Chapter 333: What a fine head—who would dare to chop it?

【Regardless of how panicked the monkey's reaction is, in short, you cannot oppose what you have decided; even if the road ahead is a destined dead end, you do not avoid or dodge.】

【Why not avoid?】

【Because I'm not afraid!】

【Of course, there has always been a path before you: using the Blood God Son, the great, wordless creation of a sage, which will surely let you reign for thousands of generations and unify Heaven and Earth!】

【But you don't want to use it.】

【The reason is simple: first, you yourself have decided not to use the Blood God Son.】

【Second, you have seen through the essence of how society operates; no matter what you do, given the current level of human prosperity, it is impossible to exist independently of the power of the divine spirits.】

【From the day you decided to use the power of the divine spirits to support the development of human prosperity, all this was destined; rashly separating humans and gods will only cause societal disaster and collapse!】

【You can only press the accelerator hard on this desperate road, and even though you know prosperity stems from oppression, you still choose to oppress the true gods to make them work as oxen and horses.】

【And should the true gods really be made to work as oxen and horses?】

【Obviously not; when oppressed, one must resist, and resistance is a natural act of justice, in line with human feelings and heavenly principle.】

【So you cannot use the Blood God Son; using it would be going against heaven, binding the victims' hands so they cannot resist, covering their mouths so they cannot cry out……】

【Thus, you have set your own way of exiting: let the resisters kill you!】

【You are willing to die, and you must die, for this is the historical process that ought to be; if you do not die, their suffering will not be compensated, and that is not what you want.】

【Even if you could use the Blood God Son to eternally maintain this prosperity, this prosperity is absolutely not the perfect ending you desire……】

【……】

【In the 67th year of the New Calendar, you issued the reform edict, and thus the post of heavenly official was transferred from cultivators to the true gods……Of course, in fact the people are still the same people; the oxen and horses have toiled for over sixty years, thinking they could become superior to others, but unexpectedly they still have to remain oxen and horses!】

【They were naturally furious, and then, in their anger, they just got a little angry……】

【Otherwise? Still hoping to rebel?】

【These newly deified oxen and horses each harbor immense resentment and grievance, but facing the tyrannical oppression of the Great New Eight Banners, even if they had even more resentment, they could only continue to hold it in.】

【The Underworld operated as usual, the Heavenly Observation bureaus continued to regulate changes in heaven and earth, and various miscellaneous tasks in the human world, after a brief strike shutdown, returned to normal.】

【The tumultuous popular uprisings and protests just fizzled out like that, leaving only occasional remarks after meals: some praised the oxen and horses' spirit of resistance, some despised the traitors' obsequious kneeling, and others secretly mocked the court and the general's high-handed tyranny……】

【……】

【White-haired Li Ziliang sat in the house of those years, gazing at the equally white-haired elderly person lying on the bed, on the verge of death, and couldn't help but let out a long, soft sigh……】

「Old……Old Ancestor, back then……did you also ever experience a separation of life and death with your descendants？」

The dying old man forced a smile and asked.

「Yes. 」

Li Ziliang sighed, and while recalling the past, he narrated to this junior descendant who had accompanied him for several decades:

「Back then, my crown prince died of old age right before my eyes……He was unlike you; he had always been an ambitious person fantasizing about inheriting the throne and becoming emperor, but I didn't yield the position to him back then, so he could only remain crown prince for seventy years, until he died of old age before my eyes……」

Speaking of his own past, Li Ziliang seemed somewhat nostalgic, yet also somewhat regretful:

「I wanted to save him, but I couldn't; he is not a naturally gifted divine-path cultivator, and he never cultivated a divine form in his lifetime; even if I wanted him to be reborn, he lacks the affinity for it。」

「Come to think of it, I should have let him inherit the throne; when he was young, I was still fighting all over the place, so he endured much hardship, a pity……」

Listening to the legendary old ancestor personally recount a story from several hundred years ago, the dying old man gradually eased his expression:

「Although he never became emperor, being remembered by the old ancestor is also a blessing……I just don't know if I have that blessing……」

Li Ziliang glanced at him: 「You, a junior who is disloyal and unfilial to me, still expect me to remember you? 」

The old man, however, helplessly said:

「I also have no choice……Our Shunshi Li family, although we long ago relinquished our position, remains conspicuous in the new dynasty……Moreover, since the old ancestor still has the ability to cause rebellion, how dare I get too close to you? Harming my own family would be a small matter, but harming you would be troublesome……」

Li Ziliang scoffed: 「Lin Liu isn't that petty! 」

「The General is naturally not petty, but we also cannot be grandiose……」

The old man coughed a few times, laboriously breathing, and said: 「How could mortals dare to be disrespectful to the true gods? Our family's survival is itself a manifestation of the General's grace……Since our ancestor relinquished his position, we have always feared being exploited by those with ulterior motives; thus we have never dared to speak much of our origins, fearing trouble and adding to the General's burdens……」

「This matter concerns not only us; from now on, you too must be careful! 」

He forced himself to voice his worries to the old ancestor:

「Your status is not ordinary; you are not only the founding emperor of the former dynasty, but also the sole survivor of the old Heavenly Court. In the future, someone will surely use you as material to oppose the General……」 Li Ziliang opened his mouth, but said nothing, for the fact is exactly so.

