Translator: Legge
The city walls had crumbled like the sky was falling, and the morning sun shone down like a raging fire burning.
There were no longer any garrison troops alive on the stronghold walls. Hassan, Bulan Zir, and the others had killed their enemies after a prolonged fight on the walls. Then they quietly waited for their lord of the steppe to enter the stronghold and begin his reign over the city.
Before entering the city, Yan Liuyuan rode his horse through the refugee town outside the stronghold. The refugees on both sides of his path hid back into their shacks.
The stronghold had been breached. But surprisingly, the town was not affected at all by the city walls that had crumbled. After the battle, not a single refugee had died.
Yan Liuyuan saw a child hiding in a shack behind his father who was shielding him firmly. However, the child could not help but sneak a peek at Yan Liuyuan.
Yan Liuyuan just smiled. He got some beef jerky from Tsetseg next to him and threw it to the child. However, he did not say anything and just continued moving.
The child given the beef jerky looked at Yan Liuyuan curiously. He suddenly felt that Yan Liuyuan was the most good-looking person he had ever seen in his life. Yan Liuyuan’s eyes shone like stars, and he had sharp features. Gazing at Yan Liuyuan, it was as though he was looking at a flawlessly perfect god.
But what the child did not know was that when Yan Liuyuan looked at him, he saw himself from many years ago. At that time, there was also someone who constantly protected him like the child’s father was doing.
When he passed by a courtyard house made of bricks, Yan Liuyuan saw many students hiding on the inside. He asked, “Is this the town’s school?”
A young man said, trembling with fear, “Please let these children off. The oldest is 14 while the youngest is only eight. Even if Stronghold 176 has offended you, these children are innocent.”
The schoolteacher was extremely terrified, as the cavalry that came into town stretched so far back he could not see the end of it. The majestic horse in front of him was so tall he needed to look up to see the young man who was riding it.
But even though he was afraid, he did not take a single step back.
The muscular horse snorted loudly, shooting out white vapor through its nostrils like arrows and looking extremely imposing.
The young teacher stumbled back in fright at this. However, he still continued to tenaciously shield his students.
Yan Liuyuan sized up the young man, then said to the children with a smile, “You have a good teacher. Remember to study hard. Someone once told me that books are the best avenue to gain an understanding of the world. If you wish to learn more about the world after leaving school, there’s a price you have to pay in blood. Know that this is your last shelter.” Yan Liuyuan began to think of something and grew distant.
The young schoolteacher was uncertain of what to do. The young man on the horse across from him was supposed to be a very ruthless person, but it did not seem like that was the case at all.
“Kirghiz Yan, hand out some beef jerky to them.” Afterwards, Yan Liuyuan continued riding forward without looking back at the children.
Kirghiz Yan looked at the children in surprise. But eventually, he had his tribesmen bring over a bag of beef jerky and threw it onto the ground in front of them. He said fiercely, “This is given to you by my master.”
Hassan had already run down from the city wall tower and knelt inside the city to respectfully welcome its new king.
“Rise,” Yan Liuyuan said.
Beside him, Tsetseg suddenly realized Yan Liuyuan’s expression had turned frosty after he entered the stronghold. He was completely different from how he was back in town.
Clop, clop, clop, clop.
The clopping of horse hooves could be heard on the streets of Stronghold 176. The entire stronghold had fallen silent due to the arrival of Yan Liuyuan and the nomads.
The tough-looking nomads’ outfits from the grasslands and their majestic cavalry formed a stark contrast with civilization in the Central Plains.
Neat rows of brick structures could be seen on one side, while the other was a sight of people wearing animal skins and carrying long swords dripping with blood. Yan Liuyuan sat quietly on his horse and took in the sights around him. Previously, he never thought he would ever step foot into a stronghold again, setting foot in a place he hated so much with his status as a god.
But this was the first time the nomads had gone inside a stronghold in over 200 years since The Cataclysm.
