Chapter 5: The Place Where The Moon Sets
“An unreasonable Emperor, a corrupted society, stupid people…” －Yiye
“Yiye, how can you be so rude to His Majesty?” －Ya Mei Die
“…And an incorrigible subject.” －Yiye
※
Huan Shi only had two nations: the Eastern City was in the direction of which the sun rose, while the Western City stood opposite the Eastern City from a distance away and always welcomed the setting of the moon.
Contrasting with the Western City’s architecture style and the distribution of its residents, the Eastern City exhibited a type of splendid and gorgeous ambience, unlike the mysterious quiet atmosphere of the Western City.
The streets of the Western City were always bustling only during the daytime. Nearly all activities and events were carried out then. Once night fell, even business people couldn’t be seen. At most, there would be a few shops that only people with connections would know of or some places that surreptitiously carried out shady transactions.
Aside from banning public business at night, the Western City also didn’t allow their residents to wander around the streets at night. If they took a single step out of their homes, they would be caught by the guards and forced to return. These kinds of restrictions on the residents’ freedoms had already existed for a long time. The oldest theory for this was that the Emperor hated it when people gathered to conspire together at night, discussing illegal matters. However, by this point, pretty much nobody would be able to say exactly which of the past Emperors had issued this order.
If people really wanted to group together to conspire, it was possible in the daytime too. However, that was when there were tons of people about, and it would be hard to hide from others. In addition, things like work and school all occurred during the day. In general, the residents of Western City were unlikely to have free time in the day, which is why the restricting prohibitions were set for nighttime.
Usually, there were only patrolling soldiers around Western City at night. If anyone was sent out on orders to carry out urgent businesses, they would carry documents with them, and they would have to voluntarily offer the documents to the patrolling guards for inspection. In addition, the patrolling guards naturally recognised each other. Whenever they saw any unfamiliar faces, they would have to interrogate the person. These were all established regulations.
However, that person roaming around silently on the street now was someone that no guard would dare to question, regardless of how brave they were. Instead, as if by some tacit agreement, they all automatically regarded this person as if he were carrying out official business and would simply greet him from a distance upon encountering him.
It didn’t matter whether he was out on business, if he was tired of being idle and wanted fresh air, if he was pacing around to improve his bad mood, or even if he actually wanted to conspire against Englar to dethrone him. For the sake of their own safeties, everyone just wanted to keep a safe distance from this person and not get involved with any of his business. What else could they do when Yiye, who held the highest position in the Magic Sword Guards, had a strength and temper that instilled fear in everyone’s hearts?
Anyways, Yiye felt more comfortable when these people kept their distance without daring to approach him. It was best if they didn’t even bother saying “Greetings, Lord Yiye.” Although this was basic etiquette, he found being constantly greeted like this annoying.
Either way, interpersonal connections were things that he’d always be extremely lacking in, and he didn’t intend to make up for this deficiency either. He liked to come and go by himself and disliked being confined or bound by anything. Interacting with others was just an annoyance to him.
The reason he’d accepted the honor of a position in the Magic Sword Guards, which the young Emperor had offered him, was mostly because the old fogey at his home wouldn’t stop going on about how he had to loyally dedicate himself for the nation. After becoming acquainted with Ya Mei Die, he began to suspect that the old fogey was actually Ya Mei Die’s father rather than his, since those two guys had identical ideologies that he could never agree with.
Now that the old fogey back home wasn’t there anymore, he obviously wouldn’t be as obedient as he had been before. As for whether or not he’d one day be unable to stand it anymore and resign from his position, that depended on how far his co-workers and his superior tested his limits.
The main reason he was walking around on the street at this time was because he was searching for Ya Mei Die. As for why Ya Mei Die would be here at this time…he had no desire to find out.
The reason he didn’t want to know was that he intuitively felt that it was definitely related to that Englar he hated so much.
According to reason, they were the direct subordinates closest to Englar. But in reality, aside from meeting Englar the time they were awarded the positions, they had pretty much never come into contact with him again. Englar never gave them orders; they mostly had work only when Englar needed to participate in public events, and they had to attend as guards. The Elders never even let the Magic Sword Guards know whether it was the honored Emperor himself or whether it was a substitute.
Yiye always felt that their responsibilities and duties were always ignored by Englar and the Elders, as if they had fallen to the point where they were just bodyguards with undeserved salaries. This obviously gave him an unpleasant feeling, especially when they weren’t useless people.
Whenever he accompanied Englar to events and saw the three gold threads Englar wore that were identical to his, he couldn’t help but feel the urge to sneer.
In what way did Englar need the protection of the Magic Sword Guards? This system was only meaningful if the Emperor’s strength wasn’t enough, right?
He clearly didn’t need them at all. Even though they’d never conversed and Yiye couldn’t tell what went on in that young Emperor’s mind, he intuitively believed this.
It had been confirmed five years ago. When the Western City had been in a state of emergency after the Eastern City’s army had broken through the few remaining defenses, they’d been informed that they had orders to stay within the city, while the person they were supposed to protect had gone out without any armor with his exclusive, god-like weapon and rushed straight to the front lines of the war to meet the enemy troops.
In the end, he’d obtained an overwhelming victory. This also meant that he alone was enough. The guards and whatever defense circles were all a joke.
In the past, the Elders had used the excuse of Englar’s young age to forbid him from appearing in public, and under the pretense of protecting him, they’d often send out a substitute even for festivals and necessary ceremonies. In addition to the fact that most of Englar’s face was covered by a cloth, the substitute only needed to be alike in spirit. The issue was, they didn’t know who substitutes were supposed to be similar to.
The only certain thing was that the person that had left the city to battle five years ago was the real person. Nothing else was known.
Actually, the fact that the cloth covered the eyes like that was suspicious too. Some people hypothesised that he was blind, while others joked that it made it easier to send substitutes, as the eye color wouldn’t have to be the same…
None of this was important right now though. If Yiye was displeased by the fact that he had no contact with his nominal superior, and he didn’t understand what kind of person his superior was, then his recent “realization” made him firmly believe that it was better to never understand.
Yiye felt anger towards the Emperor’s laughable stupidity, or what others would feel was the fading of dreams. Recently, the chances of Englar appearing had gone up, like he was trying to gradually regain his power after maturing. But some of his actions, or rather, his probings, could be said to be him randomly playing around with others, using his power to trick his subordinates, and manifesting his influence.
Yiye felt that the Magic Sword Guards were one of the groups being made a fool of. Although the word “mature” was used, nobody knew exactly how old Englar was. However, he’d started to make his moves, and the matters were truly no longer decided by the Elders. For example, his earlier command for them to pluck feathers was enough to make him unforgettable.
Anyone who received such a ridiculous order would naturally complain. Unfortunately, there were still some idiots among his coworkers who held fast to their trust in the Emperor that would seemingly last until they died. Seeing this made Yiye even angrier.
