Lie Huo Jiao Chou Volume 2 Chapter 30

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"Bixia, you great men's hands are so cold and your hearts are so depraved."

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　　Why was that?

　　Sheng Lingyuan obviously did not have any 'old age illnesses', all the details in his memory were very realistic. Every person and every action were as clear as day. Just after a little while, Xuan Ji was already familiar with the faces of the guards by the young emperor's side, all the important generals and government servants, even the numerous energetic people of Aluojin's shaman tribe.

　　But in here, how could there be no Danli?

　　Judging from what bixia said, Danli must have been with him and Aluojin, and they were very close.

　　They didn't have internet back then, if they were not together, how could they be close?

　　Xuan Ji suddenly realized something and became slightly startled. He put his hands in his pockets and casually asked: "The old shaman tribe leader is dead and Aluojin inherits the position. His resentment towards the demon tribe is as deep as the ocean, of course, that way, Aluojin leans towards siding with you humans. When was this event?"

　　Sheng Lingyuan answered: "It was during the 31st year of Emperor Ping."

　　After Emperor Wu revived the country later, he officially started his reign, made adjustments, and took the new title. Before that, the human race continued to use the calendar of the previous dynasty.

　　Xuan Ji remembered clearly, "31st year of Emperor Ping" was a very important year. From what history had said, that year, the eighteen-year-old emperor reached out to all tribes, reuniting them, making almost everyone follow the new emperor's lead. It was a turning point for the Jiuzhou War.

　　Historical materials only talked about what happened, not how it happened. Xuan Ji looked at this section of time period before and couldn't think it through. He couldn't understand how, during a period when there was no advertisement nor media, an eighteen-year-old teenager was able to reunite an entire nation —— these days, the common people even struggled to find enough people to play 'Werewolf'.

　　This moment, he finally realized, it was because he had the shaman tribe on his side.

　　The shaman tribe was mysterious and powerful, they had never gotten involved in fights. For them to suddenly announce they would take the human side in the war, it was similar to a flag indicating where the wind blew. The other tribes saw that and thought that the shaman tribe must have had some inside sources to start helping the humans, and thus, they flocked to the human's side. They feared if they were too late, they wouldn't get any spoils during the post-war era.

　　If this was all planned by Danli, then this bro really deserved a giant IP!

　　"After Aluojin inherited his position, how come from working together, you became brothers fighting each other?"

　　Sheng Lingyuan heard that and lifted his head to look far away to the horizon. The horizon had a shooting star tearing off the night sky, the line between heaven and earth collapsed, and the scenery around them shattered once again.

　　No man could live forever in the good days, no flower could bloom for a hundred days.

　　They were brothers supporting each other during difficult times. After they both gained power, they would go on separate ways, that was the course of nature.

　　The shaman tribe's incantations were scary and unpredictable. It made people afraid, and Aluojin was not the type to stay silent in the face of humiliation and oppression. Even though he didn't mind small issues, he could see that people felt guarded around him, so he didn't actively go and try to be close with them.

　　He was indulged by his tribe since birth. He carried the burden of revenge for his entire tribe, his back was almost bent under the pressure that was as heavy as a mountain. He tried to stand strong and not to let others realize he was curling into himself. For a person who forced himself to stay strong every day, after a while, he started to become gloomy and serious, making it even harder to get along with him.

　　Then there were the humans, who besides eating and pooping, were the best at tattletaling and fighting with each other.

　　Some violation reports subtly tested the emperor's opinions and stabbed the issue where it hurt the most. Some were creating pressures. They cried and screamed, saying they hated that they couldn't crush their heads under the emperor's feet. There were even people who "flocked together and went up in a team" and complained like they were reciting enchantments —— they used all their energy to talk to the young emperor's ears until they went mossy, so much that later on, whenever he heard the word 'Aluojin', his mind would automatically spring out ten major violations.

　　"Bixia, the shaman tribe is a subject under the imperial government, yet Aluojin, that tribe leader, is not deferring to you, calling you either by your first or last name. This is too rebellious!"

　　Since birth, Sheng Lingyuan was a tiger hidden under a smiling mask. However, at that time, he still didn't know how to draw in his claws and his behavior was very unyielding, so when he heard these kinds of intentionally provocative reports, he was all smiles as he said, "My personal name is not Guo Sheng*, it's also not bad. If other people wished to call me by my name, I would also answer it."

* meaning "dog's leftovers" in Chinese; in Chinese tradition, 'lowly' nicknames are given to a newborn baby so evil spirits won't pay them attention

　　"The shaman tribe's leader is greedy for drink and lust. After getting drunk, he talked rudely and also offended another accomplished minister!"

