Chapter 13

She'd been tracking the divine beast's breathing all along!

Lin Yu's scalp prickled, and the dark iron bow in her hand nearly slipped from her grasp.

The beast's eyes were each the size of Lin Yu's head. She couldn't make out its full form in the dark, but she guessed it filled the entire tunnel ahead, leaving no room to pass without waking it.

The beast blinked slowly, its heavy eyelids drooping in drowsiness. It showed no aggression.

Lin Yu steadied her breathing, making herself as unobtrusive as possible. She stood before its eyes and shrank her dark iron bow back to its normal size, gripping it tightly.

The beast remained motionless for a long time. Lin Yu raised a hand and waved it before its face. The deep blue pupils didn't shift, not even reflecting a glimmer of light—as if veiled by a film, sealed off from the world. Their luster was long gone, leaving only a stagnant blue, like dead water.

It couldn't see!

The taut string in Lin Yu's heart loosened, and her expression relaxed.

But even blind, it still blocked her path. The beast's body nearly filled the tunnel, leaving barely a crack.

Its warm breath washed over her face, moist and constant at this close range.\nIf it wouldn't leave, she couldn't get out—so she'd have to take a risk.

Lin Yu's fingertip brushed the beast's round, ruddy nose. Then, with sudden force, she yanked out a tuft of fur near its eye!

The beast's eyeball jerked! It was startled awake!

Its gaze snapped to Lin Yu, those dull, lifeless eyes suddenly alive. Pupils contracted into vertical slits—the mark of a startled, wary animal.

It wasn't blind at all—it had merely been sleeping with its eyes open!

Lin Yu's barely loosened string tightened again. The beast had been kneeling to guard the tunnel. Now it rose slowly, trembling the ground and nearly throwing Lin Yu off balance.

A faint gleam in its eyes locked onto her retreating form. With a roar that threatened to shatter eardrums, it lunged, ready to pounce!

Smooth, narrow walls hemmed her in on all sides. Lin Yu had nowhere to dodge. Cornered, she raised the dark iron bow, drew the string, and with the power of her divine water-blue arrows, aimed at the charging beast!

...

In Liangcheng, Fu Ming stood behind a screen. Inside, a plague-stricken child screamed and writhed.

His symptoms had improved. The body that had been crawling with maggots now bore fresh, delicate flesh—pale and patchy against the old, giving him a bizarre red-and-white mottled look.

His head had been shaved, making him resemble a comical little monk.

The physician removed the last needle from the child's neck and returned it to his case. After examining the child's pupils and tongue, he turned to Fu Ming. "I've never seen an illness like this. How did Commander Fu know it was plague?"

Fu Ming paused. "When I was young... the town where I lived suffered a similar plague."

The day Lin Yu left in such haste, she'd told Zhou Yuan to ensure Fu Ming learned of Zhang Dian's plan. When Fu Ming heard the truth, he looked at the children groaning on their sickbeds—a familiar scene resurfaced—and recalled an old affair.

When Fu Ming was five, Yu Kingdom had no supreme deity, and its people worshipped no gods. Then plague broke out across the land, carried on the wind. Within a month, more than half the population was stricken.

A wandering Xianzun came to Yu Kingdom and said that because the people refused to worship the gods, the heavenly court was angered. Without divine protection, the gods had sent this punishment.

But this plague was strange. Ordinary plagues killed; this one drove countless people to inexplicable madness.

Those afflicted lost their minds. Though bearing no wounds, they felt as if insects gnawed at them. Some, maddened by the torment, tore out all their hair, and before dying, clawed at the walls.

It was less a plague than a cruel mental torture—a slow agony that killed by inches, like death by a thousand cuts.

Later, to ease their suffering, people began cutting their own flesh, slicing themselves bloody. The physical pain drowned out the mental torment, making it more bearable.

The emperor of Yu Kingdom at that time was Fu Ming's father. It was then that he began seeking immortality and the way of the divine, and the Tower of Heaven's Mandate came to be.

Little Fu Ming, only five, would crouch outside the tower's entrance every day, waiting for his father to emerge. But his father always scolded him and forbade him from coming. Yet Fu Ming went anyway. He couldn't recall how long it took—only that the sun rose and set, snow melted into blazing sun, and days passed.

