Chapter 212: The Human Emperor's Immortal Throne

The Donghai night pearl on the wall glowed brightly; all palace attendants had been sent away by Qin Shi Huang, the huge splendid palace clearly held only him, yet a strange sound rang out.

Qin Shi Huang's long-ill, cloudy eyes suddenly flashed a sharp light: "Who is it?!"

Just as he was about to summon the guards inside, he saw that familiar green shadow and froze in place.

For a moment he felt he was not in the Shaqiu traveling palace but at the summit of Mount Tai where souls return; the mountain wind howled past, the gears of fate began to turn, bringing hope even in desperation.

Qin Shi Huang's pale face showed a rare excitement: "Demon immortal!"

As an emperor's heir, Qin Shi Huang rarely showed emotion; now revealing this state made his feelings clear, and due to excessive agitation a violent cough burst from his throat.

"Do you still remember our promise?"

Gazing at those unfathomable green eyes radiating mysterious light, Qin Shi Huang felt his heart skip a beat; this emperor of all ages actually grew nervous, and he took a deep breath.

"Naturally I remember; I dare not forget even for a day."

He had waited so long, wasn't it just for this day?

"The Great Qin Empire still needs me; I have too much left undone. If I could gain immortality, I would surely bless the world, prolong the fate of my Great Qin, lasting a hundred or even a thousand years without decline!"

Even though his illness was terminal, Qin Shi Huang never forgot his grand ambitions and lofty aspirations; he planned future territories, yet did not see Ye Qin's complex expression.

Qin Shi Huang's situation differed from Zuo Ci's; Zuo Ci sought only simple immortality, whereas Qin Shi Huang desired far more.

"That probably won't work."

Qin Shi Huang stared in astonishment: "Why is this? Isn't the demon immortal here to fulfill the promise of immortality?"

"The immortality you want is to gain eternal life in this era, which clearly contradicts history; your death is already set, but I can let you accept human incense offerings and achieve longevity in the world a thousand years from now."

Ye Qin, using the power of the Upper Pure Observatory, brought Zuo Ci to the future to enjoy human incense offerings, and one day could attain the Dao—this is another form of longevity.

In Zuo Ci's time he was already dead; even if he were resurrected later, whether a hundred or a thousand years hence, it would not affect the established history.

But if Ye Qin truly agreed to Qin Shi Huang's request, the entire Qin dynasty would be changed by him, affecting not only Qin Shi Huang but the fate of all people under heaven.

Ye Qin had not yet cultivated to the point of being able to alter history; once cause and effect become too deeply entangled, it would be meaningless for his cultivation and could even bring retribution—moreover, this is not just one person's karma, and even the Heavenly Dao might not allow it.

Hearing Ye Qin's words, the light in Qin Shi Huang's eyes gradually faded: "Will there still be a Qin in a thousand years?"

"Naturally not."

Not to mention Qin, every feudal dynasty would collapse, submerged in the mists of history.

This answer was within Qin Shi Huang's expectations; surveying history, no dynasty is eternal—Xia, Shang, Zhou alike—and the fall of one dynasty foretells the rise of another.

"When will Qin head toward ruin?"

Looking at Qin Shi Huang's pale face, Ye Qin felt reluctant to tell him the truth.

According to historical records, after Qin Shi Huang's death, Qin fell into turmoil; Huhai usurped the throne, forcing the deaths of Fusu, Meng Yi, Meng Tian, and others, and under the chaos caused by the treacherous minister Zhao Gao, the curtain rose on an age of disorder.

"Qin perished after three generations."

Just a few short words, like a sharp sword, viciously pierced Qin Shi Huang's heart.

Qin Shi Huang's eyes lost focus, he muttered in disbelief: "How could it be only three generations! My vast Great Qin Empire actually existed for only three short generations!"

A bloody taste surged in his throat, a metallic rust smell filled his mouth, and Qin Shi Huang coughed up a large mouthful of blood onto the ground; within the blood could be seen red lumps of flesh, like fragments of organs.

