Chapter 285: Imperial Edict and the Wu Nu

Di Jun gazed at Bai Ze with great interest, feeling that the other seemed to have gone mad—just a few Wu people had died, yet they actually came to report to him.

Facing Di Jun's gaze, Bai Ze gave a wry smile and said, "Your Majesty, it is not that I, your humble servant, am making a mountain out of a molehill; rather, from small signs I see great things—within only a hundred years, countless Wu people have crossed the border, treating the Heavenly Court's prohibitions as nothing."

Although this matter is small, it reveals the Wu Clan's internal atmosphere; a few Wu deaths are not surprising, but the Wu Clan's current attitude cannot be ignored.

Upon hearing his words, Di Jun also felt there was some reason in them. But it is merely a dispute at the lowest level; if he were to incur Emperor Jiang's blame over this, it would be somewhat inhumane and overstepping.

However, since Bai Ze has reported this matter to him, if Di Jun does not take it seriously, that would be too disrespectful to the senior minister.

After thinking, Di Jun summoned his close attendants, ordered them to bring the writing brush, and with a sweeping hand wrote eighteen golden plaques.

Inscribed upon them: "Imperial order—from now on, the Wu Clan shall not cross this boundary."

Setting down his brush, Di Jun turned to Bai Ze and said, "Go and have someone affix this plaque to the copper pillar; from now on, the Wu Clan shall not cross it."

Bai Ze bowed slightly and replied, "Good."

He then took the golden plaques, slowly withdrew from the Heavenly Palace's separate courtyard, and summoned several thunder-deity generals to distribute the plaques.

The generals gladly accepted, took the golden plaques, and rode away on clouds. As the plaques neared the copper pillar, each turned into a golden light that shot forth from the general's hand.

The golden light entered the copper pillar, and immediately the sky filled with thunderclouds, countless thunderbolts falling. The copper pillar glowed within the lightning.

Soon after, the thunderlight vanished, and the formerly ordinary copper pillar now resembled gold and stone; the gold and metal had disappeared, yet several large characters were engraved upon it.

These were precisely the prohibitions that Di Jun had written on the golden plaques—iron brush, silver hooks, with cloud patterns entwining; beneath the seal script, flowers, birds, fish, insects, sun, moon, mountains, and rivers were all reflected.

In a place unseen by all, the azure clouds representing the Heavenly Court's fortune continually gathered, pouring onto the copper pillar.

The fortune-bearing azure clouds, taking the eighteen copper pillars as a boundary, spread toward the half of the Xifang Dalu occupied by the Wu Clan, until they encompassed it entirely.

The azure clouds also gradually turned dark, covering the Wu Clan in the form of black clouds overhead.

The Wu Clan's fortune, stimulated by this, suddenly surged violently; under the strong pressure of the Heavenly Court's fortune, it transformed into a pitch-black great snake that roared toward the sky.

Yet within the black clouds, thunderbolts were densely packed, flashing from time to time; lightning pierced the clouds and fell, exploding all around the black snake.

The eleven ancestral witches cultivating in their cave dwellings immediately reacted, lifting their heads to look at the sky, but saw that the heavenly clouds remained unchanged, just as usual.

The ancestral witches sensed nothing unusual, yet their hearts were filled with anxiety, as if dark clouds gathered and something weighed upon their minds.

Their hearts pounded, growing ever more violent.

Amid the surging blood and qi, the eleven ancestral witches seemed to see a pitch-black great snake trembling beneath the lightning, its body occasionally showing scorched breaks—obviously from the heavenly scattered thunder.

In the heavenly realm, idle and wandering, Hou Tu also seemed to sense something, turning her gaze westward, only to feel a heavy oppression in her chest.

"What has happened? It makes me feel so oppressed, as if a great stone presses upon my heart. Has something occurred among the Wu Clan?"

Hou Tu muttered to herself, her heart filled with anxiety, yet when she reached the Heavenly Gate, her steps slowed.

Now the main forces of the Heavenly Court are all in the West, leaving the heavenly realm somewhat empty; if she wished to forcefully break out of the heavenly realm, she could naturally do so.

But if she did so, the Heavenly Court would certainly investigate the matter afterward.

Now the Heavenly Court's main forces are all in the West; if word spread that she had forced the Heavenly Gate, it is not guaranteed that they would not act directly against the Wu Clan.

Moreover, even if the Heavenly Court did not pursue her actions, it would still grow dissatisfied with the Wu Clan and might even target them.

After all, her status is special—she is originally a hostage of the Wu Clan left in the Heavenly Court, and also an ancestral witch; any of her actions would be magnified onto both sides.

