Chapter 617: Tying Colors in the Twelfth Month (Part 1)

"In the future, when I conquer the world, I'll give you everything!" In the dilapidated courtyard, Li Yao looked at the young girl with intensity. When a young boy's determination was doubted, his face would always flush with that kind of ruddiness, "Really, I—Ugh!"

The young girl, swaying on a swing, pressed one hand on his face and laughed with a slightly red face: "Stop talking! You can't even wait eagerly for me to bring you a bun, let alone the world or whatever."

"..."

Li Yao touched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed, but he wasn't impatient or discouraged, and also laughed: "Anyway... I'm talking about the future."

"Forget the future, there's a difficult hurdle right in front of you now." Zhao Bai Bai swung the swing, "You haven't even opened your veins by now, how are you going to conquer the world?"

"..."

Li Yao fell silent. Whether it was the years he had spent alone or the two-plus years he had spent by the Grand General's side, his dantian seed had always been silent.

In this world, it was true that not everyone possessed the aptitude to open their veins, or rather, those who could embark on the path of cultivation were the lucky few. But if one were among the royal children, those unable to open their veins were indeed very rare.

The bloodline bestowed by heaven made them superior from birth: robust bodies, keen minds, superior appearances... and a much easier dantian seed-breaking.

No one's dantian seed was born a dead seed; it was just that some shells were thick, some were thin, and some were buried in "fields" that were too barren.

Li Yao sighed lightly and looked at the sky: "There are ways without cultivation; doing things doesn't necessarily mean you have to be able to beat others... Anyway, I'll think of a way slowly in the future. I'll go to the palace gate to register my name first."

Li Yao stood up, hissed and exhaled against the cold water of the melting snow, barely managed to wash up, and with some difficulty found two pieces of clothing that could be considered fitting to change into.

Zhao Bai Bai jumped off the swing and also picked up her sword: "You go to the palace gate to acknowledge your ancestors and return to your clan, I'll sneak into the palace to help you scout for news."

Li Yao was surprised: "You... how are you going to get into the palace?"

"Don't worry about that, anyway, I always have a way."

She indeed always had a way. Over the past two years, she had miraculously accomplished many things that Li Yao felt were inconceivable, as if there were an immortal secretly helping her... But sneaking into the palace was still too dangerous. Since he was very young, Li Yao had heard countless times about the ugliness and terror there.

He subconsciously tugged at the young girl's sleeve: "Don't, Bai Bai, don't go. After I register my name, I'll bring you in."

Zhao Bai Bai rolled her eyes: "Idiot, I'm going into the palace to help you scout for inside information. Once you've registered, why would I still go in? Do I like looking at the fat bellies of those princes?"

"What are you going to scout for?"

"Everything is being reshuffled now. Since you want to build a career, you have to perform excellently on this first entry into the palace. If you don't know anything, how are you going to compare with those people?"

"..."

"Anyway, don't worry about it, I'll go see what the wind is like in the palace. As for you, although the streets have calmed down, there's no guarantee there won't be any unexpected dangers. Bring a short sword and be more vigilant when walking."

"Alright, don't worry, Bai Bai." Li Yao said earnestly.

The long street of the Divine Capital was desolate and dark.

Even with preparation, Li Yao hadn't expected that in just one month, the once-prosperous streets would become such a sight. Out of ten high-rise buildings, seven had been burned down. One pavilion after another had collapsed into charcoal ruins. Dark blood that hadn't yet faded was splashed on the long street, and the walls were riddled with knife marks and arrow holes.

The human presence was particularly cold and clear. Although life had been difficult in the past, there was at least some bustle during the festivals. But now, besides the armored soldiers, there were only scattered human figures. Every face had no expression, and every pair of pupils was subconsciously dazed. The majestic capital of the country actually gave rise to a sense of desolation.

When Li Yao walked to the Vermilion Bird Main Street, the crowd began to increase. Many people in dirty, torn clothes gathered in groups to receive hot porridge. Fighting and snatching occurred from time to time, but the armored soldiers only leaned against the walls chatting indifferently, turning a deaf ear.

Li Yao tried to squeeze forward to shout, but it had no effect. He tried hard to organize the queue so that a few orphaned children who couldn't squeeze in and were crying from hunger could at least receive half a bowl, but he would persuade one side, and the other side would squeeze in. He himself ended up taking a good few punches, but he couldn't organize the formation at all.

The youth had no choice but to retreat, staring blankly at the snatching crowd for a while. At this moment, an itch flowed down from his temple. He reached out to wipe it and stained his palm with bright red. It turned out that the bump he had just taken hadn't been without injury.

The clothes he had managed to find were also stained with a few patches of blood. Li Yao treated his wound and looked silently at these figures squeezing and snatching, then decided to head to the palace gate first.

