Chapter 62: The Prologue

Volume III: This Feeling Can Await Becoming a Memory

Over five hundred years ago, the Tianhe Continent was ruled by the Zhou Dynasty, which founded the Min Kingdom. After more than a hundred years of Min's rule, the dynasty gradually fell apart due to internal corruption. The last Min emperor, Zhou Yan, was especially incompetent and cruel, loved killing, pursued grand projects, and left the people in utter misery.

At that time, various princes and rebel armies rose up, raising banners and proclaiming themselves kings. After a century of unification, the Tianhe Continent fractured again, with many forces openly and covertly battling, their roots tangled. The hardships of the common folk were no less severe than those before the nation's collapse.

In that chaotic era of warlords, in the northwest of the Tianhe Continent, unnoticed by anyone, a army bearing the "Bingling" banner rose. They moved like the wind, infiltrated like a poisonous snake. In just ten years they eliminated every existing power on the continent, achieving a unification no ordinary person could imagine.

This mythic, miraculous dynasty was called Bingling; the invincible army's commander was known as the Young Lord. And Xiao Ruo was that enigmatic Young Lord of Bingling.

Xiao Ruo was originally a descendant of the fallen Shu royal family, exterminated by the Min Kingdom. Though of a ruined royal line, Xiao Ruo grew up with both parents and was carefully cared for by former court retainers. Even in this chaotic world, his life was relatively peaceful, so he never entertained thoughts of restoring the kingdom.

At seventeen, Xiao Ruo met the woman he would love most in his life—Qin Bingling. Qin Bingling was one of the famed extraordinary women of the Tianhe Continent; since she was thirteen she had roamed the world with her pipa, her pieces "Clear Marsh" and "Longing" having toppled countless noble youths. Regardless of her background as an entertainer, countless suitors sought to make her wife or concubine.

Yet Qin Bingling, though an entertainer, bore none of its usual traits. She was always accompanied by a fiercely loyal guard—Li Mu. His martial skill was unparalleled in the age. Qin Bingling rejected all admirers, and those who recklessly tried to force themselves upon her were stopped by Li Mu, meeting tragic ends.

In fact, Qin Bingling's original name was Zhou Bing, the youngest daughter of the fallen emperor Zhou Yan. She disliked palace life from childhood, and because Zhou Yan adored her and obeyed her every word, he allowed her to travel. He even gave her his most capable fourth‑rank sword‑bearing guard, Li Mu.

Xiao Ruo's encounter with Qin Bingling can only be described as a chance coincidence.

Xiao Ruo was handsome and youthful, gifted beyond ordinary. From a young age he never forgot anything he learned, especially excelling in music with profound insight and unique perspective.

Qin Bingling was graceful and intelligent; though she lacked Xiao Ruo's extraordinary talent, her remarkable experiences over the years fully compensated.

The two, meeting by chance, sat on the ground amid mountains and forests, chatting freely.

By chance they came to know each other, and in a fleeting moment each felt that without the other, they had wasted the past ten‑some years of their lives.

In the mountains at night, amid laughter and music, the harmonious strings pleased Li Mu, who had always followed the lady. He felt gratified; the lady had finally found someone worthy of lifelong trust.

That night, the talented scholar and the beautiful lady, meeting and understanding each other, experienced a warmth and joy beyond words.

That night, the strings and the pipa resonated together, a perfect harmony, a seamless, intoxicating unity.

Over the next six months, the two would meet in the forest every ten to fifteen days, messages delivered by Li Mu, deepening their bond. Xiao Ruo repeatedly begged to take Bingling as his wife, but Bingling declined for various reasons.

The world‑renowned entertainer Qin Bingling turned out to be the daughter of the former Min emperor Zhou Yan, also the last princess of Min. For unknown reasons this news spread across the Tianhe Continent in a single night. Zhou Yan had committed suicide when rebels entered, and several princes and princesses were poisoned by him. Thus Qin Bingling—no, Zhou Bing—became a coveted prize, a tool for factions to legitimize themselves.

Xiao Ruo, secluded in the deep mountains, remained unaware of these rumors. After a whole month without news of Qin Bingling, an ominous premonition grew in his heart. He sent retainers to investigate, only to receive the gravely wounded, dying Li Mu.

Li Mu told Xiao Ruo the truth, urging him to rescue Bingling, now in the hands of the underworld king Zhao Shiqi, before dying of a broken spirit.

Xiao Ruo rushed with his retainers to save her. Yet when he found Qin Bingling, he embraced a cold corpse.

Zhao Shiqi had slipped a narcotic into Bingling's food, humiliating her. After waking, she pretended to submit to Zhao Shiqi, then thrust a knife into his heart.

Then, before a massive army, she smiled sweetly and slit her own throat.

It is said that smile toppled kingdoms and dazzled like a crimson glow on the horizon, shocking every soldier in the camp; it is said that smile was bewitchingly beautiful, casting everyone around into a demonic trance, maddening and ecstatic.

From then on, the world lost a woman like Qin Bingling; from then on, no one dared play "Clear Marsh"; from then on, Xiao Ruo vanished, until eight years later…

Eight years later, standing before his parents and numerous retainers, Xiao Ruo was no longer the delicate, scholarly youth of the past. He bore unparalleled martial skill and a grand plan to pacify the world hidden in his heart.