After Yiye had knocked out Ya Mei Die that day and brought him back, Ya Mei Die had lost his head out of fear because they hadn’t completed the task and blamed Yiye relentlessly to the point where Yiye nearly wanted to use force to make Ya Mei Die unable to speak anymore. This way, his ears could enjoy the quiet again.
Speaking of which, he hadn’t actually killed off Ya Mei Die, perhaps because Ya Mei Die’s personality was so similar to his old man that was no longer here. Although he didn’t like it, he would still subconsciously project his father onto Ya Mei Die, which infuriated him…it was really a terrible experience.
After circling a few more alleyways, Yiye finally spotted the crestfallen Ya Mei Die and walked towards him. Ya Mei Die noticed him when he was near and looked in his direction.
“Yiye? Why are you here…”
“Why are you here?”
Although he didn’t really want to know why Ya Mei Die was here because he knew it would just infuriate him, he still took the initiative to ask upon seeing Ya Mei Die.
“You also know that it’s been half a month since we returned. His Majesty must’ve known as well. However, he hasn’t summoned us to ask about the plucking feathers incident, and I also don’t dare to enter the palace to report because the task wasn’t completed…”
Don’t bring up that chicken matter in front of me anymore－! Yiye’s face began to distort.
“During this past half month, I’ve been trying to make up for my shortcomings, but sneaking into the territory at night without being discovered is really too hard, and going back and forth to make a pillow probably isn’t enough. Now that we have to see the Emperor at the sacrificial ceremony tomorrow, I wondered if I could buy any chicken feathers here at night. In the end…”
Yiye didn’t even want to speak at this point, but Ya Mei Die didn’t pay any mind and continued.
“In the end, it got too late, and all the stores closed. I wandered back and forth, but not a single shop is open. I was just about to give up before you appeared.”
So what if the stores closed? You’re a Magic Sword Guard, can’t you just book a place with an order and inspect their goods?
Or did you also realise that using this privilege for the sake of finding some chicken feathers on sale is an extremely embarrassing thing to do?
“Yiye, were you looking for me for something?”
No matter what, he had to deal with the reason he’d come to look for Ya Mei Die sooner or later. Thus, Yiye pulled out a letter and handed it over.
“I want to request a three-month break starting from tomorrow. Help me pass this to the appropriate person.”
He didn’t even want to utter the words “Your Majesty” anymore. Ya Mei Die blankly accepted the letter before realising something was off.
“Wait! Three months? That long? In addition, what about the sacrificial ceremony tomorrow? Are you not planning on going?”
“Not going. So I can only entrust this letter to you to pass on.”
“How can you not attend? We’re the Magic Sword Guards who ensure His Majesty’s safety!”
“With how powerful he is, does he need any other protection?”
Actually, Yiye’s feelings had grown quite complicated with regards to Englar, his superior in name only.
On one hand, staying by Englar’s side didn’t seem like a favorable position in terms of using his skills. On the other hand, he didn’t want to submit to someone weaker than him, because he felt that there would be no way to believe in them.
Perhaps it was because he felt more strongly about the latter that he had stayed in this position until now?
Although, rather than acknowledging his master, he actually wanted to have a fight with him to figure out who was stronger.
“Yiye…”
“There’s no need to speak further. No matter what you say, I won’t be present tomorrow. I have already handed in this letter requesting leave, so do whatever you think is appropriate.”
Having completed his objective, Yiye naturally didn’t want to continue loitering here. Ignoring Ya Mei Die’s shouts from behind, he swiftly activated magic and left the area, preparing for his boring, three-month vacation.
That’s right, a boring vacation. Even though he’d requested leave, he didn’t have anything to do. He’d done so simply because he didn’t want to participate in these kinds of ventures anymore.
If it was boring, then it was boring. At least he could leave this huge mess, which put him a bit more at ease.
※
The Western City had more than one type of sacrificial ceremony. The one being carried out today was for the mausoleum of the past emperors. The main lead for this kind of event was obviously the young Emperor. In addition, this counted as a Royal Family-related activity, so normal citizens couldn’t just attend.
The mausoleum of the past emperors was not within the city, so the young Emperor’s fleet for this ceremony had to leave the city, and they were open for the Eastern City residents to admire. The way they went down the streets was different; in Western City, any road the young Emperor’s carriage would travel down would be closed and supervised so that not unrelated people could enter. The young Emperor himself sat inside the carriage, never showing his face outside.
It could be said that this tight, excessive protection had persisted for many years now. Most of Western City’s residents had already gotten used to this situation. Although those shop-owners from those closed down streets would cry in anguish when they couldn’t run their businesses, they didn’t have the ability to protest.
Originally, the residents hadn’t felt any love and respect towards their young Emperor, but their impression of him had changed after the war five years ago. After all, the young Emperor had protected the nation during the war, which was equivalent to protecting their families and properties, which the citizens were grateful for. But the young Emperor’s recent actions made the people who had fantasized about a great and noble ruler had been completely disappointed, especially after he had refused to use his blood to heal the Magic Sword Guards that had returned heavily wounded.
The young Emperor’s image that everyone had was originally mysterious and unreasonable, and now it had changed to one that was willful, rash, and ruthless.
However, the residents had never possessed the right to choose their ruler. Regardless of whether they liked him or not, they couldn’t change the ruler to one they were more fond of.
※
The Western City’s palace－where the young Emperor and the Elders lived－was called Sheng Xi Luo Gong. The building was extremely sturdy, and it was very different from the glorious and complex architecture style in the commercial district. Its tall, ash grey walls made it impossible for others to peer inside. Sheng Xi Luo Gong was similar to a city in the center of the city, operating independently from Western City. No outsiders could interfere, nor would they ever know about anything that happened within it. Occasionally, they’d listen to some rumors leaked out to satisfy their curiosity.
The preparations for this sacrificial ceremony for the past emperors had begun in the morning. The young Emperor, who would perform the ceremony had to take a purifying bath and change into plain white clothing. The personnel chosen to follow were also in charge of their own preparations. Before the official start, the entire Sheng Xi Luo Gong was bustling, a rare scene as opposed to its usual cold stillness.
The Emperor’s carriage had already arrived at the palace doors long ago and was waiting there, prepared to leave at any given moment. The people also went to their own places, waiting for everything to get ready.
Ya Mei Die had already waited next to the young Emperor’s carriage for a long time. The fact that he’d waited a long time already didn’t actually cause him to feel impatient because he knew that the young Emperor didn’t like waiting and preferred to make others wait for him instead. That’s why he definitely wouldn’t board the carriage early. Typically speaking, he’d probably appear at the very last minute.
As the Emperor’s subordinate, it was natural for him to obediently wait here.
After waiting for another long while, he finally sensed some movement behind him. The person he was searching for was walking over while surrounded by his escorts. However, as Ya Mei Die stared at him from a distance, he was struck by astonishment.
According to conventional practice, the Emperor should be wearing white clothing today. However, the clothes on the slightly slim frame were dark red. Although the clothing wasn’t extremely bright or heavy, that ornate style was too different from the simple style used for the ceremony.
“Your Majesty.”
