Chapter 345 - Beastskin Book
Chapter 345 of "Red Heart Patrols the Sky" opens presenting: Rong Countryâs Yinguang City.The situation of the cityâs defending general, Jingye, had become quite awkward... Donât stop now!
Rong Countryâs Yinguang City.The situation of the cityâs defending general, Jingye, had become quite awkward recently.
When he âbravely exposedâ the plague in Yang Country, Yang Country was still a firm ally of Qi Country.
His actions had the subtlety of striking at the power of Qi Country.
However, unexpectedly, Qi Country took this as a pretext to march its army into Yang Country, turning what was nominally a vassal state into actual Qi territory.
Thus, Jingyeâs actions were labeled by some as âlacking a sense of the bigger pictureâ and âdisregard for the overall situation.â
The root cause was that, after Yang realm became Qi Boundary, Rong Country now bordered Qi Country, becoming like a bed beside a couch.
It seemed that the fate of Yang Country today might well be that of Rong Country tomorrow.
Although the hegemon of the Central Region, Jinguo, and even Mugu from the Northern Territory, provided covert and overt support to these small countries in the Eastern Region, just as Qi Country supported some small countries in the Central and Northern Territories.
But when Qi Country truly brought its overwhelming might to bear, with famous generals like Zhongxuan Chuliang leading the campaign, did Mugu or Jinguo truly have the confidence to engage in a national war with Qi Country in the Eastern Region?
The reason Yang Jiande resolutely went all out for a decisive battle was that he understood only a victory could win him more support.
If roles were reversed, could Rong Country truly match Yang Jiandeâs extent?
This answer seemed bone-chilling.
Leaving aside how the Rong Country Court was quietly strengthening the forces in its border prefectures and towns, with the Qi-Yang war coming to a halt, the border between Yang and Rong Countries appeared calm once more.
The common folk at the bottom of society mostly only cared about their daily meals, not particularly concerned with the state of the world.
In a certain innâs second-floor room, an ordinary-looking young man leaned against the window, staring blankly at the passersby on the street below.
âTheir lives remain so tranquil, utterly unaware of the danger approaching, not understanding what the future holds.
Perhaps, ignorance is bliss,â
In the room, Liu Huai, with his beard glued on, sat beside the table and coldly said upon hearing this, âTheyâre all foolish commoners, lowly people!
The moment the Qi Army attacks, each one of them will bow and scrape, begging like dogs, worse than actual dogs.â
Looking out of the window was naturally Yang Xuance.
Hearing Liu Huaiâs words, he merely casually closed the window: âFor ordinary people, whether the monarchâs surname is Yang or Jiang, what difference does it make?
If the kingâs surname is Jiang, perhaps their lives might be even more stable.â
Liu Huai looked at him in surprise and anger but remembering that he was the last of the Yang bloodline, he could only say, âYour HighnessâŚ
how can you speak such words?â
Yang Xuance walked back and sat down at the table, casually pouring himself a cup of tea, âHow so?
Yang Country has perished, so now even a eunuch canât handle the truth?â
âYour Highness, silence!â Liu Huai urgently said, âOne must be careful nowadays.
It matters little if an old servant like me dies, but you bear a tremendous weight!â
âLook at us,â said Yang Xuance with a self-mocking laugh, âLike stray dogs, not even daring to show our true faces, or speak our real names.
Our past identities are even more tightly concealed.
If weâre already like this, how can we expect those commoners to give their loyalty to the country?â
Liu Huai was speechless.
âIn this world, no one owes anyone anything.
Those two hundred thousand soldiers who died under the butcherâs knife, who shall they curse?
Shall they curse my father?â
âHis Majesty has already shed his last drop of blood for the country, how can youâŚâ
Yang Xuance interrupted him with a wave of his hand, âHe sought benevolence and achieved it, thatâs all.â
âFine, fine,â Liu Huai said, somewhat disheartened, but after a pause, he still took out a golden orb and an ancient parchment scroll from the Storage Box.
âThese are what I brought out of the palace.
Which one do you wish to learn?â
The parchment was inscribed with words written in blood.
After countless years, the blood-red color remained as bright as ever.
Merely glancing at the bloody text sent a shiver down oneâs soul, making one acutely aware of its terror and power.
This was, of course, the Love Dying Desire Blood Demon Skill.
However, Yang Xuance merely glanced at it and looked away, focusing his attention instead on the golden orb.
He suddenly laughed, âThe Great Sun Golden Flame Skill, when did I ever have a part in that?â
Passed down secretly in the Yang family, the Great Sun Golden Flame Skill was taught only to the Crown Prince.
Initially, Yang Xuanji also became the undisputed Crown Prince at Yang Court after learning this skill.
To master this skill was to take on the succession of the Yang familyâs ancestral temple.
However, the ancestral temple of the Yang family had already been âspontaneouslyâ destroyed by the common people of Zhao Heng City before the army marched in.
Where could one go to continue those rites now?
The reason people with discerning eyes did not believe this âspontaneousâ claim was that at that time, Huang Yixing was running around Hengyang Prefecture trying to persuade people to surrender.
Destroying the Yang familyâs ancestral temple was his âachievementââand there was no need to wait for the Qi Army to take action.
However, with Yang Country annihilated and all the horses silent, Qi Country would certainly say nothing about it, only too happy to see it happen.
Liu Huai quietly awaited his decision.
But Yang Xuance just shook his head, no longer even glancing at the golden orb.
âMy fatherâs ability was a hundred times greater than mine.
What he could not accomplish, I certainly cannot.â
As a member of the Yang bloodline, learning the Great Sun Golden Flame Skill meant shouldering the responsibility.
