Chapter 618: Tying Colors in the Twelfth Month (Part 2)

Li Yao parted ways with this young man, but picked up the sword Liheng had dropped in the blood, and walked out of the alley while pressing his abdomen.

He was weaker now than just a moment ago, but the number of people who dared to cast their gaze toward him had clearly decreased. Walking along the street, people coming toward him would avoid the road for him.

When he arrived in front of the palace gate, he almost didn't recognize the place.

The outer wall had been washed by fire and blades. Large patches of blood had sunk into the brick holes and stone crevices. It was difficult to sprinkle water to clean them in winter, so they had to be left to accumulate. Walking in from the palace gate, the people seen were dressed in a mix of clothes. Palace maids and eunuchs shuttled back and forth, while people in green and purple robes and those wearing armor and holding spears stood in one place. Most of their faces were silent and panicked.

Li Yao knew where this expression came from. If in the waves of chaotic times, the displaced common people were duckweed that could only numbly follow fate, then these people were still standing on a swaying boat, some of them being boatmen and helmsmen, who were currently listening to the creaking groans coming from the wooden boards under their feet.

"Stop! Who are you?!"

It wasn't until he had walked seven or eight yards inside that someone reacted and stopped him, a long spear blocking his path: "Where do you come from? Do you have an official seal?"

Li Yao said calmly: "I am Li Yao, the heir of the Virtuous Prince, ordered to enter the palace to return to the clan. I can use blood verification as proof."

It was unclear what the reaction of the people around him was after hearing this sentence. The long spear in front of him paused, slowly retracted, and performed a respectful salute. Several people nearby who heard the sound also bowed and saluted, but none of them had any words.

A few soldiers sitting in the corner of the wall to rest and warm up glanced at him, with no intention of standing up, and soon shifted their gaze away, pretending they hadn't heard anything.

Li Yao passed his gaze over their blood-stained robes, holding the two swords, one short and one long, and walked straight into the palace city.

There was no need to search for where to go. Collecting clan disciples was the top priority for these two days. Li Yao walked in and saw many royal clothes standing in the field in front of the hall.

He had clearly arrived very late. With his home destroyed and hiding alone in a cellar, he was the type with the least access to news. Most of the clan members, even if they were forced to leave their homes, always had a line of personal guards by their side, or had long since had a place to take refuge. They had arrived here within the first hour after the announcement to the whole city.

"Heaven's will is not manifest, actually allowing thieves to slaughter the royal blood..." These faces with superior features were still in shock. Li Yao walked through them, hearing sobbing sounds one after another.

These faces were somewhat familiar, mostly strange. They gathered together, besides the sobbing, there were also hoarse murmurs.

"Internal strife in our dynasty, how can the Northern Kingdom not seize the opportunity? At that time, you and I..."

"If Heaven's will is with Li, why treat us so harshly..."

Li Yao passed his gaze over their faces, looking at these uncles or brothers and sisters covering their faces and pouring out their hearts, looking at the many eunuchs and palace maids standing around with their heads lowered and not moving at all. Only one thought rose in his heart—if just one person from here went to watch the situation over there, how could the relief be so chaotic?

He stood silently for a while, and no one came to talk to him. The formations for keeping warm had already been spread out, and tables had been set up, with tea and snacks already served. After a month of panic, they could finally get some comfort.

People sat down according to their rank. Li Yao still hadn't seen the legendary Emperor. Before this military chaos, it was said that he hadn't attended court for three months.

An old man with white hair at both temples at the head of the table stood up. He was probably the oldest clan elder now. He trembled as he turned to the lower seats and raised his wine goblet toward this patch of yellow robes.

He wanted to say something in a hoarse, high voice, but two lines of tears flowed down first: "Heaven pities our Yu, making the blood relatives gather again after the danger and difficulty, but... but today in the hall... there are actually only a few dozen people left?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone at the banquet sobbed.

The old man wiped his tears: "Even so, the state remains, and the long bloodline of my Li clan remains. Our dynasty stands on the will of Heaven. Our ancestors struggled through hardships and obtained the care of Heaven's will, only then did the state have six hundred years of continuity. Today, I summon you all to follow the direction of Heaven's will and select the heir who can inherit the great unification in the future... I wonder how many of my clan's descendants are left now?"

Everyone at the banquet looked around. One young man or boy after another stood up, and many didn't even dare to straighten their bodies, still carrying the shrinking from having just escaped from a dangerous situation.

Li Yao watched them silently. He didn't know which person Heaven's will would choose. He only heard from very far away that there was Heaven's will above the imperial city, and it favored the bloodline of the Li surname. Only a monarch who follows Heaven is the legitimate successor.

The palace servants began to hold registers to record the name of the branch of each person who stood up. Words were spoken from the mouths of different people. Prince Cao or Prince Guang, the eldest son or the youngest son... It was also at this time that many people gradually noticed the thin, small youth who had been standing at the end of the seats.