Before the youth walked up to him, he knelt down on one knee and greeted the Emperor appropriately. Even if he felt that the other person’s dress was a bit off, he couldn’t possibly say this. It was an extremely disrespectful action that he would never allow himself to do to the young Emperor.
“You need not be so reserved, please stand.”
The youth whose face was covered with a white cloth said these words. Upon hearing this, Ya Mei Die stood up and dealt with the first matter of handing Yiye’s letter of leave request over.
“Your Majesty, this is Yiye’s letter to inform you that from today on, he’s requesting a leave of absence for three months.”
The youth accepted the letter with a faint smile containing hints of displeasure.
“Is this a voluntary vacation? This so-called vacation that just apparently go into effect without being authorised first? That arrogant Joker, does he value me at all?”
“Your Majesty, please do not be angry….Yiye just isn’t very good at dealing with these kinds of matters, this servant doesn’t believe he has any ill intent.”
When Ya Mei Die saw the youth’s expression turn cold, he had hurriedly spoken up on behalf of Yiye. In reality, whether Yiye had ill intent or not was clear to him; it had clearly gotten to the point of contempt.
“There’s no need to talk about this any further. Is there anything else?”
The youth nonchalantly passed the letter to a person next to him without any intention of even glancing at its contents.
“Your Majesty…Club Sword Guard’s injury…you…”
The five Magic Sword Guards were referred to by five different suits. Yiye was the Joker, Ya Mei Die was the Heart, and the one that had suffered from a hand injury this time was Club.
“I’m pretty sure I already rejected. Is your memory faulty? That wound was inflicted by a soul purging weapon, right? Even if he was saved, he cannot recover completely to his normal self, so why waste my blood? If a Magic Sword Guard is injured, I can just choose another one; it’s not like it has to be him?”
After indifferently replying, the youth seemed to not want to dwell on this topic any longer and turned around to board the carriage.
“Ah! Your Majesty! There’s another matter…”
Although Ya Mei Die felt that stopping the Emperor like this was rude, he’d already brought the item. Sooner or later, he had to hand it over and give a clear report.
“This servant brought a portion of the chicken feathers Your Majesty commanded for me to collect before. Is this what Your Majesty wanted?”
He opened the bag to reveal the washed and organised feathers. The youth turned around at these words and stopped in his tracks to face him. Because his eyes were covered by the white cloth, his expression couldn’t be seen, and it was impossible to guess his thoughts.
“So it was this matter, I’d nearly forgotten about it.”
The youth said, as he stretched his hand out to grab some feathers to play around with in his hand.
“However, I don’t really want them anymore.”
He smiled and turned around, loosening his fingers, and the light and graceful feathers simply blew away in the wind in all directions, instantly forming a mess on the ground.
“Since you’ve already gathered them, you might as well collect them and bring them back into the palace. Perhaps the future imperial concubines will like it?”
He then boarded the carriage, his chamberlains shutting the door behind him. Ya Mei Die blankly stood in his spot; even after the fleet had left, he still didn’t know how exactly to respond to this kind of situation.
“Lord Ya Mei Die, shall we help you pick these up?”
A few of the cleaning palace maids that had also seen the scene just now rushed over in concern upon seeing the fleet leave.
“Mmm…thank you for your trouble.”
If Yiye had been here and had seen that humiliating scene with the young Emperor, he’d perhaps be jeering at Ya Mei Die, “After he trampled all over your loyalty like that, will you still continue saying ‘His Wise Majesty’?”
Ya Mei Die couldn’t decide.
Perhaps His Majesty really had suddenly stopped liking the chicken feathers?
Right now, he could only think that was the case.
※
The mausoleum where the emperors were buried wasn’t far outside the Western City. When it had first been designed, environmental factors had been considered. There were no flower gardens around it; rather, an underground room was designed instead. There was only one narrow entrance outside, making it harder for the tombstone to be broken by the wrong people for whatever reason.
The sacrificial ceremony didn’t require many offerings, just some fresh flowers that could rot as time passed. After a ceremonial officer recited from some scrolls to complete the ceremony, the young Emperor had to enter the mausoleum to pour out purified water. Nobody could accompany him during this. Either way, the inside was inspected beforehand, and the sole entrance was controlled, so there shouldn’t be any safety issues.
“Your Majesty, this is the purified water.”
The person offering the dish of purified water was the Spade Magic Sword Guard, Aojisa. After the young Emperor had started to appear in public recently, Aojisa was the Magic Sword Guard who had appeared by the young Emperor’s side the most often. He was also the most supportive one, devoting all his time to work to the point where, by now, he still hadn’t married. His co-workers had all said he was dangerously close to becoming a mid-aged uncle. Some girls insisted that, while Lord Aojisa was a bit old, he was still just as handsome and charming, but time truly still left behind some undeniable marks…
“Aojisa, is your rheumatic pain better?”
The youth indifferently mocked as he received the purified water.
Yes, there were weaknesses that accompanied increasing age, such as rheumatic pain.
“It’s no longer a major hindrance, Your Majesty.”
Aojisa replied expressionlessly. In general, he wasn’t one that could be swayed by teasing.
“Really? Then that’s great, you can finally return to carrying out your duties for the jobs that you are requested to run, right? I’m very grateful. When I heard that you had to request leave because of this kind of issue, I had really felt troubled. Do you have any compensation plans?”
When the youth spoke to him, the words he used were slightly different, most likely because his word choice depended on how close he was with his conversation partner.
“I deeply apologise.”
It looked like he hadn’t planned to propose any compensation plans, benefitting at the other’s expense.
Upon receiving this kind of response, the youth didn’t talk any further and instead prepared to carry the purified water inside.
“But when I turn around and look at that mausoleum entrance, I always feel like I’ll be sucked in and won’t be able to leave again…”
Aojisa indifferently replied with a single sentence.
“It’s dark inside, it’ll be fine once you light the lanterns.”
As expected, the uncle really was an uncle that didn’t understand others’ minds.
But lighting the lamps was actually necessary. Although the young Emperor’s eyes were covered by a cloth, having him enter a dark room alone was still unacceptable. Thus, the people responsible had to go down and light some weaker light sources in the mausoleum before the youth could be sent off under everyone’s gazes.
Not long after he’d entered the passageway, he impatiently tore off the cloth covering his face and used his eyes to watch the path. It was much more convenient to do so.
Once he reached the end of the path, he entered the large mausoleum. After pouring the purified water into the appropriate location, he stayed there to appreciate the tombstones, not in any hurry to leave.
The tombstones were arranged in order of date, so it was extremely easy to find a specific person. He walked in a circle to his predecessor’s tombstone, and upon seeing the words on the stone, let out a mocking laugh.
“You didn’t have anything while alive and just acted as a pawn under the Elders’ control, without knowing that so many of the past emperors had been treated the same way, right, Father? Are you happy? As long as the emperor after you isn’t reduced to the Elders’ tool like you were, are you satisfied?”
