"Red and black, don't they look nice together?"
"Yeah, i think so too, since you're clothed in black, why not start bleeding then?" - Lin Si, 15, to her best friend's murderer
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"This!" The emperor slammed his hand down on the throne, the sound resounding around the hall. "You said you could guarantee his death, as long as I provided the Xu family with the Westerner's talismans, what is he doing still alive??!"
Sage Gongli just bowed, silently.
Xu Anqi flinched. It took two weeks to get back to the capital, since the capital was to the west of the nation. So this meeting was rather delayed. Glancing over for help from his brother. His brother ignored him, simply fingering his wooden beads. He was still angry about his son going missing on the mission.
He fell to his knees before the emperor. "Your majesty, there should have been no issues! We delayed Li Jingsheng in the trap, and sent the son of the one of the five heavenly kings, and general Ru Tuo to kill him! However, we were not informed that the daughter of Lin Weiming, who had been staying at his mansion at the time, was so strong."
"Oh?" The emperor's anger wasn't quenched, but he was definitely intrigued now, he turned to sage Gongli. "Lin Weiming's daughter fought off general Ru Tuo and won? Gongli, I know you are a wise man, who does not act impetuously, I sent you there to make sure of no mistakes. Didn't you know of her power before this plan was enacted? Didn't you have a plan to foil her?"
The sage Gongli was silent for a while, rubbing his beard, thoughtfully. "I miscalculated this time. It was true I knew, but I sought to bring her to our side. It seems she did not take my advice."
Anqi himself was shocked at discovering this news. He hadn't known a thing until they sent people to look for Xu Mingze who hadn't returned, only to find neither him nor Li Junlong's newly betrothed could be found and Lin Si's name at the top of the new board created by the champion's arena Long Wen had made. Actually, before Lin Si left, she advised that the point system wasn't enough, that there must never be a place where people can stop advancing. So she spoke of a system, that once several people had reached 100 points, they had the opportunity to join a board. A board of the top 20 individuals. Obviously, it may need to be increased in number later. But the top 20 was enough for now, and she spoke that the first people to reach 100 would all get on the board in order, but that those afterward would have to challenge those that were on the board and win to join it after reaching 100 points. If one dropped below 90 points, they would automatically have to leave the board. So those who were inactive in the arena for two years, would be taken from the board, and placed on an honorary list. If one on the board challenged another and won, their points would not change other than the winner regaining 100 pts, and swapping places with the loser. One could only challenge the same person on the leader board once in a year, and if one of them was not on the board currently, the loser would drop to 66 points, the one who won back to 100. However, she never expected that Long Wen would create it so fast, and her name was currently on the very top, due to having reached 100 points first.
Anqi's men had taken note of this and reported back, thus he came to the conclusion that she had stopped Xu Mingze. He glared at sage Gongli.
"Are you so irresponsible that you leave such details out when informing me of the plan!"
Sage Gongli was offended. Not for being blamed, but for being treated with so much disrespect. He was an ancient, a supreme being, from the times before the Calamity when qi was abundant, and people sought immortality, and yet, Xu Anqi, a man, not even half a century old, who knew this, still disrespected him so?
He sneered. "It's not my fault that your descendents are so weak that they would lose to a woman of the Lin family." He glanced at the emperor.
But the emperor ignored him, leaning back, snorting. "So you're all saying that you couldn't kill him, are my commands nothing to you? And Wulong? Where was he? Why didn't you send him?"
Xu Anqi bit his lip. "We needed him to help hold back Li Jingsheng." Li Junlong was just that strong. "In fact, emperor, he is the one I have brought with me today."
The emperor had noticed the man behind him, that dared to not bow. But as emperor, rather than immediately being angered by it, he had considered the man must be someone that didn't need to bow. Now he knew, this man was of the older generation, he was the strongest general of his father's army. The one who led the central plains to defend against the south along with two other heavenly kings. But only he had returned alive. He had retired soon after. The previous emperor had then died, leaving him to rise to the throne.
Xu Anqi glanced to the side. With his simple dress he'd returned with, no one would normally expect this was the legendary Wulong, where was his fiery black-cloaked brother, thirsty for blood and carnage? And since when did he chop the majority of his hair off? (He had once again chopped off his hair after the fight, all but one braid)
He bowed, making way for Xu Tianwen to step forward. Tianwen sauntered forward, a little arrogantly, but still bowed at the waist when presenting himself to the emperor. "You majesty, your humble servant has returned to the capital this time, for a little while." It would be too embarrassing to say that he came here to see his son, and he didn't really want to give up his retirement.
The emperor waved his hand, magnanimously. "It is with great merit and joy that I can receive such a legendary general such as yourself back into this room."
Reminding me of my place? Ha. Xu Tianwen had no desire to play any mind games. "It's also my honor to stand here again." He straightened back up, and moved back behind Xu Anqi. He loved standing behind his little brother, he'd handed over the head of the family to him long ago, forcing him to take over, and once again happily thrust him into the forefront to deal with all the heat. He had no desire for politics or power, but his brother was incredibly good at manipulating it in his own favor, if a bit naive and innocent in how he did it, so sometimes he was used by others instead.