Then, as his father ascended to godhood, the plague vanished completely. People regained their senses, and the people said the former emperor had ascended to being a god and was protecting the children of Yu.

From then on, the worship of gods began—the start of the gods' reign, which eventually evolved into the common practice of human sacrifice among the people of Yu.

Fu Ming lifted his gaze, shaking off the memories, and asked the physician, "Did the method I gave you work? Can it be promoted among the people?"

The physician nodded, then quickly shook his head, rejecting his own thought. "The method is effective, but Liangcheng is remote. Where would we find the funds to treat everyone?"

He continued, "Your method first burns the knife red-hot, presses it to the wound to cauterize the maggots, then scrapes away the gnawed flesh, and finally applies herbal medicine to stop the bleeding. Each step demands extreme patience and skill, and it's terribly time-consuming. By the time we finish one, the next patient's grave weeds are already tall."

Fu Ming knew he was right. These maggots were extremely hard to clean out. Cauterizing without harming the patient, scraping away flesh without damaging the insides—it required rare skill. It wasted time, manpower, and money. Liangcheng had no spare funds, let alone the imperiled Lincheng.

"Then why not teach the afflicted to treat themselves, or have family members treat each other?"

The physician looked at him with a strange expression, doubting he'd heard correctly. He cupped his ear and leaned in. "Commander Fu, what did you say? I'm old and hard of hearing; I didn't catch that."

Fu Ming raised his voice, speaking clearly, word by word: "I said, let them learn medicine themselves. If they can learn it, they can treat each other; if they can't, then they can all die together."

Both Liangcheng and Lincheng lacked physicians. In Liangcheng, only a few dozen had contracted the plague, and the physicians there were sufficient. The people could wait for the doctors to come. But for Lincheng, no one dared enter now. Learning medicine themselves and saving themselves was their only option.

Surviving would be a blessing; dying would be their fate.

Lincheng and Liangcheng were as interdependent as lips and teeth. He had to save the people of Lincheng.

Just then, a guard rushed in, flustered. He stammered, "C... Commander, terrible news! Someone is spreading rumors that the Jiang Kingdom's soldiers are about to arrive. The people are saying you've betrayed Liangcheng and plan to defect to Jiang..."

"They're also guessing that you sent the troops to reinforce Lincheng because you don't intend to fight. Some are even stirring up trouble, saying you're going to open the city gates and offer Liangcheng to Jiang. Now... some residents have taken to the streets in protest, demanding an explanation from you..."

Fu Ming's expression froze for a moment, then he laughed, seemingly out of anger. He pointed a finger at himself, finding it unbelievable. "Me? Commit treason?"

No one in the room dared speak. Fu Ming's gaze fell on Qingxian, and he called out coldly, "Qingxian, go chop off the heads of the ones leading the protests. Not one left."

Rumors that spring up out of thin air—those people had no reason to live.

The moment he spoke, several people in the room fell to their knees in terror, but none dared argue.

Qingxian didn't move, showing no reaction at all. Fu Ming suddenly remembered that his cultivation had been sealed when he entered the illusion; the only one who could use Qingxian now was Lin Yu.

Lin Yu...

Fu Ming lowered his eyes, his fingertips lightly tracing the scabbard. She should be back soon...

With that thought, he suppressed his anger and waved a hand. "Go investigate the mastermind. Find out who instigated it, and execute them on the spot."

The guard had just left when another came running in, also in a panic. But this time Fu Ming was prepared. He picked up a cup of tea to drink, thinking that no matter what the guard said, he wouldn't lose his temper.

The guard said, "Commander, the residents of the nearby streets heard the rumors and rushed to surround the Dudu Mansion. They're throwing cabbage leaves and rotten eggs at our gate..."

"Crack!"

A delicate teacup shattered at Fu Ming's feet, slipping from his fingers. Fu Ming smiled. "Say that again. What did they do?"

"Throwing rotten eggs. They even threw them over the wall into our courtyard."

Fu Ming: "Death wish! Forget the instigators—kill them all where they stand."

When had Fu Ming ever been treated like this? He was an emperor, after all. Since ascending the throne at six, he had always been decisive and ruthless. With a streak of madness, he had wiped out all those in the court who harbored disloyal thoughts, earning a fearsome reputation. No one dared question him since. Now, these commoners were throwing rotten cabbage leaves into his courtyard over nothing but rumors?!