The words he spoke to the tombstone contained no respect. Rather, they had a strong disdain, or perhaps hatred, contained within.
“If that’s the case, then I’m sure you’re very satisfied with the current results…it’s just a pity that your son wasn’t the child you were expecting, and you can’t do anything about it anymore…”
He wasn’t sure if he’d been anticipating this day for a long time or not. While wearing low-profile clothing to express celebration, he had arrived before this desolate tombstone and said whatever he wanted to say without anyone refuting his words.
Because there were only corpses here.
“Aojisa, why did you come down?”
Sensing footsteps from the pathway, the youth turned to look at the person who had just arrived.
“It’s been a bit long since Your Majesty descended, so I came down to check if you had any issues.”
“A bit long? Wasn’t it just a moment? Can those old thieves not just wait a bit?”
Because typically, the Emperor was supposed to go back up after he finished pouring the purified water, so it wasn’t surprising the elders thought he was taking a while.
“Either way, there’s nothing wrong. Let’s just go up then.”
The youth dully said, and picked up the white cloth, preparing to tie it around his head again.
Aojisa silently watched the youth wrapping the cloth around his head for a long while before he finally asked a question he’d wanted to ask for a long time now.
“What exactly are you thinking of doing? Your Majesty.”
The youth’s hand that had been tying the cloth stopped its movements because of this question, and his azure eyes looked at Aojisa.
In response to this question, he only smiled. Although the smile was very beautiful, his eyes didn’t smile at all.
This smile seemed to toss the question back at Aojisa.
※
“Fan Tong! Long time no see! Have you heard of any news from Lord Ling Shi?”
Seeing Mi Zhong the morning of the once-a-week day off wasn’t something Fan Tong found pleasant.
“If I do, I’ll tell you.”
No, I wanted to say that even if I do, I won’t tell you.
“Oh? Since when were you such a good friend, was my plan to win you over successful?”
What exactly what were you using to win me over? Aside from telling me a few stories, you haven’t done me any favors…
“Wait! You! You suddenly turned into a grass green tassel all of a sudden! It was only for a short while we hadn’t seen each other!”
Mi Zhong finally noticed Fan Tong’s tassel color change and immediately gave a shout of disbelief.
Is there a need to make it sound so tragic? You make it sound like my jumping to a grass green tassel is some inhumane occurrence. You clearly knew that we had gone to pluck chicken feathers, and all we’ve done is completed the task. It isn’t strange for our levels to go up a bit, right?
While thinking this, Fan Tong was also rejoicing over the fact that Mi Zhong didn’t know that Yin Shi and Ling Shi had helped them pluck feathers. Otherwise, Mi Zhong would say something horrible like, “How could you let Lord Ling Shi use his beautiful and noble hands to help you do that kind of thing? I’ll punish you in the name of all his followers!”
“Sigh, the grass green tassel is really nice, you can get a monthly salary of five strings. Up until now, I’m still a pale green tassel…”
Mi Zhong sighed as he rubbed his own tassel while also looking at Fan Tong’s, his eyes darting around with malicious intent.
“What are you planning to do?”
Fan Tong warily took a step back. Mi Zhong’s expression seemed sinister, as if he was scheming something.
“I say, why don’t we have a friendly, educational duel? Your tassel is really stirring to me…”
I knew it!
You vile person! Is robbing another person’s hard work all you can think of?! My mop is super powerful, you’re not afraid of me sweeping off a third of your soul in a duel?
“Why are you so tense? Fan Tong, even your hand is shaking. Really, it’s just a joke. I have no desire to cause others to resent me and make more enemies. Besides, you have a terrifying supporter behind your back, I definitely don’t want to stir up trouble with Lord Luo Shi.”
Whose, whose hand is shaking! Why are you watching me so closely…no, I mean, I’m not that scared! Don’t talk nonsense!
As for Luo Shi…you really think of my relationship with him too gloriously. If Yue Tui was the one being bullied, he might come lend a helping hand, but as for me…he’d probably just laugh at me and say that I deserve it for having poor skills…and probably add something like, ‘don’t delude yourself into trying to keep something that’s not yours, it’s expected for you to lose it’…
“Oh, right, since we met up, I might as well share some news I just picked up, it’s steaming hot!”
“Oh?”
Fan Tong still had some interest in listening to gossip and interesting news, as long as the leading role in the gossip wasn’t him.
“I heard that the feathers produced by the local chickens here in Eastern City are extremely popular, even Luo Yue’s Magic Sword Guards came fearlessly running from so far away to snatch some! This news was provided by one of the victims who went to Resource Area One last night to gather feathers. Unfortunately, the feathers he’d worked so hard to collect were instantly seized by the enemy. Sigh…what do you think? Are the feathers really that amazing?”
“…”
I knew of the matter regarding the Magic Sword Guards coming to pluck chicken feathers ages ago, your news is out of date…but, they came again last night? They really don’t give up…
As for the New Resident whose feathers had been taken for the sake of their young Emperor’s pillow, you should just accept your fate…
※
Fan Tong’s Afterword
From changing my tassel up until now, half a month has passed, and honestly speaking, I’m a bit afraid to go out. This is because, whenever I walk on the streets, I keep feeling like I’m carrying around a ton of money and will be robbed at any moment. Although grass green tassels only get a monthly salary of five strings, that gives a total of sixty thousand strings after a thousand years, which is obviously a large sum of money…don’t ask me if I feel like I’ll live a thousand years, I’m just demonstrating the profits using pure numbers. I haven’t analysed it that thoroughly, alright?
Speaking of duels, Yue Tui has encountered quite a few. Even though he had defeated everyone on the first day so cleanly and skillfully, some others still came looking for him afterwards. I couldn’t help but feel I was extremely lucky; fortunately, they had locked their sights on Yue Tui and hadn’t tried to duel me. Otherwise, my fortune would’ve flipped, and I would’ve dropped from grass green tassel to white tassel ages ago. I’m also certain that nobody would be interested in helping me gather feathers and skins a second time…
The wounds on Yue Tui’s body due to a mistake in the rebirth process disappeared the next day. It was really something worth celebrating. However, calling it something worth celebrating doesn’t sound quite right either…either way, he seemed to have calmed down, which put me more at ease too, and everything seemed well.
As for our promotion celebration dinner, Luo Shi invited us three days later. Because both Yue Tui and I had died in Shen Wang Dian before, it was a bit inauspicious, and it was possible we had some shadows of trauma connected to it, so the location was changed to a restaurant outside. In the end, Lord Yin Shi and Bi Rou had come too…how come even when we’re trying to enjoy a celebration dinner, you two have to linger around and continue blinding us with your acts of love! So immoral!
Perhaps because of Bi Rou, I felt that, although Yue Tui had freed himself from the burden of his wounds, his expression that day wasn’t very good. Are you guys actually celebrating anything? Yue Tui, your unfriendly and cold gaze was a bit too obvious, especially when compared to your normal behavior…
Either way, everything up until now has just been harmless scares. Perhaps continuing steadily like this wouldn’t be that bad?