He figured that if he had been in his father Yang Jiandeâs shoes, the most he could have done was to be more compassionate to the commoners, perhaps winning their hearts a bit more.
But to think of surviving under the watchful eye of Qi Country and sustaining the state was impossible.
Let alone now that the state had crumbled, to rebuild the ancestral temple would be simpler if the ancestors of the Yang family were to resurrect from the dead.
To his surprise, Liu Huai simply said, âHis Majesty said he wouldnât ask you to do anything.
Just one thing, he asked this old servant to give you this.â
A coiled dragon jade pendant lay on the table.
A single glance was enough to recognize it as a personal accessory of Yang Jiande.
So many times, he had hidden beside his mother, sneakily looking up at that austere but indifferent man, often only catching a side profile and this coiled dragon pendant!
Had that heartache and watchful gaze ever been noticed?
Yang Xuance avoided looking at everything, merely staring down at his teacup.
Yet, from the surface of the water in the cup, he saw his own eyes, which were red-rimmed before he knew it.
He closed his eyes and, when he opened them again, he appeared very calm.
He reached out and picked up the jade pendant, along with the golden stone that represented the Great Sun Flame Decision.
âNo need to talk about loyalty and righteousness.
It is my Yang family that owes the people of Yang Country, not the people who owe the Yang family,â he said.
âYou are free now,â he told Liu Huai.
To this day, this was the only person still utterly loyal to Yang Jiande.
Though Yang Xuance had never taken much of a liking to this eunuch, the country was gone, and so there was no longer any need to be bound by state affairs.
After that, Yang Xuance got up and walked outside.
Liu Huai just asked, âWhat are your plans, young master?â
âThough the restoration of our ancestral temples is next to impossibleâŚâ Yang Xuanceâs steps faltered briefly before he continued to walk away, âbut as a son, I must do something for a father who died in battle.â
Yang Xuance left.
Closing the door to the guest room, he also shut off Liu Huaiâs last hope.
Even though he knew himself how slim that so-called âhopeâ was.
He stayed just outside the boundary of Yang Country, in a Border City of Rong Country, as per Yang Xuanceâs suggestion.
That absurd life in World Building had given him some insight into hiding his tracks.
Liu Huai himself was completely without direction.
Yang Jiandeâs last order to him was to locate Yang Xuance and take him away from Yang Country, but there were no instructions on what to do next.
If there had to be a goal, he wished to restore the Yang familyâs rule, to preserve the unbroken line of their ancestral temples, to give Yang Jiande peace beneath the nine springs, to ensure perpetual offerings for him.
But he knew very well that what Yang Jiande himself couldnât achieve in life was even less likely to happen after his death.
Even the only one qualified to continue the Yang familyâs ancestral line, Yang Xuance himself, was indifferent to such a âgrand vision.â
What then could an old eunuch who lost his monarch and his country do?
âYou are free now.â
In the capacity of the only remaining bloodline of Yang Jiande, Yang Xuance declared his freedom.
But what is âfreedomâ?
Those days of careful treading and cautious waitingâare they not âfreedomâ?
He could no longer recall how many years it had been since he entered the palace.
He only remembered when the Monarch was still a Prince, his bearing upon entering the palace to meet with courtiers was different; he strode like a dragon and paced like a tiger, as if he himself was the owner of the place.
And indeed, he later took his place on the dragon throne almost without contention.
That Prince, with implicit support from Qi Country, could not raise even the slightest ripple of challenge in his presence.
He also remembered when the Monarch first saw him at court, saying he looked familiar and casually appointed him to attend.
Of course, he remembered that during the first grand court ceremony after ascending to the throne, the Monarch told him the country was rotten, but even if it was a rotten fruit, he would make it take root and sprout, growing into a towering tree!
He remembered the tears of the Monarch when the Crown Prince was born.
The Monarch cried out, âAfter a hundred years, I must not let my child endure all this!â
And yetâŚ
He remembered how spirited the Monarch was and how his spirit declined over time.
He had witnessed all of this, felt it, and chewed over it.
Now, there was no Monarch, the Crown Prince was dead, and the little Prince had also left.
In the empty guest room, only the beast-skin book on the table continued to shimmer with blood-colored light.
Muttering with his lips, Liu Huai couldnât even let out a sigh in the end.
What truly frightened him was that his gaze seemed to be drawn involuntarily to the beast-skin book, which had imperceptibly unfolded.
The Love Dying Desire Blood Demon SkillâŚ
What frightened Liu Huai was not so much the inhuman nature, the terror, or the universal condemnation of this Demon Art.
Instead, he realized he couldnât suppress the desire to learn it.
With no family or friends, he wasnât afraid of severing emotions and desires.
But, if he had any ties left, it was the desire to protect Yang Xuance as per Yang Jiandeâs last command.
He had seen how Yang Jiande ruthlessly killed other members of the royal family and slaughtered his children.
If someone as talented as Yang Jiande ultimately couldnât avoid such actions, then if he were to practice this Demon Art, he feared that one day, he too, would have to kill Yang Xuance to cut the last tie.
This thought barely skimmed his mind before unsettling him.
How could he harm the remaining bloodline of the Monarch?
Liu Huaiâs hands turned into claws as he channeled Path Origin, tearing the beast-skin book into numerous shreds immediately.
Still not reassured, he summoned a hot flame and burned the record of the Demon Art to ashes.
HoweverâŚ
He realized with horror that the blood characters from the beast-skin book flowed so clearly through his mind, the Love Dying Desire Blood Demon Skill, every word etched distinctly in his memory!