「Although the world enjoys a peaceful prosperity, this prosperity cannot be independently sustained by mortals; its development to this point is entirely due to the General's stubborn perseverance。」

「And now the General can still hold on, but what about afterward? 」

The worried old man said: 「When I was young, I thought the General would surely continue to prosper day by day, but as I have seen more and more, I know this kind of prosperity cannot last forever. 」

「On the surface, human machines and technologies are countless, seeming self-sufficient……but upon closer inspection, one discovers that the manufacture and R&D of machines require divine assistance, and their operation also needs divine power as energy……Human life has long been inseparable from divine power. 」

「This is not due to lack of human effort, but because this world inherently has only this one way out……」

He sighed: 「The current population requires a thousand true gods to sustain; what about the future? 」

「The General never controls population; this is both his virtue and his fault……At this rate, a thousand true gods will eventually be insufficient, and later we'll need two thousand, three thousand, four thousand……There are only three thousand true gods in the world—where could we feed so many? 」

「Moreover, the General cannot even wait until that time; to support a larger population, he can only have the banner people leave the banners……As long as, in the future, the number of his Eight Banners is fewer than the gods doing the work, they will surely suffer a betrayal, and by then there may be unspeakable horrors……」

He rambled on for a long time, and Li Ziliang, after listening, also couldn't help but fall into a prolonged silence……

Li Ziliang sighed: 「I didn't expect you to have this insight; if you had shown this talent earlier, why bother being unable to marry a wife, and leaving no descendants? 」

The old man smiled: 「Otherwise, how could our family have peacefully continued in the new dynasty to this day? As for descendants……our family is not just me, nor lacking this branch……」

Speaking, he solemnly said: 「These are trivial matters……Old Ancestor, you must be careful! Furthermore, if you could persuade the General, that would be even better……You must advise him, for this is a path to death……」

Li Ziliang said nothing, only nodding his head.

……

【Li Ziliang's visit was something you hadn't anticipated, but since he came, you warmly welcomed him.】

【You know he has been living with a certain junior of the clan for many years, and now that he has come to the shogunate, it proves that junior has grown old……The old ancestor sending off that junior is naturally nothing worth mentioning, so you also deliberately avoided mentioning it……】

【「Star Lord, what business brings you here? 」】

You curiously asked about his purpose.

The Venus Star Lord remained silent for a moment, then slowly explained his purpose…

"Lin Liu, give it up already!"

The Venus Star Lord said solemnly: "If you continue like this, not only will you be in danger, but all the people under heaven will be in danger as well!"

"Should the future change…"

You didn't expect he came for this, so you were momentarily stunned.

But not long after, you shook your head: "This is all I have chosen…"

"Can't you just reduce the number of mortals? Can't you cut their welfare?"

The Venus Star Lord said angrily: "Isn't this just asking for death!"

"Either you don't do it, or you must do it completely! No matter what, you must let the Eight Banners occupy absolute supremacy, and crush those thousand true gods so they can never rise again!"

You chuckled: "In that case, how are they any different from the people bullied by the Great Shun Emperor back then?"

The Venus Star Lord was stunned, never expecting you to come up with such an argument, and flared up: "What do you care about them! They're just cannon fodder—do you still care whether they're oppressed? You wouldn't be trying to let them turn the tables, would you?"

"Why not?"

You calmly said: "When oppressed, one must resist; although I oppress them, I also support their resistance against me, even their overthrow of me!"

The Venus Star Lord was dumbfounded: "You're crazy?! What kind of heaven-defying allegiance is this—who would side with both enemy and friend?!"

"Crazy then let it be."

You let out a long sigh: "My original ideal was to lead all people out of the dream-world and into the eternal primordial wilderness, but I failed…"

"After that, I thought of achieving an eternal prosperous age within this dream, but I still failed…"

"Now I know that no matter how I choose, I can never attain a perfect eternal prosperous age—there will always be suffering. If so, better to die in a blaze of glory; let them rise against me! Let them chop off my head!"

"At least I have tried; my failure is due to the limitations of heaven and earth, not my lack of ability. I have oppressed them for so long, and I must eventually let them have their due."

"What a fine head—who would dare to chop it?"

…

(End of chapter)