Chapter 5: The Place Where The Moon Sets
“An unreasonable Emperor, a corrupted society, stupid people…” －Yiye
“Yiye, how can you be so rude to His Majesty?” －Ya Mei Die
“…And an incorrigible subject.” －Yiye
※
Huan Shi only had two nations: the Eastern City was in the direction of which the sun rose, while the Western City stood opposite the Eastern City from a distance away and always welcomed the setting of the moon.
Contrasting with the Western City’s architecture style and the distribution of its residents, the Eastern City exhibited a type of splendid and gorgeous ambience, unlike the mysterious quiet atmosphere of the Western City.
The streets of the Western City were always bustling only during the daytime. Nearly all activities and events were carried out then. Once night fell, even business people couldn’t be seen. At most, there would be a few shops that only people with connections would know of or some places that surreptitiously carried out shady transactions.
Aside from banning public business at night, the Western City also didn’t allow their residents to wander around the streets at night. If they took a single step out of their homes, they would be caught by the guards and forced to return. These kinds of restrictions on the residents’ freedoms had already existed for a long time. The oldest theory for this was that the Emperor hated it when people gathered to conspire together at night, discussing illegal matters. However, by this point, pretty much nobody would be able to say exactly which of the past Emperors had issued this order.
If people really wanted to group together to conspire, it was possible in the daytime too. However, that was when there were tons of people about, and it would be hard to hide from others. In addition, things like work and school all occurred during the day. In general, the residents of Western City were unlikely to have free time in the day, which is why the restricting prohibitions were set for nighttime.
Usually, there were only patrolling soldiers around Western City at night. If anyone was sent out on orders to carry out urgent businesses, they would carry documents with them, and they would have to voluntarily offer the documents to the patrolling guards for inspection. In addition, the patrolling guards naturally recognised each other. Whenever they saw any unfamiliar faces, they would have to interrogate the person. These were all established regulations.
However, that person roaming around silently on the street now was someone that no guard would dare to question, regardless of how brave they were. Instead, as if by some tacit agreement, they all automatically regarded this person as if he were carrying out official business and would simply greet him from a distance upon encountering him.
It didn’t matter whether he was out on business, if he was tired of being idle and wanted fresh air, if he was pacing around to improve his bad mood, or even if he actually wanted to conspire against Englar to dethrone him. For the sake of their own safeties, everyone just wanted to keep a safe distance from this person and not get involved with any of his business. What else could they do when Yiye, who held the highest position in the Magic Sword Guards, had a strength and temper that instilled fear in everyone’s hearts?
Anyways, Yiye felt more comfortable when these people kept their distance without daring to approach him. It was best if they didn’t even bother saying “Greetings, Lord Yiye.” Although this was basic etiquette, he found being constantly greeted like this annoying.
Either way, interpersonal connections were things that he’d always be extremely lacking in, and he didn’t intend to make up for this deficiency either. He liked to come and go by himself and disliked being confined or bound by anything. Interacting with others was just an annoyance to him.
The reason he’d accepted the honor of a position in the Magic Sword Guards, which the young Emperor had offered him, was mostly because the old fogey at his home wouldn’t stop going on about how he had to loyally dedicate himself for the nation. After becoming acquainted with Ya Mei Die, he began to suspect that the old fogey was actually Ya Mei Die’s father rather than his, since those two guys had identical ideologies that he could never agree with.
Now that the old fogey back home wasn’t there anymore, he obviously wouldn’t be as obedient as he had been before. As for whether or not he’d one day be unable to stand it anymore and resign from his position, that depended on how far his co-workers and his superior tested his limits.
The main reason he was walking around on the street at this time was because he was searching for Ya Mei Die. As for why Ya Mei Die would be here at this time…he had no desire to find out.
The reason he didn’t want to know was that he intuitively felt that it was definitely related to that Englar he hated so much.
According to reason, they were the direct subordinates closest to Englar. But in reality, aside from meeting Englar the time they were awarded the positions, they had pretty much never come into contact with him again. Englar never gave them orders; they mostly had work only when Englar needed to participate in public events, and they had to attend as guards. The Elders never even let the Magic Sword Guards know whether it was the honored Emperor himself or whether it was a substitute.
Yiye always felt that their responsibilities and duties were always ignored by Englar and the Elders, as if they had fallen to the point where they were just bodyguards with undeserved salaries. This obviously gave him an unpleasant feeling, especially when they weren’t useless people.
Whenever he accompanied Englar to events and saw the three gold threads Englar wore that were identical to his, he couldn’t help but feel the urge to sneer.
In what way did Englar need the protection of the Magic Sword Guards? This system was only meaningful if the Emperor’s strength wasn’t enough, right?
He clearly didn’t need them at all. Even though they’d never conversed and Yiye couldn’t tell what went on in that young Emperor’s mind, he intuitively believed this.
It had been confirmed five years ago. When the Western City had been in a state of emergency after the Eastern City’s army had broken through the few remaining defenses, they’d been informed that they had orders to stay within the city, while the person they were supposed to protect had gone out without any armor with his exclusive, god-like weapon and rushed straight to the front lines of the war to meet the enemy troops.
In the end, he’d obtained an overwhelming victory. This also meant that he alone was enough. The guards and whatever defense circles were all a joke.
In the past, the Elders had used the excuse of Englar’s young age to forbid him from appearing in public, and under the pretense of protecting him, they’d often send out a substitute even for festivals and necessary ceremonies. In addition to the fact that most of Englar’s face was covered by a cloth, the substitute only needed to be alike in spirit. The issue was, they didn’t know who substitutes were supposed to be similar to.
The only certain thing was that the person that had left the city to battle five years ago was the real person. Nothing else was known.
Actually, the fact that the cloth covered the eyes like that was suspicious too. Some people hypothesised that he was blind, while others joked that it made it easier to send substitutes, as the eye color wouldn’t have to be the same…
None of this was important right now though. If Yiye was displeased by the fact that he had no contact with his nominal superior, and he didn’t understand what kind of person his superior was, then his recent “realization” made him firmly believe that it was better to never understand.
Yiye felt anger towards the Emperor’s laughable stupidity, or what others would feel was the fading of dreams. Recently, the chances of Englar appearing had gone up, like he was trying to gradually regain his power after maturing. But some of his actions, or rather, his probings, could be said to be him randomly playing around with others, using his power to trick his subordinates, and manifesting his influence.
Yiye felt that the Magic Sword Guards were one of the groups being made a fool of. Although the word “mature” was used, nobody knew exactly how old Englar was. However, he’d started to make his moves, and the matters were truly no longer decided by the Elders. For example, his earlier command for them to pluck feathers was enough to make him unforgettable.
Anyone who received such a ridiculous order would naturally complain. Unfortunately, there were still some idiots among his coworkers who held fast to their trust in the Emperor that would seemingly last until they died. Seeing this made Yiye even angrier.
