[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-roaring-dragon":3,"chapter-the-roaring-dragon-the-roaring-dragon-chapter-227":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Roaring Dragon",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2282083,4463,"Chapter 227: The World Is Like a Game of Go (Volume Complete)","the-roaring-dragon-chapter-227",227,"\u003Cp>The winter wind whispered coldly, brushing against the Great Qian dragon banner on the city wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two steeds galloped out from the city gate; Xie Jinhuan sat atop one, the Black-Cloth-wrapped Minglong Spear hanging from his weapon hook, and he turned back for one last glance at the bustling metropolis behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meiqiu had spent the past few years traveling with Xie Jinhuan, killing and plundering; last night, after returning, she visited several “Feeding Beauties” and found none home—she had no lingering attachment to this place, so she flapped her wings and struck Xie Jinhuan’s skull:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gūjī!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bu Yuehua sat sideways on her saddle, a thin gauze veil covering her head, her gaze scanning the surroundings:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Won’t Mu Sister come with us?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Jinhuan was certain his dream bride wouldn’t follow—he still felt weak in the legs, and the ice block was sprawled in the room, too lethargic to move; he’d had to carry her to bathe away the dust of the road, and she wouldn’t recover in less than a day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“She has official duties; she’ll arrive in a few days. We’ll catch up to the envoy’s party first.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bu Yuehua, having noticed Xie Jinhuan didn’t return all night, had already guessed they’d been enjoying “a short separation, sweeter than a new marriage.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she clearly hadn’t guessed that the icy, flirtatious Daoist nun could be so thoroughly battered she couldn’t even rise to see them off; seeing even Nan Gong Ye fail to appear, she found it odd, yet asked nothing further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ye Hongshang, who hadn’t disturbed the ice block last night as he endured family discipline, now emerged, clad in a blazing red gown seated behind Xie Jinhuan on the saddle, her arms wrapped around his waist:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The north has entered winter; snow has sealed the mountains. This journey, you may not return until spring. Don’t you want to compose a poem to mark the moment?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Jinhuan sensed this departure would last a long time, yet his old mentor and all his red-haired beauties were over there, and he would see again the red-haired sister who’d saved him—his heart swelled with:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The valiant departs….”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the current Emperor treated him well: knowing he’d reached the First Rank and needed higher-level cultivation texts to guide him, he directly ordered Lu Wu Zhen to copy a section of the Martial Scripture, inscribed it onto a jade tablet, and gave it to him to carry, lest his progress stall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Martial Scripture was a “Super-Class Text”; the court kept it hidden to attract countless martial cultivators to study it, but if it leaked to foreign lands, others could use it to lure martial cultivators into serving them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Jinhuan feared losing it, so he had his ghost bride secretly copy a second copy, politely declining the gift—but he’d remember this favor, and would surely return someday.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he pondered this, Xie Jinhuan glanced once more at Luojing, the city where he’d grown up, then lightly spurred his horse:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Giddyah—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clip-clop, clip-clop—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two fiery steeds shattered the cold wind, racing northward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One man, one ghost, one bird rode beside them—yet in an instant, they vanished beyond the horizon…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side, Wang Fu on Zheng’an Street.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Servants bustled in and out the gate, hauling furniture inside; the former Dan Wang Fu plaque had been replaced with “Princess Long’s Mansion.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huangfu Qi, serving as the mansion’s private secretary, stood at the entrance in scholarly robes, gazing at the tightly shut gates of the Danyang Marquis Mansion across the street, his expression one of profound relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, that demon had finally left!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huangfu Qi, a ghost cultivator with decades of practice, had no physical abnormalities, but his spiritual sense far surpassed ordinary men; he’d served in the mansion for twenty years without a single mishap—until August, when he encountered that demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the day the sky-rending blood calamity appeared, as the mansion’s advisor, he’d been dispatched to trace its source, but en route stopped at a riverside villa, wondering if Taishu Dan was up to mischief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Taishu Dan clearly lacked such power; Huangfu Qi merely warned him to hide well and not act rashly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next day at noon, three of Taishu Dan’s underlings were slaughtered by a stranger named Xie Jinhuan, and large quantities of Dragon Whisker Grass and ledgers were seized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a desperate bid to contain the damage, Taishu Dan proposed “diverting the floodwaters eastward”; relying on his knowledge of Danyang’s power structures, Huangfu Qi forged ledgers overnight and planted them at Sanhe Pavilion, then cast an illusion on Li Shizhong to appear publicly by day, followed by consuming massive doses of Transformation