Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 752 – Nothing More Than Playing House (II)

An Hua’s eyes glowed as she imagined the Pope on the battlefield, reverentially praising him in her heart as truly extraordinary. As a member of the Orthodoxy, she was particularly proud of the Pope, so caught up in her mood that she failed to notice that the young array master on the bed had opened his eyes to a slit, revealing a rather gloomy gaze.

The courtyard outside the window was a little restless. The general had come to the Sacred Hospital, bringing news that was difficult to identify as true or false.

A place called Gaoyang Village might have Cinnabar Pills. Why? Because the mysterious person who refined the Cinnabar Pills was in that village.

The question that the entire continent had wanted to resolve had suddenly received an answer. For a moment, An Hua found this difficult to accept, and even after she calmed down, she still found it impossible to believe. But this young array master had only seven days left to live, and only three days were needed to travel from the Mount Song Army headquarters to Gaoyang Village. At least from a numbers perspective, there was still some hope.

She gave the array master a glance of pity, then said, “Even if it’s fake, I still want to take a look.”

……

……

When one traveled a great distance south from the Mount Song Army headquarters, one would still end up in Tianliang County, but the scenery of Hanqiu City was clearly much better to look at. The only point of regret was that the famous manor on the city outskirts had still been unable to regain its past glory. To the east and west of the replanted willows was a green plain that looked like it had been eaten by a flock of sheep.

Two years ago, Zhu Luo was killed by Divine General Han Qing in the Mausoleum of Books, depriving the Zhu clan and the Emotion-Severing Sect of the protection of a Divine Domain expert. Neither was as mighty as it was before, but the Zhu clan had operated in Tianliang County for more than a thousand years and the Imperial Court owed them a favor. Adding on the fact that they had a very close relationship with the Prince of Xiang, other than gradually handing over control of Xunyang City to the Liang Household, all of Tianliang County still remained under the Zhu clan’s control, and no one even dared to challenge the Zhu clan’s status in Hanqiu City.

But Zhu Ye was clearly in a poor mood. Seeing the plains of grass on both sides of the river, his eyes revealed a sign of disgust and hatred.

He was the Sect Master of the Emotion-Severing Sect and master of the Zhu clan, and it could even be said that he had gained the vast majority of Zhu Luo’s legacy. Everyone knew that he was not Zhu Luo’s son, rather his nephew, but since he had been able to reign so peacefully over Hanqiu City until now, one could understand that he must be very powerful, or at least very vicious.

“I don’t like looking at a vast stretch of scorched earth, but I even more detest this view that looks like it’s been treated with a poor herbal paste. A method must be found to treat it.”

Zhu Ye raised the wine cup in his hands in greeting to the person across from him, then added, “If there’s a good medicine, I naturally won’t mind putting out a little strength.”

The person drinking across from him was a general whose body exuded a powerful Qi. It was obvious that he had surpassed the upper level of Star Condensation.

Ning Shiwei, Divine General of Mount Song, had absolutely no background and a wooden personality. In the past, because he was unhappy with the Divine Empress, he had been ranked rather low amongst the Great Zhou’s Divine Generals and did not possess much of a reputation, despite the fact that he was strong and skilled in commanding troops. After the coup of the Mausoleum of Books, he received a decree to return to the capital, upon which he completed a few major tasks and received the favor of the Prince of Xiang and the esteemed master of the Dao.

When Wang Po was severing his arm to break through, he had been one of the two Divine Generals on the bank of the Luo River that had attempted to kill him but had been stopped by Xiao Zhang’s spear.

Perhaps it was for precisely this reason that he assumed the blame for this failure and was forced to leave the capital for the Mount Song Army headquarters.

The Mount Song Army headquarters was naturally much more powerful than his previous position, and he knew that the Imperial Court was showing him kindness, but he was still not satisfied. If not for the fact that the Tang Second Master had indicated his dissatisfaction for Ning Shiwei’s performance, he could have remained in the capital and received an even more important position, like replacing Xu Shiji.

In his two years in the Mount Song Army headquarters, he had thought of many things, so he very quickly understood what Zhu Ye meant with his incomprehensible words.

That pill could regrow bones and save the dying, so it could naturally act like the spring breeze, making green once more the scorched black earth of the Myriad Willows Garden.

Of course, Zhu Ye would not actually use the pill to water the ground. He was just using the state of the garden as a description for something very similar to what he wanted.