Qin Shi Huang revealed a bitter smile, his expression sorrowful as he said: "If there is no Qin, what meaning does my immortality have—"

His gaze fell upon Ye Qin, like a drowning man clutching the last straw: "Demon immortal, your divine abilities are vast and you know ancient and modern; I do not seek this immortality, but could you help prolong the Qin dynasty?"

Ye Qin shook his head: "The fall of Qin is an unstoppable trend; even with the power to pierce heaven and earth, it cannot be changed, for this is the turning of the ages."

His tone paused slightly, Ye Qin said in a deep voice: "Do you want this immortality, or do you want the world?"

Since ancient times, one cannot have both fish and bear's paw.

Qin Shi Huang gave no answer; he sought immortality not to greedily enjoy wealth and pleasure, but because he felt that if he died, how should the world's dawn be?

He wanted immortality solely to protect this mortal realm of Great Qin!

He hoped Great Qin could endure through countless generations, leave its name in history, be sung of, yet Ye Qin told him "Qin perished after three generations."

If Qin ceased to exist, what meaning would his immortality have?

This emperor of the ages still could not let go.

Gazing at Qin Shi Huang's tangled, complex expression, Ye Qin let out a long, faint sigh: "You still cannot see the principle here; never mind, we share some affinity, so let me grant you another fortune."

As his words fell, a white light entered Qin Shi Huang's body; Ye Qin also vanished, leaving only Qin Shi Huang's anguished gaze, after which his eyes rolled back and he fainted outright.

Zhao Gao and the others stood guard at the door, faintly hearing voices from inside the room, as if Qin Shi Huang were speaking with someone.

Everyone looked at each other, their expressions somewhat puzzled.

Clearly, when they left, there was no one else in the room besides Qin Shi Huang.

"Strange, Your Majesty, who are you speaking with?"

They guarded the door, yet no one entered, and Qin Shi Huang had issued an oral order: without his command, no one could enter.

After a moment, the voices disappeared again; Zhao Gao listened closely for a while, the silence unbelievable, as if no one were in the room.

Unable to suppress his curiosity, he knocked on the door and said: "Your Majesty?"

The room was utterly silent, no one responded, and even after shouting several times it remained so.

"Could it be that something has happened to Your Majesty?"

"But Your Majesty said, without his order we cannot rashly intrude."

"If Your Majesty suffered any mishap, even several heads wouldn't be enough to bear responsibility."

"Your Majesty has offended."

The palace attendants could no longer restrain themselves; after apologizing they pushed the door open and saw Qin Shi Huang fainted on the ground, followed by a frantic scramble as they summoned the imperial physician for treatment.

From that night onward, Qin Shi Huang's health deteriorated day by day.

Qin perished after three generations—those few short words, like a shadow shrouding Qin Shi Huang's heart, already weighed on him; added to multiple blows, even the most precious elixirs could not heal this broken body.

Inside the traveling palace the atmosphere was low and oppressive, as if an invisible mountain pressed on everyone's hearts; for several days the sky remained overcast, giving the sense that a mountain rain was imminent.

That day, Qin Shi Huang had a rare moment of clarity, deeply feeling his time was short; he weakly rose from bed and said: "I will issue an edict."

Zhao Gao hurriedly supported Qin Shi Huang as they came to the desk, his expression unchanged as he asked, "I don't know which son Your Majesty favors? Prince Fusu is benevolent, but Prince Huhai rather bears Your Majesty's demeanor."

Qin Shi Huang lifted his head and gave him a bland glance; his gaze was chilling, and even though the emperor was deep in the torment of illness, his aura was not to be underestimated.

"What does it have to do with you?"

Zhao Gao's face turned deathly pale; with a thud he knelt on the ground, "I deserve to die!"

The chilling aura above his head almost solidified into substance; Zhao Gao's heart pounded like a drum for a moment, regretting his rashness.

An emperor's intentions have never allowed others to probe; even though Qin Shi Huang's body is now failing, he remains that decisive, iron-blooded ruler.

If Qin Shi Huang were to learn his thoughts, the consequences would be unimaginable; thinking of this, Zhao Gao couldn't help but shiver.