As the warriors observed the city around them, they grew restless. Meanwhile, the city’s residents all cowered in fear at home. They did not even dare to breathe too loudly.
Hassan whispered next to Yan Liuyuan, “Master, should we get started?”
Yan Liuyuan glanced at him. “Get started with what?”
“Slaughtering everyone in the city!” Hassan said, “The tribal chiefs behind us are getting excited. They want to massacre the city’s residents to spread your glory. This is what all of us wish for.”
“Slaughter everyone in the city?” Yan Liuyuan was stunned for a moment. He looked at the tribal chiefs behind him. Indeed, they were all getting restless, especially the two chiefs from the Bulan and Kirghiz tribes. Too many of their tribesmen had died in the battle, so it was time to spill the stronghold residents’ blood in remembrance of them.
Moreover, they had found out from Hassan that their master had mentioned he would use the blood of Stronghold 176 as a sacrifice to the gods.
Although everyone had suffered heavy losses in the storm and incurred a lot of material losses in the battle, they knew they could obtain a large amount of wealth after massacring the city.
Hassan realized his master had fallen silent.
Once the massacre began, there would be cries and screams ringing out everywhere. Black smoke would billow in the large stronghold and countless people would die.
Yan Liuyuan looked at the stronghold that should have been very prosperous and the ruined stronghold walls behind him. If Xiaoyu were here, she would definitely not want to see a massacre happening in the city.
He suddenly said, “Pass down my orders. There shall be no massacre in this stronghold. Seek out all the managers of the stronghold first and tell the residents that they’ll be allowed to live as long as they report to those officials. It would be even better if they could reveal their crimes. But before any further orders from me, I’ll kill whoever indiscriminately kills the innocent.”
Hassan said awkwardly, “If you kill your own people over the deaths of the stronghold residents, I’m afraid…”
Yan Liuyuan said calmly, “Then they probably still don’t understand who the true lord of the steppe is.”
“I understand.” Hassan accepted the order and went around. Of course he would obey Yan Liuyuan’s orders unconditionally. If anyone disobeyed, he would pull that person out and drag him to death with the horses.
The following warriors acted quickly. In just a few minutes, they found out the residences of a few officials before dragging them out of their homes.
Throughout this, Yan Liuyuan sat calmly on his horse while Tsetseg rode beside him as their large entourage headed towards the center of the stronghold. That was where the Shen clan’s mansion was located as told by a stronghold official.
When they were about to arrive at the official residence, Hassan saw the manor was heavily guarded. He immediately led his Kharchin tribesmen to rush over with heavy machine guns.
Yan Liuyuan halted his horse and waited outside. Less than half an hour later, Hassan opened the manor’s door for him.
The mansion had turned into an abattoir, and all of the survivors were kneeling on the ground. As Yan Liuyuan rode forward, he looked at the people in the manor and said, “I heard that someone named Shen Yin is in charge of this stronghold. Which one of you is him? Stand up and answer me. Kirghiz Yan, lead your men on a raid of the granary and arsenal. We’ll take everything that can be taken.”
After that, Yan Liuyuan dismounted from his horse and walked towards the villa in the manor. It wasn’t until he sat down on the leather couch in the living room that he saw a middle-aged man being escorted over by Hassan. “Are you Shen Yin?”
Shen Yin glared at Yan Liuyuan. “How dare you nomadic barbarians come and make trouble in the Central Plains? Aren’t you afraid to incur the wrath of the entire Central Plains?”
Yan Liuyuan laughed, “The Pyro Company? The Kong Consortium? Or the Wang Consortium? Who do you think will want to avenge your Shen clan?”
Shen Yin realized the young man in front of him seemed very familiar with the political situation of the Central Plains. The other party had come prepared this time for their attack on Stronghold 176.
“I’m curious about something.” Yan Liuyuan asked as he tapped on the leather couch’s armrest with his slender fingers, “Stronghold 176’s reputation was clearly on par with Fortress 178 in the early years. Why has it degenerated so much?”
Shen Yin glared at Yan Liuyuan, but he did not know how to answer the question.