After Yiye had knocked out Ya Mei Die that day and brought him back, Ya Mei Die had lost his head out of fear because they hadn’t completed the task and blamed Yiye relentlessly to the point where Yiye nearly wanted to use force to make Ya Mei Die unable to speak anymore. This way, his ears could enjoy the quiet again.
Speaking of which, he hadn’t actually killed off Ya Mei Die, perhaps because Ya Mei Die’s personality was so similar to his old man that was no longer here. Although he didn’t like it, he would still subconsciously project his father onto Ya Mei Die, which infuriated him…it was really a terrible experience.
After circling a few more alleyways, Yiye finally spotted the crestfallen Ya Mei Die and walked towards him. Ya Mei Die noticed him when he was near and looked in his direction.
“Yiye? Why are you here…”
“Why are you here?”
Although he didn’t really want to know why Ya Mei Die was here because he knew it would just infuriate him, he still took the initiative to ask upon seeing Ya Mei Die.
“You also know that it’s been half a month since we returned. His Majesty must’ve known as well. However, he hasn’t summoned us to ask about the plucking feathers incident, and I also don’t dare to enter the palace to report because the task wasn’t completed…”
Don’t bring up that chicken matter in front of me anymore－! Yiye’s face began to distort.
“During this past half month, I’ve been trying to make up for my shortcomings, but sneaking into the territory at night without being discovered is really too hard, and going back and forth to make a pillow probably isn’t enough. Now that we have to see the Emperor at the sacrificial ceremony tomorrow, I wondered if I could buy any chicken feathers here at night. In the end…”
Yiye didn’t even want to speak at this point, but Ya Mei Die didn’t pay any mind and continued.
“In the end, it got too late, and all the stores closed. I wandered back and forth, but not a single shop is open. I was just about to give up before you appeared.”
So what if the stores closed? You’re a Magic Sword Guard, can’t you just book a place with an order and inspect their goods?
Or did you also realise that using this privilege for the sake of finding some chicken feathers on sale is an extremely embarrassing thing to do?
“Yiye, were you looking for me for something?”
No matter what, he had to deal with the reason he’d come to look for Ya Mei Die sooner or later. Thus, Yiye pulled out a letter and handed it over.
“I want to request a three-month break starting from tomorrow. Help me pass this to the appropriate person.”
He didn’t even want to utter the words “Your Majesty” anymore. Ya Mei Die blankly accepted the letter before realising something was off.
“Wait! Three months? That long? In addition, what about the sacrificial ceremony tomorrow? Are you not planning on going?”
“Not going. So I can only entrust this letter to you to pass on.”
“How can you not attend? We’re the Magic Sword Guards who ensure His Majesty’s safety!”
“With how powerful he is, does he need any other protection?”
Actually, Yiye’s feelings had grown quite complicated with regards to Englar, his superior in name only.
On one hand, staying by Englar’s side didn’t seem like a favorable position in terms of using his skills. On the other hand, he didn’t want to submit to someone weaker than him, because he felt that there would be no way to believe in them.
Perhaps it was because he felt more strongly about the latter that he had stayed in this position until now?
Although, rather than acknowledging his master, he actually wanted to have a fight with him to figure out who was stronger.
“Yiye…”
“There’s no need to speak further. No matter what you say, I won’t be present tomorrow. I have already handed in this letter requesting leave, so do whatever you think is appropriate.”
Having completed his objective, Yiye naturally didn’t want to continue loitering here. Ignoring Ya Mei Die’s shouts from behind, he swiftly activated magic and left the area, preparing for his boring, three-month vacation.
That’s right, a boring vacation. Even though he’d requested leave, he didn’t have anything to do. He’d done so simply because he didn’t want to participate in these kinds of ventures anymore.
If it was boring, then it was boring. At least he could leave this huge mess, which put him a bit more at ease.
※
The Western City had more than one type of sacrificial ceremony. The one being carried out today was for the mausoleum of the past emperors. The main lead for this kind of event was obviously the young Emperor. In addition, this counted as a Royal Family-related activity, so normal citizens couldn’t just attend.
The mausoleum of the past emperors was not within the city, so the young Emperor’s fleet for this ceremony had to leave the city, and they were open for the Eastern City residents to admire. The way they went down the streets was different; in Western City, any road the young Emperor’s carriage would travel down would be closed and supervised so that not unrelated people could enter. The young Emperor himself sat inside the carriage, never showing his face outside.
It could be said that this tight, excessive protection had persisted for many years now. Most of Western City’s residents had already gotten used to this situation. Although those shop-owners from those closed down streets would cry in anguish when they couldn’t run their businesses, they didn’t have the ability to protest.
Originally, the residents hadn’t felt any love and respect towards their young Emperor, but their impression of him had changed after the war five years ago. After all, the young Emperor had protected the nation during the war, which was equivalent to protecting their families and properties, which the citizens were grateful for. But the young Emperor’s recent actions made the people who had fantasized about a great and noble ruler had been completely disappointed, especially after he had refused to use his blood to heal the Magic Sword Guards that had returned heavily wounded.
The young Emperor’s image that everyone had was originally mysterious and unreasonable, and now it had changed to one that was willful, rash, and ruthless.
However, the residents had never possessed the right to choose their ruler. Regardless of whether they liked him or not, they couldn’t change the ruler to one they were more fond of.
※
The Western City’s palace－where the young Emperor and the Elders lived－was called Sheng Xi Luo Gong. The building was extremely sturdy, and it was very different from the glorious and complex architecture style in the commercial district. Its tall, ash grey walls made it impossible for others to peer inside. Sheng Xi Luo Gong was similar to a city in the center of the city, operating independently from Western City. No outsiders could interfere, nor would they ever know about anything that happened within it. Occasionally, they’d listen to some rumors leaked out to satisfy their curiosity.
The preparations for this sacrificial ceremony for the past emperors had begun in the morning. The young Emperor, who would perform the ceremony had to take a purifying bath and change into plain white clothing. The personnel chosen to follow were also in charge of their own preparations. Before the official start, the entire Sheng Xi Luo Gong was bustling, a rare scene as opposed to its usual cold stillness.
The Emperor’s carriage had already arrived at the palace doors long ago and was waiting there, prepared to leave at any given moment. The people also went to their own places, waiting for everything to get ready.
Ya Mei Die had already waited next to the young Emperor’s carriage for a long time. The fact that he’d waited a long time already didn’t actually cause him to feel impatient because he knew that the young Emperor didn’t like waiting and preferred to make others wait for him instead. That’s why he definitely wouldn’t board the carriage early. Typically speaking, he’d probably appear at the very last minute.
As the Emperor’s subordinate, it was natural for him to obediently wait here.
After waiting for another long while, he finally sensed some movement behind him. The person he was searching for was walking over while surrounded by his escorts. However, as Ya Mei Die stared at him from a distance, he was struck by astonishment.
According to conventional practice, the Emperor should be wearing white clothing today. However, the clothes on the slightly slim frame were dark red. Although the clothing wasn’t extremely bright or heavy, that ornate style was too different from the simple style used for the ceremony.
“Your Majesty.”