Pills to go mad and kill the ledger clerk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Taishu Dan hired the assassin Fu Dongping to deliberately leave clues pointing to Xie Jinhuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Huangfu Qi predicted, Xie Jinhuan that very day uncovered Sanhe Pavilion; the eyewitnesses and physical evidence aligned perfectly, diverting the government office’s attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huangfu Qi thought the crisis had passed—until the next day, when Xie Jinhuan inexplicably went to examine corpses and discovered clues to the Mad Corpse Flower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huangfu Qi confirmed the bodies showed no abnormalities; he couldn’t fathom how Xie Jinhuan had seen anything, and seeing Zhu Wenyuan and others grow suspicious, he could only claim “the burial site was at the slaughterhouse,” to mislead the county government office, then immediately notified Taishu Dan to destroy the evidence before the whole scheme collapsed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But despite his frantic warning, Taishu Dan’s men arrived too late at the corpse cave—they were caught by Xie Jinhuan, one dead, one wounded, exposing traces of a “Super-Class Great Demon,” causing the Dan Wang Fu to wrongly identify Taishu Dan as the source of the blood calamity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huangfu Qi didn’t know how the “blood traces” of a Super-Class Great Demon came to be; he asked Taishu Dan, who didn’t know either. With the entire city hunting, they followed Taishu Dan’s suggestion and continued “diverting the floodwaters eastward,” stealing three skeletons from the He family overnight and burying them in Li Gongpu’s farm, then leaking the information to the constables.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next day, Xie Jinhuan indeed found the Li family and detected no anomalies in the bones; given Li Gongpu’s terrible reputation, he couldn’t easily escape blame—the matter was successfully covered up, awaiting the Mid-Autumn night to net the fish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Xie Jinhuan was truly a demon!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That day, he tampered with the Bafang Tongming Array, luring Mu Yunling outside, yet Xie Jinhuan went straight to the Peony Pool and, alone and without aid, stormed the enemy’s vessel and slaughtered Taishu Dan’s entire household—famous for his slickness!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huangfu Qi believed his scheme had no flaws; he suspected Taishu Dan and his disciples had betrayed them. That night, he sneaked over to investigate and found He Can, battered and bruised, by the riverbank—unexpectedly discovering the “Three Poisons” planted twenty years ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Three Poisons were “pigeon, pig, snake,” borrowing from Buddhist lore to fabricate ambiguous clues, so the court would later suspect Wuxin Monk, helping to solidify the accusation that “the Buddhist Sect dug into the Tomb of the Sealed Demons.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huangfu Qi didn’t kill him; he delivered He Can to the Jingzhao Office, instructing the abbot Ye Shirong to interrogate him under torture—but He Can was stubborn, refusing to confess no matter how much he was beaten, insisting Xie Jinhuan was unnatural.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huangfu Qi half-believed him—then, on the day Xie Jinhuan arrived in the capital, the Dry Corpse Case was half-solved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Zhang Chu was nearly killed attempting an assassination, Ye Shirong was slain on the spot, He Guozhang nearly exposed himself trying to silence witnesses, Wei Yunya vanished at Tieji Gang, and soon after, the entire He family was exterminated, leaving only He Tianqi and his eldest son alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This string of losses caught the higher-ups off guard; Huangfu Qi, alone as a mole in the Dan Wang Fu, trembled in fear, terrified he’d be exposed without warning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A few days later, orders arrived from above. Their plan was vast—controlling the entire Southern Court was merely the first step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The original plan was for He Tianqi to approach the neglected Emperor, guide his sister to secretly pledge her life to him, then, once pregnant, subtly sabotage the fetus—since the Emperor was merely an unpopular prince, not the Crown Prince with tight protection, this loophole was easy to exploit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, incite the arrogant, favored Second Prince, secretly support him, lure him into fratricide to kill his elder brother, assist the Emperor’s ascension, and sacrifice over thirty members of the He family to cleanse the Emperor’s purity and gain his absolute trust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If successful, the puppet Crown Prince would ascend, the He clan would monopolize power, suppress Dao and Buddhist sects, summon Konggu the Elder and others to the capital, and fully seize control of the empire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But a decades-long scheme could never risk everything without a backup.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dan Wang, as the second heir to the throne, had survived the Jian’an Incident unharmed—clearly protected by the higher-ups, to serve as a contingency if the Emperor’s line failed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the Crown Prince hadn’t yet been touched, the Emperor’s ruthlessness—investigating even his beloved wife and children—had raised suspicion; thus, the backup plan was activated: abandon the Crown Prince, use him to obtain the Imperial Secret Scripture, have the Buddhist Sect test its authenticity, cripple the Buddhist Sect, and conclusively end the He family affair, dispelling the righteous sects’ vigilance, allowing Dan Wang to ascend with a spotless reputation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, Master Fachen entered the capital and began capturing shamans to dig into the Ancestral Corpse Tomb.