Chapter 63: Great Chaos Under Heaven
In the 30th year of the Shu Tian Calendar, although Guotai’s offensive at the junction of the three northern prefectures had stalled, the order in the North rapidly deteriorated. Bandits rose everywhere.
Guotai’s previous general (Zhao Cheng)’s series of bold strikes seemed more like a desperate last gasp to catch his breath.
Thus, now that the strategic situation had slightly improved, they also began to seek stability.
This smooth switch from the tactic of spreading bandits to the strategy of “build high walls, amass grain” left Wu Fei, who had always been paying attention to the North, astonished and suspicious.
…The perspective shifts from kings, marquises, generals, and ministers to the grass and ants here…
Guotai embedding into Da Yao World was like a spark colliding with Earth, the impact producing a large amount of debris, and even these fragments falling in the junction area were mountains. That’s right, the bandits who were worthless in the eyes of Da Yao and Guotai’s regular army became disasters for the common people.
The bandits fleeing to the Central Plains were formerly scattered armies, with no lack of capable people mixed in. For example, geniuses who could build cloud ladders and use pit tunnels for gunpowder explosions. Of course, there were also some heterodox path practitioners proficient in Yin Yang techniques, mixing into the chaotic army and using ghosts and spirits methods to assist the bandits in causing chaos.
These bandits rampaged through the North, although they lacked the ability to breach large cities, their destruction of various villages was enormous.
And in the chaos, some vile players thrived like fish in water.
In the northern part of Luochuan Prefecture, there was such a typical band of bandits. However, among this group of burly, fierce-faced thugs, there was a Daoist priest with a feather fan and silk headscarf, turning a split-gold compass. And his partner beside him looked as unremarkable as a mongrel dog, carrying a backpack with an iron shovel.
These two were grave robbers before the great chaos, one responsible for Feng Shui surveying, the other for digging holes and unearthing gold.
Originally not much harm, just forced by great clans to run everywhere, rats that everyone shouted to beat. As for names, one surnamed Chang, one surnamed Dai? They had too many aliases, for example, in the past when teaming up for grave robbing, one “Qian” one “Kun”, their style names one called Wang Ri, one called Tan Yue.
In the past when the world was stable, everyone’s moral standards were high, no one wanted their ancestors disturbed. Such scum had little room to surface. However, now with most refugees unable to survive, unable to get any fairness from the masters in the walled forts, everyone began to let the evil path flourish.
This band of robbers blocked Liu Family Fort, a place where a local rich man stationed goods.
On a dirt slope a li away, the thugs stepping the plate were gathered together watching the great immortal perform the ritual.
“Seek the dragon, touch for gold, look at the winding mountains, one layer of winding is one barrier, if the gate has eight layers of peril, it will not emerge without Yin Yang Eight Trigrams form!”
With one step of the Eight Trigrams pace, he shook the bell in his hand. Chang Wangri, looking like a white-robed scholar, was not digging graves this time, but breaking fortune!
Dai Tanyue, looking like a mongrel dog and acting as a shill among the other thugs, curled his lips and muttered in his heart: “You rascal, the compass already calculated it, yet you still put on a show of ghost tricks to divine.”
Of course Dai Tanyue understood that it was precisely Chang Wangri’s pretentious display that could fool the even more vulgar robber chieftain beside them.
When “Chang Wangri”‘s footsteps stopped, Dai Tanyue urgently asked: “How is it?”
Chang Wangri picked up a cloth to wipe the non-existent sweat from his head and said: “Tomorrow night at the second quarter of the hour of Zi, the life gate is in the northeast corner, find a place where wood prospers. At that time, have fifty brothers cover their heads with three handfuls of yellow soil, hold elm leaves in their mouths, then they can pry open a hole and pour into this manor.”
The second chieftain beside him slapped his thigh and said: “Spot on, Daoist priest can pinch and calculate, I was stepping the plate (infiltrated the manor) the day before yesterday and saw a wild vine tree in that northeast corner spot, the bricks there must have been loosened by it, definitely can break through the wall.”
