Chapter 11

The dual cultivation of life and destiny kept pace; Zhou Shuo exhaled deeply. He had finally shaken off the identity of a good-for-nothing, but he was still just a little shrimp. To become a true expert, he needed a long time of training and accumulation. If his strength hadn't reached the point of self-defense, he absolutely could not return to the Yangshen world.

Thinking of those people from the Supreme Dao, Zhou Shuo eased his joy and then buried himself again, continuing to study the Fang Xian Jing and develop qi-refining techniques. In pure martial arts and dao arts, opposing the Supreme Dao, he himself knew it was impossible, so he could only start from magical treasures, elixirs, and qi-refining techniques, seeking the strength for self-defense to return to the Yangshen world and obtain the remaining techniques there.

Just as Zhou Shuo was concentrating on his cultivation studies, the outside world underwent another change. The case of the murder of Left Commander Liu Yi, after involving multiple parties, was forcibly brought to an end.

More than ten years ago, Han State once joined Chu State to launch a punitive expedition against the southern Baiyue. The troops were dispatched under the pretext of suppressing rebellion. At that time, Right Commander Li Kai and Left Commander Liu Yi, under the leadership of Marquis Xueyi Bai Yifei, entered Baiyue. Along the way, the troops were stationed at the Huoyu Mountain Villa in Baiyue territory, a place that produced Huoyu agate.

At that time, Li Kai fell in love with a lady from the Huoyu Mountain Villa, but Lieutenant Liu Yi obstructed them. Later, during the campaign to pacify the southern Yue on the battlefield, Liu Yi secretly harmed his comrade, causing Li Kai to fall into enemy lines. He also colluded with the bandits known as the Three Wolves of Severed Hair, massacred the entire Huoyu Mountain Villa, looted a treasure, and married the lady he had loved—who was none other than Lady Hu, whom Zhou Shuo had seen that night—as his wife. The swordsman assassin was one of the Three Wolves of Severed Hair.

Liu Yi's deeds back then were extremely covert; afterward he also silenced the Three Wolves of Severed Hair, but one managed to escape. This person hid his name, entered the assassin organization Night Curtain under the Han minister and general Ji Wuye, assuming the name Wu Jiu. Years later, because of the past grudge and the treasure, he assassinated Han's Left Commander Liu Yi, sparking this murder case that shook Xinzheng. At that time, Li Kai also returned from Baiyue to Xinzheng, destitute like a beggar.

The case is tangled and complex, with far-reaching implications. That Baiyue campaign years ago was key to the present Han king's ascension. Now among Han's nobles, many are also involved, and it further involves a shocking secret, so the final outcome of this case cannot be perfect in any sense.

All the charges were pinned on Li Kai; Han Fei barely avoided imprisonment, and then the Han king ordered him to exterminate Li Kai. As the consummate master of Legalism, extraordinarily wise, the protagonist Han Fei, the Ninth Prince of Han, naturally would not be satisfied with his father's arrangement. He pulled a substitute, replacing the captured Wu Jiu with a disguise to stand in for Li Kai, completing the mission while also protecting the Li Kai he sympathized with.

"Finished, heh!" Zhou Shuo sat in the courtyard, thinking about the beginning and end of this murder case, unable to help curling the corners of his mouth. The Han king thought the case was settled, and Han Fei had sent away the sympathetic Li Kai, both believing that would be the end; on the contrary, this matter had only just begun.

"Boss, the person you wanted has arrived." Ye Jiujie stepped into the courtyard, looking at the elder seated on the floor of the eaves walkway. He slightly bowed and stepped back, revealing the hunched, gaunt figure of an old beggar leaning on a wooden staff behind him.

"Hello, Mr. Li, I'm Zhou Shuo." Zhou Shuo gazed at the hunched old beggar, and couldn't help smiling.

"I dare not accept the title of Mister; beforehand I should still thank the hero for saving my life." Li Kai looked at the youth seated before the walkway, clasping his hands in salute, remembering that this boy had saved him that night.

"How can you not dare? As a grand Right Commander of Han, how could you possibly not be worthy of a simple 'Mister'?" Zhou Shuo looked at the old man reeking of decay, imagining from his face how vigorous he once was. Life is just like this—wonderful, and so am I. If it weren't for that door, I would now be wasting away in the city.

"Hero, you're not looking for me just to talk about this, are you?" Li Kai lowered his gaze; he had wandered between life and death, experienced the ups and downs of life, and was no longer the sort who clung to fame and profit in wordy disputes.

"Of course not; I've taken a liking to some things about you, Commander Li." Zhou Shuo shook his head in refusal; seeking out Li Kai was naturally not merely flattery or belittlement.

"Li here can't even protect his wife and daughter; even this lowly life is a handout from others, so what could there be for a hero to take a liking to?" Li Kai spoke in a flat tone, yet his lowered eyes were slightly red. If it weren't for Ninth Prince Han Fei's intervention, he would have lost his life; what does he have left that anyone could take a liking to?

"Just call me Xiao Zhou; what I fancy about Commander Li isn't anything else—it's his former ability to deploy troops and form battle arrays." Zhou Shuo looked at the man whose tone was flat but whose heart trembled, flicked his fingers, and his words caused Ye Jiujie beside him to subtly change expression.