Before the youth walked up to him, he knelt down on one knee and greeted the Emperor appropriately. Even if he felt that the other person’s dress was a bit off, he couldn’t possibly say this. It was an extremely disrespectful action that he would never allow himself to do to the young Emperor.
“You need not be so reserved, please stand.”
The youth whose face was covered with a white cloth said these words. Upon hearing this, Ya Mei Die stood up and dealt with the first matter of handing Yiye’s letter of leave request over.
“Your Majesty, this is Yiye’s letter to inform you that from today on, he’s requesting a leave of absence for three months.”
The youth accepted the letter with a faint smile containing hints of displeasure.
“Is this a voluntary vacation? This so-called vacation that just apparently go into effect without being authorised first? That arrogant Joker, does he value me at all?”
“Your Majesty, please do not be angry….Yiye just isn’t very good at dealing with these kinds of matters, this servant doesn’t believe he has any ill intent.”
When Ya Mei Die saw the youth’s expression turn cold, he had hurriedly spoken up on behalf of Yiye. In reality, whether Yiye had ill intent or not was clear to him; it had clearly gotten to the point of contempt.
“There’s no need to talk about this any further. Is there anything else?”
The youth nonchalantly passed the letter to a person next to him without any intention of even glancing at its contents.
“Your Majesty…Club Sword Guard’s injury…you…”
The five Magic Sword Guards were referred to by five different suits. Yiye was the Joker, Ya Mei Die was the Heart, and the one that had suffered from a hand injury this time was Club.
“I’m pretty sure I already rejected. Is your memory faulty? That wound was inflicted by a soul purging weapon, right? Even if he was saved, he cannot recover completely to his normal self, so why waste my blood? If a Magic Sword Guard is injured, I can just choose another one; it’s not like it has to be him?”
After indifferently replying, the youth seemed to not want to dwell on this topic any longer and turned around to board the carriage.
“Ah! Your Majesty! There’s another matter…”
Although Ya Mei Die felt that stopping the Emperor like this was rude, he’d already brought the item. Sooner or later, he had to hand it over and give a clear report.
“This servant brought a portion of the chicken feathers Your Majesty commanded for me to collect before. Is this what Your Majesty wanted?”
He opened the bag to reveal the washed and organised feathers. The youth turned around at these words and stopped in his tracks to face him. Because his eyes were covered by the white cloth, his expression couldn’t be seen, and it was impossible to guess his thoughts.
“So it was this matter, I’d nearly forgotten about it.”
The youth said, as he stretched his hand out to grab some feathers to play around with in his hand.
“However, I don’t really want them anymore.”
He smiled and turned around, loosening his fingers, and the light and graceful feathers simply blew away in the wind in all directions, instantly forming a mess on the ground.
“Since you’ve already gathered them, you might as well collect them and bring them back into the palace. Perhaps the future imperial concubines will like it?”
He then boarded the carriage, his chamberlains shutting the door behind him. Ya Mei Die blankly stood in his spot; even after the fleet had left, he still didn’t know how exactly to respond to this kind of situation.
“Lord Ya Mei Die, shall we help you pick these up?”
A few of the cleaning palace maids that had also seen the scene just now rushed over in concern upon seeing the fleet leave.
“Mmm…thank you for your trouble.”
If Yiye had been here and had seen that humiliating scene with the young Emperor, he’d perhaps be jeering at Ya Mei Die, “After he trampled all over your loyalty like that, will you still continue saying ‘His Wise Majesty’?”
Ya Mei Die couldn’t decide.
Perhaps His Majesty really had suddenly stopped liking the chicken feathers?
Right now, he could only think that was the case.
※
The mausoleum where the emperors were buried wasn’t far outside the Western City. When it had first been designed, environmental factors had been considered. There were no flower gardens around it; rather, an underground room was designed instead. There was only one narrow entrance outside, making it harder for the tombstone to be broken by the wrong people for whatever reason.
The sacrificial ceremony didn’t require many offerings, just some fresh flowers that could rot as time passed. After a ceremonial officer recited from some scrolls to complete the ceremony, the young Emperor had to enter the mausoleum to pour out purified water. Nobody could accompany him during this. Either way, the inside was inspected beforehand, and the sole entrance was controlled, so there shouldn’t be any safety issues.
“Your Majesty, this is the purified water.”
The person offering the dish of purified water was the Spade Magic Sword Guard, Aojisa. After the young Emperor had started to appear in public recently, Aojisa was the Magic Sword Guard who had appeared by the young Emperor’s side the most often. He was also the most supportive one, devoting all his time to work to the point where, by now, he still hadn’t married. His co-workers had all said he was dangerously close to becoming a mid-aged uncle. Some girls insisted that, while Lord Aojisa was a bit old, he was still just as handsome and charming, but time truly still left behind some undeniable marks…
“Aojisa, is your rheumatic pain better?”
The youth indifferently mocked as he received the purified water.
Yes, there were weaknesses that accompanied increasing age, such as rheumatic pain.
“It’s no longer a major hindrance, Your Majesty.”
Aojisa replied expressionlessly. In general, he wasn’t one that could be swayed by teasing.
“Really? Then that’s great, you can finally return to carrying out your duties for the jobs that you are requested to run, right? I’m very grateful. When I heard that you had to request leave because of this kind of issue, I had really felt troubled. Do you have any compensation plans?”
When the youth spoke to him, the words he used were slightly different, most likely because his word choice depended on how close he was with his conversation partner.
“I deeply apologise.”
It looked like he hadn’t planned to propose any compensation plans, benefitting at the other’s expense.
Upon receiving this kind of response, the youth didn’t talk any further and instead prepared to carry the purified water inside.
“But when I turn around and look at that mausoleum entrance, I always feel like I’ll be sucked in and won’t be able to leave again…”
Aojisa indifferently replied with a single sentence.
“It’s dark inside, it’ll be fine once you light the lanterns.”
As expected, the uncle really was an uncle that didn’t understand others’ minds.
But lighting the lamps was actually necessary. Although the young Emperor’s eyes were covered by a cloth, having him enter a dark room alone was still unacceptable. Thus, the people responsible had to go down and light some weaker light sources in the mausoleum before the youth could be sent off under everyone’s gazes.
Not long after he’d entered the passageway, he impatiently tore off the cloth covering his face and used his eyes to watch the path. It was much more convenient to do so.
Once he reached the end of the path, he entered the large mausoleum. After pouring the purified water into the appropriate location, he stayed there to appreciate the tombstones, not in any hurry to leave.
The tombstones were arranged in order of date, so it was extremely easy to find a specific person. He walked in a circle to his predecessor’s tombstone, and upon seeing the words on the stone, let out a mocking laugh.
“You didn’t have anything while alive and just acted as a pawn under the Elders’ control, without knowing that so many of the past emperors had been treated the same way, right, Father? Are you happy? As long as the emperor after you isn’t reduced to the Elders’ tool like you were, are you satisfied?”
