Chapter 609: Frankly Speaking

Marshal's Hall.

The atmosphere was more solemn than any previous military council.

The fire in the charcoal burner burned quietly, yet it could not dispel the invisible oppression that permeated the air.

Yue Fei sat in the seat of honor.

Lin Chong, Wu Yong, Zhang Xian, Wang Gui, Yue Yun, Niu Gao, Chao Gai, and Ruan Xiaoer sat on either side.

Everyone's gaze fell on Chen Wen, who had just entered the main hall, his face pallid, his steps even somewhat unsteady.

They had never seen this mysterious "Mr. Chen" look like this.

It seemed as if he had just endured a serious illness, exhausting his energy.

But his eyes shone astonishingly bright.

Clear, profound, carrying an undeniable resolve.

Chen Wen did not go to his usual side-rear seat.

He walked straight to the long table, stood beside Yue Fei, and faced everyone.

"Gentlemen."

His voice was a little hoarse, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears.

"I have summoned you today not to discuss military affairs, nor to deliberate on offense and defense."

He paused, then spoke each word deliberately.

"What I wish to tell you is… some truths about this world, about why we fight, about the true nature of our enemy."

Upon these words, the entire hall fell silent.

Only the occasional crackle of the charcoal fire could be heard.

Everyone looked at one another, their eyes filled with astonishment and doubt.

"Truth?"

"What truth?"

Lin Chong furrowed his brow.

Wu Yong held his feather fan before his chest, his eyes flickering.

Yue Fei's expression remained unchanged; only the hand resting on his knee tightened slightly.

He vaguely sensed that what Chen Wen was about to say might completely overturn his decades-long understanding of the world.

"Before I speak,"

Chen Wen slowly scanned the crowd.

"I hope that, regardless of what you hear or see, you will temporarily set aside your ingrained prejudices and what you know."

"Just remember one point——"

"I, Chen Wen, like you, was born and raised here; all I seek is peace for the nation and prosperity for Huaxia."

"What I am about to say may seem unimaginable, but every word is true, and it concerns not only us but the survival of billions of beings in both worlds."

He drew a deep breath, as if gathering his final strength.

"First, it concerns me."

"I am neither an ordinary merchant nor a reclusive sage."

"My true name is Chen Wenzhong."

"I am the founding monarch of the Great Chen Dynasty, east of the Light Curtain."

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Everyone, including Yue Fei, widened their eyes in shock.

Their faces were filled with disbelief.

"Founding monarch?"

"Great Chen Dynasty?"

"What is that?"

"East of the Light Curtain?"

"Great Chen…" Wu Yong was the first to regain a sliver of reason from his shock, his voice dry: "But… but beyond the immense Light Curtain that spans the western borders, dividing east and west, lies the rumored… state?"

"Correct." Chen Wen nodded.

"The Great Chen state has existed for over 180 years since its founding."

"In my later years, I penetrated the gate of life and death, thereby extending my lifespan and keeping my appearance unchanged."

"To confront the true great enemy, I feigned death, withdrew into obscurity, becoming the 'Guardian'."

"Along with me, five of my chief ministers also feigned death."

"They, too, had their lifespans extended; to this day they remain in the court, assisting my grandson Chen Zhong and safeguarding the state."

Zhang Xian exclaimed, "Mr. Chen… no, Your Majesty! You mean you've lived nearly two hundred years?!"

"Not immortality," Chen Wen shook his head. "Merely the scale of my life has been greatly stretched. This occurrence is a special circumstance, hard to replicate."

He looked toward Yue Fei.

"General Yue, do you recall asking me where the power of the 'Cow Horse System' comes from?"

Yue Fei nodded slowly, his throat feeling tight.

"It is neither an immortal art nor a divine grant."

Chen Wen's voice was calm, yet it carried a power that pierced through the mist.

"This power stems from the 'Rules'."

Originating from this world, a certain 'underlying logic'.

And I, perhaps by chance, have become…… a 'variable' of this 'rule'.

"Variable?" Lin Chong murmured, repeating.

"Yes, a variable." Chen Wen's eyes suddenly turned sharp, "an existence not tolerated by this world's 'established trajectory'."

