Chapter 562: War Begins!!!

The world's chaotic war came in the blink of an eye; the generals each received their military orders and withdrew. Li Guanyi's expression was calm and peaceful as he gazed into the distance for a long while. Chen Wenmian and the others also departed. Li Zhaowen waved his hand, ordering the war generals under his command to withdraw first.

Qin Huang looked out over the world.

Li Zhaowen merely watched him from behind.

After a long while, Li Guanyi came back to himself and said, "What are you looking at, Zhaowen?"

Li Zhaowen looked at his back, smiling gently: "Looking at the world." His hands were clasped behind his back, composed and free. Yet his fingers lightly pinched his sleeve, his nails digging into the superior fabric of his battle robe. He first took a soft breath, then slowly exhaled, repeating this three times.

His expression just now was free and easy, unhurried, as he stepped forward.

As he walked, his heels touched the ground, feeling the contact between his steps and the earth. He walked over lightly, his sleeves rolling down, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Qin Huang. Appearing entirely ordinary, he said, "How many years has it been? That poor little pharmacist back then now nearly has the whole world."

"There is nothing more wondrous in this world than this."

Li Guanyi said, "Yes, many things have already changed."

Li Zhaowen noticed that Qin Huang's voice was even, seemingly without the usual cheerful mood for conversation. She slightly raised her eyes, looking at Qin Huang's profile, and said, "This battle of yours, Guanyi, will surely defeat the enemy."

Li Guanyi said, "There is no such thing in this world as someone being guaranteed victory."

"It's just that you and I have reached this point, everyone has reached this point—there is no road back. We simply must win; it is only by the effort of human beings."

Li Zhaowen laughed lightly: "What a phrase—by the effort of human beings."

"The so-called doing one's utmost and leaving the rest to fate."

Li Guanyi said, "It's not quite like that either. When I was young, I followed the Elder to study the Daoist arts of divination, and I also received Daoist talismans. I can be considered a Daoist disciple. Yet in this world, all these people who cultivate the Dao only cultivate a surface-level 'Wu Wei'—non-action."

"But they don't know that mere non-action is only a form of escape—telling oneself, be still, do not contend. Yet they don't realize that non-action still has a second half: 'Nothing cannot be done.'"

"The world is vast. In this poor Daoist's eyes, non-action and nothing-not-done are not bound by anything."

Though young, he had already weathered countless storms, gained and lost, and crossed the battlefields of this world. The realm of the Wu Gong legend was long beyond that of an ordinary person. Li Zhaowen said, "If that is so, it seems that even if you, Guanyi, did not enter the world and became a wandering swordsman Daoist Priest, it would still be fitting—a realm no less than that Weidao Sect senior."

Qin Huang said, "The Confucian school says that all people possess a heart of compassion."

Li Zhaowen turned her face to look at him, smiling: "And so?"

He answered: "It is simply because you and I have seen this age of chaos, and our hearts were moved. We saw that some people turned their backs on the common folk and hid themselves away, while others, like you and me, once we saw, could never let it go again."

"The Daoist school says: dare not be the first under heaven."

"The Confucian school says: when it comes to benevolence, do not yield."

"The Buddhist school says: all the myriad phenomena of the world are but karma and fate."

"It seems that people like you and I ultimately have the Confucian school as our backbone. Thus the Daoist school also raises a sword and descends the mountain, and the Buddhist school also displays the wrathful visage of a Vajra."

Li Zhaowen lowered her eyes slightly, smiling as she looked at Qin Huang, and murmured in her heart: "It is so, yet there are also many people who, in the chaos of these times, rise with the momentum and proclaim themselves kings and hegemons. The only reason they did not do so is that on their path to rising, they happened to encounter you, this little pharmacist."

"The pharmacist heals the world."

"Observing the myriad things of the world, taking the common people as the one."

"What a fine name."

Li Guanyi said, "What did you say?"

Li Zhaowen smiled: "I said your name sounds nice."

Li Guanyi said, "Of course, my parents chose it. But it's probably just because 'Wanli, Guanyi' rolls off the tongue more smoothly. After all, my father probably didn't have much education; even his ability at warfare was honed on the battlefield itself."

Li Zhaowen could not help but laugh out loud, saying: "But then again, you're different. You studied under the Master Wen, and you also inherited the teachings of the Elder. Your Wu Gong is eclectic, yet you have your own style. When you choose a name, you would certainly come up with something original."

