Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A few days after Navy General Zheng Huaian of the Great Han Empire’s Southeastern Navy received the letter delivered by the Guangsheng Escort Agency, in the distant Northeast, Storm Army Commander Long Feicheng and the new Provincial Governor Sun Bingchen also received similar letters delivered by the escort leaders of two different escort agencies from Hui Province.
On the letter that Long Feicheng received, the beginning was exactly the same as Zheng Huaian’s letter. They were all the ‘major events’ that were going to happen in the Great Han Empire in the coming months, but the end the letter included events related to the Storm Army four years in the future. Anbei General Shi Tao impeached Long Feicheng, Grand Chancellor Lin Qingtian allowed Long Feicheng to self-testify at the Imperial Capital, and Long Feicheng then died of an accident in the Imperial Capital. Anbei General Shi Tao later turned to the Chaman people. During the war between the Chaman Army and the Storm Army, Shi Tao burned the three largest military warehouses of the Haicheng, Ningyuan, and Changtu Prefectures. They cut off the Storm Army’s resources and roads of retreat…
The letter Sun Bingchen received was almost the same. At the end of his letter, there was a dense list of dozens of individuals within the Great Han Empire. Those people were those who would be exposed in the near future for leading the White Lotus Society in the southern provinces for causing a riot. Some of those people were from the bureaucracy, some were local squires, some were bandits and rebels, and some were even hosts of shrines and temples…
The two letters were from an ‘old friend’ of Long Feicheng and Sun Bingchen, who had spent a fortune to have those letters delivered personally by the escort leaders. The back of both letters had the same signature — ‘Don’t ask who I am, please call me the Red Scarf.’
Those letters were written by none other than Yan Liqiang. This was the first time Yan Liqiang put the knowledge that he learned from the future to good use. He believed that figures like Zheng Huaian, Long Feicheng, and Sun Bingchen were extremely rare in the Great Han Empire. Their intelligence, capability, tactics, and resilience were beyond imagination. If they knew what was going to happen in the future, they would naturally find a solution to change the outcome so that they would not fall into the same pit again. If the fate of those figures changed, the future of the Great Han Empire would be altered too.
There was a side effect for being the Red Scarf as once the letters were delivered, the butterfly effect would kick in. Aside from the inevitable Heavenly Tribulation that was bound to happen in four years, Yan Liqiang would no longer be in control of any events that would occur in the Great Han Empire for the next few years. Therefore, everything would become unknown to him.
…
On the same night Long Feicheng received the mysterious letter, something else was going on in the western part of the Great Han Empire, deep in the vast Gulang Plains. In one of the huge tents by the White Lake where the Dark Razor Tribe of the Shatu Seven Tribes gathered, a group of prestigious figures from the Dark Razor Tribe were attentively listening to a bird speaking on a round table.
It was a black gracula with blood-red eyes, the same bird that flew away not long after Yan Liqiang destroyed the Shatu caravan a few days ago. To ordinary people, there was nothing special about this bird. However, this was no ordinary bird for the Sacred Flame’s priests who poured their heart and soul into raising this bird as a spiritual bird. Most of the Sacred Flame’s priests who cultivated beast taming techniques usually had a spiritual animal with them. The gracula that looked ordinary was, in fact, the spiritual animal of one of the priests and it had extraordinary power.
…
“Who are you?! We are a regular Shatu caravan protected by the laws of your Great Han Empire. Why do you attack us? If you are after the money and goods, they are all in the tent!”
“Stop pretending, you must know who I am. The three men that you sent to Pingxi City should be all dead by now and it’s your turn. Do you have any last words?”
The black spiritual bird was speaking, and what came out of the bird’s mouth was the final conversation between Yan Liqiang and the Shatu priest in the outskirts of Pingxi City. Although the words came out from a bird, it was able to replicate the tones of the priest and Yan Liqiang. Those who listened to it were able to distinguish the ones in the conversation. If Yan Liqiang was at the scene, he would’ve been shocked that there was a bird that could be used as a recorder on the Silver Continent. It was simply an unprecedented ability…
“How did you know that we were here?”
