Chapter 51: Putting the Dead to Rest |
[July 9, 2023]
--See notes at end.--
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Shěn Lí shook her head. “Without a body, I won’t believe it.”
The generals remained silent as they bowed their heads. The hall was quiet for a long time until a voice cut through. “I saw it with my own eyes . . .” The general looked defeated. “They ate General Mò Fāng.”
Shěn Lí held onto the coffin as she stared at the broken sword and armor inside. An overwhelming sense of helplessness overtook her and she couldn’t find the ability within her to move.
“I also saw it with my own eyes.” Someone whispered. More and more voices rose to confirm the fact. Shěn Lí had no choice but to believe Mò Fāng was dead. She gripped the coffin so fiercely her fingertips turned white. Kachak, a hand imprint broke into the thick solid wood coffin.
“I understand.” Her small voice sounded like a broken string. It was heart-wrenching. “This king understands . . .”
She lowered her head in silence. The emotions on her face weren’t visible but her posture lacked strength. The woman who always stood straight was at that moment like a hedgehog whose quills had been yanked out.
After clenching her teeth for a while, Shěn Lí rose and moved away from Mò Fāng’s coffin. Her steps were firm and calm as she slowly walked out of the funeral hall after reading all the names of the fallen.
Shěn Lí knew better than anyone no one ever returned from death. Regret was useless. The best she could do was keep living and move forward.
The air outside the funeral hall was pungent with decay. Shěn Lí stepped onto the training platform and placed one hand on her chest while pointing the other directly at the sky. A white brilliance shone from her body as she chanted. The light spread outward and rose in a brilliant beam toward the sky.
“By my name do I draw the Forgotten river.” The words resounded, deep and full in the air. As her words fell, small bursts of light fluttered from the ground up to the sky like fireflies covering a desolate sky.
Beautiful and sad all at the same time.
From a distance, Shěn Lí could see many people crying as they chased after the drifting lights outside the barracks where the soldiers were buried. Their shrill cries were heartbreaking to hear. It was as though they couldn’t bear to part with the lights.
Shěn Lí dropped her hands and clenched her fists tightly. “I, the Azure Sky king, Shěn Lí, swear on my life this atrocity shall be avenged.” Her voice wasn’t loud, but all the generals below the platform heard her. The wind shifted and lifted strands of her hair up. Countless shining lights floated in front of her, as if her soldiers were using their last ounce of strength to echo her oath.
It was getting late and the moon’s position shifted.
A young man wearing a dark crimson cloak stood quietly by a small river on the grass under a tree. “Oh? Has the Azure Sky king, Shěn Lí returned to the Demon realm?”
“Yes, this subordinate received news Shěn Lí returned to the Demon realm this afternoon.” A masked man in black knelt down and replied respectfully. “She also brought back medicine from the Immortal realm, which was used to heal the Demon emperor. After that, she used soul magic to send off the thousands of lingering souls in the capital.”
“She looks like a savior. No wonder the mediocrities in the Demon realm worship her.” The young man lightly touched the rough bark with his fingertips. “I searched the entire palace but failed to find even a trace of the Phoenix Fire pearl. That guy, Shěn Mùyuè, must have given it to her. It looks like we’ll have to deal with her. . . ”
“General Fú Shēng, we lost fifty-eight men in the last battle, and not all the corpses have been stitched back together, so it will be difficult to fight again anytime soon.”
“It doesn’t matter how powerful Shěn Lí is; she is only one person.” After thinking about it for a moment and muttering to himself, Fú Shēng said, “Take four or five men with you to the Ruins and be sure to make a lot of commotion along the way. We’ll lure her out like this. Then I’ll personally kill her and take the bead myself.”
“Yes.” The man in black agreed but hesitated. “General, what about the young master. . . ?”
Fú Shēng’s eyes turned cold. “Do not let the young master learn of this matter until it is done. The young master’s heart is too soft when it comes to matters regarding Shěn Lí. I will kill Shěn Lí and take the Phoenix Fire bead. Doing this will eliminate any future problems. Even if the young master has objections, there won’t be much he can do if Shěn Lí is already dead.” A puff of black smoke rose from Fú Shēng’s fingertips and hung around the tree. In seconds, it completely enveloped the tree and eventually all the leaves withered and turned black. A small black bead of qi condensed and landed in the palm of Fú Shēng’s hand. He swallowed it in one gulp. “Before you go, find me a few healthy people I can use to adjust my internal energy.”
