekeeper. That is the real reason you could truly slay your master, isn’t it?”
The Jianzheng looked deeply at him.
“But if you are the gatekeeper, what was the first generation then?”
A low, rumbling voice rang out behind the Jianzheng. No one knew when, but there had appeared there a great beast with white scales, deer antlers, crocodile lips, and a lion’s mane.
…
Thud! Thud! Thud!
In Songshan County, the sound of drums thundered.
Militia ran along the city walls, carrying barrels of fire oil, bundles of logs, boxes of gunpowder for cannons, and bolts for the crossbows.
The artillerymen quickly adjusted their aim, while the archers placed quivers of arrows at their feet. The entire garrison was fully mobilised, methodically carrying out their duties.
Under Xu Erlang’s training, all this had long since become second nature to the soldiers, even the militia were well drilled.
After all, for the past month, they had practised every day, endlessly moving the city’s defensive equipment up and down.
Miao Youfang stood on the battlements and looked into the distance. He saw, out on the wild plains, a vast and densely packed enemy army advancing in tight formation.
At the very front were enormous vehicles, each twenty feet tall, covered in iron plating, like giant shields on wheels. There were six in total, each pushed by over a dozen militiamen.
Miao Youfang had never seen such things before, but the sense for war he had developed lately told him these were built by the enemy to protect them from the defenders’ elevated cannon fire.
“Ballista!”
When the enemy slowly advanced into the large crossbows’ range, Miao Youfang roared, his voice rolling like thunder.
“Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!”
Spearlike ballistae bolts shot out, plunging into the great shields with a sharp sound.
But even bolts famed for their penetrative power could not break these shields.
Miao Youfang did not lose heart. After the enemy entered the cannons’ range, he waved his arm:
“Cannons!”
Boom! Cannons recoiled violently. Flames spat from their muzzles, shells fired in rapid succession, crashing onto the massive shields like meteors, erupting into expanding fireballs.
The giant shields shattered under cannon fire, splinters of burning wood and scalding iron shrapnel scattering in all directions.
But they had absorbed part of the defenders’ fire, reducing the rebels’ casualties.
At the cost of six destroyed shields and three damaged cannons, the rebels finally pushed their lines to where their own cannons were within range.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Both sides unleashed their artillery, fireballs blooming over city walls and wild plains, dense smoke rolling.
Amid the sound of horns, the rebels charged, packed so tightly they resembled swarms of ants, overwhelming in momentum.
Xu Erlang stood upon the wall, calmly waving his little flag to issue orders.
Members of the shadow Gu tribe flitted like ghosts, killing one after another of the enemy swarming the walls, while corpse controllers of the Corpse Gu tribe turned their bodies into “allies”.
Warriors of the Strength Gu tribe, with their terrifying strength, were tasked with hurling logs and boulders down from the battlements.
Under Xu Erlang’s command, they cooperated with flawless teamwork.
“Watch out!”
Not far from Xu Erlang, Miao Youfang suddenly tackled him to the ground.
The world spun dizzyingly. Xu Erlang heard a loud bang, the parapet shattered, and a gigantic ballista bolt punched through the wall, exploding where he’d just stood.
A normal bolt can never have such powerm this must have been thrown by a true expert… Miao Youfang realised in a flash, then leaned over the wall to scan the chaotic crowd below, spotting a figure both familiar and strange.
Zhuo Haoran!
He held the head of a Dark Gu tribe warrior in one hand and a long spear in the other, grinning fiercely up at the city wall.
“Hold him back!”
Xu Erlang calmly waved his command flag.
Inside the city, three hundred riders of the flying beast corps sprang into the air, their mounts grasping barrels of fire oil in their claws, the riders themselves slinging bows and drawing arrows tipped with fire-soaked cotton.
The three hundred flying beast riders were like bombers.
The flying beast corps was an elite unit, nigh-on invincible on the battlefield. Even a fourth rank martial artist, unless skilled in the way of the bow, could not hope to threaten them.