The emperor sighed, leaning back. "So, coward Lin decided to join this fight. What could make him decide to go against my command?" (by sending his powerful daughter, he is taking a side)
Xu Anqi was nervous, tapping his foot. "Are you going to take down the Lin family as well?"
The emperor snorted, annoyed. "Of course not." He waved his hand. "Who do you think I am, I take out every family who makes me a little upset?"
Yes. Anqi wisely kept hte affirmative to himself.
"No, the lin family is much too useful. And not only that, he's a coward and weak. The lin family, the oldest family of the central plains, so old their roots lie with the ancients, and yet….they also have that curse." That curse, as in, it was well-known that the Lin family was born inherently with an inability to cultivate qi or practice martial arts due to the actions of the previous head. However, their talent in alchemy was unmatched. They only had the power they had through connections they made with powerful people, they themselves, had nothing, "They are a glass vase, easily broken, but worth so much, and easily placed wherever I need them to be. If someone is looking to steal them, then…I'll just have to place it in a place no one can reach and put a guard around it no one can breach."
Gongli who had been thinking by himself the entire time, finally stepped forward, bowing politely, "Your majesty, I have thought of a new plan, that will bring Li Junlong back to our side, and will bind the Lin family to our empire."
The emperor waved his hand offhandedly. "No need, since things have come to this, I've changed my mind, let's use Li Junlong as bait, and find a way to get my hands on the lihuo flower of the demonic cult, and completely eliminate the Li family once and for all." He grinned. "Sage Gongli, I'm sure it shouldn't be difficult for you to come up with a plan that provides such things?"
Sage Gongli's expression became solemn and complex. Luckily they were interrupted right then by a eunuch who entered into their simple meeting palace. He was head eunuch, and the emperor's eyes and mouth, and yet, rarely was privy to heavy discussion.
He bowed. "Excuse my interruption, Lin Weiming and Lin Haoran have arrived."
"Allow him in." The eunuch bowed and left again.
Xu Anqi gaped a little in surprise again. "Did you know already?"
The emperor snuffed. "I knew that Lin Weiming had sent his daughter to marry Li Junlong, I didn't know his daughter could practice martial arts. It seems…He has some explaining to do."
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"Some say they went on the hunting trip for fun, afterall, old Li was a well-known hunter, and had talked his majesty into doing it. Some said they were on the quest to catch a white stag, sighted on the northern frontier. Yet still there are whispers…whispers that they may have called there by the tips of a treasurer left by an ancient deity. A deity that was displeased with their arrival, and forever cursed his majesty and old Li."
Li Junlong listened silently. He still hadn't moved a millimeter from his spot. But now he raised his sword, girding it, and strode toward her, to loom over. "The curse has to do with their descendents…I've heard something like that before, but…what does that have to do with the Lin family?"
She smiled, knowingly, batting her eyes flirtatiously, brushing her fan over her face. "No need to hurry me, I will come to it soon. But no need to just take my word for this. I, in fact, have a witness, the one who helped us discern the truth as well, he should be arriving soon."
Li Junlong glanced over at Lan'er, having appeared under the eaves in the yard some time ago, and nodded for him to check the entrance.
She continued her story. "They set down camp under the shadow of a northern mountain, the first valley before crossing over. In this valley, they found a small, but deep ravine. The Emperor had heard that there were great treasures in the ravine, and after ignoring the young Chancellor Lin's advice, went into the ravine ahead of them, with just General Li and his bodyguard, Captain Xu, who, returning in the evening, claimed he was stolen by ghosts. They had discovered an ancient tomb, and the emperor, getting tired, had decided to stop to rest for a while, General Li continuing ahead, and while the emperor slept in the shade of the tomb, his attendants had suddenly lost sight of him. When Captain Xu returned to camp later, he hid the fact that the emperor had disappeared, to avoid panic, and the story was only told to Lin Weiming, as he was the top confidant of the emperor. However, that night, a servant of Xu ended up witnessing a sight, a sight where patriarch Lin immediately went to General Li's tent, and after drugging him, and carried him, as he struggled, all the way to the misty tomb where the emperor had disappeared, and laying him on the tomb, he disappeared."
Li Junlong, having long stood stock still, listening deeply, finally sat down. "You are saying Lin Weiming drugged my father and forced him to enter wherever the emperor had disappeared to?"
"Lin Weiming claimed that he was responsible for the disappearance, not warning the emperor properly of the danger, and leaving him alone in a suspicious area."
Li Junlong snorted in arrogance. "How should you know that?"
"Because I told her." He had noticed the man enter earlier, but him jumping in here surprised him. He turned to glance at him. The man quickly bowed humbly. "Please excuse me, sovereign Jingsheng, I spoke too rudely, I am Luo Fuxuan, formerly an attendant of his lordship, Xu Anqi, current captain of the royal guard of his royal majesty, the emperor."
The woman stood up, coming over to hug the man's shoulder, pulling him closer to Li Junlong, and used her fan to tap Lu Fuxuan's chin. "This man, we were lucky enough he sought refuge with our city, a while back. Up until then, he fled for his life from Lord Weiming's men, who sought to silence him."