Chapter 300: In Chaotic Times, Those Who Do Not Struggle Die
Wu Tong knew that Yun Ce was recruiting him.
It was just that the method of recruitment was rather strange.
According to the Great Han’s way of recruiting talent, there were neither enough daughters and jade silk offered, nor heroic spirit-filled promises. Yun Ce seemed overly casual.
It was more like two people who had just met were becoming familiar with each other.
After resting for a moment near the lamp pool, Yun Ce and Wu Tong continued toward the latter half of the secret passage.
Sure enough, after passing the lamp pool, there were few corpses on the road here, mostly women and children. The clothes on their bodies were very luxurious, and the accessories on their bodies were also extremely exquisite. Even when worn on corpses, they were indescribably beautiful.
Huo Wudi took the women’s hair ornaments and jewelry, Lei Ming took the accessories from the men’s bodies—this was something the two of them had discussed long ago and had already formed a tacit understanding about.
When an old woman sitting cross-legged on the ground appeared in the light, Wu Tong stepped forward, cupped his hands, and paid respects. The old woman had long been dead, her body turned into a dry corpse, so she naturally could not respond to Wu Tong.
“This is Zhou Situ’s original wife Liu Shi, also the former Princess Huayang. Zhou Tingyun and Zhou Tingyu, who died ahead, were both born to Princess Huayang.”
Yun Ce smiled and said, “To watch her own two flesh and blood perish together, Princess Huayang can be considered to have seen the result of her life’s childbearing—quite fortunate.”
1 Wu Tong did not respond, turning to Huo Wudi and Lei Ming and saying, “Princess Huayang is wearing a phoenix hairpin on her head. This phoenix hairpin is a secret heirloom of the Liu Shi imperial family. It is said that anyone who wears it will have clear eyes and mind throughout their life.”
1 Huo Wudi immediately stepped forward and drew the glittering red hairpin from the head of Princess Huayang, who remained seated even in death. But as soon as the hairpin was removed, Princess Huayang’s white hair fell down, covering her withered face.
1 Wu Tong continued, “I hear that Princess Huayang also has a dragon bracelet on her wrist. This dragon bracelet comes from the ancient Xuan Yuan Shi and is said to have been personally carved by the Yellow Emperor.”
1 Huo Wudi did not move, but Lei Ming stepped forward to search Princess Huayang’s corpse. In a moment, he found seven or eight pieces of jewelry and accessories of various sizes on her body, among which the most striking was a pale yellow jade bracelet carved with a dragon shape. This jade bracelet was not only ancient and majestic but also extremely lustrous.
1 Yun Ce glanced at the jade bracelet and said to Wu Tong, “Princess Huayang wore this jade bracelet for so many years—how did she live to such an advanced age?”
1 Wu Tong chuckled and said, “You noticed?”
1 Yun Ce nodded and said, “Anything from the dragon more or less has some hidden drawbacks. Just like this jade bracelet—it needs blood essence to sustain it.”
1 Wu Tong nodded and said, “So, Princess Huayang always had a thirteen-year-old young girl attending her at all times. This jade bracelet was usually worn on that young girl’s wrist. Unless it was for a major etiquette ceremony or the high priest, Princess Huayang would not wear it. The bracelet-wearing young girl by her side would be replaced every year, and the replaced girl generally would not live past eighteen.”
1 Upon hearing this, Yun Ce glanced at Lei Ming, who decisively lifted his foot and crushed the ancient jade bracelet into several pieces. Then, he used the back of his long saber to smash the jade bracelet into powder.
1 Huo Wudi stepped forward and kicked over Princess Huayang’s seated corpse.
2 As they walked, Wu Tong sighed and said, “Your Excellency, don’t you feel the slightest temptation toward things the world regards as treasures?”
2 Yun Ce looked at Wu Tong and said, “To me, people will always be more precious than objects.”
2 Wu Tong glanced at Yun Ce and said, “Those in high positions all say that.”
2 Yun Ce raised his hand to stroke the long face of the red date horse and said, “Only mine is true.”
2 Wu Tong shifted his gaze to the red date horse and said, “This fur horse of yours is truly miraculous.”
2 Yun Ce grabbed the red date horse’s chin and said, “I think it has already become a spirit, yet it insists on pretending to be this foolish. They say life’s troubles begin with literacy. This guy was very dependent on me before, but now it has become full of concerns, as if as soon as I discover it has become a spirit, I’ll kill it.”
2 Wu Tong looked at the red date horse’s clear eyes and said, “Is it possible that it did become a spirit, but became even more foolish after doing so?”
2 Yun Ce nodded and said, “That’s possible too. We have an idiom called ‘imitating the gait of Handan.’ It tells of a person who thought the way people in Handan walked was elegant, so he wholeheartedly tried to imitate them. In the end, he not only failed to learn it but also forgot how he walked before.”
2 Despite Wu Tong and Yun Ce discussing it right in front of the red date horse, it still showed no reaction, as if kicking the bricks and stones into the water well was accidental, discovering the tunnel was accidental, and everything that happened to it was entirely accidental.
2 Walking in the tunnel, the events on the ground seemed to have nothing to do with them. People always have to learn to choose—taking the benefits from one side means you can’t take from the other.