Within this single sentence lay all of Li Zhaowen's courage, hinted at.

The world-famous general, valiant and heroic on the battlefield, was at times instead somewhat timid. It was unknown whether Qin Huang had heard the things hidden within those words. He only laughed to cover it up: "Speaking of which, back in the Western Regions, after the battle against Yu Langwang, one of my Six Steeds was killed. When we buried him, you and I made a three-part pact."

"The first: that you would accept Xiyicheng when the winds of chaos surged across the world."

"The second: I was worried that when the Red Emperor passed away, your mind would be in turmoil, so I asked you to go out with me to clear your head."

Li Guanyi looked at Li Zhaowen and said, "So, this time you're going to use the third pact?"

Before Tiance Prefecture, Li Zhaowen smiled as she looked at the person before her.

Perhaps she would, as she had hoped time and again, speak of a grand wedding.

At first it was mere admiration, later it became friendship between kindred spirits, but afterward her gaze was gradually drawn in. The world was vast, and Li Zhaowen did not conceal her One's Own Heart Realm; she was, after all, a peerless talent of her generation.

Only the rarest geniuses of the world could possibly enter her eyes.

Yet at this moment, she did not speak such a pact. If she used this pact, she would no longer be Li Zhaowen. Was it confidence that she could accomplish those things on her own, or was it that even the proud phoenix-like her feared Qin Huang's refusal?

Or perhaps it was her upright, magnanimous heart realm, that wild ambition to swallow the world whole.

That was where she and Li Guanyi were alike, yet also different.

She merely reached out her hand, made a fist, and bumped it against Qin Huang's chest. Smiling, she hopped back a step and said, "Then, the third pact, Qin Huang."

"You must win the final victory."

"You must open up a peaceful age for the world."

"You must fulfill your lifelong wish."

Li Zhaowen withdrew her hand, turned around with an easy grace, clasped her hands behind her back, and stretched lazily. Her languid demeanor dispelled that heroic air, and she said, "As for what I myself want, naturally I will take it with my own hands!"

"Alright, the things I wanted to say have been said, the promises and pacts I desired have been spoken. This Duke of the nation is going to gather the troops and proceed according to plan. Your Majesty, Qin Huang, let us drink together again after the great victory."

She exhaled a breath and stepped forward. The hair at her temples fluttered down. A pair of phoenix eyes turned slightly as she looked at Qin Huang, smiling softly. Within that heroic face and bearing, a few strands of languid allure suddenly appeared: "The realm of the Wu Gong legend is no difficult matter."

"You and I have long lifespans."

"The story between us still has a long way to go."

"My Qin Huang, Your Majesty."

Li Zhaowen departed with an easy, unhurried grace.

The logistics general Changsun Wuchou, who had been hiding outside Tiance Prefecture, clutched his heart and stomach. This veteran, already forty-seven years old, pressed his hand to his chest, gazed up at the sky, sighed long and hard, and was speechless, his throat choked.

"Finally, finally."

"The thing I've been chasing for over ten years has finally made some progress."

"My old stomach doesn't even hurt anymore!"

He raised his head and saw Li Zhao Wen's dangerous smile: "General Changsun, what are you doing here?"

Changsun Wuchou: "…………"

The corner of his mouth twitched, and he said: "I-I just got lost, got lost!"

"Ahahaha, well, Master Yan Daiqing's government office isn't here, I see, no wonder I couldn't find Master Yan Daiqing no matter how hard I tried, ha, hahaha…"

Changsun Wuchou seized the road and fled.

Though he had talent, at forty-seven he was still only at the Sixth Heaven realm; compared to ten years ago he had indeed broken through one heaven, but the Grandmaster realm was like a natural chasm, and not so easy to break through.

In the several hundred years before, there had never been so many Grandmasters as in these recent decades.

The top thirty on the Divine General Ranking were all of Grandmaster realm.

This was an extremely terrifying lineup.

Only a great Central Plains nation, after grinding through several hundred years of war, could possibly, within the endless vortex of battlefields, forcibly forge such a state and such spirit — as though it had spent all the heroic mettle and the blood of common folk of those centuries to create so brilliant and grand an age.

Li Zhao Wen let Changsun Wuchou go off to handle the logistical matters.

Standing alone between heaven and earth, he yet felt a slight warmth; he breathed out, raised a hand to brush aside the hair at his temples, his ears already flushed red.