“This subordinate will do so!”
The wind blew and the withered leaves fell to the ground.
On the second day, after she finished arranging military affairs, Shěn Lí took some time and returned home. Ròu Yā was scared but still in good spirits. Parrot was there too; its feathers had grown back and it was looking much better. The two of them chatted her ears off the moment she stepped through the door, telling her all about the chaos and panic that day. Shěn Lí listened quietly until Ròu Yā paused to take a breath. Shěn Lí patted her head and said, “This king is back, so I won’t let anyone bully you again.”
Ròu Yā, stunned into silence, turned to look at Shěn Lí with red eyes. All she could say was, “Wow.”
She was really scared.
After resting at home for a while, Shěn Lí changed out her clothes for light armor, and was about to return to the palace when Ròu Yā called out to her. She hemmed and hawed for a while before finally saying, “Your Highness, you must take care! Ròu Yā and Parrot will be waiting for you to return!”
Shěn Lí smiled. “It will be fine. I’m just going to the palace; I’ll be back later tonight.”
Ròu Yā nodded, but an inexplicable sense of dread filled her heart as she watched Shěn Lí walk out without a backyard glance. It was as if. . . as if her master would never return. “Your Highness, take care!” she shouted again.
Shěn Lí waved without turning around. “Got it.”
Although the Demon emperor’s poison was dealt with, he was still in a coma from severe blood loss. His responsibilities were temporarily taken over by the three elders who were now seated in the hall. The civil servants were anxious, but there was nothing they could do. Shěn Lí sat on the left side of the room quietly listening to the officials report on the situation following the chaos and the riots that erupted.
When the attack on the capital occurred, minor revolts sprang up all over the place and troops had been trying to contain the fighting since. Fortunately, things calmed down after a few days. Shěn Lí frowned upon hearing the news. It explained. . .
“There’s a traitor,” said one of the elders quietly. “Not only because of the amount of violence and chaos, but this old man has been studying the enemy’s retreat for the past few days, and it’s clear they must have had detailed information about the layout of the capital, otherwise they would never have been able to retreat so quickly.”
What was worse was how chaos erupted simultaneously everywhere else. It wasn't just one or two; there had to be traitors throughout the realm.
“Check.” Shěn Lí threw the word coldly. “Not only are these traitors familiar with the local area, they’re also familiar with the structure of the military. They must be members of the army. Arrest anyone who’s been missing and anyone who’s made strange movements in the last battle. Capture them one by one and try them all.”
Shěn Lí wasn’t a soft-hearted person; she gave her orders decisively without hesitation.
“Reporting!” A hurried voice came from outside the hall just before the messenger broke inside. He knelt and clasped his fists in a salute before saying, “My Lords! The. . . the men with impenetrable bodies have appeared again!”
This shocked everyone. Shěn Lí stood up immediately, her eyes as cold as ice. “Where? How many?”
“There are four or five and they are heading towards the Ruins!”
A commotion broke out in the assembly hall. They all knew there were thousands of monsters in sealed inside the Ruins. If the enemy broke the seal and let loose what was inside, then a catastrophe would be unstoppable.
“The seal around the Ruins will not be broken.” Shěn Lí said, “Everyone, stay calm and don’t be impatient.” She asked the messenger, “Apart from their movement toward the Ruins, have they done anything else?”
“Yes. . . they’ve burned and killed along the way. . . wherever they passed, none are left alive. . . ”
Unable to take it anymore, one the of the generals slapped the table and stood up. "Bastards! Destroying everything! Do they take the Demon realm as a joke? Think it’s uninhabited?!" He clenched his fists and knelt to the ground. “This general request permission to go into battle!”
Two other generals immediately followed suit. “This general also asks permission to fight!”
This caused an uproar and some of the civil servants advised, “Those in the capital didn’t have a way to fight them, but is there a way now? Let’s solve the mystery of their bodies first, then we can find a way to win!”
“What? And let them run rampant while we wait?! Even if I have to risk my life, I will –.”
“Shut up!” Shěn Lí scolded coldly. “Are the demon generals here allowed to die so easily? That’s unacceptable.”
The hall fell silent.
Shěn Lí’s armor made a rustling sound as she stood up. “This time I will go out and meet the enemy.”
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