Emblem of the Phoenix

凤凰图腾

emblem-of-the-phoenix

Blade Without An Edge

Rong Shiba suddenly stopped in his tracks, and the hidden guards around him also abruptly halted. One person who was charging ahead couldn't stop in time and had half of his hand severed by the puppet strings. Suddenly, a white mist appeared before their eyes, and Zhuo Yu vanished without a trace in the fog!
"Mingde, come back! It's dangerous!"
Rong Shiba's shout was a step too late. Mingde was in mid-air and couldn't stop his momentum, plunging headfirst into the white mist. The scenery in front of him seemed distorted, the path beneath his feet infinitely extending. Zhuo Yu's figure flashed not far away. As soon as Mingde took a step forward, he felt his foot step into emptiness!
— A cliff!
— It really was a terrain-shrinking evil technique. It turns out this place was already at the edge of a cliff!
The mountain rocks creaked. Mingde felt his feet slipping. Just as he was about to fall off the hundred-foot cliff, Rong Shiba rushed over and grabbed him.
All of this happened in a flash. Mingde's body was suddenly pulled, and the huge diving force caused by inertia made Rong Shiba stumble and fall. Their positions completely swapped. Their hands were still clasped. Mingde was pulled and fell to the ground, one hand gripping Rong Shiba's wrist, while Rong Shiba was already entirely suspended in the air above the hundred-foot cliff!
"Lord Rong!"
All of Rong Shiba's weight was hanging on the wrist that Mingde was gripping. Cold sweat poured down. "...That, that was dangerous..."
"What's going on?"
"Xiwan has many evil techniques. This probably isn't anything rare, but we haven't seen it before, so we fell for his trick. People outside can't enter this layer of mist. Quickly pull me up so we can get out."
Easier said than done. At this time, Mingde was also barely lying prone at the edge of the cliff. The only thing supporting him was the dagger that he had casually wedged into a crack in the ground. As soon as he exerted force to pull Rong Shiba up, he suddenly saw Rong Shiba's face change.
Zhuo Yu stood behind Mingde. With a slight movement of his fingers, the puppet strings lightly hooked around Mingde's neck like a deadly talisman.
Mist shrouded the mountain cliff. Even though it was a sunny day, it was as gloomy as the depths of winter.
Mingde and Rong Shiba, one above and one below, stared at each other. They both saw the horror in each other's eyes.
Zhuo Yu's face was unexpectedly clear in the mist, so clear that even the cold downward curve of his lips could be seen distinctly. Mingde had his back to him, but Rong Shiba could clearly see this killing god's face, as if carved from the most precious jade, perfect and without any warmth.
From this angle, he could even see Zhuo Yu's fingers slowly tightening. He felt his face was wet, as if it was raining. In fact, it was the blood dripping from Mingde's neck.
Rong Shiba had no doubt that Zhuo Yu would act immediately — the princess of Xiwan loved him to the point of madness. How long did he hesitate when he killed her? Even a blink of an eye?
"Mingde..." Rong Shiba's voice scattered in the mountain wind, blurry and indistinct. "— The debt I owed you last time, brother... I'm sorry... Today, I'll repay you..."
Mingde opened his mouth wide, but couldn't say anything.
Rong Shiba struggled to take out a dagger from his lower back and fiercely slashed it across his hand. But he couldn't feel the pain.
Mingde tightly grasped Zhuo Yu. Even if his flesh and blood were drained, even if only a skeleton remained, he would still tightly grip him.
"Lord... Lord Rong..." Mingde spoke, his voice especially choked due to the constriction of his windpipe. "...I won't let go..."
Rong Shiba gave him a desperate look. With his free hand holding the dagger, he fiercely slashed and severed his own wrist with one stroke.
Mingde could barely see anything, his eyes filled with only a expanse of blood red.
A sky full of blood red.
Rong Shiba, in that expanse of blood red, silently, quietly, fell off the cliff.
Who was it that walked shoulder to shoulder with him on that cold winter night?
Who often squatted by the road chewing on a blade of grass, waiting for them to set off?
Who charged to the front lines on the battlefield, who used their flesh and blood to build a shield of offense and defense, who dreamed every day of being transferred to the outside, going to a faraway small place, marrying a wife and having children to enjoy a peaceful and worry-free life?
That person, on the secret guards' final mission, gave up his last and only hope of living.
He would forever lie at the bottom of the cold and dark cliff.
Pain pierced through half his body in a flash like lightning. Zhuo Yu's pupils constricted. That youth who still had puppet strings around his neck moved faster than he imagined. In just an instant, he sent the tip of the blade into the abdominal muscles of Zhuo Yu.
Zhuo Yu fiercely retreated while retracting the puppet strings. The sound of the wind howled in his ears. At that moment, he was truly a bit startled in his heart: the fastest lightness skill expert in the world had already fallen at his hands, where did this little boy train such astonishingly fast moves!