At this moment, a large group of stronghold officials were escorted into the villa by Bulan Zir. He was holding a thick stack of paper in his hands.
The officials were forced to kneel in a row. Bulan Zir handed the papers to Yan Liuyuan. “Master, these are all the evidence of crimes that the stronghold residents have written down.”
“It seems like y’all’re really unpopular with the people.” Yan Liuyuan took the papers. “Why don’t we play a game? I’ll allow y’all to tattle on each other’s crimes to redeem yourselves.”
Right as he finished speaking, a middle-aged man crawled forward and said, “I would like to report that the Shen clan has been acting like a tyrant in the city for decades. They’ve been oppressing the commoners to the point of suffering beyond words. This Shen Yin has grievously sinned. He even seized the wives of his subordinates for himself!”
“Carry on,” Yan Liuyuan said with great interest as he rested his arm on the couch and supported his chin with his hand.
“Also, Shen Yin is a real jerk. He used to indiscriminately kill the innocent, and when he caught some nomads, he slowly tortured them to death!”
Once someone got the ball rolling, accusations from the others started flowing like an open tap. It could not be stopped.
“He also abducted some women and children from the refugee town outside the stronghold two years ago!”
Yan Liuyuan started getting impatient as he listened to the rabble of voices. “That’s enough.”
Everyone in the villa immediately fell silent again.
Yan Liuyuan looked at Shen Yin. “See, these are what you stronghold residents are like. You live your lives in comfort but have lost your backbone and sense of happiness.”
However, Shen Yin sneered as he knelt on the ground, “The refugees are just pigs. What pride and happiness do they have?”
“No, they lead a happier life than you people.” Yan Liuyuan shook his head.
Shen Yin laughed heartily and said, “Those refugees can only struggle to make a livelihood. Some of them sold off their daughters while others have to resort to stealing and robbing. Even if they die inside the mines, no one will care about them. When their family members turn up, they never talk about seeking revenge and only ask how much they will be compensated. Some of them send their children to school only to realize that the things they learned are useless after graduating. In the end, they still have to farm sand or work down in the mines every day as their fate dictates. They live as though they might never get to see the next day arriving like animals on a farm. Let me ask you then, what happiness is there for such people?”
Yan Liuyuan looked at the dawn shining through the villa’s gate. In his memory, that was not what the towns were like, and neither was that an accurate description of the refugees.
When his elder brother returned from hunting in the past, he would often go to Wang Fugui’s store to buy two pieces of sickeningly sweet hard candies for him even though their family was very poor.
His elder brother would hide one and only give him a single piece, reminding him to eat it slowly.
But Yan Liuyuan would always end up finishing it at once before looking at Ren Xiaosu as though he wanted more. When he did that, Ren Xiaosu would take out another piece from his pocket so that Yan Liuyuan would be doubly surprised.
Every time during the New Year, his brother would go to Wang Fugui’s store to purchase some new clothes for him. Although they were very poor, he would still get new clothes to wear for the new year.
In the cold winter weather, the adults in town would buy some fatty meat from the butcher to make dumplings with. On New Year’s night, the aroma of the meat wafted out from the crude-looking shacks, leaving the children watching hungrily.
Wang Fugui would distribute some firecrackers he dismantled from a roll of 5,000 firecrackers to the children in town, each child given five firecrackers to play with.
The children could be seen running around in town playfully and they would even occasionally knock over other people’s shacks. Then the adults in their family would hurriedly apologize and spank the culprit’s bottom at the same time.
In that town, there were both laughter and crying.
Everyone experienced poverty and hardship during that time, but Yan Liuyuan somehow felt that those memories were filled with happiness.
Yan Liuyuan could even recall his brother’s rare smile at that time.
All of a sudden, Yan Liuyuan resisted recalling all of these memories.
However, he did not intend to tell this to Shen Yin, and neither was Shen Yin fit to hear it.
“Bulan Zir,” Yan Liuyuan said.
