The sky was clear as far as the eye could see. The stars twinkled as fate was on the move.
Li Qingshan raised his eyebrows and listened carefully.
“What’s wrong?” Qiu Haitang asked.
“Nothing.”
Li Qingshan shook his head with a smile. It was a warning from the spirit turtle.
From the moment he had flipped the table, fate had begun to move. The dangers became greater and greater, and it had become even more so just then. Even without thinking, he knew Si Long had come up with another way to deal with him. This was the greatest opponent he had ever faced in his life. Even a fifty percent chance at victory was a little too hopeful.
If he were defeated, there would be no chance at returning alive.
At this moment, it was like watching the wheel of fate crush down slowly. No one knew if they could stop it. The reason why he still stood there was probably just because fleeing was a worse choice. There were great horrors in life, so how could he be an exception? However, there was no need for him to elaborate and make her worry.
Qiu Haitang sighed gently. She knew he refused to share it with a woman- no, with anybody. All she did was lie in his arms, giving him a little more warmth.
Li Qingshan pulled her closer and shut his eyes. A while later, his aura settled down, gradually falling asleep.
At the same time, a notice of denunciation, the Rally Against Li, spread across the world.
“Li was born in lowly circumstances, completely turning against common order by murdering his elder brother and raping his sister-in-law…”
A dark, burly figure ripped away at an older, pretty lady’s clothes with a man lying on the bed beside him, dead with his eyes wide open and blood pouring out from the orifices on his head.
“Blood-thirsty and battle-hungry, where he goes, he causes endless war and turmoil…”
The dark, burly figure walked out of a village splattered with blood, stepping over the corpses littered across the open wilderness and reducing a city to ruins. His eyes became redder and redder as his figure twisted hideously, no longer resembling a human.
“Unsealing the demon caverns, opening the gate of ghosts, leading to an invasion of demonfolk and a reverie of undead…”
The hideously-twisted figure sat on a throne piled up from corpses. A pair of scarlet eyes gazed down at the world that had become occupied by demons and undead. His lips curled into a terrifying smile, shining with sharp teeth.
“Slaughtering the people, destroying the world…”
Within the wilderness that spanned several tens of thousand kilometres, the ground cracked, volcanoes erupted, and lava flowed everywhere like rivers of fire. Black smoke rose into the sky, almost resembling beacons.
“This wretched being is loathed by both man and god! Even the very world cannot stand his existence! He has lived a life of crime, having committed heinous deeds!”
A terrifying demon king that towered like a mountain stood in this apocalyptic landscape. His horns curved like the moon as his unfurled wings were like the clouds. Spreading his arms, he let out a wild laugh at the sky as if he was mocking the futility of the heavens.
“Alas, even the world is about to be destroyed, so do we still have a place of belonging? The world is collapsing and the living will be turned to dust.”
Countless living creatures fled fearfully, but they were devoured by the flames and swallowed by the flood.
“I am a descendant of Yu the Great, the successor of the true dragons, the founding emperor of Great Xia. To console the people and punish the wicked, I have returned to the nine provinces…”
The sky shone with boundless light. A deity descended from above on a dragon, pointing his sword at the demon king, The living creatures watched on.
“With a call, the world answers my rally. From the seas in the south to the tundra in the north, furious be the world, raising the dragon banner, acting on behalf of the heavens to slay him under the law of the sovereign…”
Under the boundless light, the deity raised a dragon banner. The living creatures raised their arms and called out; it was like he was the son of the heavens, the king of the world.
“In a bitter battle in the wilderness. Under the oppressive atmosphere, the mountains collapse. With the furious roars, the clouds churns. Under the wrath of the people, the wicked demon perishes. As the dragon qi rushes, the world returns to peace…”
Imbued with the will of the heavens and standing on the golden dragon, the deity led the living creatures against the demon king, truly like the saviour of the world.
“I hereby declare that I shall slay this wretched being as the laws foretell!”
The appearance of the deity suddenly cleared up. It was the founding emperor of Great Xia, Si Long.
