Requiem: Fourth Offering to the Withered Bones of Soldiers Part 1

A line of fire suddenly flared to life.

The liquor spilled across the private room was like a mirror, reflecting the faint flames along with the shattered cups, plates, and tiles. It was the only speck of brightness in this dark and turbid world, seeming to want to pierce through the gray mist, to pierce the dark clouds obscuring the sun, and burn the mortal realm into a blazing crimson.

Chu Jin faced the whistling river wind and slowly revealed a faint smile.

The crowd watched the fire burn with increasing intensity. The flames illuminated their faces, twisted with terror, and the dark desires in their eyes that they had or had not managed to conceal in time.

The flames magnified in Li Sheng's eyes. In an instant, the scorching heat wave seemed poised to devour him whole. He whipped his head around, staring deadly at Chu Jin, and enunciated each word, "Prince Regent, are you going to murder court officials!"

Chu Jin's face was indistinct in the firelight. The crowd could only hear him chuckle softly. "Of course not. I have already prepared small boats and will have men escort you all away safely."

As soon as he finished speaking, guards came forward to lead the dazed officials toward the small boats below. To stay here was death. Although they were unwilling to leave, their lives were more important. Coupled with a capricious and murderous Prince Regent, they had no choice but to depart one by one.

No one spoke, but everyone knew in their hearts that this time, Lord Censor had likely been utterly defeated.

A guard respectfully came to ask Li Sheng, who was still standing ramrod straight, to disembark, but he was brushed away with a cold face and a flick of the sleeve. Across the raging fire, Li Sheng's gaze seemed to be steeped in poison as he glared fiercely at Chu Jin.

He let out a loud, cold laugh, "Chu Jin! I lost to you this time not because my skills are inferior, but because I am not a madman like you who murders and sets fires!"

Chu Jin seemed not to hear the deep-seated hatred in his words. His expression was as usual, and even the smile on his lips did not change. "There is too much filth in the world, so let's burn it clean with this fire."

Li Sheng said sarcastically, "Do you think one fire can burn it all away? You cannot burn away the darkness in people's hearts, nor can you burn away the filthy discord!"

"This is just the first fire to illuminate Great Qin."

The wind fanned the flames, which in an instant soared to the sky, consuming the massive hull with the ease of smashing dried weeds. The scorching heat rolled over, forcing Li Sheng to squint and raise a sleeve to shield himself. Yet he saw that Chu Jin remained motionless; instead, the smile on his face grew wider.

His eyes reflected the monstrous flames, reflected mountains of corpses and seas of fire, reflected a brilliant ambition so bright it was almost blinding, bordering on frenzy.

"Betrayal, greed, malevolence... they are all the best fuel. From now on, wherever I go, this fire will burn."

Chu Jin paused slightly, then his lips and tongue moved lightly, spitting out a hair-raising sentence—

"If this world is still not bright enough, then I will light my own head on fire." He said slowly, "Light this flesh and blood, light this heart."

In Li Sheng's utterly shocked and enraged gaze, he smiled faintly. "...Who's to blame me for being a madman."

Li Sheng watched with wide eyes as Chu Jin turned and his figure slowly walked into the distance, a casual command reaching his ears.

"Someone, escort the Grand Censor off the boat."

...

The clouds were a confusing mist, the sky was dim, and the waters of the Qiu Jiang were a dark, heavy black, as deep and profound as ink.

Upon this surging black water, however, floated a speck of light. Like a spark in the deep of night, it grew hotter and brighter.

The painted boat had been reduced to a sea of fire, with thick smoke billowing up. The once priceless jewels and the once powerful people had all been burned to a handful of ash.

Lu Qing covered his mouth and nose, braved the heatwave, and passed through the chaotic cabin, stepping over countless charred corpses, finally finding the solitary Prince Regent at the stern of the boat.

He had been sitting alone at the stern for who knows how long, his back a cold and lonely silhouette. He held a pot of wine, his gaze heavy as he stared at the unfathomable river water below his feet, his thoughts unknown.

Hearing the sound, Chu Jin turned his head and cast a faint glance. "Lord Lu, still not leaving?"

His glance was extremely light, clearly just a casual look, yet Lu Qing felt as if he had received a great honor and subconsciously straightened his back.

Such a face could always easily deceive people, making them spin in circles, unwittingly becoming moths drawn to a flame in a life of debauchery.

Lu Qing froze on the spot, suddenly forgetting how to breathe.

His mind first went blank, then he recalled many of the things he had said at the banquet. He was now filled with regret, his face slowly turning red.

He... he had actually spoken disrespectfully to Lord Wu... no, to the Prince Regent!

Lu Qing forced a stiff smile, then with a plop, he spinelessly knelt down.

"Prince Regent, my previous words were all unintentional. Please, please don't take them to heart!"

Chu Jin raised an eyebrow. "What are you kneeling for? Weren't you quite spirited before, saying I had no taste and telling me to shut up? A man of iron will, how admirable."