Bulan Zir knelt on one knee in front of Yan Liuyuan. “Master.”
“This is getting quite pointless. Kill them all and hang their bodies at the gate.” Yan Liuyuan said without his gaze ever landing on Shen Yin and the others, “I didn’t allow you all to slaughter the stronghold residents earlier. But now, I’ll allow you to raid the homes of these officials here. Each tribe can raid one of their homes. I believe that’s enough to make up for your losses in the battle. Go on, I don’t want to hear their piggy squeals when you kill them.”
Afterwards, Bulan Zir and Kirghiz Yan stood up excitedly. They instantly broke the officials’ teeth by smashing the hilt of their swords into the mouths of Shen Yin and the others, rendering them unable to speak.
The former prominent officials of the stronghold could only open their eyes wide in horror and let out screams in their throats.
Shen Yin, who was not giving in earlier, had now pissed his pants.
Bulan Zir and the others rushed into the official residences with their own tribesmen and did whatever they wanted. There were gold bars, jewelry, and firearms hidden in there while the arsenal and granary were also emptied out by Hassan.
By the evening, their plundering finally came to an end.
The nomads erected a huge wooden fence in front of the villa’s gate and hanged the bodies of the officials one by one. From afar, it looked like a row of terrifying wind chimes.
Regardless of whether Yan Liuyuan liked these “wind chimes” or not, the nomads needed to stir up their people’s fighting spirit before going on to face even tougher battles in the future.
Yan Liuyuan would have to let them enjoy each of their victories and killings so they would become his most loyal worshippers.
It no longer mattered if he liked it or not. As the lord of the steppe, he only had to consider whether his worshippers needed these things.
If it were necessary for the nomads, he would turn the corpses of the enemy into his flag.
However, an incident still happened after he repeatedly emphasized to the nomads not to slaughter innocent people. When the chief of the Khoton tribe was escorted over by Kirghiz Yan, Yan Liuyuan frowned and asked, “What happened?”
Kirghiz Yan answered, “Master, when the Khoton tribe was confiscating an official’s assets, they actually led their tribesmen to kill unarmed civilians without your permission. The other tribesmen could not control themselves when they saw the Khoton tribe’s actions and joined in as well. Fortunately, Hassan informed me and Bulan Zir, so the situation did not get worse.”
The Khoton tribe had been badly defeated in the grasslands. So, after arriving at the stronghold, their chief was hoping that Yan Liuyuan would give the order to massacre the entire city. That way, it would make him feel better about his previous losses.
However, he did not expect that after Yan Liuyuan had saved the Bulan and Kirghiz tribes, they became the most loyal tribes to Yan Liuyuan. They carried out Yan Liuyuan’s orders meticulously and captured all of the Khoton tribe members.
Yan Liuyuan asked, “What did they do?”
“They killed thousands of civilians, started fires in the stronghold, and even violated the women,” Kirghiz Yan answered.
Yan Liuyuan waved his hand expressionlessly and said, “There’s no need for the Khoton tribe to continue existing then. Kill them all and hang their heads up with the enemy’s corpses.”
The chief of the Khoton tribe cried and begged for mercy, but before he could say anything, his head was cut off by Kirghiz Yan.
Yan Liuyuan took a deep breath. He did not expect that such a thing would happen under his command. Perhaps other people would simply deal with this by calling for stricter discipline to be enforced on their subordinates in the future, but Yan Liuyuan did not want to let this matter go so easily.
He might be able to accept the act of killing, but he would not stand for women being raped.
Everyone left, leaving only Yan Liuyuan and Tsetseg in the villa.
Suddenly, Yan Liuyuan saw the newspaper on the coffee table in front of him. The words Hope Media were printed on its header.
When Yan Liuyuan saw the newspaper, he did not go over to pick it up and just continued resting on the couch with his eyes closed. The Qing Consortium’s envoy had already told him everything he needed to know. So he was not particularly interested in the papers.