In his dream, these scenes constantly repeated themselves. Li Qingshan furrowed his brows firmly like he was experiencing a nightmare.
It was as if he had actually become the terrifying demon king, filled with a terrifying will to destroy everything, wanting to face Si Long in battle and determine the final outcome. However, the dream would collapse there every single time and return to the beginning of the notice of denunciation, making him go through another surreal dream. He felt oppressed inside as if a mountain weighed on his chest.
“Are you afraid, Li Qingshan? Are you afraid, Li Qingshan? Are you afraid, Li Qingshan?”
A voice drifted about, constantly echoing through the dream, sometimes coming from an old person, yet sometimes coming from a young child. It was a cold question at times, yet also a gentle joke at others.
Li Qingshan immediately calmed down. “That’s not me, so why would I be afraid?”
A butterfly floated into the dream lightly, flowing with colours and light. A laugh drifted around gently.
All of the scenes froze and collapsed, turning into a boundless field of golden wheat.
He stood in the waist-deep wheat, no longer a terrifying demon king. Instead, he had returned to being that village youth, yelling out furiously, “Shen Mengdie, you’re the one behind this!”
He managed to fall asleep for once, yet someone had appeared in his dreams, and they had even manipulated them into a nightmare like this. It was absolutely despicable.
The youth abruptly reached out. The butterfly slipped between his fingers, fluttering around him. “How do you feel about that story just then?”
The youth asked, “That’s the notice of denunciation that Si Long wrote?”
“Why don’t you try and guess the outcome?”
“I get it. He wants to gather the hearts of the people to assist him in refining the nine provinces!”
As someone who had served as the lord of a world and become the god of a world before, he immediately understood what Si Long was after.
That was originally impossible, even in the small world. Even the hero king that was worshipped throughout the world could not achieve that. The hearts of people were complicated and constantly changing, let alone the hearts of all living creatures.
However, Si Long had a chance at achieving this. It was not just because of the foundation from the five thousand years that Great Xia had stood for and the support from the intangible will of the heavens. Most importantly, they had a common enemy.
Without a demon king trying to destroy the world, there would be no world saviour. Fear and hatred would always be better at unifying people than admiration and love.
This was a flawless plan. From the moment he flipped the board resolutely, he had taken the opposing side to the living creatures of the world.
However, if he had not done that, he had an even smaller chance at victory. That was neither a bad move nor a good move. It was simply a checkmate.
Not only did Si Long refuse to give in, but he even issued a challenge resolutely instead.
Having reached this point step by step, neither of them had any more chances at saving the situation.
When kings confronted each other, there would be death!
“In a story like this, the hero of the world will probably defeat the wicked demon king! How saddening!”
“Heh, that’s just a story he’s woven by himself. It’s a bunch of lies!”
“There will always be more fools than the wise. Lies will always be easier to accept than reality, without any complicated full stories, without any exact rights and wrongs that they struggle to distinguish. On top of that, even if it were the so-called truth, you are destroying this world, aren’t you? Of course, you have no other choice but to do this. Compared to that man, you clearly are much more gallant and benevolent. You clearly have never viewed the living creatures as no different than ants. You clearly are trying to protect this world. Yet in the end, you’ve become the most terrifying and most wicked existence. How ironic!”
“Hah. Because it’s not like I’m a good person. I don’t need to pity myself! So why exactly have you appeared in my dreams?”
“Please turn back!”
“You’re advising me to give up on opposing Si Long?”
“You’re thinking too much. It’s just turning around.”
Suddenly, Li Qingshan looked back. A woman with a paper umbrella stood within arm’s reach of him, standing with her back to him. The umbrella was covered in flowers, constantly blooming and wilting, covering up most of her figure. However, none of them were as eye-catching as the lips beneath the umbrella.
The butterfly stopped on her shoulder.
“Shen Mengdie?”
The lips curled slightly, and the dream shattered.
Li Qingshan jerked awake immediately. The voice continued to echo through his head.
“I’ve spent much time waiting for you. The fifteenth of the tenth month. Please do not forget our meeting.”