Qin Shi Huang said nothing, letting Zhao Gao kowtow and apologize; only after the last will was finished did he speak: "All right, get up."

"If one day I meet with mishap, you shall take out this edict to settle the realm."

"Yes."

Zhao Gao held the edict with both hands, performing his salute respectfully; the moment he lowered his head, his eyes flickered with tumultuous deceit—unfortunately, the emperor, who was resting with his eyes closed, did not see it.

The medicinal fragrance in the traveling palace grew ever stronger, with decoctions continuously sent into Qin Shi Huang's bedroom, yet his condition showed no improvement, and even getting out of bed became extremely difficult.

Qin Shi Huang lay in bed, his complexion ashen, his breath faint; various images floated in his mind—the meteorite that fell from heaven, the celestial omen of Yinghuo guarding the heart, and a mysterious jade disc.

Finally appearing was the figure of Ye Qin.

「I am not willing. 」

As the last word fell, his gaze gradually dimmed, and he slowly closed his eyes; when the palace attendants went to bring the decoction, the person lying in bed gave no response for a long time.

Zhao Gao looked at the figure lying on the bed, cautiously reaching out to feel the breath—there was no sign of life whatsoever.

This emperor, who claimed virtue surpassing the Three Sovereigns and merit exceeding the Five Emperors, finally reached the end of his life.

"His Majesty has passed away!"

Zhao Gao's voice sounded somewhat sorrowful, but upon closer look his expression showed little grief: "Convey my orders—seal the news, and quickly summon Lord Li Si to discuss!"

As a trusted attendant of Qin Shi Huang, he held great authority, and people instinctively obeyed his commands.

With Qin Shi Huang's death, a huge conspiracy shrouded the entire Shaqiu traveling palace.

……

When Qin Shi Huang opened his eyes again, he only felt his body lighten, and indeed he was floating in midair; his expression was somewhat surprised, and for a moment he felt dazed, "Have I died?"

But if he were dead, how could he still have consciousness?

He shuttled through the traveling palace; the coming and going people were hurried, yet no one could see him, and faintly he heard weeping and the key words "His Majesty has passed away."

"Could this be what the immortal spoke of, another transformation?"

Qin Shi Huang's guess was correct; it was precisely because Ye Qin employed a great divine ability of the soul‑spirit type that he could exist in the world as a soul—though his body was dead, his spiritual form retained consciousness, enabling him to witness what happened afterward.

"I don't know how the realm will fare after my death; the immortal said Qin would perish after three generations. That child Fusu is benevolent and dislikes war; under his rule Qin should not be too bad, so why has it come to this?"

Qin Shi Huang harbored doubts, but his questions were soon answered.

At the time no crown prince had been appointed; Li Si feared that if the news spread, the princes would vie for the throne, destroying stability and affecting the great Qin empire, so he ordered the blockade of Qin Shi Huang's death announcement.

Little did they expect that this would give Zhao Gao room to maneuver.

"Transforming the soul to return to heaven, wandering the world."

Ying Zheng personally saw Zhao Gao persuade Li Si; the two conspired and actually altered the last will, so as not to let power slip away, they changed it to support Huhai's ascension!

Simply because Huhai was easier to control than Fusu, making him a suitable puppet in their hands.

Since Qin Shi Huang died in the traveling palace, Li Si, Zhao Gao and the others kept the death secret, ordering a hurried return to Xianyang and placing his corpse in a carriage with officials accompanying.

Wherever they went, everyone continued to eat and attend to affairs as before; only a few knew of Qin Shi Huang's death.

A magnificent procession of luxurious carriages moved along the road, banners fluttering, the scarlet Qin characters striking and dazzling—this was the entourage of Qin Shi Huang's inspection tour, truly a splendid sight.

The onlooking commoners showed reverent gazes, yet some furrowed their brows, asking, "Have you smelled a strange odor?"

"It seems there is a smell, like something has gone rotten."

Most importantly, these odd odors were actually emanating from the carriages; the onlookers looked doubtful, wondering how such a smell could be in the emperor's vehicle frame.

