Chapter 101.1 |
Under the Hand of God wielded by Lin Beifan, a massive earthquake struck the Peng Kingdom, hundreds of miles away.
The heavens crumbled, the earth split, rocks tumbled, and the world shook violently!
“Why is there suddenly an earthquake?”
“The earth dragon is turning over; find a safe place to hide quickly!”
“Get out of the house, it’s not safe inside!”
The common folk are alright; the shaking isn’t too strong, and they’re basically safe once they run out of their houses.
However, the Great Yue army marching towards the capital city received a special welcome from the earthquake. They either fell into the great fissures of the earth or were swallowed by collapsing rocks and stones.
“An earthquake, the mountain is collapsing!”
“Ah, my leg is trapped under a rock!”
“Quick, save me… save me!”
The valley was filled with desperate cries for help.
However, everyone was struggling to save themselves, how could they possibly lend a hand?
In less than half an incense stick’s time, hundreds of thousands of soldiers were buried in the earth.
……
Inside the imperial palace of the capital city, a Great Yue soldier hurriedly rushed in.
“General Zhao, something terrible has happened!”
“What’s the matter that you’re so panicked?” General Zhao was very composed.
At that moment, he was busy bullying the Emperor of Peng Kingdom, whose face had been swollen from the slaps.
“General Zhao, there was just a massive earthquake, and our troops happened to be passing by the Tushan Mountains. The ground cracked open, and the mountains collapsed, burying our entire army of 400,000!”
General Zhao turned pale with shock: “What? How could such a thing happen?”
“General, if I dare to deceive you, I am willing to be punished by military law!” the soldier exclaimed loudly.
General Zhao’s face turned extremely ugly. If the 400,000-strong army was truly buried, then he would no longer be fit to serve as a general.
“Let’s go!” Taking three steps at a time, he quickly left the imperial palace.
The Peng Kingdom Emperor, who had been lying on the ground, stood up, spat out a mouthful of blood, and burst into crazed laughter: “The earth dragon turns over? 400,000 troops buried? This is the will of heaven! Heaven has decreed your doom, you deserve it…”
General Zhao sped away like lightning, and in just an hour, he arrived at the mountain of earth and stone.
Looking down at the collapsed area that had buried countless soldiers of Great Yue, he nearly fainted.
He had been advancing triumphantly, about to conquer the Peng Kingdom, when the turning of the earth dragon wiped out his army and with it, his hopes!
This was an army of 400,000 men!
Although they, the Great Yue, are a great kingdom with over a million soldiers, it’s not easy to cultivate an army of 400,000!
Moreover, these are all elite forces; His Majesty has placed great hopes on them.
Now it’s all over, how can we explain this to His Majesty upon our return?
General Zhao, overwhelmed with rage, shouted at the people around him, “What are you standing around for? Hurry up and save them!”
“But they…”
“Enough talk, save as many as you can, quickly!”
“Yes, General!”
With that, they began to work, rescuing the Great Yue soldiers buried beneath the rubble.
In the imperial palace of the Peng Kingdom, after the Peng Kingdom Emperor finished his bout of derisive laughter, he finally calmed down. A thought struck him: “Perhaps I should take this chance to escape! If I don’t flee now, I may never get another opportunity!”
But then, glancing out the window at the Great Yue experts guarding the gate, he fell into despair.
With them there, there was no way he could escape.
“Am I really just going to wait here to die?”
“Wait, something seems off about them…”
The Emperor of the Peng Kingdom tentatively made his way out, noticing that the experts of Great Yue showed no reaction.
Then, with growing boldness, he approached them, swaying before their eyes, but still, they showed no response.
The Emperor of the Peng Kingdom felt increasingly bewildered, so he reached out a finger and gently, cautiously, pushed one of them.
A thud was heard as the man toppled straight down before him.
Following that, the other Great Yue experts also fell down in succession.
On their necks, a fine line of blood appeared, from which blood slowly oozed out.
The Emperor of Peng Kingdom was greatly shocked: “Dead? They are all dead?”
After the shock came great joy: “Good riddance! Whoever killed them, I am grateful to their ancestors for eight generations!”
He immediately rushed to the harem, where the Empress and others were being guarded, and said, “The experts from Great Yue have been killed. This is our only chance to escape! We must pack our things and flee this place at once!”
The Empress nodded: “Yes, Your Majesty, but where shall we escape to?”
“Where to escape?” The Emperor of Peng Kingdom was somewhat bewildered.
Suddenly, he realized that he seemed to have nowhere to flee.
He had always had feuds with the neighboring countries; running to their lands would be like a lamb entering the tiger’s den.
Moreover, even if he managed to escape, would Great Yue let him go?
Absolutely not. They would definitely send experts to capture him, ensuring he could never live in peace.
So, after much thought, it seemed there was only one place to go.
“Let’s head to Great Xia!”
The Empress was shocked: “Great Xia? Your Majesty, I fear this may not be appropriate! For one, we have a history of grievances with Great Xia, would they even accept us? Moreover, to reach Great Xia, we must cross hundreds of miles of land, all of which is Great Yue territory—it’s far too dangerous!”