Chang Wangri nodded and explained: “The arrangement between this family’s yin residence and yang residence was pointed out by an expert.” His finger pointed to the midpoint on the hillside of the northern Inviting Heaven Mountain spur, that is, this powerful clan’s ancestral grave, and said: “This yin residence Feng Shui bureau is greatly auspicious, channeling fortune, wealth, and path to the descendants in the yang residence. And the yang residence will leave a Feng Shui air eye. This Feng Shui air eye rotates every one jiazi, each branch in the manor partakes in this great wealth and honor every jiazi. Only pity!”
The great chieftain asked: “Pity what?”
Chang Wangri put on airs, hands behind his back facing away from the great chieftain, gazing at the sky and slowly said: “Pity the descendants do not cultivate virtue.”
He raised his hand, pointing to the southern region where the layered shadows of Aotian Mountain overlapped, and said: “Everyone look, this Aotian Mountain’s Feng Shui pattern splits into a hand here, um, that is that grave cluster, protruding towards the southern pit with those seven graves. Look at these seven graves, don’t they look like a hand begging towards the south? This is Big Dipper borrowing fortune, borrowing a thread of dragon vein from within Aotian Ridge! The ambition is too great.”
This family’s ancestors tried to let their descendants soar to the nine heavens in the great chaos under heaven.
Alas, is the dragon vein so easy to borrow? Kings and great clans have deep foundations themselves, borrowing a thread of dragon vein is still unknown if it’s fortune or disaster, this family enjoyed local fortune, longevity, and wealth in peaceful times, and in chaotic times forgot to give back. Look now at the Feng Shui air eye, a wild vine has appeared, if I’m not mistaken, this wild vine grew a few months ago. The original fortune-gathering Feng Shui pattern has turned into “Soaring Serpent Riding Mist”!
The great chieftain heard this and his face darkened, yes, if this Liu Manor, if his family were benevolent and righteous, he would definitely serve them loyally, how would he become a bandit?
Now the great chieftain fell into memories of the past.
Ten years ago, when he buried his father, that family’s young master tossed him five taels of silver to buy his thin field. Then, when he was buying a coffin, he was blocked by the family’s retainers, who robbed the silver, and when he went to reason, he was scolded for “empty words and white teeth spreading rumors” and beaten out. Extremely humiliated, fortunately later he met an immortal with three eyes on his brow who pointed him, he jumped off a cliff to obtain a manual, then became a local hero.
Just as the great chieftain was reminiscing the past and looking to the future, “Chang Wangri”‘s seductive voice came from beside: “Great Chieftain, the Liu family cannot hold this borrowed fortune, but this borrowed ‘dragon vein luck’ is still there. As long as after breaking the manor, the Great Chieftain does as I say, I can perform the ritual to place this dragon qi on the Great Chieftain.”
This seductive voice startled the great chieftain, then he laughed it off humbly: “Haha, in these chaotic times, I just want to find a place to live for my brothers, dragon veins and such are too ethereal.”
At this time the second chieftain and third chieftain shouted: “Big brother, you have the appearance of a true dragon. After success, give your brother a great general to play! ” “Yes, third brother is right, now heaven is dead, constellations descend, I saw a patch of colorful cloud always over your head the day before yesterday, was wondering, turns out it’s this matter.”
In the flattery, although the great chieftain was still waving his hands, he was already elated. It’s just no one noticed under that Feng Shui compass, a strange eye appeared, staring at the shadows of these bandits quarreling with each other, tangled together like chaotic hemp.
…Pry walls, set ladders, with owl cries, pass signals…
At night, this band of strong men indeed smoothly broke into the manor, flames quickly burned up inside. Then killing shouts spread out, some servants saw something wrong and fled the manor, while running they were ambushed by bandits blocking leaks outside, because they couldn’t let fish that slipped the net go for reinforcements. These servants dragged to the ditch, “good heroes spare my life” just out of their mouths, heads chopped off with one knife,
The next day, the entire manor was burned clean, the manor’s grain was emptied, and the surrendering men, women, and children inside the manor had their mouths blocked, tied like pigs and brought inside the manor.
Dai Tanyue set up the altar for the ritual and began the blood sacrifice. All the bandits were required to poke these Liu Manor men, women, and children with wooden spears once each, averaging a few pokes per person, as the blood on the ground began to pool into small streams, suddenly a strange blue light shone on everyone, when this strange blue light disappeared, all the strong men were like awakening, suddenly understanding many things.
