“Silence!” Si Qing called out.
He was dressed in the gilded dragon robes of the crown prince, standing beside the emperor’s platform and maintaining order within the hall.
This job seemed to possess quite a lot of authority, but it was only strutting around in borrowed plumes. If there were eunuchs in this world, then this was the work of a eunuch.
He was filled with annoyance, but he showed none of it on his face. What could he do about the fact that he was the weakest among the crown princes? Even Si Bao who had undergone the tribulation later than him was stronger. This was all because Li Qingshan had destroyed his body back then, making his strength plummet. His hatred for him never decreased, only growing with each passing day.
The hall immediately fell silent.
The emperor of Great Xia said, “My mighty Great Xia has a full court of officials and generals, yet we can’t even find a way to deal with a single person?”
The leader of the nine ministers, the minister of state, said, “There’s something I’d like to say. If it’s just dealing with the buddha nemesis, there are plenty of methods we can use. We are not without a chance to kill her either, but it would take the strength of the entire empire. We are currently at a critical juncture with the offerings to heaven. Once the offerings to heaven is complete, the buddha nemesis will only be a small problem. If the offerings to heaven fails, the nine provinces will probably struggle to escape the fate of being swallowed by the Hungry Ghost realm even if we manage to kill the buddha nemesis.”
The religious preceptor of the left said, “Originally, forcing back the Hungry Ghost realm would not be too difficult, but they’ve come for the buddha nemesis this time, and they’re determined to get her regardless of the cost!”
The emperor of Great Xia frowned. “The buddha nemesis again!”
The minister of state said, “It’s as the religious preceptor of the left has said. The issue is not just with the Hungry Ghost realm. The buddha nemesis has already opened over a dozen demon caverns of various sizes. If this continues, then we’ll face an unprecedented demon plague before long. The buddha nemesis is the one who’s caused this, but our enemy definitely isn’t a measly person, but two worlds.”
The emperor of Great Xia shot to his feet and said furiously, “Are you saying the heavens sent down the buddha nemesis to work against us? Are you telling me to watch on powerlessly as she runs amok?”
Immediately, winds began to surge outside the hall as thunder rumbled.
The minister of state said, “We cannot become fixated on small things that will only destroy the bigger picture. Please prioritise the offerings to heaven, your majesty!”
The officials all said, “Please prioritise the offerings to heaven, your majesty!”
The emperor of Great Xia sat back down slowly. “So be it. Once the offerings to heaven are complete, a measly buddha nemesis can be taken down with ease! Hawk King, have you found that Reincarnated Celestial?”
The Guardian Hawk God said, “Not yet. The various provinces and commanderies have all provided a list, which includes some people of great talent. They might have been cultivators in their past lives, but they’re not the celestial we’re after. Most of them have only retained some occasional memories of their past lives, and their previous lives weren’t even aware of what cultivation was. As such, they can’t be considered as Reincarnated Celestials. Perhaps that celestial hasn’t recovered his memories yet and hasn’t remembered his duty, or he would definitely come to the Dragon province.”
Actually, Reincarnated Celestials was quite a rough concept. The countless living creatures all underwent rebirth in the six realms of sa?sāra. Any single person they found could be regarded as a “reincarnation”. Only those who spent their past life as cultivators and retained some memories of their past life could be regarded as Reincarnated Celestials.
The issue was the nine provinces spanned several tens of thousand kilometres, with their population exceeding ten billion at its maximum. There were far too many talented people. On top of that, something like memories of the past life could not be verified. Even if they did possess these memories, most of them were blurred and incomplete. They could only determine this through their talent for comprehension and cultivation speed.
With some people, even if they did not admit it themselves, other people would think they were Reincarnated Celestials, like Xiao An.
As a result, there were far too many people known as Reincarnated Celestials throughout the world.
However, the imperial court of Great Xia was only after a single person. Over all these years, they had constantly ordered the Hawkwolf Guard to scour the land, but they never found anything.
Many years ago, the Clear River prefecture had someone like that called Chu Tian. Back then, Gu Yanying had even been serving as the White Hawk commander of the Ruyi commandery, but perhaps intentionally or otherwise, she did not cooperate with her father’s work, brushing it aside carelessly. Afterwards, Chu Tian “died an early death”, and the matter of the Reincarnated Celestial just became a joke.
The celestial that the imperial court of Great Xia had been searching for never appeared either.
……
Under the hazy moonlight, the night mist enveloped the tiny islands in the lake as if the turmoil of the world had not affected it, tranquil like a painting.
A man and a woman strolled along the shore of the lake. The man was handsome and elegant, while the woman was beautiful and charming. They seemed like a match made in heaven that had grown weary of the battles and had retired in seclusion.
“Why do you treat me in such a special way?” The woman was rather perplexed, but also rather eager.
A sliver of surprise flashed across the man’s eyes as if he had never expected someone as clever as her to ask such a foolish question. He said in complete sincerity, “Because you’re very special!”
“Heh, especially bad!” The woman looked down and mocked herself.
“Yeah, not only especially bad, but very cruel too!” The man smiled.
“Ah, I’ve always thought I hid that very well.” The woman smiled as well.
“It’s useless. I’ve always noticed it, but it seems like the past White Hawk commanders of the Ruyi commandery were no different.” The man smiled wryly as if he was powerless about this.
The woman grumbled flirtatiously, “Hey, if you’re talking about me, then so be it, but do you really have to talk about my master too?”
The man was mildly surprised. He had never seen her behave like that, and she was actually surprisingly charming. Suddenly, he recalled how she had practised the arts of charm in the past before, but the tender feelings in her voice definitely were not fake. He smiled. “Just as they say, like master, like disciple. Senior Gu is of unmatched charm. She obviously has her reasons for accepting you as her disciple. Anyone who’s observant can notice how special you are.”
“Who knows, maybe she finds me particularly loathesome, so she’s specially accepted me as her disciple so that she can torture me!” the woman said in a half-joking manner.
“Now I’ve never heard of something like that, accepting a person you loathe as a disciple.” The man laughed aloud. His clear laughter startled a flock of egrets.
“The world has always been filled with many strange matters. Out of the eight sufferings of buddhism, isn’t there one that refers to the union with those you hate?” The woman turned to look at the man.
Note: The eight sufferings include the suffering of life, old age, sickness, death, parting with those you love, union with those you hate.
The man looked back at her. “Yeah. I’m not too familiar with this, but I think the greatest suffering in life is being unable to get what you want.”
The woman looked away. “What do you want then?”
The man abruptly changed the topic. “In the past, that primary disciple of the school of Legalism, young master Hua, was infatuated with your master. It’s a pity that he’s already left the Ruyi commandery, or I’d definitely invite him to a cup and ask for his advice on how to break free from this suffering of being unable to get what you want.”
The woman fell silent for a while before she said, “Did you know? The person I hate the most is my master.”
The man asked curiously, “Why?”
The woman stopped and gazed at the moonlight floating in the lake. “I’ve never told you about my past, have I?”
“You haven’t.” The man shook his head. Her past had always been a mystery.
“Would you like to hear about it?”
“I’d love to.”
The man could sense that the woman was currently opening up to him. All of his efforts over the years had finally paid off. Joy welled up inside him. After racking his brains and making every endeavour, was this not the exact thing he was after, her true heart?
Only once he had obtained her true heart could he personally crush it and take back everything that belonged to him!
Qian Rongzhi, this is my revenge as Chu Tian!