If this were to provoke war and conflict, it would likely bring catastrophic disaster upon the Wu Clan, and she would truly become a sinner of the primordial world and the Wu Clan.

Having long resided in the heavenly realm, though she does not fully understand the Heavenly Court's true strength, merely seeing a single scale or claw reveals its might.

Although she has not returned to the Wu Clan for a long time, she still attentively follows Wu Clan affairs; Emperor Jiang and others often send her messages, and with figures like Da Yi present, she has never cut off news from the tribe.

She knows the Wu Clan's present strength all too well, and precisely because of this, Hou Tu dares not act.

"Forget it, let us wait a while; if there truly is something, my elder brothers will naturally send word to me; if I go forcefully, I will likely encounter complications."

After letting out a long sigh, Hou Tu turned and left, without concealing her form. Since she had not gone out, there was naturally no need to conceal herself.

The heavenly soldiers and generals guarding the distant Heavenly Gate, seeing Hou Tu turn and leave, finally relaxed their breath, no longer bearing the earlier air of facing a great foe.

Hou Tu, perhaps in her urgency, failed to notice that just moments ago, when she intended to force her way out, the imposing aura surrounding her had placed considerable pressure on the heavenly soldiers and generals.

On the Xifang Dalu, the eleven ancestral witches gathered together in a hall, each with a solemn expression, no one speaking; the atmosphere was heavy enough to make one feel suffocated.

They were waiting, waiting for their subordinates to investigate what had happened on the Xifang Dalu and what anomalies existed—so much that it made them all feel pressure.

During this period, not one of them spoke; they were all recalling that pitch-black great snake that felt intimately close to them yet covered in wounds.

They recalled the snake that roared toward the sky, yet trembled violently beneath the thunder.

The Wu Clan does not cultivate the primordial spirit, does not comprehend the Great Dao, and cannot see the manifestation of heavenly secrets, their fortune entangled. Yet they are well-informed and knowledgeable, and they have a vague guess about the origin of that black snake.

What they cannot quite fathom is what exactly happened in the primordial world that would cause the fortune snake to fall into such a state.

Just as the eleven ancestral witches were speculating, a thin, withered old man slowly entered the hall, paid his respects to each of them, and then sat down on the floor.

He was unlike ordinary Wu Clan members, lacking a tall, mighty physique and also lacking their abundant, vigorous blood and qi.

Unlike the straight backs of other Wu Clan members, this withered old man was stooped, and unlike the usual Wu Clan garb of animal skins, he wore clothing woven from unknown vine fiber.

His low spirit, mixed with a rotten odor, seemed as if a gust of wind could topple him; though seated on the ground, he seemed as if he would collapse at any moment.

Facing this old man who might die at any moment, the eleven ancestral witches felt no contempt; rather, they treated him with considerable respect. This person is the Wu Clan's Wu Nu, who first appeared when the Wu Clan migrated to the West, during the third yuanhui.

Passed down to him, he is now the ten-thousandth-plus holder of the title, having inherited the name Wu Nu and its wisdom.

Besides the first Wu Nu, each subsequent holder's longest lifespan is no more than a thousand years, which is pitifully short for primordial beings.

Moreover, as the wisest individuals of the Wu Clan, they are all extraordinarily talented; how could they resign themselves to this?

Perhaps it is that extreme wisdom brings harm, or perhaps as the Wu Clan's sages they must consider too much, overtaxing mind and effort, so that any extension of life ends up as nothing but an illusory bubble.

And precisely because of the Wu Nu's uniqueness and sacrifice, the eleven ancestral witches present hold respect for this old man, whose lifespan is evidently short.

The Wu Nu listened quietly, waiting for the eleven ancestral witches to fully recount what they had seen, then, straining his voice, he spoke:

"What you esteemed ancestral witches have seen should be the manifestation of our Wu Clan's fortune; it must be a sign from our fortune given the predicament we now face."

"The pitch-black great snake represents the Wu Clan; its body covered in wounds indicates that the Wu Clan is presently being targeted by external forces."

"The sky overcast with dark clouds, the great snake roaring toward the heavens, naturally shows that the harm comes from above."

Now, in the wilderness, the only heavenly threat that can harm the Wu Clan is the Heavenly Court; the fortune has already told us where the Wu Clan's enemies come from.

The sky is covered by dark clouds; that must be the Wu Clan's future being restricted, for fortune is the manifestation of the Wu Clan's will, and it changes with the Wu Clan's customs.

Now the Wu Clan's custom is to cross the copper pillars, go to the other half of the continent to capture slaves and hunt, to show their martial prowess.

