Chapter 252: The Price Of Coming Back To Life
Shehuo are generally enshrined in a place called Dragon God Hall.
The place where Chang’an enshrines Ancestral Fire is called Dragon God Hall.
The places where various prefectural cities enshrine Shehuo are also called Dragon God Hall.
If the Main Hall belongs to the Dragon God, doesn’t that mean Shehuo is the Dragon God’s guest?
Calling it a guest might be a bit too flattering; Yun Ce feels it’s more like a prisoner.
This is not something Yun Ce made up casually, but inspiration obtained from his own body. Back then, when Shehuo dealt with the dragon power on Yun Ce’s body, it went all out.
The dragon that was previously forced onto the surface by Shehuo is now taking advantage of Yun Ce’s body being severely injured to prepare to regain control of this body, so in terms of treatment, it is meticulous.
Yun Ce can even hear the sound of his bones healing. Doggy no longer hides in the Dragon Pearl; eight tentacles probe out from the Dragon Pearl, staring tightly at Yun Ce’s body, observing any changes in this body.
Yun Ce’s internal breath flows through his body, happily flowing along the channels opened by dragon energy, delivering energy to every cell capable of storing energy.
This process is very long; Yun Ce lay in bed for a full day and night.
1 Until the Red Date Horse brought a calling card to Yun Ce from the gate, breaking the silence that this guesthouse had maintained for two days and two nights.
1 Yun Ce pushed open the ramming wood blocking the gate, stood at the gate, looked at the sun rising from the east, illuminating the thick Snow sparkling, let out a long breath, and felt that everything was new.
1 It was the disappearance of that faint dragon roar that made Yun Ce feel very sad for a while.
1 Shehuo struck extremely ruthlessly. Just after the dragon’s energy had reorganized Yun Ce’s body, when it was extremely weak, a mass of bright yellow flame entered Yun Ce’s body. Then, all of Yun Ce’s orifices began to spew fire; even the tears flowing out were no longer water, but drops of flame.
1 Yun Ce did not feel any discomfort; although his body had turned into a battlefield, his consciousness was like a calm bystander.
1 This inexplicably reminded Yun Ce of the war that occurred in Shandong involving the Japanese; although Shandong’s land belongs to China, that war had nothing to do with China, and the government even specially declared that China remained neutral.
1 The matter sounds very absurd, but such an absurd thing really happened. Now, it has happened again inside Yun Ce’s body.
1 When the dragon roar sounded, it seemed very angry; later it became weak, and then the dragon roar sounded more like a sigh, and then nothing could be heard.
1 Shehuo then left Yun Ce’s body, burrowed into the Dragon Pearl, and there was no more movement.
1 Glancing at his hands, Yun Ce felt that this pair of hands like deadwood was at least a hundred years old. When passing by the mirror and seeing his appearance, Yun Ce felt he was even older than Liu Changsheng.
2 This scene was very similar to Shandong after the battle with the Japanese.
2 Anyone who has roasted meat knows that the first thing roasted meat loses is the moisture inside the meat.
2 Yun Ce has roasted a lot of meat, so he knows it well. Plus, every cell in his body seems to be calling for water, so after getting up from the bed burned by the fire, he plunged headfirst straight down the water well.
2 After climbing up from the water well, Yun Ce felt he had aged a full thirty years; now he looks like he is fifty years old.
2 This is clearly because he did not replenish enough water; however, he can only replenish this much moisture now, and the rest still needs time.
2 The rumor that the Noble Son killed hundreds of people and turned white-haired in two days still spread in Taizhou City. Although Yun Ce is certain that when he opened the gate, there was no one on the street, and those people he planted into the ground had also disappeared, the rumor still spread throughout Taizhou City.
2 Everyone seems to know that the Noble Son killed so many soldiers not without cost.
2 The time on the calling card is at sunset, and the meeting place is the City Lord’s Mansion in Taizhou City; now it is morning.
2 Yun Ce avoids the blazing gaze from the gap in the brothel window opposite; no need to guess, he knows that gaze belongs to the brothel madam.
2 Before, when Yun Ce was young and vigorous, dressed in fine clothes and riding a fierce horse, she, a half-old woman, could not approach. Now it’s good; with gray-white hair and aged face, yet Yun Ce with extraordinary charm is exactly the type favored by women of her age.
3 A hero at the end of his days matches perfectly with a woman like her who has seen much of the world and is half-old.
3 Yun Ce does not look back with equal affection, which disappoints the madam somewhat. She opens the window, exposing her plump body to Yun Ce’s sight.
3 For some reason, Yun Ce has none of his usual sharpness, nor the dragon nature’s irritability, but instead smiles and waves at the madam before re-entering the guesthouse.
3 Although this smile brings many wrinkles to Yun Ce’s face, perhaps because of those bright eyes, it still suddenly makes the madam shy, hurriedly closing the window, clutching her chest, afraid her heart would jump out.
3 Back at the guesthouse, Yun Ce dives into the latrine and starts vomiting and diarrhea. After finishing, back in the guest room, he finds he has aged another ten years, so he hurriedly lights a small stove to boil tea and cooks porridge in a large pot.
3 He keeps drinking tea, boiling tea, drinking porridge, boiling porridge, then starts vomiting and diarrhea again, with his age fluctuating between forty and sixty.