In front of all his relatives, he repeatedly said in a firm yet calm tone, "I will dominate this world."

Until everyone believed his resolve; until his family, helplessly, handed him the key to the Shu Kingdom's treasure.

Thus a kingdom that would shock the entire Tianhe Continent and create an immortal legend was born. Xiao Ruo named it Bingling, to commemorate the woman he loved most in his life.

In the struggle for world domination, Xiao Ruo married many consorts and fathered numerous offspring for political alliances, yet never fell in love with anyone again.

Bingling eventually became the world's hegemon, unifying the Tianhe Continent. Five years later, livelihoods gradually recovered, the land flourished, and Xiao Ruo was hailed as a saintly ruler. Yet Xiao Ruo began to ponder a lingering question: this world, long divided must reunite, long united must divide; this era, at its peak must decline, at its strongest must weaken.

In such a short span, achieving such a monumental feat was unprecedented. Yet he was dissatisfied, haunted by the image of Bingling falling and dying while he was powerless.

He wanted to build a perpetually thriving nation, an everlasting haven to protect his family, brothers, himself… his most beloved.

After days and nights of sleepless contemplation, he conceived a shocking solution. After consulting his life‑and‑death brotherhood of robe‑clad comrades, he resolutely abdicated the throne—the highest authority of the nation—to his most trusted prime minister, Lin Zichong, and renamed the state "Wei".

He himself, along with some confidants and most of the nation's wealth, retreated "underground". Using these assets and manpower, he secretly purchased properties in many places—sometimes a house, sometimes a city, sometimes even an island.

He expanded his business across the realm—restaurants, brothels, tea houses, casinos… leaving nothing untouched, nothing unexploited.

In merely three years, the organization named after the former state of Bingling infiltrated every inch of the Tianhe Continent. At this moment, if Bingling withdrew, the nation's economy would collapse instantly.

Yet there was one thing beyond Xiao Ruo's control: the army. An underground organization could wield power, but could never openly command the military without becoming indistinguishable from his former kingship.

Xiao Ruo knew that his ease in making Bingling an underground ruler relied on Lin Zichong's indulgence and covert assistance. Before sixteen, Lin Zichong's pupils were gold‑silver dual‑colored, earning him the nickname "Monster". Because Xiao Ruo treated him like an ordinary person, Lin swore loyalty.

Therefore, while he reigned, Xiao Ruo need not fear the ruling class's suspicion of Bingling. But after Lin Zichong's death, no emperor, when capable of eliminating a threat, would tolerate an underground force like Bingling.

Xiao Ruo was not a ruthless man, but once he set his mind on a wish, he would become the world's cruelest demon.

To let Bingling endure forever, he needed a massive army that could be mobilized at will. To achieve this, he turned to the long‑prohibited witchcraft of the Tianhe Continent—Zhong Gu Jue Dai.

The witchcraft "Zhong Gu Jue Dai" was banned because Zhong Gu is the most venomous gu in the world. Those afflicted by the inner gu appear normal until the poison is triggered, then insects devour the body, driving the victim mad until they become a walking corpse. The horror of Zhong Gu goes far beyond that.

"Zhong" denotes a tomb; "Jue Dai" carries the notion of generations. Anyone struck by Zhong Gu, as long as they bear children, will pass the toxin unchanged to their descendants.

Generation after generation, never fading, until the family's extinction.

The witchcraft "Zhong Gu Jue Dai" is not only vile; the conditions to trigger it are near‑impossible. It requires the four divine artifacts, the four sacred stones, a person with special abilities, and fresh blood from someone with wholly yin blood.

Perhaps destiny intervened: the original banters did not destroy the four sacred stones and four divine artifacts, only scattered them, believing no one could ever reunite them. Even if gathered, the odds of finding a special‑ability person with wholly yin blood were astronomically low. Yet, by chance, Lin Zichong possessed the gold‑silver dual‑pupil ability, and Xiao Ruo himself had the wholly yin blood.

Xiao Ruo forced Lin Zichong to make all soldiers ingest Zhong Gu, then trigger it. The camp rang only with wails and cries.

Then Xiao Ruo ceased the blood‑dripping chant, cruelly broadcasting his voice to every soldier: "No matter who your children serve in the future, they must never attack the Bingling Kingdom, or humanity will become a furnace of hell; this gu shall never end, this curse shall never cease!"

"This gu shall never end, this curse shall never cease!!"

Two hundred years later, people still forgot the poisonous curse. Thus rivers ran with blood, mournful cries filled the fields, the world became a hell, and dynasties rose and fell.

At that time, people finally recalled Xiao Ruo's words, the eternal curse "this gu shall never end, this curse shall never cease".

Four hundred and ninety years later, history repeated, the tragedy nearly replayed. Though hell did not manifest, the Tianhe Continent reignited with war. The three kingdoms of Qi, Yin, and Yao formed a tripartite balance, which is today's Tianhe Continent.

Bingling, this peak‑flourishing, peak‑glorious dynasty, survived generation after generation in such a mysterious, twisted manner.

(End of Chapter)