Mingde didn't wait for him to retreat a few steps before directly chopping down with his blade. In an instant, the sound of the wind was fierce. The two briefly exchanged a few moves.
Zhuo Yu suddenly stopped in his tracks. The white mist had gradually dissipated. He abruptly turned his head and saw that less than ten zhang away, the most elite secret guards of the Celestial Dynasty had already gathered, each one staring intently at him, each one in the most perfect state of readiness for battle.
Zhuo Yu tilted his head and glanced back. Mingde stood in place and panted a few breaths, then actually turned around and jumped off the cliff.
At such a tense juncture, he still felt a slight shock in his heart: ...Had this child gone mad?
...What was he going to do, retrieve the corpse of his comrade from the rushing currents below the cliff?
There was no time for Zhuo Yu to think more, because before he could turn his gaze back, he suddenly heard a low, calm voice not far behind him: "— Zhuo Yu."
It had been many years since anyone directly called his name. Zhuo Yu didn't look in that direction, but slowly, bit by bit, turned his head, with his back to that person, directly facing the imperial secret guards who were dispersing to surround him and gradually approaching.
Looking from behind him, a man in a gray robe with a solemn face stood on the top of a tree branch at the edge of the cliff. Zhuo Yu didn't look at him, only greeting him lightly: "—— General Lu, how have you been lately?"
"Thanks to your blessing, I'm doing well."
"What brings you here?"
"I'm here to take your head."
Zhuo Yu stood in the fierce mountain wind at the edge of the cliff, his black robes fluttering, the blood on his abdomen gathering drop by drop along the hem of his robe onto the ground. He stood there motionlessly, as if even if the sky changed or the earth collapsed at this moment, he would stand firm like a mountain rock, not moving an inch.
In front of him, the royal secret guards of the Celestial Dynasty were approaching step by step. Not far behind him, Lu Jiuchen was ready for battle, a world-renowned blunt blade hidden in his sleeve, ready to give him a fatal blow at any time.
...
Since the moment he heard that Mingde had jumped off the cliff, the Qianwan Emperor had been riding his horse like crazy towards the southeast corner cliff.
The guards riding horses behind him begged desperately: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, it's dangerous over there!"
"Your Majesty, please go back!"
"Someone come! Someone come! Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor!" ...
Li Ji couldn't hear anything except the howling wind passing by. He had calculated everything correctly. He had persuaded the little king of Xiwan Kingdom, he had invited the General Lu who was living in seclusion in the palace, he had successfully cut off a large piece of land and a large amount of wealth from the enemy country, he had even almost eliminated State Preceptor Zhuo Yu, the number one master in the world who had been eyeing them greedily.
But the only thing he didn't expect turned out to be a fatal oversight: Mingde had actually jumped off the cliff.
What was he going to do under the cliff with the turbulent currents?
To retrieve the corpse of Rong Shiba?
... What a joke!
...
Not to mention that the Qianwan Emperor had held that little thing in the palm of his hand for more than two years, even the Empress and the Crown Prince had never seen Mingde being so affectionate and righteous to that person. This person seemed to be born with a little less emotion than others, always keeping a distance from people. It was this subtle distance that made him never have any friends to talk to.
His world was very simple, the Empress, the Crown Prince, the Qianwan Emperor, plus a few friends from the secret guards who occasionally had a drink, and at most a few people from the Shangguan family. When did he start jumping off cliffs for the corpse of a brother?
Didn't he know that under the cliff was a waterfall mixed with countless undercurrents and whirlpools?
...
It actually didn't take long to ride a horse to the southeast corner cliff. The Qianwan Emperor suddenly pulled the reins, and the horse neighed loudly, standing up more than half a man's height. The secret guards who had rushed over upon hearing the news all fell to the ground at his feet, shouting loudly: "Stop the Emperor!"
"Your Majesty! You can't go! The Thirteen Iron Guards are there!"
"It's dangerous, Your Majesty! ..."
The Thirteen Iron Guards, everyone in the world knew their names. They were the most ruthless thirteen guards beside State Preceptor Zhuo Yu. They had been through life and death for so many years, all of them were top masters chosen from all over the world, and all of them were people who killed without blinking an eye.
Zhang Kuo also wanted to stop the Qianwan Emperor. He rolled off the horse's back and knelt in front of the Emperor. Suddenly, he saw in the distance in the sky, a few guards wearing thin black soft armor carrying Zhuo Yu, leaping lightly from the treetops and disappearing quickly.