“Since you’re about to die, I see no harm in telling you. I knew you were here was because I had laid a trap in the city. And of course, I had an informant. Don’t go thinking that all you Shatu people are united. If all of you died here, Lin Qingtian might be disappointed, but someone within the Shatu Seven Tribes would be happy!”
…
The group of prestigious figures from the Dark Razor Tribe was shocked as the spiritual bird repeated the entire conversation between Yan Liqiang and the Shatu priest twice inside the huge tent.
After the bird finished its speech, the large tent was silent except for the sound of heavy breathing and the crackling noise of the burning candles.
In the midst of the silence, an aged noble of the Dark Razor Tribe took a step forward and asked with a cold glint in his eyes, “Chief, are the words from this…this spiritual bird reliable?”
The chief of Dark Razor Tribe didn’t reply. He cast a glance at the Sacred Flame’s high priest who was standing beside him.
The high priest was already a hundred years old; his aura was as gloomy as a rotten animal from the abyss. The wrinkles on his face were as deep as the gullies, but his eyes flashed with coldness. “This is the spiritual bird of Priest Sada, and besides Priest Sada, no one else can control it. This spiritual bird came back as it was Priest Sada’s dying wish. It will die after a few days. What all of you just heard was the conversation between Priest Sada and his murderer moments before his death. There is no need to doubt the credibility…”
The group of prestigious figures from the Dark Razor Tribe immediately erupted in the huge tent…
“No wonder our tribe suffered great losses this time! Priest Sada’s group failed their mission. All the troops fell into the Han Chinese’s trap and were wiped out. It turns out that someone within the Shatu Seven Tribes was leaking information to the Han Chinese…”
“Who is it? Find him and kill him…”
“Yes, kill him, kill him…”
“I am going to behead that informant and make a wine jug out of his head. I’ll make his family members and daughters into the lowest slaves…”
The Dark Razor Tribe’s prestigious figures grew rowdy. Some even unsheathed the scimitars on their waists and brandished them in the tent.
“Do not divulge any information we learned today inside this tent. Any informant will be punished according to the rules of the tribe!” The chief of the Dark Razor Tribe scanned his surroundings coldly and spoke with a hoarse voice filled with murderous intent, “Among the Shatu Seven Tribes, only a few dozen people, including all of you here, knew about Priest Sada’s mission. The reason why I gathered all of you here today is to inform you all that the Dark Razor Tribe is currently in a bad position. The high priest and I have been speculating that someone within the Shatu Seven Tribes has been colluding with the Han Chinese. The aim is to weaken the strength of the Dark Razor Tribe within the Shatu Seven Tribes so that we can be replaced…”
“It must be the Dark Wood Tribe!” someone immediately yelled.
“Yes, it must be those bastards from the Dark Wood Tribe. They will be most thrilled to see our tribe fall as they have always resented our tribe for defeating them a few decades ago since we took over the most fertile plains near the White Lake. They are also jealous that we are the strongest tribe among the Shatu Seven Tribes…”
“It must have been the Dark Wood Tribe…:”
The prestigious figures of the Dark Razor Tribe were all convinced that it was the Dark Wood Tribe’s doing. The strongest tribe among the Shatu Seven Tribes was the Dark Razor Tribe, and they and had always been the leader and spokesperson. However, the Shatu Seven Tribes were not wholly united as there were a lot of internal conflicts and different interests between the tribes. At times of distress, the Shatu Seven Tribes would unite together in order to survive, but after many years of peace, the conflicts between the tribes had gotten more intense. As the second strongest tribe, the Dark Wood Tribe had always posed the biggest threat to the Dark Razor Tribe due to various historical reasons. The mission led by the Dark Razor Tribe had failed and there were casualties. The return of the bird instantly caused an emotional outburst in the Dark Razor Tribe…