Stained with half-side blood, holding two fierce weapons, he just stood quietly at the end and watched.

There was no one beside him. The clan members looked back at each other, but no one stood up to acknowledge him, until suddenly a surprised female voice said: "You... are you Li Yao?"

Li Yao raised his eyes to look. A young girl wrapped in a cotton cloak was standing there. It took him two breaths to recognize that it was Lian Lin. She had also lost the luster that had always been glowing on her face, and the smile she had always worn was gone. Her expression was panicked and dazed.

After many people gathered their gaze on her, she came back to her senses and waved: "Yao, Cousin Yao, you... has your home also met with misfortune... come over to my side."

Li Yao didn't move. He still looked at these yellow robes, whether sitting or standing.

"Cousin Yao, you, what's on your hands... have you seen Cousin Liheng?" Lian Lin said nervously, "There has been no news of him, and his corpse wasn't found in the mansion, so I thought maybe he was still alive..."

"I killed him."

"..."

The entire front of the hall was silent for a moment, and the pen tips of the palace servants moving about paused abruptly.

For a time, I don't know how many dazed eyes fell on him. Li Yao looked at these people quietly and said: "I met Cousin Liheng in the alley when I came. He killed the two households there, only leaving a young girl to play with, and hid in the wine cellar for a month. When I met him, he was about to kill that girl too, to come here to acknowledge his ancestors and return to the clan. I couldn't stop him, so I had to kill him."

A slight commotion arose in front of the hall. Lian Lin lost her voice: "Cousin Yao, you! What nonsense are you talking about!"

"I'm not talking nonsense." The youth's expression was very calm and earnest, like a student answering a teacher's question, "I think he deserved to be killed. Just now, this elder said he wanted to select an heir of Heaven's will from among us. I was just wondering how to select. If I hadn't killed Cousin Liheng just now, and he had come here to be selected, wouldn't it be another disaster for our dynasty?"

"Yellow-mouthed child! Which family's disciple are you?!" Someone had already slapped the table and stood up, "How dare you slaughter blood relatives of the same clan!"

"I am Li Yao, the heir of the Virtuous Prince. Today I entered the palace to return to the clan. Seeing all the elders and brothers and sisters, I couldn't help but wonder how many more Cousin Lihengs are among you." Li Yao looked at the dozens of black and yellow robes sitting there, "Noble blood, proud seeds of heaven, shouldn't they be the pillars of the dynasty? The mountains and rivers are broken, and the last tendon holding it together was broken on my body; the state is swaying, and the first step to stabilize it rang out under my boots. The world is chaotic, but the Li surname must not be chaotic. Shouldn't this be what a person with the Li surname is? Yet now, I don't see one."

"In peaceful times, you are safe pigs and moths; when the situation is slightly chaotic, you are the first to act like wild beasts... This is not human, let alone the bloodline of the Li surname." Li Yao said earnestly, "Because of this, I killed Cousin Liheng. There's no 'how dare you' or 'how dare you not.' Among you, there are many who are like this. If we run into each other, I will kill you just the same, or you will kill me."

There was a silence of at least ten breaths in the field.

Then the youth was captured and thrown into a heavy prison.

The heavy prison of the Imperial Guard was worse than imagined. There were no clan members to speak for him outside, and most of his crimes would lead to being granted death by poison.

The wounds in his abdomen and shoulders hadn't been treated, and the body without cultivation deteriorated very quickly. In the darkness, Li Yao gradually didn't know how many days had passed.

"Are you a stupid pig!"

It wasn't until a crisp shout rang in his ears that Li Yao was punched awake from his coma while wearing shackles. Opening his eyes, what he saw was the young girl's bright, wide-eyed gaze.

"Bai Bai!" He said happily, and then took another punch to the head.

"You're so handsome, standing in front of the hall and shouting that you want to kill all of you. Even I only dared to sneak into the palace quietly." Zhao Bai Bai stared, her lips slightly pale.

Li Yao lowered his head in embarrassment, raised his head, and asked with concern: "Bai Bai, how did you get in? Are you hurt?"

"Is there any place I can't get into? A small matter." The young girl sat sideways on the crossbeam, tapping her chin lightly, "I have to think now, how to take you out appropriately."

The young girl once again demonstrated her "supernatural powers." The heavy prison of the Imperial Guard was like walking on flat ground to her. She quietly stole the keys, opened his shackles and cage, and then took him through the heavy prison, hiding in every inconceivable corner, perfectly avoiding every patrol, and finally knocked out the two guards at the small door with a "clang-clang," and escaped with him.

"Bai Bai, is this considered a prison break?"

"No, I discussed it with the old Emperor, and he agreed to let you go."

"Ah? Really?!"