In mid-air, Zhuo Yu raised his head, completely carried by those few people, as if he couldn't move at all by himself. But even if he couldn't move, his subordinates were not vegetarians. A few secret guards wanted to chase, but they were all blasted back by the thunder bombs thrown by the red-clothed girls who were bringing up the rear.
...
With a neighing sound, a guard captain crawled over and knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, it's not good! Your Majesty, go back quickly! The Thirteen Iron Guards sent someone to kill the king of Xiwan Kingdom!"
The Qianwan Emperor didn't even turn his head back and walked into the depths of the forest with big strides.
"Your Majesty! The secret guards reported that Zhuo Yu ordered a new king to be established before he left! Xiwan is going to change greatly again!"
The Qianwan Emperor still walked towards the cliff.
"Your Majesty! Young Master Shangguan... he brought Lord Rong up!"
...
The reporting guard was shocked to find that the supreme ruler high above almost pushed him away and ran to the edge of the cliff at the fastest speed.
Everyone saw that in the sharp mountain wind, Shangguan Mingde carried the unconscious Rong Shiba on his back, almost using his last breath hanging in his throat, staggering up the cliff.
No one could imagine how this young man, who was not even an adult, carried a living person up. They could only see that Shangguan Mingde's body was covered with deep bone-exposing scratches, and the blood and dust made him look disheveled. But in that dishevelment, there was also a fierce and persistent meaning like a wolf, making him look extremely ferocious and terrible.
The Qianwan Emperor rushed over. At this time, Mingde retreated half a step, lightly avoiding him.
...
He put Rong Shiba on the ground. Anyone could see that at this time he only had the last bit of strength hanging in his throat. If he stood for a while longer, he might fall back to the bottom of the cliff with Rong Shiba.
Mingde put down Rong Shiba, leaned against the mountain rock, and said while panting, "He's still alive."
The imperial physician who was ready at any time looked at the person on the ground who was covered in blood. Maybe he was still alive, but it was hard to say whether he could be saved or not.
The Qianwan Emperor almost knelt down to him. He could hear the despair in his own voice, "Mingde, go to the imperial physician first and have a look. You're injured. Let's talk about other things later, okay?"
Mingde shook his head. A kind of indescribable light made his eyes look extremely bright, like the only starlight in the dark night.
He knelt down on the ground, "This time, when I was escorting Your Majesty, I won't talk about the merits, but at least I have worked hard..."
His words were very presumptuous, but at this time, no one haggled with him so much.
"... I want to ask Your Majesty for a favor..." the Qianwan Emperor felt like he was going crazy. What grace? What grace could he not give? What would you ask for that I wouldn't give you? But not now! Now you should go see the imperial physician!
Mingde lowered his head. This time he truly coughed, coughing up a mouthful of blood, each cough sounding like it was tearing apart his heart and lungs.
"If Your Majesty does not agree to your subject's request, your subject will kneel here today until Your Majesty relents and agrees..."
"Once you go get bandaged up, I will agree to whatever you ask! First go let the imperial physician take a look at you!"
Mingde smiled, he could barely stand, so he leaned against the mountain rock again. His arm was already showing bone, the Qianwan Emperor could even see the white gleaming joints.
"Your Majesty, your subject wishes to be sent to Jiangnan... Your subject hopes Your Majesty will agree now, otherwise..."
The Qianwan Emperor's mind buzzed.
Sent to Jiangnan, again with being sent to Jiangnan!
He was surprised at how calm his own voice sounded: "Agreeing in a moment or agreeing now is the same, besides being sent away is no small matter, there must be an imperial decree and written record to be proper."
Mingde shook his head: "No, your subject hopes Your Majesty will agree in front of so many civil and military officials, in front of so many Xiwan envoys, in front of all the people under Heaven!"
A fierce gust blew across the mountain peak, the Qianwan Emperor raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the civil and military officials and the people under Heaven one by one.
Some lowered their heads, some were at a loss, some were flustered.
After a long while, he withdrew his gaze and said softly: "...Granted."
Mingde swayed, then fell to his knees, then heavily collapsed.
Blood gushed from where the bone was broken, instantly pooling into a small puddle of blood on the ground. The Qianwan Emperor lowered his head, his own face could be seen reflected in that puddle of blood, twisted like a resentful concubine banished to the cold palace.

Emblem of the Phoenix

Emblem of the Phoenix

Chapter 33 - Blade Without An Edge

Leafy