Chapter 874: He Cannot Die

This battle raged until deep into the night, driving the Oirat army back fifty li before the Great Ming forces finally halted.

Thinking of the fallen Emperor, the soldiers wept aloud in the night, their hatred for the Oirat burning fierce.

Some officers had returned to Huicheng; they had seen the Emperor, now dressed in clean robes.

The Emperor's face was ashen gray—dead beyond any doubt.

Several senior ministers were brought to identify him; they even summoned former palace attendants who had served the Emperor to confirm it was his true body.

The ministers gathered around the Emperor's corpse, weeping; after their tears, they summoned the military physicians and coroners to examine him.

Though they dared not touch the Emperor's body, the physicians and coroners still deduced the cause of death from the wounds.

"This arrow is strange—it pierced clean through the chest. Who could generate such force? No ordinary man could manage it."

"If not an ordinary man, then a cultivator?" Jing Yuan said grimly. "That enormous bird is rare in this world; yet that man stood atop it, shooting an arrow from high above, far out in the sky..."

Cao Nai clenched his fists: "How dare a cultivator participate in the murder of an Emperor? To meddle in worldly affairs—do they fear no retribution? Didn't the founding Emperor make a pact with them? Don't they fear the backlash?"

Kuang Ye: "Look at the man's attire—he doesn't seem like one of us. Perhaps he's not bound by the pact. Didn't Esen also use Lamas?"

"We have Pan Yun. How is Pan Yun now?"

Kuang Ye sighed: "She's been vomiting blood, says she's suffering backlash."

So the founding Emperor's pact still holds.

But no one was happy.

What good is a pact that only binds cultivators of the Central Plains?

If it doesn't apply to vassal states—Oirat, Northern Liao, Korea, and Wa—doesn't that mean they can use cultivators to oppress us? Then it's better to...

Everyone swallowed the words on their tongues, heads throbbing with pain.

Still, they decided to send word to Long Hushan.

"The Celestial Master's Mansion oversees all Daoist Priests in the realm, serving the imperial court. If foreign cultivators use magic power to oppress us, they must have a way to retaliate."

"First, report the Emperor's death to Jingcheng. His Majesty has no heir—the new Emperor..."

The ministers were uneasy, but none of them were in Jingcheng; they exchanged glances, each with their own thoughts.

Kuang Ye took charge, ordering an eight-hundred-li express courier to send word back, while gathering vast quantities of ice to preserve the Emperor's body, to be transported to the capital by Cao Nai and others.

Along with the Emperor's corpse, the bodies of the Duke of Ying, Li Zhen, Chen Ying, Shen Rong, Fan Zhong, and others must also be sent back to Jingcheng.

The Emperor's personal campaign had brought a small imperial court with him; though many civil and military officials had died, a sufficient number could still be gathered.

They immediately began planning their next strategy against the enemy.

Though the Emperor's body had been recovered, his death meant no one knew how the capital's political winds would shift; thus, they decided to remain on the defensive until they received orders from Jingcheng.

Once the strategy was set, they prepared for departure that very night.

Xue Shao stood outside the gate, watching a group of soldiers run past, then another group running toward him; he turned and returned to the courtyard where Pan Yun was recovering.

Miao He brought out a basin of bloody water.

Xue Shao frowned: "Still vomiting blood?"

How much blood could she possibly have left?

Miao He said: "She's stopped vomiting. Now she's unconscious."

Xue Shao sighed, pushed open the door, and saw Pan Yun's face, deathly pale.

Seeing Miao Zhen rose to ask him: "Have you learned anything about Pan Yu?"

"He's alive. He's stationed thirty li away, guarding the pass."

Seeing Miao Zhen frowned: "Little Master Pan nearly died, yet they still sent Pan Yu to the front lines?"

Xue Shao: "Where isn't a front line now? On this battlefield, there are grandfathers, fathers, and sons fighting together."

He paused, then added: "The Wu brothers, both generals, died in battle; just now came word—the army found Chen Ying's body. He... his younger brother Chen Jing and nephew Chen Yu lay atop him, all severed at the limbs. When found, their bodies were nearly decomposed."

Wu Kezhong and Wu Keqin fought to the death to cover the Emperor's retreat, buying them half a day's time—but after the imperial carriage turned south, it veered off its original route, nullifying the time they had won.

Chen Ying and his brother and nephew also held the rear to allow the Emperor to change clothes and slip away amid the chaos.

"Also, the Duke of Ying's son, Zhang Zhong—he's critically wounded, barely clinging to life. The military physicians have given up. He'll be sent back to Jingcheng tomorrow with his father's corpse."

"We have medicine." A hoarse voice sounded behind Xue Shao.

Xue Shao whirled around, startled: "You're awake?"

Pan Yun whispered: "Zhang Zhong can't die. Seeing Miao Zhen..."

Seeing Miao Zhen pulled out her life-saving pill: "I'll take it to him right away."

Tao Yanbai: "I'll go with you."

Xue Shao watched the two leave; the room was suddenly empty except for the two of them.

Xue Shao poured a bowl of warm water to moisten Pan Yun's throat: "When I went to see Zhang Zhong, I noticed a yellow talisman around his neck. His bodyguards said it was originally yellow, then turned charred. The man who fought him was Esen—Esen is immensely strong, often splitting men in half with a single blow. Zhang Zhong's wounds ran deep to the bone—he was truly split nearly in two, yet he survived long enough to be carried back to the tent."

Pan Yun: "I gave him that talisman."

Xue Shao: "You seem to know who's in greater danger."

"I'm a Daoist Priest. All Daoist Priests can divine and calculate."

"Then did you calculate that you'd suffer backlash this severe?"

Pan Yun looked up and smiled at him: "If you know, do you stop? You felt you'd die coming here—yet you came anyway."

Xue Shao: "But I didn't die. Many who were meant to die didn't."

Pan Yun: "Isn't that a good thing?"

Xue Shao whispered: "Are you planning to trade two lives for theirs? Yours and his?"

Pan Yun said nothing.

Xue Shao stepped forward two paces, pressing: "Will you die?"

Pan Yun's whole body ached; her soul felt flayed by a thousand blades, pain unceasing. She gritted her teeth: "I don't know. But I think I won't."

"You're as confident as ever."

Pan Yun smiled.

Xue Shao turned and said: "I'll help you. For these days, don't move—enter seclusion and cultivate."

Great Ming avenged its past humiliation, crushed the Wala army, reclaimed a large stretch of occupied land, drove the Wala forces back fifty li, and the soldiers were all elated.

But whenever he thought of the murdered Emperor, he couldn't help but feel rage and sorrow.

Yet whenever the Emperor was mentioned, everyone couldn't help but bring up the bird-man shooting arrows by day and the cauldron stealing the corpse.

No one knew who the bird-man was; mentioning him ended the topic, but the people in the cauldron—they knew those people.

"She's an immortal from Long Hushan, named Pan Yun. I heard she saved many people along the way; the Commandant of the Imperial Guard and numerous civil and military ministers were all saved by her. I heard that last night she even slipped into the enemy camp and met the Emperor, trying to rescue him—but Your Majesty was too timid to risk it, so he refused. She and the brocade-uniform scouts who went with her suffered a heavy blow. Today, she still risked her life on the battlefield to retrieve the Emperor's corpse."