The Emperor of Peng Kingdom replied anxiously: “It’s true that we have our differences with Great Xia, but I have a way to resolve them! To get to Great Xia, although we must pass through Great Yue’s territory, the forces of Great Yue have been decimated, and the remaining soldiers are too preoccupied with rescue efforts to bother with us! Therefore, our only option now is to flee to Great Xia! Once we get there, we will be safe!”
“Alright, let’s go now!” The Empress was a decisive person, making the call on the spot.
They packed their belongings, gathered their families, and boarded the carriage.
“Wait, I need to grab something!”
He ran back into the imperial palace, took the jade seal from the ground, and also an imperial decree.
Then, he hurried towards the direction of Great Xia.
Lin Beifan watched this scene indifferently. Following the principle of seeing good deeds through to the end, he secretly offered some assistance.
Should they encounter troops from Great Yue, he would take them down in advance.
If they encounter problems with food, send some dry rations over.
As long as the other party is still in Peng Kingdom, help if possible.
If they escape from Peng Kingdom, then they must fend for themselves; wanting to help would be futile.
……
Two days later, they finally escaped from Peng Kingdom.
Great Yue General Zhao, realizing too late, found it was already too late to send pursuers; they had vanished without a trace.
It was only after Emperor Peng and his companions fled Peng Kingdom that their real troubles began.
Unprotected, they trudged through mountains and rivers and endured the hardships of eating in the wind and sleeping in the dew, suffering every kind of hardship.
It was uncertain whether it was due to good fortune favoring the virtuous, but miraculously, they did not encounter any soldiers of Great Yue along the way, managing to proceed without any real danger.
After such a week, they actually arrived in Great Xia and met Lin Beifan.
Lin Beifan looked at the Emperor of Peng Kingdom below with a smile full of interest and said, “The world is so vast, yet you chose to flee to my domain. Do you think I would not dare to kill you?”
“Your Majesty, you misunderstand. In fact, I… I am already your subject, where else could I flee to if not to you?” the Emperor of Peng Kingdom hastily replied.
“How can this be?” Lin Beifan asked.
“Because I have already ceded the Peng Kingdom to Great Xia and abdicated the throne, recognizing you as my sovereign! Here is the imperial decree for your perusal! This is the jade seal of Peng Kingdom, please accept it!” The Emperor of Peng Kingdom said with a sycophantic smile.
Although the Peng Kingdom has already perished, the jade seal and the imperial decree can still be said to represent legitimacy, allowing for many manipulations.
For instance, if you were to dispatch troops, having the jade seal and the imperial decree would make your cause justifiable.
Lin Beifan merely glanced indifferently: “In fact, I have known about this for a long time! Otherwise, how could you have left the palace safely?”
The Emperor of Peng Kingdom was shocked: “Were those people assassinated by your order?”
Lin Beifan nodded slightly: “You could say that! Therefore, I have repaid the favor I owed you, and we are even now! Whether you choose to stay or leave is up to you. I will not interfere!”
The Emperor of Peng Kingdom became anxious: “No, you can’t just ignore us like this!”
“Why should I bother?” Lin Beifan retorted.
“If you don’t care about me, I will be killed by the experts sent by Great Yue! Moreover, if the nation is lost, and I have no means of making a living, I will starve to death!” the Emperor of Peng Kingdom said anxiously.
“That’s your own problem. It’s already good that I saved you!” Lin Beifan said.
“Wait, I have a treasure to offer!”
The Emperor of Peng Kingdom said loudly: “To avoid the destruction of the country and the ruin of the family, the former emperor prepared a treasure early on for the later generations to retrieve! If you protect me and my family, this treasure will be immediately presented to you!”
Lin Beifan’s eyes lit up: “How much?”
“About two million taels of silver!”
Lin Beifan’s expression dimmed: “That’s a bit little, but better than nothing! If it’s true, I will grant you the title of an earl!”
“The earldom is too low, can I be granted a dukedom?”
The Emperor of Peng Kingdom said dissatisfiedly. “Look, the Emperors of Mo Kingdom, Shang Kingdom, and An Kingdom all received dukedoms when they came here. I can’t be worse than them, can I?”
“That’s because what they offered was worth the title! You’ve only given 2 million taels of silver; receiving a title at all is already quite generous. Don’t be ungrateful!” Lin Beifan said, somewhat irritated.
Did he think titles were handed out so casually?
If they were, the country would surely descend into chaos!
“Actually, there is a piece of meteoric iron hidden in that treasure spot, weighing 5000 jin, indestructible! It’s so hard and heavy that no flame can melt it, making it impossible to forge weapons from, turning it into scrap iron! However, if you find a way to melt it, you could certainly forge a peerless divine weapon, and its value would be immense!” the Emperor of Peng Kingdom added.
Lin Beifan laughed: “Why didn’t you say so earlier? If that’s true, I’ll grant you a dukedom!”
We are currently recruiting. CN/KR/JP Translators/MTLers are welcome!
Discord Server: https://discord.gg/HGaByvmVuw
Comments 3