　　Aluojin getting drunk didn't matter, but being lecherous? The young emperor heard it and felt his eyes twitch, not knowing which one of his 'accomplished minister' had that kind of 'beauty'. He had to swiftly console, "If you feel offended, I will appease you. But, you shouldn't take advantage of Aluojin when he's drunk."

　　"A shaman tribe's teenager used a demonic incantation and injured Doctor Zheng's son, yet Tribe Leader Aluojin, not only did he act partial, but he also impolitely talked back!"

　　Sheng Lingyuan said that this should be resolved seriously. He brought in the troublemaker teenager along with the leader of troublemakers, Aluojin, and each of them got ten slaps on the hands.

　　"Bixia, Aluojin refused to obey the military order, stubbornly killed thousands of commoners in the city! The enemy has surrendered, these behaviors are against heaven's law and also hurts our reputation. If this keeps going on, later when there's another battle, the enemy will try to fight to the death with us, making us lose many generals and soldiers!"

　　Sheng Lingyuan heard 'killing thousands of commoners in the city' and finally looked up from his letters, looking at the human general who was kneeling on the ground and not daring to stand up. He thought about it for a long while: "Bring Aluojin back."

　　The human general believed that this time, the little lord that was deceived by the shamans was finally clear-headed, he couldn't help but feel hopeful and looked up.

　　Then he heard Sheng Lingyuan say: "This cannot be made public, externally... externally, say that the demon tribe's guards were fraudulent, pretending to surrender and planning to cause trouble. Aluojin realized it and decided to make an example out of him."

　　The human general's face turned green.

　　"Next, for the half-blood demons who come to surrender," the young emperor who carried a heavy burden said, "I promised to protect them, but... even if they were not accepted by the demons, they still had demon blood. When they come, just avoid contact with them, and most importantly, don't let the shaman tribe see them."

　　The general who made the report was angry enough to stomp his feet. He felt like his emperor was put under the shaman tribe's incantation, his anger inflated into a ball, and he sizzly went away.

　　Since he was young, Sheng Lingyuan was ignored by heaven and earth, and he had to rely on himself for everything. His personality became stubborn, he did whatever he pleased, and so, in the beginning, he didn't realize his mindless bias would have a backlash, and it was too late when he caught onto it.

　　"Danli warned me twice," Sheng Lingyuan looked at his naive self and was a little dazed out, "The first time, he said I was giving shaman tribe too much, and I didn't listen. The second time, he said Aluojin was too extreme regarding the demon tribe. During war-time, it might be a good thing, but when the war has been settled in the future, it would definitely become a problem. I thought, how could he be calm while thinking of revenge for his father? And so, I still didn't listen."

　　"But the demon tribe didn't consist of only one tribe," Xuan Ji understood clearly and nodded, "There were birds and beasts. Some of the tribes were willing to follow the demon king to the war, and there were some who objected at the beginning. Some who were tired after a long and lengthy war, they hid deep in the mountains to rest, and there were also half-demons that were not accepted by the demon tribe —— so, in the end, there were a lot of demons and half-demons who turned to the human side. This fact was something that was true no matter one denied it, yet Aluojin couldn't accept it."

　　Aluojin didn't grow up. His world was just black and white.

　　"Because I wanted to give a place to the mixed half-demon people, I had ordered the establishment of the Thirteenth Division —— the predecessor of Qingping Division, which was hidden from Aluojin. Just that... there were too many people who hoped for Aloujin's death, and so, the next morning, someone already leaked the information out. Aluojin heard it and immediately left the frontline and came back to trouble me."

　　"What did you promise me! What did you promise me!? You said you would help me get my revenge, but now you want to have a party with those beasts? You liar!" Aluojin was truly very spoiled, he still acted as if the emperor was his little gege he grew up with. Even though his mouth still called him 'bixia' like other people, it was like he was talking to his family and didn't feel too sincere about it. Shouting to your older brother, the worst punishment was getting hit in the face, but not choosing words wisely when speaking to the Emperor, that was an offense one could not cross.

　　Sheng Lingyuan didn't mind his rudeness, but he was worrying about too many things. Right at this critical moment, his dignity as an emperor could not take a dint, if not, later on, there was no way he could rule over the army. Thus, he had to catch Aluojin and imprisoned him. He wanted to wait until the night came, by that time, he could escape from his 'bixia' persona for a while to coax him when he changes back into 'Lingyuan'.

　　At this moment, a voice from behind the veil spoke up: "Bixia, please rest assured, when Aluojin barged in, I already told all the people to leave."

　　Hearing this voice startled Xuan Ji a little. He didn't know if he was hallucinating, but he felt like this voice was deep and...very familiar.

　　The young prince's face was tired after trying to be serious for so long, he involuntarily showed some exhaustion and quietly replied: "Danli."