From this we can see that this matter should originate from the border; the esteemed Grand Witches can send people to the frontier to investigate and then know the cause of this change.

As for why the Wu Clan's custom is like this, where its source lies—I do not know.

The eleven Grand Witches all furrowed their brows; they naturally know why the Wu Clan's custom is thus, after all they allowed this trend to arise.

Wu Na, as the wisest of the Wu Clan, is blaming them for not heeding advice back then, allowing this to happen, and insisting on becoming hostile with the Heavenly Court.

The eleven Grand Witches remained silent; after a moment, Di Jiang raised his head and looked at Wu Na, speaking softly:

"We were indeed negligent back then, at fault for letting the Wu people below run wild; but now it concerns fortune, a matter of great importance, I do not know if there is a solution."

Wu Na frowned tightly; the matter has already happened, now thinking of rescue is too late; all we can think of is to make amends.

Facing Di Jiang's question, Wu Luo merely shook his head, his voice hoarse: "Difficult. Since the mistake has already been made, the Heavenly Court has also employed tactics, while we know nothing of them. Even if we wish to make amends, we must first see what methods the Heavenly Court used."

"As for easing relations with the Heavenly Court, it is largely useless; the Heavenly Emperor speaks with heavenly law, and every word and deed elicits a response from all beings of the wilderness."

"To try to change it is of little possibility; moreover, the Wu Clan's ambitions were revealed too early, and now lowering ourselves to be insignificant will have little effect."

When these words were spoken, the eleven Grand Witches felt somewhat embarrassed; the matter of nurturing bandits for self-preservation had been opposed by previous Wu Nas.

But back then they were full of confidence, feeling that with the Wu Clan's strength there was no need to rely on others' breath, so they did not adopt it.

Yet now faced with this sudden situation, everyone is helpless, truly hard to accept.

Wu Na coughed violently several times, making those present worry that he would cough up his heart and lungs; after all, they could hardly believe Wu Na's physical condition.

Fortunately, at this moment the Wu people sent to gather information returned a reply, letting Di Jiang and others know exactly what had happened.

Regarding the Heavenly Court's actions, Chu Jiuyin frowned and asked strangely:

"Usually we don't see the Heavenly Court move; why today did it suddenly issue an edict, forbidding the Wu Clan from crossing the border?"

At that time the clash between the heavenly soldiers and the Wu Clan happened too quickly, and the Heavenly Court's response was also too prompt, causing those sent to gather information to see only the golden characters on the copper pillars, unaware of the details.

And the information obtained by Chu Jiuyin, Di Jiang, and others is naturally the same: they only know that the Heavenly Court issued an order, placed it upon the copper pillars, preventing them from crossing.

Wu Na thought it over and guessed the general reason, then said helplessly:

"Most likely something happened recently that I don't know about; the Wu people below clashed with the heavenly soldiers, the scale unknown, yet it alarmed those few emperors, who specially issued an edict."

"If that clash were not minor, then by now Di Jiang, the Grand Witch, would probably have been summoned for a scolding."

"Otherwise it wouldn't be just a light edict; alas, the Wu Clan is weak now, and even a few edicts we cannot resist."

"Moreover, it struck precisely at the vital point, leaving us unable to move."

Wu Na let out a long sigh, his breath dropping further, becoming ever more listless.

Di Jiang was about to rise to help him up, intending to regulate his breath, but after Wu Na gestured to refuse, he continued speaking:

"My time is short; let me finish speaking first."

"Now the situation is only to develop in peace; we must not contend with the Heavenly Court again, for if we continue to indulge in trouble, disaster will surely come."

"To break this situation is simple: just find a Wu Clan person with great perseverance and great fortune, pull out those eighteen copper pillars one by one, and the Heavenly Court's ban will be undone."

"But these people must be those favored by the Wu Clan's fortune, and after pulling out the copper pillars they will surely suffer a backlash of fortune from the Heavenly Court, their ending likely lamentable."

"Moreover, now is not the time to pull out the copper pillars. Esteemed Grand Witches, if you truly intend to pull out the copper pillars, you must first prepare to confront the Heavenly Court directly."

Wu Na's words came in broken bursts, interspersed with violent coughs; his eyes reddened, his face flushed, yet his hands and feet gradually grew cold.

The decaying aura on his person grew heavier; the eleven Grand Witches all showed reluctance, yet ultimately said nothing, wishing to fulfill his will and let him finish speaking.

"Absolutely not to be taken lightly..."

"Unfortunately, while the many Grand Witches waited, Wu Na's breath finally ceased." (End of chapter)