3 When his dry stomach and intestines finally stop tormenting him, the sun has already tilted to the west.
3 It is almost time for the invitation from Tai Prefecture Inspector Han Qi.
3 Yun Ce has the Red Date Horse carry a gold ingot to deliver to the brothel madam opposite.
3 Soon, the madam brings a group of women timidly into the inn.
4 Yun Ce, in his forties, stands under the eaves, his smile like winter’s warm sun, and says to the madam: “I am going to a banquet and need a bath, change of clothes, and makeup. Please help, Wife; anything needed will come from this.”
4 Seeing Yun Ce hand over another heavy gold ingot, the madam curtsies to receive it and says: “It is exactly a woman’s specialty, but I do not know if Young Master is an official or not. If dressed wrongly, it would be a breach of etiquette.”
4 Yun Ce laughs: “I am the Heir Apparent of the King of Changsha.”
4 Upon hearing Yun Ce state his identity, the affection about to overflow from the madam’s eyes immediately disappears completely.
4 This is an extremely shrewd woman. If Yun Ce were a wandering knight or a minor official, she could still fantasize a bit. Now, after hearing the five words “Heir Apparent of the King of Changsha,” the madam immediately focuses all her attention on the gold ingot in her hand.
4 Actually, the greatest skill of women in brothels is not serving with beauty; their craftsmanship is also very good. When Yun Ce lies in the slightly hot bathtub, a pair of slender hands like scallion whites presses on his neck; the force is not great, but it makes the blood flow smoothly, and in the swirling steam, it is easy to fall asleep.
4 In a half-dreaming, half-awake state, Yun Ce is lifted from the water by several women and placed on a specially prepared couch. A short woman in short clothes and shorts uses hands, elbows, knees, and feet to massage his most fatigued areas over and over. After scoops of warm water are poured over, Yun Ce, who was drowsy, immediately wakes up.
4 Women have already coiled his hair; not sure if oil or something was applied, but the previously dry yellow hair, though still a bit frizzy, is much better than before.
4 After Yun Ce puts on the silk undergarments prepared by the madam, the wide-sleeved outer robe made of dark black satin, and secures a gold crown that only those of king’s rank are qualified to wear on his hair, looking at himself in the mirror, he thinks even thirty years old would be believable.
4 When the madam personally drapes a black fur coat over Yun Ce, her eyes are full of pity; she already knows that Yun Ce going to the Prefectural Office this time will likely not return unscathed.
5 Riding the Red Date Horse, similarly groomed to shine, Yun Ce says to the madam before leaving: “This guesthouse is given to you, Wife.”
5 The madam says regretfully: “The Heir Apparent is not coming back?”
5 Yun Ce glances at the misty City Lord’s Mansion and nods: “Not coming back.”
5 A team of armored soldiers comes galloping from the other side of the street; this group of cavalrymen is different from the ones Yun Ce killed not long ago, their armor bright and uniform like Chang’an’s imperial guards.
5 “Still a bunch of good-for-nothings, can’t find anyone worth sucking.”
5 Yun Ce ignores Doggy’s complaint, nods to the armored soldiers who came to receive him, and is escorted in the middle by them as the warhorses step lightly toward the City Lord’s Mansion.
5 The madam watches the departing team and says regretfully: “What a pity, such a pity he died.”
5 A woman chimes in: “Mama really took a liking to him?”
5 The madam swallows and says: “What a pity—he’s going to die.”
5 Tai Prefecture Inspector Han Qi is a man who values etiquette highly. Even though Yun Ce killed his eldest son and slaughtered more than three hundred under his command, he even suspects Yun Ce is the one who trespassed into Dragon God Hall and caused the Shehuo riot.
6 Although the people of Divine Dragon Hall swore that the madman who trespassed into Dragon God Hall had been burned to ashes by the enraged Shehuo, Han Qi still feels the matter of Divine Dragon Hall is inseparable from this Heir Apparent of the King of Changsha, Liu Chang’an.
6 Even if not done by his own hand, it was most likely done by his accomplices.
6 Until now, there is one thing he cannot figure out: why the Heir Apparent of the King of Changsha would go against Shehuo. If needing Shehuo’s assistance, go seek the King of Changsha or High Priest Liu Changsheng; no need, and it wouldn’t be this little Taizhou Shehuo’s turn.
6 He decides to figure it out tonight, to see if this Heir Apparent of the King of Changsha is really the apple of the eye of the King of Changsha and High Priest Liu Changsheng, as rumored.
6 Yun Ce rides the Red Date Horse through the gate into the Inner City where the City Lord’s Mansion is located for the first time. Passing by Divine Dragon Hall, someone has already cleared the bricks and tiles of the collapsed side hall, and the deep pit smashed by Shehuo has been filled. Passing the gate, he can even hear the Taoist priests chanting sutras.
6 As they are about to enter the City Lord’s Mansion, Yun Ce pinches the Red Date Horse’s ear; the Red Date Horse sneezes casually as a response to Yun Ce.
6 If something’s wrong, run; if can’t run, pretend to be an ordinary Thunder Smoke Beast, then find another chance to run—this routine, the Red Date Horse feels very familiar with.
6 Normal updates resume tomorrow,
