发布时间: 2026-06-11 22:32:00

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«Chapter 496: An Unsettling Smoothness

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Chen Changsheng paused and took half a step forward.

An old man lay close to death. He opened his eyes, revealing white orbs that seemed to have been blind for a long time.

The old man gave a dry croak and said, “You came just in time. Any later by half an hour, and I wouldn’t have been able to hear you…”

Chen Changsheng paused and asked, “And now?”

The old man did not react at all. He just pointed weakly to a twig on the ground.

Chen Changsheng understood. There was no need to ask any further. It seemed the man could no longer hear.

He picked up the twig and wrote in the dust covering the floor of the tomb.

[How did it come to this?]

The old man leaned closer, his face nearly touching the ground, painstakingly deciphering the words written in the dust.

Chen Changsheng felt dazed. This was far different from the Master Zhulan he had imagined. The old man before him was filthy, blind, deaf, his legs useless. A foul odor clung to him, as if he had been confined here for an eternity…

Having made out the words, the old man lifted his head. He couldn’t clearly see Chen Changsheng’s face, only a hazy shadow in his blurred vision.

Master Zhulan, formerly Prince Yu, Yan Yan, now a feeble old man breathing his last.

He spoke slowly, “Karma descended upon me… incurring Heaven’s Punishment…”

Chen Changsheng was silent for a moment. This aligned closely with his own deductions.

The Karma of the mortal world – could such a burden truly be willingly shouldered?

Chen Changsheng picked up the twig again and wrote.

[The Prince’s heroic choice.]

When the old man finally discerned these four words, he seemed momentarily stunned.

“You call me… Prince?”

He found it fascinating. The person before him didn’t seem to treat him as a Cultivator, nor did he appear to view himself as part of the Cultivation world.

This felt like an ordinary conversation between two ordinary men.

The old man chuckled, “It’s been a long time since anyone addressed me like that. As for ‘heroic choice’… What do I amount to? Merely a small man, vainly striving to prolong the Yan line, stealing a country’s fortune.”

[The Prince used his own strength to restore the Yan line. He sacrificed himself for the greater good. How can that not be called heroic?]

The old man seemed lost in thought. He sighed softly. “I expected you to curse me for being a fool. I never imagined…”

No true Cultivator would commit such folly.

Yet Yan Yan had indeed done it. Abandoning the straight path of the Great Dao, he had thrown himself as a sacrifice into the turbulent Karma of the mortal world. This was the price he paid.

In the eyes of those who pursued Cultivation, this was sheer stupidity, utterly incomprehensible.

Chen Changsheng had witnessed many so-called ‘fools’ in his time. Yet without such ‘fools’, how could the Jianghu truly be the Jianghu? How could the red dust truly be the red dust? How could this realm truly qualify as the mortal world?

Walking through the world, he had seen and heard much. His sole purpose was to observe and listen, to witness every suffering, every fleeting joy, every act of great righteousness, every thread of worldly dust – to truly see all of human existence.

Chen Changsheng raised the twig as if to write a lengthy response.

He wanted to say something, but halfway through, he hesitated, unable to find the right words, dissatisfied with every attempt.

Finally, he swept his sleeve across the dust, obliterating all the characters he had written.

[You were foolish within this world’s love, hate, obsession, and delusion. Foolish for the ‘righteousness’ spoken by men, written in books, taught in scriptures. Foolish indeed. Yet none may look down upon you for it.]

The old man was lost in a torrent of emotions, indescribably profound.

He opened his mouth, wanting to speak to the shadow before him, as if he had countless words held back for so long, but they choked in his throat.

Yes.

This was who he was – Prince Yu, trapped in the webs of love, hate, obsession, and the burdensome ‘righteousness’ of men, unable to break free. He was not Master Zhulan.

Chen Changsheng presented the folding fan.

The old man took it, tracing his fingers carefully over its patterns. It felt achingly familiar, instantly recalling many scenes from years past.

“Xiao Lou…” the old man murmured. “How is he?”

[He chased this fan for half his life. He is gone. Washed away, at peace.]

“Is that so…”

The old man drew a long, slow breath and nodded. “It was my fault I could not see him. But that he found peace in the end… That is good.”

Boundless regret, all because he could never leave this Imperial Mausoleum.

The old man sighed deeply. He had missed too many people, too much of life.

[I still have questions about this dynasty. Might the Prince offer some insight?]

The old man responded, “If you wish to know, I shall tell you all.”

“Back then… I calculated the Great Jing dynasty’s fate was ending…”

The root of it all began with a fateful divination.

Whether by accident or chance, the still-young Prince Yu had divined something he should never have glimpsed.

His heart had been set solely on the Dao. Yet this revelation shifted his path.

“If one cannot seek perfection for an age… how then seek it for ten thousand ages…”

It was this conviction that sparked the intricate plan spanning nearly a hundred years.

From the moment he made his first move in Qingshan City, he sensed the Heavenly Dao’s rejection. A dark Misfortune seemed destined to descend upon him.

He could have accomplished much more back then, but had no choice but to leave Qingshan City.

But these preparations were far from sufficient.

He had to deceive Heaven itself.

“So I stirred great conflict within Qingshan City… finally provoking the imperial army to quell the rebellion. After surrendering, I used the chaos to feign my death. I intended to seal myself within a coffin of blood, hidden from the gaze of Heaven. But the truth proved: How can a mere Cultivator defy Heaven?”

“My Divine Abilities and Daoist Arts could deceive men… but they could not deceive Heaven.”

“Soon, the tribulation of Karma arrived.”

“At first, it was insomnia, tormenting my thoughts. Later, overnight, my legs became weak and useless. Then… my sight began to blur…”

“And now… silence reigns in my ears.”

“Had I not set up Formation Arrays around this Imperial Mausoleum years ago, lessening some of Heaven’s Tribulation… I would have perished long ago, not even my bones remaining.”

Just surviving until now had been an immense struggle.

He managed a weak smile, then continued, “Confined here, I still cast divinations when possible… and ultimately… found an opportunity…”

“That man, Zhao Zhen of Beixiang in the Northern Wastes… a true conqueror who could unify the lands. If not for him… I might not have had the strength to restore the Yan dynasty.”

“He struck two deals with me.”

“For the great drought in Qingshan City… he sacrificed twenty percent of the National Fortune to me.”

“For the western campaign against Western Xiao, to ensure his supply lines were safe… he sacrificed another thirty percent.”

“He knew my designs were treacherous. Yet Zhao Zhen proceeded anyway. Only then did I understand: Zhao Zhen cared nothing for the Dragon Throne beneath him. He cared only for an obsession forged through seventy years of campaigning.”

“Therefore, though he has long since passed… I still hold deep respect for him.”

“The lands were united… finally at peace.”

The old man exhaled a long breath. “Under Heaven’s Punishment… My mind grew increasingly scattered. In my moments of clarity… I set about managing the matter of the National Fortune… transferring it all over to Yan Ruchu.”

“With the National Fortune upon him… all necessary aid would flow naturally.”

“Later… during the night of the palace revolt… I spent my remaining strength to hold back the imperial guards. The plan centuries in the making… finally bore its result.”

The old man uttered another long sigh and fell silent.

These sparse phrases… summed up a hundred years of scheming and suffering…

Leaving him truly dazed.

«Chapter 496: An Unsettling Smoothness

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