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Wuyi, meanwhile, organized a Hero Gathering at the Emperor’s death, lured away the unnatural Xie Jinhuan, and showcased his disciples’ strength to pave the way for his eventual summons to the capital after Dao and Buddhist failures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the Crown Prince saw the Imperial Secret Scripture, He Tianqi knew Wuxin hadn’t read it—but as long as Fachen went, the Buddhist Sect couldn’t escape blame; the plan remained unchanged, and he used the Crown Prince’s voice to draw away Mu Yunling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, Danshou became a city without a Super-Class guardian, and Xie Jinhuan, that unnatural child, had left the region—if they truly unearthed the Corpse Ancestor, sealed for a hundred years, he’d have ample time to flee.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Xie Jinhuan was truly unnatural: in the daytime he disrupted the Sanjiangkou event, at night he thwarted Fachen’s operation at the Tomb of the Sealed Demons, and the next day he disrupted Wei Wuyi’s event—leaving the higher-ups with pounding heads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet after enduring countless trials, the higher-ups confirmed all intelligence was false: the Crown Prince had already been suspected by Lu Wu Zhen; this line was dead, and Dan Wang had successfully ascended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Dao and Buddhist sects both faltering and their prestige shattered, the higher-ups moved swiftly and successfully lured Wei Wuyi to the capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, they had completed their initial plan from years ago—the upper strategy envisioned by He Guozhang:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An emperor, uncontested and controllable, replacing Lu Wu Zhen with one of their own as the Imperial Supervisor, facilitating future actions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only flaw now: Lu Wu Zhen and Wuxin Monk still lived; Dan Wang hadn’t switched souls—he was hard to control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Dan Wang’s cunning paled beside the Emperor’s; guiding him wouldn’t be difficult. As for the other two sect masters, they’d need to be driven out of the capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Xie Jinhuan was too ruthless, the higher-ups feared further mishaps, so they ordered Konggu the Elder to quickly find a way to eliminate this boy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Konggu the Elder, to ensure absolute safety, deployed three Super-Class assassins to kill a First-Rank cultivator—yet they all died cleanly, and Xie Jinhuan returned unscathed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The higher-ups realized this boy was too hard to kill; afraid further attempts would alarm the sects, they accelerated the mission to Bei Zhou, urging Xie Jinhuan to leave at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huangfu Qi, having followed Dan Wang into the capital these past days, lived in constant dread of exposure, dared not even meet Xie Jinhuan’s gaze—now that the unnatural demon had departed, he finally straightened his back and breathed out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he pondered this, a carriage halted outside the mansion; the window opened, revealing the face of a middle-aged official in the robes of a Huangmen Lang, his demeanor refined and amiable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huangfu Qi snapped back to attention and hurried forward to bow:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master, what brings you here?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huangmen Lang Xu Tong glanced at the distant Danyang Marquis Mansion, then turned his gaze to the mansion:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wei Wuyi is hosting a banquet at the Purple Gold Pavilion and invited me. Is Zhao De still in the mansion?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, yes—he’s still confined to his study; His Majesty forbade him from leaving. Going to the Purple Gold Pavilion seems…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come with me. No problem.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moments later, Zhao De burst out of the mansion, dressed in scholarly robes, holding a fan, his expression like A Dou seeing his prime minister, shouting as he ran:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh my goodness, Grandpa! You’re simply… I wish I could tie myself up and stuff a jade ring in my mouth…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh?” Huangfu Qi blinked in confusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“‘Straw and ring’! Master Huang, don’t misunderstand!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao De snapped his fan against his palm and leapt onto the carriage in a panic:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let’s go, let’s go! Today I’ve invited a few… a few friends?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Tong closed the window, smiling faintly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your old acquaintance Wei Lu, bringing his grandfather for wine—drink vegetarian wine, don’t overthink it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Vegetarian wine is better than house arrest! In the capital, only Grandpa dares take me to Changle Street for fun. Could you please speak well of me to Father? I really just spoke out of turn…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your father only wants what’s best for you. Enjoy yourself, yes—but as the Crown Prince of Great Qian, you must prioritize your studies, ponder deeply how to shoulder the burden of Qian’s thirty-two provinces.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Understood. The way to govern a state begins with enriching the people. If us spoiled brats don’t waste money frivolously, how will the common folk grow rich? This isn’t play—it’s a comfortable way to equalize wealth…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There’s some sense to that…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of this volume)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of this chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",2370,"2026-06-20T01:38:12.833Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","aef9ab4cb789d44458d36d3dd7d9f79de0123962261e19fcd842e59c1b3d74b6","the-roaring-dragon-chapter-228","the-roaring-dragon-chapter-226",252,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-roaring-dragon-cover.jpg"]