And this brings us to our enemy—the Iron Crow Army, and the true purpose of their master behind them.

He stepped forward, his finger tracing in the air.

As if sketching an invisible scene.

"The world we inhabit is not the only one."

"On either side of that east-west spanning light curtain exist two…… worlds that are geographically similar but have utterly different historical developments."

"East of the curtain is my Great Chen."

"West of the curtain is where you are, this 'Song Dynasty'."

"But your 'Song Dynasty'…… Chen Wen said in a solemn tone, "it was not naturally born."

"It was 'manufactured'."

"It was created by the Iron Crow Army and their master, at great cost, to replicate a 'mirror world' in order to uphold a 'set historical script' that has no Great Chen and no interference from a variable like me."

"Everything you have experienced——"

His gaze swept over Yue Fei, Lin Chong, Wu Yong, Chao Gai……

"The succession of the Five Dynasties, the founding of the Song regime, the Treaty of Chan-Yuan, the Qingli Reforms, even the Jingkang Incident…… and even the Northern Expedition and siege now unfolding……"

"In the Iron Crow Army's 'script', everything should have its 'set' course and ending."

"And their duty is to ensure this 'script' unfolds exactly according to the trajectory they set."

"Any 'variable' that tries to deviate from the 'script' will be seen by them as a threat and eliminated."

"For example, in the original 'script', there might be no 'Northward Aspiration Army', no 'Restoring Luoyang', nor……"

He looked toward Yue Fei, his voice low.

"Nor a 'Marshal Yue' who could break free of his shackles, utterly sever ties with the Imperial Court, and establish a foothold here."

Yue Fei's body shuddered.

His face instantly turned pale.

He recalled the various bizarre obstructions and frame‑ups he had endured in the past, recalled the twelve golden plaques that followed his victory at Yancheng, recalled the shadow of the Fengbo Pavilion in Lin'an……

So it turns out, that was not merely the work of a foolish king and treacherous ministers?

And behind it, there actually lies an invisible, icy giant hand that manipulates the course of history?!

"Iron Crow Army……" Wu Yong's voice trembled, "those grey horsemen, those 'shadows', those bizarre rites…… are they their people? Are they…… not human?"

"Yes, and no." Chen Wen said, "They are tools that uphold the 'script'. Their master possesses permissions we cannot imagine—able to accelerate time, to catalyze forces, to create 'doubles', to wield inhuman power."

"But they also have limits."

"Their power's recovery depends on the smooth advancement of the 'script's' nodes."

"And the existence of a 'variable', especially when we gather together to form a force‑'variable', will severely interfere with the nodes, even overturn them—for example, the recent 'Fengbo Pavilion'."

"When a node is overturned, the master of the Iron Crow Army suffers backlash, and their permissions are damaged."

"This is also why they have suddenly gone mad, sparing no cost to simultaneously catalyze two destructive forces on the north and south fronts."

Chen Wen's hand came down heavily on the long table.

"They will wipe out all 'variables', together with the soil that nurtures them, in one fell swoop!"

"In your world, they have catalyzed the 'Yuan'."

"A destructive force that has been accelerated to maturity, destined to sweep away everything and fulfill the 'script's' unification."

"In my world, they have catalyzed the grassland 'Northern Yuan'."

"A war‑torrent that has been forcibly elevated, aimed at tearing apart Great Chen's northern borders and shaking the foundations of the state."

"Their goal is to have these two catalyzed monsters, one from the west and one from the east, eventually converge and utterly crush any existence that defies the 'script'!"

"Let history return to the 'clean' trajectory they have set!"

The words fell.

In the main hall, a pin drop could be heard.

Everyone's breathing grew heavy.

Yue Fei stared fixedly at Chen Wen, his chest heaving violently.

Lin Chong clenched his fists, his knuckles whitening.

Wu Yong's feather fan fell to the ground, and he remained oblivious.

Zhang Xian, Wang Gui and the others were dumbstruck, as if hearing heavenly scriptures.

This information was too shocking.

Is the world a "mirror"?

Is history a "script"?

Is the enemy a "sweeper" upholding the "script"?

And are they "variables"?

Are they destined to be eliminated as "errors"?