3 Just like Zhou Situ’s two sons, who always thought their father had left them enough materials to make a comeback. In fact, to Yun Ce and Wu Tong, the materials Zhou Situ prepared for his children were not much at all.
3 Looking at the doorless warehouses at the end of the tunnel, Wu Tong said to Yun Ce, “It seems Zhou Situ only left his descendants enough materials to live as wealthy gentlemen.”
3 Yun Ce grabbed a handful of wheat from the grain warehouse, rubbed it in his hand, and said, “Not bad, very little moisture—can be stored for ten years without issue.”
3 Wu Tong said, “Parents plan far ahead for their descendants. Zhou Situ must have realized that the days ahead would be tough, and preserving their lives was already the best option.”
3 Yun Ce smiled and said, “Zhou Tingyun and the others don’t think so.”
3 Wu Tong took a small box from the top of a pile of boxes, one placed in a conspicuous position. Inside should be the letter Zhou Situ left for his descendants, as well as subsequent arrangements.
3 After opening it, his eyes sharpened, and he handed the box to Yun Ce.
3 Yun Ce grabbed a bead from the box, held it in his palm, and slightly circulated his internal breath. The bead then showed a irritable face. That face did not look old, but it was covered entirely in black beard, obscuring it completely. Only from the shape of its constantly opening mouth could one roughly guess that this person desperately wanted to get out of the bead.
3 Of course, the bead was just a simple recording device. After Yun Ce circulated his internal breath again, the human face emerged from the bead and stood in midair, roaring silently at Yun Ce and the others.
3 Wu Tong took a piece of paper from the bottom of the box, read it, and said to Yun Ce, “This is King Huo. Zhou Situ obtained this bead twenty-six years ago.”
4 Yun Ce thought for a moment, drew a map from his bracer, and handed it to Wu Tong. “See what place this map marks—is it King Huo’s Tomb?”
4 Wu Tong shook his head and said, “According to historical records, after King Huo died, his coffin was carried into King Huo’s Tomb by his forty-eight guards. After these people entered King Huo’s Tomb, they dropped the dragon-breaking stone, sealing King Huo’s Tomb off from the outside world into two separate worlds.”
4 Yun Ce withdrew his internal breath, and the roaring silent face whooshed back into the bead. After roaring twice more inside the bead, it slowly dissipated.
4 “The man just now was your father,” Yun Ce said to Huo Wudi.
4 Huo Wudi blinked and said, “I know.”
4 Yun Ce added, “Aren’t you concerned about your father?”
4 Huo Wudi bit her lip and pretended to be pitiful as she said, “If he doesn’t want me, will you want me?”
4 Yun Ce did not answer, turning his attention to a tall stone wall in front of him. Near the bottom of the stone wall was a turntable, which should be the mechanism to open the door.
4 Yun Ce said to Wu Tong, “Let’s go out.”
4 Before Wu Tong could move, Lei Ming rushed forward and forcefully turned the turntable.
5 He thought turning the turntable would require great strength, but unexpectedly, with Lei Ming’s slight effort, the turntable spun rapidly, and it spun faster and faster.
5 The turntable rose swiftly. Upon close inspection, it was supported by a thick metal shaft with barely visible threads. There was probably a labor-saving device outside. After the turntable quickly spun to the highest point in the cave, it was like unlocking something. It suddenly stopped spinning and then reversed off the metal shaft.
5 The originally smooth stone wall cracked open a seam. After Lei Ming pushed it hard, a waterfall appeared before them.
5 Through the threads of the waterfall, Wu Tong glanced at the scenery outside and sighed, “This is one of Chang’an’s Eight Scenic Views, the South Mountain Waterfall.”
5 The air outside Chang’an City was better than inside Chang’an City.
5 Especially around the South Mountain Waterfall. In good times, early spring was the perfect season for beauties of Chang’an to go out for spring outings, with men singing, composing poetry, and dancing, like peacocks eager to spread their tails.
5 The waterfall fell from the top of the cave, basically covering the entire cave mouth. There was also a not-too-large platform here, at most one fen of land.
5 “Zhou Situ was indeed an elegant man. Even when choosing to dig a tunnel to escape, he placed the exit in the most elegant spot in Chang’an. Yun Ce, we’ve left Chang’an—you need to think it through. Once I go with you to the Yun Clan Villa, it means Panxing Tower will be at your disposal.
5 My life is cheap now, Wu Tong’s. If you use it, so be it. But Panxing Tower is full of bold and heroic men. Have you thought about how to act so as not to let them down?”
5 Yun Ce looked at Wu Tong and smiled, “Will the people of Panxing Tower really follow me and shed their blood for my ideals?”
6 Wu Tong said, “They originally had their own ideals. Later, their ideals were shattered, and they had no new ones. Since that’s the case, let’s follow the path you choose and see.”
6 Yun Ce smiled and said, “I don’t want impure people.”
6 Wu Tong said, “Then do something that makes us willing to lay down our lives for your ideals.”
6 Yun Ce said, “Seeing Zhou Situ’s family’s end, that’s all the insight you gained?”
6 Wu Tong said, “Zhou Situ kept retreating until there was nowhere left to retreat, ending in death and clan extermination. Do you think Panxing Tower will meet the same fate?”
6 Yun Ce laughed loudly, “In the chaos, those who do not struggle will die.”