These bandits who were honest farmers a few months ago knew how they were cheated by large and small lords when collecting rent, knew how they were toyed with by loan documents when borrowing usury. Even more knew how those big figures toyed with them when they bowed their heads.
The honest people suddenly became wise, the blue light flashed in everyone’s mind, then they began to hear some great wisdom’s enlightenment.
The blue grew stronger, penetrated into the earth vein, then connected to heaven, heaven and earth’s spiritual energy and killing intent were swept up and began to riot. And in this manor the bandits each received blessings. In the manor, those Liu Manor men, women, and children from the blood sacrifice above turned into fruits with various patterns in the strange blue flames, the bandits stared at these fruits, but their pupils already reflected the fruits they wanted to pick, and in their minds also urged them to quickly consume.
The great chieftain first swallowed a fruit, after feeling a wave of nausea, he gained the ability to stretch and mutate his body like rubber.
With the great chieftain as example, the other thugs also hurriedly swallowed these strangely looking, disgustingly tasting fruits, after a grimace, they also gained abilities to control water and fire, or heal flesh regeneration.
…Era of calamity has come…
Just after the 30th year of Shu Tian Calendar, anomalies frequently appeared in Da Yao World.
First, Aotian Ridge inexplicably had earth dragons tumbling, mountains dozens of li long inexplicably collapsed hundreds of zhang. —Such collapse was not rolling boulders falling, but like seabed islands sinking directly into the earth, the originally majestic mountain tops suddenly became mountains and wilds where tigers, leopards, and monkeys could leap. And the mountain pulse fluctuation was like dominoes, the entire Da Yao spiritual mountains and great rivers shook three times.
Subsequently, the Sitian Cheng of dozens of nearby prefectures, and the sect disciples here, all received messages that their sect’s mountain gate had encountered great disaster.
In the first month, everyone in the entire Luo River basin saw a blue evil moon appear in the sky. And those cultivators with extraordinary spiritual sense saw that this evil moon seemed to be devouring giant stones flying from the earth, the flying stones faintly had the outline of their own sect’s mountain gate.
These true cultivators saw correctly, this was indeed “devouring”. Aotian Ridge’s earth vein collapse, the material did not disappear into thin air, but mass transferred to that inexplicable moon in the sky. —And such mass transfer came from the proliferation of evil worship. And in the next few months, supernatural powers of demonization frequently appeared among the bandits.
These bandits, relying on their supernatural powers, began further destruction.
Several months later, multiple groups of so-called “rebel armies” appeared in the North of Da Yao. These people breached the river dikes, flooding some river fields. They took advantage of the floods to rob. The Imperial Court’s original ten armies in the North had lost the will to fight on the frontline.
Like the Wu Family Army, each army was actually a local army. During times of peace under heaven, the pay these soldiers received for direct frontline combat was insufficient, so all payments had to wait until they returned home. After returning home, the soldiers received tax exemptions on fields, and could take respectable positions locally such as village elder or pavilion chief. Only then was the blood reward truly redeemed.
Over time, the peace of their hometowns became especially important to them. If the Imperial Court, during great chaos under heaven, made these soldiers abandon their homes and families to relocate thousands of miles away, it would likely lead to disaster.
Narration: No matter how many titles or battlefield experiences an army had before, once its homeland was threatened, it immediately became rootless duckweed. Just like after the An Lushan Rebellion, the soldiers of Chang’an followed the “Sage Son of Heaven” into Sichuan. Halfway at Mawei Slope, they mutinied.
Da Yao could certainly transfer troops across several prefectures and commanderies, but it had to ensure that after the soldiers and generals left, their homes were not raided.
Especially in the eyes of the people under heaven, the Da Yao Imperial Court in recent years had been making blunder after blunder. Anomalous signs only fueled more speculation.
People began discussing old grievances: Initially, it was clear that simply providing sufficient grain and pay to the garrison soldiers and generals of Bo Prefecture would keep the evil dragons of the North outside the pass. But because Prince Bo rebelled, suspicions arose, allowing the dragon clan to seize the pass and enter.
Then, it was clearly only necessary to rotate three armies to wear them down. Yet they stubbornly mobilized fifteen armies, attempting to crush with Mount Tai’s weight, risking half the nation’s strength.