Ning Shiwei wanted that pill for his personal advancement while the Zhu clan wanted the pill to regain its might, so why couldn’t the two sides work together?

“The Imperial Court has let the Tang clan get away with enough, and those merchants from Wenshui are getting more and more arrogant and forgetting how to behave properly. They truly do need to be taught a little lesson.”

He added, “I will be sending some people. If Sect Master is interested, we can travel together.”

Zhu Ye placed down his cup and said very casually, “I will personally go.”

Ning Shiwei realized that this matter was more important than he had imagined. If the frontlines were not too tense, he felt that he should also go and take a look around that small village.

“I will go and see,” a voice spoke out from the side.

The speaker was a young lordling. In the cold weather, he was waving around a folding fan, making his originally charming appearance seem rather cold and harsh.

“Although I don’t believe that this medicine is as important as all of you say, I’m still very curious.”

The youth was called Tianhai Zhanyi and he was the Princess of Ping’s younger brother. Thus, he was also Prince Chen Liu’s brother-in-law, and Prince Chen Liu was the Prince of Xiang’s son. The relationship between the Tianhai clan and the Zhu clan had always been awful, like fire and water. ‘Zhu Luo will not enter the capital’ had become a saying in the Great Zhou Dynasty. But as it was often said, time passes and circumstances change. The Divine Empress had died, and Zhu Luo had also died, so the wariness and hatred between the two clans had become irrelevant, a marginalized fear. As a result, through their connection with the Prince of Xiang, the two clans had been able to join hands.

Zhu Ye chuckled at Tianhai Zhanyi, but said nothing.

Between Tianhai Shengxue and Tianhai Zhanyi, everyone knew just where the power and resources of the Tianhai clan would ultimately fall upon. When he compared Tianhai Zhanyi to Tianhai Shengxue, who was highly appreciated by many military officials, Ning Shiwei found himself very unhappy with Tianhai Zhanyi. This youth was too gloomy, giving the impression that he was harsh and cold.

It might have been for just this reason that he did not refuse, instead asking, “Has His Highness already confirmed that it is that person?”

Tianhai Zhanyi folded his fan and lightly tapped it against his palm, smirking as he asked, “You’re not afraid, are you? His Highness said that that person should be in the south. But I think differently from the rest of you. If that medicine really does have to do with that person, I really do hope to see him there…”

He got up and left, not expressing his full meaning.

As he watched the youth’s figure gradually disappear into the willows and the setting sun, Zhu Ye commented, “If one walks too fast, it’s easier to get into trouble.”

“On the battlefield, young people like him always die very quickly, and it’s been a long time since my youth.”

Ning Shiwei added, “So I know nothing but the fact that a young array master is about to die.”

“At such a time, if someone were to suddenly find out where the Cinnabar Pill was coming from, one would naturally think of a way to find it.”

“Correct, nothing could be better than if he can survive.”

“General truly treats his soldiers like his own children.”

“Everything is due to the kindness of the great figures within the Imperial Court.”

……

……

On the map, Gaoyang Village was a small dot amongst the mountains and plains. In the records, Gaoyang Village was a long-abandoned fort. Only when An Hua and her group arrived did they discover that the small dot on the map was a massive and ancient building at the base of the mountains, and the village was actually quite lively and inhabited.

The revival of Gaoyang was completely due to the war between the humans and demons. Due to the frequent battles breaking out on the northern extremities of the snowy plains, the weapons transported to the frontlines on the northeast border of Tianliang County would mostly pass through the reopened military road winding through the mountains, and Gaoyang Village was situated right where this road exited Mount Han.

The current Gaoyang was very lively, even bustling. All along the streets were soldiers and merchant stalls, and also quite a few gaily-dressed women.

When even brothels were present, there were naturally inns as well. The military officer leading the group lifted the stretcher carrying the young array master and went to the backyard while An Hua brought two female students to the second floor of the inn, intending to get some food and also inquire on a few things. Before they even had time to sit, their gazes were attracted by a father and his daughter.

This father and daughter were a pair of musicians. The father was dressed in an old scholar’s robe and hugging a zither. His head was lowered, making it difficult to see his face.

His daughter was about twelve or thirteen, with a clear and elegant appearance. She was still rather childish, and the distance between her two eyes was a little wide, making her seem a little dull.