The attendants explained, "His Majesty has recently been fond of seafood; this is the peculiar odor of abalone and sea cucumber."

The commoners had no suspicions either; at this hot weather, many things spoil if not stored properly, giving off odd smells, and preservation methods at the time could be described as crude.

They never imagined that, in the carriage exhaling that foul stench, one of the vehicles held their "Son of Heaven" lying inside.

Zhao Gao and the others hurried back to Xianyang at once, in order to conceal the truth and eliminate future troubles; moreover, wary of the armies under Meng Tian and Meng Yi, Zhao Gao even forged the last will, ordering Fusu to commit suicide on the grounds of his lack of benevolence and filial piety, then pushed Huhai onto the throne.

Seeing these events, Qin Shi Huang's eyes turned red with rage, his hair standing on end.

"How dare you, wretch!"

Qin Shi Huang flared up like thunder, but as he is now merely a soul he can do nothing—even if he wished to devour those two men raw.

Qin Shi Huang's resentment could almost take substantive form, yet it could not inflict substantive harm on Zhao Gao, Li Si and the others.

If it were not for Ye Qin, he would have long since dissipated between heaven and earth; how then could he, as a soul, watch the unfolding of events after his death?

No one can stop the march of history; in 210 BCE, Fusu committed suicide, and that same year Huhai ascended the throne, being known as Qin Er Shi.

To avoid prolonged uncertainty, even before Qin Shi Huang's corpse was interred in the imperial mausoleum, they let Huhai take the supreme seat—after all, everyone knew that Zhao Gao and Li Si held the reins, making this dragon throne illegitimate in name and substance.

Within the Qin palace, drums and music played, lights blazed bright.

Huhai sat on the dragon throne, his face showing no trace of grief; logically, since the emperor had passed and the realm mourned, he ought to observe filial mourning, but for a pleasure‑seekers like Huhai, that was basically impossible.

The officials likewise dared not remonstrate; those who had previously advised were all cut in half at the waist, blood flooding the whole court, unwashed for days and nights, and Huhai's tyrannical cruelty put everyone in the Qin palace on edge, with the entirety of state affairs gripped in Zhao Gao's hands.

Huhai indulged in pleasure, even refusing to issue edicts on memorials, leaving everything to Zhao Gao to handle; he delighted in seeing Huhai thus, naturally saying nothing, and even adding fuel to the fire from the sidelines.

Zhao Gao thus became a figure second only to the emperor and above ten thousand people.

"Trash! Scoundrel!"

Qin Shi Huang railed at his lack of virtue, hurling endless insults at Huhai's side, but alas, separated by yin and yang, Huhai could hear none of it.

"I finally understand why the immortal said Qin would perish after three generations."

Hu Hai had just ascended the throne when Qin Shi Huang had already foreseen the future.

"The destroyer of Qin is the Hu."

"Now that things have come to this, I finally understand the meaning of these words, only it's all too late."

Qin Shi Huang once sent the Yan man Lu Sheng to go overseas in search of immortality; he presented a book of illustrations and descriptions of propitious signs and divination, on which was written a prophecy.

At that time Qin Shi Huang thought 'Hu' referred to the Hu people, so he launched a northern campaign against the Xiongnu to eliminate the threat to Qin, and also built the Great Wall to prevent Hu invasions from the south.

Hu Hai on the dragon throne inexplicably felt a chill, shivered involuntarily, though all doors and windows were tightly shut, yet he sensed an inexplicable cold.

The candle flames in the wind swayed incessantly, casting wavering shadows on the walls; the vast Qin palace appeared filled with ghostly shades, and amid them he seemed to see Qin Shi Huang's glowering stare directed at him.

"A ghost!"

A sharp scream escaped him as Hu Hai tumbled from the dragon throne, his imperial crown askew.

The music stopped abruptly, the eunuchs stared at each other, unaware of what had happened, and hurried forward to ask: "Your Majesty, what's wrong with you?"

Hu Hai adjusted his crown, looked around, saw everything normal with no ghostly trace, swallowed, and feigned calm: "When will Father be buried?"

"The Imperial Astronomy Bureau says the twenty‑eighth of this month is an auspicious day for burial."