"As true as you being a pig."

"..."

Zhao Bai Bai seemed to have planned everything. Li Yao followed her out, changed his disguise in an abandoned courtyard, and then walked toward the east on the street. When passing the Vermilion Bird Main Street, he saw a large group of Imperial Guards pouring out of the palace, shouting to seal the city gates.

Li Yao thought they were coming to capture him, his body tensed as he glanced at Zhao Bai Bai, but the young girl said: "Don't be afraid, they aren't here to catch you, you don't have that much face."

"Ah? Then what's the matter?"

"The Imperial Seal was stolen in the palace."

"What?!"

Those people were indeed not here to capture them. The two walked to the city wall without anyone paying attention. There happened to be a hole just big enough for a person to crawl through. The two squeezed out, and Zhao Bai Bai hurriedly took him onto a small boat that had long been prepared.

Riding the darkest night, the two drifted downstream along the river. The vast starry field, the lonely and cold sky, below were farmland and villages that had also suffered from military chaos, all desolate and uninhabited.

The boat moved very fast. They traveled without stopping for a whole day and night, until night fell again, as if they had thrown that great city they had never left far into another world, only then did they gradually stop.

"Where... is this place?" Li Yao climbed up from the boat cabin.

The pain and fatigue made him a bit weak. Along the way, it was mostly Zhao Bai Bai steering the boat.

He looked up and saw that they had sailed into a wide, flat, and long river. Not only had the torrent just now not frozen, but this mirror-like river surface hadn't frozen either. The stars and moon were reflected in it, as if they were sailing in the Heavenly River.

The young girl didn't speak this time. She sat quietly at the bow of the boat, looking at the front of this great river. Her white dress couldn't even see dust in the moonlight, only her supple black hair draped over her back, like a fairy between the moon and the river.

"Bai Bai..." Li Yao subconsciously murmured.

"Of course you don't recognize where this is. You've never been here." Zhao Bai Bai looked up and said softly, "This is the Luo River, which you often recited when reading poetry in the past."

"Hm..." Li Yao stared blankly. The clear waves rippled, the cool wind and cold water made him feel dazed again.

"Li Yao, do you think it's a pity?" Zhao Bai Bai said, "Although we escaped, we are also far away from the capital, further away from your wish."

"... No, I never expected everything to go smoothly." Li Yao curled up in the boat cabin, hugged his knees, and looked at the distant starry river, "I thought about it on the boat today. Whatever Heaven's will or not, it's not important at all. Let's go to the north. The Northern Kingdom's invasion might have already begun. Let's join the war first and defend the mountains and rivers."

Zhao Bai Bai turned her head, looked at him quietly, and then suddenly smiled, spreading something out toward him with her hand.

Li Yao cast his gaze over and froze.

A square jade block, five dragons intertwined into a pillar, all holding a jade bead. The four seal characters facing him were clearly identifiable: "Received from Heaven"... There was no need for a second look; this was the Imperial Seal.

He looked at it in shock and confusion, and those five dragon shapes had already rushed toward him. With a touch of his fingertips, they drilled into his body, as if they were originally one with him.

Li Yao had never felt the sense of fate deep in his bloodline so truly. He raised his head. The sky was clear and the moon was bright. He looked deeply at the firmament, and at that moment, it seemed he had completed a gaze with something.

Blood burned and boiled in his body. His wounded body began to heal, and the seed in his dantian cracked and sprouted very smoothly, then climbed up section by section. When he came back to his senses, he realized that he was shrouded in many strands of moonlight, and his whole body felt as if it were floating.

"This is the secret edict passed down to him by Heaven's will. Only by relying on this power can the youth with lofty ambitions reorganize the mountains and rivers in his heart." The Green Luan in the Mirror wrote down in the last few lines.

"At this moment, he looked at the young girl beside him, but saw that her face and lips were very pale. Before he had cultivation, he had never realized that she was already so weak.

'Bai, Bai Bai, where did you get this Imperial Seal?' The youth was inexplicably panicked.

Zhao Bai Bai tilted her head and revealed a beautiful, playful smile again: 'I told you not to worry about it. I discussed it with that old Heaven's will of yours, and he chose you.'

Although Li Yao didn't believe it, he didn't know what to ask at this time. Instead, Zhao Bai Bai looked at him for a while, but then turned her face away, looking at the water surface, her expression becoming weak for the first time: 'Li Yao, do you remember the *Ode to the Luo Goddess* you recited to me last year?'

'Remember, of course I remember.'

'You said, if the Luo Goddess in it believed in Prince Chen's feelings and followed him to the shore, and from then on could never return to the water... then she would only have Prince Chen alone. If, if Prince Chen failed her, what should she do?'

'...'

'...'

'Bai Bai,' Li Yao said earnestly, 'I will never fail you.'" ===== CHAPTER 619 =====