And as for pursuit in the air, a fourth rank’s flying speed simply could not compare with flying beasts.
At that moment, a piercing cry resounded across the sky.
On the horizon, a flock of crimson giant birds approached, wings beating in great waves, at least five hundred strong.
At their head was a giant bird with a nine-metre wingspan and an enormous body, with no rider upon its back.
Xu Erlang’s pupils contracted violently.
…
Guo County!
Ji Xuan stood atop the half-collapsed city wall, looking up at Sun Xuanji standing proudly in the sky, and laughed in a relaxed tone,
“In my eyes, what is the difference between these city walls, and pasted paper?
“Sun Xuanji, now my army has entered the city, and it’s full of our troops. Do you dare to saturate Guo County with your firepower?”
Sun Xuanji stared at him coldly.
Ji Xuan sneered, shifting his gaze into the city. The common folk had shut themselves indoors, and soldiers from both sides were fighting street by street.
“Womanly compassion!”
He shook his head and commented.
Still, Sun Xuanji said nothing.
Ji Xuan drew his sabre, clicking his tongue and smiling,
“It is precisely your compassion that cost Dongling. If I were you, even if it meant killing a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred your own, even if every last commoner in the city died under the cannons, I would finish off the elite enemy troops.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, the Dongling citizens you couldn’t bear to kill, I’ve already refined into blood pills. It took half a month. Luckily you didn’t discover it, otherwise all my efforts would have been wasted.”
As he spoke, he produced a wooden box and snapped it open. A vibrant vitality shimmered with crimson light.
Ji Xuan pinched the blood pill and swallowed it. In an instant, his aura surged, forcibly advancing another step.
Those of the third rank could strengthen their Qi and blood by consuming blood pills, but could only reach mid-third rank at most. Beyond that, the effects were minimal.
“Since you don’t dare to go down with the ship, I cannot be bothered to kill you. Run back to the Sitianjian. Within three days, Qingzhou will fall.”
When Ji Xuan spoke these words, he was as calm as a gentle breeze.
…
Out on the ocean, Baiji squatted gracefully, clear light gleaming from her left eye.
Xu Qi’an sat cross-legged at the stern, smiling:
“Your Highness, what made you find time to see me?”
The nine-tailed Celestial Fox replied in a soft, charming voice,
“A Master of Wisdom has arrived in the Southern Marches, saying he’s looking for you. When he couldn’t find you, he sought me out for news.”
Master of Wisdom? Irbu or Uda Batu? Hah, looking for me? More like looking for death! Xu Qi’an found it both puzzling and amusing.
“He said he’s here to deliver the Sounding Stone.”
The nine-tailed Celestial Fox added.
“Huh?” Xu Qi’an sounded confused, his face full of astonishment.
He wondered if he had misheard, for the Sounding Stone was one of the materials needed to forge the Soul-summoning Banner, would the Church of the Warlock God really send it to him?
It was as absurd as if Xu Pingfeng suddenly appeared before him and said,
“Son, everything your father has done is for your sake!”
The nine-tailed Celestial Fox said impatiently, “If you agree, I’ll tell him where you are. We are busy with mundane affairs, we’ve no time to gossip with you.”
“Fine!”
Xu Qi’an nodded.
If the little lamb wanted to offer itself to the wolf, why would he refuse?
“Don’t leave just yet, Your Highness. I have something to ask you.” Xu Qi’an quickly called out before the nine-tailed Fox left.
The nine-tailed Fox grunted, “What is it?”
“You must have seen the Hell Silkworm before.”
“Of course, otherwise how could I have told you where the Hell Silk was?”
“So you already knew the truth behind the fall of the gods and demons?” Xu Qi’an said irritably.
The nine-tailed Fox nodded lightly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You never asked.” The nine-tailed Celestial Fox smiled sweetly,
“I know many more secrets. For example, I am still a virgin maiden, I haven’t told you that either, have I?”