Finally, when this Mount Tai crush reached the most critical moment, the nobles on the Imperial Court recommended Prince Zhou to come reap the fruits, turning a good suppression battle into a “storm-tossed” defensive war.
These people on the Imperial Court, time and again messing up military and state affairs irresponsibly and then withdrawing, had now caused not only generals like Wu Hanluan to question the Imperial Court’s ability, but even the ordinary foot soldiers on the frontline to suspect whether Da Yao’s mandate of heaven was waning.
……
In the 7th month of the Shu Tian Calendar year 30, multiple armies returned in droves to the various prefectures in the North where civil unrest had erupted, raised banners to begin bandit suppression, and issued pacification proclamations stating “only the ringleaders will be executed; those who lay down their weapons and return home will be pardoned,” almost pacifying the civil unrest within a month.
Iron armor and halberds against ragged clothes and bamboo poles held no suspense. After the largest rebel army in the area was surrounded and exterminated, most bandits fled to places the Imperial Court could not find, opening up new rounds of development in mountains, forests, and wilds, and the vigorous rebellion melted away like summer snowflakes.
But next, facing the Imperial Court’s transfer orders, these armies began dragging their feet on pretexts of “exhaustion” and “needing rest.”
In the eyes of the Imperial Court nobles, these armies had become like cowhide candy, sticking firmly to their localities. Indeed, these armies directly set up camps locally and began colluding with local powerful clans.
And in the same year, in the 4th month, just when the civil unrest in the northern prefectures had broken out, the fugitive Prince Bo appeared in the northwest of Da Yao, in the direction of Xingzhou, colluding with Hu people, establishing a state called Guan, claiming there were treacherous ministers at court and he needed to purge the emperor’s side. After the 8th month, he took Yongzhou.
Emperor Shu was furious and ordered nearby commanderies to send troops to exterminate this bandit, but Xingzhou was in the northwest of Da Yao, where the people were exhausted and could not support a large army for conquest. However, His Majesty’s emphasis on the Yongzhou rebellion was exceptionally high, and he still issued an edict for punitive expedition. The newly appointed Grand Marshal discerned His Majesty’s intentions and drafted the edict.
Subsequently, after the northwest commanderies received the edict, they assumed combat postures and strictly sealed off the expansion of the Guan state established by Prince Bo.
Under Emperor Shu’s orders, Emperor Shu’s other son, Prince Lelang, whose fief Zhenzhou bordered Yongzhou, upon learning of his brother’s rebellion, immediately charged north like a mad dog, slaughtering along the way and creating rivers of blood.
Emperor Shu had always disliked Prince Lelang and was extremely averse to his bloodthirsty belligerence, but now Emperor Shu could no longer afford to care about his citizens’ suffering, instead coldly watching the fratricide between his two sons.
Emperor Shu was so anxious because this involved the issue of the “imperial lineage.”
Recalling four hundred years ago, Da Yao experienced a palace intrigue disaster. The then Crown Prince Zhide, the Li Crown Prince, attempting to defy heaven and change fate, secretly cultivating supernatural powers and magic, colluding with the demonic evils of Li Huo Sect, harming the populace. Fortunately, the wise and martial Prince Dan at the time investigated the crimes of the Li Crown Prince and his partisans clearly, reported to the Sage, and restored clarity to Da Yao’s universe.
And that Prince Dan was the current dynasty’s imperial lineage. This lineage had long proclaimed “the virtuous shall possess it,” but over these several hundred years, rebels had claimed Prince Dan usurped the throne, and even in the Common Union Rebellion fifty years ago, there were such seditious words.
Over several hundred years, Prince Dan’s imperial lineage had struck down such rebellious rhetoric on sight, never showing mercy.
Emperor Shu clearly understood the logic of ritual system under heaven: For the troops and noble families under heaven, if a second imperial scion claimed to be the legitimate one, they would have reason to observe.
Emperor Shu did not want to leave this disaster to his sons and grandsons, so when this rebellious son Prince Bo reared his head, Emperor Shu announced to the world: “Demote Prince Bo to commoner.”
……
Amid the great chaos of the Da Yao World, the North was surprisingly quiet.
Pu E restrained Guotai’s mobilization at this time, because she too saw the moon in the sky devouring the collapsing spiritual veins on the great earth; it was the same before the destruction of the Haotian Realm.