He was probably the only one in the entire court who had the guts to tell the Prince Regent to shut up... Lu Qing, the man of iron will, bore this immense honor with an ashen face, wishing he could just jump off the boat and drown himself.

He stammered for a long time before finally forcing out a sentence: "I... I am guilty."

"Mm," Chu Jin said. "The crime of overstepping your bounds."

Lu Qing trembled.

"But I won't punish you," the other man glanced at him, "You can go."

He thought he would be dealt with by the Prince Regent, but he never expected to be let off so lightly. Lu Qing was stunned for a moment, then scrambled to his feet, his expression somewhat urgent. "You're not leaving?"

Chu Jin said, "The ritual hasn't started yet, I can't leave."

Ritual? There's still a ritual?

Lu Qing was dumbfounded. After such a commotion, all the officials on the boat had left, leaving an empty cabin. How could they hold a ritual?

"I think the ritual can be held another time, but one only has one life," he advised tactfully.

"Indeed, so why haven't you disembarked yet?" Chu Jin retorted as if it were a matter of course. "—Because you like me?"

He suddenly blurted out such a direct statement that Lu Qing almost spat out a mouthful of blood. He stammered for a long time, then closed his eyes and steeled his heart. "You could say that!"

In the whole of Great Qin, there were plenty of people who harbored feelings for this Pearl of the Nine Provinces; one more wouldn't make a difference.

Lu Qing waited anxiously for a long time, but received no reply. This moment of silence was particularly torturous; he could almost hear his heart breaking into several pieces.

After another long moment, Chu Jin slowly asked, "What do you like about me?"

Lu Qing originally thought he would have no interest in such a topic. Hearing the question, he couldn't help but be taken aback, then frowned in distress.

He had never thought about this question before.

The more powerful, the more mysterious, the more irresistible. It is human instinct to admire the strong, to fear and yet want to draw closer. Moths are drawn to a flame simply because the fire is too dazzling, too scorching. When this flame is extinguished, or a brighter one ignites, they will naturally disperse and fly towards the new source of fire.

Chu Jin's posture was still casual, as if he didn't care about anything. His voice sounded flat. "Lord Lu, what do you like about me? People who know me are divided into only two types. One type hates me to the bone, the other fears me to the marrow. You've only seen me two or three times and don't even know what kind of person I am. This 'like' of yours is far too superficial."

Lu Qing opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but no words came out.

"When I killed Zhou Yiping, what were you thinking?" Chu Jin's smile was sarcastic. "When I killed Xu Meng, what were you thinking then?"

"Was it fear? Did you think I was mad? Or did you wish you could get as far away from me as possible? At that time, in your heart, was there still even half a shred of liking left?"

Lu Qing was speechless.

He stood frozen in place, hearing the other's voice, like a final judgment being passed on him: "What you like is beauty. A beautiful face, beautiful things—as long as it's beautiful, it pleases you. Lord Lu, you don't understand love, so don't hang the word 'like' on your lips."

The firelight flickered, casting Chu Jin's face in shifting light and shadow.

He had seen too many lustful gazes, too many twisted and filthy desires. Countless hands had tried in vain to pull him down into the mire of carnal desire, and he would, with a radiant smile, snap those fingers one by one.

He was willing to be a sharp-edged madman, so mad that when people saw his face, what arose in their hearts was no longer sordid lust, but a fear that penetrated their very bones.

From then on, no one dared to reach out to him.

Lu Qing looked dazed. After a while, he asked with some reluctance, "Then, is there anyone who knows everything about you and still likes you without hesitation?"

The moment he said it, he regretted it. For some reason, he felt like a piece of dog-skin plaster that had been rejected but was still shamelessly clinging on.

He secretly and selfishly hoped for a negative answer, but seeing the Prince Regent's expression, there clearly was someone.

It was rare to see Chu Jin lost in thought for so long. Lu Qing had already braced himself, but to his surprise, the other person said, "I don't know."

Lu Qing was stunned.

Before he could organize his words, Chu Jin sat up a little straighter, sweeping away his previous casual attitude. "Lord Lu, if you one day learned of the death of your beloved, would you cry?"

"Huh?" Lu Qing was dumbfounded. "I... I probably would."

Chu Jin said nothing more, twirling the silver handle of the wine pot between his fingers. He seemed to be pondering Lu Qing's answer, and as if he cared a great deal, he asked in return, "Why?"

Lu Qing mentally complained about how unlucky this hypothetical was. "Since it's someone I like, I definitely wouldn't want them to leave. If the love is extremely deep, it's possible I would cry until I'm heartbroken."

Chu Jin frowned. "Then what if... not a single tear was shed?"

Who would die that would make me not shed a single tear... Lu Qing thought for a moment and said with certainty, "Then my feelings for this person probably aren't deep. Their death wouldn't affect me much; at most, I'd sigh about it for a few days."

This time, the Prince Regent really couldn't smile. The wine pot stopped twirling and hung limply in his hand.