"The weather really is hot."

………………

In the final three days, during these three years, Po Jun had long since arranged the troop movements; the generals went off to attend to their own affairs, and Li Guanyi set down his weapons as well, returning to the Murong family in the capital to keep his aunt, Murong Qiushui, company.

"Aaaah, foster-father daddy!!!"

"Take this sword from me!"

In the courtyard of the Murong family, a little girl of about five or six, with two little braids, gripped a wooden sword in her hand, formed a sword incantation, and lunged at Li Guanyi ahead of her; her feet trod the Seven Stars footwork, which was in fact the old Chen family's martial art, Wind-Chasing Steps.

Her cultivation base could not be called thick or solid, but it could still be said to have come from a renowned school.

It was the divine art 【Dragon-Shaking Nine Provinces】 personally taught by General Yue Qianfeng.

That streak of True Dragon qi was pure upon pure; back when Yue Qianfeng taught this little girl her Wu Gong, she was only three or four. What manner of hero was Yue Qianfeng — a man who had lived through countless battlefields without dying, fierce and brave beyond compare — yet when little Chang Ning'er's palm pressed against his, so small, it reddened his eyes.

Back then, Prince Ji Yanzhong had passed the True Dragon qi, a top-tier divine art most suited to explosive bursts, to the little bandit of those days; later that little bandit became a famed general of the realm, and in a small broken-down temple, passed his Wu Gong on to the little medicine seller of those days.

Time flowed on, the world turned round and round.

And now, Yue Qianfeng passed his Wu Gong on to Chang Ning'er.

The story could be called complete.

Old Yue Qianfeng wiped away a tear, then went off again to fight on the battlefield; the little girl grew up by Murong Qiushui's side, learning martial arts and the sword. When she saw Qin Huang return and knew him as her foster-father, she took up her long sword and charged. Li Guanyi, in a blue robe, one hand behind his back, held a willow branch in his other hand, and easily deflected the little girl's sword technique.

An old fellow at the side did a somersault and laughed out loud: "Good, good!"

"Good Ning'er, jab at his armpit — this sword stroke is called Immortal Points the Way, it should aim at a vital spot, but you're still too small, so you can only poke at his ticklish acupoint."

"Wonderful, wonderful, that sword stroke was good!"

It was none other than old Mr. Chen Chengbi; he and Chen Qingyan had stayed in Jiangnan to protect Murong Qiushui. Chen Qingyan had known Murong Qiushui since their youth, and there had been some entanglements between them in the past; now, with a thousand sails passed, those things had scattered like drifting clouds, and the two women's relationship had actually improved a great deal.

At this moment, seeing the summer sunlight brilliant and the afternoon not so hot, Qin Huang personally practiced martial arts with Chang Ning'er. Perhaps because she had grown up by Murong Qiushui's side since childhood, and with old Mr. Chen Chengbi assisting from the side, Chang Ning'er's temperament was very bold and tough.

She was utterly exhausted, panting for breath, yet she would not let go of the wooden sword in her hand.

Li Guanyi, seeing she was tired, deliberately loosened his defense; the little girl's eyes lit up, she stepped forward and swept her sword sideways, the blade landing on Qin Huang's sleeve. Li Guanyi very cooperatively let out an "aiyah," a look of rueful defeat on his face.

The little girl burst into delight and shouted loudly: "I won!"

Li Guanyi played along: "Yes, yes, little Miss Ning'er the swordswoman is formidable."

The little girl put her hands on her hips, lifted her head and puffed out her chest, turned around proudly and ran toward Murong Qiushui, took a running start, flung herself forward, and landed with a thump in Murong Qiushui's arms, nuzzling against her: "Grandma, grandma, I beat foster-father!"

Murong Qiushui reached out a finger and pinched the little girl's ear, saying in exasperation:

"Grandma, grandma — calling me that ages me for no reason."

She had taken the Ageless Pill, her looks unchanged; though she seemed to be scolding the little girl, her eyes were full of tenderness and affection. Chang Ning'er had long since figured out Murong Qiushui's temperament, and just kept nuzzling and nuzzling against her in Murong Qiushui's arms like a little kitten.

Li Guanyi set down the willow branch, paced slowly across the grass, his expression gentle and unhurried — this was what people called the supreme happiness of family in the human world. After Chang Ning'er had played for a while, she too was tired, and then fell fast asleep by Murong Qiushui's side.