Hu Hai frowned: "The twenty‑eighth? That would mean waiting ten more days—too late; I want burial tomorrow!"

"Wouldn't burial tomorrow be too rushed, fearing there would be shortcomings?"

A nearby eunuch, seeing Hu Hai's murderous expression, dared not speak further.

Hu Hai's countenance turned ferocious: "I say tomorrow is tomorrow!"

As his words fell, a dull thud accompanied them.

"Boom!"

The doors of the sleeping hall were flung open, yet no wind was felt; for some reason, gazing out at the dark, cold night, everyone felt a piercing chill.

Hu Hai was so frightened his eyes seemed about to burst.

Qin Shi Huang stared fixedly at Hu Hai beside him, lamenting his lack of power to slay this unfilial son.

He let out a long sigh: "All this is heaven's will!"

At this moment Qin Shi Huang seemed to grasp something; he wished the demon immortal could prolong Qin's fate, yet he had not imagined that destiny was already fixed—nothing, whether he or the demon immortal, could alter.

"Whoosh!"

In an instant a gale rose, sweeping his spirit away into the distance; the furnishings of the sleeping hall were tossed to and fro, while Hu Hai clung desperately to a nearby pillar, his dignity gone.

The sudden gale terrified him, and he shouted at the top of his voice: "Guard the emperor!"

Countless guards filed in, yet the blowing sand blinded their eyes, almost preventing them from moving.

This strange wind snapped several beams, nearly striking Hu Hai; oddly, the surroundings showed no trace of sand or wind, the neighboring palace just a few steps away unscathed, only Hu Hai's sleeping hall suffered.

"How strange, quickly inspect!"

……

At the same time.

East of Great Qin, atop Mount Tai, the first ray of dawn tore through the pre‑day darkness, the eastern sky shifting from ink black to fish‑belly white.

Amidst swirling clouds and mist, myriad rays of rosy light refracted; in the golden‑shimmering sea of clouds, the sun's rim lifted a corner, as if countless golden dragons surged forth—truly magnificent and grand.

Ye Qin regarded Qin Shi Huang's illusory spirit, appearing as if he had been waiting a long time; he seemed to have known Qin Shi Huang would come.

"You have come."

Qin Shi Huang bowed respectfully to Ye Qin, his eyes full of reverence and awe: "Thank you, demon immortal, for this opportunity that has finally let me pierce the mist."

Ye Qin nodded, his eyes showing a hint of appreciation; his effort to condense Qin Shi Huang's soul was not in vain, allowing Qin Shi Huang to see what lay behind him.

"Do you seek longevity, or do you seek the world?"

Ye Qin posed the question again.

At this moment Qin Shi Huang already had his answer; after death, from seeing Zhao Gao and Li Si's conspiratorial fury to the helplessness of Hu Hai's altering the edict to seize the throne, his emotions could be described as tumultuous.

Yet precisely thus he was finally able to relinquish his obsessions and let go of that ancient empire.

Now his heart had regained calm; his deep eyes were untroubled, bearing the broad‑mindedness of one who has seen through worldly affairs.

"No dynasty lasts forever; I once sought to create a prosperous empire, but now it seems utterly vain—the demon immortal is right, the tide of history cannot be changed."

"I wish to follow the demon immortal and attain the Great Dao of longevity!"

Ye Qin nodded: "I grant you an unusual longevity; if the chance arises, perhaps the Qin dynasty may be revived."

Qin Shi Huang's face lit with excitement, never expecting such an encounter; he bowed to Ye Qin: "If such an opportunity truly exists, I first thank the demon immortal here."

Misty vapor enveloped Qin Shi Huang's whole body; upon the sea of clouds a lofty, ancient Daoist temple of black walls and gray tiles appeared mysteriously.

Qin Shi Huang stepped onto the void and entered; inside the temple, faint blue smoke rose once more, shooting straight up into the Nine Heavens.

He strode in, ascended the dais, sat cross‑legged, placed beside White Bone, on par with Zu Ci!

This is the Human Emperor Immortal Throne.

(End of chapter)