"What!" Li Kai slightly raised his head, somewhat surprised as he looked at Zhou Shuo beneath the eaves.

"My few subordinates are no good—just brawling and managing petty affairs is passable, but they're not enough to prop up my Fang Sheng Guan. So I hope Commander Li will come help me." Zhou Shuo crossed his legs, then gazed at Li Kai. Indeed, today he is recruiting this former Right Commander of Han; Ye Jiujie, Tie Lao Cai, and Guan Rang are not exactly excellent subordinates.

Han State follows the Zhou system; the Zhou system has five offices: Commander, Minister of the Masses, Minister of Works, Minister of Justice, and Minister of Personnel, overseeing military affairs, labor, rites, law, and personnel to govern the whole state. Since the Commander is the one in charge of military affairs and horses play an important role in the military, the office is named Sima.

"Zhou, Lord Zhou, do you know my current status?" Li Kai, hearing Zhou Shuo's recruitment words, couldn't help opening his mouth.

"I naturally know that, but you are officially dead; this persona of yours doesn't exist, and even if you did, there are ways to erase you. Moreover, the thing I want you to do doesn't require you to be in Han State for now—you could go to Wei or Zhao. Of course, these aren't the main point; the main point is…." Zhou Shuo looked at Li Kai, his tone pausing slightly, then continued.

"Will you work for me?" Facing Zhou Shuo's words, Li Kai fell silent for a moment, then fixed his gaze on Zhou Shuo.

King of Han

"You've already endured enough in the first half of your life; I imagine you have no interest in gold, silver, riches, official titles, or honors anymore. But you have a wife and daughter—don't you look forward to reuniting with them openly and honorably?" Zhou Shuo raised his eyebrows.

"What assurance do you have to dare promise me such a thing? You should know that what I'm up against is the entire Han State." Li Kai couldn't help glaring and shouting, recalling that he had once been Han's Right Commander—not exactly in his prime, but he did hold military command; now he's fallen so low that even his life is a handout from others, while you, an obscure nobody, dare to spout such big talk.

"Because this Han State will collapse and cease to exist within ten years." Zhou Shuo looked at Li Kai's eyes, which were verging on madness, and spoke each word clearly.

"Not only Han, but Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan, and Qi will also disappear one after another."

"Are you a Qin person?" Li Kai, under the pressure of shame and sorrow, shouted angrily, then slowly slumped; but hearing Zhou Shuo's words, his face changed. Now Qin's power is at its zenith, yet that seems impossible—how could Qin, strong enough to defeat the six states, also destroy them? The Seven Warring States have stood in balance for two hundred years; what could Qin rely on to break this stalemate?

"I'm not from Qin, nor will I serve Qin. Truly speaking of origin, I should be considered a Chu person, but that doesn't matter now—under the world's turmoil, whether Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao, Wei, Han, or Qin, we are all merely children of Huaxia." Zhou Shuo shook his head; without mentioning the great historical currents, just saying that Han's current dilapidated state will surely be destroyed sooner or later, though discussing this with Li Kai was rather talkative.

"Commander Li, give me a definite answer!" Zhou Shuo looked at Li Kai, whose anger had burst forth then subsided as he thought, demanding a reply; he merely valued Li Kai's past record as a Commander, for this world lacks many things but never lacks people.

"Can you really be certain that Han will perish?" Li Kai looked at Zhou Shuo, his expression unusually complex, for he found he could not see through this guy at all, yet the other spoke with conviction that Han would fall, asking him to do work—actually the work itself isn't much, but Li Kai himself has fallen to such a state that he can't even see his wife and daughter, and he has only a few good years left; yet if Han were to fall, what would become of his wife and daughter?

"What, you still want to stem the tide?" Zhou Shuo raised his eyebrows.

"I long ago gave up any hope for Han, but my daughter and wife—I must provide for them." Li Kai struggled to speak; his wife was actually Lady Liu's spouse, the lady from the Huoyu Mountain Villa surnamed Hu. Over ten years ago they had secretly pledged themselves and borne a daughter, but later Lady Hu was betrothed to Liu Yi, forcing them to send the daughter away; that daughter now works as a musician in the Zilan Pavilion, which is the old den of the Liushas, not a virtuous place.

"You will have this opportunity, on the condition that you work for me." Zhou Shuo spoke indifferently; everything has a precondition.

"Alright, as long as you meet my demands, I'm willing to work for you—what do you want me to do? My condition is poor." Li Kai looked at Zhou Shuo, nodded his head; he had no other choice—if he didn't seek refuge, he would merely wander about and die longing for his wife and daughter.

"What I want you to do is simple: take some brothers to Wei or Zhao, then help me build the Dao Hall of the Fang Sheng Guan, Jiujie." Zhou Shuo suddenly called out Ye Jiujie's name from beside him; the bearded man standing to the side shuddered, then bowed forward.

Purple Orchid Hall

"By then you'll go together with Commander Li to give him a hand." Zhou Shuo looked at the bearded man's cautious demeanor and uttered a sentence.

"Yes." Ye Jiujie raised their head and looked at the boss; seeing that the other had no particular expression, they couldn't help but nod in relief.