However, after walking only a few dozen yards, just past this area where relief was being distributed, he froze slightly, pulled by a sound coming from the side, and stopped his footsteps in front of a narrow, dark alley.

He tilted his head to look, and this time he was truly stunned.

This alley was narrow and deep, the old blood on the ground was dark and gloomy. The few households inside had clearly met with misfortune, but at this moment, there were two people in the alley—a ten-plus-year-old girl crying and shouting on the ground, and the back of a young man pulling her hair toward the courtyard.

"Lowly slave! Don't you understand? I'll be rich and noble again soon!" The male voice hissed, "Stay inside properly!"

He was wearing a dirty, torn, yet once-luxurious yellow robe, his hair disheveled and messy, and a sword with a cracked scabbard hung at his waist. The gold threads and jade inlays had already been dug out. He kicked the girl's spine, eliciting a moan of grief.

"Hey..." Li Yao subconsciously whispered, "Liheng... cousin."

The alley went quiet for a moment. The sword-wearing figure paused, then turned around slowly like a puppet. Li Yao felt as if he could hear the creaking sound of the neck turning... Under the disheveled long hair was a pair of beast-like pupils and that familiar face.

"... Cousin Yao." This face also looked at him blankly. After a long time, it suddenly grinned, "Cousin Yao, you're still alive too, that's great."

"Are... are Aunt and the others alright?" Li Yao asked.

"Everyone, they're all dead, and the house was burned to nothing." Liheng's voice was hoarse and trembling, but there was no expression on his face anymore.

"..."

"Right! I just saw the news!" Liheng suddenly shouted hoarsely, his scabbard dragging against the ground with a harsh, long sound as he twisted his body, "The palace is recalling clan disciples! Cousin Yao, I'm afraid there aren't many left of our big branch. It's perfect, let's go over together."

"Alright... Cousin, how did you survive this month? Have you been living here the whole time? I..." Li Yao subconsciously spoke halfway, then suddenly pressed his lips together firmly.

Only then did he gradually adapt to the dim light, and then he saw a lot of blood.

On Liheng's robe, boots, scabbard, and sword hilt, there were large and small, new and old... patches of dark, mottled blood, but there were no wounds on his own body.

"That's right, I escaped from the mansion. I knew these two households in the alley brewed wine, so I guessed they had a cellar to hide in..." Liheng laughed twice, hoarsely, "I snatched this place. I've been living in fear for a month, but I haven't lacked food."

Then he seemed to come back to his senses from something, looked down at the girl in his hand, and laughed again: "Ha! I really have been living stupidly. Now that the bloodline has been restored, I can touch any soft jade or warm fragrance, yet I was actually coveting this skinny brat to serve me. I might as well kill her and be done with it."

He raised his hand to swing his sword downward, but a sharp shout suddenly rang out from the alley entrance: "Stop!!"

Liheng's hand paused in mid-air, turning his head without moving.

Li Yao bowed toward him, in a posture ready to exert force.

Two pairs of eyes looked at each other, as if something had been torn open at this moment. There was no sound in the alley.

"Cousin Yao..." Liheng lowered his eyes and said hoarsely, "If I don't cut the weeds and dig up the roots, it will inevitably be a handle against me in the future."

He turned his head back and thrust his sword downward. Li Yao had already sprinted over within three steps, kicked the side wall, pulled out his short sword, and with a "Clang!", struck Liheng's blade off course.

Li Yao wrapped his arms around the girl's trembling body and raised his head. Liheng was holding the sword hilt with both hands, raised high above his head.

"Kill her, we still have to go to the palace gate to re-acknowledge our bloodline. Don't mind my business." He hissed.

A sword slashed down with force, and true Qi whistled on the blade this time. Li Yao didn't dare to catch it, threw the girl behind him, and rolled away himself. The stone dust chiseled out by the blade stung his face.

Liheng was the laziest one in the clan when it came to cultivation, especially after losing face at the Grand General's mansion two years ago and not being valued, he only indulged in pleasure. But after all, he had opened his veins six years ago and was now at the fourth level of the Life Vein. Although Li Yao had also practiced martial arts diligently for two years, this was his very first time truly engaging in battle.

Liheng didn't mind him, his straight, fierce eyes still staring at the girl he had thrown behind him. He waved his hand to push the youth away and swung his sword to slash at the small body again.

Li Yao fell backward onto the ground. At this moment, he remembered the counter-attack technique the Grand General had taught him. He gritted his teeth, straightened his waist, and his body hit Liheng's lower back like a springing shrimp.

Liheng staggered and grabbed him with a backhand in anger: "F*** your mother! Didn't you get beaten enough back then?!"