Tsetseg remained beside him the entire time. She could feel the dilemma in Yan Liuyuan’s heart. It seemed like he was struggling as well.
The girl took a comb out of her sleeve and stood obediently behind Yan Liuyuan to comb his hair. As she combed his hair, she said, “You’re now the hope of Father and the rest.”
“Hope?” Yan Liuyuan repeated as though he was deliberating the meaning of it.
The girl said again, “That’s right, I’ve never seen Father so brave before. In the past, when those large tribes made him pay tribute to them with livestock, he always offered it to them submissively. The other people in the tribe also did not dare to speak out even though they were angry. But it’s different now. When I saw him talking to the chief of the Khoton tribe that day, he spoke confidently without being overbearing.”
“That’s because he holds greater power now.” Yan Liuyuan said with a smile, “Meanwhile, the Khoton tribe is already on the decline. I had wanted to see if they would fight bravely in this battle. But in the end, I was very disappointed. The Khoton tribe hid at the back of the forces throughout the fight. They’ve already lost their courage, so how could your father not be confident when facing people like them?”
“No, it’s not that.” Tsetseg said in a soft voice, “Father said that it was the gods who bestowed him with strength. Every morning, he kowtows to you with Mother. He said that you’ll bring our people a comfortable life and that we won’t have to be afraid of anyone anymore. Now, everyone in the tribe says that you’re the sun in the sky, and I think so too. It’s the only way to explain such a beautiful presence as you.”
“That’s enough,” Yan Liuyuan said with a smile, “Go to your father and tell him that I’m ready to leave.”
Yan Liuyuan absent-mindedly picked up the newspaper from the coffee table and glanced at the date. It seemed that this was yesterday’s newspaper.
He had heard of Hope Media because Wang Fugui liked reading newspapers every day.
At that time, he even asked Wang Fugui why he liked reading newspapers. Wang Fugui laughed and explained that he just wanted to kill some time. Then he told Yan Liuyuan that he should learn from Mr. Zhang. When he could read and understand an entire newspaper publication, he would reward him with a piece of candy.
At first, Yan Liuyuan would study hard every day with a longing for the candy. However, he started to become playful and lazy again very soon. Every day, he begged his brother to take him out to go hunting because he knew there was a bigger world outside of town.
Now that he could understand an entire newspaper publication, the person who promised to reward him with a piece of candy was nowhere to be seen.
When Yan Liuyuan looked at the first page of the newspaper, it wrote about the war between the Pyro Company and the Kong Consortium, as well as the moves the Wang Consortium was taking.
At the moment, the Wang Consortium was not in a hurry to join the battlefield. Instead, they had gathered their troops at the border and were waiting quietly for something.
Based on Yan Liuyuan’s deduction, the Wang Consortium was just waiting for the opportunity to finish off the Kong Consortium with one strike.
Actually, there was nothing special about the consortiums. Everyone out here was like wild animals in the wilderness. They would only go all out when there was an opportunity to do so. Before the hunt began, everyone would usually remain silent.
Yan Liuyuan flipped to the second page, which reported about the aftermath of the incident in the Sacred Mountains. For example, it wrote about how many people had gone on the expedition, how many made it out of there, and how heavy their casualties were. Furthermore, the page described in detail that the expedition to the Sacred Mountains was just a scheme by the Anjing House and the Pyro Company. However, no one knew who revealed this to Hope Media.
The news on the third page started getting boring. It basically described what the chief editor, Jiang Xu, had seen and heard at the Wang Consortium’s stronghold, as well as his review of the artificial intelligence, of which he had mixed feelings about.
The newspaper reported that Jiang Xu was still at Stronghold 61 and that he would continue observing the artificial intelligence’s developments.
On the fourth page, the newspaper started to talk about the revolutionary changes surrounding the Qinghe Group in Luoyang City. All the Riders other than Xu Ke had already left Luoyang City, with their whereabouts unknown.
Yan Liuyuan flipped through the pages slowly as he waited for his subjects to gather.
But the moment he got to the fifth page, the young lord froze.
