Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Righteous Youth

After orchestrating the complete annihilation of the Transcender Alliance in Jiankang, Cui Jue left the city, preparing to return to headquarters. The Chaotic Rifters’ main base lay in Dongyang Commandery, and the route inevitably passed through Yangzhou. Since it was on the way, Cui Jue decided to stop briefly in Yangzhou and issued a killing order against Ming Tian to the local Chaotic Rifter forces.

During those days in Yangzhou, Cui Jue learned much about the local situation.

An interesting side note: five days prior, a messenger from the Jiankang Chaotic Rifters arrived with grim news. Wang Jingze had breached the palace, and due to the upheaval caused by this coup, the fourth division of the Jiankang Chaotic Rifters had been utterly wiped out—over 320 dead.

Counting those wiped-out members alongside the destroyed Transcender Alliance, fewer than 2,000 Transcenders now remained in this world.

Yet, Wang Jingze had ultimately failed. He never ascended the throne of Qi. Though he had nearly succeeded in storming the palace, defeat came at the final moment.

At this, Cui Jue cast a resentful glance at Ming Tian. “You must understand that anything we Transcenders do changes this era. But tell me, do you know what kind of monster you’ve created?”

“A monster?”

Hearing this, Ming Tian felt a twinge of unease in his chest.

In theory, Wang Jingze’s forces were roughly equal in number to the palace guards. With Xiao Baojuan dead, chaos should have reigned in the palace, meaning Wang Jingze should have seized Jiankang with no more than twenty percent losses.

“What do you mean by monster?”

“Hmph.”

Cui Jue smiled coldly as he shifted his position to sit more comfortably. “The one you sent to the palace, Yu Nizi—also known as Pan Yuer, Pan Yunu, whatever name you want—she’s become an incredible monster.”

With that, Cui Jue continued with bitter resentment.

After Xiao Baojuan’s death and Wang Jingze’s assault, during the ensuing chaos, Pan Yunu seized power as regent and took control of the entire city of Jiankang. She even crowned herself Empress Pan.

What was more astonishing was that this woman wielded formidable command over troops, and was ruthless to the extreme. Not only did she annihilate Wang Jingze’s invading forces, she also killed her own foster father—Wang Jingze himself—and displayed his severed head on the palace walls in Jiankang to this day.

She didn’t stop there. Pan Yungu killed Pan Yang Commandery Duke Chen Xianda and Lanling Commandery Duke Qi Guli. Even Xiao Yaoguang, the governor of Yangzhou, did not escape her clutches—he was executed by scorching with hot oil.

It was said that because of Xiao Yaoguang’s execution, his brother, Xiao Yaochang, now governor of Yuzhou, was preparing to rebel.

She no longer distinguished friend from foe and had become a power unto herself—one of the strongest forces of this era.

Now, all of Qi was but a plaything in Pan Yunu’s hands.

At present, no one except perhaps Northern Wei could stand against her—and even the Chaotic Rifters could not!

Upon hearing this, Ming Tian could hardly believe his ears.

When he first met Pan Yunu, he thought the historical records must have been mistaken. But if what Cui Jue said was true...

Then the records were not mistaken; they had only beautified her!

Ming Tian could understand her madness somewhat. Recalling the day An Luo had kicked her out of the room, he felt a pang of regret.

I should have realized then that her heart had already shattered!

Without interrupting Cui Jue, Ming Tian listened on.

Four days ago, after resupplying, Cui Jue received this news. Realizing that Yangzhou, so close to Jiankang, was no longer safe, and that he needed to return quickly to Chaotic Rifter headquarters, he instructed the forces in Yangzhou to delay the Qi messengers’ proclamation of Pan Yunu’s imperial authority as much as possible, preparing to leave himself.

But unexpectedly...

Soon after parting from his troops, he was captured by members of a resistance group and thrown into a prison cell.

Cui Jue had underestimated the local native power in Yangzhou, focusing only on Pan Yunu’s threat.

Though this resistance group was small, Cui Jue’s momentary lapse of judgment—despite his brilliance—led him to be caught by such a minor local faction.