Those beast-like eyes, which had killed people, stared fiercely down at the youth, as if the tyranny of his childhood had descended once again. He lifted his leg and kneed Li Yao hard in the abdomen. The youth felt the excruciating pain of broken ribs for the first time, and his body truly curled into a live shrimp.

"Don't give me that s***!" Liheng's eyes were bloodshot. He waved his hand and threw him against the wall, his other hand already holding the sword to stab at the skinny girl on the ground.

Li Yao didn't let go of his sleeve, and in pain, anger, and urgency, said: "Stop!"

The martial arts lessons he had taken while accompanied by the Grand General flooded back from his memory at this moment. He lowered his head and stepped into Liheng's chest, using his short sword backhanded to block Liheng's blade.

Liheng raised his hand and smashed an elbow down on his shoulder, eliciting a cry of pain, but Li Yao still raised an arm to hug his right hand holding the sword. Liheng didn't look at him, only staring at the girl who had fallen and retreated, stepping forward and switching the sword to his other hand.

Li Yao gritted his teeth, climbed up his arm, and raised his hand with the short sword.

Liheng raised his hand to stab at the girl on the ground.

Then a silver flash swam past his field of vision. Liheng subconsciously returned his sword, but he hadn't realized how to block it yet when his throat felt a cold, piercing chill.

Everything went quiet.

He stiffened and slowly lowered his head. Li Yao's arm was winding around his right arm from a tricky angle like a butterfly through flowers, thrusting the entire short sword into his throat. The youth was panting, staring straight at him, and the gushing hot blood was staining half his face and his entire shoulder.

At this moment, Liheng didn't know if he had just woken from a dream or was in disbelief. The life of the fourth level wouldn't pass away suddenly. Fear and anger rushed into his chaotic brain at the same time. He tried his best to swing his sword, intending to cut the person in front of him into two pieces.

But the next moment, his hand and the long sword seemed to be hit by a startled horse, and they tilted backward violently.

A cold iron shadow flashed past first, piercing his wrist and nailing it firmly to the wall with a "thud."

Li Yao watched the corpse in front of him slide to the ground slowly, with only one arm nailed high up. He turned his head and saw a young man in cloth clothes with a bow on his back standing on the wall at the end of the alley. In the middle of this cold winter, he was wearing a pair of straw sandals, and he was holding another short spike in his hand.

"..."

He looked at Li Yao with no expression on his face, lifted his leg slightly, and dropped down from the wall: "Where did you learn the technique of the two cavalry under the Grand General's banner?"

It took Li Yao a while to come back to his senses. He straightened his clothes and bowed earnestly to him, "Are you a former subordinate of the Grand General? I have lived in the Grand General's mansion for the past two years and have often received the Grand General's teachings."

The young man was only eighteen or nineteen, but this temperament, silent as snow and sharp as a sword, was rare in the Divine Capital. After hearing this, he had no desire to verify it, only nodding: "I can help you collect the corpse, just push it onto me."

Li Yao was stunned, silent for a moment, but shook his head: "No need, one person does the deed, one person takes the responsibility."

"In a ruined city and chaotic world, what is there to take responsibility for." The young man said in a wooden voice, "If you didn't kill him, I would have; if he didn't go out, no one would know he was still alive."

"In a ruined city and chaotic world, one must be even more daring to take responsibility." Li Yao pressed on Liheng's head and pulled out his short sword, "He acted willfully, I acted willfully, and you acted willfully... then the world will never have a good day."

He tilted his head to look outside the alley: "Just like those refugees fighting for porridge."

"When people are hungry, they have to eat; that's been the case since ancient times." The young man said, "People who are starving have no morality. This is your first day seeing refugees, you'll get used to it later."

"No, every single person has morality."

"..."

"What kind of refugees are there? It's just that the distribution of relief is fundamentally unstable." Li Yao turned his head back, wiping the blood dripping from his chin, "I just checked over there."

"What do you mean?"

"Can't you tell? There is some today, none tomorrow, and one doesn't know when there will be more. There's little in the morning, a lot in the evening, and one doesn't know how much or how little. Living in such a fearful situation, who wouldn't fight for their life for a meal right in front of them? Naturally, everyone lives like a wild beast." Li Yao said earnestly, "As long as the relief stabilizes, the people's livelihood can soon be adjusted and orderly... This is a very simple matter, yet I don't know why no one in the government is doing it."

He wiped the blood off his face, bowed again, and cupped his fists: "Many thanks for your life-saving grace. I am Li Yao, the only son of the Virtuous Prince. May I ask the name of my benefactor?"

The young man looked at him quietly, straightened his posture after a moment, and performed a salute: "My surname is Shang, a former subordinate under the Grand General, Left Cavalry Commander, greeting the Heir Prince." ===== CHAPTER 618 =====