Li Guanyi personally cooked a meal, and chatted idly with his aunt about various things. Murong Qiushui brought up many matters of the past, saying that Li Guanyi as a child had been much quieter than Chang Ning'er; saying that Chang Ning'er was carefree, but not like Li Guanyi — Li Guanyi as a child had bottled up a stubbornness inside, quiet and silent.

When Chang Ning'er had first come at just over two years old, she would often cry and call for her father and mother.

But time blunts everything.

The time she had now spent in Jiangnan was already longer than the time she had spent before in Zhongzhou City; and at one or two years old, one doesn't really remember things anyway. The father and mother she had wailed for day after day when she first arrived had gradually sunk to the deepest depths of her memory.

Murong Qiushui gently stroked Chang Ning'er's cheek; the little one had only just fallen asleep, her face plump and chubby. She said: "She used to ask me about her father and mother, but lately, she's been asking less and less…"

"A child of just over two — what could she possibly remember?"

"I wonder if the Red Emperor had the same thought — hoping she could let go of these things, not be trapped by her family, by the so-called glory of the past, and be able to live out her life following her own will and her own ideas."

Li Guanyi looked at Chang Ning'er: "Perhaps. Eternal Joy and Everlasting Peace — I too hope she can pass through this life in peace."

Murong Qiushui nodded, and after a long while said: "Is there going to be a war?"

Li Guanyi looked at Murong Qiushui.

The woman wore a smile: "Don't even think about hiding it from me — don't forget, who was it that raised you from three years old to the size you are now? What could you possibly have that you could hide from your aunt?"

Murong Qiushui seemed to be smiling, yet sighed:

"The realm is stirring with wind and clouds. You, ever since you set foot on this path, have rarely had time to come back and keep your aunt company. When you do manage to stay for a while, off you rush in a tearing hurry to some other place to fight a war, making people worry themselves sick."

"Tell me about you — you just say that we cannot be together because you hope that the people of the realm can be together with their kin."

"But your aunt knows, you, and your great-grandfather too, are the same."

"You always have things you must do, and until those things are done, you cannot relax…"

Murong Qiushui looked at the young man before her; she let out a soft laugh, stood up, and beckoned to Li Guanyi. The Qin Huang who shook the world lowered his head; the woman gently stroked his hair and said: "Little Raccoon, I won't be like those other elders, crying and shouting, telling you to stay."

"A great man's ambition lies in the four corners of the world."

"But you must come back alive, all right?"

Murong Qiushui's voice caught softly: "Your aunt has only you left."

Li Guanyi grunted. He raised his head, gently took hold of Murong Qiushui's hand, and said, "I swear to you, Auntie, I will definitely come back."

Time spent with family passes quickly; three days went by in a flash, like a dream or a bubble. The three armies drew up in formation, and Qin Huang personally went to the military camp, distributing the aged imperial jade-paste wine he had retrieved from the former Chen Emperor's palace among the soldiers of the three armies.

Li Guanyi personally donned his armor, draped his battle robe over his shoulders, and stood atop the commander-general's platform.

He raised his cup: "Do you all still remember who I am?"

The three armies answered in unison: "Qin Huang, ten thousand victories!"

The voices were vast as waves and thunder, yet Li Guanyi felt a touch of daze. He thought back to that time outside Beicheng, when he had spoken such words, and the contempt and defiance in the eyes of those three thousand men. Li Guanyi smiled faintly, raised his wine cup, and faced the great army before him.

And faced his past self, and the old friends.

Gazing at those who had departed one by one, he said softly:

"My lords, drink with me!"

The warriors of the three armies drank together, bold and grand. Qin Huang had originally intended to imitate the free-spirited heroes of the jianghu—or rather, to do something carefree and unrestrained—smashing the wine bowl onto the ground to bolster his prestige and morale. But just as he raised his hand, a young soldier quietly said:

"Your Majesty, please don't smash it."

"With so many of us, if we all smashed ours, how much would that cost? And it'd be a hassle for the brothers in the logistics corps to clean up afterward."

The young soldier's squad leader was completely dumbfounded.

Though he had also wanted to say exactly that.

But if you say it like that, won't it ruin the army's morale?

Yet Qin Huang froze, then burst out laughing heartily: "Hahahaha, right, let's not then!" The young soldier scratched his head and grinned sheepishly. The soldiers of the three armies laughed, and the atmosphere, instead, became warm and relaxed—yet within it lay a heavy, gathering momentum.

