The pact between the Son of Heaven and the imperial tutor looked less like an agreement and more like a long game. The Lotus Cult rose in rebellion. The Son of Heaven promised to open the Great Zhou Treasury to solicit aid from the Five Elements Alliance. Then he regretted it and fell out with them. He elevated the undying husks, represented by the imperial tutor, to counter the Five Elements Alliance. Led by the imperial tutor, the Son of Heaven and the Lotus Cult allied, slaughtered every direct heir of the imperial clan, and fled the Jade Capital for more than 20 years. In time, the Son of Heaven embraced the Lotus Cult’s creed and threw himself into it wholeheartedly. But in truth, Zhao Gutong was only a puppet of the Apparel Atelier, and behind the Lotus Cult there was at least the shadow of the Exotic Beast Park. Original content can be found at noveⅼfire.net The Apparel Atelier and Exotic Beast Park had long been plotting to break the Dragon Vein’s restraints and carry out the fusion. As for what the Son of Heaven was good for, it likely had to do with his unique bloodline. Only that bloodline could sit the throne, and only those of that blood could call the Nine Loyal Souls to answer. Or perhaps it was the Emperor’s station. He was the Son of Heaven of Great Zhou, a banner of righteous cause. Or perhaps it was simply that he made the perfect smokescreen. This way, everyone would believe the war began because the Son of Heaven was reclaiming the Jade Capital, and not for any other reason. As for the exact details, Li Yuan had once asked Lu Xuanxian. But the grand general only said the Son of Heaven kept some secrets even from him. He didn’t know either. Whatever the case, Li Yuan at least knew what he had to do at this final moment of honoring the pact. The curtain of the golden dragon palanquin lifted a fraction, and a faint voice drifted out, “I will keep my station here.” At once that faint voice gained a feverish, impatient edge. “The Grand Union of Yin and Yang is also my wish. Imperial Tutor, begin! I can’t wait another moment to see the shape of the new world.” The man in the scarlet burial robe let out a hair-raising laugh. “Your servant obeys!” With that, Zhao Gutong produced a tiny paper censer, then set three ghastly, corpse-white sticks of incense into it. As the incense caught, a clinging smoke spread over the place. In the distance, Xie Feng watched, face set and grave. These heretical arts made his skin crawl; he loathed them. But he was already aboard the pirate ship. Like it or not, he had to go through with it. The incense seemed to brace the ancient alley. Bricks and tiles that had been drifting and unmoored settled into place, and the half-illusory lane grew solid, something one could actually step into. The smoke that refused to dissipate gathered as floating clouds. The old manor at the far end took on an even more ethereal, otherworldly air, like an immortal’s dwelling perched atop a celestial peak. Peng Mingyi glanced at the long-haired beauty in green riding a white exotic beast steed. The two jade husks, their eyes all white and pupilless, clearly still had some way to see the world outside. Ying Zhuoyao lifted her hands a fraction. The exotic beasts let out ringing roars. Then she turned toward Li Yuan’s palanquin and said, “Your Majesty.” Li Yuan took the hint and raised his voice. “Xie Feng, take your men and seal the perimeter. Await my command and do exactly as I say the moment I say it.” With a helpless sigh, Xie Feng split the Ocean Province Armored Cavalry into three squares to patrol the outer ring. Lu Xuanxian led the Flying Bear Army to form a fourth. With that, the ghost domain within was secured, much like the Xie residence back then. It appeared safe and secure on the surface at least. Back in the ancient ghost street, the streets were teeming with the recently deceased. Every soul wore the same dazed, resentful look, drifting with the current toward its depths. Whoever they had been in life, in death they were equal. Their power was gone; only memory remained, looping and replaying in their heads—good deeds or wickedness, regrets or triumphs, all of it now a haze of former days. There were so many that even the ghost shops along the street were jammed to bursting, unable to take another customer. The rest were jostled and shoved onward, pressed deeper into the ancient ghost street. Across the ruined, corpse-strewn stretches of the Jade Capital, the handsome silver-haired jade husk followed the incense into the shadowed alley. He tilted his head back and drank in the thick smoke in great gulps until it streamed from his body as if he were riding the clouds. Li Yuan’s heartbeat quickened. He lifted the palanquin’s curtain and watched Peng Mingyi’s figure recede. He knew the fate of this land might be set in the space of the next few breaths. This was the hinge on which history would turn. Slowly, Li Yuan began to see visions. In his eyes, the alley was gone, replaced by stone steps that climbed straight to the sky. The eerie old manor vanished, and in its place unfurled a paradise of Immortals. He saw Immortals skimming through cloudbanks, unhurried and serene. He saw jade towers and jeweled pavilions wreathed in mist, spirit flowers and sacred trees, celestial maidens wheeling in flight. He saw the silver-haired leader of the Black Lotus Cult, flanked by a spirit crane on his left and a jade rabbit on his right, ascending the Immortal peak. Step by step he climbed through curling fog, joy lighting his face. At last, led by the Immortals, Peng Mingyi reached the foot of the sacred mountain. He bowed to an Immortal seated upon a cushion of cloud. Behind that Immortal, a cluster of sprites peeked out, giggling at him. The Immortal seemed moved by his sincerity and lifted a finger to point. At that gesture, a sheet of water parted with a rushing roar. Through drifting spirit mist and blurred greenery, a milky-white celestial pool revealed itself, breathtaking to behold. Upon the pool, a celestial maiden stood poled a slender orchid boat across the clear water; seeing the visitor, she hid a smile behind her sleeve. Upon the pool, a great peach tree spread its boughs, heavy with blushing fruit, delicate and dripping, ripe for the picking. A white-robed maiden came to the tree, raised a hand, and plucked the largest of the peaches. Then she guided her boat to the shore and, standing before the youth at the water’s edge, offered the peach with both hands. Peng Mingyi accepted the peach but didn’t bite right away. He drew a mysterious black lotus from his robe, then sank to his knees at the pool’s edge. While the maiden smiled their honeyed smiles, he slowly and ever so gently pressed the black lotus into the water. As the lotus slid in, the whole pool began to bubble and gurgle. Only then did Peng Mingyi lift the peach and take a single, greedy bite. BOOM! BOOM! All at once, the paradise began to change. The great Immortal seated on the cloud cushion seemed to draw down some new power. He rose in haste and strode deeper into the realm, vanishing in a blink. The sprites who had been giggling behind him formed a neat line and followed after. On the jade pool, the maiden who had been poling her skiff eased it to shore. Her delicate, bare feet touched earth, and she fell in behind the rest. Far away, at the deepest end of Hidden River Province, an ancient village lay hidden in a bank of fog. Some villagers slept, smiles tugging at their lips. These weren’t normal smiles but hungry, lustful ones. As they grinned in their dreams, drops of tar-black drool slid from the corners of their mouths. From the thick, uncanny mist came a sibilant hissing, as if an unimaginably vast python was gliding through it. Elsewhere came the hoarse, huffing grunts of a boar. Under the spell of those sounds, many dreamers began to gobble whatever their hands could find, dirt, stones, dog shit, knives…anything and everything. Apart from the boar and python, the cries of other exotic beasts rang out as well. In that instant, all the animals went still, then turned and padded toward the heart of the old village. And with them, still fast asleep, the villagers rose and shuffled along.