Absurd!

Bizarre!

But……

Thinking back to all the strange experiences of the past, the inhuman methods of the Iron Crow Army, the suddenly appearing, unreasonably powerful grey horsemen and the shadow of the "Yuan" in the north, and Chen Wen's unfathomable ability……

All the clues seemed to faintly point toward this horrifying "truth".

"Evidence."

Yue Fei's voice was extremely hoarse, his eyes like blades, gazing at Chen Wen.

"Chen… my lord."

"What you say is utterly shocking and outrageous."

"I need evidence."

Chen Wen seemed to have anticipated this.

He reached into his robe and took out two things.

One was the mother token bearing star patterns.

The other was the dark‑red strange ore that the Gray Hawk had died delivering.

He placed the mother token on the table.

"This item is one of the media for my abilities."

"The effects of the child tokens on you all stem from this."

Its principle involves the coupling of Fortune Momentum and Nether Energy, a result of over a hundred years of research by the Great Chen Ministry of Works. This is not something that should exist in this world.

He then picked up the ore.

"This item was seized by our Great Chen's Bei Jing troops from an enemy stronghold that had been subjected to catalysis."

"It contains a strange energy, closely related to the Iron Crow Army's catalysis ritual, and is not of natural origin."

"More importantly——"

Chen Wen stared at Yue Fei.

"General Yue, and all of you."

"Do you still remember, back in the Wild Boar Valley of Mang Mountain, when I presented partial evidence of the Iron Crow Army's collusion with Qin Hui and their framing of you?"

"How could the channels through which those pieces of evidence were obtained, and the depth of understanding of the Imperial Court's inner secrets, be something that ordinary jianghu forces or intelligence organizations could hope to reach?"

"Behind that lies the merit of our Great Chen's Bureau of Peace and Stability, operating hidden in this realm."

"The two worlds, though separated by the light curtain, are not entirely without connection."

"We have always been here."

Yue Fei closed his eyes.

Countless images flashed through his mind.

The mystery and might of Chen Wen when he first appeared.

Northward Aspiration Army's equipment and ideas that surpassed their time.

He had a thorough grasp of the Imperial Court's movements, and even of the internal intelligence of the Jin state.

His precise forewarning and resolution of the plot at the Fengbo Pavilion.

And, his own strange feeling after breaking free of his shackles—as if parting clouds to see the sun, yet being drawn even deeper into an unknown vortex…

All doubts seemed to find an explanation before this crazy "truth".

Although this explanation itself is even crazier.

He slowly opened his eyes.

He looked at Chen Wen.

He looked at the man who claimed to have lived nearly two hundred years, a founding monarch of a nation, yet now stood before him with a pallid complexion.

His gaze was complex to the extreme.

There was shock, bewilderment, anger at being toyed with by fate, and also… a faint glimmer of clarity that pierced the mist.

"So……"

Yue Fei's voice was low and hoarse, yet carried a strange calm.

"Our resistance thus far."

"Not only against the Jin barbarians, the foolish ruler, and the treacherous ministers."

"But also against…… that which manipulates destiny and seeks to turn billions of people into puppets on strings……"

"The hidden mastermind?"

Chen Wen met his gaze and gave a heavy nod.

"Yes."

"What we have been fighting for has never been merely Bian Liang, Luoyang, or the homeland's land and rivers."

"What we have been fighting for is the right to choose."

"It is the possibility of the future."

"It is to be born human, not bound by a predetermined track, able to forge a path through one's own effort……"

"Dignity and freedom!"

"This is the meaning of the existence of the 'variable'."

"This is also the reason the Iron Crow Army is determined to eradicate us as quickly as possible!"

His words reverberated in the hall.

Like a thunderclap.

It exploded in everyone's hearts.

It utterly shattered their old worldview.

At the same time, it laid bare before them a vaster, more brutal, yet clearer battlefield.

It was not merely a matter of gaining or losing a single city or piece of land.

It is not a rise and fall of a single morning or generation.

But two worlds.

Two kinds of fate.

The war for the survival of civilization.

Now, they finally saw the enemy in full.

And they finally understood.

What exactly is the weight they bear on their shoulders?