"Th-this is absolutely not possible! Please reconsider, Commander!"

...

"Let that brat Fu Qing come out and die to atone for his crimes! Jiang Kingdom has long wanted to attack us. As the commander of Liangcheng, he actually plans to surrender and submit to Jiang!" A middle-aged man in a long jacket started the call. He was indignant, speaking with feigned authority.

"Everyone look! Jiang soldiers are already stationed at the border outside Li Kingdom since yesterday! They can attack Liangcheng at any moment. And Fu Qing, at this crucial moment, defects to Jiang and sends all the troops to Lincheng. Doesn't everyone know Lincheng is doomed now?"

"Going to save those dying people is just Fu Qing's excuse!" He bristled with anger. "He's doing this so that Jiang can easily take Liangcheng and then march straight into the Central Plains!"

"His ambition is clear for all to see!"

Suddenly, a sword flew out from the Dudu Mansion, grazing the middle-aged man's neck!

Seeing that Fu Ming himself had come out, the crowd surrounding the man, who had been echoing his words, panicked and scattered, fleeing in all directions.

The middle-aged man's neck was broken, blood pouring down. He clutched his wound but didn't shut up. Instead, he shouted even louder, "Fu Qing's dirty deeds have been exposed, and he wants to kill me to silence me! Everyone look! Look at my wound!"

The man gestured at his injury, yelling, "He's guilty!"

Fu Ming listened to this man's words, picked up the sword, and pointed it at his head. "Then tell me, how do you know I've committed treason, and where the Jiang soldiers are stationed? This is important military intelligence. Even I, the commander, don't know. How do you?"

"Unless you are an agent sent by Jiang Kingdom?" Fu Ming raised his sword with a light laugh.

The man choked for a moment, then stubbornly craned his neck, leaning closer to Fu Ming's sword. "What does it matter how I know? You're not going to kill me to silence me, are you?"

He was certain Fu Ming wouldn't dare kill him—if he did, the people's hearts would surely be in chaos.

"I say, Commander Fu, you've been lording it over Liangcheng for years. What have you actually accomplished? In the last battle, it was General Xiao Wen under the Crown Prince who quelled the chaos. What did you do?"

At these words, the surrounding residents were visibly angry.

Before Fu Ming entered the illusion as Fu Qing, Jiang Kingdom had attacked Liangcheng. Fu Qing had sent troops to suppress them, but Liangcheng's forces were insufficient, and the battle was headed for defeat.

At that moment, Zhang Dian fled to this place. The invasion of Jiang was planned by him and his cronies, but Zhang Dian, for some reason, upon seeing Liangcheng about to fall, changed his mind and had Xiao Wen come to the rescue. That gave Xiao Wen, the true mastermind, the credit for repelling the enemy.

After that, Fu Ming entered the illusion and became Fu Qing.

The residents' curses nearly surrounded Fu Ming. The mansion guards shouted orders, but the crowd grew defiant, and the situation quickly spiraled out of control. Some in the crowd were incited to attack the guards!

Once someone started, the others became bolder. Chaos broke out—curses, screams, and the sounds of blows intermingled!

Fu Ming stood at the gate of the Dudu Mansion, his expression grave. He knew Zhang Dian's people were mixed in the crowd, stirring emotions. They were deliberately trying to provoke; since they wouldn't listen to reason, he had to make an example of one.

Fu Ming's gaze fixed on the middle-aged man who had struck first and was now trying to flee in the chaos. Fu Ming raised his sword.

At that moment, a white-browed tiger, half the size of a small hill, appeared behind the crowd!

The crowd fell silent instantly. Some, frightened by the sight of the tiger, collapsed to the ground. The tiger let out a long roar before charging into the crowd. People scattered for their lives. It snatched up the most vocal troublemakers and flung them aside!

The victims slammed into walls, writhing in pain. They tried to curse, but the tiger's fierce glare suppressed them, leaving them cowering in corners.

"Oh? The Dudu Mansion, usually so quiet, is quite lively today."

A young woman appeared behind the great tiger. Fu Ming looked in her direction, his pupils widening—it was Lin Yu.

Lin Yu had returned.

Lin Yu walked into the middle of the crowd with the divine beast, laughing lightly. "Who's so bold as to falsely accuse our Commander Fu of treason?"