“Unbelievable. Not only me, but even you have fallen into this trap,” he sneered at Ming Tian, venting his frustration.

Hearing this, Ming Tian grasped the situation’s full implications.

Setting aside Pan Yunu for the moment, Ming Tian realized he could no longer concern himself with Jiankang’s affairs while trapped in Yangzhou.

As for Yangzhou itself, the once dominant Xiao Yaoguang had already been killed by Pan Yunu.

With that, the largest power faction had dissolved into scattered pieces, no longer a threat. The twenty-some Jie tribes could not stir up significant trouble either. Only the Chaotic Rifters and the resistance group remained.

Ming Tian had no interest in the factions now. This era had descended into utter chaos, and history’s lessons seemed useless.

His sole concern was Xiao Xinzhu, his future wife.

They had been imprisoned for about fifteen minutes. If his calculations were correct, De Yi’ao should now have assembled his team and headed to the inn to find Xiao Xinzhu.

He had to find a way out!

After a few seconds of pondering, Ming Tian exhaled deeply.

His eyes had adjusted to the dim dungeon light. Glancing back, he saw Yin Chan’s face etched with worry about the uncertain future. An Luo still looked utterly bewildered, as clueless as ever.

As for Zhao Yu... Ming Tian need not worry about how she might react to Cui Jue’s words—yet now she seemed completely broken, crouched in a corner, trembling uncontrollably.

Her heart had shattered.

He could not let her become another Pan Yunu.

Ming Tian silently vowed: I am the leader of this team. I must be responsible for every one of them. More than that, I must protect my future wife. Therefore...

I cannot behave like a rash child!

Looking at Cui Jue, whom he greatly disliked, Ming Tian nonetheless spoke.

“Cui Jue.”

“What now?” Cui Jue replied, sitting on the wooden plank, pinching the bridge of his nose with a troubled frown.

“Do you have any way to get out of here?” Ming Tian asked.

The answer was a flat no.

“I’ve been locked up for four days. If I had a way out, would I be telling you?”

True enough.

Ming Tian cursed himself silently for his stupidity. In such a tense moment, he had forgotten such basic logic.

Then what was to be done?

Staring at the small window—no larger than a fist—Ming Tian longed to possess the skill of bone shrinking, to slip out through that tiny hole.

Looking back at the others, he saw varied expressions, but all shared the same feeling:

Despair.

Could it be that his team would all perish in this miserable place?

With no solution in sight, Ming Tian racked his brains desperately. Even exhausting all his mental energy yielded nothing.

What... should be done?

It seemed all hope was lost.

Yet just as despair threatened to consume him, suddenly, shrieks of terror came from outside the iron door!

“You... you are... ah!!!”

“No... I... ah!!!”

Two sharp screams, a brief silence, then the sound of keys unlocking the lock, a faint light, and a small figure gradually emerged into view.

Though slight in stature, to the despairing Ming Tian, this figure seemed like a divine savior.

Surprised and stunned, Ming Tian was the first to recover and smiled with relief.

“How could I have forgotten you?”

At that moment, Ming Tian’s heart brimmed with a bittersweet feeling at life’s twists of fate.

The visitor was none other than An Luo’s young apprentice, Feng Mowang!

The boy trembled as he stood at the door, his pleading eyes darting between An Luo and Ming Tian.

“Second Master, Lord Junma, I beg you, please stop my master! Why... why have our comrades in the organization become the very people we should rise against?!”

As he spoke, Feng Mowang, a youth of righteousness, shed tears of unwillingness.

...

Hmm, I went to the hospital to get checked out. Seems like a muscle strain. They gave me a bunch of medicine to reduce bruising, cost me 600 big ones. Damn, what a rip-off.

The worst part? When I got home, I found a box of elderly medicine for lowering blood pressure mixed in. What the hell is “Blood Mansion Bruise Dispersing Capsules”? Are those supposed to treat bruises?!

Are you kidding me?!

If I take those, I might die!

Anyway, no major issues. Just that my mouth will be a bit sluggish for a few days...

Sigh, this is a real blow for someone like me who types with their tongue... How am I supposed to cope?