　　The other person hid behind the veil, the whole person was still couldn't be seen, only a dim shadow appeared. He cooly said to Sheng Lingyuan: "Tribe Leader Aluojin's hatred for the demon tribe will become a hidden danger. Bixia, I had told you this before."

　　"I... I know," young Sheng Lingyuan blankly sighed, "But, the former tribe leader... Teacher, what are you doing?"

　　The shadow behind the veil kneeled down, his head touched the ground, "Bixia, there is one thing you don't know."

　　Both Xuan Ji and the young Sheng Lingyuan from the memory walked toward the veil. For the young emperor, it was because he wanted to lift his teacher up from kneeling position, and for Xuan Ji, it was because he was dying to take a look to see how this Danli actually looked like.

　　Right at this moment, there came an agonized groan from beside Xuan Ji, and the memory scene suddenly broke down.

　　It seemed that Sheng Lingyuan was truly hurt. He opened his hands and pressed them on his temples, then he stumbled and almost unconsciously slammed into Xuan Ji.

　　Xuan Ji caught him by instinct and stammered in alarm —— Sheng Lingyuan's body was drenched in cold sweats, the straw-braided cloak was already wet: "What's wrong?"

　　"Being a ghostly spirit, I'm not used to having human skin... ah... what's so strange?" Sheng Lingyuan struggled to say some words. Holding Xuan Ji's arm, he tried to stand up, his fingers were still shaking.

　　Xuan Ji suddenly remembered there was an unofficial excerpt from the history book saying Emperor Wu, in his teenage years, was exceptionally excellent. But later on, he became a constantly violent person, his personality changed drastically, which wasn't normal, so he must have been sick —— the symptoms should be similar to mental exhaustion, including insomnia, tinnitus, random migraines, etc.

　　That literature was written without any evidence. Xuan Ji only read it for fun, he didn't think it would be real!

　　Perhaps it was because he had a migraine, but Sheng Lingyuan's memory was no longer clear, a lot of chaotic things happened, people came and went, shouting and crying, fighting with one another...

　　"Bixia!" A sound coming from far away traveled through, Sheng Lingyuan in Xuan Ji's hold turned his head as if he was hurt by that sound, "Tribe Leader Aluojin escaped from the jail!"

　　Bang! Xuan Ji's feet landed on even ground again. The memory had changed, around them was pitch-black, the scenery was very familiar.

　　Right, they were in the valley full of the shaman tribe's bones from earlier.

　　At this time, "the shaman tribe's tomb" was only a cave, there weren't any dead people. Xuan Ji heard Sheng Lingyuan's painful and repressed breathing. Then, using his empty hands, Sheng Lingyuan struggled away and stumbled, trying to stand firmly.

　　"Just now, what did Danli tell you?"

　　Sheng Lingyuan was quiet for a while: "The truth of the old shaman tribe leader's death."

　　"The truth is..."

　　"Aluojin's messenger was dispatched by Danli. That 'flying squirrel tribe' was a lie, that 'messenger' was already a human puppet. Danli said that we didn't have any other choice at that moment and if we couldn't get the shaman tribe involved, all humans would go extinct, so he could only..."

　　At that time, Xuan Ji seemed to get the cold body temperature of the man who was on his hold. He heard that and was shocked for a moment, after a while, he curled his hands tightly into fists.

　　From the moment the shaman tribe saved the terribly injured young prince, they were already getting pulled one step after another into the scheme.

　　From start to finish, what did they do wrong?

　　Thinking about it, it was probably on the fact that in a time where the world was torn apart for power, they should not hope to stay inside their fantasy, living in their own world of paradise.

　　Xuan Ji: "Bixia, you great men's hands are so cold and your hearts are so depraved, ah. Does Aluojin know about this?"

　　"He didn't when he ran away," Sheng Lingyuan quietly said, "I think he was just angry with me. He was too unruly, he directly withdrew all the shaman tribe's army from the frontline. He angrily ran back to Dongchuan and broke the shaman tribe's array on the battlefield in the process. The demon tribe, who was fighting tooth and nail, took this chance and attacked furiously. We were forced to retreat sixty li*, the casualties were heavy."

*ancient Chinese measurement unit for distance, 1 li is about 500 meters

　　"The people were angry and everyone forced me to discipline Aluojin. The shaman tribe suddenly became the human tribe's betrayer. I had to forcefully push down all the objections. I ran all night to Dongchuan, but I was a step late."

　　"Half-demons and the people who had been dissatisfied with Aluojin for a long time surrounded Dongchuan. Most of the shaman tribe's incantations and battleground arrays were already turned over when Aluojin left with the army at first. Dongchuan's protective barrier also didn't protect them against the attack from their 'allies'. They quickly broke down the protective barrier, and there was a small branch of demon tribes who took the opportunity..."

Chapter end