Half of the fifth page had only two lines of words written on it.
“Don’t let the sorrows of our era become your sorrow as well.
“61.”
Yan Liuyuan was too familiar with these words, and he knew who said it too. All of his fond memories of the refugee town were related to that person.
On that day, he saw that red spear pierce Ren Xiaosu’s abdomen before he was swept away by the flood.
That flood was like an irreversible moment that almost wiped away all his fond memories of the world.
There was no more candy and no more new clothes to look forward to every year.
At that time, he was still Ren Xiaosu’s little brother. But now, he was the new king of the steppe.
At this moment, Tsetseg rushed into the villa. “Father and the others are back!”
But as soon as she finished speaking, she realized the young man was sitting by himself on the couch and shrouded in the shadow of the distant twilight. He looked exceptionally lonely.
Yes, this was the loneliness of a king.
It was a loneliness enwrapped by blizzards and thorns.
Yan Liuyuan looked out of the villa. He wanted to go to Stronghold 61 to look for Ren Xiaosu.
But when he looked up, he saw the suspended corpses on the wooden fence swaying nonstop as purplish-black blood dripped onto the ground drop by drop.
These were the people he ordered to be killed, and it also represented his sorrows.
Meanwhile, the flames burning in the stronghold were the sins of the Khoton tribe who were his followers. Corpses of thousands of civilians and women who had been violated were burning within those flames.
At some point in time, he seemed to have become a part of this sorrowful era.
Perhaps many people would find it difficult to face their former selves after they grew up.
No longer naïve, no longer kind, no longer regarding themselves as good people.
The fervor in Yan Liuyuan’s heart had gradually extinguished. It was as though he had slipped into an abyss. The humanity Xiaoyu pulled him back towards was once again defeated by the godhood he had attained.
Even Xiaoyu was unaware he no longer needed to pay a price to cast his curses.
Or rather, it was just that no one else could see what that price was.
Each time after he made a curse, and each time after he felt like his entire world had fallen apart, Yan Liuyuan would feel like he was taking a step towards a higher level.
That might be a higher level of humanity, but Yan Liuyuan did not know if it was the heavens or the abyss he was heading towards.
Just as Li Shentan had said, when humans were able to unlock their peak willpower, their consciousness would merge with the will of the world.
But would one still be human at that time? No one could be sure.
Yan Liuyuan’s gaze pierced the sky. It was as though he could not face the past and himself. He did not want Ren Xiaosu to see him in this state.
At the same time, Hassan and 10,000 cavalry had gathered next to the corpses suspended from the wooden fence. There was a sea of people as the line of tough cavalry stretched along the long street. It was impossible to see the end of the line.
Suddenly, the nomads dismounted from their horses and knelt on one knee. When they shouted loudly, cheering for the ascendancy of the new king, the stronghold started trembling.
Yan Liuyuan could see a glint of excitement in Hassan and everyone’s eyes from a distance away. They were looking at him with utterly devoted and passionate gazes.
He remembered the hope Tsetseg had mentioned earlier.
Yan Liuyuan got up and quietly lit that copy of the newspaper on fire. He threw it inside the villa and set it ablaze.
The luxury and decadence in the villa started burning up as the fire began to spread.
Yan Liuyuan stood within the fire and looked at the flames around him. It was as though he was watching this depraved era burn.
“Bro, I can’t go back anymore. Bro, I’m not going back anymore.”
Amid the flames, Yan Liuyuan took out his black and ferocious faceplate and put it on his face, concealing everything from his past.
He felt it was no longer necessary for his past identity, along with this era, to exist anymore.
Hassan knelt in front of Yan Liuyuan’s horse and acted as a footstool for him. Yan Liuyuan stepped on Hassan’s back and mounted his horse. “Return home! We’re triumphant!”
The warriors started cheering. Some of them even shot celebratory gunfire into the air with the automatic rifles they had just obtained. These men who had come out to participate in this battle could finally return home with their new king.
They were going back to their home located in the North.