The words he spoke to the tombstone contained no respect. Rather, they had a strong disdain, or perhaps hatred, contained within.
“If that’s the case, then I’m sure you’re very satisfied with the current results…it’s just a pity that your son wasn’t the child you were expecting, and you can’t do anything about it anymore…”
He wasn’t sure if he’d been anticipating this day for a long time or not. While wearing low-profile clothing to express celebration, he had arrived before this desolate tombstone and said whatever he wanted to say without anyone refuting his words.
Because there were only corpses here.
“Aojisa, why did you come down?”
Sensing footsteps from the pathway, the youth turned to look at the person who had just arrived.
“It’s been a bit long since Your Majesty descended, so I came down to check if you had any issues.”
“A bit long? Wasn’t it just a moment? Can those old thieves not just wait a bit?”
Because typically, the Emperor was supposed to go back up after he finished pouring the purified water, so it wasn’t surprising the elders thought he was taking a while.
“Either way, there’s nothing wrong. Let’s just go up then.”
The youth dully said, and picked up the white cloth, preparing to tie it around his head again.
Aojisa silently watched the youth wrapping the cloth around his head for a long while before he finally asked a question he’d wanted to ask for a long time now.
“What exactly are you thinking of doing? Your Majesty.”
The youth’s hand that had been tying the cloth stopped its movements because of this question, and his azure eyes looked at Aojisa.
In response to this question, he only smiled. Although the smile was very beautiful, his eyes didn’t smile at all.
This smile seemed to toss the question back at Aojisa.
※
“Fan Tong! Long time no see! Have you heard of any news from Lord Ling Shi?”
Seeing Mi Zhong the morning of the once-a-week day off wasn’t something Fan Tong found pleasant.
“If I do, I’ll tell you.”
No, I wanted to say that even if I do, I won’t tell you.
“Oh? Since when were you such a good friend, was my plan to win you over successful?”
What exactly what were you using to win me over? Aside from telling me a few stories, you haven’t done me any favors…
“Wait! You! You suddenly turned into a grass green tassel all of a sudden! It was only for a short while we hadn’t seen each other!”
Mi Zhong finally noticed Fan Tong’s tassel color change and immediately gave a shout of disbelief.
Is there a need to make it sound so tragic? You make it sound like my jumping to a grass green tassel is some inhumane occurrence. You clearly knew that we had gone to pluck chicken feathers, and all we’ve done is completed the task. It isn’t strange for our levels to go up a bit, right?
While thinking this, Fan Tong was also rejoicing over the fact that Mi Zhong didn’t know that Yin Shi and Ling Shi had helped them pluck feathers. Otherwise, Mi Zhong would say something horrible like, “How could you let Lord Ling Shi use his beautiful and noble hands to help you do that kind of thing? I’ll punish you in the name of all his followers!”
“Sigh, the grass green tassel is really nice, you can get a monthly salary of five strings. Up until now, I’m still a pale green tassel…”
Mi Zhong sighed as he rubbed his own tassel while also looking at Fan Tong’s, his eyes darting around with malicious intent.
“What are you planning to do?”
Fan Tong warily took a step back. Mi Zhong’s expression seemed sinister, as if he was scheming something.
“I say, why don’t we have a friendly, educational duel? Your tassel is really stirring to me…”
I knew it!
You vile person! Is robbing another person’s hard work all you can think of?! My mop is super powerful, you’re not afraid of me sweeping off a third of your soul in a duel?
“Why are you so tense? Fan Tong, even your hand is shaking. Really, it’s just a joke. I have no desire to cause others to resent me and make more enemies. Besides, you have a terrifying supporter behind your back, I definitely don’t want to stir up trouble with Lord Luo Shi.”
Whose, whose hand is shaking! Why are you watching me so closely…no, I mean, I’m not that scared! Don’t talk nonsense!
As for Luo Shi…you really think of my relationship with him too gloriously. If Yue Tui was the one being bullied, he might come lend a helping hand, but as for me…he’d probably just laugh at me and say that I deserve it for having poor skills…and probably add something like, ‘don’t delude yourself into trying to keep something that’s not yours, it’s expected for you to lose it’…
“Oh, right, since we met up, I might as well share some news I just picked up, it’s steaming hot!”
“Oh?”
Fan Tong still had some interest in listening to gossip and interesting news, as long as the leading role in the gossip wasn’t him.
“I heard that the feathers produced by the local chickens here in Eastern City are extremely popular, even Luo Yue’s Magic Sword Guards came fearlessly running from so far away to snatch some! This news was provided by one of the victims who went to Resource Area One last night to gather feathers. Unfortunately, the feathers he’d worked so hard to collect were instantly seized by the enemy. Sigh…what do you think? Are the feathers really that amazing?”
“…”
I knew of the matter regarding the Magic Sword Guards coming to pluck chicken feathers ages ago, your news is out of date…but, they came again last night? They really don’t give up…
As for the New Resident whose feathers had been taken for the sake of their young Emperor’s pillow, you should just accept your fate…
※
Fan Tong’s Afterword
From changing my tassel up until now, half a month has passed, and honestly speaking, I’m a bit afraid to go out. This is because, whenever I walk on the streets, I keep feeling like I’m carrying around a ton of money and will be robbed at any moment. Although grass green tassels only get a monthly salary of five strings, that gives a total of sixty thousand strings after a thousand years, which is obviously a large sum of money…don’t ask me if I feel like I’ll live a thousand years, I’m just demonstrating the profits using pure numbers. I haven’t analysed it that thoroughly, alright?
Speaking of duels, Yue Tui has encountered quite a few. Even though he had defeated everyone on the first day so cleanly and skillfully, some others still came looking for him afterwards. I couldn’t help but feel I was extremely lucky; fortunately, they had locked their sights on Yue Tui and hadn’t tried to duel me. Otherwise, my fortune would’ve flipped, and I would’ve dropped from grass green tassel to white tassel ages ago. I’m also certain that nobody would be interested in helping me gather feathers and skins a second time…
The wounds on Yue Tui’s body due to a mistake in the rebirth process disappeared the next day. It was really something worth celebrating. However, calling it something worth celebrating doesn’t sound quite right either…either way, he seemed to have calmed down, which put me more at ease too, and everything seemed well.
As for our promotion celebration dinner, Luo Shi invited us three days later. Because both Yue Tui and I had died in Shen Wang Dian before, it was a bit inauspicious, and it was possible we had some shadows of trauma connected to it, so the location was changed to a restaurant outside. In the end, Lord Yin Shi and Bi Rou had come too…how come even when we’re trying to enjoy a celebration dinner, you two have to linger around and continue blinding us with your acts of love! So immoral!
Perhaps because of Bi Rou, I felt that, although Yue Tui had freed himself from the burden of his wounds, his expression that day wasn’t very good. Are you guys actually celebrating anything? Yue Tui, your unfriendly and cold gaze was a bit too obvious, especially when compared to your normal behavior…
Either way, everything up until now has just been harmless scares. Perhaps continuing steadily like this wouldn’t be that bad?