Qin Huang set the bowl aside, picked up the divine weapon beside him, and said:

"This battle opens the path to peace, as always!"

"I…"

"No, I—"

"Shall charge at the forefront; I shall be the arrow's tip!"

"My lords, follow me forward!"

The soldiers of the three armies downed their fierce wine and shouted in unison:

"Our Emperor, ten thousand victories!!"

Li Guanyi said, "When the realm is conquered and a great age of peace is won, there will be no more suffering of war!"

The three armies cried out together: "Great Qin, ten thousand victories!!!"

Qin Huang withdrew the divine weapon in his hand and said softly, "The people are victorious."

"Beat the drums, advance the army!"

………………

In the Kingdom of Ying, the Eastern Capital Imperial Palace.

Jiang Gao worked day and night, resting only briefly each day, trying to restore the national strength of all of Great Ying. However, because Jiang Yuan's absurdities had exceeded even Master Wen Qingyu's and Jiang Su's expectations, the Ying Emperor's renewed attempts to pardon the rebelling commoners had yielded almost no results.

Whenever anyone began to entertain such thoughts, someone would rebuke them:

"Have you forgotten the thirty thousand people who were buried alive?"

And so that notion was snuffed out in an instant.

Jiang Gao finished handling political affairs and soothing the people's hearts, exhausted. Someone brought a bowl of ginseng soup; he drank it and barely recovered his vitality. Jiang Cai flipped through the records and said, "In just a few years, Jiang Yuan has thrown the hearts of the entire nation into such chaos."

"However, I've examined the records. For things to have changed to this extent, there was actually an outside force stoking the flames."

"It's one called Saibei…"

Jiang Cai's voice stopped abruptly as she looked at the name on the scroll.

After a silence, this talented woman of the School of Diplomacy, this great one, found herself momentarily at a loss—as the most eloquent of diplomats, she seemed unable to utter those three words.

Jiang Gao asked in confusion, "Saibei what?"

After Jiang Gao urged her several times, Jiang Cai finally said:

"Saibei, Yan Daiqing."

Jiang Gao froze.

In such circumstances, he actually burst out laughing as if amused.

But within that laughter was only bitterness. He said, "Yan Daiqing, hahahaha, what a Yan Daiqing. No, how many Yan Daiqings is this now? Hahaha, Sister Cai, tell me—when later generations look upon the heroes of this chaotic age,"

"And find that at every crucial turning point of great events, there is always a Yan Daiqing—what would they think? Hahaha, cough cough… Could it be that of all the great talents under heaven, Yan Daiqing alone claims eight dou out of ten?"

"Or perhaps Yan Daiqing will become a code name for an organization?"

Jiang Gao still had the heart to laugh lightly.

"But just what did this Yan Daiqing do?"

"To be able to stir things up within our Great Ying?"

Jiang Cai said, "He merely used those twenty-four counterfeit luminous pearls, along with Jiang Yuan's inner fear, and went with the current, stoking the flames. This is a strategist of the 'Great Momentum' caliber—one who might not appear even once in a hundred years."

"Yet now, there are too many."

Jiang Gao laughed lightly: "The storms of a chaotic age, endless heroic spirit—such figures now rise one after another."

Jiang Cai said, "However, the Grand Preceptor's 'break before you can build' ultimately awakened Your Majesty's heart of an emperor. Qin Huang's new state has only just been founded; its foundations are insufficient, and now is still the time for recuperation and recovery."

"Our Great Ying has deep and abundant national strength. What Jiang Yuan did over these three or four years can be recovered in at most two or three years. In a few more years, Great Ying will be even stronger than before."

"Vast territory, three hundred years of dynasty, heroes abound, famous generals like clouds."

"At that time, we need not fear that Qin Huang—this is the Grand Preceptor's resolve."

"Report!!!"

Suddenly, a sharp voice shattered the tranquility. A general rushed into the palace and said, "Most urgent!!! Your Majesty!"

Jiang Gao sprang to his feet, stepped forward several paces, and said, "What is it!!"

That general's report made the exhausted Jiang Gao and the composed Jiang Cai both freeze instantly.

"Reporting!"

"Qin Huang Li Guanyi has personally led a million-strong army."

"They have already crossed the Dajiang!"

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