Virgin maiden? More like cucumber maiden… Xu Qi’an grumbled inwardly, but let it slide and said seriously,1
“What I wanted to ask is, do you know a god-demon called the ‘Desolation’?”
The nine-tailed Celestial Fox pondered for a moment and shook her head.
“Never heard of it.”
Xu Qi’an then told her about the characteristics of the Desolation clan and went on,
“The Hell Silkworm told me, the Baidi, that is, the Kirin clan, were devoured by a ‘Desolation’ at the end of the age of gods and demons. What do you think of this?”
Clear light in Baiji’s left eye trembled violently. After a while, the nine-tailed Celestial Fox whispered,
“I travelled overseas in search of our kin for three whole months. Not only did I find no kin, I didn’t come across a single other god-demon descendant. On my return to the Central Plains, I saw it.”
The air seemed to freeze.
Shit… Xu Qi’an cursed inwardly. He realised what might have happened, most of the god-demon descendants might have been devoured by Baidi, or rather, by that Desolation.
The nine-tailed Celestial Fox fell silent again, it was clear she had thought of this terrifying possibility as well.
“So why didn’t it eat me?”
The silver-haired enchantress was puzzled.
Xu Qi’an took a deep breath to compose himself and analysed,
“Maybe there would be side effects. Maybe it’s about to attempt something big and doesn’t want complications.”
He immediately recalled the connection between Xu Pingfeng and Baidi, thought of the battlefield in Qingzhou.
The nine-tailed Celestial Fox said grimly,
“If you meet it, be extremely careful.”
As for herself, she was unafraid, she was powerful in her own right, and had Shenshu’s limbs at her side. If the Desolation came for her, the outcome would be far from certain.
Bidding the nine-tailed Fox goodbye, Xu Qi’an sped up his voyage.
Soon, he sighted the coastline.
As he saw the shore, he also spotted a black shadow flying over the waves, robed like a Warlock and hooded.
The Master of Wisdom stopped not far away, this was not his true body, but a humanoid, empty robe.
“Xu Qi’an!”
A low voice echoed from the cloak.
“It’s you, Irbu!”
He had met him when killing the Zhenbei King; Xu Qi’an recognised him by his voice at once.
Something floated from the cloak and hit the bow with a clang.
It was a piece of pale black ore, its surface pitted with honeycomb-like holes. Sea breezes made it emit a faint wail.
“What’s your Church playing at?”
Xu Qi’an looked down and confirmed, it was indeed the true Sounding Stone.
“Hah. Ask the Great Warlock yourself.”
Irbu sounded scornful. He was unafraid, as his true body was elsewhere.
“Because the Church of the Warlock God doesn’t want to see Buddhism occupy the Central Plains. It would benefit the Buddha and overshadow the Warlock God.” Xu Qi’an hazarded his guess.
Irbu snorted, tacitly agreeing.
“If so, why doesn’t the Church of the Warlock God send in troops? Why not just ally with the Great Feng and fight Buddhism together?” Xu Qi’an cajoled.
“Dog eats dog, a mouthful of fur.”
Irbu sneered, showing his stance.
“Then I suppose I needn’t thank you lot.”
Only now did Xu Qi’an stow away the Sounding Stone. Not wanting Irbu to vanish, as he bent down, he asked,
“By the way, how long has it been since attained your Dao?”
Irbu replied lightly,
“This Master of Wisdom attained enlightenment during the Great Zhou.”
Hundreds of years and still not reached second rank, how useless! Xu Qi’an joked,
“You must have known the first Jianzheng, then.”
Irbu’s tone chilled,
“Why do you ask about him? He was nothing but a traitor. Not of our people, not of one mind. That traitor was from the Central Plains. When he travelled northeast, he joined the Church of the Warlock God and only then was accepted as a disciple by the Great Warlock.”
This took Xu Qi’an aback: “The first Jianzheng was from the Central Plains?”
Irbu grunted,
“I think his Central Plains name was… Chai Xinjue!”
………
Some kind of chinese pun that is difficult to translate ↩
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